Ernest Khoo
You have to approach this book with an open mind. It's a total retelling of the Gospels and is entirely subversive. What is interesting is how it raises questions about the truth of the Gospels, and ends with a critique of the church. This is not surprising given Pullman's leanings, but it's certainly interesting to see how he uses the idea that recorded history is always never the truth as a plot device. Not a book for the conservative Christian. It's probably better that you first read the Gospels to get the most out of it.
The story and art shows its age. It's ambitious in scope but gets too sprawling and confusing to be enjoyable.
Actually more of a 3.5 star. Liked the story and the attempt to look at the life of common folks caught up in a war. Maybe it's the usage of Death as a narrator, although interesting, that doesn't quite do it for me.
Don't get me wrong. I liked this book. Just that the narrative gets too fragmented. As individual segments, the stories are great and enjoyable. But the attempt to tie in all the different stories makes the book trying to be something that covers a lot of ground, and that doesn't work well for me. Still it is a recommended read.
It is simply fascinating to read a story the history of something that is so recently, and where the story is still being told. Never knew about the tumultuous history behind Twitter and it makes me see it in a new light.
Satisfying conclusion to the trilogy. Tells of the surviving members of the Templar Order flight to Scotland and their role in the war of Scotland's independence. How much of it is history and how much of it is speculation? Whatever it is, it's an enjoyable reading of what might have happened to the Templars.
A return to form after the rather disappointing Empire of Ivory. Plenty of action cumulating in a massive battle with Napoleon. Also interactions between the dragons that can only be described as entertaining.
I expected more from this book. The ideas are interesting and if you think about what services Facebook and Google are doing, such things could happen. But the execution is flawed. The last part of the book is a surprise, in a ‘huh that's it?' sense. Unsatisfying.
A fun way of looking at dating. It even covers break-ups. Peppered with geek references from games, sci-fi, comics, and everything geeky that you can think of, it's a fun read with common-sense advice.
No real evil protagonist and red herring galore. At least this book makes me really want to visit Florence and Istanbul.
This book is not so much about the iPod, but about music, how the device changes the music listening experience, and also the author's personal journey through music and pop culture. If music is a big part of your life, this book is enjoyable and you can probably find the compulsive music collector and listener in the pages to be familiar.
A luna revolution, stemming from a couple of individuals and a computer with a mind. Interesting philosophical concepts and exploration of what it means to fight for freedom.
Accessible method to learn about the Battle of Hattin and the Third Crusades. Quite a lot of the book goes into creating the history so there's a lot of talking and explaining of the context of the world at that time. Plot wise, it is less compelling but it attempts to explore the theme of ‘What is honor'.
Started off as an endearing mystery tale, but eventually turns into one about coping with a world that's totally different from your understanding of it. Written wonderfully with a point-of-view from the perspective of Christopher who is autistic, makes you understands how different the world is from the eyes of someone who is autistic.
Interesting insights into the workings of ST. Essential reading for any students of media. Spotted one mistake which said that ‘Puff the magic dragon' is a song by the Beatles. Also there are many repetitions which can be quite tiresome.
With the name-dropping of made up tycoon names like Tai Toh Lui and Tua Lao Sai, and of course a title like Crazy Rich Asians, how can this satire not be an enjoyable read?
You don't read this for its literary merit but for the factual account of the events during the mission to kill Osama. The author throws in some of his history with the SEAL team but mainly focuses on the mission and some of his personal feeling during the aftermath.
