1 to 9 of 9
Review Date: 6/19/2011
Full disclosure - I didn't finish this book. This book is NOT a magical version of Horatio Hornblower. The writing is awful, the hero is annoying. Don't waste your time.
Review Date: 7/14/2011
Helpful Score: 1
The fourth book in Naomi Novik's series - which is a "realistic" look at what the Napoleonic wars would have been like if fought with an aerial corps of dragon - continues a story begun in the second book, when a courier brought a flu-like disease back to England. The disease has spread to nearly all the dragons, and by pure coincidence, Temeraire and co. know what the cure is.
Ms. Novik sends her heroes to Africa, and once again creates an entirely new dragon-culture where dragons are protectors and ancestors to the human villages. The world she's created with the dragon city brings up questions of how her world would continue without the occupation of Africa by the European powers. The issue of slavery is addressed full-on, as Temeraire denounces the slave trade and tries to improve the lot of dragons in Britain.
Ms. Novik sends her heroes to Africa, and once again creates an entirely new dragon-culture where dragons are protectors and ancestors to the human villages. The world she's created with the dragon city brings up questions of how her world would continue without the occupation of Africa by the European powers. The issue of slavery is addressed full-on, as Temeraire denounces the slave trade and tries to improve the lot of dragons in Britain.
Review Date: 7/21/2011
Helpful Score: 1
Modesitt kicks off a new world series with this book. Like his other series, this book gives a lot of background into the political and economic structure of the world. In this book, the Collegium of Imagisle are the shadow protectors of their country...acting but not letting anyone outside the Collegium know the extent of the powers of the Imagers. So whatever they do, assassinations, must be disguised as accidents.
I loved this book (or "really liked it"). Like other Modesitt books, it begins by introducing an ordinary character and forcing him to ethically choose to become a hero. Supporting female characters are written well, though they are all infallible. Modesitt's never written his grieving characters very well, and at times the hero's actions seem to come out of nowhere.
This is a good book for an introduction to Modesitt's writing style. If you appreciate ethic/moral arguments in books that have legitimate society structures, I think you'll enjoy this book.
I loved this book (or "really liked it"). Like other Modesitt books, it begins by introducing an ordinary character and forcing him to ethically choose to become a hero. Supporting female characters are written well, though they are all infallible. Modesitt's never written his grieving characters very well, and at times the hero's actions seem to come out of nowhere.
This is a good book for an introduction to Modesitt's writing style. If you appreciate ethic/moral arguments in books that have legitimate society structures, I think you'll enjoy this book.
Review Date: 7/14/2011
Three books in one! Fabulous!
This collection of the first three books in Naomi Novik's Temeraire series is delightfully heavy. By some coincidence I picked up her first book a few weeks before a signing and was lucky enough to get this monster signed by her. I love collections like these, they save on shelf space!
This is not a magical series. Ms. Novik writes in a realistic manner and addresses all those bothersome questions one has about dragons - like their diet and what happens when they get hurt, or what to do if an acid spitter has the flu. Within the story is a view of how the dragons live, "forced" to rely on humans food and act as basically slave labor. Contemporary issues such as slavery and colonization are addressed - this series tackles moral quandaries without sidestepping them or making excuses.
This is a humorous book. The dragons are delightfully naive in places, and simple instances, such as the mad note Captain Laurence writes Temeraire in the 2nd novel, will leave you in stitches. To China I say!
This collection of the first three books in Naomi Novik's Temeraire series is delightfully heavy. By some coincidence I picked up her first book a few weeks before a signing and was lucky enough to get this monster signed by her. I love collections like these, they save on shelf space!
This is not a magical series. Ms. Novik writes in a realistic manner and addresses all those bothersome questions one has about dragons - like their diet and what happens when they get hurt, or what to do if an acid spitter has the flu. Within the story is a view of how the dragons live, "forced" to rely on humans food and act as basically slave labor. Contemporary issues such as slavery and colonization are addressed - this series tackles moral quandaries without sidestepping them or making excuses.
This is a humorous book. The dragons are delightfully naive in places, and simple instances, such as the mad note Captain Laurence writes Temeraire in the 2nd novel, will leave you in stitches. To China I say!
Review Date: 7/19/2011
I'll be blunt. I picked up this book because Stephen Fry recommended the author. I chose My Lord John because the subtitle under her name reads "Her Last and Greatest Novel". If this truly was her greatest novel, I'm sorry. But it's also incomplete and I've no idea how much more editing was to be done.
I'm not one for long, unbroken paragraphs, but Heyer's style, in this book, kept my interest because they weren't dull descriptions. She charges through history, stopping only for bits of dialogue and reflectance by our hero Prince John.
If you enjoy historical fiction, you might enjoy this book. I probably will never read it again, please get it off my bookshelf, but nor will I discount all of GH's novels due to the incomplete nature of this novel.
I'm not one for long, unbroken paragraphs, but Heyer's style, in this book, kept my interest because they weren't dull descriptions. She charges through history, stopping only for bits of dialogue and reflectance by our hero Prince John.
If you enjoy historical fiction, you might enjoy this book. I probably will never read it again, please get it off my bookshelf, but nor will I discount all of GH's novels due to the incomplete nature of this novel.
Review Date: 7/18/2011
This is the final book in the 3rd trilogy set in the world of Terre d'Ange. Thank God. Carey's lost her touch. Her main character, Moirin, has been accused of being a Mary Sue and I can't see that she's not. In the first book, Naamah's Kiss, Moirin, a sheltered girl who grew up in the woods, experiences Terre d'Ange and screws everything that walks before/during/after heading out to China to save a princess from a dragon - or maybe it's a dragon from a princess. In the second book, Moirin goes to India and her annoying fiance/boyfriend Bao runs away from her because he too has a destiny from the bear-god.
In this book, Carey sends Moirin to Mexico/South America to rescue the handsome prince and preserve the happiness of the little princess. Fine, whatever. I can live with the stupid storyline, but the very end of the book undermines the entire complex theology that Carey set up. Moirin returns to the bear-cave and sees that all her patron saints and goddesses are all the same entity: Blessed Elua, Naamah, the sea queen, the bear-god, and all the others - yes, probably even Phedre's death god from Kushiel's Chosen. She effectively killed her world - part of what made the books so great was the mystery behind the gods/goddesses and their competitions with each other. Moirin sees them, talks to the dead, and then they all merge right in front of her. May she die a thousand deaths so we don't have to read about her and her omnipotent, boring powers anymore.
In this book, Carey sends Moirin to Mexico/South America to rescue the handsome prince and preserve the happiness of the little princess. Fine, whatever. I can live with the stupid storyline, but the very end of the book undermines the entire complex theology that Carey set up. Moirin returns to the bear-cave and sees that all her patron saints and goddesses are all the same entity: Blessed Elua, Naamah, the sea queen, the bear-god, and all the others - yes, probably even Phedre's death god from Kushiel's Chosen. She effectively killed her world - part of what made the books so great was the mystery behind the gods/goddesses and their competitions with each other. Moirin sees them, talks to the dead, and then they all merge right in front of her. May she die a thousand deaths so we don't have to read about her and her omnipotent, boring powers anymore.
Review Date: 7/18/2011
This book was great. L.E. Modesitt writes ethical dilemmas in space, on planets, with aliens, about magic, everything, and this book is excellent. It's about the Revenant and the Eco-Techs and their abiding hatred for each other leading one to destroy the other for religious and supposedly self-preservation reasons.
I feel like this book was poking fun at Orson Scott Card's prolific writings - Alvin Journeyman and others - with his emphasis on religion and bias towards religion and super-humans. This book doesn't address if the religion of the Revs and its God is right or wrong, just that the way the people are practicing it is flawed. On the other side, the Eco-Techs are worshiping technology and making planets they don't need livable. The flaws in both societies are addressed, particularly by an alien race that seeks to resolve this stupid war by obliquely encouraging the hero of this novel, Trystin, to act.
I feel like this book was poking fun at Orson Scott Card's prolific writings - Alvin Journeyman and others - with his emphasis on religion and bias towards religion and super-humans. This book doesn't address if the religion of the Revs and its God is right or wrong, just that the way the people are practicing it is flawed. On the other side, the Eco-Techs are worshiping technology and making planets they don't need livable. The flaws in both societies are addressed, particularly by an alien race that seeks to resolve this stupid war by obliquely encouraging the hero of this novel, Trystin, to act.
Review Date: 7/14/2011
Helpful Score: 1
This book is amazing. It's a tale about bullies and not lying down and taking it. It's about trucks and push carts. It's about unions and negotiations. The push carts are blamed for the bad traffic in the city, but how can it be the push carts' fault when the number of trucks on the streets increases every year?! Things come to a head when a truck runs over a push cart, destroying it and nearly maiming the owner. The push cart owners decide to fight back, and the public gets behind them.
It's not just for kids. Jean Merrill wrote a book that kids can understand, but adults will appreciate the struggle of the push carts, and yes, the trucks as well.
It's not just for kids. Jean Merrill wrote a book that kids can understand, but adults will appreciate the struggle of the push carts, and yes, the trucks as well.
Review Date: 7/14/2011
Helpful Score: 1
I love all the books in the series, but this one may be my favorite. Poor Temeraire's been shipped off to Wales, told that if he behaves his captain won't be killed. Temeraire's rise to be a military campaign leader is hilarious, as he plans out how to bribe the humans to herd cattle and stops his dragons from fighting among themselves while developing new battle tactics to drive Napoleon's forces out of England.
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