Dina
Full review at SFF Book Review
Wow! Thanks to Luke (of the SFBRP podcast) I gave this omnibus a try and I was just as blown away as he was. Hugh Howey creates a lot of atmosphere and makes characters come to life on very few pages.
What's left of humanity lives in an underground silo and whenever somebody commits a terrible crime, they are sent outside into the toxic amotsphere, equipped only with a suit to keep them alive as long as possible and a few patches of wool - to clean the camera lenses, the only window to the outside world.
I am still impressed by how much I came to care about these characters, how thrilled I was at times to see them succeed or find out a bit of imformation. I wanted to know just as badly what the hell is going on and how people ended up in that silo in the first place. Some of these questions are answered, most answeres left me with my mouth open and whispering “no way”. I can't wait to start on the sixth volume in the series.
This is definitely a highlight of the year for me.
Full review, as always, over at the SFF Book Review.
I wish I could say something more positive, but other than creating likeable characters and making them have an average Tolkien-esque adventure, there isn't much to redeem this book. If you can't get enough of the Lord of the Rings and would like to read a cat-version of a generic fantasy adventure, this is for you.
Tad Williams is a good writer but in this debut novel of his, he clearly hadn't found his own style yet. This is not a bad book at all, it's just not enough for somebody who reads mostly fantasy and can thusly predict the outcome of the plot by chapter 3.
Personally, the ending was a bit too much deus ex machina. And then we were still not finished. I like the style and I cared about Fritti Tailchaser, that orange cat with the star-shaped white spot on his forehead, but I would have preferred more character-development and more interactions with the great side characters, instead of following a generic plot.
6/10 points
This is some seriously funny shit!
I adore everyone who works at Sin du Jour and can't wait for more novellas, short stories, or maybe even a novel set in that world. Whatever he'll give us next, Matt Wallace has a new fan in me. Thanks for making me laugh, man. :)
So this book has a cool premise and some nice representation but sadly lacks in all other aspects.
There is almost no world building. The aliens don't make sense, they exist merely to turn this cheesy love story into a “star-crossed” one.
The romance is not developed at all. We're told the protagonists are suddenly in love and from that moment on, they don't let us forget. Dramatic declarations of undying love ensue, without any real basis in reality.
The plot is repetitive and boring. Everything happens only for the sake of the romance. Get into trouble, get saved from trouble (usually by a convenient third party), drive around and talk about books...
Oh and about that. What self-respecting lover of literature would prefer just SUMMING UP some of the best books to someone instead of making them read and experience them themselves????? Like sure, I'll just tell you Jane Eyre in a few hours, it's not like you're missing anything.
Add to that a very silly deus ex machina ending, Ellie's conveniently out of the way parents, her suddenly forgotten best friend and you have a book that's an utterly forgettable, incoherent cheesy trope-fest.
This is a first draft, a collection of ideas. Sadly, unlike the ones it mentions and quotes from, this is not a good novel.
Hierzu gibt es nur meine englische Rezension, der Comic lohnt sich aber unglaublich, egal ob man nun das Original oder die Übersetzung liest. Ein wunderschönes, poetisches Märchen, in brillianten Bildern erzählt.
Das Cover einfach ignorieren, die Bilder IM Buch sind viel schöner und detailierter.
http://sffbookreview.wordpress.com/2012/05/17/peter-s-beagle-the-last-unicorn/
DNF because at one third this book is still unreadable, has no plot, nor a single fleshed-out character and the world building is so nonexistent that I have no clue whether magic is commonplace or not.
Reading a few spoilery reviews tells me I'm not missing anything, so a very rare DNF it is.
Excellent idea and a nice mystery twist. However, it would have worked so much better if there had been time to get to know and care about the characters. They are pretty blank, all of them (unless you count cliché bully as character development) and so their fates were tragic but not really for who they were, rather how these things would have been tragic for anyone. Like when a stranger has an accident and you feel bad about it, you may even cry, but it's not someone you knew or even loved.
But this was easily one of the quickest reads ever. Very page-turney!
I hope we'll get more character time in the second book so I can learn to like them properly. And then let's not have anything this bad happen to them again, okay?
Erstmal zu meiner Ausgabe - das ist so ein Softcover, also ein Hybrid zwischen Hardcover und Taschenbuch. Das Format passt zwar im Regal nicht zu meinen anderen Glavinic-Büchern, weil es etwas größer ist, aber ich stehe total darauf, wie sich dieses biegbare Softcover anfühlt.
Zum Buch selbst: Charlie Kolostrum erzählt die gesamte Geschichte in der “man”-Form. Ein “Ich” kommt allerhöchstens mal in einer direkten Rede vor. Das alleine macht das Buch schon zu etwas Besonderem und hat auch den Vorteil, ganz großartig zu Charlies Hang zu Selbsthilfebüchern zu passen. Immer wieder werden auch Merksätze eingestreut, kleine Häppchen an Weisheiten oder wichtigen Leitsätzen, die Charlie im Laufe seines Lebens sammelt. Oft zitiert er auch seine Lebenshilfebücher und erzählt von den Psychotests, die er gemacht hat.
Die Geschichte folgt ihm von seinem 17. Lebensjahr bis er 30 wird und in wirklich jeder seiner Lebensphase passieren ulkige Dinge. Da er fettleibig ist und eine ziemlich nüchterne Sicht auf das Ergattern von hübschen Frauen hat, sind viele Lacher garantiert. Auch die Familiensituation, Tante und Onkel, die nur “die Tankels” genannt werden, seine Großtante Ernestine, über deren Wohlergehen sich mitten in der Nacht sorgt oder der befreundete Arzt, den er zu besuchen gezwungen wird - die alle sorgen für einen Riesenspaß beim Lesen.
Ich war keine einzige Seite gelangweilt und habe interssiert Charlies Werdegang, seine witzigen Eigenarten und seine romantischen Eskapaden mitverfolgt. Bisher gefällt mir dieser Glavinic-Roman am besten. Aber spannend ist ja auch, dass er mit den anderen beiden, die ich gelesen habe (Der Kameramörder und Carl Haffners Liebe zum Unentschieden), kaum vergleichbar ist. Glavinic schreibt immer komplett anders als zuvor, seine Protagonisten sind einzigartig und eigenständig. Hier hat mir aber vor allem der Humor gefallen.
Jetzt bin ich auf die Verfilmung gespannt. Der Trailer ist sehr vielversprechend und ich bin versucht, mir den Film sogar im Kino anzusehen.
Wonderful, fun, entertaining book. Full review here: http://sffbookreview.wordpress.com/2012/05/12/terry-pratchett-the-amazing-maurice-and-his-educated-rodents/
I liked the Page Sisters storyline much more when it was just about Jack of Fables. This had some fun moments but ultimately became annoying and silly. On to new adversaries (and let's hope they're better)
This was pretty good. And terrifying, and brutal, and with a surprisingly high body count. I preferred Beautiful Darkness by Kerascoet, but I'll definitely try out more of this artist's books.
The style, while very simple, almost childish in a way, totally works for the dark subject matter. I can't put my finger on it but I really, really like this kind of stuff.
An unexpectedly fun book. I thought I would be bored, and instead fell into an adventure told by four wonderful characters. Lovely!
My full review is hiding behind this link
This was absolute perfection!
For my complete review in all its gushing fangirly glory, click here
