Review:This SERIES is well plotted with excellent characters It would rate five stars if the author (and his editors and beta readers) were not so grievously deficient in English grammar. This not a criticism of the dialogue, but of the narration. For example:fhe present tense of tread is tread, not trod. You read along engaged in the story when, all of a sudden, bad grammar rears its ugly head with the effect of nails screeching over a blackboard.
I certainly hope the next editions of this SERI... Read more

Review:So I guess I may be a Stephenson fanboy. I started out with his more traditional science fiction books and really enjoyed them. However, even with Diamond Age, you could see Stephenson's tendency towards long discourses that may or may not relate entirely to the story at hand.

I found this book to be overly long and full of various discourses that went meandering about, sometimes with only a tenuous connection to the main plot. For all that, I found the story to be incredibly intriguin... Read more

Review:The Paper Menagerie isn't just a collection of some writer's short stories. It's Literature. (Yes. With a capital "L"!)
Some stories deal with China; some deal with being Chinese American. But I think anyone who has ever felt like an outsider in any situation can identify the feelings expressed here.
And there are even lessons: A very moving personal story, as in "The Paper Menagerie" (which had me shedding a tear at the end) and societal history, as in "All the Flavors".
In short: Thou... Read more

Review:An excellent book. It continues the story of "Half a King", but instead of Yarvi, there is a new character taking the spotlight: Thorn. She's bascially the opposite of Yarvi. After all, Yarvi is a man, who was expected to be a warrior king but instead chose to be a minisiter of peace. Thorn is a woman, who is expected to be a traditional lady, but wants to be a warrior. The plot by itself isn't actually anything amazing. In fact (like many fantasy books), they spend a huge portion of time just t... Read more

Review:This series reads like something written by a talented but very young author. The protagonist seems like a Mary Sue for the author, a character the author is obviously very impressed by, though I personally found him to be insufferable. The author literally writes that Nate Temple is charming - over and over - but he is an arrogant jerk. Every woman encountered is a knockout and most of them drool over Nate, which is amazingly sexist. Silvers writes for jokes most of the time and is legitimately... Read more

Review:Great to read after the trilogy. Quite a few tie in's to not only immerse you in the world more, but also gives you perspective on the timeline and when things take place. Well written just like the other books! Read more

Review:A Great follow up to "Prince of Fools." Lawrence has an engaging writing style and keeps his story line moving without sacrificing too much detail. This tale of a reluctant hero is interesting and refreshing. Read more

Review:I ran into Mark Lawrence's books by accident, and actually purchased this book first, and then had to wait while I worked through the first two. It was worth the wait. His writing is nuanced and insightful, and yet manages to be lighthearted and dark at the same time. The story line is one that most fantasy readers have seen before -- the ne'er do well youngest son, and thus last in line to the throne, is underappreciated and underutilized. But, it is the way that Mr. Lawrence approaches thi... Read more

Review:Marion Zimmer Bradley's "The Firebrand" is, without a doubt, one of the best books I have ever read. The retelling of the 'Iliad' through the eyes of Kassandra and the other women including Helen, Andromache, and Creusa is fresh and leaves the reader wanting more. I loved all 603 pages and would have been perfectly happy if it had lasted another 600 pages. The book is of a rare kind that makes you *feel* for every character in such a way that when Troy does fall and everyone is doomed to deat... Read more

Review:Okay..I'm sure that most people who read the summary gasped and said," How dare she! It was great!" (Well, some of them, anyways) ;)However, I didn't say that I DIDN'T like it..it's just that I was a bit..dissapointed.Let me just explain myself.First of all, I have to commend Marion Zimmer Bradley for giving the readers some background for what goes on in 'The Mists of Avalon' and continuing what happend in 'The Forest House'.Also, as far as I know, it also seems to be historically accurate. Fin... Read more