Title: The Time Traveler's Wife
Author: Audrey Niffenegger
What it's about: Clare meets Henry for the first time when she's a young girl. Henry meets Clare for the first time when he's almost thirty. Soon after he meets her, they get married. No, this isn't some sort of lolita story. Henry has a genetic condition that causes him to spontaneously time travel, and the first time he meets Clare is when he travels back in time to when Clare is six. Meanwhile, Henry has been married to her in her future for a couple years already. The book is basically the story of two people in love who have to live with the difficulty of Henry's time travel.
What I thought: It's a very intriguing premise, and the story is executed in such a way that it's really not confusing. Really, the writing is top-notch and the characters are really brought to life. The sex in the book definitely isn't very fade to black, which turned me off a bit, but I guess that's part of how the book portrays this as being a story about real people.
Overall: I liked it, but I dunno if I'd read it again.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Green Rider
Title: Green Rider
Author: Kristen Britain
What it's about: Karigan G'ladheon is just a normal schoolgirl. Okay, maybe normal's not the best word for someone who runs away from school after getting suspended, but still, Karigan certainly never expected what happened next. A dying Green Rider, one of the king of Sacoridia's messengers, encounters Karigan and gets her to continue his message errand, one that is of vital importance to the safety of the country. Karigan's swept up into a dangerous adventure that brings her face-to-face with ancient monsters, traitorous soldiers, and the mysterious Grey One who plots the downfall of Sacoridia.
What I thought: Love this book. Seriously. This novel made me realize that epic fantasy stories could have a sense of humor to them and be more than Tolkien ripoffs. (Or rather, what I imagine Tolkien ripoffs to be, having never been able to make it through any of the man's books.) I really love how developed the culture and history of Sacordia are, and all the detail we get isn't explained in boring info-dumps but in natural places in the narrative that add flavor to the story. The characters are great, too. Timas Mirwell is a very interesting antagonist; he might be a bad guy, but his chapters make you respect his way of thinking and his cunning. Karigan herself is likeable. She's got a sense of humor and she's a pretty admirable heroine, but she's also not perfect, which just makes her more relatable. The way that romance is barely even touched on in this first book is also something that I find refreshing. I mean, I like me a good romance as much as the next girl, but this story didn't need any more than the foreshadowing it had. After all, there are three books by now and the series isn't even finished yet. Plenty of time for romance to develop slowly. As for the plot itself, it is pretty good. Green Rider can almost work as a stand-alone book, as the plot with delivering the message and stopping the Grey One is resolved mostly neatly by the end of the book. The plot of this book isn't anything hugely spectacularly innovative, but it really sets up the world and the characters for the more intricate plots of the following two books.
Overall: I'm a fan.
Review of the second book in the series, First Rider's Call, is coming up soon, but the third book was reviewed back in, I wanna say, May, for future reference, folks.
Author: Kristen Britain
What it's about: Karigan G'ladheon is just a normal schoolgirl. Okay, maybe normal's not the best word for someone who runs away from school after getting suspended, but still, Karigan certainly never expected what happened next. A dying Green Rider, one of the king of Sacoridia's messengers, encounters Karigan and gets her to continue his message errand, one that is of vital importance to the safety of the country. Karigan's swept up into a dangerous adventure that brings her face-to-face with ancient monsters, traitorous soldiers, and the mysterious Grey One who plots the downfall of Sacoridia.
What I thought: Love this book. Seriously. This novel made me realize that epic fantasy stories could have a sense of humor to them and be more than Tolkien ripoffs. (Or rather, what I imagine Tolkien ripoffs to be, having never been able to make it through any of the man's books.) I really love how developed the culture and history of Sacordia are, and all the detail we get isn't explained in boring info-dumps but in natural places in the narrative that add flavor to the story. The characters are great, too. Timas Mirwell is a very interesting antagonist; he might be a bad guy, but his chapters make you respect his way of thinking and his cunning. Karigan herself is likeable. She's got a sense of humor and she's a pretty admirable heroine, but she's also not perfect, which just makes her more relatable. The way that romance is barely even touched on in this first book is also something that I find refreshing. I mean, I like me a good romance as much as the next girl, but this story didn't need any more than the foreshadowing it had. After all, there are three books by now and the series isn't even finished yet. Plenty of time for romance to develop slowly. As for the plot itself, it is pretty good. Green Rider can almost work as a stand-alone book, as the plot with delivering the message and stopping the Grey One is resolved mostly neatly by the end of the book. The plot of this book isn't anything hugely spectacularly innovative, but it really sets up the world and the characters for the more intricate plots of the following two books.
Overall: I'm a fan.
Review of the second book in the series, First Rider's Call, is coming up soon, but the third book was reviewed back in, I wanna say, May, for future reference, folks.
Making Money
Title: Making Money
Author: Terry Pratchett
What it's about: Moist von Lipwig is a respected citizen of Ankh-Morpork because of how he improved the postal system there. But while the initial rush of bringing the post office back from the brink was enjoyable, he's feeling a little stuck in a rut now. Happily enough, Lord Vetinari has a new job for Moist. He gets to take over the city's mint and bank. For Moist, it's like being a conman in a candy store. ... Er, wait, bad metaphor. But as a conman, Moist knows a thing or two, and he uses his knowledge of money and human nature to start getting the bank back on its feet. However, not everyone is happy with the changes Moist is making. (Of course.) The family who used to be in charge of the bank is determined to undermine Moist and take back what's theirs, and the effort is led by Cosmo Lavish, a man who admires Lord Vetinari perhaps just a little too much.
What I thought: The humor is in full force in this book. The situation is similar to Going Postal, but it has its own set of difficulties for Moist, so it's not a rehash. However, though this is an excellent book, I do sort of feel that it doesn't have the same desperate, frantic excitement of the first book, where Moist had to do well or pretty much end up dead, whereas in this one, there's not that sort of suspense.
Overall: Still a very good, solid Discworld book.
P.S. - This blog ain't dead. I've got a huge backlog of entries to do. I just caught the lazies. ^^;
Author: Terry Pratchett
What it's about: Moist von Lipwig is a respected citizen of Ankh-Morpork because of how he improved the postal system there. But while the initial rush of bringing the post office back from the brink was enjoyable, he's feeling a little stuck in a rut now. Happily enough, Lord Vetinari has a new job for Moist. He gets to take over the city's mint and bank. For Moist, it's like being a conman in a candy store. ... Er, wait, bad metaphor. But as a conman, Moist knows a thing or two, and he uses his knowledge of money and human nature to start getting the bank back on its feet. However, not everyone is happy with the changes Moist is making. (Of course.) The family who used to be in charge of the bank is determined to undermine Moist and take back what's theirs, and the effort is led by Cosmo Lavish, a man who admires Lord Vetinari perhaps just a little too much.
What I thought: The humor is in full force in this book. The situation is similar to Going Postal, but it has its own set of difficulties for Moist, so it's not a rehash. However, though this is an excellent book, I do sort of feel that it doesn't have the same desperate, frantic excitement of the first book, where Moist had to do well or pretty much end up dead, whereas in this one, there's not that sort of suspense.
Overall: Still a very good, solid Discworld book.
P.S. - This blog ain't dead. I've got a huge backlog of entries to do. I just caught the lazies. ^^;
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Going Postal
Title: Going Postal
Author: Terry Pratchett
What it's about: Moist von Lipwig is a conman whose luck has run out, or so it seems. He's encountered a benevolent angel (though angels usually don't come in the form of Assassins Guild-trained tyrants) who has offered him a second chance at life. If Moist accepts the offer, he gets the job of Postmaster for the Ankh-Morpork Post Office and the task of reforming the postal system of the city. Figuring it to be better than death, Moist takes the offer. He doesn't realize he'll have to deal with a golem parole officer, a pin-obsessed apprentice postman, a chain-smoking golem advocate, and an even smoother operator than himself who holds the reins of the clacks system and thus is an enemy of the revived post office.
What I thought: What a great book. It incorporates all the developments that have occurred in Ankh-Morpork, like the clacks and the Ankh-Morpork Times and the expanded City Watch and freed golems. We also get a look at the city from a new point of view; Vimes and crew in the Watch books see things from a copper's point of view, but Moist has his own shrewd way of seeing the world, and this is good for laughs and for the insights into human character that Pratchett is so good at delivering. I liked the looks into the culture of the clacks towers and their operators and the comparisions to computer programmers.
Overall: A great new entry into the Discworld series.
Author: Terry Pratchett
What it's about: Moist von Lipwig is a conman whose luck has run out, or so it seems. He's encountered a benevolent angel (though angels usually don't come in the form of Assassins Guild-trained tyrants) who has offered him a second chance at life. If Moist accepts the offer, he gets the job of Postmaster for the Ankh-Morpork Post Office and the task of reforming the postal system of the city. Figuring it to be better than death, Moist takes the offer. He doesn't realize he'll have to deal with a golem parole officer, a pin-obsessed apprentice postman, a chain-smoking golem advocate, and an even smoother operator than himself who holds the reins of the clacks system and thus is an enemy of the revived post office.
What I thought: What a great book. It incorporates all the developments that have occurred in Ankh-Morpork, like the clacks and the Ankh-Morpork Times and the expanded City Watch and freed golems. We also get a look at the city from a new point of view; Vimes and crew in the Watch books see things from a copper's point of view, but Moist has his own shrewd way of seeing the world, and this is good for laughs and for the insights into human character that Pratchett is so good at delivering. I liked the looks into the culture of the clacks towers and their operators and the comparisions to computer programmers.
Overall: A great new entry into the Discworld series.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
James and the Giant Peach
Title: James and the Giant Peach
Author: Roald Dahl
What it's about: James is a small boy who lives with his two awful aunts. One day, a mysterious old man gives him a bag of magic to help him, but James spills the bag's contents on the ground near the old peach tree. Soon a giant peach is growing, but that's not the only thing that the magic affected. When James sneaks out to see the peach at night, he meets amazing new friends and starts off on a wonderful journey to a better life.
What I thought: I was actually pretty indifferent to this. This was one of Dahl's earlier books, though, according to Wikipedia, so perhaps he hadn't quite hit his stride. There are plenty of rhymes and some very clever bits of description, but it's a short book and seemed kind of in a rush to me.
Overall: Not bad, but Dahl has written much better stories.
Author: Roald Dahl
What it's about: James is a small boy who lives with his two awful aunts. One day, a mysterious old man gives him a bag of magic to help him, but James spills the bag's contents on the ground near the old peach tree. Soon a giant peach is growing, but that's not the only thing that the magic affected. When James sneaks out to see the peach at night, he meets amazing new friends and starts off on a wonderful journey to a better life.
What I thought: I was actually pretty indifferent to this. This was one of Dahl's earlier books, though, according to Wikipedia, so perhaps he hadn't quite hit his stride. There are plenty of rhymes and some very clever bits of description, but it's a short book and seemed kind of in a rush to me.
Overall: Not bad, but Dahl has written much better stories.
Life of Pi
Title: Life of Pi
Author: Yann Martel
What it's about: Pi Patel is a young boy with an interest in religion and in zookeeping. His family decides to move to Canada, but on the way there, their ship sinks, and Pi ends up stuck in a lifeboat with a tiger that was part of the ship's cargo. Until he is rescued or makes his way to land, Pi has to figure out how to survive on the lifeboat and how to keep himself from becoming the tiger's next meal.
What I thought: The story here is simple but beautifully told, with very easy, simple, and yet deep prose. I mean, all of the authors I like can tell a good story, but it takes some special skill to make the words so, well, evocative, bringing out the sensations of the world for the reader to truly experience. Besides that, the observations made really make you think as you read, make you want to evaluate your beliefs in the light of what has been said.
Overall: A beautiful book that will make you think and sweep you away into the world of its story.
Author: Yann Martel
What it's about: Pi Patel is a young boy with an interest in religion and in zookeeping. His family decides to move to Canada, but on the way there, their ship sinks, and Pi ends up stuck in a lifeboat with a tiger that was part of the ship's cargo. Until he is rescued or makes his way to land, Pi has to figure out how to survive on the lifeboat and how to keep himself from becoming the tiger's next meal.
What I thought: The story here is simple but beautifully told, with very easy, simple, and yet deep prose. I mean, all of the authors I like can tell a good story, but it takes some special skill to make the words so, well, evocative, bringing out the sensations of the world for the reader to truly experience. Besides that, the observations made really make you think as you read, make you want to evaluate your beliefs in the light of what has been said.
Overall: A beautiful book that will make you think and sweep you away into the world of its story.
Skybreaker
Title: Skybreaker
Author: Kenneth Oppel
What it's about: So after defeating a pirate captain, our hero Matt Cruse has enough money to attend the airship academy. He's not doing so well, though, and he worries about being good enough for his spunky rich friend Kate. When Matt gets the chance to go after the Hyperion, an abandoned ship sailing unreachably high and supposedly loaded with gold, he jumps at it, hoping to gain himself a better future with the riches. Soon Matt, Kate, the captain of a high-flying skybreaker ship, and the girl who has the key to the gold are all setting sail for adventure at treacherous heights.
What I thought: The first book has a light-hearted swashbuckling feel to it. This book, in contrast, has some genuinely creepy stuff to it. The setting is an abandoned airship full of corpses. Come on, how much more morbid can you get? There's plenty of science in this book, too, and there's a real feel of desperation as the story heads toward its climax. My main complaint? Basically, Matt is basically always vindicated. He's always got the right view of things, and if someone disparages what he suggests, that person's later proven wrong. It's not enough to turn me off the books, of course, but it does get a little annoying.
Overall: A very gripping second book.
Author: Kenneth Oppel
What it's about: So after defeating a pirate captain, our hero Matt Cruse has enough money to attend the airship academy. He's not doing so well, though, and he worries about being good enough for his spunky rich friend Kate. When Matt gets the chance to go after the Hyperion, an abandoned ship sailing unreachably high and supposedly loaded with gold, he jumps at it, hoping to gain himself a better future with the riches. Soon Matt, Kate, the captain of a high-flying skybreaker ship, and the girl who has the key to the gold are all setting sail for adventure at treacherous heights.
What I thought: The first book has a light-hearted swashbuckling feel to it. This book, in contrast, has some genuinely creepy stuff to it. The setting is an abandoned airship full of corpses. Come on, how much more morbid can you get? There's plenty of science in this book, too, and there's a real feel of desperation as the story heads toward its climax. My main complaint? Basically, Matt is basically always vindicated. He's always got the right view of things, and if someone disparages what he suggests, that person's later proven wrong. It's not enough to turn me off the books, of course, but it does get a little annoying.
Overall: A very gripping second book.
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