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A Reader's reviews
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-08-10 06:25:42 for The War of the Flowers.
(Language: English)
   
A cliche fantasy. If you like Tad Williams or fantasy in general, it's fine and fun.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-08-10 06:23:31 for InterWorld.
(Language: English)
A fun read - much like the Saturday morning cartoon it was originally intended to be. If you like Gaiman and you want a fun afternoon read, check this out.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-08-10 06:18:35 for Jesus, Interrupted: Revealing the Hidden Contradictions in the Bible (And Why We Don't Know About Them).
(Language: English)
This is a great introduction to historical study of the Bible. It is easy to read and tackles many major issues that you can chew on (either privately or with friends!) for many a good debate. Ehrman handle the historical Jesus in one chapter, which left me wanting more on this topic. I also loved the sections on comparing gospels, and delving in to what each says about this "familiar" story. A great book for those who have and those who have not read the Bible, and for anyone interested in learning more about early Christianity.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-03-07 08:56:41 for Chronicles of the Black Company.
(Language: English)
An excellent and extremely fast-paced tale. Cook does not fall into the trap of over-describing his world just because he is fascinated by it. The characters keep this story involved, and they sprint through battles and world-changing events at break-neck speed. This is a great tale of mercenarys, with plenty of battle and humor and even some love.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-03-07 08:53:36 for Pawn of Prophecy.
(Language: English)
A cliched revisit to the standard fantasy. The characters were engaging enough to keep me reading and finish the series.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-03-07 08:48:43 for Nation.
(Language: English)
A thoughtful and entertaining book. It's not exactly Pratchett's typical satire - it has a much larger dose of introspection - but it's definitely worth a read. Pratchett fans will probably still like it, as will those enjoying a good survivor story. The story is spiced with humor to keep the material from getting too heavy. It's a needed flavor, since the main characters suffer a great deal and go through crises of faith and struggle mightily throughout. Ruminations on the purpose of human suffering and existence in general do cover somewhat familiar ground. This book is often shelved in the YA section, and I think perhaps a young adult would enjoy it. Plenty worth it for us adults, however, so it's worth it to venture into other sections at the library.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-09-01 08:56:40 for Sarah: Women of Genesis.
(Language: English)
Like most of Cards works, Sarah is thoughtful and provocative. He turns the few cryptic chapters in the Bible into believable characters. I found it easy to enjoy the book as a story, and also as a foray into many moral quandries - loyalty to family being the first among them. I often disagree with the point of view in his books, but he rarely fails to deliver characters or narrative. Sarah is yet another of his books to succeed.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-11-21 05:54:47 for Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen.
(Language: English)
Even if you've never thought that the vivisection of a lobster could be funny, you should read this. Or rather, you should read this if you are a foodie, like me, and enjoy sarcastic analogies on point to the extent of bursting out in laughter and causing people to stare at you - if there were any people around, that is. The author, for reasons best known to no one, not even herself, decides to cook every recipe in Mastering the Art of French Cooking within one year. Julie tells her story in conversational, typical blog-style english that whips by so fast your neck will hurt. Even when she opts to ramble a complete side anecdote, you can't mind - not when one of them involves naked clog-dancing - no, not by her. And if you wonder what the point of the whole exercise might be... well, so does she. But it's a fun, fast ride to take.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-11-14 05:36:01 for Restoree.
(Language: English)
Okay, I admit, in part I'm giving this book 4 stars because I am fond of it, and because I read it when I was young. I gave Patrick Rothfuss's *excellent* book 4 stars. I may have to bump his up to prevent confusion. Also because it probably deserves it. This book is AnneMcCaffrey's first fantasy novel, if I remember correctly. Her early work is her best. This short novel moves fast and has a very appealing protagonist. Sara wakes one day on an alien planet, discovering she is the unwitting attendant to a man held prisoner in an insane asylum. The two of them escape and a then swept up in a web of alien politics and war. The book is fun to read, if you are willing to overlook certain logical fallacies. The alien culture is more similar to ours than, for instance, Asian cultures. There is a huge coincidence that they look almost exactly like us. Sara learns the alien language almost by magic! she barely homesick, and never suffers any depression or culture shock... rare enough for international, much less interstellar, travellers. But if you ignore all that, the book is fun. It is a romance, so beware if you are against it - but if you any Anne McCaffrey, you know it's in every book.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-11-14 05:25:48 for Wolfskin.
(Language: English)
I'd heard Juliet Marillier's name a few times, which prompted me to seek her out. I picked this one because it was in the library. It's very good. The story hinges on the friendship of two friends, very different from each other: one a warrior, dedicated and fierce; one a noble cast down by misfortune, brilliant, but possibly disturbed (and by disturbed I mean psychotically evil). The themes revolve around loyalty, love, morality, and the choices people make every day about right and wrong. The book is half historical fiction, but it really reads like epic fantasy. It's a fast read, but it has some meat to it as you contemplate our hero's moral dilemmas. The characters are especially appealing - Eyvind, our protagonist, is a warrior, but he also thinks deeply, if slowly. The reader appreciates him far more than his clever friend, and through the contrast we begin to question what the most essential qualities are for any person. The book is thoughtful, swift-paced, and a great adventure.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-09-01 01:04:40 for Hart's Hope.
(Language: English)
Card's best works are also his earliest, and Hart's Hope is a prime example. The young protagonist Orem is uniquely talented as Ender was or would be. I have a hard time describing this book. The world might be a typical fantasy world, but it is not. Card has obviously developed it in detail, but the reader encounters it only as needed. This is a style I look for in fantasy: the reader will know only the aspects of the world that have an impact on the plot. There is no useless detail here. In this compact book are all the themes that recur in Card's books: power achieved through cruelty, the benefit of the many built on the sacrifice of the few (or the one), personal strength and heroism, justice and mercy... I could go on. And yet the entire story is extremely personal, and almost familiar. Though the world is strange, the reader is left with a feeling of familiarity. This is due in large part to Card's wonderful style. I think the best illustration is the excerpt at the front of the book. " 'I have broken and humiliated her,' Palicroval said thoughtfully. 'I have killed her father before her eyes, and taken away her kingdom, and to harm her anymore would make me despise myself more than I can bear. Take the Little Queen and be kind to her.' Little Queen, thought Asineth. He will know someday who is little, and who is strong. Are you the strongest of men, so strong that you can be merciful to me, a weak woman? Asineth knew at that moment that justice could be cruel, and crueler yet necessity, but mercy was the cruelest of all. Here is the undoing of your strength, Palicroval: I am not a weak woman. I am not a Little Queen. And your mercy will be your ruin." If you don't want to read it now, you never will.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-08-31 05:38:22 for The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles).
(Language: English)
Honestly, I was surprised I liked this book as much as I did. Interview with a Vampire was not a book I cared for, though I did finish it. However, I forgot nearly everything that happened in it by the time I read this second in the series. Anne Rice's prose is... uninspiring and average, to say the least. But I was captivated by her characters and the rather effortless gothic moodiness of the book. I'm still adore the vampire rock star, though I'm a little amused by it. What a great place for a vampire in the modern world!
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-08-31 05:17:22 for A Feast for Crows.
(Language: English)
The fourth book (or rather, half-book) doesn't stand up to the first three in George R. R. Martin's great series. In part, the anticipation of finding out about the characters becomes a major letdown as some characters are not in the novel at all (Jon, Tyrion). The reader spends a great deal of time (far too much) in Cersei's head. She's a good villain, but while I was reading it I wanted to scream every time the chapter went back to her. The best part is definitely the end of the book - though I won't say more. To top it off, the cuts in this novel made it loose the cohesion of the previous books. In the first three, the reader often had the clearest idea of what was going on, picking up hints from one character and applying it to other storylines. It unified the books, and kept the reader enthralled with the many plots - instead of losing interest in them due to wide gaps between character updates. However, I will be reading the second half of this book when it is published. I do hope he never cuts a book in half again.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-07-28 07:50:20 for Grass for His Pillow (Tales of the Otori).
(Language: English)
This is quite as enjoyable as the first volume of the series. The characters continue to grow and develop, the politics gets stickier, and war seems to loom on the horizon. This is a great series!
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-07-28 07:46:17 for The Twelve Kingdoms, Volume 1: Sea of Shadow.
(Language: English)
*spoiler alert* The first book is a great read, fast-paced (most of the time) and a great roller-coaster as you follow Yoko on her adventures. She grows quite a bit through the book. If you've seen the anime, nothing here is new, exactly. Sugimoto and the boy (her high school friends) are not in the book, which ends as Yoko rescues Keiki from the false ruler of Kei. Taiki is mentioned, but obviously we have to wait for another book to find his story. Aside from the cutting of characters, much of the action is the same, including the loveable Rakushun and the eventual meeting with the King of En and Enki. Still, I thoroughly enjoyed the read, as much to re-experience a good anime as to discover more about Yoko.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-07-28 07:39:40 for If I Live to Be 100 Lessons from the Centenarians.
(Language: English)
A wonderful collection of tales with a few life lessons thrown in. I was most fascinated by the small section on "limbic resonance," which is basically a term for the connection you feel from someone as you meet and interact with them. I enjoyed the history, and I enjoyed the author's narrative thread that helped to connect and draw meaning from her encounters. And of course, contemplating the end of your own life, and what will have made it meaningful when the end comes, is not such a bad experience at all.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-07-25 08:01:58 for The Name of the Wind (the Kingkiller Chronicle: Day One).
(Language: English)
This is a great new fantasy. It has some things to say, unlike many epic fantasies out there. *cough* Tad Williams*cough* Kvothe is a very defined character, not simply a device for moving forward the plot. The world is well-defined, but it's not the point of the book, and time is not wasted describing anything unless there's a point to it. (ie Robert Jordan...) Kvothe is a great main character. He's reckless, brilliant, instinctive... I love him to pieces, and I can't wait for the next one. The plot is already complicated, and there are so many unanswered questions, will they really all be answered in a trilogy?
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-07-25 07:56:38 for Highland Fling.
(Language: English)
This book was stupid. Time traveling with crystals as an excuse to toss in some hot Scottish warrior... I skipped bits and barely bothered to finish.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-07-25 07:53:09 for Across the Nightingale Floor: Tales of the Otori Book One.
(Language: English)
Even though he is conveniently powerful and connected to every clan, tribe, and group in this historical-fantasy Japan, the main character is lovable and believable. I love any book if the characters are real. I love the simple, easy writing style, which easily weaves in the Japanese love of spare beauty.
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