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Review Date: 8/15/2011
The previous review gives an excellent account of the plot and the best aspects of the story.
I would only add that despite the incipient romance between Thorn and the captain of the pirate ship, this is not a romance the way The Cipher was. For one, the pirate ship captain doesn't come into the picture until well into the book; if anything, The Black Ship is more about the Pilot Thorn and his relationship with the crew.
Still a good book, but The Cipher remains my favorite.
I would only add that despite the incipient romance between Thorn and the captain of the pirate ship, this is not a romance the way The Cipher was. For one, the pirate ship captain doesn't come into the picture until well into the book; if anything, The Black Ship is more about the Pilot Thorn and his relationship with the crew.
Still a good book, but The Cipher remains my favorite.
Review Date: 12/17/2011
good book for the car-crazed toddler, though it's not as inviting or interactive as others I've found. Still, for the kid who can't get enough cars, it's a good addition to the automotive library.
Choosing the Dog that's Right for You : The Good, the Bad, and the Furry
Author:
Book Type: Hardcover
4
Author:
Book Type: Hardcover
4
Review Date: 7/29/2012
This is such a funny AND practical book. Too many people pick a dog based on its looks or the adorable puppy-eyes it gives you and end up regretting it later. Sometimes they don't even realize the problem is the specific breed(s) and not dogs in general! This one covers the essentials: health, attitude, physical build, pros/cons. It does so in a succint yet wry manner that had me scanning every breed just to see what the author would say. My favorite category: "If someone broke into my house, this dog would..." Right on the money with my greyhound!("Do nothing -- unless the intruder was a rabbit. Then it would be in trouble.") I would add squirrels too.
Review Date: 10/1/2012
Helpful Score: 2
I've been trying navigate the urban fantasy current for a while, so it's been a relief to find a more traditional fantasy series to enjoy, one that is well written (optional for urban fantasy, apparently) and not in the 1st person! Anyway, this is an absorbing tale of young Raksura finding his way back to his people and so good that I stayed up way too late to finish it.
Moon has been alone for a long time, forced by the death of his family to try to hide with other races to survive. As a shiftling, one of his two forms is a flighted one that resembles the enemy Fell, so Moon is forced repeatedly out of towns/villages. Finally, he is discovered by a member of his own race and is invited to return to a Raksura colony, where this adventure begins.
Martha Wells does a wonderful job of creating appealing, believable characters in a plot that is straightforward yet compelling. I'm giving this book my best recommendation: I'll have to read it again.
Moon has been alone for a long time, forced by the death of his family to try to hide with other races to survive. As a shiftling, one of his two forms is a flighted one that resembles the enemy Fell, so Moon is forced repeatedly out of towns/villages. Finally, he is discovered by a member of his own race and is invited to return to a Raksura colony, where this adventure begins.
Martha Wells does a wonderful job of creating appealing, believable characters in a plot that is straightforward yet compelling. I'm giving this book my best recommendation: I'll have to read it again.
Review Date: 12/19/2010
What a refreshing change from books like "Witchling" by yasmine galenorn, which was interesting in concept but so poorly written that I wonder what the editor was thinking. This book does the job: romance, fantasy, and the prerequisite insurmountable task accomplished. I liked and plan to read the sequel...as soon as I can get my hands on it!
Review Date: 4/10/2021
Galadriel (referencing, of course, a character created by J. R. R. Tolkien in The Lord of the Rings series) is an angry, resentful, and sullen outsider with monstrous yet hidden power in a magical school for wizard teens (Harry Potter fans, that's about the end of the similarity).
Hideous monsters attack and eat budding young wizards for their "mana" or magical energy, which is burgeoning during puberty. To improve the chances of their children's survival, powerful wizards create a school that is removed from reality except for one set of gates. Children are "inducted" (meaning they pop magically inside the school one day a year) and spend the next four years desperately learning magic - without teachers- while surviving a relentless onslaught of monsters, poisoned food, and murderous fellow students. This is all in preparation for a "graduation" which involves being thrown into the hall that leads to the exit gates... and is full of slavering, deadly and starving monsters.
This is a darkly humorous fantasy and is both inventive and well-written. I loved it - it made it into that category of books I can actually read more than once.
Hideous monsters attack and eat budding young wizards for their "mana" or magical energy, which is burgeoning during puberty. To improve the chances of their children's survival, powerful wizards create a school that is removed from reality except for one set of gates. Children are "inducted" (meaning they pop magically inside the school one day a year) and spend the next four years desperately learning magic - without teachers- while surviving a relentless onslaught of monsters, poisoned food, and murderous fellow students. This is all in preparation for a "graduation" which involves being thrown into the hall that leads to the exit gates... and is full of slavering, deadly and starving monsters.
This is a darkly humorous fantasy and is both inventive and well-written. I loved it - it made it into that category of books I can actually read more than once.
Review Date: 10/19/2011
Sweet drawings and adorable-looking characters, though I thought they could have been more engaging. Perhaps it's the number format...
Review Date: 7/7/2012
This could have been more playfully written but it served it purpose in giving my toddler another potty book to read while training. --- Este libro podría haber sido escrito de manera mas juguetona pero igual fué útil como un libro para leer mientras mi niño practicaba "Potty"
Review Date: 5/28/2017
After the first book (which I really enjoyed), I think this series went steadily downhill; Etched in Bone is by far the worst. The bad guys were one-dimensional, the suspense seemed contrived, and a review on Amazon was right to ask: "when are we going to see romance in this series?"
Review Date: 3/15/2012
Not for younger children...my 2-year old son wasn't interested in the drawings. The book's "feelings" are kind of complex and even I had to really study them to get it. Perhaps for Pre-schoolers but not a good introduction for toddlers in my opinion.
Review Date: 3/11/2014
My pre-schooler suddenly loves superheroes and this is an easy way to get him interested in reading. Plus the text is easy enough to practice sounds and keep things simple. When you have to read this dozens of times, you'll be glad it's quick and easy!
Review Date: 12/8/2012
I have read this book so many times, it's one of my all-time favorites and I re-read it regularly.
The story features what was until now a minor character in the Twelve Houses series, a female member of the king's guard who is gravely wounded in the fatal attack on the king (previous book in the series). At any rate, Wen leaves the guard feeling a strong case of survivor's guilt and proceeds to try to make up for surviving her liege by helping people in need. This soon leads her to all sorts of adventures and eventually, to a resolution of sorts.
The narration weaves back and forth between Wen and the main characters in previous installments in this series. It is also ultimately a happy-ending story, with a narrative that is very much about righting wrongs and creating order. So if you're looking for dark, unsettling reading, this isn't the book for you but personally, I like books that guide you to a predictably positive end but are well-written and entertaining all the same.
The story features what was until now a minor character in the Twelve Houses series, a female member of the king's guard who is gravely wounded in the fatal attack on the king (previous book in the series). At any rate, Wen leaves the guard feeling a strong case of survivor's guilt and proceeds to try to make up for surviving her liege by helping people in need. This soon leads her to all sorts of adventures and eventually, to a resolution of sorts.
The narration weaves back and forth between Wen and the main characters in previous installments in this series. It is also ultimately a happy-ending story, with a narrative that is very much about righting wrongs and creating order. So if you're looking for dark, unsettling reading, this isn't the book for you but personally, I like books that guide you to a predictably positive end but are well-written and entertaining all the same.
Review Date: 7/5/2012
Very cute - it's a very small book too so it's convenient for small hands (and travel) but more vunerable to rough handling.
Review Date: 11/13/2016
As the book's synopsis tells it: "Tremaine Valiarde and a small, brave band of heroes ventured into a wondrous new realm on their desperate mission to save Ile-Rien from the conquering Gardier."
After the fall of the city of Vienne, Tremaine and her friends are now rebels who, with the help of her long-lost father, are now discovering the real story behind the Gardier. Their would-be conquerors and the rebels alike are fleshed out in a non-stop adventure.
In fact, by the end I was mildly disappointed with Tremaine who seemed to be the only character whose personality and motivations remained a mystery even to herself. While the ending (finally!) seemed to resolve that, she was a personality unable to move forward of her own, conscious volition. It made her seem rather like an overgrown teenager, though it did little to diminish my enjoyment of the book in general.
After the fall of the city of Vienne, Tremaine and her friends are now rebels who, with the help of her long-lost father, are now discovering the real story behind the Gardier. Their would-be conquerors and the rebels alike are fleshed out in a non-stop adventure.
In fact, by the end I was mildly disappointed with Tremaine who seemed to be the only character whose personality and motivations remained a mystery even to herself. While the ending (finally!) seemed to resolve that, she was a personality unable to move forward of her own, conscious volition. It made her seem rather like an overgrown teenager, though it did little to diminish my enjoyment of the book in general.
Review Date: 10/6/2012
This is a good book to use in the process of teaching a toddler about hygiene. It doesn't go much into germs themselves but it does show different instances (cookie drops on the floor, going to the bathroom, etc) when germs can be spread and what to do (get another cookie, wash your hands). We use it as part of his nighttime reading.
Review Date: 5/18/2023
Great last book in a wonderful trilogy. I like Novik's writing in general but this particular series really captivated me. I like the grumpy, even ornery, tone of the main character and her constant struggle with her very understandable resentment of the elitist system at her school and in her magical world. I enjoyed that there seemed to be even more development in the characters that surround her, as she learns (in spite of herself) to see the good as well as the bad in each. The world building really pulls you in and (I, at least think) it's not to be compared to Harry Potter. Its message and battles are more nuanced, rather like the difference between a child's view of the world and a teenager's. Worth reading!
Review Date: 3/1/2012
My 2-year old loves this book; reads it every night before bed. I love the sounds, they add a little more fun to the reads but I wish the book was longer!
The Good, the Bad, and the Furry: Choosing the Dog That's Right for You
Author:
Book Type: Paperback
2
Author:
Book Type: Paperback
2
Review Date: 7/29/2012
This is such a funny AND practical book. Too many people pick a dog based on its looks or the adorable puppy-eyes it gives you and end up regretting it later. Sometimes they don't even realize the problem is the specific breed(s) and not dogs in general! This one covers the essentials: health, attitude, physical build, pros/cons. It does so in a succint yet wry manner that had me scanning every breed just to see what the author would say. My favorite category: "If someone broke into my house, this dog would..." Right on the money with my greyhound!("Do nothing -- unless the intruder was a rabbit. Then it would be in trouble.") I would add squirrels too.
Review Date: 6/28/2011
I generally like J. Fallon's books but with Tide Lords, I find an unrelenting grimness that wears on the reader and makes it harder to find likeable characters that you KNOW will survive the next chapter.
Review Date: 12/9/2011
I loved this book (last in a sequential, Griffin Mage trilogy). I particularly liked the sweet, some might say sentimental, beginning in Mienthe's neglected childhood. After the first chapter, it jumps forward in time to Mienthe as a young woman who gets swept into the events following the previous books in this series. Parts of it are confusing, particularly accounts of her gift in action. Really, this is a small criticism because the series' end is wonderful and manages to tie in the previous books' participants without removing the spotlight from Mienthe, who is powerful and important in a way no one expects, least of all her.
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