Book Review

[archely]

Book Review. Nuff said.

[satan]

The enders game books: i havnt read them all but.....

Enders game:
Book cover:umm.. i can find neither my enders game book or my enders shadow book and it scares me... but heres an online summary:

"Many decades ago, an alien race invading our solar system were stopped only by the genius of a single commander. Ever since, the Earth's most brilliant and capable children have been recruited into an orbiting Battle School to learn how to save humanity from a possible next invasion. The main character, Ender Wiggin is found at age 6 and is pushed through Battle School and kept isolated to grow his military genius at the fastest rate. His childhood is molded so he becomes a tool to destroy the enemy. Meanwhile his manipulative brother works in a subplot to gain political power on Earth with the unwilling help of Enders loving sister. This book has a staggering sweep to it with fast action and very realistic characters in extraordinary circumstances. The ending is one of the most heart renching, tragic and yet satisfying ever in SF writing. This begins the Hugo and Nebula award winning series of 4 books about Ender and a further series of parrallel novels about Battle School and Earth politics."

Speaker for the dead:
book cover:
in the aftermath of his terrible war, Ender wiggin disapeared and a powerful voice arose: the speaker for the dead, who told the true storyof the bugger war.
Now, long years later, a second alien race has been discovered, but again the aliens ways are strange and frightning.. again, humans dies. and it is only the speaker for the dead, who is also ender wiggin the xenocide, who has the courage to cohfront the mystery... and the truth


i loved all of them that i read.. speaker for the dead we my favorite, then enders shadow.. but enders game was awsome as well.. it was the first school book i actaully enjoyed... but i deff recomend reading enders game first, then enders shadow, then continure w. speaker for the dead, xenocide,a nd then children of the mind

(something like that arch?) i'll put more up if i find my books..

satan

[epiph]

oooh...everyone should read lolita. it's my favorite book of all time, but i'm not really in the mood to write up a good review. i'll do it later, maybe...

but in the meantime, i'll just say that it's really not as bad (subject-wise) as most people are led to believe.

[Deadbody]

Donna Tarrt - The Secret History

one of my favorites, that isent fantasy... or something...

Its great

[epiph]

ok.

lolita by vladimir nobokov. it's written in first person as the explanation of the crimes of a certain humbert humbert. his crimes? well, he had a lot of sex with a minorr who was also in his custody, and then killed a man who did the same thing to the same girl. it sounds really "ick," i know, but it's one of the most incredibly and beautifully written books i've ever read. i like to say that it's really a story about love, because i think it is. but read it and tell me if i'm wrong.

[James]

Wonderful idea this thread, arch. Will be sure to post a review next time I find the patience to read a book :)

Actually, I might re-read a few Anne Rice books and post some reviews of those

[James]

A Game of Thrones by George R.R.Martin
Publisher: HarperCollinsPublishers
Pages: 807 (paperback) +Appendix
Genre: Fantasy
Price on cover: $14.95 (ANZ)

From the back cover
As Warden of the north, Lord Eddard Stark counts it as a curse when King Rober bestows on him the office of Hand. His honor weighs him down at court where a true man does what he will, not what he must... and a dead enemy is a thing of beauty. The old gods have no power in the south, Stark's family is split, and there is treachery at court. Worse, a vengeance-mad boy has grown to maturity in exile in the Free Cities beyond the sea. heir of the mad Dragon King deposed by Robert, he claims the Iron Throne


This is the first book in GRRM's series, A Song of Ice and Fire, and while it is the only one I have read so far my praise for this author is immense. This is by far the best fantasy novel I have read in a long time. GRRM has a style of writing that will captivate, shock and amuse you and the story itself, while seemingly not the most original, is quite immense in it's scope.The characters themselves are very complex and life-like, and GRRM flaunts their good qualities and bad both equally and charismatically. One warning, if you don't appreciate your fantasy being 'tainted' with things like incest, occasional swearing and the occasional death of a main character this probably isn't for you :dozey: I don't want to say anything more else lest I spoil the of the surprises this book has in store for you (and believe me it has many) so all I can say is just get it and read it.


'Grabs hold and won't let go. It's brilliant' - Robert Jordan

[Cloric The Cleric]

Okay, here goes.

I just finished the Redemtions of Athalus, by David and Leigh Eddings not long ago. The review is actually fairly short.

If you've read the Belgariad and the Malloreon, don't bother. You've already read this book with some slightly different characters. They're all archtypes, the plot line is SO similar that you can almost predict what happens next from page to page. My guess is that David had one original story in him. He told it, and he really should have stopped. If you haven't read his previous series though, you might find this a fun, quick read.

3 out of 5 stars.

[Rayn]

Please Stop Laughing at Me, by Jodee Blanco. For anyone who was ever bullied or ever the bully, this is a good book. Basically, it's about a girl who is tortured by here peers from 5th grade through the last day of school. I know it might seem a little liberal for some, but I really liked it. And i appreciate how fair she is in the portrayal of her former classmates. It's under 300 pgs., but it's good to read, especially if you ever plan on having kids or being a teacher. I give it 5 out of 5 stars.

[epiph]

the seven daughters of eve (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0393020185/qid=1049317748/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_1/103-7401448-1767815?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) by bryan sykes

hardcover: 320 (also available in paperback
publisher: w.w. norton & company
genre: non-fiction/literary non-fiction

i'm not gonna quote the back or the flap because if you really want, you can read them on amazon. ok, so this book was incredibly interesting. night before last, i stayed up all night reading. it's an account of sykes' journey to his conclusion that all modern-day europeans, or people of european descent, are descended from seven women. he tracked it through mitochondrial dna, which is passed only through the maternal line (thus the seven women, and not men).

it's divided into essentially two sections: the scientific, and the fictional. first, sykes goes through his journey, so to speak, to arrive at this conclusion of his, detailing all the projects he worked on and the little jumps of discoverty that eventually lead to his conclusion. this is the part that the book excells in and is intensely interesting. the second part is sykes' fictional account of the lives of the seven matriarchs. he obviously did a lot of research for these accounts, because he's not an archeologist, and the accounts are, heh...historically accurate, as far as i'm aware, and relatively detailed, but it's also pretty apparent that this isn't his field. while they're somewhat interesting just because i know i'm descended from one of them, sykes' gift is not fiction.

i would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys science and/or history, but i'd love for one of you genetics guys to read it and tell me what you think.

other books from bryan sykes:
The Human Inheritance: Genes, Language, and Evolution (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0198502745/qid=1049319446/sr=1-2/ref=sr_1_2/103-7401448-1767815?v=glance&s=books)

[epiph]

which reminds me, yet again, that i need to reread it...