Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Myth Hunters (take 2)



Myth Hunters by Christopher Golden was a re-read in order to be prepared to read the second book in the series, Borderkind.

Second time around I loved it just as much. This is a creative and fun story. And a pretty fast read.

Oliver Bascombe is sitting in his living room contemplating his pending wedding that is to take place the next morning. When a snow storm kicks up into high gear. And through a window comes an ice man in desperate need of help. So Oliver throws on a coat and helps Frost to the edge of the ocean cliffs. Much to Olivers surprise the ice man plunges over the cliff taking Oliver with him. And as Oliver prepares for his death he is shocked to find himself falling into a lake, the sky is blue, the trees are green, and Oliver isn't in Kansas anymore..................

The Rule of Four


The Rule of Four by Ian Caldwell was a very fast read. I enjoyed this story. I added this book to my list after reading a review of it somewhere. It had received a great write up. When I looked at B&N it was interesting how the reviewers either gave it one star or 4/5. Sort of that loved it or hated it thing.
I enjoyed it. And I don't feel that I wasted my time at all with this book. It was an interesting read that kept my attention from start to finish. Considering I read it in just over 2 days, how can it loose ones attention?
The story takes place at Princeton University. Basically the narrator tells the story of a rare and unusual manuscript. His father made it his lifes work to uncover the secrets behind the book, but he died before he could solve the mystery. One of narrators friends has made the book the subject of his thesis. And thus begins the adventure. Jealousy, murder, revenge. It's all here.

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Yellow Dog


Yellow Dog by Martin Amis is one of those books in which I have to stop at page 30 and say "Life is too short to waste on a bad book"
I was looking SO forward to this one too.
Oh well. Life goes on and this one goes back on the shelf. Maybe someday I'll pick it back up and give it a second try. But for now we have moved on.

The Shadows of God


The Shadows of God by J Gregory Keyes is the 4th and final book in his Age of Unreason Series. Fast paced and easy to read this was a satisfying end to a terrific series.
But, you do have to be a Sci Fi geek to enjoy this series. It's a bit out there. And delves into trying to discover the true nature of god and the angels.
Overall I loved these books. I thought reading them back to back was going to be a good idea but in all honesty I got to the point where I was ready to be done. Not because it was bad. But I like variety in my reading so four in a row just made me itch to move on to another type of story. And honestly, it wasn't the books, it truly was me. I get the itch to move on sometimes while reading the best books I have ever read. I'm restless like that.

Empire of Unreason


Empire of Unreason by J. Gregory Keyes is book 3 in the Age of Unreason series. Where book two lagged a bit, book three was far more of a page turner. Due mostly to the author ending every chapter with a climactic moment. And because he switches between characters you had to keep reading to find out what happens. It was a vicious cycle since I do have to function as a responsible adult and can't spend ALL my time reading.
But book three was satisfying and fun.

Monday, June 02, 2008

A Calculus of Angels



A Calculus of Angels by J. Gregory Keyes is book 2 in his Age of Unreason series.

Still love it.

The continuing adventures of Ben Franklin, Isaac Newton, and many other characters.

The author does get maddeningly worse at ending every chapter with a cliff hanger. So be prepared to not want to put these books down. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Newton's Cannon


Newton's Cannon by J. Gregory Keyes is book 1 in the Age of Unreason series.
I had heard about this series I don't know where but I have had a hard time finding the books. Then Amazon started selling the whole series. And I jumped at the chance to at least try it.
Needless to say about twenty pages into the book I was ordering the rest of the series. It really is fantastic.
The main characters in the first book are Newton and a youthful Ben Franklin. The world is full of magic and wonder and something else they can't quite identify.
This is a fun series and I love the adventure. So much so that I am actually reading this series straight through. I normally will skip around and read several other books in between any given series. This time around I'm going right on through.
That's not because this is better than any series ever, it's simply that this series doesn't neatly end at each book. It begs to be read as a group. And I would hate to put so much time in between each book that I feel like I should go back and read them again.

The Name of the Wind



The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss was a VERY pleasant surprise. Only in that I bought the book on a whim while shopping on Amazon. It came up as a recommendation while I was ordering other books. It sounded good so I figured, why not?

Well, let me tell you. If you love Robert Jordan, George R. R. Martin, or any of those big Sci/Fi fantasy series writers you will LOVE this book. It is a fantastic debut novel that is also the beginning of a planned series called the Kingkiller Chronicles.

To say I LOVED this book is putting it mildly. I adored every word, sentence and paragraph. It's poetic, visually lush, and sometimes I found myself chewing on sentences just to savor the idea in the words. Yeah, it's that good.

The Nature of Monsters



The Nature of Monsters by Clare Clark was a book I grabbed at Barnes and Noble because it was on clearance and sounded appealing.

I won't say this was a great book. I hesitate to say it was even a good book. But I did enjoy reading it. I found it intriguing. And I wanted to finish it.

But I also felt like it was a great book that didn't reach it's potential. That it could have bumped itself up a notch but missed. And I don't know why.

Like I said, I enjoyed reading it. And I wanted to finish it. But maybe I just didn't relate to any of the characters. I just never found myself caring about them or their lives. And because of that distance I didn't fall in love with anything about it.

And this review is just as non-committal as the book. Not bad, but not a must read.