Julie
I watched the movie first before reading the book which is unusual for me. Usually I read the book first but I had never heard of this book and although while I somewhat knew the author I had never read any of his books nor knew what he wrote about. The book follows the movie closely, or rather the movie actually follows the book. I liked the intricacies of the relationship of the defense lawyer and the defendant. Haller is a likable, real and interesting character. I look forward to reading more about his cases.
This was a quick read and an unbelievable story. It is heartbreaking to hear exactly what Jaycee went through during her time growing up. I hope that this never happens again and I'm glad that she got her story out there and I hope that she has claimed some of her life back and continues to do so. Good book about her life story.
I'm really enjoying this series with the twist and turns as well as how the author has set up the books. I never feel like I'm jumping around between different scenes like I do in other books. The story is being told in different places for each book I've read maybe at the same time, maybe back in time, or maybe just a bit before or after. Either way I don't feel jolted.
There were a couple of scenes that were just poetic to me: Felisin and Gamet dying the way they did. It was just really simple and eloquent, especially Gamet's death.
I'm so, so happy that the Bridgeburners Ascended maybe they will restore some order to the ascendancy “clan”. I love how my favorite characters are woven through the book and how I meet new favorite characters. In this case, welcome back Fiddler and thank you for the complexed yet simple character of Karsa Orlong. I love how much he grew during the book but still remained true to him self. I might start quoting him in real life....”Too many words!”
I just love how Erikson weaves his world and how interconnected it all is. I would have never guessed that that Onrack was the reason for the Goddess and her madness leading to a need for total and complete destruction. They were never spoken of together until the last. Welcome back Raraku!!
Looking forward to the next book and further exploration of this world.
This book was OK, a fast read and I wanted to find out what happened but I wasn't necessarily grabbed by the storyline. It's different from my usual reads and seems to have a lot of books in the series but I didn't care for any of the characters. It has urban magic in it and based in current times, but the buildup to the climactic ending was just so so. I don't think I'll read anymore Marla Mason books.
I struggles to get through this book as an audiobook. I started listening to it on Oct. 26, 2009 and finished it on May 16, 2011, which tells you how much I liked it. I can not believe they made a Broadway show out of this book. There were so many random things and storylines that really didn't go together. I particularly didn't like the random sexual scenes that had no real purpose except to shock the reader, in my opinion.I buy audiobooks to help move the time along on long drives and keep me awake. This book did neither and on several occasions I found myself nodding off while driving and having to change to another book or music.I bought the [b:Son of a Witch 13521 Son of a Witch (Wicked Years, #2) Gregory Maguire http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166564765s/13521.jpg 845295] on audiobook but unless I want to be put to sleep I doubt I'll ever read it.
At first I wasn't too thrilled with the way the author was telling the story. By having the main character tell his life story to a chronicler, just seemed odd to me. But as the we delved into the life story of Kvothe I began to enjoy the double story or two timelines. The past and the present, the past had mysteries and the present has mysteries and you begin to wonder how the boy Kvothe became the innkeeper Kote.
I'm still not sure of the magic and the ending is rather abrupt even though the author tries to set it up to not be.
I will continue reading the series and hope for more explanation about the current situation of the characters.
I quickly read through this book. I loved all the references to food and drink as well as a lot of the references to history and literary works.
The author keeps the story moving along and while it is in the same vein as the Twilight Series and The Vampire Diaries it more intellectual parts and adult thoughts and pastimes. I liked that there were three “monsters” with the witches, vampires and daemon who live in the same world as humans but hidden in plain site. The interactions between the species was interesting and I'm looking forward to getting to know each species more in future books and where the conflicts lead.
WOW!! That is all I have to say right now. This book picked up where basically book 1 left off. With the main characters of book one continuing on to battle the Pannion Seer. We don't hear much of the characters of book two just a couple of hints here and there of characters and where they are now. In different roles and in different places. But I was glad to get back in the mix with Paran, Quick Ben, Whiskeyjack, Rake etc. Some parts of the book were hard to read but the character development was second to none. I LOVED Gruntle and Stonny relationships and on the other side of the same coin, Whiskeyjack and Korlat. The love story between Whiskeyjack and Korlat was nice, not too much but you got the feelings behind it all. I did tear up on one part and I hope to hell it isn't forever, if other mortals can ascend why can't he!!! Not to give too much away so that I have to hide this.
To get to know Anomander Rake, and Caladan Brood better was nice, it was nice to start getting the back story of these characters and their long lives was much appreciated. I also like Lady Envy and how she relates to all as well. The added humor with her character was needed!
The best thing about this book was the relationships that developed and that were nurtured. They were true, believable and heartwarming. From Tool and Toc to the Bridgeburners to how Itkovian touched everyone, all was understandable and real to the reader. I can't wait to get into the next book!!!
I'm still not sure what to think of this series. It isn't one of those series I tear through and can't put the books down but I did enjoy this book better than the first, [b:Gardens of the Moon 55399 Gardens of the Moon (Malazan Book of the Fallen, #1) Steven Erikson http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255890454s/55399.jpg 2646042]. I'm enjoying the complexity of the characters and I do look forward to reading the next in the series. I think that this book also sets up things more and drives the storyline but I want more things tied up while the series keeps bringing up new things. I am concerned about the Chain of Dogs storyline and hope that it leads to some great revelation and storyline down the line. I will have to trust the author and those opinions of others that love these books and keep driving through. Some of the Chain of Dogs storyline reminded me of the [b:Phoenix Transformed 6352652 Phoenix Transformed (The Enduring Flame, #3) Mercedes Lackey http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255582941s/6352652.jpg 6539241]. Where refugees where shuttled around the desert and people died and people died protected them. Don't get me wrong [b:Deadhouse Gates 55401 Deadhouse Gates (The Malazan Book of the Fallen, #2) Steven Erikson http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51VJH2TSVHL.SL75.jpg 3898716] was much better written and I feel that there was a point to it all (unlike [b:Phoenix Transformed 6352652 Phoenix Transformed (The Enduring Flame, #3) Mercedes Lackey http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255582941s/6352652.jpg 6539241]) but it leaves a bad taste in my mouth and maybe that was the point. Maybe it was to point out the futility of war, or make us look at our history on this planet, either way I'm in it for the long haul.
Abrupt ending but then I guess after looking through some reviews and other things on the internet the book was broken into two parts and wasn't really supposed to be two books thus the uprupt ending. It is a bit slower than other books I have recently read but I really didn't mind it. I think that I would have given it a 3.5 if possible but when I think of some other books I've been reading recently I though it would merit a 4 over a 3. I wanted to read more and I'm curious about the lore of the dragons so I will be continuing the series.
I enjoyed the 2nd installment into this world created by [a:C.S. Friedman 1276004 C.S. Friedman http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1257214912p2/1276004.jpg]. It is a unique world and there are shades of gray. What was “evil” or wrong in book one doesn't seem as “evil” now as the thing that all have feared has escaped it's containment and what will happen in the future is unknown. I look forward to seeing how Kamela and and the Magisters deal with this threat. I'm also very curious to see what Colivar knows and how he plays into the future and fight against the Souleaters!
I really didn't like this book at first but it grew on me as I read on and got used to Mr. Turtledove's writing style. At first it seemed like he jumped to point of view to point of view without any connection and it was hard to follow who the character was, what side they were on and where they were located. As I got used to it the premise of the book caught me more than anything else. This is a “what-if” scenario, what-if the Civil War ended differently and the USA was split into the CSA (Confederate States of America) and the USA, i.e. North and South. There was a series of books by which describe this earlier conflict and the results by [a:Harry Turtledove 29479 Harry Turtledove http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1207604459p2/29479.jpg]. This first book in the follow-up series takes place during the WWII time period and the CSA attacks the USA and what happens after that initial attack. What I was really disturbed by was the treatment of the Southern Blacks. There treatment really opened my eyes of what could have been. The attitudes of the CSA people are disgusting and I'm starting to realize why we are still having these issues in this day in age. If that is just a little bit of what people think back then and has survived to 2011 then we as a nation need to make sure that these thoughts are destroyed.
This was a quick read and I probably should have read it before I watched the HBO series True Lies which is based on the books. I kept on comparing things between the two. I also like getting a picture in my head what the characters look like but in this case I already had a picture because of the TV series. There were quite a few differences between the book and TV show but the main storyline was the same. I'll probably continue the series although it won't be high up on my reading list since I am enjoying the TV series. I'm waiting for the next DVD's to come out!
I'm not sure why I put this book on my to-read list. In the future I'm going to have to note somewhere why I want to read a book because it usually takes me years to get to it and then I have no idea why I thought to read it.
This book is a prime example of this. This book is in the same vein as The Shack. I guess it's supposed to make you think about your life and how you live it. What is important and what should be left behind. It did make me think but then it just ended with no conclusion. It was very abrupt and not appreciated. I guess there is another book out there but I don't plan on reading it. I understand that an author wants to have a hook to the next book but this was ridiculous. The story line wasn't even near finished and the book was just over.
I really liked this book and I'm looking forward to the next book in the series. I felt connected to the characters, although I was not happy with the theme of suicide but that is or was a Japanese honor thing during the time period. I loved the fact that the author got some of Japan's artistic heritage in the book. He knew that those things are very important to catch the Japanese culture and ways of thinking. Because I speak Japanese and spent time there I loved that some of the places I was were included in the book. I know it is a good book when I want to go back and read about the time period in history and get more information about what actually happened.
I'd probably rate this one 3.5 stars if I could. I like this series and I liked this book. It was a “quick” read and more of a story about the land, it's traditions and it's recovery so there wasn't much “danger” in them as has been in the past. Through the reading I realized that I might have missed some of the books or I don't remember some of the details and I think that would have made it a bit more interesting. Overall a nice book, but nothing to write home about, not horrible not great.***After looking through my book collection and then looking at Wikipedia and Anne Bishop's bibliography, I did miss a book in the series, specifically [b:The Shadow Queen 3598830 The Shadow Queen (The Black Jewels, #7) Anne Bishop http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1226637548s/3598830.jpg 3641533]. I guess I'll have to go back and read it.
Ok I really like Douglass Preston and Lincoln Child but this book by Lincoln Child alone was missing something...specifically character development. I could care less about the characters. Some of them made sense in regards to the storyline but still most of the characters were one dimensional. One in particular just made no sense why he was there. I'm talking about you, Logan. I guess he is supposed to be the mystery character and maybe he'll be like Pendergast (a protagonist in other books by Mr. Preston and Mr. Child) but he just wasn't really connected to the story in anyway. One of the last pages is supposed to give us some clue about who he is and I guess tie him to other books but at that point I really didn't care. Even the mystery monster wasn't that fleshed out, I guess it really didn't connect to why it was killing those around it. Even the “legend” behind it was weak. Overall I was very disappointed in this book.
I'm not sure how I should rate this book. I was pleasantly surprised that this book was as good as it was, my expectations were VERY low. I actually think this book was better than The Time Traveler's Wife. However, I really didn't understand where the characters were coming from. I couldn't imagine being that self absorbed.
No matter how long I've been reading these books (now over 20 years) they hold my attention. I can't wait until the last book comes out and I can read the whole series again and completely. This book combines all the storylines into one. There isn't the usual seperation of storylines. Some of the books just would focus on certain characters, now they are all coming together for the Last Battle. There isn't much on the Seachan but I expect that they will be tied up in the last book as well. I'm still happy that Brian Sanderson is finishing the story and while I sense a little difference in the voice telling the story it doesn't distract me. Overall the book adds to the story and I'm happy to have read it....
A completely different universe with different breeds of characters, literally. The main character has power she has no idea about and this book takes her through the discovery of what she is and what her power can do. Not much was given away in regards to that power or the darkness she is facing. The most complicated character was that of Nightshade. I'm curious about the whole world but it didn't draw me in as much as I had hoped it would. More detailed information about the world would have been better but I guess we'll get more in subsequent books.
Well I had my fill of candy yesterday...candy-read that is. This book falls under the paranormal romance category. Not sure when I bought this book but this was read during my no new book buying for the last 3 months of 2010. It was a fast read, and it was like one of those TV shows that you just can't wait to see what comes next. It was a different play on the Vampire mythology and I liked that different view point. There are a couple of more books in the series which I will read eventually having a break between the books will probably be a good thing. Too much candy makes you sick.
This books made me disgusted at the beginning and highly annoyed at one point through it. I actually put the book down and went to bed because I was so annoyed they killed a character I loved! I guess to have that many emotions while reading a book is a good thing. I usually don't have that many negative emotions though. I guess it is a testimoney to the author that he kept me emotionally involved with the book and kept me guessing to an extent. We all know how hard that is to do with the Fantasy Genre these days.
I read this book again in Feb. 2013 and would agree with my earlier review. However, I guess it didn't have that much of an impact on me because I had to read it again because when I started the 2nd book in the series I didn't have a clue about what was going on.
I liked this book and I'm glad I read it. The Duchess is an interesting character for her time. The book was slow in some places probably not the fault of the author but I was not interested in debts that Georgiana racked up. This probably was a very important part of The Duchess' life but how much it was talked about was just too much for me.