This past week, I finished the books Brisingr by Christopher Paolini and Troy by Adele Geras. They were both good books.

I would give Brisingr a seven. Although I enjoyed the mythology of this other world, the book was too long and they spent too much time waiting for things to happen. I think that this whole four book series could be condensed into two books that would only have to be as long as a regular one would have.

I would give Troy a nine. It is a book that takes place during the Trojan War, but that is quasi-background. It is really about the trials on the inhabitants of the royal household, whether its the stable boy, the wife of the king's son, or that woman's handmaid. In this book, the gods play a large part, as it is Ancient Greece, and appear to everyone, making people fall in love, explaining the plans for the war, and protecting people, yet no one remembers that the gods were there. It is a mish-mosh of stories, yet somehow these stories all fit together to form a complete and interesting tale I loved to read.