Krysteena
This was a great read! I was intrigued from the very beginning, which started with a very science fiction-like prologue that quickly turned into a more fantasy-type read for the rest of the book (at least in my opinion–I know many people consider this scifi with all the time traveling and star gazing and whatnot, and that's fine with me).
The Dragonriders of Pern starts with Volume I: Dragonflight, which I think was my favorite part of this book because, as a reader, this is where you first get introduced to the world of Pern and the (awesome!) dragons while you follow Lessa and F'lar on their journey as they become principle leaders of Pern. I have to say that I instantly related to Lessa; however, the evolution and growth of her character was a bit disappointing to me. She starts off as a very resourceful, independent woman harboring this revenge for Fax, a tyrant who murders her family for control over Ruatha Hold. As the last member of the Ruathan bloodline, she is able to survive on her own for years under Fax's rule without being caught.. But when she gets to Benden Weyr and becomes Weyrwoman by impressing Ramoth her character changes in response to how the male characters treat her. They constantly blame her for her poor choices while they continue to keep her ignorant. It was extremely annoying to read how caged-in she was, but things start to look up. The society slowly starts to change andLessa eventually gets to ride Ramoth, fight thread, and save the day, so it's not too bad...
Volume II: Dragonquest focuses on the aftermath and consequences of bringing the Oldtimers forward and the impact it makes on present Pern society. You get to follow more secondary characters from Vol I, like F'nor and Masterharper Robinton. One complaint I have is that we never get to hear what happens to Kylara after her queen dies. As a reader, I feel a little cheated regarding this character because there are a few chapters where we get to view the story from Kylara's point of view. Because of this, I developed an understanding for her. I didn't like her, but I was interested in seeing what happens to her because I invested some time into understanding her character. However, after that tragic incident involving Brekke and the queens, we never hear from Kylara again. Not even in Volume III: The White Dragon, where we follow Jaxom and Ruth. This part of the book is very much a coming of age story. It ends with a very cute scene between Lessa and F'lar that made the book feel like it came full circle for me. However, I would have felt even more satisfied if they would have been able to rid Pern of thread completely (much like F'lar), but we can't have everything. Overall, a 4 star, solid read.
Love the art work done on this! Everything from the layout to the inking to the color, 5 out of 5...I seriously wish I could draw like them. I would rate the story a 4/5. Great characterization of Batman and I really appreciate the continuity of it all. My favorite scene was when Catwoman tells Batman she'll claw his eyes out if he allows the bad guy to get away in order to rescue her. The identity of Hush was killing me. I had thought it was Dr. Elliot, then he died. Then Ra's said someone defiled one of his pits, so I was like okay Timmy is back. Then Jason comes in and I"m like wtf?! My mind was going in circles, which made the story fun. There was just something missing for me... But overall, I am very satisfied with this. So far, the books I've been reading in 2013 have been amazing. It looks like I've been starting this year off right =)
This was a really interesting read for me. I don't really read too many non-fiction novels on my free time, but I intend to change that–especially after reading this book. Oliver Sacks re-sparked my fascination of the Neurobiology field by bringing in a very personal, human narrative to the stories, which many people can relate to. Although it is easy to get lost in the scientific/medical jargon, I hope readers can get past that because I think he does a wonderful job leading his readers through his thought processes.
Bottom line: This is a very thought provoking book, and I can definitely see myself picking it up in the future to reread a couple of the tales.
Wow, I really loved this book!! It has this mixture of war, religion, romance, and (of course) an awesome female lead. The tone was extremely different from the first novel, and I actually liked it better than [b:The Curse of Chalion 61886 The Curse of Chalion (Chalion, #1) Lois McMaster Bujold https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1322571773s/61886.jpg 1129349]. For some reason, Bujold always seems to surprise me. I pick up these books expecting to hate them, but end up pleasantly surprised. The only drawback to this novel was that everything wraps up nicely in the end, maybe too nicely... This was the same problem I had with The Curse of Chalion, but I have to admit that I appreciate the level of storytelling that she presents in both of these novels. 5 out of 5!
This was such a comfort read! I love the characters and the setting. If you are looking for a short and sweet fantasy novel, this is something worth picking up, especially during winter/fall when the weather lends itself to reading (and drinking) something warm and cozy!
I really wanted to love this book, and I did at first, but I was let down in the end. Lilith is such a cool character and a part of me wants to find out what happens to her, but damn that ending. I felt the same way while reading the Pern series–can't they just get rid of that thread!?! It's frustrating, and not in a good way. Maybe I'm just too used to neat endings, but I honestly don't think that's it...Tigana ended in a cliff hanger (and there is no sequel to that book, but I still loved it!) I guess I just felt cheated while reading Dawn. For me, this story was built up to have this resolution, and then there isn't any! I don't know... maybe I'll pick this series back up in a few years, but for now it's just not my cup of tea. That being said, the storytelling is top notch and I thought it was very original (plus, I was really missing the whole science fiction because I've been reading a lot of fantasy). So overall, not a bad read.
3 out of 5 stars
Good characters and an engaging plot. While I wasn't reaching to read this book, I found that I wanted to see where the story would go. Overall an average book.
December ‘12 Sword and Laser book pick.
Love this book! First read it when I was maybe 14 years old, and now I must be on my 3rd or 4th re-read. It's such a fun read, and unlike the LOTRs trilogy, it doesn't delve too deeply into the rich history of Middle Earth. I love seeing Bilbo grow and develop his independence as he goes on this crazy adventure with Thorin and Co. I still always cry when I get to the Thorin's death after the Battle of Five Armies. This is one of those books that has left its mark on me.
This book is very hard to describe as far as plot goes, but it provides the reader with an interesting experience. It is about about self discovery, sexuality, enslavement, and much more... I would like to give this a 5 star rating, but I can't quite say that I fully enjoyed this read. All in all a solid book that makes you think and can definitely be re-read.
What the heck did I just read?!? Idk what to say about this one other than I'm picking up the next in the series!
This was required reading for my English class in high school. I enjoyed it the first time around, but I thought it was an even better read this second time around. Actually, it was a lot more depressing than I remember. Definitely recommend this novel, especially to those who like Shakespeare.
I really wanted to love this book and I think that's where the downfall started for me. I'm not sure exactly what it was, but this story fell short of expectations...maybe it was the setting, maybe it was the prose, or maybe it was just the length of the novel. I don't know... but at one point the story just plateaued for me and I just wanted the book to end.
One thing that really disappointed me was the fact that we never get to fully understand why Claire gets to travel back in time... Was it magic that led Claire through the stone? Was it genetics? Was it some sort of time warp thing? In addition to this, the author does not explain how Claire's actions and choices effect what happens during her own time (has this happened already, or is she actively changing the timeline?). Exploring these questions are one of the reasons time travel books are so interesting to me. The book is told from Claire's POV and since she doesn't know how or why she became lost in time, nor how her actions will effect the future, then we shouldn't; however, I felt cheated as a reader. After 500+ pages of reading, there is nothing but romance and more romance. The only time travel descriptions we get is the odd sensations Claire experiences when she touches the rocks on Craig na Dun, and a half-assed explanation from one of the monks about how all our actions effect the future, etc...(side note: I actually digged this conversation Claire has with Brother WhatsHisName. I think it really helped heal her, but it did nothing to assuage my curiosity about the whole time-traveling aspect of this book).
That being said, the overall book was interesting and I didn't hate it. There were definitely parts that I really enjoyed reading and I am still really excited for the STARZ TV series to come out. I think Diana Gabaldon does a great job with dialogue and really defines each of her characters. Will I be picking up the rest of the books in this series? Nope, I'll be content with just watching how the rest of this story unfolds on screen.
3 out of 5 stars.
Also, check out the trailer while you're at it: https://www.goodreads.com/videos/57817-outlander-starz-first-look-trailer
Okay, the goal for 2013 is to start writing more book reviews, so here goes:
John Perry is a character that I instantly liked and related to. I mean for an old man, he's not that bad. Plus, he's funny. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about his journey into space. The ending was great, it was so touching. I loved the "postcard" Jane sends him at the end. And I felt content with leaving the story there, few books leave me with that totally satisfied feeling. I teared up with Maggie's death. It was so sudden and it just hit me that not everyone is going to make it through. I was angry when Alan died. And that's why this book deserves the 4.5 out of 5 from me. It got me emotionally attached. Oddly enough, I never actually cried while reading this like I do with some novels. Things just happened way too fast to spend too much time grieving over a character. Nonetheless, this was a fun, quick read. Must read for science fiction fans out there. And what's even cooler, is that I found out that this was a serial online novel before John Scalzi got an offer to publish it with Tor. Pretty awesome.
Also, this would make a great movie.
Love the concept of this book! Cyborg cinderella?!? Hella yeah! I'm definitely interested enough to want to read the rest of the series. My only complaint is that the plot was a bit predictable...still a nice light read though. I plan to start the next in the series soon!
3.5 out of 5 stars from me (I rounded up this time).
This was a really fun and fast read. I loved all of the female characters in this story, which is why I rounded up. The faceless, a group of religious female assassins (hard to explain, but believe me, they are badass), were probably my favorite part of this novel. And Kayla was just awesome. She dies at the end, which is one of the reasons I decided not to go on with the series =/
I mainly took off points because of all of the violence–there was just so much death and almost all of the problems were resolved with bloodshed. Plus, I just felt like the book needed a tighter focus. The plot was kind of all over the place because there are a lot of characters and subplots and power players within the novel–it just need, IDK a better outline. Some of the character deaths seemed to have been added as a way to kill off characters before the big showdown during the Kensgold.
Overall, an entertaining story–very different from the novels I usually pick up. Recommend to people who like assassins and just want to read a book with a bunch of well-written fight scenes.
Quick and fun read! Definitely a great YA scifi/fantasy novel by two great authors. Love the cover of this edition (although there are some spelling/grammar issues). Recommended to fans of all ages.
I loved this book! I can't even begin to explain why I love it so much, but I will say that I had very high expectations for this story and Pat Rothfuss did not disappoint.Also, a funny thing happened to me while reading this novel: Apparently, out of all the copies I could have bought, I decided to get one that is missing 30 pages! That's right folks, my edition is missing thirty whole pages! I don't know if anyone else has experiences this, but I sat on my bed thinking “No way, this is not happening. Where are these pages?!” Needless to say, I was distraught and in shock, but the next day I went to the bookstore and picked up another copy of this book–making sure that those pages were there before paying! Lol, this was definitely a unique reading experience for me, which, hopefully, will not be repeated while I'm reading [b:The Wise Man's Fear 1215032 The Wise Man's Fear (The Kingkiller Chronicle, #2) Patrick Rothfuss https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1297311431s/1215032.jpg 2502882]!
I wasn't really impressed with this one. It was a bit over the top for me, and I kind of just wanted it to end. That being said, I really enjoyed the world building–it was innovative and I think this would make a very interesting movie.
I do not plan to read the rest of this series. Great concept and the book had it's moments for me, but overall it was lacking in execution.
Surprisingly, I didn't hate this novel. I picked it up because it was chosen as the book for the month for my comic book club and I wasn't sure what to expect. It was a bit cheesy, but seeing all the Marvel superheroes come together was kinda cool. Dr. Strange is awesome =)
Thanos, on the other hand, is one crazy dude and this story revolves around him. I have to admit, I felt a little cheated at the end because this was basically just a story of Thanos finding his true self Overall, it was an average read. The art was also average. A few of the layouts were pretty cool, but I didn't love the transitions. Sometimes the scene would change without any visual clues, which had me backtracking a bit once I figured out the setting and context of the dialogue. 3.0 out of 5.0 stars
I had mixed feelings about this one. On the one hand, it started off really well and I was intrigued from the first couple of chapters. The characters and plot seemed promising. Then towards the middle, things started to slow down and drag on. I'm not sure what it was, but I was just not motivated to read the book, and it took me a really long time to pass that midpoint. Things started picking up again during the last hundred pages, and then Niven leaves you with a cliffhanger ending, which was a bit frustrating.
I thought the concepts and ideas presented in Ringworld were very interesting, and I have to admit that I'm curious to know more about the Engineers and to see what happens to Speaker, Louis, and Nessus once they return from the expedition (I felt like Teela's story came to a close here, but I looked it up and she seems to be featured in the next installment).
I don't know if I'm curious enough to pick up the next book, but overall I though the novel was good, just not good enough. I probably won't recommend this to most people–only those who are interested in classic sci-fi. I guess I was just expecting more from Ringworld, so... three out of five stars from me.
Very different from the movie, but still a fun and exciting novel about how heroes are made.
What can I say about this book?... It's a classic. It's something I would like to reread. It's something I wish I read in high school. Offred is such an engaging and interesting narrator. Her voice is what really captured me throughout the book. Seriously, there are so many discussions that can be sparked from this book, so I'll just leave you with this quote from Valerie Martin's introduction to the Everyman's Library edition of this novel. It pretty much sums up a lot of my thoughts about The Handmaid's Tale:
“It is not an exculpatory tone; the thin light it sheds will not illuminate much. It won't tell us why people were so cruel and unjust then, but it can remind us of the way we would, the way we do, on any given day, explain our participation in the injustices we accept and perpetuate. It is what we do.
...Offred's voice speaks clearly, and this is what it says: History will catch up with us, it isn't dead any more than we are, it lives in and upon us, parasitically, like the bacteria in our intestines, without which we would die. If you want to see the future, keep looking steadily behind you, because the future, no matter how much we may pretend we don't know it, is history.”
Nolite te bastardes carborundorum.
Finished this a while back during my vacation–loved it! Love the art and the characters. Full of drama and interesting politics.
At first, i was a bit disappointed with the book. It started off slow and read like a soap opera. However, tge story really began to blossom once Circe is sent to live on the island of Aiaia. This is where she learns who she is and what she is capable of.