Latest Book Reviews and Comments
This book is a nice book. It starts of a bit boring for me. a lot of action, but not so much soul. Once all the build up for characters is ready, i started to enjoy the book a lot. the book has stayed in my mind better than most of Raymond's books. The book tells about differences in 3 different cultures and lifestyles and is a nice addition to the series. this book is a separate book and doesn't give anything new to the main storyline, but tells a lot about the way of life in different cultures in the world that Raymond created.
This book is quite nice. The book is totally different than other books in Serpentwar Saga. I imagine that not all the people like this book, but since i like stories that involve money and getting rich, this book is my favorite of this series. This books is about a mans struckle to become rich, his personal life and about the war around.
I was expecting a lot from this book, since Jimmy is my favorite character from his books. I was very disappointed. This book is the only book that i didn't fully read from him after i started one. For one third of the book, i just read the events, browsing through the pages. the book is boring. Nothing really happens and characters are dull. Luckily all of the other books I've read from him are better.
This one was the first Narnia book which I read when I was still a little child. How old I was at that time? Five? Six? I don't remember. But that doesn't really matter. What's more important, it's that this book impressed me a lot. I was completely lost in this pure magical world. The characters, the story, the whole atmosphere. I was caught in this world of words and wonders. Even after finishing this book, I stayed charmed for some time. Lewis's books brings some awesome kind of light with them. I re-readed all of his books every year (or even every half-year) when I was young, and I'm still re-reading those books now, when I'm an adult already. Because it's this rare kind of books which not only entertain us or teach us different things, but helps us to become Humans.
I remember when I read my first Hemingway. Sitting in my grandfathers study snuggled under my great grandmother’s knitted blanket with a small 60 watt bulb illuminating the treasured book from his shelves. His study smelled like leather and typewriter ribbon, I will never forget that. When I smell these things or snuggle under that blanket, which I still have, I go back to that time in that chair with that Old Man. Memories are heavily tied to scent, taste, feeling… and for me words. I was so emotionally invested in the Fisherman and I stayed up all night till the tale was done. You know what books I am talking about, the ones you read which stay with you, like my Hemingway moment. That have grabbed you in some way with some ‘hook’, dragging you along for the ride. The ones that a month, a year or even five later you see something, or read something which brings you back to that moment in the book, where you are, what you are doing, what you are eating… Some of you have a handful, some of you, like me, have different handfuls that I cycle through because books are part of a central core of my being. Poseidon’s Children and the rest of the Legacy of Gods series may possibly come to be one of those books. Let’s talk about why, this definitely will not be a normal review, perhaps more of a discussion on passion and why I feel passionate and so excited about talking about Michael West’s latest experience in words. Earlier this week I asked Michael West why Urban Fantasy? I tend to not read reviews or synopsis’ because every time I do I get thrown completely off and at times I go off on a tangent because these labels that are forced upon authors in order to sell the book at times screws the pooch. Now Urban Fantasy does not screw the pooch with this, however I cannot put Poseidon’s Children specifically in this category nor can I label it as Cthulhuian mythos, or Horror, or thriller, or fantasy, or science fiction, or… this is a book that I had a very hard time nailing down. If I had to I would say Urban Carnivale! but they do not have that subgenre… yet. Michael may just be the first First off to understand where I am coming from you need to understand the term or phenomena of Carnivale, at least in how I am using it. In its root ’carnevale’ is derived from the two words meaning, ‘carne’, ‘meat’ (food) or ‘flesh’ (sex). It has been much discussed in the sociological circles as an actual phenomena dating back in many different cultures thousands of years. During these times the world, society is tumultuous with most social hierarchies being inverted with satire and a farce, even mockery. Reversals of relations between man and beast, men and women, fathers and sons.. and in this book definitely mothers and daughters. If you have read this, you know exactly where I am headed. If you have not read it, think about the fantastical aspects of a Carnivale! The cotton candy, the chaos, the thrills, chills and the Freak Show! Michael presents you one with this amazing read. I literally did a fist pump and giggled when I read the opening scene The series starts off set on a small New England island off the mainland of New Hampshire. One of those little tourist traps with quaint shops, quirky hotel clerks, clueless tourist and rich mainlanders that summer on the shores. One of these rich mainlanders is a man called Roger Hays and Roger had a son, one that as the book opened up was treading water in the surf coaxing his neurotic girlfriend, who is afraid of open water, out to have a little tryst int he sea. Just like our skinny dipper from Jaws soon finds out, this will be the last risqué thing these two lovers do… ever… …Susan Rogers had been right to fear the water. There were monsters lurking just below its churning surface. Now, they pulled her down into the dark depths; things with black and orange stripes, things with claws, with fangs like sharpened steak knives, and, unfortunately for her, they were not inclined to swallow her whole…( location 163) Here is where it gets tricky, I want to tell you all about it, I want to stand in front of my webcam and give you jazz hands and giggle as I recount a scene.. but I can’t! (Plus it is free today so you have no excuse to but to scurry over and grab it! – afterwards it is still only $2.99 which frankly I think it should be more). Yesterday I started blathering on and on about the story to Geoff until he raised his hand up and said, “Stop, wait… sea monsters, Atlantis, a town full of sea monsters, a lost god, a weapon… wait.. a mobster? WTH where is Bruce Campbell!” I laughed so hard because I had been saying all along that all that was missing was a horde of zombies, Bruce Campbell and a chainsaw. Now before you roll your eyes and dismiss this, you have gotten this far in so give it a bit more. Simply put, it was brilliantly woven. I giggled continually when I saw the correspondences. It is not just the story that is “Urban Carnivale”, the writing style, the cleverly woven plot devices everything fits overlayed into this frantic masterpiece. Oh and the love scenes! *fanning myself* all of them, including the ones that were a bit harder to read, (involving one of the bad guys!) Since this is the start of the series his cast/character list is large. The protagonists consist of numbers which would fill at least a starting line up for a baseball team! Perhaps Colonial Bay Creatures?? umm no.. anyway. One thing people have discussed is because of this some of the characters did not get “fluffed” enough (could not resist). I started reading this knowing it was the first in a series. Many times when this is the case the first half of a book is nothing but setting up the world, “fluffing” out the depths of the characters so by the time you get to the meat of the piece you are almost finished! It didn’t even occur to me while I was reading because I was swept along with the tentacles of each story arc. The characters that needed filling, were filled and those that were not will obviously be more developed later so this was not an issue for me. When you open this up, expect to smile, to cover your mouth in horror, to catch yourself needed to grab a breath, taking a couple of hot showers, checking before you dive into a pool from now on… and appreciating the fact that most beaches are PROBABLY safe.. probably .. Thrills, chills.. train wrecks you cannot stop watching (in a good way)… and remember they may not need to need to worry about being able to take a big deep breath before diving in, but you will! I cannot recommend this book more it will redefine the genre, or become the beginning of a new one. I think I will go tag it with ‘Urban Carnavale’ now!
Helen Lowe's The Gathering of the Lost is even finer than the first book in this series, The Heir of Night. Where the first begins slowly, taking some time to build a most interesting and complex world and flesh out the major players, this book plunges ahead, barely pausing as events propel the characters ahead. Though the Kindle edition has several typos, it is for the most part very well edited. Based upon what I have read in these two books, Ms. Lowe is clearly a writer on par with my favorites who write what I consider to be similar work, Robin Hobb and Lois McMaster. I can't wait until the release of Daughter of Blood, which I anticipate will bring closure to this worthy tale.
A month or so ago, I picked up The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch, and I must say, never before have I gotten this sort of particular joy from a book. The first thing I noticed, was that it was interesting almost from page one. This rarely happens with me in a book, where I'm immediately curious right in the first chapter. With Game of Thrones, I had to restart reading it, because it didn't really grasp my interest. But from the very start, the world and the people introduced were fantastically unique to my imagination and they were wonderful. Scott Lynch has some of the most fantastic use of language I've ever seen. The metaphors and description are so engrossing that I found myself just looking at sentences over and over, savoring their essence. He makes Camorr come alive without dragging on and on with useless details, as Tolkien oft did. There were never any occasions when I skimmed the descriptions to get on with the story, because he kept them interesting and to the point, without going into unnecessary detail or losing the active flow. And speaking of flow, Lynch has taken manipulation of timeline and turned it into an art form. He created an inexplicably wonderful sense of anticipation throughout the whole book by, for example, giving a battle, followed by an encounter between secondary characters, after which he gives the history of the whores in town... and I found myself to be at the edge of my seat wondering how that was going to become relevant. And the subtlety with which he introduced concepts that would be significant later on in the book was mind-blowing. Every character introduced into the story was real and unique and incredibly interesting. The cleverness of the plots of Locke Lamora and the Gentleman Bastards was unparalelled, and the ending was wildly satisfying. It was realistic within the realms of its own world, and even though you see only one city, the world feels vast and inviting. The use of things, such as magic and alchemy, were done in such a way that I was not bored with them, as I have been in the past with other writers. And each little piece of story seemed to weave independantly, until joining with another, and at every moment you think you see where the book is headed, it tightens and continues, right to the last word, in a most satisfying conclusion. I have never in my life read a book with such wild grins of pure joy plastered all over my face, before I read The Lies of Locke Lamora. The book is page-to-page action, nonstop, and it's just brilliant.
Tad Williams is one of the most inventive fantasy writers working today. He is also one of the very few fantasy writers who takes great care not to repeat himself. So, instead of cranking out one Osten Ard trilogy after the other, he has delved deeply into fairy lore and has written THE WAR OF THE FLOWERS. His first full-length stand-alone novel since his debut novel TAILCHASER'S SONG (1985). Theo Vilmos's journey through an industrialized Fairyland may seem tedious and pointless at times, but this is not a book for the impatient reader or someone who is looking for cheap thrills. It's full of allusions and resonances to literature and popular culture and everything comes together in the end. It's a long journey, but it's worth the trip.
With his MEMORY, SORROW & THORN series Tad Williams has written one of the modern classics of the fantasy genre which helped breathing new life into many old and tired tropes. Now, eleven years after the publication of "To Green Angel Tower" Williams returns with the first volume of a brand-new fantasy trilogy. And "Shadowmarch" has everything you could ask for in an epic fantasy novel. An interesting cast of characters (the royal twins Briony and Barrick are particularly well done), a strong and mysterious plot that moves along quite nicely, and detailed world-building. "Shadowmarch" started out as a television treatment and then morphed into an online serial that was published in bi-weekly installments. Now, Tad has re-written the whole storyline and added a lot of new material. However, with three more volumes to come this is just the beginning of the story. Anyway, I am sure this will become yet another winner for Tad!
Tad's first collection of short and non-fiction is not just a collection, but also a career retrospective. RITE includes material from a twenty-year career and is certainly a must-buy for any Tad Williams fan. The stories collected here can show a broader range of topics, styles, moods and themes than his long and complex novels, because Tad could experiment more within the confines of a small story, but some of Tad's classic themes are still there. In some stories Tad also pays hommage to writers that influenced him (Peter S.Beagle and Michael Moorcock most notably). Tad introduces each story and explains its origins. The intro "Why I Write What I Write" explores what drives Tad to write.
The husband-and-wife team of Tad Williams & Deborah Beale publish the first volume in their Ordinary Farm series (which will eventually run to five volumes). THE DRAGONS OF ORDINARY FARM is aimed at a somewhat younger audience than Tad Williams' other books, but his adult readers will probably like it just as well. The two main protagonists Tyler and Lucinda, who are unwillingly sent away to the suppossedly boring farm of a very distant relative to spend their summer there, are quickly drawn into the many secrets of Ordinary farm, its strange inhabitant and its even stranger livestock. The book is fast-paced despite the large cast of characters and the plot thickens quickly. The tone is modern (think of "Otherland for kids") and the story is less straightforward fantasy but rather science fantasy. Many secrets are revealed and some mysteries solved, but although the first book offers closure, the story is far from over and many mysteries remain intact to be solved in future volumes. Perfect summer book for kids and parents alike.
Robin Hobb had been highly recommended to me and this book did not disappoint. I am endlessly skeptical of books written in the first person, but Hobb managed to make a very interesting book in spite of the limitations provided. She keeps all of the characters interesting and the story in itself was utterly fantastic, completely engrossing, and I look forward to the next book. Particularly, books that stretch over a long timespan can often be uninteresting, but everything seems to somehow be relevant and fun to read. My criticisms are few, yet I did find it was far too easy to predict who would be a bad guy, who would betray someone, and when something sinister happened, I felt as though there weren't that many surprises. This did not, however, make the story any less interesting. I was never able to predict what would happen, only who would turn out to be a "badguy" in the end. There was very little in the way of character "mystique". All-in-all though, it was one of the best books that I read last summer and I would highly recommend it to anyone.
I picked up this book after being dreadfully bored by Shaman's Crossing. There are definitely upsides and downsides to this book. I loved the ideas between sea serpents, dragons, and liveships, and the interconnection between them all. I found the story somewhat engrossing, and I wanted to know more, especially due to the odd pacing. The characters are conflicted, though several of them in the same way, but to which end, I do not know. They have interesting interactions, and I find Thymara to be particularly intriguing. However, there are incredibly odd things about it. The pacing, as I mentioned, is rather weird. You meet many of the characters all at once, only to skip ahead about 4 years without any real warning. The story bounces around with good flow but very little actually happens. This book serves to be more of an introduction to a greater story. It does it's job to create interest, without actually being particularly interesting in itself. All in all, it gives a very good feeling for the characters, though not much for actual story progression.
I picked up Wizard's First Rule after I saw the TV series, Legend of the Seeker, to find out what the real story was, as I had enjoyed the show but had heard that it was nothing like the book. I have to say, WFR was very well written. The story is engrossing and the characters are intriguing, though a goody-goody to some extent. The aspects of magic are well thought out and the book follows an excellent pattern where many threads unwind, only to wind back together perfectly in the end for a fantastic conclusion that leaves the reader satisfied. It is deep without being confusing, and fun without being overly silly. Though it is not perfect, it is surely worth at least a one-time read. I find it probably most ideal to young adults.
I have very mixed feelings about this book. I love how Corine keeps growing and always stays loyal to her friends, even though her decisions can't always keep them safe. As shown by this book, where she must travel to Sheol (the demon realm), after her best friend is kidnapped. She has plenty of misgivings before the journey, but she could never have foreseen all that will happen. I suspect some of the events of this book are probably going to have some extremely far-reaching consequences.
As exiting as reading a research paper!(well, to speak to the truth, I've read more exiting research papers) I was hoping to read a story of space adventure and experience a good plot, but I was searching it from the wrong place. This book isn't about that. It doesn't have plot. It doesn't have real characters. It doesn't have real excitement. It's all about describing what an alien ship could look like and everything else in the book serves that purpose to the every annoying detail. Even when there were attempts of describing danger, the narrator would stop for moment and use paragraph do describe a technical detail efficiently killing the atmosphere.
I'll keep this short and simple. If you're interested in reading check it out from the library. If you like it, prepare to be pulled into this revisionist telling of the land of Oz. It's mind blowing. I'd highly recommend anyone to read it.
It's been a long while since the second book and I think rereading the first one before opening this book might be a good idea. It makes you understand more subtle references in the book, although I note that the book seems very different from the first two. The two books before this have been strolling on and focused on Candy's adventures, but this one has relatively larger scale and the events get more complicated. New characters are introduced and things a reader though sure are turned upside down. Big changes are coming... The text itself was guaranteed Clive Barker style and I'm sure Abarat lovers will love this book, too. It has more action and more twists than I certainly expected and after it I was left with a wee bit confused expectation of the fourth book. Whereas the second book had in a way a clear cut ending, the third does not. So many things are left open-ended and questions are still unanswered. A good read that keeps up the high quality of the series.
I came across this book by accident, and enjoyed it greatly. In the midst of a life glutted with political chaos, cultural conflict, and pain is it possible to rise above the temptation to abuse true power? The struggle between good and evil is renewed with a twist. Shrouded Secrets could make a bid to challenge best selling series such as Harry Potter, Star Wars, and Twilight. The action is real, the dialogue is fresh, and the romance leaves you wanting for more. I cried at one point in the book and can't wait for the next one. Skip the prologue and just with chapter one, then go back and read the prologue afterward. I found a glossary at http://www.shelfari.com/books/17816412/Shrouded-Secrets It was so helpful that I wish it was part of the book.
I liked the first book a lot, but I hated the movie. Overall, it was very well written and gripping. I stopped reading for a while before this book was released, but this kicked right back into reading again. It's clear that Bella is the damsel in distress and that Edward is the proverbial knight in shining armor, but hey, nothings a hundred percent original anyway. What really matters is if an author can put new skin over old bones, and Meyer did that with the Twilight Saga.
Unlike so many sequels all of the books in this series stand on their own while at the same time bringing back characters you want to see again. Diamond keeps the excitement and fun coming from beginning to end.
Definitely for young readers. My husband and I always take books on CD for road trips and we thought that we would try this since we really enjoyed the Harry Potter series on CD. Was told that they would be just as good. I wanted to shoot myself while listening to this book. I would have been better if I could have read it so I could have skipped through hours of torture of Edward and Bella in her bedroom and how he watched her sleep and so on and so forth. And does it seem creepy to anyone else that Edward could be Bella's great great grandfather!