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A Reader's reviews
| My Reviews - Page 1 of 2 |
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-07-31 08:59:51 for Sum Of All Fears Movie Tie In.
(Language: English)
  
I was just fascinated by this book. It's so hard to stop reading... Clancy's world is just amazingly detailed and scarily accurate. The best part is the really, really intricate explanations of how they make the bomb. Wow.... so cool, and so scary.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-07-31 08:56:50 for Rainbow Six (Tom Clancy).
(Language: English)
Why is this one of my favs? I don't know. There's very little plot. but Clancy is doing what he does best here, which is intricate and entirely believable military detail. The overarching plot is crap, but the book itself is just so much fun and absolutely fascinating. John Clark is the original Jack Bauer. If you like 24, you should read all the original Clancy books.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-07-31 08:55:21 for The Hunt for Red October (Jack Ryan).
(Language: English)
Didn't even know there was a movie.... anyways, this is one of the best books i've ever read. There's not much more to say. Clancy is really just amazing, absolutely amazing, and this is possibly his greatest book. One of my top 10 ever.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-07-31 08:50:59 for To Visit the Queen.
(Language: English)
Another really fantastic chapter in the same world as The Book of Night with Moon -- not quite as good as the first one, but in my opinion just as engaging. Slightly darker. Duane really has an eye for scenery and detail, which is why her best books are set in places she cares deeply about: New York & Ireland in the Wizard books, and now London. There are some extraneous characters and storylines, but the basic idea is really really fun.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-07-31 08:47:54 for The Book of Night with Moon.
(Language: English)
Duane does it again. In my opinion this is the best book she wrote-- mature, self-contained, and effortlessly fun. It's also *not* a clear YA book like the rest of her books, since the main character is (sort of) middle aged. I can't say enough good things about this book. She took the world she created with "so you want to be a wizard" and came at it from an entirely different angle with a new cast of characters who are all unique and completely engaging. The book is solidly plotted, fascinating, and heartwrenchingly good. You'll never walk into Grand Central Station without looking up, ever again. I've read this book a hundred times and I'll read it a thousand more-- it never gets old.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-07-31 08:44:33 for Wizards at War (The Young Wizards, Book 8).
(Language: English)
Not a huge fan... I think the series is sinking under its own weight. Duane has proven herself capable of creating an (almost) seperate world with the Cat books, so I wish she'd turn her efforts to something new. It was still a good book; I just wasn't a fan of the way some of her 'newer' characters interacted with the old ones.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-07-31 08:42:58 for Wizard's Holiday: The Seventh Book in the Young Wizards Series.
(Language: English)
A return to some of the fun of the earlier novels. I'm not sure how I feel about the new world Nita and Kit find themselves in, but it's clear Duane has really learned how to tackle the bigger issues in these books. This one is simultaneously fun and engaging, and suspenseful. Definitely one of the best of the series, and an excellent read.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-07-31 08:41:21 for A Wizard Alone: The Sixth Book in the Young Wizards Series.
(Language: English)
Again, Nita and Kit separated.... though Ponch is a really cool character, I don't think Kit can hold the series on his own. This book, again, is one of those chapters that 'had to happen' to set up happenings later in the series.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-07-31 08:39:57 for The Wizard's Dilemma (digest): The Fifth Book in the Young Wizards Series.
(Language: English)
Not quite a huge fan of this one. I think Duane overreached a bit with the plotline, but she gets serious bonus points for tackling a REALLY, really tough moral issue. I probably won't return to it just because Nita's pain was so tangible. I love the dynamic of Kit and Nita, so having them alone was a little tough, but taken in context with the whole series this was an episode that had to happen. Kudos to Duane for not skipping out on the harder, crappier parts of life, and for making her characters deal with them.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-07-31 08:37:19 for High Wizardry.
(Language: English)
EXCELLENT book, one of my favs in Duane's classic series. Everything that made Duane a star is back here in full force, and we get to see spirited little Dairine morph from an annoying little sister to a main character in her own right. Duane knows just how to complicate relationships, whether friends or family, and it's all here with the addition of one of the more gripping storylines of the whole series. Probably one of the best she ever wrote.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-07-31 08:35:34 for Deep Wizardry: The Second Book in the Young Wizards Series.
(Language: English)
Good... very good. Not quite as good as the first few, but maybe I just didn't get into the ocean setting again. Duane is really good at really dealing with all the details of her world, like the fact that the kids' parents are really starting to realize that something is up....
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-07-31 08:33:27 for So You Want to Be a Wizard (Young Wizards).
(Language: English)
One of my absolute favorite YA fantasy books. Duane is one of those authors who just 'gets it'.... her world is beautiful and fascinating. Her loving descriptions of New York made me long to be there. Nita and Kit are really awesome characters, and Nita especially is just so easy to relate to, whether you're 10 or 40. The whole series is quality, but this one is especially good as the book that started it all.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-07-31 08:31:34 for A Wizard Abroad (Young Wizards).
(Language: English)
Pretty good.... I think Duane is losing some of the magic of her first few books though. I just don't like Dairine as much as Nina and Kit. Still a 4 star book and a worthwhile read for any fan of YA fantasy.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-07-31 08:29:57 for The Bourne Identity.
(Language: English)
These books are way better than your typical made-into-a-movie crap. Tightly plotted and a thriller all the way through. It's worth noting that the movies are entirely different, which means both the book series and the movie series are fantastic and awesome in entirely different ways-- read/watch them both. The movies are great, but the books are just phenomenal. A review below me describes them as 'technical' writing, and that's just right-- if you like flowery descriptions, these books are not for you, but Ludlum has an eye for detail and every move is intricately plotted. Definately some of the best in this genre.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-07-31 08:27:05 for The Bourne Supremacy (Bourne Trilogy, Book 2).
(Language: English)
A really good read. If you like spy thrillers and action books, these aren't just movie fodder, they're actually very tightly plotted books. I enjoyed it... and as a bonus, the movies diverge quite a bit from the books, so one won't spoil the other!
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-07-25 03:03:40 for Godslayer: Volume II of The Sundering.
(Language: English)
Pretty terrible. Did the same person write the Kushiel trilogy, and these books? Really? Hard to believe. These books are very painfully mediocre, suffering from a huge number of over-powered characters with melodramatic, angsty pasts. Nothing to see here, at all.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-07-25 03:01:08 for Kushiel's Avatar (Terre D'ange).
(Language: English)
This book was.... amazing. Brilliant in the same way as the first two, and at the same time incredibly different. It's hard to think about this novel without remmebering the horror of Darsanga. It was one of those terrible, terrible things that will affect the way I read literature forever. Carey really moved me, and I was crying and horrified and ectastic at the same time. It also introduced perhaps the most awesome character in the whole series: ten year old Imriel! And so, when Imriel tagged along for the second half of the book, I almost died of joy. He made the whole thing stick together, and watching Phedre and Joscelin heal with him was heartbreakingly beautiful. My favorite part was definitely Imriel, his character, his existance, etc. Can't fail to mention the settings. Carey is at her absolute finest here, with Romania (?) and then the splendor of Africa portrayed in the most fascinatingly beautiful manner. It's like looking at some kind of spectacular portrait-- I would read a scene, slow down, and then reread it just to take it in again. The religious plot is a little heavy-handed... I wasn't crazy about the "beat the angels" theme. But that's a tiny, tiny complaint compared to the splendor of the novel. A fitting conclusion to one of the most spectacular trilogies I've ever read.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-07-25 02:55:17 for Kushiel's Chosen.
(Language: English)
It's tough to decide which of these books is my favorite, because they're all so different. It's pretty clear that Carey is one of the best fantasy writers of the last decade, so I'll just talk about why this book in particular is great. First of all, the primary conflict is internal-- Phedre and Joscelin's doomed but fated love finally tears them apart, and the consequences are both privately devastating and externally relevant. I never liked this one as much, mostly because Joscelin is my favorite character (ok, second favorite, behind Anafiel Deluaney *sob*) and he was as a matter of course absent for much of this book. However, the adventures are even wilder and more colorful, and the big reveal halfway through the novel floored me. It was almost the coolest, most stunning scene in the whole novel. Carey entertains in a fascinating, compelling way. These novels are spellbinding. This one is no different. Usually the second book in a trilogy lags, but this one was -- if anything-- almost better than the first.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-07-25 02:50:21 for Kushiel's Dart.
(Language: English)
One of the most surprisingly beautiful books I have ever read. The Kushiel trilogy is, without a doubt, one of those trilogies that will stick with me forever. First of all, her writing. It's lucious. It's beautiful. Carey writes English like it's French, and the sentences flow off the page in a sensuous and liquid display of true literary brilliance. It's occasionally layered too thick, but that's all part of the voice of her absolutely brilliant protagonist. Cheers to Carey for creating one of the most memorable, enduring female characters I have ever read-- Phedre is strong in the way that a flower that bends in the wind is strong. She is so subtle and quiet, but confidant and proud... she's a mystery, and completely unlike any other female protagonist I have ever read. What a thought-- girls don't have to be bitchy natural leaders to be strong heroes! And the plotline. I've never, ever encountered such an intricately detailed plotline, one that wraps up beautifully at the end of each book but continues throughout them all. Carey is a masterful, masterful plotter as well as writer and character artist. I could go on, but it's impossible to read these books without falling desperately in love with them. At least, I guess, if you have my interests. Carey is one of the most fascinating fantasy (more like, alternate history) writers I have ever had the pleasure of encountering. These books are classics. The only flaw is that they're all equally good, so it's tough to decide which one to re-read when I get bored.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-07-25 02:42:01 for Kushiel's Justice.
(Language: English)
Thousands of times better than Scion. Really. Thank goodness... still not quite as good as the original series, but it's nice to know Carey's still got the magic. I really liked it. Well-written, intriguing, and very very dark and sexy. A little of the political, intricately plotted depth of the originals is back here, and she has (thank goodness!) dropped the silly Guild storyline into the trash, where it belongs. The land of Alba is rich and colorful where the world of the last book was superficial and bland. I wasn't a huge fan of the last half, and this book isn't better than a 4/5 stars, but I'm just so relieved to see some of the "magic" of Carey's previous books.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-07-25 02:38:55 for Kushiel's Scion.
(Language: English)
Ugh .... not as good. Imriel just isn't as believable. I'm beginning to think Carey was a one-hit wonder -- these books have none of the depth and wonder that the Phedre books had. The Phedre books hooked me by halfway through the first one, with their intricate plotting and incredible characters. This one was just a lot less detailed. It was a more mediocre romp through an admittedly cool fantasy world. The "Guild" is really, really dumb. A huuuuuge disappointment-- and I LOVE Imriel! Thank god the second one was billions of times better.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-07-25 02:33:10 for THE SKIES OF PERN Unabridged audio book 10 cassettes.
(Language: English)
McCaffrey shows a modern sensibility here-- the later Pern books are far more complicated and mature than the early ones. More along the lines of twentieth century sci fi, and she's such a masterful author that it all seems to work-- somehow. A thoroughly enjoyable read, though I would recommend reading the last few Pern books all together or you'll be confused.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-07-25 02:31:55 for Pegasus in Space.
(Language: English)
This is probably the best of the Talent books focusing on the "past", or back when Earth was still just reaching out to the stars for the first time. Peter Reidinger is pretty awesome, and he really struts his stuff here. The Talent series -- past and present-- were some of McCaffrey's better novels, in my opinion, though they're less liked than Pern. Anyways, a good book if you like the whole series.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-07-25 02:30:45 for Pegasus in Flight.
(Language: English)
I sort of love all the Talent books.... I don't really know why. I just love them. I have read this book a million times and will probably read it a million more.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-07-25 02:30:06 for The Ship Who Sang.
(Language: English)
Classic McCaffrey. One of her finest books, because it was one of her first famous ones. I never really liked these books too much, but I think it was more personal preference. McCaffrey is one of those authors who really shaped and changed a genre-- and a generation-- and this book was part of it. It's not a terribly stunning piece of literature but is really, really good entertaining storytelling.
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| My Reviews - Page 1 of 2 |