Julie

I've been meaning to read this book for a very long time, and since my friend Cynthia was reading it and said it was very good I moved it up the To Be Read list and made it happen. I really enjoyed the intrigue and characters. Different that my usual reading material and it really held my interest and I was always wondering what is next. Not too deep of a book but I do think that the “Lisbeth” character was a deeper character than most and I look forward to meeting her more in the next books. My only probably is that I need to get some work done and diving in to the next book right now probably isn't the best idea. I was up to 11:30 last night and I finished the book while on the elliptical at the gym this morning. I NEVER read while working out but I NEEDED to finish the book!

As I read further in this series I like it more. I don't like it a ton but I liked this book better than the first in the series: [b:Red Mars 77507 Red Mars (Mars Trilogy, #1) Kim Stanley Robinson http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320484020s/77507.jpg 40712]. It continues to hold my interest and I want to find out what happens to the characters. I may like this book better because I like the point of view of the characters that are highlighted in this second book rather than those from the first. [a:Kim Stanley Robinson 1858 Kim Stanley Robinson http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1217240935p2/1858.jpg] writes the books in a series of sections from one character's point of view. Which in this case is a good thing because without it I may have gotten bored and not continued with the books. Usually when a author does write this way I'm disappointed to leave that point of view but in this case it allows me to be refreshed and continue on. I do think there are some significant holes in the science but I don't pay particular attention to this as a reader. I read to be entertained so as long as there is consistency in the story and no glaring or jarring discrepancies in the way the author builds their universe I accept and move on.

This book caught my attention from the beginning. Not sure why exactly. It was a simple read and the storyline was easy to follow. I just enjoyed it and the main character Maia. It was easy to relate to him and his struggles as he assumed the position of Emperor that he never considered would happen.

I usually love the world of Avalon and although it didn't take me much time to get through the book because I was sick and I couldn't do anything else this book was not as enjoyable as usual. I was never connected with any of the characters. I believe the author wanted to describe a period of time that had never been addressed but the story was never really fleshed out enough for me to care. I liked the characters but I never connected with them, never saw really what drove them. There was something missing as far as tying them to the story, they were there and then the did something. There wasn't much of a connection between their actions and their personalities. Not a waste of my time to read but I won't read it again.

This was a thinking book, it didn't draw me in every night but it made me think. I did want to know more about Shadow and how he was going to react to things. I think that Shadow was portrayed as an everyday sort of guy and that made him relatable. I liked the fact that the books was based on old religion and new religions that we may not even think about as religions. Overall the premise of the book was interesting and like I said it made me think in different ways which I always enjoy.