This book is the last one written but the first in the Foundation series. I’ve read it after the so-called trilogy (Foundation, Foundation and Empire, Second Foundation) and at some times it was like a spotlight directed at specific events in the trilogy - it gave the impression of „Ahh, that’s why it happened!“. The story itself developed quite slowly but nevertheless intriguing. The book ends with a really „cruel“ last chapter, where you’ll find an unexpected development and a basis for wild guesses for the future books.

Agreed, Ron :-) This is a timeless masterpiece of science fiction and I’m looking forward to read all of the series. What I liked most - aside from the great story itself - was to discover that other authors kind of re-used parts of the setup and inventions later on. Very nostalgic!

This is a fantastic book which contains not only sketches and paintings but also comments of Alan Lee. His thoughts and remarks describe the story of Lord of the Rings from a different perspective - that of transferring J.R.R. Tolkiens descriptions and his own imagination into pictures - and further, into settings for the films.

It really is a shame that this anthology didn't contain Two Hundred and Twenty-One stories; I would have liked to read on and on because most of the stories were so inventive, creepy, peculiar and - above all - written with loving details. It wasn't much important which case Holmes and Watson had to investigate (although the cases too were sometimes quite weird), it was the surrounding what mattered. Also quite cheerful and genial were the comments of Mr Moore at the beginning of each new chapter which point the reader in the right direction already without telling too much. I hope that Mr Moore will go on with a search for authors who have already written or intend to write more of such stories. I'd love to continue reading!

The Bone Clocks was not entirely what I expected after having read the synopsis. Somehow I expected a continuous story about Holly. But - as I’ve read „Cloud Atlas“ too, I should have known better. The first four parts of the book weren’t bad but very unexcited - all stories developed so slowly. This changed with part five of the book and in secret I wished the book had started like that because now it quite accelerated. The reader was introduced to Horology, its history and the ongoing war so that it was really an intriguing read. The ending was Hollywood-like - a bit disappointing, I’m really sorry to say that. Considering the entire book, I liked it nevertheless. I really admire the style of David Mitchell’s books.

Starting this book, I expected a bit of mouldy story (the book being published in the early 70's). As you can imagine: I was wrong. What a luck! It is split into three parts where each of them is thrilling enough. However, I've liked the middle part best, where Mr. Asimov outnumbers every other description of an alien people I've ever read. The society he describes is at once foreign, weird and absolutely believable; what is more: it's amiable. This is one of the best SciFi books I've ever read and so I'd like to recommend it to all other fans of marvellous Science Fiction.

This is my favorite book in the Peter Grant series so far. This time, the story line was more of a real, well-woven narration and Peter developed to a real person instead of a wizard's apprentice only. Like in the previous books, police work means a lot of abbreviations. Finally, I've managed to memorize some of them - the funnier ones :-) - so that the flow in reading wasn't interrupted any longer. It was a nice change to the first books of the series. I like crime stories very much, so I've enjoyed this Peter Grant story which didn't lay much stress on wizardry.

How very sad! A very complex and moving story about ecology, father-and-son relationships (over 3 generations), animal rights, eco-warriors and their adversaries and - not to forget - bees. Johanna Sinisalo tells her story well-worded and imaginative, lets the reader know only small pieces at a time which makes this book an intriguing read.

The dedication already makes clear, what’s to be expected from this book – and the reader won’t be disappointed ;-) I was really glad to see that Joe Abercrombie returned to a more sophisticated structure of a story (after the quite weak “Best Served Cold”) – even if it wasn’t what you’d call a soothing bedtime reading. I don’t think, there were more than a few chapters (5 – 8?) without betrayals, men changing allegiances, massacres … in short: magnificent!

This book is quite straightforward compared to those of the First Law Trilogy (or at least it seems to me). The story has only one thread to follow and the characters are a bit too plain. I enjoyed it nevertheless as it has got an inkling of the former books in the matter of violence, betrayal and twisted story.

This is a most unusual book. It's divided into (or united by?) 6 different stories which are told in part poetic, part rough language. Each time the reader has finished one of the stories and moves to the next, it's with deepest regret to leave the characters. After a few pages into the new story, you can hardly wait to get on with this one. Most amazing!

Hmmm - it really can't be compared with the first book. However, it's not so bad like I expected. It is a pity, that Frank Herbert just skipped several years and as a reader you can't follow his ideas and thoughts how Paul, Alia and all the others would develop into. Personally, I didn't like the direction the story took but it was nevertheless an interesting read.

This book has got all which makes it a marvellous book. The author managed to describe the main characters in a few well-chosen sentences without tiring descriptions and explanations - brilliant! The story itself is quite straightforward but never boring - on the contrary. Each chapter brings new aspects of Dune to the reader. Although I've seen from your reviews and the rating that the second book is not so good, I'll give it a try. At least, I'm forewarned ;-)

Yes, it's very easy to imagine that the situation described in this book will come true. And so it's a very disturbing book if you keep this in mind while reading. I liked the style of the book very much: Emmi Itäranta didn't try to describe each and every single detail or event in the past. And so the reader has got the chance to live out his or her own imagination - really amazing!

Somewhere I've read about this book, that there was not one dull page in this book - and I can only agree with that. Which is most astonishing, as this book has got 1006 pages (at least, in my edition). As it's such a rich novel, I really don't know where to start and describe only a few keywords: Footnotes: sometimes separate stories in itself - not annoying at all but a great pleasure. Mix of history and fantasy: absolutely compelling. Characters: next to Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell the author has created some persons with loving detail (regardless whether it's a good or bad guy). What a shame that it's over - I would have liked to read on and on ...

The second book with Harry Dresden starts at quite a fast pace and it doesn't stop there. After the first third of the book the story starts with some kind of showdown which you will find in other books only at the end. And the narration holds its pace - it's really incredible how Jim Butcher managed to keep up the suspense for so long. If you intend to read that book: do it on a weekend or when you are on holiday. It's really a pity to have to stop reading because you have to work ...

That was almost like old Harry Potter-times when a new book has been released: take a night or a weekend off, retire to your sofa (supplied with beverages and snacks), then start reading and only stop when you have finished. What a finale for that series! Although Wool was first written as a short novel "only", Hugh Howey developed a series of five books which head toward the climax and resolution in a most amazing way. Each book has its own protagonists with which we have to suffer until all threads of the novels are unravelled. All threads and questions? Not really - we still don't know exactly how the silos came into being and we don't know what will happen with silo 17 and 18 (and all others). But thankfully we can carry on with "Shift" and "Dust" ...

This book was quite an unexpected brilliant discovery for me. The summary doesn't reveal too much so that the tale could be of any type. Hmmm - every description I would write, would spoil the fun and excitement for you, so I leave it at that. Just one more thing: although it's a short story, it has many twists and turns - and although the reader almost always believes to know how the tale will progress: it's wrong - or I'm just bad at guessing ;-).

I've read this book the second time now and it was as indescribably hilarious as the first time. One could say that Pratchett and Gaimann tried to accommodate too much characters in that tale: prophets, angels and demons, fortune teller and witch-finder, Bikers of the Apocalypse, a gang of kids. As each thread of the tale has its own small and great events it never gets boring. Beside the Them I like the Bikers most - just to think of their new means of transport and how one of them has taken over the job from another makes me laugh.

With "Anansi Boys", Neil Gaiman has produced a really great piece of literature. It's a combined "Ghost-Voodoo-Comedy-Family"-epic with lovingly portrayed characters. Neil Gaiman conveys the impression to the reader that it took much pleasure to him in writing this novel and narrating stories about: two young men who are sons of a god, old ladies of the neighbourhood (who one could call "witches"), a potential serial killer and - apparently - normal people. It's real fun to dive into that story: I've enjoyed it completely.

Absolutely charming, delightful stories if you like Victorian (and earlier) settings in England. In one story you'll recognise a retold fairy tale in others you'll think you are plunged in a Jane Austen novel - all of them with such an amazing subtle touch of magic. It's really wonderful, I loved all stories.

For me the third volume in the series is the best so far. It has got more of a story line, it doesn't seem to be so hectic like the first two. Perhaps Mr Aaronovitch didn't have to explain so much and could concentrate on the narration itself. I'll definitely continue with the fourth volume as I HAVE to know what happens next.

With Zamonia Walter Moers invented a world like Terry Pratchett did with his Discworld and populated it with different people and characters. Now we are introduced to a new character - Optimus Yarnspinner - who is going to investigate the mystery of a short story and his unknown author. His quest leads him to the City of Dreaming Books and that's where the adventure begins to start in earnest. It's absolutely amazing and wonderful how the author uses language to describe every event and scene. The newspaper "Die Welt" has called it a love declaration for literature, and in that, the critic was quite correct. If you love books and adventures, you should read this book by all means.

What a nice little book! Finally, an author describes the world from another point of view - not from a human's, but a dragon's view. It's really funny and encourages in parts a bit meditativeness. Read and enjoy it - unfortunately, the story is not very long so the fun is over much too early.

That story has got a nice mix of everything: a crime story in today's London, a wizard apprentice and his master, several gods and supernatural beings - it's nearly perfect. Although I'm a quite unoriented person (thanks to the people who gave us the GPS!) I liked the detailed description of London. It makes you plan your next holidays ...

First of all, let me say that I started to read the Harry Potter series in order to improve my English (although I\'ve exceeded the proper age easily at that time already). My idea was, that children\'s books were easier to understand than those for adults. So far so good. What I didn\'t expect was, that the books would be quite unique so that I\'ve re-read them ever since I\'ve laid hands on the first one. It has been described before from persons who are certainly more able than I am, that Ms Rowling has created something special - a world which is not that far away from the ordinary one but still different, full of magic. However, the inhabitants of the other world have to struggle with common problems, too: distrust against each other, enviousness, lovesickness, .... Those are problems where no magic can help. To be honest, I like reading children stories or books for young adults. Somehow it seems to be more suitable when an author invents fantasy worlds for children than for adults - they already live in an own world full of wonders. I liked the idea of describing a young wizard being educated, the daily life in a boarding school, his growing-up with all implications of adolescence and of course the encounters with his adversary. As a conclusion I can only say, that I loved all the books - and still do. So my recommendation can only be: read the series and enjoy the story how it develops through all the books.

This story develops - even for the first part of a trilogy - quite slowly. However, the plot it well designed in a world which can be easily imagined by the reader. It was always thrilling so that I wanted to know how the story goes on. But one thing was quite annoying: the language. There are several simple mistakes in the text which are disturbing (\"him\" instead of \"her\", words left out, obviously wrong tenses, ...). Sometimes this made it tiring to follow the story. However, I liked the characters and look forward to meeting them again in part 2.