Latest Book Reviews and Comments
What a fun romp--I love the hare-brained schemes and the irreverent humor. The characters are really engaging. Of course Sicarius, with his sense of distance and mystery, begs following just to catch another glimpse of what lies beneath that unreadable façade, but I also found Books and Akstyr intriguing. The first for his wit and his intelligence as well as loyalty to Amaranthe, and the latter for his quirkiness and the hint of hidden depths. Maldynado, I suspect, hangs around out of curiosity: the adventures he gets into with the Edge are a lark, and how can Amaranthe not be attracted to him? Amaranthe herself is a funny contradiction of terms, alternately determined, fearing to fail, failing, and delighted at turning tables. And Sespian, dear Sespian, might have escaped the first pot he was set to brew in, but he's still in the clutches of adolescent hormones and idealism. Even Hollowcrest fascinated me. I would love to know more of what he was thinking and what influenced his choices. The "steampunk" setting is delivered with a light hand (which is good, because I would not like to be run over by thundering locomotives). I enjoyed the contrasts between the classes and genders. While I have seen comments that the gender discrimination is excessive, I feel that it fits not only the story itself, but our own historic (and even current) patterns. Standards of our own society now are not global and they are certainly distinct from most of history. The plot was a wonderful roller-coaster ride of ups and downs, and I am very much looking forward to reading more of the adventure!
Newcomer A. E. Marling does a bang-up job with this novel about a magic-wielder afflicted with a sleeping disorder. Her drowsiness does not equate boredom for the reader. On the contrary, "Brood of Bones" is a fantasy whodunnit, with Enchantress Hiresha cast in the role of arcane detective. The setting and the magic are skillfully portrayed; the characters are complex and not always predictable. Hiresha struggles not only with her sleeping problem, but with the past that has formed her; her position is her armor and her purpose. Maid Janny is a gem of irreverence, while the Lord of the Feasts is both charming and terrible. The deposed arbiter of the city is exasperating at the same time she is delightful, and the two city leaders (a pair of priests representing different deities) are not what they might seem. I could wish the bodyguard were better developed, but it is a small complaint. The story is told from Hiresha's point of view, depicting her insecurities and fears in a very personal, very *human* way embroidered with the mores of her particular society. This is a really excellent debut novel.
I found "Blood Song" to be a gripping coming-of-age tale with better-than-fair character and setting development. I enjoyed the single-point-of-view persepctive and the pacing is good — except for a few places when the timeline changed suddenly and without warning, or the actions and attitudes of the players didn't seem to match their ages or time spent at the school. Also, while I didn't feel the protagonist, Vaelin Al Sorna, did anything *out* of character, the meat of his motives was sometimes missing. I wanted to know more about how he felt and how he came to be such a devout and moral person. I liked that he often made the hard choices, and that he didn't whine about it. Sometimes didn't even tell others about them! I enjoyed Ryan's language skills and he can paint a very nice scene, though I could easily have lived without the crass language. Even so, the few appearances seemed natural rather than used (or over-used) for shock value. The political landscape intrigued me, as did the virtual landscape. With the Orders being numbered rather than named, their purposes (aside from the Sixth, which is "main character" material), were tricky to keep track of. On another note, there were some kind of funny typos (like "three men under your yolk") and very minor puncutation issues. In the end, it kept me turning the pages and suffering an unwillingness to put it down until I was done. I am glad I read it, it's a very impressive beginning to the series and I'm looking forward to reading more.
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.
Balanced somewhere between Hunger Games & Lord of the flies Maze Runner leaned more towards Flies, which imo is a very good thing. I've read these dystopian novels, each telling the same story over and over again of rebel teenagers fighting the system. At least Dashner brings something different to the genre; A bit of darkness instead of sugarcoating.
THE SECOND BOOK! WOOHOO! YES! Its basically another really exciting story with...( DRUMROLL ) TSUNAMI THE SEAWING as she embarks on INCREDIBLE adventures in the Kingdom of Sea! I LOVE IT HOPE YOU DO TOO! - CHEERS!
This is the first book to the MOST EPIC SERIES I have ever read! I absolutely love it and can't WAIT for more Wings of FIRE to come out! HOPE YOU GUYS LIKE IT TOO! - CHEERS!
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!
Hard to know exactly what to say about The Hobbit - other than that I love it! I read it once a year and am always thrilled by the storytelling, there's so much packed into this small book and it has so much to offer, big themes, small heroes and the show-stealer himself: Gollum!
Love this one - a story which has all the classic Murakami elements, a search, a mysterious girl and surrealism, most strikingly perhaps, in one hell of a strange sheep. My strongest impression looking back is actually (at first) thinking the ending wasn't as strong as I was expecting, yet I found myself thinking about it often in the days after. So it was exactly what it needed to be. Definitely worth a read and a really good place to start if new to Murakami.
Song of the Beast is a mesmerizing stand alone book. The beginning felt a bit disjointed, but quickly finds its footing.
"Vowed" continues the story that started in "Banished" a few months earlier, featuring Kit Blackhart. With almost 500 pages - about 100 more than the first book - a lot happens in this novel and everything is just as magical as what happened before. The only teeny tiny negative remark I can think of, is that De Jager sometimes ends and starts her chapters at annoying points in the story, like in the middle of a conversation. To me, that works a bit confusing at times.
I don't know how to describe this book properly. It's dark, it's sexy. It's all about a strong heroine with a darker side. (Oh, and there is neither love-triangle included nor romance that is neither underwhelming nor overwhelming.) The Young Elites is not a book about a hero's journey, it's rather a story from anti-heroine's pov. When I picked this book, I instantly knew that I was going to get something different and my expectations didn't fail me either. The story's main protagonist, Adelina Amouteru, is scarred and haunted both physically and mentally by her abusive father. Adelina is an incredibly complex and vivid protagonist. The reader knows instantly that she's not a hero and there is so much darkness inside of her but is nevertheless powerless against her dark pull. I don't enjoy causing pain or watching it to happen but I still sympathized with her. The reader can only wonder how far is she going to go? It was very interesting indeed to read a story where the lines between evil and good are mixed. We don't often get YA books where a main character is more or less beyond salvation. This book leaves you scarred and raw. If you want rainbows and happy thoughts this isn't your book, but If you are looking for something else and something more than usual bland YA fantasy I recommend this book. All in all I'll let Adelina's thoughts summarize what this book is truly about: "The rush of darkness though me is intoxicating and irresistible, and I find myself embracing it, letting it cover my insides like ink. Such power over these little masses. I love it."
Quick Review The Good: Story, Action, Art, Comedy, and Characters. The Bad: Again nothing. Conclusion: I can't describe How much I like this book/series. Just buy the books already.
Quick Review The Good: Story, Action, Art, Comedy, and Characters. The Bad: Nothing. Conclusion: So funny can't stop laughing. Buy to support the comic.
Quick Review The Good: Story, Action, Art, Comedy, and Characters. The Bad: Again nothing big Conclusion: Another great story.
Quick Review The Good: Story, Action, Art, Comedy, and Characters. The Bad: I can't find anything I dislike about this book/series. Conclusion: GET GET GET.
Quick Review The Good: Story, Art, and Characters. The Bad: Nothing really. Just some little things I'm not going to nitpick over. Conclusion: Worth getting. But this is back story for X-23. So if you don't like the character you won't like the book.
Quick Review The Good: lots of action, Interesting plot, Good art. The Bad: Lots of sex for no reason then they can. Conclusion: It's worth the read. I don't recommend it for anyone under 16
This comic is so much fun! It's everything you expect out of Deadpool. A wisecracking Psycho that breaks the 4th wall. I highly recommend this series.
I was really excited to read "Banished", the first book about Kit Blackhart. (Who knew the name 'Kit' could be used for a girl?) She seemed very interesting to me. I have to say I normally don't read books with werewolves in them, but, well ... I just had to make an exception. I wasn't mistaken. "Banished" is an amazingly good book. It made me think about another book which had kind of the same theme (I can't remember the other one now), but this is much better!
Some years ago I read Roberts Circle fantasy trilogy and really loved it, so I was hoping this new series would be as good or even better. Sadly, it seems it's not. Dark Witch was not specifically bad, but it was lacking the tempo and catchiness of the Circle trilogy. Even with the fantasy elements of the story I thought the text was more like Roberts ordinary romance novel type than fantasy. (That is pure guess though, since I haven't actually read any of her romance novels) I'm hoping more "witchy" in the two sequels and less "ordinary".
After ten books, the "Camp Half-Blood Series" stops. We've had five "Percy Jackson ..." books and now, the fifth and final "Heroes of Olympus", "The Blood of Olympus" has been released. It's been a long way. This book sees the end of the Greek and Roman demigods and it's rather climactic. Riordan really is the 'myth master', as he called on the English covers. He's done a great job. Just read this book and the entire series. Starting with "The Lightning Thief", Riordan has made a book series of about 5300 pages, counting those of the spin-off books and the Jackson-Chase/Kane e-novellas as well. It's been an awesome journey. Well done, 'Uncle Rick'. Now, on to "Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard".
