Science Fiction Fantasy Books

I haven't been this excited and absolutely addicted to a series in YEARS! I love the characters. They are somewhat flat at first but flesh out really well in later books. I totally love that most of the characters are snarky, flippant geeks of one sort or another. The dialogue is good, and I can be found to laugh-out-loud at times!

BtVS meets classic noir. Totally freaking awesome.

I had high hopes for this book because I liked the series, but they were dashed by the end of page one. First of all, the writing is mediocre at best. As a writing teacher, I expect published authors to rise above first year writing students stylisticly. Too much repitition, some confusing sentence structures, cliches, unrealistic dialogue, and not very inventive (Nevernever was the best name the author could come up with for the alternate magical world?). Characterization is lacking. Dresden's maturity rarely rises above a teenage boy, and his wardrobe makes him come off pathetic. The only people who wear dusters and think they are cool are cowboys (admittedly cowboys do look cool in them), school shooters, and D&D groupies. The tv show was smart to change the duster to a bomber jacket and the VW to a Jeep. The women are interchangeable with little done to develop them. This could have been very compelling reading if the writing were more polished and the characters given a little more thought.

I pick up this book thinking that it had a promising plot, but i soon came to realize that it sucks. I hated this book, the characters were ridiculous and what could have been a good premise was absolutely wasted. Do not under any circumstances try to read this book. I had to put it down around half way through. I would much rather stick to George R. R. Martin.

If you like Harry Dresden you will enjoy this reading very much. The whole book is included, and James Marsters (Spike of Buffy the Vampire Slayer) does an Outstanding job of reading it. I intend to get all these books (with James Marsters reading), and urge the production of ALL the Harry Dresden series using Mr. Marsters as the reader.

An entertaining, short fantasy read (the book is only 322 pages long).

I stumbled upon this author (Jim Butcher) while reading someones' review; I've always enjoyed fantasy so I decided to give it a try.

'Storm Front' is the first of a series of books (now 10 or so books) starring Butcher's hero, Harry Dresden. Dresden is a wizard/part-time private investigator who often gets involved, with or without the police, in investigating paranormal occurrences.

The writing quality is reminiscent of your typical detective/sleuth novel...only better. What I really liked was the way the story really hooked you into reading on and on; there was always something happening, or about to happen, to keep your interest at a high level.

Also, it was not hard to identify and like Harry with his self-depreciating and cynical humor. Other characters, although not greatly developed, are intriguing and easily fit into the frame work of this story. And as you might suspect, there were some interesting confrontations involving humans as well as your evil fantasy types.

Conclusion:
A short fantasy read that is well presented and fast paced. It has an interesting hero and the storyline that will tweak your curiosity to the very end. 4 1/2 to 5 Stars.

R.Nicholson

Loved to see the returning characters in one, Zanna, Lucy, Arthur and let's not forget all the dragon characters. Very creative and imaginative story about dragons and where they come from. They even added some fairies in this time. I most loved about this book is the characters returning to them just felt natural and it did seem like there was more story to be told. I even got the feeling there could be another one in the works. I recommend this book any time a there is a kid asking for a good series and especially if they like fantasy I recommend this at work. I thought this whole series was great and I have even made my husband read them. One thing I didn't like was how abruptly it ended I was confused when it ended and had to go back and read it again to make sure I had not missed some thing. Other then that is was good.

I purchased this book for my nephew. He loved it, and has spent several nights this summer reading it. He has enjoyed all of Chris D'Lacey's dragon books. Although, I have not read the book myself, I have it on good authority from my nephew that this is a great book. He highly recommends it.

In the fourth book of his dragon series, "Fire
Eternal," Chris D'Lacey reveals the evolution of David
Rain's character by focusing on the lives of two women
coping with his loss: Zanna, his girlfriend; and
Lucy, his landlady's daughter and inspiration.

It has been five years since the events of "Fire
Star," which left the Pennykettle family and their
dragons to pick up the pieces after the loss of their
tenant David. Lucy Pennykettle, a teenager now,
refuses to let go of the memory of her childhood
friend. When Zanna refuses to help her drudge up
painful memories about David's life and disappearance,
Lucy finds a new ally to help her.

Zanna also struggles to find peace with David's loss.
She is a mother now, raising their whimsical and
insightful daughter Alexa with the help of Liz
Pennykettle and their family dragons.

Throughout the book, both women learn the significance
of what happened to David Rain in the Arctic--and what
dangers lie in wait for the world if they do not stop
them in time.

I'm a fan of Rob Reiner's work, but his reading of this classic leaves quite a bit to be desired, in my opinion. He reads too fast and with little inflection, making it difficult at times to tell when he's ended one character's line and started another. This fantasy would have benefitted from a voice that could handle multiple characters and perhaps someday we'll even get a version with a full cast and music.

Still, it's clearly a story that means a lot to him and to its listeners and readers, so his pace and reading style don't entirely distract from the experience...a very worthwhile purchase.

This story is so charming and delightful. There is definitely something for everyone - humor, true love, fencing, kidnapping, the fire swamp, and the zoo of death. There is so much more detail and humor that was left out of the movie, that it was a real treat to read. Definitely a classic adventure story!

I was afraid to read this book and avoided it for many years. I so dearly love the movie and I just didn't want to be disappointed either way. If the book was better, as is usually the case, then my movie experience would be tarnished. If the movie was better then I'd be wasting my time with the book.

Well nevermind to all of that, because I LOVE this book and now the two separate entities will forever positively reinforce each other in my mind. There are some significant changes from the movie which should help separate them.

I love the inclusion of the character, "William Goldman". Oh, he's not a character you say? He's the author? Well he's one of my favorite parts of this book. I love the interaction between the characters, especially Fezzik and Inigo who throughout the book had me in all kinds of tears: of laughter, of joy, of sadness.

I read every word of "The Princess Bride" and I'm usually a big skimmer and skipper.

The first time I read this book, I loved it, fullstop. The second time I read it, I was pretty angry about being tricked, but it was still awesome. Reading it all these years later as an adult, I noticed how sexist, racist, and lazy this book is. Don't get me wrong- enough of it is still entertaining that I didn't try to set my copy on fire, but it's not nearly as good as I remember it being.

I had a hard time emotionally engaging in this book. It is mainly a frenetic joke that speeds rapidly by. I love Rob Reiner as a director and William Goldman is one of my favorite screenwriters. I just didn't love this book. I have always liked the movie, not loved it but thought the book would be better. It just isn't for me.

This series keeps you interested with new language, exciting characters, constant action and a great plot. The themes of taking care of the earth and appreciating individuality are strong but subtle. Tally, the main character, is a typical teenager with concerns that are beyond what most current teens have to deal with, but are familiar. There are times when the books are predictable, but with satisfying results. Overall, an enjoyable read. I would love to see more about Tally and her further adventures.

I've never really been into YA so I was skeptical when my friend recommended it to me. However as a fan of works like 1984, Brave New World, and Farenheit 451, the utopian plotline won me over.

In short, I was glad I picked it up. I was immediately enthralled and once I got the 2nd book, I finished it in a day leaving me anxious for the 3rd release.

The Uglies trilogy is a great YA series. The utopian/govt control themes make it an intelligent cut above the rest of the YA fluff and the romantic plot in it helps keep its appeal to the average teen.

Great work!

Scott Westerfeld's best work by far, The uglies trilogy is amazing. The series is perfect for and sci-fi or even just science enthusiast. The characters are well constructed, the plot is unpredictable, and the absolute best part is the suprisingly scientific concepts and descriptions. These books will blow your mind. I suggest purchasing Extras (Uglies) as well. To my knowledge, it is the final book in the series.

This set is absolutely wonderful! I'm way over 13, and I absolutely loved this trilogy! It's fun, exciting, and imaginative! Enjoy reading what I'll enjoy time and time again!

i read the first book uglies in one day. i just couldn't put it down. the rest of the series was like that and my favortie by far was specails. it had what i think was the most action out of all 3 and was by far the best.

I made Scorpion part of my advanced summer reading program because of its description and the awards it has won. The story is about the life of a boy who is a clone of a drug-lord. I think the book won the awards for the issues it raises such as morality, cloning, and prejudice rather then the quality of story or writing. I found the characters uninteresting especially the dialog. The writing did not transport me to this foreign location and time period. Overall I found the book a chore to complete. I recommend some of my other summer choices: The Book Thief, Octavian Nothing, To Kill a Mockingbird and Skellig. I really felt House of the Scorpion was a waste of my time.

This was a nice one, a fast, easy, interesting read that I got to after reading a few heavy, slow-moving books. When it's taken me a week to read each of the last two books, I really need a one-day read as a pick-me-up, and that's what this was. The House of the Scorpion is a very interesting little dystopia: the drug lords of Mexico, led by one Matteo Alacran, managed to swing a deal with the US and Mexico whereby they were given the area around the border between the two countries as their own sovereign territory; in exchange, they agreed to stop completely the flow of illegal immigrants, and also promised not to sell their drugs in either nation, but go to Europe, Asia, and Africa with their product. So now, 100 years later, Matteo Alacran is still alive, owing to the fact that he keeps growing new clones of himself in order to harvest their organs. He's not unique in this, the other drug lords do the same, but what is unique is that Alacran allows his clones to retain their minds, to learn and experience life until he needs to cut them open and take their still-beating heart, so to speak. The novel is the story of the last of these clones, who goes by Matt.

The author does a nice job of portraying life as the complete outsider. She also created excellent characters for El Patron, who is the original Alacran, and Tam Lin, the IRA terrorist-cum-bodyguard who befriends little Matt. It's a nice little idea that Alacran gets his security personnel from other countries, since, as he tells Matt, that means it's harder for them to plot against him; his most recent hiring was a group of English soccer hooligans. There's also a nice idea of how the country turns the captured illegal immigrants into mindless slaves to work the fields, and I love the depiction of the Alacran family and its infighting and scandal and hatred of themselves and pretty much everyone else.

The problem, if there was any, was in the last part of the book; it's a nice little chapter in the story and it has a good resolution, but the only problem with it is that it has no connection to the rest of the book: the last section is about Communist oppression and government corruption, and the first parts of the book are not. It disappoints because the themes in the first section are so strong, so immediate -- drug cartels, illegal immigrants, cloning; it is about what makes one a human being, what makes people into a family, and also gets deep into the purpose of a nation and a government. These were all explored, all fascinating, all done with an adept touch as the book never got too profound or preachy -- and then they were all abandoned as the setting shifts. I suppose we could see the last section as offering an alternative to the nation of Opium, and trying to show that every nation has its problems, but that is rather a different idea, and not one that connects well with the other main points.

Despite my henpecking, however, the ending of the book was fine, and the first three-quarters of the book were excellent. This is a great recommendation -- especially for boys who aren't big readers, as it was recommended to me by one such. It's science fiction and action, but both are thoughtful, and neither is overwhelming.

This book is simply amazing--fluidly well told, with none of the typical "coming of age" tawdry sexualization, no offensive language, just an interesting take on contemporary issues. The realistic characters and well-paced story make this book worthy of all the awards it garnered. Buy your kid this book--then read it yourself!

I found the storyline in this book to be very bizarre to the point where at times it gave me the creeps. Yet, I could not put it down. The characters were compelling as were their struggles in life. The book was packed with moralistic sub stories and character twists that all seemed to come together to make this book a fantastic effort from the author. Highly recommended.

A real page turner, I can see why its now on many schools summer reading lists.

I began reading Rainbows End ready to be amazed.

The story is set in 2025 San Diego. We follow
the famous poet Robert Gu.
Now cured of Alzheimers, but missing all
recent changes in technology.
Which we are now introduced to
through Robert's experience.
So far so good.

We learn that everyone is plugged into the net on a constant basis
via wearable computers with contact lenses for output display.
Through your contact lenses you can "google" in midair.
There is a complete visual overlay on the "real" world,
allowing everyone to effectively "live" in whatever fantasy world they desire.
And the DHS - departmentment of Homeland Security - logic
is deeply embedded in all hardware.
Athletes are on drugs ...etc.

Its all very neat and all very likely,
but not very exciting, and not very amazing,
actually. This is more
like today than 17 years out in the future ....
I wanted to be excited about this book -
but in the end I was not. I am afraid.

-Simon

Perhaps I came to this novel with expectations set too high. I recently discovered Vernor Vinge and devoured a Deepness in the Sky and A Fire Upon the Deep, both of which I highly recommend and will probably read again several times. So learning that Vinge had written something dealing with events closer to our time intrigued me, and I launched into Rainbows End ready to be amazed.

This is a good book in many ways, but in comparison with Vinge's other work I found myself disappointed. It is set in the near future and concerns the efforts of an aged poet whose Alzheimer's has just been cured to reintegrate himself into this brave new world. Along the way he becomes an unwitting pawn in a plot by malevolent forces attempting to manipulate public opinion by means of technology.

Some of this works on the level of a dramatized extrapolation of where computing might go in the next few decades. Robert Gu, however, is an unlikeable character, spiteful, manipulalative, and bitter at the world. He is a well drawn and I found the sections of the book exploring him and his eventual "redemption" interesting if unpleasant.

My problem with the book is that it seemed to try to be several different novels at once and that the parts did not fit together terribly well. As I said earlier one aspect of the book is a look at where the information age is going. Vinge taught computer science near where I live for many years and I found the "prediction" aspect intriguing. The super thriller spy plot involving mind control technology could have been interesting if it had been better explored, and if the other aspects of the book hadn't gotten in the way. However, we get very little information to whet our dread as to what might happen should our hero's fail.

But I suppose in a way my biggest disappointment involves the villain. The "bad guy" Alfred Vaz is trying to control the world in order to protect us all. Yet we never really find out anything about him. This struck me as a tremendous missed story opportunity. Most "evil" people believe or have convinced themselves they are acting for the greater good. A story about a good man committing evil acts for what he believes are valid reasons might have been interesting. Especially if we had gotten to know some of the events that shaped him and how he thinks. Instead he is a complete non-entity as far as the story is concerned. In comparison with the Machiavellian manipulations of a Thomas Nau or Lord Steel this aspect of the story is weak.

Overall I liked this book, but found it disappointing in comparison with Vinge's other work.

I checked this book out because I totally dug Vinge's other novels, A Fire Upon The Deep, and A Deepness In The Sky. Hereafter I will refer to those as "the good ones." Rainbow's End is not a good one. It is bad. Bad enough that I didn't finish, and I even finished Spin, which I hated and found utterly boring, so that should give you an idea.

I could not bring myself to care about the characters, especially the "protagonist" who would more aptly be described as a "total jerk." There are too many of them, as well. The antagonist fares no better: I can't believe that his duplicity would go undetected and I don't even buy his reasons for doing what he does. There was no action in the first two hundred pages, nothing to care about, and that's where I stopped reading.

I'm a big Vernor Vinge fan with Fire and Deepness being two of my favorites. The Peace War series is well done also.

This has left me cold though. It just isn't moving fast enough, and has me just disassociated enough, that I'm having a hard time caring what is next.

The characters aren't that likable and the storyline is moving so slowly, that I just can't bring myself to pick the book back up. Combine that with a storyline that is somewhat hard to follow with libraries being destructively digitized and people not being able to keep up with the current technology and I ended up not finishing this one.

Which is really surprising considering HOW MUCH I like the novels mentioned at the beginning of this review.

Another terrific sci-fi adventure from Vernor Vinge, who once again makes the virtual world of tomorrow come stunningly alive. Aging poet Robert Gu, his granddaughter Miri, and the rest of their family become embroiled in a plot to deploy mind-controlling YGBM (You Gotta Believe Me) technology. The first half is much stronger than the second, more action-oriented half, as Vinge uses the setup to give us insight into the personalities in this very unusual family - their dreams and trials all very familiar, but strongly influenced by new technology. The major innovation is the wearable web interface, which I trust is in development somewhere at this very moment, but there are plenty of other interesting ideas presented in this vision of the not-too-distant future.

Rather unusual for sci-fi is the way Vinge makes a point of keeping his technology flawed. They can cure Alzheimer's, but the cure isn't always perfect. There's a web interface that you carry around in your clothing, but it's not as user-friendly as one might hope. This seems like an element of realism - no technology is ever perfect, but just the best that can be done at the time. And while amazing marvels are possible, there's often a price to be paid or a risk to be taken, and this is part of life, too. Not many futuristic sci-fi novels are subtle enough to recognize these essential truths.

Once the action gets started the story becomes a bit messy. There are so many opposing forces at work, creating diversions and switching to contingency plans, etc... that it's hard to keep track of who's trying to do what to whom. But Vinge's careful character development keeps us deeply involved up through the final pages. No matter how you feel about the science, the level of energy, suspense, and just plain fun is so high that nothing less than 5 stars will do.

It would seem that Claire Danvers's life couldn't get any worse, what with living in a college town that is also inhabited by vampires who wouldn't think twice about killing her, and having her parents pressuring her to move back in with them when she already lives with her three best friends.

But when Mr. Bishop arrives, things turn positively deadly.

No one's really sure what Mr. Bishop wants -- all they know is that he's more powerful than anyone, possibly even Amelie, and he lacks any good intentions. Everyone is on their guard.

Soon, everyone is buzzing about the upcoming formal ball, and all the humans are clamoring for invites, even Claire and Eve. But this is one party that the breathing might want to pass up.

FEAST OF FOOLS is an exciting, fast-paced, and chilling thriller. Ms. Caine has a real knack for combining a headstrong heroine, nicely creepy happenings, and a dash of romance and intrigue to bring about a knockout novel that'll stun, spellbind, and utterly captivate readers. There's a twist around every corner, and a cliffhanger that will leave readers
desperate for more in this wonderful series that's reminiscent of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

A word of caution: Once you start into THE MORGANVILLE VAMPIRES series, it's impossible to let go.

Reviewed by: The Compulsive Reader

Claire, as usual, is dealing with a multitude of problems--her parents have decided to move to Morganville, Monica is attempting to sabotage her college, she has to find the cure to save all the sick vampires, oh...and Amalie's father (the biggest, scariest vampire of all) has come to visit and take over the town. All in a normal day for a 16 (a few weeks to 17) year old genius. This book doesn't devil further in the psyche of the bad guys and friends like previous books. But, hey, get real, the books ARE ONLY about 250 pages long. This one does dig a little into roomie Eve's childhood, and Shane seems to be maturing a great deal (Finally!)

Honestly, I easily finished the book in one afternoon and evening--with a few disruptions. I absolutely adore this series by Rachel Caine, even more than her weather warden series. What truly gets my attention about her writing style is that she so easily picks up the mentality of a 16 year old. Granted, I've more than double that age, but reading this book brings me back to my own teen years. That awkward stage where you say the wrong things simply because he don't have the experience to know better. The times where you don't say anything at all and hope to fade into the woodwork because you feel your out of your element. Caine brings that through with her character of Claire without being obvious about it and without coming right out and saying it. A fabulous writing job with her characterization.

Now for the bad part---those horrible cliffhangers! Come-on! I'm dying here! he, he. Yea, yea, she's got to have us salivating for the next one, and it certainly working on me!

I love this series. When I got ahold of the author i told her i loved her like stephenie meyer. thats how good this series is

As you may have learned the first three were extraordinary reads, this one is no different.

I am amazed at how I just can't get enough of this story, I'm waiting for the next one.

Yet another great book in the Morganville series! Fun, fast paced, and action packed! I love Rachel Caine's style! The series is unique and keeps you wanting more!

After reading a bunch of the posted reviews for this book, I can't help but think that all these people missed the point of the series. I don't know how you can make it to book 11 and still think that Goodkind is writing an epic tale of magic. The series has been about reason, and the people who choose to use it or turn from it, from the very beginning. Did Richard triumph over Darken Rahl using superior magic and force in Book 1? No, he used logic and his ability to reason. Magic and fantasy are the tools that Terry has used to preach his message, not the point.

If you take offense to many of the things goodkind has to say, I can't help but wonder why. If you have a disagreement with one of his views, and you have a rational understanding of the disagreement, then you'll be confident enough in your own view to not care. If you don't know why you disagree or your disagreement is based on wishes and whims...well, to quote Zedd, "People who for whatever reason don't want to see the truth can be acutely hostile to it and shrill in their denunciation of it."

That said, I found Confessor to be one of the more action packed novels of the series. I never felt it dragging like Pillars of Creation or Naked Empire. I was thoroughly entertained throughout, and I really enjoyed the Ja'La tournament. I thought the book was a fitting end to a fantastic series.

For any of you who enjoyed the concepts and idea's presented in this book, I would reccomend reading Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged. I think you'll find that the latter half of this series is severely influenced by her writings. Richard's monologue at the end of this book (the one lots of people are complaining about) is basically a condensed version of John galt's speech towards the end of Atlas Shrugged.

This was such an awesome series; so many good stories and insights into society. The ending was completely unexpected yet fit so well. It leaves you wanting to say "eh heh." To fully grasp the story though you need to read all the books.
Check out the new show based on the series http://www.sword-of-truth.com/tv/legend-of-the-seeker

Let me just say that anyone who gave this (or the last few books in the series) anything higher than 2 stars is crazy. The series started out very good, but throughout the course of his writing Mr. Goodkind apparently forgot he was writing a fantasy series. Many of the coolest characters and extras, like Gratch the Gar and Scarlet the dragon are completely forgotten until brief cameos in Confessor. Goodkind repeats himself so much in these final books that I actually felt my intelligence insulted. He would literally have paragraphs that were the same sentence paraphrased 4 different ways. The imperial order is by far the most uninspired, unbelievable, simplistic enemy I have ever heard of. Not to mention the seemingly racist undertones of the evil dark-skinned brutes from the "Old World" attacking the nice white folks of the "New World". Anything worth reading in the series has long since been left in the dust. However, if you are like me you have to finish a series once started, just make sure to get it from the library.

Overall I gave this 2 start because it was one of the least worth while Terry Goodkind books of the series (Including Temple of the Winds).

The phrase Spencer uses for Terry comes to mind, 'preachy'. He has used his success of a great story and made it his personal soap box. The final 'trilogy' of the entire SOT series could have been contained in 2 books that neither of which could have been as long as each of the last 3 were. He must have had a contract so he needed to fill it with his preaching. There were some old flashes of 'good ol Goodkind' but for the most part he just blah-ed forever about life and how 'any' organization that has a defined set of beliefs is just for 'people who do not want to think'. Huh, I wonder if he pays his taxes 'without thinking', I wonder if he obeys traffic laws, if he does he is as 'unthinking' as any of the people he is criticizing that have Faith as a value and belong to a religion 'with pre-packaged beliefs that make it so I do not have to think, just follow".

Too bad, he took something great and turned it into something less worth while than I could have hoped, and believe me my hopes decreased with each of the last 3 volumes of the series. Oh, and not to spoil the story Richard finds a 'magic bean' that makes everything better. Retarded ending to an overwhelming enemy that has been looming for 6-7 books now.

Spoiler:
Richard says, "I found a magic bean" the Daharans cheer and the Imperial order is instantaneously transported to a different planet. Yeah!!!!! (Oh sorry that last cheer was the people who were reading the books cheering that it was FINALLY over, it is not in the book.) Funny how after dragging it on for so long the whole of the order is dispatched in less than 1/3 of a page of the last book. Disappointing!


Irony...berates those of whom he has become

I loved the fist three books in this series and then Goodkind turned into a televangelist with his preaching. I stopped buying the books and read them (skimmed them actually) from my library. If you were following the series - then by all means finish it (from the library of course - do not spend you hard earned dollars!!). This book was as disappointing as were the last 9 - how many was it again I forgot???? I have lost count as they are all the same - blah blah blah!! If this guy writes any more books I will not be wasting my time - the only positive is that he did finish the series (i.e. Robert Jordan!!) - weak as it was. No need to rehash the plot (was there one) as other reviewers have done so - in a nutshell - if you didn't start this series THEN DON'T - IF YOU DID - YOU MAY AS WELL FINISH IT.