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Review Date: 2/28/2006
a must-read for everyone
Review Date: 4/8/2006
Tanaquil is the daughter of a sorceress, but she has no magical abilities herself. However, she can fix things, so in order to occupy her mind and her days, she fixes broken things brought to her by the residents of the desert fortress where she lives. The monotony of her existence shifts when she befriends a peeve who helps her put together the skeleton of a unicorn. The adventure that follows eventually leads Tanaquil to her destiny.
I haven't read any of Tanith Lee's other novels, but if this is an example of her work, I look forward to the rest. The book is short, but even so, Lee is able to flesh out characters and locations enough to connect them with the reader. She has left the ending open for sequels, which have been written (Gold Unicorn, Red Unicorn), so I will seek those out first.
I haven't read any of Tanith Lee's other novels, but if this is an example of her work, I look forward to the rest. The book is short, but even so, Lee is able to flesh out characters and locations enough to connect them with the reader. She has left the ending open for sequels, which have been written (Gold Unicorn, Red Unicorn), so I will seek those out first.
Review Date: 1/14/2006
Helpful Score: 2
I like Anne Lamott's writing, but this story leaves much to be desired.
Review Date: 7/18/2005
Helpful Score: 1
Another pleasant read from Susan Cooper. This is definitely a YA book, but it will keep the interest of adult readers, too. I have never heard of a boggart before, so I enjoyed learning a bit of Scottish lore in this fictional account of a spirit encountering modern life in Canada.
Review Date: 9/4/2006
Helpful Score: 2
I finally made myself read this book, despite being a bit intimidated by the 446 pages. I should have known that it would be an enjoyable read and not seem to be nearly that long. Diane Duane is a word weaver, and a very good one. This book is part of the Errantry universe that began with So, You Want To Be A Wizard. It wasn't until I was well into the book that I realized there were others that came before it. However, Duane has set this one up to stand on its own, so while I suspect the reader might have a broader picture of wizardry in general by having read the other books first, it doesn't detract from enjoying this one.
The main characters are New York cats that also happen to be wizards. Their job is to maintain the worldgates that are located in the New York subway system. Something is interfering with the workings of the worldgates and it's up to Rhiow and her team to find out who and how to stop them before they open the gates to allow the sentient dinosaurs from ancient days to pass through to modern Earth.
The story is well-told. Read it, and you won't look at cats in the same way you did before.
The main characters are New York cats that also happen to be wizards. Their job is to maintain the worldgates that are located in the New York subway system. Something is interfering with the workings of the worldgates and it's up to Rhiow and her team to find out who and how to stop them before they open the gates to allow the sentient dinosaurs from ancient days to pass through to modern Earth.
The story is well-told. Read it, and you won't look at cats in the same way you did before.
Review Date: 8/14/2006
The Enterprise is studying some anomalies that act sort of like wormholes by instantly transporting an object across a distance. The distances vary throughout the trials, and they are unable to determine what factors influence how far an object will be moved. Suddenly, they find themselves in an unfamiliar galaxy with no idea where they are in relation to home. As they begin to explore the are in hopes of finding a way back, they find themselves entangled in an interstellar war that has raged on for millenia.
This is a pretty good Star Trek novel. It is somewhat reminiscent of Voyager, with the alien technology causing a ship to be sent across vast distances to an unknown place far from home, but the book was published in 1987.
This is a pretty good Star Trek novel. It is somewhat reminiscent of Voyager, with the alien technology causing a ship to be sent across vast distances to an unknown place far from home, but the book was published in 1987.
Review Date: 9/6/2005
Helpful Score: 1
Not the best of the Mrs. Murphy mystery series, but still a good read. If you enjoy a mystery series with good character development, this is one for you. I used to live over the mountain from Crozet in Harrisonburg, so it's also nice to read about places I've been.
Review Date: 10/5/2005
My favorite foodie book so far.
Review Date: 5/11/2006
I found the 1960s/1980s perspective on computers to be quite amusing. The Enterprise computer has experienced a malfunction that causes problems all over the ship. Before they are able to go to a starbase for repairs, they are sent to Centaurus to aid in the recovery from a huge matter/anti-matter explosion that wiped out the capital city and killed thousands of people. The tension builds steadily throughout the story, but the resolution is abrupt and unsatisfying. It seemed to me that the author had a much fuller story that got cut down in the editorial process. Too bad, because he had some interesting subtext with some of the minor characters like Chekov and Sulu.
Review Date: 7/17/2006
Helpful Score: 2
I found the 1960s/1980s perspective on computers to be quite amusing. The Enterprise computer has experienced a malfunction that causes problems all over the ship. Before they are able to go to a starbase for repairs, they are sent to Centaurus to aid in the recovery from a huge matter/anti-matter explosion that wiped out the capital city and killed thousands of people. The tension builds steadily throughout the story, but the resolution is abrupt and unsatisfying. It seemed to me that the author had a much fuller story that got cut down in the editorial process. Too bad, because he had some interesting subtext with some of the minor characters like Chekov and Sulu.
Review Date: 6/8/2005
I didn't care much for this book, and in fact, I almost put it away after the first couple of chapters. However, I plugged on through, and at least it was better than watching bass fishing on TV. The book takes on two stories and tries to mush them together into 255 pages, and does a rather poor job of it. To really understand what is going on, you will need to have seen recently two episodes from the original Trek series, or have incredible memory recall. One of the episodes is Miri, which I disliked, and the other is Requiem for Methuselah, which I don't remember. It's not the worst Star Trek novel I've ever read, but it does rank down there. Of course, your results may vary.
Review Date: 8/14/2005
This is the first of three books (and counting, I think) that feature a women-only society. An alien woman smuggled to Earth has nine children by a native, and all are exceptionally bright and almost as long-lived as their mother. Over time they have many children and grandchildren until there are approximately six thousand descendents of Mother. She realizes that they do not have a place in the increasingly conservative patriarchy of Earth, so they create a plan to escape and colonize a planet of their own without men, which they do. Combine the mediocre writing with the unfulfilled potential of extraterrestrial exploration and the lovingly descriptive sex scenes and you get a separatist lesbian lovestory clothed in the veils of science fiction. I enjoyed the book for what it is, but the writing is hardly the best representation of this subset of the genre.
Review Date: 4/23/2005
I haven't read this book - sorry.
Review Date: 8/14/2006
Helpful Score: 1
The plot of this book is complicated and difficult to explain briefly. The author draws on elements of Indian culture and mythology for the alien race he creates. The multiple story lines are woven together tightly, but at times it was difficult for me to follow what was happening. Still, it was an enjoyable read.
Review Date: 8/16/2006
As I read more and more of the old Star Trek books, I have come to realize that anything written by Diane Duane is going to be a winner. This book is no exception. She is able to present the family aspect of the Enterprise crew much better than most. In this story, the command structure is much more apparent than in other stories, due largely in part by the plot device of leaving McCoy in command of the Enterprise. The Doctor handles it well and with good humor. As with Duane's other Star Trek books, linguistics plays a significant role in the story line. I really should read some of her non-commissioned work.
Review Date: 7/18/2005
I read this in high school and decided to re-read it after I bought this copy this evening. It's less complex than many of the Pern books - geared more towards a YA audience, I think.
Review Date: 8/19/2006
great series - features protagonists who must battle their own demons in order to solve the mysteries
Review Date: 3/30/2006
Helpful Score: 1
This book is a part of a series. At no point must you think that most of the mysteries will be revealed by the end; nor must you think that any conflicts will be resolved, either. Personally, I think it's cruel to leave a cliffhanger at the end of 508 pages. This is yet another way that the author has poorly ripped off Tolkein. His depiction of Elven and Dwarf societies are very Tolkein-esque, his map of Alagaësia eerily similar to Middle Earth, and his dragonlore reminded me very much of Anne McCaffrey's Pern dragons. Sad thing is, I still want to read the next book, but only because the story isn't finished yet. If the Lord of the Rings movies hadn't done so well, I doubt this book would have made it onto the New York Times best seller list, much less reach number one.
Review Date: 8/15/2006
I was browsing my shelves late last night because I wasn't yet tired, although I should have been. That's when I discovered that this book is the sequel to the one I read earlier (Chain of Attack). The Enterprise goes back to the anomaly to find out why people coming near it and similar openings seem to be experiencing terror and paranoia. Spock and Kirk believe that this may be the reason why there was so much destruction in the area where the anomaly/nexus left them in the last book. The author does a good job of explaining the physics theories that are the basis of the existence of the nexus and the cause of the terror, but it wasn't as interesting to me as the first book.
Review Date: 5/31/2005
I had read some of the Foundation and Robot books in high school when I first discovered Asimov, and I started re-reading them last year when I found some of the first few Foundation books on the $0.50 shelf at a charity shop. I don't think I read this one in high school, and I'm pretty sure I would have given up on it fairly early.
It's a hefty tome compared to my usual selections these days. I started it the other evening thinking that I could read a little bit of it at a time. Tonight I began about five hours ago, and I couldn't put it down. I wanted to know the outcome, so I kept reading even until this wee hour when I should be in bed but have resigned myself to four hours of sleep and arriving late to work in the morning. I wish it had been worth it.
Asimov has one great "Why?" hanging throughout the story, and when it comes time for the answer, it's very sparse and hedged. Maybe by that time my eyes and brain were tired, but if that's the case then his editor should have not spared the red ink. Don't get me wrong, it's a classic Asimov novel, but it's by no means the best of either the Foundation or Robot series as far as rewarding the reader for the excessive detail and exhaustive dialog throughout the book.
It's a hefty tome compared to my usual selections these days. I started it the other evening thinking that I could read a little bit of it at a time. Tonight I began about five hours ago, and I couldn't put it down. I wanted to know the outcome, so I kept reading even until this wee hour when I should be in bed but have resigned myself to four hours of sleep and arriving late to work in the morning. I wish it had been worth it.
Asimov has one great "Why?" hanging throughout the story, and when it comes time for the answer, it's very sparse and hedged. Maybe by that time my eyes and brain were tired, but if that's the case then his editor should have not spared the red ink. Don't get me wrong, it's a classic Asimov novel, but it's by no means the best of either the Foundation or Robot series as far as rewarding the reader for the excessive detail and exhaustive dialog throughout the book.
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