( B ) Books - Page 5

Running With the Demon (The Word and the Void Trilogy, Book 1)

Terry Brooks

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 138 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Opening Gambit - pulls no punches 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I had forgotten ... it had been so long, I had forgotten what it is like reading a book by Terry Brooks. I had forgotten that he creates worlds that hold such dark things; that he isn't afraid to kill characters, traumatize characters, forge them into weapons in the hottest fires of testing. I had forgotten what a ... almost tactile experience it could be reading a book by Terry Brooks, who describes things in such detail, in such living color, that it is like you are THERE.

When Nest saves Bennett Scott from the Feeders one night in the park, it seems pretty normal - she's been a Caretaker of the park ever since she was old enough to understand that she carried the magic inside her to do so - the 5th of her family's women in a line to do so - and was paired with Pick, a Sylvan, who only those with the magic can see. However, she can't help but notice that the Feeders are becoming more bold, and there are more of them than ever. Pick tells her the balance is off, that something seems to be going on, but he doesn't know what.

Meanwhile, her grandfather meets with former co-employees who are currently on strike from MidCon, the area's largest employer - the strike has gone on for a long time now, and tempers are getting high; especially since scabs are being brought in, and managers are working the lines themselves in order to keep the plant operational. Derry and Junior, two of the men affected by the strike, are becoming especially upset about it, and swear they will "do something about it," leaving the meeting in a huff. A mysterious man, who Old Bob (Nest's grandfather) can't quite place but is quite sure he knows, leaves as well.

Nest's grandmother, shattered by the death of Nest's mother, Caitlin, but nonetheless holding herself responsible for Nest's training in magic, spends her days drinking and smoking. Nest believes that there is something that Gran isn't telling her, but she cannot figure out exactly what it is. It seems to revolve around her mysterious father, of whom no one will speak.

A mysterious Native American named Two Bears arrives out of nowhere - Nest befriends him and joins him when he calls up the spirits of his ancestors, the ancient tribe of the Sinnissippi people, of whom he is the last. What she learns further strains her relations with Gran.

The final piece of the puzzle arrives in town when John Ross, a Knight of the Word, shows up. He receives dark dreams of the future, of what it will hold if he fails in his duties to the Word, if he fails to stop the Void from destroying humankind.

I have this book as part of an omnibus, containing all three titles. It doesn't look particularly thick but through some trick of the paper and binding they have fit a large number of pages within a fairly small book, and you can feel the weight when you hold it. It reminds you of the weighty topic of the story itself. The story takes place in our world - or, at least, a world not so very much different from our own - and even if you do not believe in magic, demons, Knights and such, you should believe in the fact that we, are Humans, are on the brink of wiping ourselves out. There is a lesson to be learned here, I believe, if you look deeply enough.

Definitely a recommend from me for this extremely thought-provoking story.

Editorial Review:

In a sleepy steel-mill town, the ultimate battle between Good and Evil is about to begin . . .

Sinnissippi Park, in Hopewell, Illinois, has long hidden a mysterious evil, locked away from humankind by powers greater than most could even imagine. But now the malevolent creatures that normally skulk in the shadows of the park grow bolder, and old secrets hint at a violent explosion.

The brewing conflict draws John Ross to Hopewell. A Knight of the Word, Ross is plagued by nightmares that tell him someone evil is coming to unleash an ancient horror upon the world. Caught between them is fourteen-year-old Nest Freemark, who senses that something is terribly wrong but has not yet learned to wield the budding power that sets her apart from her friends.

Now the future of humanity depends upon a man haunted by his dreams and a gifted young girl--two souls who will discover what survives when hope and innocence are shattered forever . . .

Tanequil (High Druid of Shannara S)

Terry Brooks

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 53 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Supersize paperback book?? C'mon!! 1 out of 5 stars.
2 of 5 people found this review helpful.

Ok, to others, it may be known as the "Trade Paperback."

To me, it's the paperback book that would look out of place with my regularly-sized paperback books on the shelf.

Del Rey, listen up!!! I REFUSE to buy this until it comes out in a regular paperback edition! End of story! I will not settle for this monstrous volume that might feel small in some NBA player's hands.

Does that mean I won't get to see how the story progresses?? OH WELL!!! I'm NOT going to compromise just so you can pocket another $5-$6 on material that cost you far less.

Editorial Review:

The rightful High Druid of Shannara has been banished to the harsh world called the Forbidding by a treasonous fellow druid. Her only hope for rescue is her nephew Pen - but Pen is under seige as well. Both he and his parents are sought by the druids, who want to make sure that their magic will never help the real leader to return. Yet there is worse to come. For the dark magic that banished the High Druid into the Forbidding allowed the simultaneous transference of a fearsome denizen of the Forbidding back into the druids' world. And now there is a terrible peril in the Four Lands - a creature that can take on any shape, can kill at will, and is only the harbinger of a much greater, devastating invasion to come ...

Passage (The Sharing Knife, Book 3)

Lois McMaster Bujold

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 32 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Acclaimed science fiction and fantasy writer Lois McMaster Bujold—five-time winner of the Hugo Award—brings us the third installment in her New York Times bestselling romantic fantasy

The Sharing Knife, Volume Three: Passage

Young Fawn Bluefield and soldier-sorcerer Dag Redwing Hickory have survived magical dangers and found, in each other, love and loyalty. But even their strength and passion cannot overcome the bigotry of their own kin, and so, leaving behind all they have known, the couple sets off to find fresh solutions to the perilous split between their peoples.

But they will not journey alone. Along the way they acquire comrades, starting with Fawn's irrepressible brother Whit, whose future on the Bluefield family farm seems as hopeless as Fawn's once did. Planning to seek passage on a riverboat heading to the sea, Dag and Fawn find themselves allied with a young flatboat captain searching for her father and fiancé, who mysteriously vanished on the river nearly a year earlier. They travel downstream, hoping to find word of the missing men, and inadvertently pick up more followers: a pair of novice Lakewalker patrollers running away from an honest mistake with catastrophic consequences; a shrewd backwoods hunter stranded in a wreck of boats and hopes; and a farmer boy Dag unintentionally beguiles, leaving Dag with more questions than answers about his growing magery.

As the ill-assorted crew is tested and tempered on its journey to where great rivers join, Fawn and Dag will discover surprising new abilities both Lakewalker and farmer, a growing understanding of the bonds between themselves and their kinfolk, and a new world of hazards both human and uncanny.

The Stars My Destination (Sf Masterworks 05)

Alfred Bester

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 222 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Sci fi written without a thought to science 2 out of 5 stars.
2 of 9 people found this review helpful.

I just can't get into a science fiction book in which the author does not understand the science he is writing about. Now i understand this is an older book but some of the things written in here make no sense. Examples include, seeing in the dark because his retina shines light, ...well, if that was the case it would be like the brightest flashlight being shined into your eyes, ...it would blind you not help you see in the dark. That one seems a little obvious to the average person interested in how things work, i.e. science. Another example is a man radiated by exposure to a fission bomb, now he is radioactive i guess and can't spend more than 5 minutes with anyone because it is harmful for them. Well, first of all you don't become radioactive by being radiated, lots of foods today are irradiated so as to kill off bacteria. It doesn't make them radioactive. But for the sake of argument, even if he was radioactive, why is it that he hasn't died? I mean he is harmful to others in 5 minutes, but he's ok? Does not make sense.

I think what makes this book so popular is characters and a very fast moving plot. I did enjoy that but the lack of research into the science he is writing about really sticks out especially when you are used to sci-fi that makes sense or science that may one day be, such as books written by Arthur C Clarke.

Editorial Review:

Such is the official verdict on Gully Foyle, unskilled space crewman. But Gully has managed to survive for 170 days in the airless purgatory of deep space after the wreck of his ship, and has escaped to Earth carrying a murderous grudge and a secret that could change the course of history.

The novel which in large part inspired both the cyberpunk movement of the 1980s and the science fiction New Wave of the 1960s, THE STARS MY DESTINATION has an unrivalled claim to be the most influential sf book of all time.

The Martian Chronicles

Ray Bradbury

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 315 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Man, was a a distant shore, and the men spread upon it in wave... Each wave different, and each wave stronger.

The Martian Chronicles

Ray Bradbury is a storyteller without peer, a poet of the possible, and, indisputably, one of America's most beloved authors. In a much celebrated literary career that has spanned six decades, he has produced an astonishing body of work: unforgettable novels, including Fahrenheit 451 and Something Wicked This Way Comes; essays, theatrical works, screenplays and teleplays; The Illustrated Mein, Dandelion Wine, The October Country, and numerous other superb short story collections. But of all the dazzling stars in the vast Bradbury universe, none shines more luminous than these masterful chronicles of Earth's settlement of the fourth world from the sun.

Bradbury's Mars is a place of hope, dreams and metaphor-of crystal pillars and fossil seas-where a fine dust settles on the great, empty cities of a silently destroyed civilization. It is here the invaders have come to despoil and commercialize, to grow and to learn -first a trickle, then a torrent, rushing from a world with no future toward a promise of tomorrow. The Earthman conquers Mars ... and then is conquered by it, lulled by dangerous lies of comfort and familiarity, and enchanted by the lingering glamour of an ancient, mysterious native race.

Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles is a classic work of twentieth-century literature whose extraordinary power and imagination remain undimmed by time's passage. In connected, chronological stories, a true grandmaster once again enthralls, delights and challenges us with his vision and his heart-starkly and stunningly exposing in brilliant spacelight our strength, our weakness, our folly, and our poignant humanity on a strange and breathtaking world where humanity does not belong.

Raven's Strike (The Raven Duology, Book 2)

Patricia Briggs

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 14 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Interesting Ideas, not a Great Story 2 out of 5 stars.
2 of 4 people found this review helpful.

I picked up Raven's Strike based on the strength of the reviews for the prequel. Unfortunately, I was disappointed. I will read nearly anything in the speculative fiction realm, and I did finish the book over the course of several months.

A few positive items first. Briggs has a good feel for pacing dialog, and she did a great job with the verbal interactions in the book. Briggs does a good job with descriptions of landscapes and the use of multiple senses in her descriptions.

Now on to the main plot ...

[Spoilers]

The premise of the book is interesting. Long ago there were two primal gods, the Weaver (creator) and the Stalker (destroyer). The Stalker fell in love with a mortal, and, when the mortal died, the Stalker took actions that would have destroyed the world, but the Weaver cast a spell that separated the two primal gods from intervening directly in the world. Instead a group of six lesser gods was placed in the world to draw off and balance the energy of the Weaver and Stalker.

All was well until a proud mage disrupted the balance. The goddess of magic, the Raven, was worshipped in the great city of the land. One day a powerful mage elected to strip the powers from the god of war to make his son a great warrior. In completing the ritual, the god of war was slain. This allowed the Stalker's destructive powers to be unleashed into the land and threaten the world's existence. The wizards collectively with the Raven's help sacrificed the city and the gods to put the veil back in place between the primal gods and the created world.

The problem was that the newly created balance was unstable. A clever wizard could reach through the veil and tap into the Stalker's energy. This being the power of destruction, it caused death and chaos to follow in the wake of the newly elevated wizard. Wizard's that used these procedures were called Shadowed.

The book revolves around the quest to find out the information described above and to find a way to defeat a powerful shadowed mage. Of course, the group is successful.

There are a number of lesser plots in the books. One of the involves figuring out why one of the character comes off as ancient, but appears young. (Yes, it is the obvious answer.) Another challenge is trying to figure out how the shadowed has drawn the power of the clans (the god given powers) away from some of the Travelers (what the mages are called) into gems (this one kind of sputters out at the end). While you have the fantasy explanation for what happened, it really is not a solution at all. And, there are others.

The main action in this book occurs almost entirely in the last 25 pages of a several hundred page book and could have done with some excitement earlier in the book.

While I appreciated the interesting idea of a purposely layered cosmology, I found the execution to be a bit uneven. Sometimes abilities worked, and sometimes they did not. Rather than feeling like this randomness was a part of the story, you feel that it is forced. The main antagonist should have been found out early on. The emperor should not have been able to break the spell holding him. (But, I did appreciate the D&D reference!) If the Weaver could not have helped at the end then how did he help out earlier in the book. If the Stalker is the destroyer then why did he not just let his pawn destroy the world. Etc.

If you enjoyed the first book then you will probably enjoy the last fifty pages of this book, but I do not recommend the first several hundred.

Editorial Review:

The Traveler Seraph must use all her cunning and ability as a Raven mage to track down an unimaginable force of destruction known as the Shadowed.

Parable of the Sower

Octavia E. Butler

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 107 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

A Must Read 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

This was an excellent book. Not only was the scenario peppered with realism, but Butler has a way of pulling her reader into the story with the characters. It is a wonderfully heart-wrenching tale of community and survival.

The story is set in an economically destitute America. As the reader, you will travel with a young woman as she struggles to survive, understand what has happened, accept the reality of her situation, and build a future for herself and those she comes to call friends.

A very thought-provoking book and entertaining read.

Editorial Review:

Octavia E. Butler, the grande dame of science fiction, writes extraordinary, inspirational stories of ordinary people. Parable of the Sower is a hopeful tale set in a dystopian future United States of walled cities, disease, fires, and madness. Lauren Olamina is an 18-year-old woman with hyperempathy syndrome--if she sees another in pain, she feels their pain as acutely as if it were real. When her relatively safe neighborhood enclave is inevitably destroyed, along with her family and dreams for the future, Lauren grabs a backpack full of supplies and begins a journey north. Along the way, she recruits fellow refugees to her embryonic faith, Earthseed, the prime tenet of which is that "God is change." This is a great book--simple and elegant, with enough message to make you think, but not so much that you feel preached to.

The Elfstones of Shannara

Terry Brooks

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 205 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Best story....ever! 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

One of the best books I've ever read this book stands the test of time and is just as good now as it was when I was a teenager. I don't want to give any spoilers, so I'll keep this short. As part of the first Shannara trilogy it continues the tales of the heirs of the house of Shannara, the second generation, but is just as good as a stand alone novel. It was actually the first of this series I read and had no trouble jumping right in. I recommend this to any fan of fantasy, action, or just a good good story.

Greatest Book...Ever! 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 1 people found this review helpful.

The Elfstones of Shannara is the greatest book ever. If you are into this kind of thing, you will be turning pages faster than you thought possible. A friend told me this was an amazing book, and most books dont live up to the hype. But this one went right over the top! You NEED to read this!

Everything you're looking for... 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Elfstones is where I feel you can really start to sink your teeth into Brooks. Sword of Shannara was an experiment and homage to Tolkien, so the story often lacks, especially in originality.

Not so with Elfstones. This story starts with Wil Ohmsford, the grandson of Shea, who is studying to be a Healer. In what will turn out to be a running theme, Allanon shows up unannounced and whisks Wil and the Elfstones in his power, away on an adventure to accompany a young elf girl, Amberle, on a quest to save the Four Races from an ancient evil.

The book has everything a high-fantasy should have: fast-paced action, lots of traveling and battles, terrifying evil, humorous quirky characters, lots of history, etc. The story is believable and gripping and you genuinely care about the main characters. There are two romances in the novel (won't spoil), one which I found incredibly well-done and the other kind of shoddy. Sometimes I felt the battle scenes went on way too long, but I'm also a chick so maybe they just don't appeal to me the way they would the usual male fantasy-genre audience.

Brooks brings everything to this book that you could want in a high-fantasy novel, and I'd recommend it to any fan of the genre.

The Wishsong of Shannara (The Sword of Shannara)

Terry Brooks

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 88 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Just good enough to keep my interest 3 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This novel continues the ambivalence that I feel toward Brooks' writing. He is a good writer as far as style, plot progression and character development go. All of these strengths are present in this book. However, his glaring weaknesses of unoriginality and being too simplistic also show up strongly. Brooks is the kind of writer I feel like I should like but he always gives me reasons to view him as just an average fantasy writer. If you've read the series this far, go ahead and read this to finish the triology--just expect more of the same.

Surprisingly great! 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I was told that this books was not very good by a friend. I also had my doubts after reading the Elfstones and wondering how anyone could counter after a book like that. But I was glad to find out that this book is not bad at all, infact, its great! Definitly worth reading!!

Editorial Review:

Horror stalked the Four Lands as the Ildatch, ancient source of evil, sent its ghastly Mord Wraiths to destroy Mankind. Only Druid Allanon held the magic power of wishsong that could make plants bloom instantly or turn trees from green to autumn gold. But she, too, was in mortal danger, and Ildatch waited for Brin to fall into his trap....

Crossfire (Star Wars: Boba Fett, Book 2)

Terry Bisson

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 7 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Boba Fett 5 out of 5 stars.
8 of 10 people found this review helpful.

This is the second book in the Boba Fett series. I highly recommend this book, and I recommend the other books in this series, too:
-The Fight to Survive (#1)
-Maze of Deception (#3)
-Hunted (#4)
-A New Threat (#5)
-Pursuit (#6)

Boba Fett 5 out of 5 stars.
6 of 8 people found this review helpful.

This was the second in a series about the future bounty hunter, Boba Fett. With his father dead, Boba finds Count Dooku (an employer of Boba's father, Jango) on a garbage planet. He sneeks around and figures out that Dooku is trying to find the Ultimate Force (I don't know the exact name that they gave it.) Later, Clone Troopers attack the planet and rescue Boba as an orphan. Boba then lives on a huge ship in outer space. He decides to now search for his ship, Slave I which was captured by another Bounty Hunter, Aurra Sing. Sing is actually following the space ship to hunt for jedi. When both ships land on a moon, Aurra Sing and Boba Fett team up to get off of the planet. Sing agrees to help Fett get his father's money as long as she gets half. The book ends as the two leave into deep space. You'll want to read the next book in the series, Deceptions, after finishing this one.

Editorial Review:

It is after the events of Episode II. Boba Fett is trapped in the lair of someone who he thinks is a friend . . . but is really an enemy. Escape becomes the only option. But escape has its own risks. Boba must survive to fight . . . and fight to survive.