( S ) Books

The Pirate King (Forgotten Realms: Transitions, Book 2)

R.A. Salvatore

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 16 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Another Solid Salvatore tale, but no where near the best..... 3 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Another year, another Salvatore Drizzt novel has come. To the fans, this is a good book but has some problems. To the first timers, go back and read the series in order! Let me first say that I am a huge fan of Salvatore and the Drizzt series. The last novel, THE ORC KING, was awesome. PIRATE KING however falls a little flat. The book pretty much breaks down into three parts. First we have Drizzt and Deudermont rousing the people of Luskan to battle the lich Arklem Greeth & the wizards of the Hostower. While it is good, the battles just do not feel as epic as previous ones from the series. Arklem Greeth is not made out to be a great evil character, instead he comes off as kind of an aloof character. There seems to be a lot of politics in this book, and it drags down the story. It does have some exciting fights though. The battle with the devils, and Drizzt vs. the fire elemental just off the top of my head. The second part has Drizzt & Regis going to Icewind Dale to find Wulfgar. This part feels totally disconnected from the whole novel and just seems to exist to give Drizzt something important to do instead of hanging around Luskan. The final part is the ultimate seize of power for Luskan. But it too feels kind of rushed and is not as entertaining as it should have been. I also really don't like the cover art! It is so dark, Drizzt & Guen just looking down off a castle?! Worst Todd Lockwood cover EVER!
In the end, it is a good read but does fall down towards the bottom of the series. Here's hoping that GHOST KING is just EPIC!!!

Editorial Review:

Drizzt returns to Luskan, and the Realms will never be the same!

The Arcane Brotherhood has long held the city of Luskan in their power, but when corruption eats away at their ranks, Captain Deudermont comes to the rescue of a city that has become a safe haven for the Sword Coast's most dangerous pirates. But rescuing a city from itself may not be as easy as Deudermont thinks, and when Drizzt can't talk him out of it, he'll be forced to help.

Drizzt is back in action again, and bringing more changes to the Forgotten Realms setting. This all new hardcover adventure will keep Drizzt fans guessing the whole way, with edge-of-your-seat action and plot twists that even the most casual reader of the Forgotten Realms novel line can't afford to miss!

Snow Crash (Bantam Spectra Book)

Neal Stephenson

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 545 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

From the opening line of his breakthrough cyberpunk novel Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson plunges the reader into a not-too-distant future. It is a world where the Mafia controls pizza delivery, the United States exists as a patchwork of corporate-franchise city-states, and the Internet--incarnate as the Metaverse--looks something like last year's hype would lead you to believe it should. Enter Hiro Protagonist--hacker, samurai swordsman, and pizza-delivery driver. When his best friend fries his brain on a new designer drug called Snow Crash and his beautiful, brainy ex-girlfriend asks for his help, what's a guy with a name like that to do? He rushes to the rescue. A breakneck-paced 21st-century novel, Snow Crash interweaves everything from Sumerian myth to visions of a postmodern civilization on the brink of collapse. Faster than the speed of television and a whole lot more fun, Snow Crash is the portrayal of a future that is bizarre enough to be plausible.

The Scourge of God: A Novel of the Change (Change Series)

S.M. Stirling

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 18 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

No forward progress... this is "series filler" material 3 out of 5 stars.
5 of 6 people found this review helpful.

I am a big fan of this series and eagerly awaited the arrival of the latest edition in hardcover.

I dove into the book immediately, but kept thinking "OK, when is the action going to start". I also found myself doing what I almost never do which is skipping large blocks of complex prose to get to something interesting. The last time I can remember doing that was in some of Jordan's later additions to the Wheel of Time series.

If I wanted to read a case study about Wiccan religion, I'd look in the library.

Because of the lack of development of existing characters, the blandness of the new characters introduced and the minuscule advancement of the overall story, I think there's really just one good word to describe how Scourge of God fits into this series...

...filler.

Editorial Review:

“A stunning continuation”(Diana L. Paxson, author of Ravens of Avalon) of the New York Times bestselling author’s “splendid saga” chronicling an alternate world without technology.

Rudi MacKenzie continues his trek across the land that was once the United States of America. His destination: Nantucket, where he hopes to learn the truth behind The Change that rendered technology across the globe inoperable.

During his travels, Rudi forges ties with new allies in the continuing war against The Prophet, who teaches his followers that God has punished humanity by destroying technological civilization. And one fanatical officer in the Sword of The Prophet has been dispatched on a mission—to stop Rudi from reaching his destination by any means necessary.

Cryptonomicon

Neal Stephenson

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 834 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Neal Stephenson enjoys cult status among science fiction fans and techie types thanks to Snow Crash, which so completely redefined conventional notions of the high-tech future that it became a self-fulfilling prophecy. But if his cyberpunk classic was big, Cryptonomicon is huge... gargantuan... massive, not just in size (a hefty 918 pages including appendices) but in scope and appeal. It's the hip, readable heir to Gravity's Rainbow and the Illuminatus trilogy. And it's only the first of a proposed series--for more information, read our interview with Stephenson.

Cryptonomicon zooms all over the world, careening conspiratorially back and forth between two time periods--World War II and the present. Our 1940s heroes are the brilliant mathematician Lawrence Waterhouse, cryptanalyst extraordinaire, and gung ho, morphine-addicted marine Bobby Shaftoe. They're part of Detachment 2702, an Allied group trying to break Axis communication codes while simultaneously preventing the enemy from figuring out that their codes have been broken. Their job boils down to layer upon layer of deception. Dr. Alan Turing is also a member of 2702, and he explains the unit's strange workings to Waterhouse. "When we want to sink a convoy, we send out an observation plane first.... Of course, to observe is not its real duty--we already know exactly where the convoy is. Its real duty is to be observed.... Then, when we come round and sink them, the Germans will not find it suspicious."

All of this secrecy resonates in the present-day story line, in which the grandchildren of the WWII heroes--inimitable programming geek Randy Waterhouse and the lovely and powerful Amy Shaftoe--team up to help create an offshore data haven in Southeast Asia and maybe uncover some gold once destined for Nazi coffers. To top off the paranoiac tone of the book, the mysterious Enoch Root, key member of Detachment 2702 and the Societas Eruditorum, pops up with an unbreakable encryption scheme left over from WWII to befuddle the 1990s protagonists with conspiratorial ties.

Cryptonomicon is vintage Stephenson from start to finish: short on plot, but long on detail so precise it's exhausting. Every page has a math problem, a quotable in-joke, an amazing idea, or a bit of sharp prose. Cryptonomicon is also packed with truly weird characters, funky tech, and crypto--all the crypto you'll ever need, in fact, not to mention all the computer jargon of the moment. A word to the wise: if you read this book in one sitting, you may die of information overload (and starvation). --Therese Littleton

The Orc King: Transitions, Book I (Transitions)

R.A. Salvatore

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

Editorial Review:

Drizzt is back, and facing a world changed forever!

An uneasy peace between the dwarves of Mithral Hall and the orcs of the newly established Kingdom of Many-Arrows can't last long. The orc tribes united under Obould begin to fight each other, and Bruenor is determined to finish the war that nearly killed him and almost destroyed everything he's worked to build. But it will take more than swords and axes to bring a lasting peace to the Spine of the World. Powerful individuals on both sides may have to change the way they see each other. They may have to start to talk. And it won't be easy.

The paper-back of the novel that, for the first time since the #4 New York Times best seller The Lone Drow, brought Drizzt Do'Urden to center stage in a book that set fans of Drizzt and the Forgotten Realms line on notice--be prepared for anything! This book wasn't just the next installment in the long-running saga of the famous dark elf, but the beginning of a bold new trilogy that will help change the face of the Forgotten Realms world forever.

Fortune and Fate

Sharon Shinn

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

exciting sword and romantic fantasy 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 4 people found this review helpful.

Considered one of the best amidst the Riders sworn to protect the king, Wen is down on herself; when a revolt broke out, the warrior failed to protect King Baryn. Adding to her depression is that her lover married someone else; leaving her no one to turn to for solace.

Wen's mental state improves a bit when she saves Karryn, teenaged daughter of a rebel, from a kidnapping and rape. Karryn's grateful Uncle Jasper Paladar offers Wen a position as instructor to his bodyguards; she accepts. Reluctant at first, Wen ends up falling in love with her intellectual employer

Although not part of the original Twelve Houses saga, this exciting sword and romantic fantasy directly feeds off the events of that quartet especially with the attitude of the heroine. Thus it helps to have read the previous tales to better understand Wen's depression and her world, but FORTUNE AND FATE can stand alone. The story line is fast-paced focusing on a female warrior who makes a strong case that women can be adept in combat as well as lovers. Although nothing new is added to the Shinn mythos, fans will appreciate this fine entry that looks deep into the soul of one of the survivors.

Harriet Klausner

Editorial Review:

The compelling new novel in the national bestselling “superior fantasy series” (Publishers Weekly).

National bestselling author Sharon Shinn’s “lyrical and entertaining” (Kirkus Reviews) Twelve Houses books have captivated readers and critics alike with their irresistible cocktail of fantasy, romance, and adventure. Now Shinn returns with a new novel set in the same world, where a troubled Warrior Rider named Wen faces her greatest challenge in the last place she ever expected: behind the walls of a great family estate known as Fortune, where Wen has been hired to guard the young heiress. Once there, she will find that fate has other plans for her…

The Stowaway: Stone of Tymora, Book I (Stone of Tymora)

R.A. Salvatore, Geno Salvatore

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

From the author of more than a dozen New York Times best sellers and his son, comes the first installment of a brand-new fantasy trilogy written just for young readers...

Barely a teen and already guarding a secret that could jeopardize his young life, Maimun is marked for death. With the help of a mysterious stranger, the boy escapes his village and flees out to sea, stowing away on the pirate hunting ship, Sea Sprite, where he comes across a most unlikely ally: the dark elf Drizzt Do'Urden. With a half-demon determined to destroy him, and a crew of sailors resentful of the trouble he's caused, Maimun must find the courage to prove his worth, both to his friends and to himself.

Nearly two decades ago, R.A. Salvatore introduced the world to Drizzt D'Urden in a series that has since become a fantasy classic and a consistent presence on best seller lists. Now, for the first time, Salvatore partners with his son Geno to craft a brand-new story just for young readers, featuring a cameo of the most beloved fantasy character of all time.

For young readers seeking the next great fantasy saga or for long-time fans who can't miss any installment in the Drizzt saga, this book delivers all the action, intrigue, and magic you've come to expect from the Salvatore name.

Dies the Fire: A Novel of the Change

S.M. Stirling

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 185 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

The sub-genre is NOT Apocalypse 3 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I agree with many of the reviewers that Dies the Fire is a story that is almost tailored for SCA and sf-convention consumption. However, unlike many people, I don't have a problem with many of the horribly frequent and amazingly beneficial coincidences that keep the main characters breathing and building through the winding length of Stirling's narrative. My reason for this disagreement is that I cannot see this book or trilogy as a post-apocalyptic novel.

I think that many people were led astray by this book's cover art. A guy with a sword standing on a rusted out car screams apocalypse fiction. Unfortunately, this is somewhat deceptive, so all apocalyptic fiction fans, be warned. This book is more a sword and sorcery novel wrapped in an apocalyptic setting than a post-apocalyptic tale. While I understand how frustrating it can be to find out the book you are reading doesn't even belong to the same genre you were looking for when you put your money down, I don't think that disappointment should change the genre to which the story belongs.

If it is given that the story in this misleading wrapper is a sword-swinging adventure tale, it isn't such a bad book. Since swash-buckler stories have less of a plausibility requirement (read some Robert Howard and you'll see what I mean) than science, or even horror, based apocalypse novels, the book stands up a little better in this genre.

Like some other writers, Stirling gets a bit preachy and self-aggrandizing (Great horned god, Batman!). However, the story itself makes for a fun read in congress with the sequels, "The Protectors War" and "A Meeting at Corvallis".

The characterizations are actually somewhat humorous, especially if you have actually had experience dealing with SCA and other re-enactment junkies. The portraits in this book actually take on a very tongue in cheek humor, as some of the individuals could be a stereotype version of the re-enactment fanatic complaining that "this con isn't as good as ren-faire because they don't have turkey legs at the food court". (This was an actual statement I overheard at the Atlanta *Dragoncon Summer 2008)

Fortunately, it seems Stirling realized that the SCA and re-enactment elements were overly strong in this work. In later books, he adds elements of self-parody, such as a character noting graffiti in Corvallis with the tongue in cheek message "Help, I've fallen into the ren-faire and I can't get out." While I do not believe that self-parody is an indication of success in any written work, I do appreciate the backhanded apology insinuated by Stirling's inclusion of such statements.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good pulp sword-swinger, swashbuckling fantasy, or over-the-top adventure story. I cannot recommend it to apocalypse fiction fans.

Editorial Review:

The Change occurred when an electrical storm centered over the island of Nantucket produced a blinding white flash that rendered all electronic devices and fuels inoperable. What follows is the most terrible global catastrophe in the history of the human race-and a Dark Age more universal and complete than could possibly be imagined.

The Legend of Drizzt Boxed Set, Books IV-VI (The Legend of Drizzt)

R.A. Salvatore

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Good illustration, too small print 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 6 people found this review helpful.

I like the illustration of this version better than the previously published ones. However, the font tends to be very small and it takes some getting-used-to.

Drizzt Rocks 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This is the first time I have read fantasy and I am soooo glad my mother talked me into reading this series. I have not had this much fun reading about a character like Drizzt in so long...R.A.Salvatore did a a wonderful job with this series and I really look forward to finishing the rest of the books...

Ready for the next box set pls 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I absolutely love all these books, they are an easy read, salvatore doesn't waste time on insignificant details like alot of other authors. However I am almost done reading The Halflings Gem so I'm ready for the next box set please! anyone know when that will come out?

Editorial Review:

Put the Legend of Drizzt on your holiday gift-giving list!

Drizzt Do'Urden has done the impossible--for a dark elf. He's made a home on the World Above, and surrounded himself with a circle of friends who will fight to the death for him. And when an ancient artifact of inescapable evil burns its way through Iewind Dale, they just may have to.

This deluxe gift set includes the books The Crystal Shard, Streams of Silver, and The Halfling's Gem.

The Legend of Drizzt Boxed Set, Books I-III (The Legend of Drizzt)

R.A. Salvatore

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

The Legend of Drizzt Boxed Set, Books I-III (The Legend of Drizzt) 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 4 people found this review helpful.

great gift for yourself or some one else. Its the beginning of the tail for Drizzt an important part of the Forgottens Realms world and R.A Salvatore himself.

Love it. 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

Great stories, great characters, although only the main character is sketched out completely. Good read.

meh 3 out of 5 stars.
2 of 8 people found this review helpful.

Being over 17, I don't think I'm the target audience for this series. The concept of a protaganist who inexplicably ends up with a completely different set of values from the society that raised him distances me.

Good story though, cheap easy reading on the lue.

Editorial Review:

Give the gift of the Legend of Drizzt!

Drizzt Do'Urden made his first mistake the moment he was born: he was a boy. In the rigid matriarchy of the dark elf city of Menzoberranzan, that makes his life forfeit. But when his own mother tries but fails to kill him, Drizzt's path is set. He must find a way to escape the treacherous Underdark, even if that means setting out alone into the no less dangerous World Above.

This gift set includes the New York Times best-sellers Homeland, Exile, and Sojourn.