5 comments about The Lost World.

1. Show me the right way to live life. That's the moral of this one.
   Ian Malcolm has always been my Favorite Crichton character. He exhibits the true thinking mind.
   It's a must have.
   (^_^)



2. This book fell far from the tree when compared to Jurassic Park. I started reading it and had to put it down because it didn't hold my attention much but a few years later picked it up again and finished it. Just not as intense of Jurassic Park and seemed a little forced.



3. I just read this book in little over a week and I am a slow reader. Michael Crichton is a very good writer and this book is an easy read. It picks up a few years later after Jurassic Park. I thoroughly enjoyed it and it was nice to read more about the dino behavior. Overall all a good fun read - you will be satisfied.



4. I enjoy most of Crichton's books, they are usually unique and intriguing . I was surprised that he was able to still have more story left after Jurassic Park, but this book was equally entertaining.



5. After reading "Jurassic Park," I decided I should go ahead and read the sequel. I expected it to be nearly as good as the first or even better, but I was disapointed. I considered giving it 2 stars, but I personally enjoyed it, so I'll rate it: "Good" (3/5). First, I'll lay down some things I didn't like about "The Lost World":
   
   1) The character development was poorly done. Nearly all the characters seem two-dimensional and consequently not as likeable as the protagonists in "Jurassic Park." Even Malcolm was not himself in this book. My respect for him plummeted in this book. He's not the informed scientist he's shown to be in the first book.
   
   2) Another thing this book lacked was a cohesive plot. It's mostly a bunch of dinosaurs chasing people around while the pursued try to escape the island. This book, it would seem, makes a much better movie sequel to the previous film, than the next book in the novel series.
   
   3) So, overall, the quality of the story has much diminished when compared to "Jurassic Park".
   
   A few things I did like:
   
   This book is a page turner and is very easy to read. (Maybe this is why it was the #1 New York Times Bestseller.) It is filled with action that continues through the last couple of pages. I found it a somewhat enjoyable read, but there are many books out there better than this one.
   
   One caution: this book contains strong language which I scribbled out with a pen as I read.

5 comments about The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian: The Original Adventures of the Greatest Sword and Sorcery Hero of All Time!.

1. Howard's Conan is a warrior and not much more. The common thread of all the stories is that somewhere along the way way Conan kills someone or something. It's pretty much that simple. Some of the stories are no more than a few pages, while others cover what essentially are multiple chapters. Most of the stories have a smoking hot woman who usually starts scantily clad and ends up completely unclad at some point - though sex does not feature (keeping in mind they were written in the 1930s). Conan isn't even the main character in some cases.
   
   Outside of the tales themselves, I found the introductory discussion of Howard and the development of the Conan character interesting. What was most intriguing to me, though, was the well developed history of Conan's world, written by Howard, which is included toward the end of the volume.
   
   Overall, if you take the stories individually, try not to link them much (despite the ever-present Conan), and you like the genre, you'll probably quite enjoy this collection. It's well written and loaded with exciting action. If you want the type of character development you get from novels, and even from the Conan movies, you'll be disappointed.



2. First, I must say that I am a woman. Many have found it unusual that I would love Robert E. Howard's work, but I do. I have all of his stories, and am grateful there are new editions to replace my poor crumbling paperbacks.
   As a writer of fantasy Robert E. Howard is a must read for any interested in the genre. We take for granted the acceptance of fantasy in literature today, but in the 1930's-it was not respected or looked on with any serious note. I am not saying Robert E. Howard was without flaws, but he could create such heat on paper in a few sentences that takes many a writer pages to achieve. His raw barbarian hero Conan goes from age 15 to aged king and his journey is never dull. It is the scope of imagination in Howard's writing that is wonderful. The freedom to be wild. We should never forget that as writers. As a reader, I relish Howard's tales of savage myth.



3. Having finally gotten around to trying and loving Conan 2.0: Kull: Exile of Atlantis, I was ready to try the finished version, and once again Robert E. Howard did not disappoint! I can honestly say I've never read anything quite like it!
   
   Introduction by Patrice Louinet: Interesting and useful, especially to a newbie like me. Discusses the significance of these editions of Conan stories: "until the present publication, Howard's Conan stories had never been published as Howard wrote them, in the order in which he wrote them, in a uniform collection."
   
   "Cimmeria": short poem containing Conan's remembrances of the home he never revisits, written about the same time that Howard first conceived the character. Also reprinted here: The Best of Robert E. Howard Volume 2: Grim Lands.
   
   "The Phoenix on the Sword": First Conan story was a rewritten Kull story "By This Axe I Rule!" The romance was eliminated, a weird element was added, and after the first draft, the somewhat slow beginning of the plotters' meeting was dropped in favor of the famous excerpt from the Nemedian Chronicles. I liked the original, but I loved this version more.
   
   "The Frost-Giant's Daughter": Interesting twist on several ancient myths with Conan in the role the relentlessly chasing god. Later rewritten as the non-Conan story "The Frost-King's Daughter".
   
   "The God in the Bowl": Weird police procedural involving the investigation of the death of a man Conan was stealing from.
   
   "The Tower of the Elephant": First great Conan story involves Conan's attempt to steal the source of the priest Yara's magic from the title thief-proof tower and what he finds there. Contains interesting bit of history firmly tying the Kull and Conan universes together. Also reprinted here: The Best of Robert E. Howard Volume 2: Grim Lands.
   
   "The Scarlet Citadel": King Conan is betrayed, his army slaughtered, and himself taken prisoner and condemned to a horrible death in the dungeons underneath the title structure, which only makes him mad!
   
   "Queen of the Black Coast": Dark masterpiece about Conan going pirating with Belit, the title pirate leader, and the grim finish, brought on by the last, twisted survivor of a dead primordial race.
   
   "Black Colossus": An ancient sorcerer is reborn and threatens to make Princess Yasmela of Khoraja his bride by force, but a forgotten oracle of Mitra tells her to fear not and place her kingdom in the hands of the first man she meets. Guess who that turns out to be!
   
   "Iron Shadows in the Moon": The first of the "formula" Conan stories. Conan rescues damsel in distress from Hyrkanians, pirates, a giant ape, and statues come to life.
   
   "Xuthal of the Dusk": Conan rescues damsel in distress from two conquering armies, a treacherous Stygian, the god of Xuthal, and the warped Xuthalites themselves.
   
   "The Pool of the Black One": Conan rescues damsel in distress from pirates and inhuman sorcerer giants.
   
   "Rogues in the House": Twist on the formula: Conan rescues fop in distress from anthropoid ape and treacherous priest.
   
   "The Vale of Lost Women": Conan rescues damsel in distress from Kushite tribesmen and "a Devil from the Outer Dark".
   
   "The Devil in Iron": Conan rescues damsel in distress from a couple of Hyrkanian plotters, a giant snake, and an iron-bodied "thing" that had crawled out of the Abyss.
   
   "The Phoenix on the Sword" (first draft): Much closer to the original "By This Axe I Rule!"
   
   "Notes on Various Peoples of the Hyborian Age": Thumbnail sketches of the Aquilonians, Gundermen, and Cimmerians.
   
   "The Hyborian Age": Detailed history of Conan's world. Written primarily as a way for Howard to keep it straight in his stories.
   
   Untitled Synopsis: Never fleshed out outline written after "The God in the Bowl" probably due to rejection of "The Frost-Giant's Daughter".
   
   Untitled Synopses of "The Scarlet Citadel" and "Black Colossus".
   
   Untitled Fragment: Conan starts to rescue damsel in distress. Probably a false start written after "The Vale of Lost Women".
   
   Untitled Synopsis and Untitled Draft: Conan rescues a couple of damsels in distress, the first from a howling mob, the second from the first. Probably a false start written before "The Devil in Iron".
   
   Hyborian Names and Countries and a couple of Hyborian Age Maps: Further author's aids.
   
   "Hyborian Genesis" by Patrice Louinet: Informative notes on the creation of the Conan stories.
   
   "Notes on the Conan Typescripts and the Chronology" and "Notes on the Original Howard Texts": Mostly of use to the Howard scholar.
   
   I am looking forward to reading the rest of this Del Rey series: The Bloody Crown of Conan (Conan of Cimmeria, Book 2), The Conquering Sword of Conan (Conan of Cimmeria, Book 3), Bran Mak Morn: The Last King, The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, The Horror Stories of Robert E. Howard, The Best of Robert E. Howard Volume 1: Crimson Shadows, The Best of Robert E. Howard Volume 2: Grim Lands, and The Horror Stories of Robert E. Howard.
   
   Note: My review title comes from the mostly praiseworthy Washington Post review published on Howard's one hundredth birthday. However a couple sentences stand out for sheer stupidity:
   
   "Perhaps most disturbingly, Conan glorifies the Gordian Knot solution: The proper response to a complex problem is to grab a sword and brutally hack away until the problem stops moving. Some naive readers might imagine that such a policy actually works in the real world."
   
   This is an obvious reference to Howard's fellow Texan, "W" the Barbarian, and while we cannot know what Howard would have thought of him, we can know what he'd have thought of this sentiment: this idiocy is why barbarism is the natural state of mankind. Earth to Washington Post: while NOBODY thinks that grabbing a sword and brutally hacking away until the problem stops moving is the solution to EVERY problem, anyone who thinks that it is NEVER the solution "is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."



4. The first of the three new editions of Robert E. Howard's Conan following the order in which they appeared and not the chronological sequence by the late Lyon Sprague de Camp. Some are classics of the genre (a genre which Howard pretty created single-handedly): "Phoenix on the Sword" -- in which King Conan, surrounded by assasins in his bed chamber, one hand against the wall, a battle axe in the other says through bloody lips, "Who dies first?" "A Witch Shall be Born" has the classic scene of Conan crucified. John Milius really screwed this up in the movie. It has none of the power of the image Howard created. In "Queen of the Black Coast" you have Howard at the height of his powers and Conan's great love of his life (another scene that Milius copped for the movie to much lesser effect). If you love fantasy than these three books will make, along with Tolkien, a great cornerstone to any library.



5. Foget your highbrow accounts of mid-life crises in the Hamptons. Forget your stories of love lost and won against the backdrop of (insert contrived historical setting here). This is what entertaining, escapist fiction is about. A guilty pleasure, something to be covertly enjoyed? No, by Crom! These stories are uncompromisingly true to themselves, and as a result have more integrity than most things I've read in the last 20 years. If only those writing in Fantasy these days could shrug off the weight of tired tropes and imposed expectations of the genre, they could produce something that approaches the fresh, snappy pace and well-described action that Howard pioneered. True, he had the advantage of helping invent the genre, and didn't have to write under this weight, but that's the fun part - like Raymond Chandler, you can read these works, see the genre being invented before your eyes and realise why the style became cliche - it was so good that everyone wanted to copy it.
   I find it interesting that Howard, who struggled with depression, wrote stories that crackle with vitality and display what I see as a celebration of living a passionate life. Funny how that works. Anyway, I leave you with a telling quote from "The Tower of the Elephant" that sums up the noble honesty of the character of Conan and why he appeals so much: "Civilized men are more discourteous than savages because they know they can be impolite without having their skulls split, as a general thing."

5 comments about Y: The Last Man Vol. 4: Safeword.

1. Warning! Spoilers ahead!
   
   This struck me as not quite as good as previous books mainly because not quite as necessary. The series at this point is tracking the journey of Yorick and his entourage from Boston to California and it is as if Vaughan decided he had to create events at the Great Divide and in Arizona to pass time before finally arriving at Dr. Mann's lab. The section where Agent 355's former colleague tortures Yorick as a form of suicide intervention is easily the worst segment of any part of the series to this point, with the possible exception of every mention of the Amazons (as a historical note, the myth that the Amazons cut off a breast in order to aim a bow more efficiently is not a part of the early progress of the Amazons). And I definitely didn't care for the ultra-right-wing Sons of Arizona that occupied the second half of the book.
   
   Still, there were some major new revelations. Let me enumerate. 1) We learn that Dr. Mann is gay and may have an attraction to Agent 355. 2) There are members of the Culper Ring who have a different agenda than 355 and are ruthless in pursuing it. 3) Hero hasn't gone away, but is searching for her brother. 4) The pregnant astronaut from Book 3 has given birth to a son. 5) Dr. Mann did not clone her nephew, as she previously told 355 and Yorick, but herself.
   
   While not as good as previous books, this is still a worthy contribution to one of the most compelling long series in graphic art. It is highly recommended because the series as a whole is highly recommended.



2. The way Brian K. Vaughan plots out his series is very interesting. Something happened to me while reading this book, and I recognized the feeling as one I got while reading the third volume collection of "Runaways," another BKV series. Vaughan creates likable, flawed characters in interesting situations and writes enjoyable stories about them. The stories are consistently entertaining and the dialogue is always quotable, but not quite... as astounding as you'd hoped. However, right when you think you know what the series is all about, he hits you with a powerful punch out of no where. That punch was this volume.
   
   The first three issues here (the titular "Safeword" arc) are the best in the series thus far. BY far. We get essential character development for Yorick, and my enjoyment of the series--and respect for Vaughan as a writer and chance-taker--has literally multiplied four times over after reading this arc. There is psychology at work and character depth that aspiring story-tellers like me yearn to achieve. The greatness countinues in the next three issues (the "Widow's Pass" arc), and--though it isn't as groundbreaking as "Safeword"--you will not be let down by the end of this book.
   
   If you haven't yet become addicted to "Y: The Last Man," this is the book that will reel you in.
   
   9/10



3. I heard of this comic book on a TV show.
   Fisrt I just bought the first book to test the water.
   Well, I had to go buy the rest of the collection on the same day!!!



4. **Siiiigh**... Where do I begin? This is the first review I've ever written, but I felt compelled. While I have to give kudos to the author of this series for tackling the oldest and greatest male fantasy (I swear I've had it since I was a preteen), it could have, and should have been so much better. I've been waiting for a movie with this type of concept to be made for years. To the point I was considering writing a script for it myself (I'm not kidding). When I found out that there was a graphic novel with this concept already made, I was quite pleased and went to the library and picked up the first 4 volumes. After reading the first 4 volumes I have no intention of reading the remainder of this series (I read the synopsis on wikipedia and it doesn't look like I missed anything). While I was happy at first with some of the ideas and concepts that are used to bring this story to life, I had plenty of problems with the way the author presented things. I've decided to list this in pros and con fashion to make this easier for you folks who are on the fence.
   
   Pros: The concept of having female male impersonators is clever because in a society like this they probably would be I high demand (I never thought of that). The idea of the streets clogged with automobiles from the dead men is also a good clever concept. The y chromosome plague and alluding to it's original application as a military ploy going extremely wrong is also very intriguing (I'm not sure if this is mentioned in or up to the 4th volume or if I read this on wikipedia). Also the inclusion of the Israeli army is also a good nod to reality (more on that later though).
   
   Cons: There are a lot of problems with this series in my humble opinion. By the fourth book we've got ninjas???? WTF? That's very 80's and corny. The pet monkey thing could also have been omitted because it's quite annoying and makes the story even more juvenile than it already is. A super-secret faction of the government called the culper ring??? Cheesy. I mean really, don't we have enough real life abbreviated organizations (FBI, CIA, ATF) in the real world who have secret and seemingly unscrupulous agendas that could have been used coherently? Above I mentioned that the inclusion of the Isreali army was a good nod to reality, but they are portrayed as inept with a warped agenda, which is to say their inclusion is almost anti Semitic (and no, I'm not Jewish). The whole "Around the world in 80 days" thing to go see Yorick's girlfriend in Australia is highly implausible. I appreciate chivalry, I also appreciate the fact that the arts promote healthy relationships (thought it was esxremely stupid to dissolve spider-mans marriage with a deal with the devil, but I digress) but this is totally acceptable time to stray from your relationship. In one panel it is suggested that Yorick has been masturbating for the last 8 months or whatever since the plague hit. Are you serious? A plague with Armageddon proportions has hit earth wiping all males from the planet except this highly annoying guy and his stupid monkey and you're wasting male semen doing the knuckle shuffle? In a time like this, a teaspoon of human seed would be worth more than a barn full of diamonds or truckloads of platinum. It's literally the key to humanities survival and this guy is wasting his genetic material in the name of some girlfriend who might be dead for all he knows? Utterly ridiculous. This is might be beside the point, but he seems to find it toooo easy to fend of his male primal instincts (not saying that he shouldn't, but at least struggle with it) despite the fact he's the most desirable male in the world. Also the whole amazon thing was asinine and very sexist (this coming from a man who's been called sexist). Women would be a lot more united than presented in this series if men were to stop existing. Sadly most division between the same sex is due to the opposite sex (I went to catholic all boys high school, barely any fighting. Ever!)
   
   Suggestions to make this story better: Add some more males. Maybe 4 or 5 other guys. This way you could show male camaraderie as well as have different viewpoints on being one of the few last men on earth. Why not show the mourning amongst the men for their brothers, fathers and sons who were no longer there? Why not show the male perspective of a man who would over indulge in the situation? Like male porn-stars who eventually find the continuous sex redundant or actually miss the chase of going after a woman who wasn't so desperately depend on these last men. Why not show a homosexual man who is put into this ironic position? Why not have a man who's in love with his wife who survived the plague and is pretending to be a woman to preserve his relationship? Why not let time transpire and let these last men father a generation of children and show their indifference to these children just because of their sheer numbers? Why not show how women would structure themselves and dominate these last few men? These are all dynamics that I would have liked to have seen explored (and would have been in my script) if not for recent announcement that there were making a movie about this stupid yorick guy (Horrible names in the book Also. 355? Yorick? Ampersand? Dr. Mann? Coooorny. Dr.Mann is straight out of the James bond pun book).
   
   This was just some food for thought. Does anyone agree with me?



5. For a year and a half, Yorick, 355, and Dr. Mann have been traveling to find a lab where they hope to figure out why Yorick and his pet monkey Ampersand are the only males left alive. Everyone is feeling down but that's dangerous for the last male. In need of antibiotics but fearful of Yorick need to jump into dangerous situations, they leave him with a former ally of 355, 711 who is far more than a simple covert operative. The second story in this book looks at a nutty states' rights group in Arizona which survives and thrives but also threatens the flow of necessary goods between west and east. Not every woman Yorick meets wants in his pants, some just want to kill him and some just want to kick make and have a beer. Sadly the middle group seems the most numerous as the "Sons of Arizona" prove again.

5 comments about 1634: The Baltic War (The Ring of Fire).

1. Yes, Eric Flint is a communist. This isn't in any real dispute. He doesn't deny it although in the dust jacket blurb he is euphemistically termed an "activist". That much is certainly true. He wasn't an arm chair lefty. He left the main stream bourgeois world to try to organize the proletariat for the coming revolution. Alas revolution failed to come in America and the Soviet Union crumbled. Flint turned to writing.
   
   This is a rather atypical background for a Sci-Fi author - many of whom from Campbell and Heinlein to Niven and Pournelle have been predominately oriented toward the right. The question is then, does Flint's unusual personal politics color his message? The answer I think must be yes.
   
   Notice I didn't say plot. I said message. The 1632 books are very preachy. They are all didactic and this one - The Balkan War - is no different. In some ways its worse. The heros have always been proletarians, minorities or women.
   
   Mike Sterns who is called "the Prince of Europe" in this book is a coal miner and a local labor union organizer. I once was a local labor union organizer. Maybe I should put in for the "Prince of Europe" job. The US President (GWB) has had an MBA from a Yale. He ran most recently against another Yalie with a law degree. But in Flint's world the only person with similar credentials (Simpson) is shown in the first book to be a total fool. In subsequent books this cartoonish portrait of a corporate "suit" is molified and the rigid and wrong headed Simpson is allowed to contribute in a technocratic role but he is kept from any kind of political leadership. Only proletarians need apply.
   
   The working man hero portrait of Stearns is pretty heavy handed but it is subtle compared with with the Richter character. She is a big busted, vigorous revolutionry woman of the people. You can imagine what she looks like by recalling the "social realism" murals painted in the Stalin era. In this and earlier novels she starts communist cells everywhever she goes. It isn't modern technology that trasforms 17th century europe so much as it is her revoluntionary ground swell.
   
   Notice that it isn't the doctors that bring about change so much as it is the nurses. The two doctors who are praised are a black and a jew. Otherwise to be a progressive in Flint's world you must be a nurse. Doctors are part of the ruling class.
   
   The best shot in the world must be a woman too. She is supposed to be an Olympic Biathlete and deadly with an M-1 at incredible distances. Of course woman biathletes only shoot a .22 at 50 meters and females don't compete directly with males in the strenuous skiing competition. The Julie character was probably based on Lyudmila Pavlichenko a heroine of the Great War and well known to most communists.
   
   What does all this mean? In the real world our western civilization was built by white men. Sorry about that. The positions of authority and/or acheivement were generally held by those men who were the best educated. In the Matrix movies all the bad guys are white men in business suits. There are many black guys and gals in the movies and all of them are "good guys". The 1632 novels are similar. There are no evil or even foolish female characters. All the blacks are portrayed as noble. This isn't characterization its just a lefty agenda painted in broad strokes.
   
   I feel sorry for Flint. I Sci-Fi author is supposed to be a kind of a prophet. He's supposed to write about how the world to come will be. But if you are a communist your world crumbled in the nineties. Everything you believed in was shown to be at best nonsense and more typically dangeous and evil. Communists like Flint believed that they knew how history would play out and they were wrong. Flint then took up writing about "alternate" history where he could continue to expand on his discredited ideas.
   
   Poor little commie.



2. I've been following this series for quite some time-- and I love how fun, how interesting, these alternate histories can be.
   
   That said, I'm dead sick of how interchangable these characters are.
   
   You have two types of bad guys: real bad guys and competent bad guys.
   
   You have only ONE type of woman: screamingly strongwilled (a nice way to say overbearing), the female version of the archetypal omnicompetent man.
   
   And the heroes are all of the "I'm savage but smart" variety.
   
   Seriously, Weber and Flint, how many times can you use the word "Grin" in a single book? How many goofy placements of modern phrases into the mouths of 16 century-- non "uptime"-- characters?
   
   I love this series but I want to stop right here, if only because I can only tell the characters apart by their names and-- besides Melissa, the Richter woman and Abranel (sp?) I literally can not tell these women apart! And the men? Forget it! There's Mike Stearns, there's Admiral Simpson and there's a thousand other characters who act and talk the exact same way-- sometimes even characters who aren't American.
   
   PLEASE gentleman, learn something about complexity!



3. I am a big fan of Eric Flint, but too often I have been suckered into buying a book that has his name in big bold type only to find out he was only an editor or only slightly contributed to the writing of the book. This book is horrible, disjointed, and boring. Loved 1632 and 1633 but series has slid downhill since. Recommend browsing at library and not purchasing.



4. 1634: The Baltic War continues the story of Grantville, a small town from West Virginia thrown back in time to the middle of the Thirty Years' War. It's now three years since Grantville was transported, and the Swedish-led state built around the new town is facing a tumultuous series of battles against its multifarious enemies, the League of Ostend, an alliance of Spain, France, England, and Denmark.
   
   The book deals primarily with events along the Baltic coast, where the new American-built ironclads put to sea, have to run a gauntlet of fire, and eventually engage the Danish fleets that disrupt traffic between Sweden and Germany. As you might expect, there's plenty of action, and readers who have been disappointed with the lack of explosions in the last few installments of the series may be pleasantly surprised. If you haven't read the previous books, read those first. There's a CD inside the front cover of the hardcover that contains electronic versions of the previous books, or they can be downloaded from Baen's website. Any reader that jumps into this book without having read the previous volumes is going to be confused and won't get as much out of it.
   
   So let's get into the good and bad.
   
   The Good:
   
   It's action-packed, and for people who tired of the small-town feel of The Ram Rebellion and most of the Grantville Gazette stories, that may be a welcome change. It's written by Eric Flint, so the writing is on the whole better than in any of the fan-written works. It's fast-paced, and gives an excellent overview of almost everything going on in northern Europe during this time. It flows quickly and is a quick read -- I was able to finish it in approximately 7 hours of reading, but I'm a fairly fast reader. It provides a lot of detail for people new to the series, and for people who have read everything written in the 163x series, it's definitely recommended. Easily the third-best book in the entire series, if not second.
   
   The Bad:
   
   If anything, the story may move too quickly. There are (at last count) four main plot lines, and numerous minor ones working in the book. New readers will be thoroughly confused, and you have to have read previous books to fully understand what's going on. Because of the many plots, each plotline gets a somewhat light treatment. There's not enough fleshing out of the various plots taking place. If you understand that this book is only one part of a whole series, it makes more sense, but it's still somewhat annoying.
   
   There was originally supposed to be a separate book dealing with the events in the Tower of London and the people imprisoned there, but that plot was folded into this book. I think it was a mistake to do so -- it crowds this book and makes you hurry through that story, which really deserves its own book.
   
   Another complaint is that it wraps things up too easily. The main plots -- that of Denmark, England, and France, are largely wrapped up at the end of this book, and I got the sense that Eric Flint seemed to be tiring of the whole thing. He seems to be simply setting the stage for the fan-written associate books to continue the Italian, Bavarian, and other plot lines without his assistance. Given that he's probably been consumed with this story for almost a decade now, it's understandable, but doesn't increase my enjoyment of this particular book.
   
   The Mary-Sue factor is an additional problem. With any long-running series of books, there's a tendency to keep promoting your characters, rather than have them face setbacks in their career that might otherwise limit their point of view. That's something that's true here. There aren't that many ordinary-people point of view characters anymore. In this book, it's almost entirely about great leaders, people at the forefront of battles, or at momentous turning points. For this series, that attitude makes a certain kind of sense. Flint takes care of the main characters, and his associate writers cover everything else, and that's that.
   
   But that attitude won't help new readers to the series, and even for me, it felt somewhat odd. We do see Frank Jackson, a prominent general in the first two books, reduced to an up-time advisor to the Swedish commander, something completely plausible given the circumstances, but given the fact that he has but a few paragraphs in the entire novel, it doesn't make much of an effect, and only serves to emphasize the lack of other characters' faults.
   
   The death of one of the "major" uptime characters also serves to highlight this absence. It's an often-referred to character, but not a POV one, and one who was universally disliked by the POV characters. His loss doesn't resound in the way the loss of a POV character might. That's one thing I do enjoy about Turtledove's books -- you're never certain when someone might be written out of the story. Here, there's a fairly strong expectation that we're going to be dealing with these people throughout the life of the series.
   
   One thing that I had been expecting from snippets and previews -- the death of Gustavus Adolphus -- did not come to pass, something I felt would've helped the story along. Hopefully, a major character will die in the next book and serve to detract from the feeling of Mary-Sueism that I got from this book.
   
   One final problem, though minor at this point, is that Flint seems to be falling into Harry Turtledove's problem of repeating dialogue and description. At points in the story, I had the feeling that I had read a particular line before. I would look back at previous chapters (Thank God for the search function in the electronic version) and find the same words or almost the same words having been in another section. I fear that some of the problem is the fact that Flint doesn't seem to be trying as hard with this story as he did with 1632 and 1633. If that's the case, I almost hope that he leaves future books in the hands of his associate writers.



5. I enjoyed the first in this series. However the following books have been uneven. If you like alternative history, this is a worthwhile series.

5 comments about The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove.

1. Madness... this novel is complete and total madness from beginning to end. Returning once again to Pine Cove we can only call this a sequel to "Practical Demonkeeping" in that it takes place in Pine Cove several years after Catch has been taken care of. The Demon is referenced once and several of the town's folk are back, specifically Mavis, owner of the "Head of the Slug" tavern, Jenny - Still working as a waitress, and HP, who is still recovering from Pine Cove's last battle with the bizarre.
   
   Theo is the town constable of Pine Cove and boy does he have a rough week ahead of him. Starting with a suicide and ending with a random sea beast named Steve terrorizing and consuming the weaker minded people of Pine Cove, as Theo says - I didn't get training for this. The maddening series of events that drives this novel to its completely insane and fun filled ending includes the town shrink replacing everyone's meds with placebos, a mad biologist studying rats and chasing them all over town, A washed up and completely insane B-Movie queen tearing about town wielding a sword and wearing only her barbarian bikini, Theo's boss - The sheriff who has a few secrets of his own and Catfish - a blues singer who has seen Steve the Sea Beast before.
   
   Moore manages to hit a level of comedic insanity in this book, without ever losing control of it, which is amazing in itself. As always his characters are strange, wacky, and entirely loveable. The plot, though insane, is always fun, and his dialogue is spot on. All Moore fans have their favorite book, this is rarely listed, the reason being that many of his others (Bloodsucking Fiends, Biff, and Dirty Jobs) have much stronger plotlines while retaining the completely mad characters that everyone falls in love with. This is stronger than his first novel "Practical Demonkeeping" but not as strong as some of his others. If you are an avid Moore fan, I would suggest reading this after Demonkeeping, if you have never read Moore before, I would suggest starting with either "Bloodsucking Fiends" or "The Gospel According to Biff." Still I highly recommend this to Moore fans, it's a fun ride and you will find yourself giggling throughout.
   
   Parent note - Moore's books are NOT okay for kids. There is foul language, bizarre sex scenes, and often a few gross death scenes.



2. This was a fun, silly summer read. Some good lines and imagery. Not quite as fun as some of his other books.



3. Christopher Moore has culled a reputation as a macabre Tim Robinson: his books are amusing love stories with quirky characters, a surreal feel, and dark sense of humor. Such is the case with LLOMC, and if you're already a fan of Moore you will know what to expect (and probably like this) but if you're a novice to his works, either skip this as a starting point or at least read one of his better works first.
   
   This book has some potential, and certainly a couple of chuckles, but over-all it exemplifies one of the problems I have with Moore that prevents me from giving any of his works 5 stars: he relies on highly contrived events that work best if you turn your brain off and ignore the "convenience"/deux ex machina. In this case, much of the book hinges on our accepting that a female character would start a "relationship" with what is essentially Godzilla -- rather than the latter more "realistically" just eating her from the get-go (as the critter does with everyone else it encounters.) That had me grumbling, as it just struck me as lazy writing.
   
   Moore has done better (Lamb, Dirty Job) but he's also done worse (You Suck!) and by the end this just struck me as a so-so effort from him. On the bright side, it is quick reading and comparatively light, so if you don't mind a "trust the author/go with the flow" story, it's worth reading once if you have a long plane flight or need to work on your tan at the beach.



4. This is one of Christopher Moore's best works. It is very funny, random, and thoroughly enjoyable. Must be slightly eccentric to find it amusing. Not a "traditional" humor novel.



5. If you've read Chris Moore, you know you'll be laughing from the first page on. If you haven't read his books before, get ready. He's got to be the funniest fiction writer to come along in at least 30 years!

5 comments about Rapture in Death (In Death).

1. BORING-get a life Ms. Roberts, were I your agent not one of your books would have been published. Did you invent "reality TV"? 'If you have half a brain' (credit to Rupert Holmes)you too will fall asleep reading this author's books. So I can say something nice, her works are better than sleeping pills. I wish that I had originally known what her other name was years before I purchased the #1 of this series, I also wish I had known that each book is a carbin copy of the others, victim name changed, sometimes, to protect the innocent reader, and purely for greed.
   I did give 1 star (there was no lower one to choose) as I respect all books and wish more people would read books.



2. For those readers hooked on Robb's characters, Rapture in Death is a great contribution to the series. It focuses heavily on the just-post-marriage relationship of Eve and Roarke, especially Eve's struggle to come to terms with the strength of her feelings for Roarke (and his for her). It also includes some interesting developments in Mavis's career as a performer.
   
   The mystery is interesting, but not quite up to the level of some of the other books in the series. It's pretty easy to see which possible bad guy is the red herring and which isn't, and the red herring gets drawn out a bit long in my opinion.
   
   Since we're on the fourth book of the series, it can start to feel a little bit unlikely that so many of Eve's cases have ended up tied to people she knows so well. On the other hand, Robb knows her audience: people follow these books for the larger-than-life character drama as well as the mystery, and the way to do that is to give Eve a personal stake in her cases. So while the practical part of me balks a little at the coincidences, I have to admit that it's a very effective way to draw her particular audience in.
   
   All in all, while this isn't my favorite book of the series, I definitely enjoyed reading it. As always, there's some hot & heavy sex between our favorite billionaire and cop, so it's for adults only!



3. Although I enjoyed the first "In Death" book, I have to admit it's getting old. I keep getting this distinct feeling of deja vu everytime I read another book in the series. It's time to stop using the same recycled plot and change it up a little. This series has a lot of potential, but it seems that the author is too comforatable in the plot outline she is using now. A realize a lot of people love this series, but I'm finding it difficult to understand why. It took me three months to finish this book! Why? The explanations are too vague, the dialogue is too boring, and the plot is too predictable.



4. Could not put this book down. Very exciting as only J.D. Robb can do it.



5. I have now read the first 4 "In Death" novels J.D. Robb (aka Nora Roberts). I guess that officially makes me a fan.
   
   These books are so good, I plan to read every one of them.
   
   Each books had gotten better and better progressively. But don't get me wrong each one of them are wonderful.
   
   The characters are great, and the stories intriguing.
   
   Each time I finish one, I'm left wanting more. It is so nice to see character development throughout the series. After a while, you start to feel like you know them. Big props to Nora!
   
   Happy reading.

1 comments about The Fractured Sky: The Empyrean Odyssey, Book II (The Empryean Odyssey).

1. The Fractured Sky by Thomas M. Reid is the second book in the Empyrean Odyssey trilogy. The first book is titled The Gossamer Plain (Forgotten Realms: The Empryean Odyssey, Book 1) and the third book, which is scheduled for release in November, 2009, is titled The Crystal Mountain: Empyrean Odyssey, Book III (The Empryean Odyssey). This is the second trilogy that Mr. Reid has written in the Forgotten Realms, the first trilogy being Scions of Arrabar trilogy. The books in that trilogy include; The Sapphire Crescent (Forgotten Realms: The Scions of Arrabar), The Ruby Guardian (Forgotten Realms: The Scions of Arrabar), and The Emerald Sceptre: The Scions of Arrabar (Forgotten Realms: The Scions of Arrabar). As with the first book in this trilogy, fans of The War of the Spider Queen series may want to know that memorable characters Kaanyr Vhok and Aliiszra are once again featured in this novel. Here are my thoughts on this novel.
   
   The plot of this book is a little more straight forward than the first book. The characters have essentially divided themselves into two groups. One group "the bag guys" trying to put into motion a plan that will have far reaching consequences. The second group "the good guys" are seeking to stop the first group. That in and of itself would be a rather simple plot, but true to form, Mr. Reid includes several sub plots that add depth to the story and the characters. One of the sub plots is the alluding to the battle between the gods Tyr and Helm. Another sub plot is in regards to one of the angels striving to do what he feels is best and needs to be doe, even when that goes against what others of his kind believe he is wrong. There are also several sub plots between individual characters and feelings towards other characters. As a whole I appreciated, and was much more involved, in the plot of this book than the first book. However, even with that said, I still have a lingering feeling that Mr. Reid was some how constrained in what he was to write about and what he needed to happen to get there. The flow of the plot seems a little robotic to me and not as natural as the plot of the Scions of Arrabar trilogy.
   
   The characters in this novel are, for the most part, the same cast thatw as present in the first book. Returning characters such as Vhok, Aliiszra, Kael, Tauran, Myshik, and Zasian. In my review of the first novel, I divided the characters into three basic groups. The first being Interesting and Imaginative, the second being Supportive, and the last group Ones I could have done Without. I was curious what my perception would be of the characters a second time around. After finishing the book, I think I would still keep two of the three categories and omit the third. Tauran was a much improved character in this novel. He did not feel nearly as two-dimensional and forced as he did in the first book. One of my major points of contention with the characters is that while in the War of the Spider Queen Vhok and Aliiszra were interesting, when given more face time and a larger role I simply care less and less about them. I found it very difficult to connect with them and care about their plight. At times the dialogue came across as forced and almost as though the characters were `pushing' the story forward instead of allowing it to unfold. It's a very subtle thing, but the characters never felt natural to me aside from a few minor instances. I really wanted to care about what was going on, but I simply wasn't able to. The characters are just there and are missing something to help me connect with them.
   
   A couple criticisms about this novel:
   
   1 - I never really felt the characters were in any kind of peril that they wouldn't escape from. It seemed that every instance of trouble was over come by force or power. I wish the characters would have been less powerful for the scope of the story. I understand we are dealing with devils and angels, but that sense of trouble was missing.
   
   2 - The forced feel of this book. I don't know if it is something that comes from the top (WotC) and them telling Mr. Reid what to write or what. But, as I said before, the robotic feel of the plot and characters in this book doesn't fit with previous works I have read by this author. It just doesn't flow in a natural sense.
   
   Some things I enjoyed about this novel:
   
   1 - I have always been a fan of how Mr. Reid describes scenes ad settings. He does so again in this novel. He gives the reader just enough to allow them to see his vision, but to also finish that vision with their own imagination. Instead of pigeonholing a reader into something he allows them to make it their own. I appreciate that immensely.
   
   2 - I like the events that occur in this book. I won't go into what happens, or what visions show, but there area couple events that Realms fans will perk up at. I know WotC has taken a lot of heat for moving into the 4e setting, but I am not sure it is a bad thing yet.
   
   When all is said and done, while I don't think this is the best Forgotten Realms book I have read or the best book I have read from Mr. Reid, it's not a bad book. Fans of the Forgotten Realms probably should read this book, and trilogy, based on the events that occur and the far reaching impact they may have. While I wasn't captivated by the characters, I did enjoy the plot and wanted to know what happens. Overall, I have to say this is an average novel. Nothing really sticks out to me as good or bad. It just is. For the hard core Forgotten Realms fans I would recommend picking this one up. For those fantasy fans who are so so on the Realms I may suggest steering away from this trilogy until you know for certain you want to read it.

5 comments about Hyperion.

1. I'm not planning on analyzing the plot or anything of the sort, merely commenting on its descriptive characteristics. Although, in my opinion, it takes a couple tales to really grasp your attention (as most stories do), once this book gets rolling it is nearly impossible to put down. Pages fly by with out you even realizing it. For me, half the time this did not seem like reading a book at all. It seemed more like the pages past by as a movie played in my mind. The whole Hyperion Cantos as well as the Endymoin Omnibus set a bar quite high as far as descriptive quality. I certainly recommend it to anyone and in fact already have. None of them have been disappointed.



2. Yeah, I'm gonna be that guy. I understand that this book won the Hugo...and that it is "neat" because it uses the Canterbury tales as a "model". But so what? Yeah, I guess it was pretty cool having it split up into a bunch of different narratives, but I felt like the stories were longer than they needed to be. I know I know...I'm supposed to think it was super-cool that all these different stories were "woven together", and I can see that...but I just don't think it was done all that interestingly. Ok so they all had something to do with the Shrike and Hyperion, etc etc. It just didn't impress me. Simmons as a writer seems fine.
   
   I do think, however, that he's one of those authors whose prose often falls victim to "over-describing" things. I dunno if this is just something that's changed about my own tastes or what, but I'm starting to get tired of authors who will spend 4 lines of a paragraph describing a sunset, something like "and the orange glowing soft ball of the sun settled behind the soft green curve of the hills, like a blahl blahblhalbha". I mean yeah...I can appreciate someone's ability to elaborate on a description like this, but why do it just to do it? Do we really have to do it for every sunset? Every scenery? This kind of stuff can really over-stretch the narrative when it doesn't add anything to the story. And what's even funnier to me is that more often than not, people take it hook line and sinker and assume that it's "good" writing...I'm not saying he isn't a "good" writer by the way.
   
   But don't get me wrong...the book is a fine piece of "space-opera" scifi, but unless you're going to fall for the "it's cool because it's like the Canterbury tales" line, you probably won't find it earth-shattering. I'm just overly skeptical about stuff like this. If you want me to really be skeptical when reading a book...tell me it won the Hugo, then show me a bunch of screaming 4 and 5-star Amazon reviews about how great it is because of the fact that it's broken up into short stories. I didn't dislike the book, but I probably won't read it again. In fact the most positive thing I can say is that it did leave me wanting to know "what happens next" which...yes, a good story should do that, but a great story should do a lot more...and this just doesn't, not for me anyway.



3. I originally ordered Hyperion 10 years ago here in Amazon. When I first read it, I found it slow and pondering and finished it without really absorbing it. I re-read it again, and with the added knowledge of 10 years, I found it enlightening, profound and exciting. Hyperion is basically the set-up to a Sci-Fi Universe imagined by Dan Simmons. It introduces the seven main characters of the Hyperion Cantos and by telling their tale, the reader learns about the Hegemony, TechnoCore and the Ousters. Each tale is an opportunity for Dan Simmons to show his mastery of different literary genres - from Kassad's military sex-fi to Brawne Lamia's noirish cyberpunk tale to Sol Weintraub's heartbreaking story to Silenus' anarchic and comic saga. However, Hyperion ends up like that - Simmons' showing off. From the way it is structured, it seems contrived that each Pilgrim gets to tell their tale and too coincidental that each detail is revealed depending on the order of the pilgrims, considering they drew lots. It lessens the suspense since you'll know further information about a galactic conspiracy will be revealed in the next tale. In this case, the strings behind the curtain is simply showing. Still, Hyperion is a good read and an infinitely better start for an excellent tetralogy. Just get past the sum, since the parts are good in their own right.



4. Disclaimer: I may not have been in the mood for this book, because I'm not entirely certain it isnt better than 3 stars.
   
   This is the 6th Simmons book I've read (I started with "The Terror", which I loved). I must admit, the literary allusions are getting tiresome. The Terror had explicit references to "Masque of the Red Death" and "Ilium" and "Olympus" were sci-fi retreads of the Iliad. I find it really distracting to constantly have these meta-references of other authors' books mentioned on every page. Simmons is so imaginative - I think he's held down by the constraints of these other works. "Hyperion" is based on the Canterbury Tales, and goes so far as to have a reincarnation of Keats as a main character. Sorry - that's lame.
   
   I dont care if the Canterbury Tales is a classic - having seven short stories held together by a pilgrimage serves as flimsy glue. I'm about 20 pages from the end, and I'm getting bored. The main plot seems to be nonexistent.
   
   Also, the near constant flood of his proprietary sci-fi language (farcasting, stimsim, Halgera, tightbeam, fatline, etc) is a bit much without a glossary.
   
   One more complaint: it was really annoying how every time the author wanted us to visualize a person, he'd write something like, "He looked like the actor Cary Grant from the old holos she used to watch from Old Earth". Its the year 3000 and people still reference forgettable 20th century film stars? I don't think so.



5. Now this wasn't my first Simmons book. I had read "Summer of Night" in high school, and although I eventually forgot what it was about exactly, its grotesque imagery stayed with me for years until I reread it again a month ago. Another Amazon reviewer wondered "[h]ow could the man who wrote the Hyperion books pen this terrible, mindnumbing, unfinishable novel?" LOL. After I finished "Hyperion," my reaction was the opposite: how could the same man who wrote "Summer of Night" be the author of this masterpiece? I mean, it was decent enough horror novel but I've read much better from Dean Koontz. But no wonder that reviewer was so disappointed: "Hyperion" is light-years above "Summer of Night."
   
   The setting is some 700 years in the future, in which Earth has since been destroyed by misguided science. Most humans are citizens of the interplanetary Hegemony, a decadent and decaying civilization on the brink of total war with the Ousters, a marauding tribe of quasi-transhumanists reviled as galactic barbarians. Think of it as the Old Republic of "The Phantom Menace" and "Attack of the Clones": a stagnant, overblown juggernaut suffering the mounting effects of social entropy. But don't let the "Star Wars" comparisons fool you - this is NOT Saturday-morning sci-fi.
   
   At the core of the book, which is actually first in a series of four, is the distant world of Hyperion, an enigmatic place where ancient brooding structures travel backwards through time and a nightmarish entity known as the Shrike feasts on death but is worshiped by many as the righteous instrument of retribution. As the apocalypse rises in the stars, seven strangers have gathered to make one last suicidal pilgrimage to the Shrike and the Time Tombs, each telling his story along the way. "Hyperion" is essentially a compendium of six interlocking tales (yes, six - no spoilers here!), all of them a celebration of joy, tenderness, and pathos that illustrates the distance between the heights of which humanity is capable and the fallen state of the societies in which they live. Lurking in the background, but coming menacingly forward in the second-to-last tale, is the TechnoCore, a "race" of sentient AIs possessed of seemingly godlike technological powers (it is at this point that an element of cyberpunk noir is introduced) that act as "advisers" to the Hegemony government. If you're familiar with Masamune Shirow's "Ghost in the Shell," think of a super-evolved Puppet Master.
   
   Honestly, I don't even think it's really possible to adequately summarize "Hyperion" and do it full justice. It's too expansive for that. There is so much that Simmons touches upon - "Hyperion" is large, containing multitudes. It is a stunning work of art that is both dazzlingly futuristic and achingly nostalgic: it simultaneously rejoices in life and laments what humanity, at its worst, ultimately destroys.

5 comments about The Discworld Graphic Novels: The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic.

1. I've long been a fan of Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels, and this graphic novel was a lot of fun: a great way to revisit some of the early stories. The artwork is quite nice, and by and large they did an excellent adaptation that is both true to the original work and true to the adopted medium. All in all, very enjoyable.
   
   That said, whoever did the lettering managed to insert a number of errors into the text - basic stuff like its/it's mistakes, the sort of thing any editor off the street would catch and fix. Mr. Pratchett's books have always been conscientiously edited in this regard, and this sort of thing is an insult, just poor craftsmanship. I hope future editions can manage to avoid this sort of thing.



2. Brilliant. I have read all of the Discworld novels and I look forward to the reinvention of the rest of them through the graphic format. The pictures are lively but they still carry a bit of the darkness with them. A must read for A'tuin fans.



3. The two classic stories that brought the Discworld to our world are beautifully rendered. The art is done in a style that fits Pratchett's sense of humor and the stories are left with all the highlights intact. Something is going to be lost whenever you move a novel to another format, and they are some of the classic scenes. The biggest loss is Rincewind and Two-Flower's brief trip into our world that is the pay off for the wizzard's desire to understand the natural scientific order of the universe.
   
   Even without some classic scenes, the stories are still hilarious and the art charming.



4. I personally like to use my imagination while reading a book to come up with the images that the author is trying to convey. This book gives the story while showing you the descriptions. The drawings are wonderful and the story still rings true, but if you are looking for the full 'DiscWorld Experience' I would read the actual novels. These books would be good for younger readers who enjoy the graphic novel genre.



5. i had forgotten how funny the first TP books were ... while i imagined the characters to be somewhat different... a good purchase...

5 comments about Preacher Vol. 2: Until the End of the World.

1. This comic book, truly is like no other. It goes everywhere no one dares to go. God, religion, spirituality, hypocrisy. It is a very intense book, and anyone who can stomach brutal violence, sex, and blasphemy should pick it up. Despite its over the top violence, it truly is thought provoking. But as I said, this book is very intense, there were many times reading this, I felt uncomfortable, yet at the same time I couldn't put it down.



2. If you are of the squeamish weak stomached sort, do not ever, ever, ever open anything to do with Preacher. The brutality rating is high. The shagging rating is moderate. There is a complete and utter absence of family values from Jesse's extended family, and they destroy his mother and father. He is going to take his revenge.



3. In this next volume of the successful Preacher series we go back into the past of Jesse Custer and learn of his terrible upbringing under the cruel thump of his fundamentalist grandmother assisted by two inbred ingrates. His father is shot and killed in front of him for not following the rules, while his mother suffers a similar fate later in his young age. Whenever Jesse commits a sin, he spends time in the coffin - sealed airtight and dropped in the river with a narrow breathing tube, in complete darkness. Tulip, his girlfriend, learns all this when they've been captured by said evil family and are to be killed. But the Preacher is now older and stronger while his family is older and feeble and with Tulip's help, the terrible bloodline is ended once and for all.
   
   In the second part of the book, they rejoin with their vampire friend Cassidy who tracks down the murderer of his girlfriend, leading them to a sex-addicted fiend who goes by the name of Jesus De Sade. There is also a sub plot going on here about a secret group who has been protecting the secret of the holy grail for thousands of years and it is in the year 2000 that the end will arrive and they intend to use Jesse Custer as their preacher.
   
   The second volume reaches new levels with the storyline, revealing some important history and back story, keeping the reader rapt and wanting more. Thankfully there are many more volumes in the series to come.
   
   For more book reviews, and other writings, go to www.alexctelander.com



4. Vol 2 might just be better than volume one. I mean, there is great art, and we dive into Jesse's past--and that is a great story line. And then there is the Grail. This is great stuff.



5. If you're a fan of Garth Ennis and Preacher, you can't go wrong with volume 2 Until the End of the World. More sex and violence than vol.1, with all the great social commentary as before. Just watch out because my copy through Amazon was missing the last 24 pages and left the entire story hanging for me.