Latest Book Reviews and Comments

Robin Hobb certainly knows how to give her chacters a hard time. Not one of the main characters survives without some life-changing injury or psychological trauma. While this is an effective way of adding depth to the narration, it doesn't make comfortable reading, as every catastrophe inevitably leads to the next, even worse one. On the other hand, Hobb writes enviably lucid and fluent prose, and has all the makings of a master storyteller. Once the reader gets swept up into the swell of the story it's hard to resist its pull. Compared to the Farseer trilogy this book has a major shortcoming, however: its lacks really strong central characters which made the Assassin books a rare achivement in the field of fantasy. Whereas in the Farseers, Hobb had managed to create offbeat characters like the Fool, Ship of Magic is mostly peopled with stereotypes. If the next book of the Liveship trilogy turns up on my doorstep I will probably pick it up and read it. Otherwise I am not all that interested what will happen to the characters during the next 2000 pages or so, and in the meanwhile will look for something more original to read.

New Moon was way better than Twilight. Why? Because Edward Cullen wasn't there for the most of the book. Give me Jacob Black any day! Edward, being oh so perfect, is boring beyond words. Jake has issues, so he is more interesting as a character. I have to admit that Meyer knows something about emotions and writes easily readable yarns. But why is everyone into Edward Cullen? I want Jacob Black fan club!

Rimontheepa tells the story of a world in turmoil, a world crying out to be saved but only 3 things can make a difference Friendship, Love & Hope. Four friends & their accomplices form a plan & head out across the Ancient lands to try & bring light back into the world, all of Kuldom are at war whether they choose to be or not, it is upon them. * A book that makes you ask questions of yourself & the world around you.

If I was 12 I might have liked it. Now - mostly having fun with the poor writing and bland characters! The only thing she got right is the feeling a girl haves for her first crush - but I had that at 10 or something, not at 16 or 17 :D I do understand WHY this sells - who didn't want a beautiful, mysterious boyfriend in their teens?

I loved the first two books of this series and naturally had high expectations for the final one. Abercrombie is brilliant, Last Argument of Kings was as good as I hoped but in a different way than I anticipated.. The tone of the story stays the same, dark and grim and regardless of the fact that it happens in a fantasy world, it has realism in it that made me feel the sword cuts, smell the burning bodies and hear the death cries. Only thing that bothered me slightly was the ending that left too much open. I liked the fact that the door was left ajar for new stories but with some things I would have liked to see less ambiguous endings. (This is the point about which I've seen the most negative opinions) Abercrombie threw traditional fantasy cliches out of the window and made The First Law trilogy a great reading experience.

Abercrombie redeems the promise set by the first part of the First Law trilogy and delivers a rocking sequel that ranks very high on my personal list. (It won't stand alone so before grabbing it from the bookstore, check out The Blade Itself.) It's fast, funny, dark and refreshingly original. The interesting characters evolved even more, the plot twists left my socks spinning and the cruel..ish humor made me first laugh out loud, then blush in embarrassement and then chuckle once more. But as much as I loved it, I must say the younger audience and more sensitive souls might be better off skipping it. The story left me biting my nails, waiting for the day the third book would drop in my mail box and thinking seriously about starting a Glokta fan club.

Really fun stuff about the eternal battle between the Light and the Dark. Nothing too heavy, just plain good story telling. I laughed out loud several times to the small jokes in the stories. The book isn't a one big story but three stories about Anton's life. Recommended if you're looking for plain fun pleasure reading. (And if you want more depth you can always participate in more detail to the eternal debate between Light and Dark.)

A friend of mine recommended this book to me, so my expectations were high. Soon, however, I began to despair of Maguire's style: his narrative moves very fast, leaves a lot (intentionally) untold, and gives very little access to the characters' motivations. We only get inside the Witch's head in the last quarter of the book, which I think is one of the weaknesses of Wicked, as it claims to be an exploration of the main character's relationship with good and evil. There is a lot going on for a book of this length: lots of characters, political, religious and moral speculations, as well as other intriguing themes. None of these were developed even half-way of their potential which I found very disappointing. I think a more thorough knowledge of the Oz books would have helped, as they would perhaps shed some light on details and plot twists that to me were mostly unnecessary and confusing. On the plus side, I enjoyed Maguire's fluent writing and his unusual metaphors. If it hadn't been for these I probably would have put down the book after the first chapter and wouldn't have picked it up again.

Felix Gilman's Thunderer is an excellent debut fantasy book. I liked Thunderer very much, because it was different from the usual fantasy books. In my opinion Felix Gilman writes surpringly well for a debut fantasy writer. The world he created was interesting and different from normal fantasy worlds. The story was also interesting. I won't say more about the story, but I can say that it's worth reading. I can recommend this book to all fantasy readers, who want to read something different.

I know that some people like and praise the sequels of Dune as much as they can, but I don't praise them. The last books of the Dune saga are simply horrible and disgusting science fiction books, which have nothing to do with the high quality of the first book. Chapterhouse: Dune is a disappointing conclusion to the Dune saga. I didn't like this book at all. In my opinion it's pure trash from start to finish. If you like the first Dune book and the early sequels, you probably shouldn't read this book. I think you'll be very disappointed, if you try to read it.

Heretics of Dune is a bad and horrible science fiction book. It's definitely one of the worst books I've ever read. I didn't think it was possible to write something as bad as God Emperor of Dune, but obviously (and unfortunately) it was possible. I can give Heretics of Dune only one star, because it doesn't deserve more stars. In my opinion this series should've ended after Children of Dune, because the other books are unnecessary sequels.

God Emperor of Dune is one of the weakest Dune books I've read. I was very disappointed with the quality of God Emperor of Dune. It's amazing how bad this book is. The three previous books were readable, but this book is barely worth reading. I can't recommend God Emperor of Dune to anybody, because I don't like it. I'm sure that all readers who like the first book will dislike this book.

I have to admit that I was disappointed with Children of Dune. It isn't the worst science fiction book I've read, but it isn't the best either. In my opinion Children of Dune is a mediocre science fiction book. Children of Dune is a bit weak when compared to the first book, which is excellent in almost every possible way. I have to say that I don't understand how some people can praise this book, because I found it quite boring. I can give this book only three stars, because I don't like it very much.

I liked Dune very much, but Dune Messiah isn't as good a book as Dune. Dune Messiah isn't a bad book, but it simply isn't as enjoyable as Dune. When I began to read Dune Messiah I expected to read something as fascinating and original as Dune, but unfortunately I was a bit disappointed. I guess my expectations were too high, because the first book was great. I can recommend this book to science fiction fans, but I must say that if you think that this book is as good as the first book, you'll be disappointed.

I read this book a couple of weeks ago. I have to admit that I couldn't wait to get my hands on this book, because I like Lynn Flewelling's fantasy books. At first I was a bit afraid that the quality of this book might be bad, because long fantasy series have a tendency to become boring after the first books. Fortunately this book was quite good and the story was interesting. I must say that Lynn Flewelling is a talented fantasy writer, who knows how to write good and entertaining adult fantasy. In my opinion this book is entertainment and it's not meant to be taken seriously. If you've read the previous Nightunner books and liked them, you should read Shadows Return, because it continues the story of Alec and Seregil.

A Shadow in Summer is one of the best new fantasy books I've read during the last couple of years. It was a pleasant surprise, because I didn't expect it to be as good as it was. It isn't perfect, but it's very good. This book is surprisingly original and well written for a debut fantasy book. The fantasy world is interesting and different. Daniel Abraham manages to avoid all the usual fantasy clichés, which is great, because I'm a bit tired of reading "a farmboy becomes a wizard" stories (some of these stories are entertaining, but most of them are often boring and annoying). I liked A Shadow in Summer very much and I can highly recommend it for all fantasy fans, who want to read something different.

Necronimicon: The Best Weird Tales of H.P. Lovecraft is a "must have" book for all Lovecraft fans, because it contains all the classic short stories, which made Lovecraft famous. It also contains black and white illustrations by Les Edwards and a map of Arkham. The hardcover edition of this book is almost 900 pages long. It's a leather bound book and the black leather cover looks good. It's nice that Gollancz decided to publish this kind of a book. In my opinion this book is a great collection of Lovecraft's short stories. The illustrations look beautiful and they add a nice touch to the fascinatingly weird stories. If you're a Lovecraft fan, you should buy this book immediately. You won't regret it.

Though the premise of the story is interesting, the prose is cumbersome. McKinley has written this tale as if it were written in large part by a teenage boy. The run-on sentences utilized to emulate the thoughts of the narrator make for difficult reading.

Arrow's Fall brings the trilogy to its not-so-unpredictable end. The only change to the two previous books is the tone that dives (a bit too abrubtly) towards much more dark and violent events. The style has improved a bit since the first book but the overall disappointment is sealed with the unoriginal conclusion. I'm not sure to who I would recommend this trilogy. The story limps and style is too naive for older readers but some of the themes limits the younger audience. The only reason why these books received whole two starts from me is that I actually managed to finish reading them, the single one is reserved for totally unreadable material.

Arrow's Flight continues Talia's story which started in Arrows of the Queen. This book is probably the most solid of the three, thus a slight improvement compared to the previous part. Still, if you're not a adolescent female with a My Little Pony collection, this probably is not for you. There's some sexual (not very descriptive) content and even a gay (GASP!!) characters, but the story stays securely on a level that wont challenge more mature readers.

In Arrows of the Queen, first book of a trilogy, Mercedes Lackey introduces the world of Valdemar. I read all the three novels in a row, and in my opinion, they could have been squeezed between one pair of covers, omitting some flash backs the two sequels had. The writing is more suitable for YA level, but some "grown up" themes probably forced these novels into the adult fantasy shelves. The story is way too one dimensional Cinderella tale for my taste. At times it felt that the author had written a bunch of separate scenes and slapped them together forgetting the necessary glue in between to knit together a solid story. It was too predictable and naive to be truly enjoyable.

I just finished reading The Born Queen. Before I write anything about this book, I must say that I like Greg Keyes' writing style and original fantasy stories very much. In my opinion The Born Queen is a great fantasy book for readers, who enjoy good and entertaining fantasy stories. This book is compelling and worth reading (especially if you like Greg Keyes as much as I do). The characters are interesting and there's enough depth to them. The Born Queen is one of the most enjoyable fantasy books I've read this year. I can recommend this book to all Keyes fans and fantasy lovers.

Prior to reading this book I searched for other reviews and noticed that people either loved or hated it. I ended up with rather mixed feelings after finishing the novel. Donaldson brings The Land alive with beautiful, metaphoric descriptions. That is the strength of his work. Personally, I didn't find the anti-hero protagonist Thomas Covenant as repulsive as many other people have, on the other hand I couldn't spare much sympathy for him either, but while bitter, angry and arrogant, he feels so very human. The beginning is strong and despite the very dark mood, I wanted to follow Thomas through his struggles. Unfortunately in the middle the story loses a lot of momentum. Towards the end it gets more wind in it's sails and the action packed finale satisfied me. Lord Foul's bane is not an easy book. I surely missed a lot that was hidden behind the poetics and metaphors and overall darkness was at times exhausting. I was reminded of Tolkien's stories although Donaldson's style couldn't be more different. I'd recommend this for everyone who is mature enough to read adult fantasy, just because it's so different from most novels that I've read. Hate it or love it, but have a taste of something unusual.

I finished reading Wrath of a Mad God last night, so here's a small review about it. Wrath of a Mad God is a readable (and sometimes even enjoyable) fantasy book, but unfortunately it's not as good as Raymond E. Feist's earlier books (the first Midkemia books and The Empire Trilogy, which was co-written by Janny Wurts). Feist's writing style is "nice", but this book could've been a lot better. I can recommend Wrath of a Mad God to all Feist fans, because this book contains everything you can expect from Feist. I'm not sure if other readers will like this book or not, but if you don't have anything else to do, you might consider reading this book.