( M ) Books - Page 11

Nerilka's Story (Dragonriders of Pern Series)

Anne McCaffrey

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 29 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Disappointed 2 out of 5 stars.
3 of 9 people found this review helpful.

I've loved the books I've read so far in the Dragonriders series, with the exception of Nerilka.

1) I read this book right after reading Moreta and found it too repetitive. This story may have been better intertwined as part of Moreta.
2) I didn't like the ending to Moreta and this book was too much of a reminder of that ending.

Perhaps leaving some time between reading the Moreta and Nerilka books it would make Nerilka more enjoyable.

Editorial Review:

A deadly epidemic was sweeping across Pern. Everyone, holder and dragonrider alike, pitched in to help-- except Nerilka's father, who refused to share Fort Hold's bounty with the other Holds. So, ashamed of her family and determined to do her part, Nerilka packed up medicines and supplies and sneaked off to aid her people. Her quest to help wherever she was most needed led her finally to Ruatha Hold, where Lord Alessan was frantically preparing the precious serum needed for mass inoculations against the dread plague. Nerilka had long ago abandoned the hope of marriage and a home of her own. Now she found happiness in being useful and appreciated-- first the Healers and then Alessan made very clear that they were grateful for her help. She had no idea that her new path would change the course of her life forever!

Booze, Broads, & Bullets (Sin City, Book 6: Second Edition)

Frank Miller

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 21 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

"It turns out I'm good at killing. And I like it. I like it a lot." 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

BOOZE, BROADS, & BULLETS gets the Sin City series back on track after the unfortunate swing and miss of Vol. 5, FAMILY VALUES. A collection of short stories, it intermixes familiar faces while introducing some new ones. Marv, the old favorite from THE HARD GOODBYE, is in a couple of stories and we see his two-fisted philosophy of protecting the unprotected in action. Dwight from THE BIG FAT KILL also helps out a damsel-in-distress de jour. While Miho and the girls of Old Town dispense their own rough justice to the deserving saps who ask for it.

As for the new faces, the most interesting is the female killer Delia, the subject of three stories here. She provides the quote which constitutes the title of this review and she means what she says. Delia does enjoy killing and she is awfully good at it. Delia represents exactly what I like about the Sin City books - female characters that can be not only the source of solace and comfort to men, but the exact opposite as well. Besides Delia, we also meet Amy, aka Daddy's Little Girl. Amy may not kill people directly like Delia, but she sure is a catalyst for their deaths. Although these characters might be new, the hard stories and noir edge are exactly what we have come to expect from the residents of Basin City.

All in all, BOOZE, BROADS, & BULLETS is a solid addition to the Sin City catalogue. Everyone will have their favorite stories in this volume and everyone will see some of the stories as not quite as good. But looked at as a whole, if you have made it this far into the series, you probably will not be disappointed with this book.

Editorial Review:

The most diverse volume of Sin City material available, Booze, Broads, & Bullets, showcases Frank Miller's vignettes and color experiments from throughout the years of his groundbreaking crime series, and includes art created especially for the original collection. A good entry point for new readers wondering what Sin City is all about - or longtime readers who can't get enough - Miller has painted a gritty, decadent, and gloriously dirty portrait. Have a taste of the city ... just one little taste. Just one.

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Vol. 6

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Much better than animated film. 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Miyazaki's graphic novels are MUCH better than the animation. More depth and better story resolution. Visually stunning with tremendous thought and meaning.

Editorial Review:

Nausicaa embarks on an inner, spiritual journey to the heart of the Sea of Corruption, where she discovers its surprising secret. She returns to the land of the living, compelled to share her discovery, but Nausicaa accidentally awakens a God Warrior from its stasis.

Deepsix

Jack Mcdevitt

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 42 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Continuing the story of Hutch and the search for an understanding of the Omega Clouds 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Though not quite as good as its predecessor, *Engines of God*, *Deepsix* continues the exploits of Superluminal pilot Priscilla "Hutch" Hutchins as she is diverted to the planet Deepsix, which is weeks away from being swallowed whole by a gas giant on a collision course. With a Gore Vidal-like passenger in Gregory MacCallister unwillingly in tow, Hutch must meet with a science team to help them solve the recently discovered mystery of Deepsix's dead advanced civilization before the clues are lost forever.

Twenty years earlier, a science party was mostly slaughtered by hostile life on the planet, and the only available scientist nearby to lead this new expedition is the disgraced commander of the first, lost expedition. To make matters worse for the party, oil and water collide as the commander holds a grudge against MacCallister for lambasting him publicly after the loss of the first crew.

The adventure really heats up though when a tidal earthquake caused by the impending destruction of the planet tears the ground asunder and the party's lander is lost. With time running out and helpless sightseers in the system to witness the planet's demise, the team must trek across a dying planet to find a lost lander from the first expedition and hope that it will provide them a way off in time.

But, this book is not all adventure, as we get a dose of McDevitt's intellectual science fiction as we also have opportunity to learn a little more about the Monument-Makers and Omega Clouds introduced in the first book set in this universe.

>>>>>>><<<<<<<

A Guide to my Book Rating System:

1 star = The wood pulp would have been better utilized as toilet paper.
2 stars = Don't bother, clean your bathroom instead.
3 stars = Wasn't a waste of time, but it was time wasted.
4 stars = Good book, but not life altering.
5 stars = This book changed my world in at least some small way.

Editorial Review:

In the year 2204, tragedy and terror forced a scientificteam to prematurely evacuate Maleiva III. Nineteen years later, a rogue moon hurtling through space is about to obliterate the last opportunity to study this rare, life-supporting planet. With less than three weeks left before the disaster, superluminal pilot Priscilla "Hutch" Hutchins -- the only even remotely qualified professional within lightyears of the ill-fated planet -- must lead a small scientific team to the surface to glean whatever they can about its lifeforms and lost civilizations before time runs out. But catastrophe awaits when they are stranded on this strange and complex world of puzzles and impossibilities. And now Hutch and her people must somehow survive on a hostile world going rapidly mad -- as the clock ticks toward apocalypse for a doomed enigma now called...

Promethea - Book 5

Alan Moore

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

The Big Finish, or Going Out With Style 5 out of 5 stars.
6 of 6 people found this review helpful.

I've been reading comics for nigh on thirty-five years now, and PROMETHEA is one of my all-time favorites. This concluding volume wraps up the show in fine fashion as Promethea ushers in an "apocalypse" that is wholly unexpected, and is based on the original Greek meaning of the term. The coda issue is STUNNING, one of the most innovatively written and designed comic stories EVER, I kid you not.

As to the other poster's somewhat off-handedly critical comments about "air brushed" art: well, I do not know what technique the amazing JH Williams III used in parts of the finale story, but let me contextualize WHY he chose a new style for some scenes. In the final story imagination and reality begin to blur and Williams uses a semi-photo-realistic style to suggest "reality," as in our reality, which blurs with comic book reality. After 30-some issues of spectacular innovation Williams keeps the new design ideas flowing in this final volume.

Needless to say, you probably will not be buying this volume without having read the first four books, so you will already know if you HAVE to read v5 or not. I think it is a majestic finish to a truly remarkable work of art, and if there were seven stars, I'd grant it that (seven being a lucky number!).

PROMETHEA gets my highest possible praise, love and respect and yes, it even nudged out Neil Gaiman's incandescent SANDMAN meta-megaseries.

The Order War (Saga of Recluce 04)

L.E. Modesitt

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 13 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Much better! 4 out of 5 stars.
10 of 10 people found this review helpful.

This, the fourth book in the series (after THE MAGIC OF RECLUCE, TOWERS OF THE SUNSET, and THE MAGIC ENGINEER), is a vast improvement over the others. The pacing in this book was so much better. The other three had large sections in the middle where nothing really happened, at least in terms of plot progression. This book has slow areas, but they were the slow areas of mostly any other good book out there. They were used for character development rather than for philosophy, as in the first three books. In addition to the better pacing, Modesitt has cut down on the utterly confusing leaps of intuition that were a glaring mark throughout the first three books.

Modesitt's characterizations continue to be very strong here. All of the characters in his books are believable and the villains are not just some two dimensional cardboard cutout. I think the characterizations are the strongest part of Modesitt's writing. Since there's not always a lot of action, the growth of the characters is what keeps my attention in these books.

Modesitt continues to build a vivid, interesting world. I can't wait to find out what this "Legend" he keeps talking about really is. The only real shortcoming of this book is the lack of maps so I can figure out where the heck the characters are in relation to places they've been!

Editorial Review:

Part of the Saga of "Recluse". The White Wizards of Fairhaven, have completed their highway and now threaten the ancient matriarchy of Sarronnyn. The ruler of Sarronnyn appeals to the Black Order of Wizards of Recluse for help, and Justen finds he must fight both Recluse and Fairhaven.

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Vol. 7

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

a dissaponting ending. 3 out of 5 stars.
3 of 15 people found this review helpful.

I have to say that I went into this series with the expectation that it was going to be better than the movie. I am a huge fan of Miyazaki, and his movie Nausicaa, so when I heard it was a graphic novel I went out and bought the first copy. you wouldn't believe the trouble I had getting a hold of some of these books, but somehow I did it and now I will tell you about the ending.

The series for the most part up to this point was really good, with the 3rd book being my favorite. But the story gets bogged down a lot halfway through this book. the main character, Nausicaa, is so believable in all the other books, but in this one she stops being the lover of all things living and unwilling savor, to destroyer of everything from the past. She completely changes, and not for the better. That's the main reason I didn't like this book.

But another very big reason was because there were simply too many characters to keep
Track of. Let me write them out.

1) Nausicaa
2) Asbel
3) Yupa
4) Kushana
5) Keratowa
6) Ketcha
7) Chikio
8) The Dorok priest
9) The holy emperor
10) The Tolmekian emperor
11) Mito
12) The Jester
13) The god worrier
14) The forest people (there are two of them)
15) The worm handlers (lots of them)
16) The two princes
17) The master of the crypt
18) The crypts Keeper
19) And of course Teto

Wow, I don't even think I got them all. Once Nausicaa starts her journey to the crypt in shuwa most of these characters are ignored and then sort of thrown together at the end. There are so many that Miyazaki HAD to kill a few off, even though I could tell he didn't really want to, and the way some of them die is comical at best.

And lets not forget the ending. Man was is a disappointment. The whole story seemed slapped together, like Miyazaki got board of writing this book and just decided to end it anyway he could. And there really wasn't any ending. The story could have gone on for another book or two, but it just ends so abruptly that I was left with a sense of disappointment.

Overall the series is worth reading, if you can get it for a decent price. The art work and premise are great in and of themselves, and most of the books in this series are great. If you are a Miyazaki fan, or just a fan of the movie, go for it. Otherwise I don't think you could justify the price of getting all seven volumes.

Editorial Review:

Nausicaa embarks on an inner, spiritual journey to the heart of the Sea of Corruption, where she discovers its surprising secret. She returns to the land of the living, compelled to share her discovery, but Nausicaa accidentally awakens a God Warrior from its stasis.

Brasyl

Ian McDonald

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 22 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Think Bladerunner in the tropics... Be seduced, amazed, and shocked by one of the world's greatest and strangest nations. Past, present, and future Brazil, with all its color, passion, and shifting realities, come together in a novel that is part SF, part history, part mystery, and entirely enthralling. Three separate stories follow three main characters: Edson is a self-made talent impressario one step up from the slums in a near future São Paulo of astonishing riches and poverty. A chance encounter draws Edson into the dangerous world of illegal quantum computing, but where can you run in a total surveillance society where every move, face, and centavo is constantly tracked? Marcelina is an ambitious Rio TV producer looking for that big reality TV hit to make her name. When her hot idea leads her on the track of a disgraced World Cup soccer goalkeeper, she becomes enmeshed in an ancient conspiracy that threatens not just her life, but her very soul. Father Luis is a Jesuit missionary sent into the maelstrom of 18th-century Brazil to locate and punish a rogue priest who has strayed beyond the articles of his faith and set up a vast empire in the hinterland. In the company of a French geographer and spy, what he finds in the backwaters of the Amazon tries both his faith and the nature of reality itself to the breaking point. Three characters, three stories, three Brazils, all linked together across time, space, and reality in a hugely ambitious story that will challenge the way you think about everything.

Omega

Jack McDevitt

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 44 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Solid but also disappointing 3 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

After recently discovering McDevitt, I've been burning through the Hutch/Academy series, of which this is the fourth book. However, this one had brought be to a stop, at least for now.

In many respects, it's a fine novel. Once again McDevitt has a good idea and the world he creates at the center of the book is interesting. Sure, it contains the usual McDevitt standards, like somewhat shallow characters and the inevitable "moment of chance that changes everything" that's plays a prominent role in almost all of his books, but regular readers aren't going to let those hold them back.

So why didn't it work? For me it's because Hutch, the central character of the previous three novels, is not the central character here. Sure, McDevitt spends some time with her, but in the end it felt like she wasn't really necessary. Some other person could have filled the role. And instead of Hutch on the front lines, we get a substitute character, introduced in a previous novel in the series, who is basically a younger version of the same basic character.

I understand why McDevitt did it, I suppose, but if he felt the need to ease Hutch out, he might as well end the series.

Editorial Review:

A civilization-destroying omega cloud has switched direction, heading straight for a previously unexplored planetary system--and its alien society. And suddenly, a handful of brave humans must try to save an entire world--without revealing their existence.

Spider-Man: Maximum Carnage

Tom DeFalco, J. M. DeMatteis, Terry Kavanagh, David Michelinie, Mark Bagley, Sal Buscema, Ron Lim, Tom Lyle, Alex Saviuk

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Total reviews: 19 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

The perennial fan-favorite collection, back in print! Carnage, the spawn of Venom, has assembled an army of Spider-Man's criminally insane adversaries to spread his message of hostility, chaos and wholesale slaughter: Carrion, Demogoblin, Shriek and the Spider-Man Doppelganger! Outmanned and overpowered, the wall-crawler must recruit his own band of super-beings to combat the rising tide of evil: Black Cat, Cloak & Dagger, Firestar, Captain America, Deathlok and ... Venom?! Spider-Man's worst enemy becomes his uneasy ally in the battle to halt Carnage's mad rampage. But when he finds himself at odds with a number of his allies, who want to finish Carnage and his cronies once and for all, Spider-Man must decide whether to violate his personal code of honor to rid the world of pure evil. Can the web-slinger find an alternative before it's too late? Either choice carries dire consequences! Collects AMAZING SPIDER-MAN (Vol. 1) #378-380, SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #201-203, SPIDER-MAN #35-37, SPIDER-MAN UNLIMITED #1 and #2, and WEB OF SPIDER-MAN #101-103.