Nomad Scry
I read this as a young teen. There is a scene, involving a cave, that has stuck with me ever since. For me, that scene is what elevates this story over the earlier Three Musketeers.
While I liked this story quite a lot, I will admit that I had to hit up Wikipedia after finishing to make sure I had actually understood the final events.
I read this in the children's library at the Eric Carlisle Museum days before my wedding. It was so emotionally evocative in a vague complex way that I instantly made a mental note to add it to my library, so I could share it with others. Of course, in the excitement of the succeeding days, I forgot all about The Arrival until just a few days ago when Christian Heilmann tweeted some images of the art. And now, I will have to find some shelf space for this wonder.
Very enjoyable. I was initially very confused by the changes in the cast of characters - don't let that put you off.
After a long, slow start, The Hunger Games really pays off. I had some niggling issues with the oversimplification of the various districts, though the big creepy thing that happen at the end of the book show that the tech sophistication is high enough to force an unnatural focus onto the districts. I really liked the strength of the various characterizations.
I can't say this without some story specific spoilers, so... forewarned.
I didn't like the pretend love triangle angle to the story. When one of the boys is first introduced, it seemed pretty clear to me that he was in the big brother role. Either Kat displayed no romantic feelings toward Gale or I just completely missed it. Either way, I feel like story of Kat and Gale is boring and that Kat and Peeta make a much more interesting and emotionally charged story. I mean that in the sense that, if these characters were actual real life people, I expect that the two hunters would fall together naturally. They are already too compatible to push each other to new levels of growth, while Peeta is SO different from Kat, his source of strength comes from a totally different font, that the two of them would really be intense.
One last thing, and I'm not sure if this is a good thing, a bad thing, or just a thing. When I finished the book, I was done. I'm not left with a feeling of itching longing to find out what happens next to Kat. The story is done and I am satisfied. I don't know if I am ever going to make the effort to continue the rest of the trilogy because I am all set. That can't be a good thing for the first book, right?
Another good one from Gamblin. I have a feeling that, like Tumbler, I will like it even more after it's settled into me for a while.
Despite being raised in the christian traditions, I never really thought about how infected they are by being a death cult. Or, at least, that's my interpretation of the martyr mythology.
It's Donaldson, so the storytelling is nearly brilliant and the story itself is brutal and disturbing. Despite how this book sets up the pins that the rest of the series knocks down, it is really just too much for me to recommend.
Fantastic. Horrible. I still don't like 2nd person.
At times, there was a feeling of Gaiman and McGuire.
It's funny. The only thing wrong here is that I liked the way I misremembered the series ending better than the actual ending. I guess that's a risk when rereading a series after (insert too many years.)
I read the entire series at least 7 times as a young teen and I still care enough to argue passionately on the subject of book order.
Around halfway through, I realized I was getting annoyed because everything was happening soooo slowly. I eventually forced myself to finish listening, but I'm not going to keep going with the rest of the series. The ideas seem cool, but the pacing is just too aggravating for me.
Fun, well written, engaging. There's a scene at the end that appears to contradict earlier information - which makes me really curious if this was intentional or...?
Finally. I have been hoarding parts and pieces of this series for over 10 years. And now I am done. I wish I had enjoyed the series more. In end, the only character that I really liked was the little boy, Errand. I got chills on my arms when I found out the smith's role and I wondered how early in the process Eddings had known this was what had to happen. Then again, I was disappointed by what happens to the smith next. It cheapened everything.
And what in the heck is that rock?
More an episode than a novel, and still not bad without being the equal of the TV series.
This is a 4.5 star book that's been misfiled as fantasy. If I'd known it wasn't fantasy, I wouldn't have read it.
It's sort of astonishing that Johansen was able to actually tie the many different elements together and actually provide a real ending. I would have never believed that future dystopia, fantasy coming of age, and even time travel/portal usage could work - but it does.
Really good. I liked how Nix balanced revealing secrets and keeping some back. It definitely has me interested in coming back to read book #2.
3 stars for the story with a frosting extra star for Lowell's engrossing reading. It is, frankly, a little amazing how interesting this story is considering it mostly about making coffee and planning economic missions. I think this is a testament to the author's considerable skills at characterization and dialog.
My problem with this massive half-an-epic was two-fold. First, with the exception of Paula Mayo and Ozzie, I found none of the characters personally interesting. To compound that, there was no character growth. Mayo learned things that she had not know before, but who she was stayed the same throughout. (To be fair, that would be one of her character traits, but still...)
The other main problem was that I just did not care about most of what happened. Justine spent hours (of reading time) flying about in a glider, with all sorts of technical details, none of which was worth a single moment of reading time. It didn't illuminate her character for me. It didn't matter to the story at large.
I'm honestly very disappointed, I think in large part because the essential plot was interesting, it was just muddled by ... well, by muddling about.
I had a bad feeling at the direction I thought the story was taking at the beginning of the book. I was right about the bad feeling, but wrong about all of the reasons I thought that Ishmael was damning himself. Instead, I had a heart-wrenching and heart-felt wrap-up of the series. Nothing quite happened the way that I anticipated and two events near the end made me gasp with shivers up my spine. Hell, the thing that he does at the very end still moves me. Fantastic job!
