What is Reddit's opinion of Ebert's Bests (Chicago Shorts)?

From 3.5 billion Reddit comments

I've missed a few Tuesdays. Doh. But three fantasy-relevant reads in the last week:

• The Empire of the Dead by Phil Tucker. A new series from one of my recent faves. Basically a heist, but in a... post-apocalyptic fantasy world? Not in the traditional post-apoc sense, but in the sense that The Huge Battle of Good and Evil Already Happened... and Evil won. Our heroes are the scattered and shattered fragments of Team Good(ish), and they're reunited for one last job. Just an absolute hoot. Great world, terrific banter, twisty-turny plot. Highly recommended for anyone seeking a really fun read.

• The Black Witch by Laurie Forest. It is a really, really interesting premise: it full-on tackles the fact that fantasy tropes are inherently racist. (That's not a comment on real-world politics - just the fact that fantasy is based on racial essentialism. All Orcs are Evil. All Drasnians are Sneaky. All Elves are Chaotic Good. All Kender behave this way. Fantasy is often about absolutes, and that leads to that sort of approach.) Black Witch has a completely classic fantasy world with our 'hero' human race, a horde and the true religion and a war against evil and chosen ones of light and darkness.

But... wait... what if all the fantasy races - elves, shapeshifters, demons, etc - have their own prophesies and religions and histories and beliefs that make them the heroic central race and the chosen ones. Our lead character starts as a sheltered, naive, kinda snotty young woman, then realises that it is all - gasp! - a matter of perspective. This isn't exactly The Hate U Give, but it is a really interesting and innovative take on traditional epic fantasy.

Pros: this concept is brilliant; it is a magic school story; it really kicks off at the end.

Cons: main character is a wet blanket for the first two thirds of the book, and I didn't buy the romance.

Also important:

• Ebert's Bests - so this little extract is free on Amazon, and the closest thing to a 'must-read' that I'll ever say (I hate that phrase). It doesn't contain any reviews, instead, it is Ebert - one of the greatest cultural critics of our era - talking about why movies are important, and why they are important to him. There's real relevance to how we read books as well, how you can be a fan of a genre (but still critical), and how you can still appreciate brilliance without 'loving' something.