by Rachel Caine (335 pgs)
rating: 3
Joanne is coming to terms with her new existence as a djinn but little does she know that her survival could have far reaching implications. Not everyone is happy to see her, for one thing. In any case, it turns out that the fate of the planet could rest on her shoulders.
Heat Stroke is not as good as the first book in the series but I enjoyed it. The plot was really interesting but the characters fell flat somehow. Sort of...two dimensional.
I recommend this to anyone who enjoyed the first book
Thursday, January 12, 2006
8. Nine Princes in Amber
by Roger Zelanzny (175 pgs)
Rating: 5
Corey aka Corwin wakes up in a private hospital where he's been drugged apparently with the intention of keeping him insensible indefinitely. He has no memory of himself or how he got there. Now a normal person might run to the police but the inherently cagey Corwin starts a race to figure out who he is and what he's involved in. The answers to these questions open up whole new realms of existence.
Nine Princes in Amber is the first of a 10 or 11 book series and one of the hidden gems of the science fiction / fantasy genre. I read these when I was in high school and loved them. So far they're living up to my memories of them. The characters are fantastically drawn and the political intrigue is fascinating.
Everyone should give this series a shot.
Rating: 5
Corey aka Corwin wakes up in a private hospital where he's been drugged apparently with the intention of keeping him insensible indefinitely. He has no memory of himself or how he got there. Now a normal person might run to the police but the inherently cagey Corwin starts a race to figure out who he is and what he's involved in. The answers to these questions open up whole new realms of existence.
Nine Princes in Amber is the first of a 10 or 11 book series and one of the hidden gems of the science fiction / fantasy genre. I read these when I was in high school and loved them. So far they're living up to my memories of them. The characters are fantastically drawn and the political intrigue is fascinating.
Everyone should give this series a shot.
7. Three Men In a Boat
by Jerome K. Jerome (239 pgs)
rating: 3
Three friends, while discussing their imaginary ailments in a doctor's waiting room, decide that they should go on a boat trip up the Thames. They pack up and grab their fox terrier Montmorency and start boating up the river. This book is about the series of misadventures and musings that happened during the trip.
Three Men In a Boat defies reading quickly. Despite being only a little over 200 pages long it took me about week reading it on and off to get through it. The reason, I suspect, is that the writing style is more dense than I'm used to. For all that, however, I did enjoy reading it. There are parts that are very amusing. The anecdotes that the narrator recalls are often much funnier than the events of the plot. In any case, I'd recommend this to people who enjoy slow leisurely reads or vacation fiction.
rating: 3
Three friends, while discussing their imaginary ailments in a doctor's waiting room, decide that they should go on a boat trip up the Thames. They pack up and grab their fox terrier Montmorency and start boating up the river. This book is about the series of misadventures and musings that happened during the trip.
Three Men In a Boat defies reading quickly. Despite being only a little over 200 pages long it took me about week reading it on and off to get through it. The reason, I suspect, is that the writing style is more dense than I'm used to. For all that, however, I did enjoy reading it. There are parts that are very amusing. The anecdotes that the narrator recalls are often much funnier than the events of the plot. In any case, I'd recommend this to people who enjoy slow leisurely reads or vacation fiction.
Thursday, January 05, 2006
6. Uncharted Territory
by Connie Willis (149 pgs)
Rating: 4
Findriddy and Carson are a couple pioneer type surveyors on planet Boohte. Their job is to chart the surface of the new planet without corrupting the native sentients and doing the least damage to the environment. What this means is that their native guide spends a good part of his time fining them for imagined transgressions and using the profits to buy dictionaries and umbrellas.
Uncharted Territory was an amusing read although a tad predictable. The characters were a blast. Aside from the fact that I missed that Findriddy was meant to be female until a good ways in, the characters were distinct and believable. This book had me chortling.
Structurally, it's set up like a log where chapters are given names by expedition date. While there's nothing wrong with this, it didn't really do anything for the book either.
I'd recommend this to sci fi fans and anyone who likes the movie 'Support Your Local Sheriff'
Rating: 4
Findriddy and Carson are a couple pioneer type surveyors on planet Boohte. Their job is to chart the surface of the new planet without corrupting the native sentients and doing the least damage to the environment. What this means is that their native guide spends a good part of his time fining them for imagined transgressions and using the profits to buy dictionaries and umbrellas.
Uncharted Territory was an amusing read although a tad predictable. The characters were a blast. Aside from the fact that I missed that Findriddy was meant to be female until a good ways in, the characters were distinct and believable. This book had me chortling.
Structurally, it's set up like a log where chapters are given names by expedition date. While there's nothing wrong with this, it didn't really do anything for the book either.
I'd recommend this to sci fi fans and anyone who likes the movie 'Support Your Local Sheriff'
5. Have Space Suit - Will Travel
by Robert A. Heinlein (276 pgs)
rating: 4
Kit is a bright young man who decides that he wants more than anything to go to the moon. His somewhat eccentric but highly intelligent parents give him their blessings and wish him good luck. When a soap company offers a contest with a free trip to the moon as the grand prize, Kit goes to work sending in entry form after entry form. Unfortunately, he doesn't win the grand prize...but he does get his very own space suit.
Have Space Suit-Will Travel is an example of Heinlein's young adult fiction and a good example at that. It's a quick read and a delightful specimen of the 1950's style of science fiction. Missing are all the things I sometimes dislike about Heinlein. There's no blatant political grandstanding and the sometimes objectionable attitudes toward women are missing it this one.
Recommend to everyone as a fun quick read. I need to find a copy of this for my library.
rating: 4
Kit is a bright young man who decides that he wants more than anything to go to the moon. His somewhat eccentric but highly intelligent parents give him their blessings and wish him good luck. When a soap company offers a contest with a free trip to the moon as the grand prize, Kit goes to work sending in entry form after entry form. Unfortunately, he doesn't win the grand prize...but he does get his very own space suit.
Have Space Suit-Will Travel is an example of Heinlein's young adult fiction and a good example at that. It's a quick read and a delightful specimen of the 1950's style of science fiction. Missing are all the things I sometimes dislike about Heinlein. There's no blatant political grandstanding and the sometimes objectionable attitudes toward women are missing it this one.
Recommend to everyone as a fun quick read. I need to find a copy of this for my library.
Wednesday, January 04, 2006
4. Remake
by Connie Willis (176 pgs)
Rating: 3
It's some time in the future and the movie industry revolves completely around rehashing old films. Tom is right there in the middle of it editing old films to conform with modern codes of conduct. He is, at least, until he meets Alis who wants more than anything to dance in the movies...except no one is filming new movies and even if they were, they wouldn't be filming musicals.
Remake is a bizarre book. It takes at least 20 pages to get a handle on the story and structure and it took me another 20 to be comfortable with it. It comes across as highly experimental. The structure was hard to get used to but not terribly distracting once I did. Despite giving this a rating of only 3, I will probably try reading this again sometime and see if I pick up more.
Recommended for old movie buffs and people who like working for their entertainment value.
Rating: 3
It's some time in the future and the movie industry revolves completely around rehashing old films. Tom is right there in the middle of it editing old films to conform with modern codes of conduct. He is, at least, until he meets Alis who wants more than anything to dance in the movies...except no one is filming new movies and even if they were, they wouldn't be filming musicals.
Remake is a bizarre book. It takes at least 20 pages to get a handle on the story and structure and it took me another 20 to be comfortable with it. It comes across as highly experimental. The structure was hard to get used to but not terribly distracting once I did. Despite giving this a rating of only 3, I will probably try reading this again sometime and see if I pick up more.
Recommended for old movie buffs and people who like working for their entertainment value.
3. Water Witch
by Connie Willis and Cynthia Felice (216 pgs)
Rating: 4
Deza is the orphaned child of a con artist. Radi is a true prince of the water witch blood although he doesn't have the power to sense water. Radi soon finds himself out of favor with his fiancee Sheria and Deza quickly becomes embroiled in the high stakes game to survive.
As far as literature goes, Water Witch is pretty low brow. It's well written, however, and the characters are intriguing. The main characters are very believable but the support characters are two dimensional and resemble mere plot devices. The story is wonderful. I couldn't put this down once I started reading it.
I recommend this book to just about anyone for a quick enjoyable read.
Rating: 4
Deza is the orphaned child of a con artist. Radi is a true prince of the water witch blood although he doesn't have the power to sense water. Radi soon finds himself out of favor with his fiancee Sheria and Deza quickly becomes embroiled in the high stakes game to survive.
As far as literature goes, Water Witch is pretty low brow. It's well written, however, and the characters are intriguing. The main characters are very believable but the support characters are two dimensional and resemble mere plot devices. The story is wonderful. I couldn't put this down once I started reading it.
I recommend this book to just about anyone for a quick enjoyable read.
Monday, January 02, 2006
2. Miracle and Other Christmas Stories
by Connie Willis (328 pgs)
Rating: 3
Ok I admit it. I'm a total Scrooge. Generally I really don't like Christmas and wander around the whole season in a funk. Amazingly, it wasn't like that this year. I still hate the stores and the commercial crap. I still have major issues with Santa. However, there's a lot to be said for the holiday as well. So Merry (belated) Christmas and Happy New Year y'all. So returning from major tangent-ville, this is a book of short stories about Christmas. If they weren't all themed around Christmas I might have given the book a 4 but I can't help my biases.
In all honesty, most of the stories in Miracle and Other Christmas Stories are a lot of fun and only a couple are more than tangentially associated with the holiday season. I only skimmed the introduction and the lists at the back of the book but other's who are more Christmas compatible might find them interesting. I've blurbed the stories individually below but before I move on I want to say that I think there's a story here for everyone...even us scrooges.
"Miracle"
What if the spirit of Christmas present came to you as an earth hippie bent on giving you exactly what you wanted for Christmas...would you believe him? Note: Watch "Miracle on 34th Street" and "It's a Wonderful Life" before reading this.
"Inn"
Perhaps my least favorite of the group. Two vagrants show up at a church in strange clothing and speaking some unusual language. Lessons about charity.
"In Coppelius's Toyshop"
Delightfully sinister tale of a toy shop and a jerk. Gotta love it.
"The Pony"
Every kid wishes for things without telling anyone what it is but every kid gets disappointed on Christmas morning when Santa fails to bring it. Maybe it's time for a change.
"Adaptation"
When the Spirit of Christmas Yet to Come hires on as a part-time clerk at a book shop, his boss isn't quite sure what to do. Fortunately other problems keep him from dwelling on it too much as he gets embroiled in a effort to un-scrooge a scrooge.
"Cat's Paw"
Futuristic whodunit with talking primates. That's all I'm going to say.
"Newsletter"
Invasion of the Holiday Spirit aliens....of doom! hehe. A sort of improbable Sci Fi, but fun, very fun.
"Epiphany"
A crisis of faith and the prophecy of the second coming. A rather intriguing romp through a snowy landscape that left me with an oddly warm feeling.
Rating: 3
Ok I admit it. I'm a total Scrooge. Generally I really don't like Christmas and wander around the whole season in a funk. Amazingly, it wasn't like that this year. I still hate the stores and the commercial crap. I still have major issues with Santa. However, there's a lot to be said for the holiday as well. So Merry (belated) Christmas and Happy New Year y'all. So returning from major tangent-ville, this is a book of short stories about Christmas. If they weren't all themed around Christmas I might have given the book a 4 but I can't help my biases.
In all honesty, most of the stories in Miracle and Other Christmas Stories are a lot of fun and only a couple are more than tangentially associated with the holiday season. I only skimmed the introduction and the lists at the back of the book but other's who are more Christmas compatible might find them interesting. I've blurbed the stories individually below but before I move on I want to say that I think there's a story here for everyone...even us scrooges.
"Miracle"
What if the spirit of Christmas present came to you as an earth hippie bent on giving you exactly what you wanted for Christmas...would you believe him? Note: Watch "Miracle on 34th Street" and "It's a Wonderful Life" before reading this.
"Inn"
Perhaps my least favorite of the group. Two vagrants show up at a church in strange clothing and speaking some unusual language. Lessons about charity.
"In Coppelius's Toyshop"
Delightfully sinister tale of a toy shop and a jerk. Gotta love it.
"The Pony"
Every kid wishes for things without telling anyone what it is but every kid gets disappointed on Christmas morning when Santa fails to bring it. Maybe it's time for a change.
"Adaptation"
When the Spirit of Christmas Yet to Come hires on as a part-time clerk at a book shop, his boss isn't quite sure what to do. Fortunately other problems keep him from dwelling on it too much as he gets embroiled in a effort to un-scrooge a scrooge.
"Cat's Paw"
Futuristic whodunit with talking primates. That's all I'm going to say.
"Newsletter"
Invasion of the Holiday Spirit aliens....of doom! hehe. A sort of improbable Sci Fi, but fun, very fun.
"Epiphany"
A crisis of faith and the prophecy of the second coming. A rather intriguing romp through a snowy landscape that left me with an oddly warm feeling.
Sunday, January 01, 2006
1. Promised Land
by Connie Willis and Cynthia Felice (362 pgs)
Rating: 4
Delanna is the daughter of a planetary pioneer who was sent off world to get an education. However, when her mother dies she is forced to come back and settle her parent's estate. It should be simple, but it's not. Soon Delanna finds that she's trapped on a world that her mother taught her to hate with her childhood friend Sonny and a secret.
Promised Land is sort of a cross between Heinlein and Home on the prairie. I started off thinking I wasn't going to like this book. Delanna starts off a real pain and the characters came off as two dimensional. However, by the time I was 50 pages in, things started to get much more interesting and by the time I was 100 pages in I was finally riveted. I think my resistance had more to do with the pioneer element. I've never been a fan of pioneer fiction or westerns and there were elements of both in this book.
I recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of pioneer fiction, westerns, or Science Fiction. Be warned though, it can take a bit to get into.
Rating: 4
Delanna is the daughter of a planetary pioneer who was sent off world to get an education. However, when her mother dies she is forced to come back and settle her parent's estate. It should be simple, but it's not. Soon Delanna finds that she's trapped on a world that her mother taught her to hate with her childhood friend Sonny and a secret.
Promised Land is sort of a cross between Heinlein and Home on the prairie. I started off thinking I wasn't going to like this book. Delanna starts off a real pain and the characters came off as two dimensional. However, by the time I was 50 pages in, things started to get much more interesting and by the time I was 100 pages in I was finally riveted. I think my resistance had more to do with the pioneer element. I've never been a fan of pioneer fiction or westerns and there were elements of both in this book.
I recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of pioneer fiction, westerns, or Science Fiction. Be warned though, it can take a bit to get into.
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