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Review Date: 5/7/2011
Helpful Score: 2
As much as I enjoyed the story, I also have to give the book a few extra brownie points for its unique presentation. It's written as a journal from the first person perspective of the main character, which you might not think is so out of the ordinary at first. The unique thing about this story, though, is that the physical book journeys with the main character through her ordeals, and plays a major role in how the story turns out, including being entered as evidence in a court trial. I appreciate the nuance.
Review Date: 7/19/2013
I didn't really know what to expect when I started this book. I don't consider myself a Conan fan, I just thought it might be a fun read. As the introduction explains, Howard began writing short stories about Conan the Barbarian for a fantasy magazine in the 1920's. When he wrote them, they were all out of order in respect to Conan's life. This book keeps the stories in the order they were written, rather than rearranging them chronologically, so you get more of a feel for what Howard was trying to accomplish. On that note, Howard was actually a pretty good writer. Reading through, you start to notice a rhythm to the words on the page, almost as if you're reading poetry in stanza form. I appreciate this sort of attention to word choice.
One more thing I'd like to point out. The introduction went into this a little and I think it's worth mentioning. 'Barbarian' fantasy was not invented by Howard. Howard simply took the concept and ran with it. As a Texan, he brought a lot of new things to the table that hadn't really been done before. The deep south has a rich cultural heritage for story telling which does come across a bit, and there's definitely a little 'gun-slinging' going on. But mostly, it engages you with the author's personal philosophies about freedom, 'civilization', the march of so-called 'progress', and what it is to truly be born of the earth. Keeping Howard in mind while reading his stories is worth as much as the stories themselves. It makes you wonder what on earth people got up to back then in the great wild boonies of Texas.
One more thing I'd like to point out. The introduction went into this a little and I think it's worth mentioning. 'Barbarian' fantasy was not invented by Howard. Howard simply took the concept and ran with it. As a Texan, he brought a lot of new things to the table that hadn't really been done before. The deep south has a rich cultural heritage for story telling which does come across a bit, and there's definitely a little 'gun-slinging' going on. But mostly, it engages you with the author's personal philosophies about freedom, 'civilization', the march of so-called 'progress', and what it is to truly be born of the earth. Keeping Howard in mind while reading his stories is worth as much as the stories themselves. It makes you wonder what on earth people got up to back then in the great wild boonies of Texas.
Review Date: 7/19/2013
I think if I had read this book when I was a kid, I would have probably really enjoyed it. It has just a little bit of the Wrinkle in Time/The Owlstone Crown inter-dimensional weirdness that I would have liked. As an adult, what I enjoyed most was that the characters seemed fairly realistic for a kids' novel. I think the reason it's probably not a better known book is that it skips over the silliness most kids' books strive for these days and just tries to tell you a nice little story. My only complaint with the story is that it incorporates several unusual vehicles that are supposedly from the Zobadak lumber yard. They are so unusual and so many people from the real world see them that I couldn't suspend my disbelief. It's one thing to plunk down an unrealistic world set apart from our own that children stumble across inside of a piece of furniture and have them go on an adventure. And it's acceptable that some of the sinister things from that world start leaking out so that there is some kind of crisis. But this was just too much. The vehicles didn't make any sense and the book never explained exactly how they fit in or where exactly they came from. Not that it wasn't written well and that I didn't still enjoy the story. I just think the plot would have flowed a little better if the vehicles had been a little tamer and the final "escape" had actually taken place in the Zobadak lumberyard, which we never even get to see.
Review Date: 7/19/2013
Whenever I'm reading a classic that starts talking about what people used to eat, it never ceases to amaze me that our ancestors managed to survive at all. If it's not 'Wuthering Heights' talking about gruel and feeding children milk for supper, it's 'Heidi' making claims that all people ate for days at a time was cheese. Amazing.
Review Date: 8/20/2009
Helpful Score: 1
I listened to this book on cd during a long drive across the country, and it turned out to be a great pass-time for the trip. It's long, it's bizarre, and it made the drive memorable. I'm no vampire buff, but found this take on the classic tale entertaining enough to put my biases aside.
Review Date: 5/28/2010
As much as I usually enjoy Orson Scott Card, I thought this book was dumb. It's a kids book, not a novel, and not a particularly good one. It tries to smash together a modern day marriage/internet drama with medieval fantasy. I understand that Orson Scott Card and Nathan Pinnock (illustrator) were trying to be creative, but it doesn't work well and the pictures have a bad photoshopped feel to them. I'm pretty sure the story is based on something that happened to someone Orson knows in real life and he felt like making a lesson out of it about the evils of online chat.
Review Date: 7/19/2013
My fourth grade teacher read this to the class and I absolutely loved it as a kid. It took me a while to remember the title and find it again. Of course, I had to reread it as an adult. It's certainly not meant for anyone over about the age of 10, but I would highly recommend it to any child who loves adventure and imagination!
Review Date: 7/19/2013
At the time that I read this book, I had just moved into a 'ghetto' area near the school I was going to and began having problems with a peeping tom and other weirdness peculiar to ghettos. I lived alone in a ground floor apartment. I had to call the police on several occasions, usually at three in the morning. I don't live there anymore, but to this day I never leave the house without my pepper spray, and so many times while walking down the street, I remember some of the wisdom Ann spoke of in her book: look like you know what you're doing and where you're going. Don't look like a person someone might want to target, because you just never know.
Review Date: 7/19/2013
Helpful Score: 1
Whether it's in a YA novel or not, I always respect an author who can put together a story with such skill at word choice. More words aren't necessary when the right words are used, and it's what makes it such a speedy and exciting read. When I picked this book up, I'd never heard of it before and I admit I didn't really even pay much attention to the description on the back. What a pleasant surprise.
Review Date: 7/19/2013
I'm surprised that so many people seem to think this was a difficult read. I didn't feel it was, but maybe it's because I had a quiet space to get into it. My main take-away was that the characters seemed a bit unrealistic, but possibly that they weren't fully intended to be anything other than a thought experiment on morality.
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