Tahla
I am so bummed by how lousy this suddenly got. I was surprised that I enjoyed Fourth Wing as much as I did, and started the sequel immediately. Fourth Wing was a good mix of dragons, magic, and a romance plot that isn't too cringe. But the sequel was suddenly a wall of angst. So much angst. All angst! I only made it to chapter three, and decided to double check online, because the turn off was so intense. Does this improve? And the general consensus seems to be that it does not. I may read a synopsis, and give the third book a try at some point, because I was invested in the overall story and world, even if the romance portions read like a R-rated YA book. But as it stands, I think I'll be moving onto something else for now!
Dry but interesting. I enjoyed learning the ins and outs of where the breakfast cereal mascots came from, and there are lots of vintage pictures. The book is slowly paced however, even for a nonfiction. Still a good read!
A fantastically written and disturbing look into just how badly our schools are failing our students. I'd very highly recommend this book to anyone who went to college, is thinking of going to college, or to anyone just wondering why schools seem to be so bad and why it is so many people who are clearly struggling are being pushed through their systems.
I very much enjoyed this story; being a creative person and an artist myself, I really liked that the focus of the magical world is through art. The magic system is a bit squishy in it's rules, one where it seems like you can do anything and everything without any kind of boundary, which did spoil it a bit. This does lead to a bit of a ‘Deus Ex Machina'. Some of the magic is so clearly overpowered that you wonder why the events towards the middle and end of the book even had to occur, or why the whole situation wasn't resolved a long time ago.
The writing itself has a few issues, but nothing that takes away from the story. At some points I found myself confused as to who was speaking or who's perspective the story is from; the author likes to shift this around, but hasn't yet mastered the style. The book is also double spaced, so I flew through the story quick as lightening despite how thick it appears to be. In general, I felt it was on par with most of the YA books I've read recently.
For the most part, if you're looking for a quick, fun, lighthearted read without too much detail, then this is a solid fantasy book. It was good enough that I'll be picking up the sequel today from the library. Just don't expect too much from it!
Overall a very good book. It keeps up a solid flow between action and exposition, and the pacing is perfect. The way the author combined the three separate stories and characters together, interweaving their tales to make one overarching story was masterful. I did find that the last chapter rambled for a bit, and there are a few small points where the story stops for a bit while a character does some contemplating- but I did not find that it hampered the flow too badly, or decreased my enjoyment. Would recommend!
While Giants, Monsters and Dragons isn't a book of fairy tales or stories, it's a wonderful reference book to the many legendary beasties of the world. Carol Rose has gathered descriptions and information of hundreds of mythical creatures from various cultures and assembled them into an encyclopedia style volume. Dry writing for sure, but wonderfully interesting nonetheless!
I really enjoyed this book, despite it being a tad predictable. The characters are all interesting and engaging to read about, the dialogue is snappy and reads well, and the story really moves along at a swift clip. I wasn't ever bored, and overall the book is a quick read. Looking forward to picking up the next in the series at some point, and would definitely recommend.
Seeing as I recently sold my copy of this novel to Half Price Books, I figured I ought to add it to my collection, and give it a rating. In short, I did not finish this book and only got around halfway through it. I really, really wanted to like this book, but I just couldn't.
While I normally enjoy stories that shift perspectives back and forth between it's characters, I did not find any of their stories or perspectives to be particularly interesting. I felt like this was a failing of the writing style, as there were a few astounding scenes that I did enjoy, but they came to infrequently. I frankly went too long in the story with little happening of any interest. I finally set it aside with the intention of trying to finish it up at a later time, but I found that once I'd stopped I just didn't have the drive to start again.
I'm rating it at two stars, more in sadness for what this book could have been, rather then what it is. The story line itself is wonderful and I really wish the writing had reflected it better, as it had the potential to be breathtaking. Would recommend checking out of the library, or perhaps looking into the audio version- with the right reader, this might be better.
Read this for my ‘European History since 1914' class in college, and very much enjoyed it. It's a brisk read, with a great ending.
Overall, I enjoyed this book. The characters were entertaining and interesting, and the take on the traditional ‘angels' and ‘demons' was fantastic. The lack of religious bias was great, something I was worried about upon reading the synopsis on the cover. I was not, however, in love with the writing style. The story is excellent and unique, but I found myself skimming along more then reading. I'll be checking it's sequel out at the library when it's released as I do want to know what happens, but this isn't one I would buy.
Not the best book, but certainly not the worst I've read. The world is well thought out and detailed. The individual books themselves work well in this collective edition, but I can't imagine trying to read them singularly, or waiting on the next to be published. The individual books are small and I feel the story would come off choppy that way. Either way, a good read for fantasy fans, but it will not compare to the wonders created by the more popular authors.
Very, very good, despite being completely different from the first in the series “Ender's Game”. It took me a while to get into it (I started it once, gave up as it was so very different from what I expected, then started it again) but once I set aside my expectations from the first book, I could hardly put Speaker down.
More philosophy then a fast paced space romp, I'd encourage everyone to read the series and to stick through the strange style changeover betwixt the first and second book. You'll be glad you read it!
I first read Abarat in high school, and the sequel as soon as it came out. Having heard that the third book is finally on it's way I decided to pick the series up again and read it over.
While the book is good, it is not for everyone- my boyfriend flat out refused to even consider reading it after he found out the main characters name is ‘Candy Quackenbush', which is obviously somewhat strange! The book's setting is the Islands of the Abarat, an unusual magical land.
If you can get past the strangeness of the many people and places one encounters in the book, the place really starts to grow on you. The characters are all unique and enjoyably written, and there's always adventure and magic around every corner of the book. Anything can happen, and I mean anything.
I recommend this book with reservations. If you like unusual settings and unusual characters and have a great imagination, then go for it! it's a fantastic book. If you want a book that's very grounded in the entirely believable and none of that funny business, I'd leave this one on the shelf.
If you do decide to read, do yourself a favor and invest in the hardcover copy with illustrations. While they aren't necessary to read the book, they make it just that much more enjoyable and are definitely worth the cost!
Beautiful book, lavishly illustrated with wonderful stories in the form of letters from various past explorers who've discovered dragons during their travels. I received this book as a child and was enthralled by it. The pages all contain borders in the form of small comic-strip like illustrations showing the travels of the various people, all of which are done in the cultural artistic style of whichever region the section is detailing. Cute, funny, and gorgeous I would highly recommend this book to everyone!
I do own the new ‘revised' version that has added dragons from the Americas- I don't believe this new section truly stands up in quality to the original three. The new beasties are just not quite as good... But as the new revised book has everything the original did, and is probably easier to come by then the original, I recommend it just as highly!
This is definitely a book for adults in younger looking package. The message serves as a reminder that even though technology may have advanced, the book is still the ultimate in perfection! Wonderfully done, what more can I say?
Spectacular. Everything about this book is absolutely fantastic. The characters are truly believable- you understand their struggles and motivations. You feel for them. The story itself is beautifully paced; I found myself hanging on every word. The book never became tedious or boring, quite a feat for a thousand page tome such as this. The world is entirely believable as well, described wonderfully with creatures and peoples all of it's own. Not to mention a fantastically rendered and interesting set of magic systems in it. I cannot recommend it enough!
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and while I loved the first, the second was even better. Dragon Keeper was fantastic, but was mostly written to set up everything needed to continue the story. I know this probably turned off a lot of readers, but they're really missing out on a fantastic story.
Dragon Haven has all the things that Dragon Keeper left out or skimmed over by necessity- the plot thickens, the characters grow and develop, and all the action missing from the first book comes into play. Even my least favorite part of the first book, the communications between the bird keepers which I had mostly skimmed to the point of skipping entirely, becomes more important and tells a side story of it's own.
Overall, the swiftly moving story kept me turning pages. I love the characters in the story, and can't wait to continue on their adventures with them. I would definitely recommend the series to any lover of dragons, or a good, solidly written and believable fantasy world.
Interesting plot, although easy to unravel for anyone even slightly well read. Even if you do guess all of the book's secrets, it's a great read, with several short breaks for fairy tales betwixt the main story line. At the back of the book is a section devoted to the original tellings of the fairy tales that were used as inspiration as well as discussion of them. The book itself takes many characters and locations everyone knows from classic fairy tales and twists them for it's own devices. A nice, fun read!
Overall, a well written and intriguing fantasy, that kept me turning the pages. The world the author built for the story is fascinating, although the details are a little slim. Events in the past are referred too, but never fully explained, which both adds to the mystery of the story, but is also a little frustrating- the details sound so interesting, a prequel would be fascinating. Looking forward to starting the second book.
For me, The Distant Hours is one of those books that held me so captivated, that by the end of it, the sudden realization that the mystery has been solved and the story is over left me bereft and wishing I had someone to share my wonderment with. It has left me with that fuzzy, happy, and somewhat traumatized feeling of having finished a fantastic story, and wishing I could turn back time and experience it again. If there were any niggling issues I may have had with the book whilst I was reading it, they were so overwhelmed by the story itself, I can't even remember them. The Distant Hours reminds me very much of The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield, another book I adored, both in the storyline and style. Suffice to say, I greatly enjoyed the novel, and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good mystery with the merest dash of fantasy.
I love this book- Interesting characters, a wonderfully constructed world and fully defined magic system, political intrigue and plenty of action. Plus, it's a full fantasy in just one volume! Such a refreshing change of pace from most modern fantasies that sprawl across several books. My only wish is that it were longer! This was my first introduction to Brandon Sanderson's work, also his first published novel. He has since become my favorite author, so I really couldn't recommend Elantris, or any of his novels, highly enough!
I found this to be a good story, and well paced. It was a tad slow to start with, but once you get into the meat of the mystery it sinks it's claws in and doesn't let go. Jumping between times and places worked well with it, letting us see the various plot lines unfold in tandem.
My one irk was that I'd pretty well unraveled what had happened halfway through. The book does a good job of throwing you off the trail, and making you think you're wrong, but in the end this felt somewhat forced. I wish there had been a better way to conceal the final solution, but I can't think how the author could have done it.
Overall, a brilliant and enjoyable story that's well worth a read!
I read this several years ago and found it unimpressive. Will likely never pick up the series again unless I were desperate for a book. :/