Samuel Proulx
The first half of this book is just as good as anything Heinlein ever wrote. However, the second half leaves something to be desired. I mean, really leaves[return]something to be desired. While it isn't as confusing as the ending of to sail beyond the sunset, it makes up for this with the fact that it really sucks.[return]When you start coming across many characters you recognize from other books, it's time to stop reading. Make up your own ending if you must. You'll be[return]happier.
I've noticed a strong pattern in all of the Anne McCaffrey books I've tried to read. If she wrote the book herself, I never like it. If, however, the book[return]has a co-author, I usually find it at least good. This book, co-authord by an author who's solo works I've already liked and read, is excelent. I've read[return]all of the other books in the ship series, and this is by far the best of the bunch. If you don't plan on reading the entire series, at least read this[return]book. It stands just fine by itself; don't worry that it's book 3. The rest of the series isn't bad either, but I could take it or leave it.
This book is wonderful! It's one of the few modern books that has managed to make me really excited about current SF. Some have complained that this author[return]sounds a little bit too much like Heinlein (Starship Troopers, especially), but I don't at all see how that's a complaint; the world needs more Heinlein's.[return]Anyway, Old Man's War is better written and pased than Starship Troopers ever comes close to being. Yes, it starts slow, but come on. It starts out with[return]a bunch of 75 year olds; how fast do you expect things to move? Anyhow, it needs the slow start to build up important ideas that relate to the rest of[return]the plot. The characters are all interesting, the plot has some original twists, and the writing is as good as Heinlein's. What more do you want? I look[return]forward to seeing much more from this author in the near future.
The only problem with this book was that I wanted more! This book only has something like six columns in it, that I had already archived on my own.
This is a good book for reading and discussion in a church or other book group. I wouldn't bother reading it by yourself.
This is almost universally accepted as Heinlein's best book. A framed story similar to the style of Arabian nights, it manages to keep the overarching plot[return]moving along while including many other interesting stories. the tale of the adopted daughter, one of the tales told, is in my opinion the most touching[return]thing ever to be written in a science fiction novel and the best part of the book. Either this means that I secretly want to read westerns, or I'm extremely[return]sappy. Honestly, I'd rather not analyse it, thanks.
I really enjoyed the setting of this book; based loosely on reality, the surrounding environment and community is powerful and well shown. The characters[return]are interesting and believable, and the premise of the book works well. Unfortunately, the resolution is just a little far fetched and fantastic for my[return]taste. However, it's still worth the read. You'll enjoy every minute you spend getting there, just beware that at the end you may find you did not enjoy[return]where you got.
I'm a sucker for framed tales, as well as for morrality in my fiction. This book contains plenty of both. It's thoughtful, yet easy to read, with an interesting[return]and fun plot and characters. The message, on power and society, is a powerful one. The point it makes isn't new, and I'm sure it's been made many times[return]before in fiction, but this is still an original take and worth the read.
I have the audio CD; the recording quality is bad, the reading is bad, the effects are distracting, and I didn't enjoy the experience. If the plot had have been interesting, it might have all equaled out in the end; unfortunately, it wasn't. The writing was uninspired, the plot was slow, the technical details were so utterly incorrect as to be silly, and the book can't decide if it's science fiction or fantasy, and ends up just being silly.
I'm giving this book five stars because the author took the time to re-upload the book with alt-text on all images, for those of us using screen readers. If you've read in other reviews that the stats are all images, don't worry; they have alt-text for your screen reader on Windows/IOS/Android. Don't give the book a miss for that reason.
Unfortunately, I got way too excited about what I thought this book might be, and when it wasn't that thing, I was unreasonably disappointed. I was hoping for something like the Rick Cook Wizardry series, where magic could be programmed. I've been a moo programmer for years; a player in a VR game who somehow got a progbit by mistake could be a lot of fun, as he uses his ability to view and edit code to exploit his way through tricky puzzles, get slight advantages, etc. All, of course, while trying to not get noticed by the admins. This book, however, isn't that. It's good for what it is, it just wasn't the thing I wanted it to be.
Just when I thought Piers Anthony had forever sunk into a relme of countless unoriginal (if still amusing) xanth novels at publisher behest, I came across this small print offering. In fact, I own the ebook edition, though ebooks don't seem to yet be listed on librarything (why no fictionpress search option?). For the price, this long volume, first in a series of three, is well worth purchasing. Following the adventures of a country boy forced into becoming king of a planet, It continues in Mr. Anthony's unique style of average seeming characters having grand adventures of epoch proportion. The key addition to the formula is an absolutely staggering amount of sex. While many don't find Piers Anthony's cartoonish style of sexy softcore pornography appealing, I find his sexual views refreshingly different from run of the mill lay and slay fantasy sex. If you're comfortable with Anthony's sex in his other novels (Firefly, Refugee, and Cluster come to mind), you'll enjoy this less popular offering; you might even come to feel, as I do, that this represents some of his best work. However, if you find Anthony style sex unappealing, give this book (and probably the entire series) a pass.
This book tries so, so hard to be funny. Unfortunately, it fails. This is probably because the author is unable to detect the fine difference between funny[return]and silly. The difference is hard to explain. The problem this book has is that all the jokes it tries to make are old and overused. Everyone has seen[return]how silly the things the author pokes fun at are, and has already laughed about them. Now they're just silly; all the fun has been removed by other and[return]better authors.
Australian funny science fiction that tries just slightly too hard. Instead of coming off funny, it at times manages only silly. However, when it does get funny, it is extremely funny.
This book is one of the darker discworld novels. However, it does serve as a brilliant twist on the girl-as-boy standard plot, poking fun at societies and[return]the plot device itself. That's all I can say about that and still honestly keep this review no spoilers. The discworld series is one of those that is improving[return]with age. If you haven't yet read this book, even if you've never read any discworld book before, I think you'll enjoy it.
This is an extremely silly little book, aimed at the young adult audience. If you like silly, you'll like this. It has no pretensions to be anything more than it is: humour. It will never be a Canadian classic, but it does make for a quick afternoon read that will bring a brieff smile to your face.
This is not a particularly excelent book, but it's not a bad one, either. The plot gets off to an extremely slow start, sounding at first more like a history[return]text than anything else. Then it goes through several side characters before getting on to introducing the main plot of the book. The AI revolt plot that[return]was so carefully developed is then completely cast aside in favour of an alien artifact plot. It felt somewhat abrupt to me. However, the writing is good,[return]the characters are okay, and the story is interesting. While it's not all that good of a book, it's not bad, either.
This review is going to be a demonstration of reviewer bias, I guess. When I reviewed sheepfarmers daughter, I wasn't particularly impressed because it[return]was typical fantasy, and that's not really my thing. However, this book is typical space opera, and that is my thing. I personally enjoyed it. Until reading[return]the review just below mine, I even thought the plot was a new one. Yes, I know, I know: I'm probably the only SF fan in the entire history of the universe[return]not to have read anything by Lois Mcmaster Bujold. Look, I've only been around for 18 years or so, and for the first 8 of those I wasn't really reading[return]all that much. I can't have read everything.
Paksenarrion is the typical strong warrier woman in this fantasy novel that tries really, really hard to be epoch. Unfortunately, it doesn't quite make[return]it. I'm not saying it's a bad book, and if you enjoy epoch fantasy you'd probably get a kick out of it. However, by the end of the book it starts to feel[return]like the same old fantasy stuff that we've read time and time again, accept instead of a strong masculin male character it's happening to a strong masculine[return]female character. It's got battles, magic, and a main character who can do no wrong. If you enjoy that sort of thing, you'll find this the stuff of legends.[return]For the rest of us, it's an ok read...but you've probably got better things to do.
This book made me think about a lot of things. In the field of science fiction, religion is most often something to be scorned and laughed at, mostly through[return]heavy handed pokes at the Catholic church. While I'd agree that Christianity has a set of major problems, I think most readers and writers of science fiction[return]are throwing out the baby with the bathwater. That's what makes Calculating God so interesting: it takes a new and fresh look at creationism. Oh, basic[return]religious issues have been looked at before, but the treatments that I've seen have been confined to the classic Adam-and-Eve storyline, or to the tiny[return]genre of Christian science fiction. Yeah, there are books in this genre, and the fact that you've most likely never heard of them proves my point. calculating[return]God, however, isn't particularly Christian; the ending proves the fact beyond all doubt. It manages to make points about the existence of God, and our[return]societies views on the matter, without preaching one religion or another. This is not a book to be read for plot or characters. In fact, it's seriously[return]lacking on both those fronts. As with most of Soier's work, I think it would be happier as a popular nonfiction text. Still, the quality of the ideas was[return]heigh enough to make up for the lack in...well, everything else.