The year is still being written.

The story took us across 2,500 years, starting with the arrival of the dolphins at Landing. We quickly jumped into the Ninth Pass. I think it is really interesting how Lessa and Aramina have very similar personalities and suffer from the same handicap: they do things that are questionable but feel are critical, yet do not always allow others the same privilege.

Lessa is constantly jumping down dragon riders' throats about timing it, but she took Pern's only queen back 400 Turns without a thought for the danger she was putting the planet in. Aramina disappeared to the Southern Continent to escape hearing dragons without telling anyone, but struggles to accept that her son can talk with dolphins or acknowledge his desire to help them.

His father, a Lord Holder, yells at him for helping the dolphins after a severe storm instead of helping people. But no one was helping the dolphins, while many people were already helping the humans. The people were not keeping their promise to the dolphins. McCaffrey does an excellent job of showing how narrow-minded people can be. I have always enjoyed how she captures human behavior in a way that is very relatable.

Hearne started us with the exploits of one man and his dog. Then he added Granuaile, his apprentice, and finally his archdruid, Owen. The story seemed to be diverging. Each of the three main characters was developed and it looked as if they might go their own ways, perhaps even having their own books.

This book elaborated on that theme. Yes, they are their own main characters and they have their own stories to tell, but they are also shown working together toward a common purpose: survival and ending the war with the vampires.

I really appreciated Hearne doing this because it gives the series more depth and variety. It makes the world feel more real and expands our understanding of the characters he is sharing with us.

This book was an interesting experience. On one hand it was the story of an ambassador and his political interactions with foreign governments, which did not interest me very much. Yet something about the book was like a magnet. I could not dismiss it. I was fascinated and disinterested at the same time.

In the end, I think it was the social and interpersonal nature of the prose that kept drawing me back into the story. Envoy Genly Ai comes to invite the planet Gethen to join the Ekumen, a loose galactic alliance of planets.

It is only when he gives up that the story really begins to take shape. Estraven breaks Ai out of an internment camp and spends 80 days with him crossing the Northern Gobrin Ice in the dead of winter. That is where we really learn about these two characters.

The Gethenians are androgynous, becoming either male or female during periods of sexual activity. Ai struggles to understand their world while also being forced to examine the gender roles of his own.

For me, this was a fascinating exploration of individuals, how they think and how they interact. It examines how understanding and communication are shaped by the society in which we are raised. The writing is poetic and the meanings are subtle.

This book hit me on two levels. There was the normal level on which you read a book, which has to do with the story. The second level had to do with the emotional trauma Harry was going through after the loss of Murphy in the last book.

In addition to being a spectacular story, I think Jim has allowed Harry to finally become the wizard he always wanted to be.

What a ride. This story was a rush of emotion. Imagine being a Black woman in 1976 and being physically whisked back into the antebellum South, where she meets her ancestors only to discover that one of them is a white slave owner.

Without explanation, Dana is repeatedly thrown into the past to save her ancestor — and, presumably, herself — from the time he nearly drowns as a child through his mid-twenties.

Dana struggles with the atrocities she must live through and repeatedly forgives Rufus for his actions against her, while finding it much harder to forgive what he does to others. It is a fascinating and at times heartbreaking adventure. The story is written in a way that transports the reader directly into it.

This was a great set of stories — nine short stories for the ninth book. There was one I had read before, but Hearne added to the story a bit and it was fun to revisit.

Each story was told from the perspective of one character. I thought the one by Perun was outrageous and absolutely right for his personality. We also got many of the backstories that had only been alluded to in the main books.

One of my favorites was the story in which they are called to Tasmania to help the Tasmanian devils with an illness.

What a wonderful story to end the 2,500-Turn journey with Pern. This has been a wonderful exploration of self and society.

One of the themes McCaffrey brought home again and again is how ignorance and greed can damage a society. That was true when we visited Landing, and it remained true 2,500 Turns later.

I was concerned for a long time about how their society seemed stuck in medieval times, but after experiencing the entire series, I can see how they progressed and learned. The reintroduction of lost knowledge really propelled them forward during the Ninth Pass. I imagine them continuing to improve their world and themselves after we leave their story.

Excellent book. I am glad Kendi and Reynolds worked on this so that we can talk about such an important topic. Race and racism are difficult subjects to discuss in America, but it is critical that we do.

I have read Stamped by Reynolds and very much enjoyed it. Although this book is called Stamped for Kids, it is not childish. It is a well-written and digestible work that lays out what systemic racism is, how it developed and what we need to do to break out of the pattern of a flawed society.

Any adult who is unsure whether racism exists today can read this book and gain a clearer understanding of what is happening and why. I highly recommend reading it and sharing it with children when they are ready.

This book is the final battle: Ragnarök. It was epic and very realistic.

I was especially interested in the acceptance and assignment of guilt surrounding Atticus. I want to contrast this with Jim Butcher's Dresden Files, where Harry does something similar but his friends call him out for being a little arrogant in thinking he is personally the cause of everything bad in the world.

Both Harry and Atticus teach us something about human nature, responsibility and forgiveness for not being perfect. Excellent book.

I have absolutely fallen for this series. I was a bit reluctant when starting book one, but having completed the trilogy, I am hungry for more stories from this world.

This story was written in such a way as to bait the reader into thinking we knew what would happen next, only to shatter that idea and catch our heroes in another impossible situation.

They also went on a classic hero's journey, hitting the familiar points from reluctance to go, to going underground and symbolically dying, to searching for an impossible goal and facing obstacle after obstacle.

It was pure gold. I loved the book and the series and look forward to jumping into other stories from this world.

I really enjoyed Oberon's Meaty Mysteries, the first of the three stories. The second was okay and the third author's writing style just does not work as well for me.

Back to Atticus. They are in Australia working to heal the Tasmanian devils. Atticus has been moping around by himself for months, and this murder mystery begins to pull him out of that slump. I am glad to see him gaining perspective.

We also see the beginning of a romantic relationship between him and the local constable. Oberon is, as always, comic relief and a delight. I am a little sorry that I only have a few short stories left in the Iron Druid series. It has been a lot of fun.