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Sweet Darusya tells the life story of a Hutsul woman through a series of shorter stories depicting the important scenes in her life that made her who she became. Unusually (for me, at least), the story is told in a reverse chronological order: we meet Sweet Darusya in her later life, and gradually Matios unfolds what came before.

Hutsuls are an ethnic group from Western Ukraine - around Zakarpattia (Transcarpathia) - and Romania, and Matios uses the story of Sweet Darusya to paint a picture of Hutsul life in the mid-20th century. I wonder how much of that life remains, and how much has been lost forever?

Set roughly during the late 1930s up to the 1960s, Matios brings to life the culture and history of these people through the life of Sweet Darusya.

This story is so powerful and moving; incredibly emotional, at once the story of a single woman yet also - through her story - the tale of a whole culture. After finishing the book, I have a strong desire to visit the region, to see more.

Maria Matios is a Ukrainian author, poet and former-parliamentarian, and winner of the Taras Shevchenko prize (Ukraine's highest award for literature).

Very strongly recommended if you have any interest in Ukraine, or literature - it is not a long book and most will probably get through it in a few days, but well worth the time.

I loved these two books. I've not got a huge amount to add to my review of Book 1. But a few additional thoughts.

Firstly: this really feels a lot like a single book. More so than almost any previous pair of books I can think. This is certainly best thought of as one story: I'd advise against reading Book 2 without having read Book 1 first, nor stopping at the end of Book 1 (though I doubt one would be able to do that).

In terms of comments on the quality of writing or storytelling, there's probably not much more I can say than I already did about Book 1: it's excellent, incredibly enjoyable, very human-focused, life-like - just like the first book.

But the ending is great too - really wraps up the story well, get a strong sense that the author cares about her characters. I find it quite rare to have a satisfying ending to a story, so this is not a minor point - it really enhanced my enjoyment.

Very much looking forward to this author's next works.

I just finished reading Aestus Book 1: The City. It was incredible. Totally blew me away - could hardly put it down, struggled to sleep thinking about it, so good. I rarely describe anything as 'awesome' - it's often used in quite a hyperbolic way; but, in this case, I am in awe.

There's so much I want to write about this book, so many thoughts running through my head the last few days, but I don't want to spoil the experience for anybody by giving away any details.

The first thing that struck me is how well written the characters are. This author has a real talent for writing genuine, believable characters. I feel sure many of them must be real people she knows - all the little moments that she captures just bring them to life so vividly. Just get such a sense of familiarity from them. It's a very human story, with people front and centre.

The pacing is spot on - there's never a dull moment, nor a scene that passes too quickly; the action is tight, intense and exciting; the story is incredibly compelling and an absolutely fascinating take on a plausible future for our species. And there is so much subtlety in the writing - a wealth of small details that just bring the scenes to life and provide a sense of depth and place; it's quite masterful stuff. This is an author who really understands her craft.

It absorbed me so much that reading this book has taken up all my free time for the last week. This one is really special - if you've got any interest in speculative science fiction works, I strongly recommend it. Started on Book 2 immediately after finishing Book 1 - it's taken me a few days to write my thoughts on Book 1, and already halfway through Book 2; my opinion has certainly not changed. Safe to say I'm loving it so far too!

Enjoyed it - a fun read!

Discworld and Sir Terry were a big part of my life growing up, he had a large impact on who I became.

I'm not sure for newcomers to his writing I'd fully recommend The Colour of Magic - I believe Sir Terry himself said to start from book three (Sourcery) - but this is an interesting historical artefact.

I plan to read through the entire Discworld series in the coming months (and years, I guess - I don't plan to only read Discworld non-stop), so starting from the very beginning to experience how Sir Terry's style developed was a key choice for me.

I did enjoy it a lot though! Torn between 3 and 4 stars. It's good! But I feel like 4 stars requires a level of excellence not quite attained here - it does feel a little disjointed at times, and some scenes don't really seem to have any purpose.