Science Fiction Books - Page 6

The Hobbit

J.R.R. Tolkien

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1630 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

UNabr CD read by Rob Inglis is EXCELLENT!!! 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Rob Inglis is, in my opinion, one of the best readers out there, and I think he's perfect for "The Hobbit" and the complete "Lord of the Rings." He sings what needs singing, very well, which is relatively unusual. I have thoroughly enjoyed the creation he has wrought!!

Definitely There and Back Again 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

We owe a debt of incalculable value to J.R.R. Tolkien. He is the father of an entire genre, a genre that has been able to carry many of us through our darkest hours. Although The Hobbit came out over 70 years ago, it is yet fresh and vibrant. Dear Bilbo is still an enchanting hero and still unique--so many main characters are thinly veiled reflections of ideal selves, whereas Bilbo makes us instead rather want to become Hobbits.

The Hobbit is less world-weary than the Lord of the Rings. It is also a more tightly knit story. For these two reasons, I prefer The Hobbit to the later saga, but I am still grateful that I am a better person for having experienced both The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings.

In The Hobbit, we experience a series of adventures that are precipitated by an odd invitation from Gandalf, and through these adventures we see Bilbo pass from mere observer to central character. Tolkien was a master at many things: character, mythology, story; however, his observations of the essential qualities of human nature make his writings timeless and transcendent of societal changes.

It was a joy to experience The Hobbit. I look forward to reading it to my girls. I don't consider it merely recommended reading; I classify it as canon.

Editorial Review:

Written for J.R.R. Tolkien's own children, The Hobbit met with instant critical acclaim when first published more than sixty years ago. Now recognized as a timeless classic with sales of more than 40 million copies worldwide, this introduction to Bilbo Baggins, Gandalf the Wizard, and the spectacular world of Middle-earth tells of the adventures of a reluctant hero, a powerful and dangerous ring, and the cruel dragon Smaug the Magnificent.

Yes We Can: A Biography of Barack Obama

Garen Thomas

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

I loved reading this book with my 10-year-old son 5 out of 5 stars.
16 of 20 people found this review helpful.

I bought this book for one of my child therapy clients at work and we read it together. We couldn't put it down. I am speaking for the both of us when I say that the book "Yes We Can" was enlightening and inspiring. Not only did it do a great job of explaining the American political system to young readers, but it also detailed Barack Obama's life in a way that offers youth the inspiration to achieve great things in life.

Editorial Review:

In third grade, Barack Obama wrote an essay titled, “I Want to Become President”—and he is, to this day, determined to show the world that, yes, he can.

Born in the U.S.A., the son of an African father and an American mother, a boy who spent his childhood in Indonesia and Hawaii, Barack Obama is truly a citizen of the world. His campaign for the presidency is powered by a fierce optimism, an exuberant sense of purpose and determination, and, above all, a belief that change can happen.

Garen Thomas takes us through the life of Barack Obama, from his struggle to fit in with his classmates and concern about not knowing his biological father, through his term as Illinois senator, to his historic and momentum-building run for president of the United States.

Barack Obama is a man who uses his words to inspire us. We can have a better future. We can be whatever we want to be. Yes. We. Can.

The Titan's Curse (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 3)

Rick Riordan

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 93 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

No book has had such an impact on the peace and quiet in my house 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 4 people found this review helpful.

With 2 boys (ages 9 and 11), 3 big dogs, 2 geckos and a husband, there is usually a LOT of activity in my house. However, since my son discovered this series, things have gotten MUCH quieter! (If only I could teach my dogs to read!)

This series has captured my son's interest and imagination unlike any other fiction series with the exception of the Magic Treehouse books. He is an 11-year old and despite being considered AG in reading skills, he would rather eat liver than read novels. My son's fifth grade teacher got him interested in the first book. After that, he had to have the whole set. He read all four books in about 1.5 weeks time -- usually reading over 100 pages a day -- even on school nights.

He thought this book was the best though the ending definitely leaves you hanging -- and waiting for Book 5.

The things that he likes best about the series:

1. Percy is a regular kid just like him who has his struggles in school.
2. He loves the Greek Mythology tie-ins
3. He loves the writing style and humor of the author
4. The stories don't take place in ancient times -- rather uses ancient stories in modern times.

Now my problem is what to get him reading next. He isn't interested in Harry Potter or most of the other popular fantasy collections. If any one has a suggestion on other series with the above characteristics, please let me know -- I would be eternally grateful!

Editorial Review:

When Percy Jackson receives an urgent distress call from his friend Grover, he immediately prepares for battle. He knows he’ll need his powerful demigod allies, Annabeth and Thalia, at his side; his trusty bronze sword, Riptide; and . . . a ride from his mom.
The demigods race to the rescue, to find that Grover has made an important
discovery: two new powerful half-bloods whose parentage is unknown. But that’s not all that awaits them. The Titan lord, Kronos, has set up his most devious trap yet, and the young heroes have just fallen prey. Hilarious and action-packed, this third adventure in the series finds Percy faced with his most dangerous challenge so far: the chilling prophecy of the Titan’s curse.

Graceling

Kristin Cashore

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 94 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Loved It! Could Not Put It Down! 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I absolutely loved it! seriously stayed up all night reading it! i just had to know what happened! You will fall completely in love with the characters, especially if you are somewhat afraid of being control by someone else! I could completely relate with the main character on how she did not want to be told what to do and how to live. She was amazingly strong physically and just needed someone to show her how amazing she is mentally as well! Although the writing itself is not the best, the story and characters are! I defintely recommend reading this book!

Editorial Review:

Katsa has been able to kill a man with her bare hands since she was eight—she’s a Graceling, one of the rare people in her land born with an extreme skill. As niece of the king, she should be able to live a life of privilege, but Graced as she is with killing, she is forced to work as the king’s thug.

     When she first meets Prince Po, Graced with combat skills, Katsa has no hint of how her life is about to change. She never expects to become Po’s friend. She never expects to learn a new truth about her own Grace—or about a terrible secret that lies hidden far away . . . a secret that could destroy all seven kingdoms with words alone.

     With elegant, evocative prose and a cast of unforgettable characters, debut author Kristin Cashore creates a mesmerizing world, a death-defying adventure, and a heart-racing romance that will consume you, hold you captive, and leave you wanting more.

 

(20080901)

A Wrinkle in Time

Madeleine L'Engle

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 73 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

A Piece of Literature in Time 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 2 people found this review helpful.

A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L'Engle, is a book that I've read twice but completely loved. It is a story that has very advanced concepts for the early 1960's but is something that anyone could like. Meg Murry is a normal teenage girl: she has braces and looks normal. She doesn't do that well in school but is smart at home. On the other hand, her brother, Charles Wallace, is an all around genius. His age is five and understands most things a five year old couldn't. Meg and Charles Wallace meet a boy named Calvin, who is a friendly boy around Meg's age, around two years older, and all three of them hit it off, Meg a little slower than Charles Wallace. On a stormy night, a bizarre lady comes in and tells them random things.
Over the course of the book, Meg, Calvin, and Charles Wallace are all pulled into a fantasy world with different galaxies, "wrinkling", and different planets. This is all for Mr. Murry, who went missing a few years prior to this point in time. Overall, it was a satisfying book.

Editorial Review:

It was a dark and stormy night; Meg Murry, her small brother Charles Wallace, and her mother had come down to the kitchen for a midnight snack when they were upset by the arrival of a most disturbing stranger.

"Wild nights are my glory," the unearthly stranger told them. "I just got caught in a downdraft and blown off course. Let me sit down for a moment, and then I'll be on my way. Speaking of ways, by the way, there is such a thing as a tesseract."

A tesseract (in case the reader doesn't know) is a wrinkle in time. To tell more would rob the reader of the enjoyment of Miss L'Engle's unusual book. A Wrinkle in Time, winner of the Newbery Medal in 1963, is the story of the adventures in space and time of Meg, Charles Wallace, and Calvin O'Keefe (athlete, student, and one of the most popular boys in high school). They are in search of Meg's father, a scientist who disappeared while engaged in secret work for the government on the tesseract problem.

Saving the World (Maximum Ride, Book 3)

James Patterson

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 93 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

The book read like a commercial for Green. 1 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I was extremely dissapointed in this book, and a little relieved that it should be the last. The story was terrible, and was not believable at all. The kids would have had to be extremely stupid to go to anartica. The entire book read like an infomercial for the Green movement. It lacked all the saving graces of the first book. It was a waste of money.

Editorial Review:

There's one last chance to save the world in MAXIMUM RIDE: SAVING THE WORLD AND OTHER EXTREME SPORTS, the closing chapter of James Patterson's thrilling trilogy. The time has arrived for Max and her winged "flock" to face their ultimate enemy and discover their original purpose: to defeat the takeover of "Re-evolution", a sinister experiment to re-engineer a select population into a scientifically superior master race...and to terminate the rest. Max, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gasman, and Angel have always worked together to defeat the forces working against them--but can they save the world when they are torn apart, living in hiding and captivity, halfway across the globe from one another?

Serenity Volume 2: Better Days

Joss Whedon, Brett Matthews, Will Conrad, Adam Hughes

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

A huge improvement over the previous Serenity series 5 out of 5 stars.
9 of 13 people found this review helpful.

A few years ago fans of FIREFLY/SERENITY were given a rather lack luster series called THOSE WE LEFT BEHIND. There isn't a great deal of narrative squeeze space right now in the Serenity universe. The reason is that Joss Whedon and his stars still hope to make another movie. Whether it would be a direct to DVD (which is more likely) or a a theater release is an open question.

There there have been rumors from time to time that Universal, given the impressive and steady sales of both FIREFLY and SERENITY on DVD, was at least interested in considering a DVD film at some point, but so far nothing has materialized. But as long as there is a chance of a continuance of the story of Mal, Zoe, River, Simon, Jayne, and the rest of the crew of Serenity, Joss Whedon is not going to reveal the remaining major secrets about his characters. In commentaries on the film SERENITY, Whedon in particular mentioned Inara's story as the great unexplored mystery. The first film cleared up most of River's untold story, which leaves Inara's. And, of course, Shepherd Book, who will not be part of a future movie because of his death. His backstory will be covered in the next Serenity comic series, focusing exclusively on him and the story that he had been unwilling to tell in either the TV series of the film. It is at least tentatively titled A SHEPHERD'S TALE. But like THOSE LEFT BEHIND and BETTER DAYS, it will be another prequel, this one a prequel to FIREFLY as well. After that, I doubt if we wee much more in the way of Serenity comics, since Whedon clearly doesn't want to pick up at the end of the movie SERENITY. If Universal doesn't move forward with a film (they have exclusive rights to the franchise until the middle of the next decade and even then for films only -- TV rights revert to 20th Century Fox at that time), Joss Whedon might be tempted to tell the rest of the story, presumably is a comic closer in length to ANGEL: AFTER THE FALL, rather than the two short Serenity comics that we have seen so far.

As I stated above, this three-episode sequence is a considerable improvement over the earlier THOSE LEFT BEHIND. There are some adventures that truly are similar to those in the TV series or film. Though not as satisfying as another film or TV series, it adds to the canonical body of adventures our heroes have embarked on. Because of its odd placement in the period of time after the TV series but before the film, not much can really happen of great import. You know no one is going to die (Joss Whedon basically invented the body count as we currently recognize it on TV) because of the later film. And River, who emerged as the ultimate lethal weapon in the film, is still self-contained and only minimally interactive with the outside world (though we the most memorable graphic in the series is a full page portrait of River having all her fondest desires realized). But given that, Whedon's team did a great job of creating a fun and funny and interesting story.

In my review of THOSE LEFT BEHIND, I did not recommend that fans of the TV series and movie give it a read. I definitely recommend this. This succeeds in all the ways that the earlier book failed.

Editorial Review:

Serenity: Better Days follows everyone's favorite space cowboys in a thrilling, action-packed adventure, where Mal and his crew take on a heist that promises a big payoff. But when one of Serenity's crew is taken captive and tortured, the gang must put their enduring differences aside and work together to save one of their own, even if it means losing the cash prize of a lifetime! Joss Whedon returns to the world of his blockbuster film Serenity, reuniting with Brett Matthews and Will Conrad, his collaborators on the bestselling 2005 series Those Left Behind.

The Angel Experiment (Maximum Ride, Book 1)

James Patterson

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 241 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Characters based on James Patterson's international bestsellers When the Wind Blows and The Lake House are re-invented in Maximum Ride and are launched on the ultimate action-packed adventure full of humor and suspense.

Fourteen-year-old Maximum Ride, better known as Max, knows what it's like to soar above the world. She and all the members of the "Flock"--Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gasman and Angel--are just like ordinary kids--only they have wings and can fly. It may seem like a dream come true to some, but their lives can morph into a living nightmare at any time--like when Angel, the youngest member of the "Flock," is kidnapped and taken back to the "School" where she and the others were genetically engineered by sinister scientists. Her friends brave a journey to Death Valley, CA, to save Angel, but soon enough, they find themselves in yet another nightmare--this one involving fighting off the half-human, half-wolf "Erasers" in New York City. Whether in the treetops of Central Park or in the bowels of the Manhattan subway system, Max and her adopted family take the ride of their lives. Along the way Max discovers from her old friend and father-figure Jeb--now her betrayed and greatest enemy--that her purpose is save the world--but can she?

The Final Warning (Maximum Ride, Book 4)

James Patterson

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 122 Average rating: 2.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Fourteen-year-old Maximum Ride and the other members of "Flock"--Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gasman and Angel--are just like ordinary kids--only they have wings and can fly. It seems like a dream come true--except that they're still being hunted by new threats at every turn.

This time, the US government wants to keep the Flock under observation, offering a safe haven and schooling in return. But after their incredible adventures in books 1-3, Max and Flock have grown to love freedom- -after all, haven't grown-ups always found a way to ruin their lives? After escaping the control of the feds, they are surprised to find themselves allied with a group of environmental scientists who just might be trustworthy. Besides, what enemy could find them in one of the remotest locations on earth--Antarctica--on an expedition studying the effects of global warming up close?

There is one: The Uber-Director--literally, brains on a stick--an evil being who has developed mechanical soldiers far more frightening than Erasers. Their quest? To retrieve the Flock and sell them in a global auction for billions of dollars. Will the Uber-Director nab them before Max, Fang and the flock succumb to the dangers of the harsh Antarctic wilderness? Kids, parents and educators tuned into the issue of global warming will find this latest episode of the blockbuster Maximum Ride series not only a particularly riveting adventure beyond their wildest dreams, but also a motivating cautionary tale about a real-life peril that may affect their own future.

School's Out - Forever (Maximum Ride, Book 2)

James Patterson

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 118 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Fourteen-year-old Maximum Ride and the other members of the "Flock"--Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gasman and Angel--are just like ordinary kids--only they have wings and can fly. It seems like a dream come true--except that they're being hunted by half-human, half-wolf "Erasers" who can fly, too.

In Book 2 of the series, the Flock members are taken under the wing of an FBI agent and try to live "normal" lives by going to school, making friends--and continuing their relentless search for their parents. But the Erasers return, forcing the Flock to abandon their search and make their escape once again. The voice inside Max's head keeps telling her that it's up to her to save the world, but this is especially challenging to do when she is faced with her ultimate match: a newer and better version of herself, Maximum Ride II. Max's heart-stopping quest to investigate the mind-blowing mystery of her ultimate destiny continues in the scariest, strangest, and funniest James Patterson novel yet.