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Dragonflight

Anne McCaffrey

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 166 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Great start to a beloved series 5 out of 5 stars.
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It's been 400 years since the world of Pern has had to deal with deadly Threads falling from the sky to destroy whatever organic life they come into contact with. Many no longer believe that the threat exists any more and the dragon riders responsible for destroying the threads before they hit the ground have fallen into ill repute. Enter F'lar, the new leader of dragon riders, and Lessa, who bonds with the newborn queen dragon. They struggle to get ready so that humanity can survive when the Threads begin to fall again.

Lessa and F'lar are the main characters in Dragonflight but there is a large supporting cast and nearly all are well portrayed. Lessa's and F'lar's romantic relationship definitely has an adolescent tone to it, but it still makes for an enjoyable read. This is not a long book (less than 300 pages) and the pace moves along smartly as a result. The stakes are high and the story compelling.

I read this book roughly 25 years ago and enjoyed it at the time but wasn't sure that my slightly older self would find it as engaging. I must say that it was a pleasant surprise how well Dragonflight has held up and it was a very enjoyable read. I fully recommend it to established fantasy fans as well as newcomers to the genre.

Editorial Review:

HOW CAN ONE GIRL SAVE AN ENTIRE WORLD?

To the nobles who live in Benden Weyr, Lessa is nothing but a ragged kitchen girl. For most of her life she has survived by serving those who betrayed her father and took over his lands. Now the time has come for Lessa to shed her disguise—and take back her stolen birthright.

But everything changes when she meets a queen dragon. The bond they share will be deep and last forever. It will protect them when, for the first time in centuries, Lessa’s world is threatened by Thread, an evil substance that falls like rain and destroys everything it touches. Dragons and their Riders once protected the planet from Thread, but there are very few of them left these days. Now brave Lessa must risk her life, and the life of her beloved dragon, to save her beautiful world. . . .

Ronin

Frank Miller

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 46 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Indelible Imagery. Wonderful plot. My favorite Miller work. 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I still have my well-worn copy of Ronin from the early '80s. It stands today for me, as it did back then, as peerless among comic art. Though it is probably one of the least valuable comics in my whole collection in monetary terms, is the most priceless in terms of overall feel.

Even though I think Sin City and 300 have ported to the screen very successfully, I worry that Ronin won't measure up to those standards. It will take a truly masterful producer and director to pull it off. I sincerely hope that Miller keeps as much creative control as he has on the previous movies. Ronin deserves that.

Decent, but overrated 3 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

This book is by no means bad, its just not very good. Were this book an unknown writers first tale, or a 2.99 pickup at the comic shop, I would be completely satisfied with what I received. As it is, this book is often given credit that it simply doesn't deserve. The future Miller envisions is boringly realized. We see almost nothing outside of a small compound, and what we do see are humans reduced to monsters with no character at all. The title character is boring. He's a samurai who lost his master. Thats it. Thats your whole characterization. The twist at the end is unnessesary and somewhat silly. In short, its a decent book, but its not a classic. Way overrated, but still a good read.

Victory Conditions (Vatta's War)

Elizabeth Moon

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 24 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Elizabeth Moon’s thrilling Vatta’s War series, featuring the no-holds-barred space-faring heroine Kylara Vatta, has secured her reputation as a master of first-rate military science fiction. Now Commander Vatta is back–locked and loaded and ready to win the fight against the marauding forces of ruthless space pirate Gammis Turek.

For Ky, it’s not just about liberating the star systems subjugated by Turek and defending the rest of the galaxy’s freedom. There’s also a score to be settled and payback to be meted out for the obliteration of the Vatta Transport dynasty . . . and the slaughter of Ky’s family. But the enemy have their own escalation efforts under way–including the placement of covert agents among the allies with whom Ky and the surviving Vattas are collaborating in the war effort. And when a spy ring linked to a wealthy businessman is exposed, a cracked pirate code reveals a galaxywide conspiracy fueling the proliferation of Turek’s warship fleet.
Matching the invaders’ swelling firepower will mean marshaling an armada of battle-ready ships for Ky to lead into combat. But a violent skirmish leaves Ky reeling–and presumed dead by her enemies. Now, as Turek readies an all-out attack on the Nexus system–a key conquest that could seal the rest of the galaxy’s doom–Ky must rally to the challenge, draw upon every last reserve of her strategic skills, and reach deep if she is to tear from the ashes of tragedy her most decisive victory.

Dragonsong (The Harper Hall Triology)

Anne McCaffrey

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 173 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

dragonsong 5 out of 5 stars.
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Read all 3 books when published separately. Enjoyable reading for fals of the Pern stories.

Good Book But Read Other Pern Books First 5 out of 5 stars.
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I am definitely a Pern fan and I very much enjoyed this book. As I read through the reviews I was stunned to see this book assigned for reading without prerequisite reading of other Pern books. Background is needed to understand many of the references made in this book that can only be understood by reading other books. This is part of a series and cannot adequately stand alone. By the time we get to Dragonsong, we should be comfortable and familiar with many of the characters and characteristics of the people mentioned and Pern itself. While Menolly is the main character, she interacts with characters that have been fleshed out and have become old friends by the time they met once again in this story. There is no need to explain in detail about the whys of thread and dragons and weyrs. There is no need to explain the in depth and subtle reasons there is tension felt across the land and why.

So, I recommend this book, but only after you have read the others that have come before...

Editorial Review:

For centuries, the world of Pern has faced a destructive force known as Thread. But the magnificent dragons who've protected this world and the men and women who ride them are dwindling.

As fewer dragons ride the winds and destruction falls from the sky, fifteen-year-old Menolly holds one dream only: to sing, play, and weave the music that comes to her so easily -- she wishes to become a Harper. But despite her great talents, her father believes that a young girl is unworthy of such a respected position and forbids her to pursue her dreams. Menolly runs away and happens upon nine fire lizards that could possibly save her world...and change her life forever.

The Dragonriders of Pern

Anne McCaffrey

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 82 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

There be Dragons! 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I have had a lifelong love of all things dragon and have long been a fan of Anne McCaffrey and her Dragonriders of Pern series. Such a fan, that I've read my paperback versions again and again until the only thing holding them together were rubber bands! Thus began my quest to find hardbound copies and thanks to Amazon this became a reality. Anne McCaffrey's Pern, dragons, and their riders capture the and imagination of young and old. I recommend this series to avid SciFi/fantasy readers as well as anyone that enjoys a well written, action packed story. After all, just yesterday, space flight was considered Science Fiction!

Pleasurable and wonderous! 5 out of 5 stars.
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This trilogy and the Harper Hall trilogy were the first adult SF-Fantasy I read as a voracious 7th grader. I felt so very grown up, even when I had to look up words and re-read pages to understand the socio-political machinations. I loved the world of Pern and it set a benchmark in my mind that few authors have met since then. I recently rediscovered these books in my childhood cache. Twenty-five years later, I'm as enthralled as I was then. Now that's good fiction!

Editorial Review:

sci-fi

Seeker (Alex Benedict)

Jack McDevitt

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 57 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

The Search for Seeker 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

In Seeker, Alex Benedict and Chase Kolpath have a 9,000 year old cup dropped in their laps by a potential client. The cup proves to be from the Seeker, one of two ships that set out to points unknown in the 27th century with colonists who were trying to escape Earth's oppressive leadership. On the hunt for the Seeker, Alex and Chase wind up visiting numerous locales (actually, it is Chase that does most of the "legwork", a point that does not go unnoticed by the character), all in the effort of tracking down the Seeker. The Seeker has been historically tied to the missing colony of Margolia, which, when the colonists left Earth, they refused to reveal the location of it to those they left behind and, therefore, the colony acquired a mythic status down the proceeding generations, similar to that of Atlantis and other "lost" places. Unfortunately, Alex and Chase's hunt for the Seeker, and ultimately Margolia, attracts some unwanted attention, and soon the pair not only have the hunt for the Seeker and Margolia at stake, but their lives as well.

McDevitt's Seeker follows a pre-established pattern that has worked well for the author in the past...and, indeed, works well for the author this time around as well. The pattern goes something like this: Mystery reveals itself surrounding some historic event or artifact. Characters discover there is much more to the event or artifact than originally believed. Characters traipse around galaxy on the search for clues to solving mystery. Unexpected danger pops up with somebody trying to off the main characters because of reasons that are not specified until near-end of book. Characters defeat bad guys. Mystery is completely solved (sometimes aspects of the mystery are solved earlier in the book) at end of book. Characters survive for the next go-round.

So McDevitt's story's can be a tad formulaic. Who cares?! They are fun to read! And they present a realistic possibility of what our future may hold when we begin to colonize other worlds in this galaxy. I am totally looking forward to reading more of McDevitt's (formulaic) work sometime in the not-to-distant future.

Editorial Review:

With Polaris, multiple Nebula Award-nominee Jack McDevitt reacquainted readers with Alex Benedict, his hero from A Talent for War. Now, Alex and his assistant, Chase Kolpath, return to solve a riddle that leads them to the edge of known space.

Natural Ordermage (Saga of Recluce)

L. E. Modesitt

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 16 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Another new Recluce protagonist 4 out of 5 stars.
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This book and its announced sequel features the young Recluce native Rahl, son of a scrivener. Rahl has a great deal of ability in order magic, but uses it instinctively--at the beginning of the book he's completely untrained, and since that's forbidden in Recluce he's shipped as a prisoner to Nylan, where the order engineers are kept separated from the rest of the population, to see if he can be of use to them. He does well with languages and weapons training, but when he tries to deliberately do anything much with his magic it tends to blow things up, so he's sent on a "temporary" exile to Hamor, the huge continental empire that's a major rival to Recluce, ostensibly as a clerk for the Recluce Merchants' Association. Only he finds out that things aren't as they should be in his office, and one night is drugged and kidnapped, waking to find himself working in the ironworks south of where he'd been and missing all his memories and his magic. But a Mage Guard officer senses something about him and makes him a mage clerk, and ultimately both his memory and his powers start to return. And ultimately he becomes a Mage Guard himself and discovers and foils a major plot against the Empire of Hamor. What will happen next isn't clear, so I'm looking forward to reading the sequel. Rahl isn't as likeable as Kharl was--he's always complaining about the unfairness of life, which comes across to me as rather whiney. But his heart is in the right place, and there are worse things than a passion for justice as long as it isn't limited to justice for oneself. And his "natural" ordermagery is an interesting idea, as compared with the way other books have presented order magic.

Editorial Review:

L. E. Modesitt, Jr. begins a new Recluce story in Natural Ordermage, the first of two volumes set mostly on the continent of Hamor, far across the sea from Recluce.

Rahl, a young apprentice scrivener on the island of Recluce, likes life to work out in his favor. And he has a bad attitude, too. To make sure things go his way, he uses a small amount of order magic in opportunistic moments--but his abilities are starting to get the attention of the Council magisters. So the Council sends him to the mages training school for testing, and through misuse of his powers, which are getting stronger all the time, he gets himself banished to the continent and empire of Hamor.

As an exile in Hamor, working in the Ordermage Council's import and export business, Rahl’s powers increase more—and so does the amount of trouble he can get into.

Welcome to the fantasy world of L. E. Modesitt, where the adventure is just beginning.

The White Dragon

Anne McCaffrey

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 64 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

White Dragons are great! 5 out of 5 stars.
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As Dragons go, Ruth is smaller and lighter colored.. but that does not stop his being just as useful as any other dragon..and a to be holder can also work thread.. enjoy

Fabulous costumer service 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 1 people found this review helpful.

This was a B-day gift for a close friend. I was worried it wouldn't get here in time for her B-day. It made it on time for her B-day, although it didn't arrive on the day it was supposed to. Without question or having to contact costumer service, my shipping was refunded to me because of the inconvenience. I appreciate Amazon for thier fast action and that I didn't have to complain like people have to do with so many other companies. Thank you!!!

A very slow book 3 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Nothing much really happens here until the second half of the book.
The author's characterizations are pretty good, but as hard science sci fi
this whole series rates pretty low: people call it "fantasy" as like
Edgar Rice Borroughs or Conan the Barbarian? If so it lacks the action that such series demand. I actually don't much like the style of the writing either, as it is very verbose ( says in five pages what could be said in one). This kind of writing makes me want to skip ahead and find something happening...If you are going to base a series on dragons, action seems to be demanded not thoughtful, characterizations and colorful characters.

Editorial Review:

The third volume in a series of adventures in the land of Pern.

Dragondrums (The Harper Hall Trilogy)

Anne McCaffrey

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 38 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

This book is a winner! 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 2 people found this review helpful.

My admiration for Anne McCaffrey knows no bounds. I think she has created some wonderful fiction. I credit her Harper Hall series with fostering a great love of reading and music in me at a very young age. I found the first book DragonSong at the library when I was about eleven or twelve and proceeded to devour everything I could find that she had put out. I eagerly awaited each new book. I became interesting in vocal music after reading these books and decided to try out for our choir in high school, choral music is still an important part of my life.

I feel badly for the people who came to this book expecting something that they did not find, namely it looks like folks thought it was going to be about Menolly and were disappointed to find it was about Piemur.

In this book as with all of her Pernese novels McCaffrey has constructed a wholly believeable world (Dragons and fire lizards? Sure! I'm down with that!) inhabited with wonderful characters who live interesting lives. They are by no means perfect. Most of the major characters evolve or transform at some point, so I have never found the world stale or boring.

A favorite wrinkle of mine is that there is no smoking on Pern. I always thought that was funny when it was compared to Tolkien's world and those of other Sci-Fi authors. No one is lighting up a pipe, no one is smoking anything. It is funny how much time can be spent padding a novel with smoking business. No smoking on Pern. At least I couldn't find any. Which was a wonder for me since when I was a kid my Mom smoked and I hated it.

I think these books are a perfect intro to Sci-Fi/Fantasy for young readers.

Editorial Review:

In the world of Pern, Harpers with great musical ability are held in extreme regard. This is why the young, mischievous Piemur carries himself with so much pride, for he sings like an angel. But when his voice begins to change, Piemur loses all confidence and questions his role within Harper Hall.

Incapable of singing, Piemur is sent on various errands by Masterharper Robinton, including the task of learning the complicated beats of the messenger drums, Piemur has no clue of the grand adventures that await him, and he'll need to find the courage within himself to survive.

DC Universe: The Stories of Alan Moore

Alan Moore

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 23 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Sometimes Laughably Dark 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Alan Moore is bubbling over with great ideas, but the short form of the DC universe isn't his strong suit, it's like asking Thomas Hardy to write for the Larry David show. In this book I found about half of the pieces impenetrable, and I would be surprised if Moore himself recalled some of them.

And sometimes a dull or mediocre story is saved by some great draftsmanship or spectacular inkwork--the Superman + Swamp Thing tale reprinted here is a good example of that. Superman is stricken by a deadly disease and goes South to die--why? Because it is the only area free of fellow superheroes--yes, you heard me. And while he's there in the swamp and collapses, Swamp Thing helps him while he's in a trance and afterwards, well, when he's back to his normal Superman self he--well, obviously I can't continue without a "spoiler warning," but when you read to the end you'll have those question marks floating in front of your eyes like bats in a cave.

In the longer stories, however, Moore really shines. The "Killing Joke" (Joker vs. Batman) is mordant to a fault, but Moore's convulsive energy manages to give a lift to even the most overdetermined of situations, so it never gets tiring and the transitions between Joker's past and present are beautifully staged and presented. Moore even thinks of a way to avoid getting locked up in the "origin story" trap, as the Joker realizes that his memories are so scrambled that what he imagines happened to him might not have in "real life," though some sort of trauma is indicated.

Best of all is the famous Superman dies story "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?" which glories in a complicated yet credible sequence of tragic events, and a cast list that boggles the mind--nearly every important figure in the whole Superman saga gets to make an appearance, like the Hollywood stars poking through the narrative fabric of George Stevens' THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD.

All in all rather a mixed bag but with some real keepers easily worth the price of the collection.

Editorial Review:

The Worlds Greatest Super-Heroes as interpreted by one of the most acclaimed authors in comics today.The work of Alan Moore (WATCHMEN, V FOR VENDETTA, LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN) in the DC Universe during the 1980s is now considered a benchmark for great stories with fresh approaches to iconic characters.This volume collects such well-known classics as The Killing Joke and Superman: Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?