Science Fiction Fantasy Books

The Culture is a civilization of sentient beings, both organic and "machine" (think artificial intelligence with all the rights of intelligent life forms) based. There is no need for money except to use in less evolved cultures. The Culture doesn't even have goals of planetary conquest. They just build enormous artificial habitats in space.

But the Culture does pay attention to those other civilizations that can upset the status quo, or keep the Culture from its path to enlightenment.

In Consider Phlebas, author Iain Banks follows one small chapter in the decades long battle between the Culture and the Idirans. The Idirans have been very successful in expanding their sphere of influence, and the godless Culture is a dangerous irritant. Religious passion is an alien concept to the Culture, and their Contact branch, and the Special Circumstances division within Contact, must fight a war.

As a story within this battle, a Mind (AI) is stranded on a peculiar planet (protected for reasons unknown by a vastly powerful entity that allows no armies to approach). A team of Changers has had a historical presence on this planet, and the Idirans have one Changer loyal to them (Horza) who used to be stationed there. His mission is to return to the planet, locate the Mind (with its secrets of the Culture's technologies), and turn it over to the Idirans. The Culture simply wants to rescue one of their own, the Mind. They are confident in an eventual outcome of the war in their favor, but they recognize that the capture of the Mind will delay success for a few years. They are very analytic.

This book is the tale of Horza and his extraordinary adventures in getting to the planet hiding the Mind, and finding the Mind on the planet. The uniqueness of AI sentience, the Culture's technologies, the physiology of the Changers, and determination of the Idirans, all make this an intriguing tale and a unique sci-fi offering. Banks makes Horza a horrible person who seems to care not a wit who is hurt or killed (usually killed) in his search for the Mind, while trying to make the reader sympathetic to his life and loves. I'm not sure this works. However, what does work is the introduction of the Culture. This is the second Culture book that I've read (the first was The Player of Games). I was told they don't have to be read in any particular order, and that certainly is bearing true.

The Culture series is an exciting addition to the sci-fi literature. You'll finish that last page, close the cover, and find yourself just sitting and thinking. Isn't that what great sci-fi is all about?

The book starts interestingly, and has a very detailed world built around the story. It has several sections that have nothing to do with the story, so I believe that the author added in a few short stories to pad out the pages.

The Culture Wars is interesting, but I'm not sure if I want to continue reading about them. I may pick up the second book and see if that is a tighter story.

It was annoying to have a story that is heading in one direction detour and have pages and pages of detail about something else.

Great, great, great !! My first Banks but definitely not my last.

Hard-core SF with many plusses; incredible environment (you're there & the best ringworld/halo environment ever), great plot & theme (with turns & peoples you can not imagine & perfectly applied humor), incredible characters, (reminds me of Whedon's Firefly / Serenity) and thankfully it's a stand-alone novel (its ends but you can read further and stay in the same universe)

I'm right in the demographic that is completely nuts about star wars, but I'm not. I saw the film in 1979 on the big screen. I was eight years old. Yes, it completely blew me away, and I was obsessed with it as a kid. I still have a soft spot for the three original movies, probably because they were seen through the eyes of a young boy without much access to TV or movies in general, and a bent toward nerdy scifi/fantasy stuff.

As I got older, I saw star wars for what I think it really is. A really great space opera for its time, with great special effects, characters and costumes. But limited. The empire and the rebels are kind of cardboard. Yoda (and I realized this the first time I saw it) has the same voice as Grover. The Ewoks are just cutesy muppets. Not to diminish it, but from an adult perspective, it just doesn't scratch my itch anymore. I'm more jaded, more sophisticated, and don't want to watch a muppet with Grover's voice dispensing Jedi wisdom.

This is where the Iain Banks culture novels come in. They scratch pretty much the same itch, but in more of an adult way. First, they're hard R for violence, sex, peril, etc. Second, there are some realistic and sophisticated political machinations going on that the characters inevitable interact with. More realistic and sophisticated than rebels vs. empire- more interesting as well. Third, they have cooler races, cooler weaponry, and WAY cooler robots!

That said, there's a certain sci-fi reader that may not like this. Someone who's into, for example, Greg Bear or John Scalzi. A more sedate and "scientific" breed of reader who likes plodding, pedestrian development, characterization, and books where the good guys always win in a nicely tied up ending. Banks doesn't play that. He writes on a grandiose scale- baroque plots, nasty alien races, awesome artificial intelligences- surprises around every corner. This is the real deal.

My first read of Iain M. Banks was The Algebraist, which I quite enjoyed and thought worth 4 stars. That was until I read "Consider Phlebas", the first of the Culture novels, and found myself far more impressed and interested.

The main character, an interesting Changer with some nasty surprises for those who irritate him, is on the hunt for a Culture mind that decided to hide itself on a Planet of the Dead. Horza is commissioned by a race at war with the Culture to find it and get it. The commission goes to the dogs pretty much right from the first minute, and the book's plot is made of Horza's attempts to get at the Mind. Sadly, the Culture are also aware of it, and his mission, so that adds something extra.

The scope of the story is massively huge, and the universe Banks has created is simply boggling in its immense size and variety. The range and sheer detail of the universe is wildly cool, and this alone kept me hooked until the end.

Sometimes, Bank's turn of phrase stretched the mind as he said things in a strange or unusual way. However, for the most part, this added to the "other-worldliness" of the story. Only occassionally did it distract from the business of enjoying the adventure.

Although I gave this the same rating as "The Algebraist" in my ignorance, I do consider this to be a much better book and story. Having read this, I am no longer wondering what people see in Iain M. Banks.

I am a huge fan of the Fables series, and this spin-off is just as satisfying. I enjoyed Jack of Fables 1 and 2, and number 3 was no different. I applaud the authors and artists for creating such a imaginative series. Bravo!

Jack of Fables is back, and just as rougish as ever. This is vintage Willingham, though perhaps a quieter tale than previous Jack of Fables stories. Jack spends most of his time stuck in the Grand Canyon with his double, Pathetic Fallacy and a few other characters who want to revise him into a more mortal existence. This spinoff of the Fables series lacks the punch of the main line of stories since Jack is too self-indulgent to participate in the liberation struggles of the main Fables community. A well-written diversion form Fabletown with good characters, good art, but nothing more.

If you've read my other reviews of Mr. Willingham's work on 'Fables' and the 'Jack of Fables' you'll find I am a tremendous fan. One of the things I have marveled at is how Mr. Willingham keeps the series engaging and fresh. In this, the third of the Jack novels, he finally stumbles.

For those of you not familiar with the series, in Mr. Willingham's universe, the characters of folklore and mythology are real. A lot of them have been forced from their worlds to live in secret in our mundane world. One of these is Jack as in Jack Frost, Jack and the Beanstalk, etc.

In order to really understand the series, you should start at the beginning and stop reading this review.... :-)

For those of you familiar with this series, Jack, the Pathetic Fallacy and Wicked John have been captured by the evil librarians of the Golden Boroughs Retirement Home. The van crashes into the Grand Canyon where our favorite scoundrel get a sword through his body. The sword is Excalibur and only the one true king can remove the sword.

In this graphic novel, we learn more about the nature of the Pathetic Fallacy and Mr. Revise. We also learn the connection of Wicked John and Jack and why they hate each other. Despite these tidbits the story is uneven. The characters spend much of their time bickering. this simply appears to be a means for Mr. Willingham to fill in gaps in the story and the narrative.

While this is better than the average fantasy graphic novel, it still falls short of of the overall excellence of the 'Fables' series.

Even though Jack is perhaps my least favorite Fable in the wonderful imaginative universe that Bill Willingham has created, I once again have been completely blown away by one of his collections. This addition to the sequence features some truly wonderful twists. There are also a number of additions to the overall Jack narrative that significantly increases the complexity of the tale.

The big surprise is that the revelation that Jack is the not the original of the Jack/John stories, but the copy. If you've read any studies dealing with European folktales, you have undoubtedly encountered the idea of Jack stories (very similar in Native American folklore concerning Coyote stories). There are a host of stories centered on this character, more of a type than a specific individual. Here the idea is introduced that through the Powers that Be, Jack was a copy of John, insted of the other way around. The stories were actually about John, whose memories Jack has been provided.

The real meat of the story, however, lies elsewhere, as we learn a great deal more about Mr. Revise and hints about the particular kind of being that he is, as well as the revelation that there are others like him. I am not buying the individual issues of this series as they come out so I have not checked to verify this, but I suspect that the next group of issues focus on this. Suffice it to say that this book is crucial in introducing essential plot twists to come.

The book also ties in rather nicely with Volume 10 of the FABLES story, in a couple of ways. First, this volume is entitled JACK OF THE FABLES 3: THE BAD PRINCE, while the other is FABLES 10: THE GOOD PRINCE. Second, in the Jack volume a sword is rammed through his chest by someone who appears to be Merlin. In the FABLES volume we learn that the sword may have resulted from more than just that.

All in all, another great addition to one of the best ongoing comics series around. If you love comics, you should definitely add this to your collection, but only after you've added the previous FABLES and JACK releases.

While most folks seem to love "Stranger" (I do) or the bug book, I prefer this book.

When it was written, very little was known about the actual conditions on the moon. Heinlen worked from theories and extrapolated quite well. The descriptions of the computer character reflect what was current in computers of the time. And for the younger crowd, there were no blue screens of death.

That said, Heinlen worked in plausible science with strong character development and something that he eventually embodied in Lazarus Long: his ideals of liberty and individualism.

The main gist of this novel is the rights of the individual and his associated liberty. Once you grasp that, you grasp how the entire scenario comes together. Heinlen weaves elements not seen in the United States since we had a frontier: independence. The desire to be treated fairly and left alone drives the characters to perform incredible actions.

A fascinating look at how to run a revolution. Delightfully insightful, on cultural and technical points. And despite being decades old, stands up quite well to modern technology.

Rarely -perhaps a for times in a generation - does a book come to be which explores the bedrock philosophy of economics & the nature of an economy, the arbitrary yet inevitable evolution of societal norms, the paths that humanity faces in our collective future, and so on... all in the format of a gripping and vastly creative novel.

Heinlein's now-famous concept "TANSTAAFL" -"there 'aint no such thing as a free lunch," (a word that has entered the english language and penetrated the American psyche) is particularly evident on the moon, where even air most be paid for. The truths of objectivism that were pioneered by Ayn Rand become very clear on Heinlein's moon - where death by suffocation is always only a few inches of steel away and every resource must be painstakingly worked for and no amount of self-pity or crying will help you stay alive. Hard work, action, creativity and thus creation are the most valuable ocommodities.

Please do yourself a favor and read this book. It will entertain you immensely and provide food for thought for a long time after you finish reading it.

The story of exiled people being able to wield power over those who sent them away is a common dream among the downtrodden in the real world. Heinlein takes this idea, adds a supercomputer named Mike and tells an entertaining tale. I found Mike to be a little too much "deus ex machina" for my tastes but that is likely because the "supercomputer" thing has been done to death in Sci-Fi that has come after this book.

The story of political revolt is predictable and not the most entertaining aspect of the book. I found the society and customs of the lunar residents to be an interesting twist that made an otherwise bland plot worth reading. The language in the book is written in the semi-broken english of a lunar resident which takes a bit to adapt to but overall is not terribly distracting.

I gave it a 3 out of 5 because it feels more dated than some of Heinlein's other work and the plot is nothing special. It is worth reading , without question, because it is a classic work of Sci-Fi but do not approach it with an unrealistic expectation of greatness that I found lacking.

Heinlein is notorious for his lack of character development, so I wasn't expecting Dostoyevskyan psychologies explored in great detail. The pronounless Russian tinged English was incredible to read (though that's because I've lived in Brooklyn my whole life), though I see how it could be annoying for some. It's a boat for ideas and a great story. I devoured this book, and it has taken its place near the very top of my heart's list.

Charlotte Staples Lewis may write a good book, but please please please, leave the island! You are so annoying I can't stand you on there. Daniel can stay though.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is the story of four children that stumble into a wardrobe... the magical door to another world. They learn many things while they travel to see Aslam, the great Lion. One of them is how they were expected, for that is what the prophesy said. After good conquers evil they grow up there and become kings and queens of the land until one day they stumble back into the magic wardrobe to find themselves back on the same day they left many years before. An excellent book for all.
Anna del C.
Author of "The Elf and the Princess"
The Elf and The Princess: The Silent Warrior Trilogy - Book One (The Silent Warrior Trilogy)

This is one of the very few books I can truly say I will read over again. It is very well written, never short of any details, and I couldn't wait to see what happened each time. It kept my interest throughout the enitre book.

It is quite easy to imagine Aslan, the four children, the beavers, the white witch, and all the characters. And each character has a distinct personality. You learn to adore Lucy and Susan, and you learn how brave Peter is, and you can't help but to dislike Edmund. And I kind of wish Edmund wouldn't have gone to the witch, but every detail of the book is important. There is a lesson to be learned about sacrifice, understanding, and love. Aslan is the forefront of those lessons in this book.

In my opinion, the book was written perfectly. It got all kinds of feelings and emotions from me. I do recommend this book for yourself and your young reader.

And if you haven't seen the movie yet, definitely read the book first.

Thanks.

This is a wonderful novel. CS Lewis tells a tale of love and redemption in the land of Narnia. The four Pevensie children wander through a wardrobe into the winterland of Narnia, and discover that the curse of the Witch has made for perpetual winter. And younger brother Edmund is seduced by the power of the witch.

But the Pevensie children, along with their faithful friends, turn to Aslan, Lord of the Wood for help. Aslan ends up dying for Edmund's sin of betrayal, but he comes back to life to conquer the evil witch and her army.

For the most part, if you've seen the film, you'll see that it did a pretty good job of following the novel, with a few exceptions. It is an allegory of the redemption Christ won for us on the cross and of his victory over Satan, the witch of this world.

Highly recommended.

There are a very few treasures in this world that never lose their magic. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is one of them. It has been almost twenty years since I first read this book, and I still get goose bumps. It's not one of the deepest or most poetic pieces of literature, but it is truly one of the most magical. "Magical" is really the word to describe this enchanting novel. It's very, very simplistic as it works its powers on the child imagination. A wardrobe that is a door into a magic realm that needs to be saved from eternal winter. Even after many readings and many years, I still feel the beauty and the darkness of the book. I still get a little freaked out by the paranoia of the trees listening in. And I still feel the incredible power and joy of the melting snows. C.S. Lewis' masterpiece is deceptively simple. He takes the ordinary and turns it into pure magic. He plays with the child's imagination. He creates darkness in simplicity. The simplicity is enchanting rather than dull. The characters are fantastic and utterly charmingly enchanting, from the brat and betrayer Edmund (my favorite) to the kind goodness of Lucy to the sympathetic and conflicted Mr. Tumnus the faun to the frightening and awe-inspiring Aslan and the White Witch. The simple and allegorical story of saving Narnia through sacrifice and redemption isn't really the point. The point is the magic of it all. One of my all time favorite books. One of the books that formed my imagination and my brain. Grade: A+

I love Koontz in general, but this story really was awesome. I have recommended this book to my wife, daughter and others -- who have subsequently recommended it to others. Read it -- you won't be sorry.

This book started my love affair with Koontz's wrting. Its a wonderful, witty, well written story. Mystery, humour and a rarity for Koontz - a little romance. The characters are perfect and the story beautiful. Read it.... become a Koontz junkie too.

And I was not dissapointed! I understand that this book is a little different than most of his stuff, but that is what makes him such a great author, is that he can transcend genres. I am very intruiged by the concept of time travel, and this is certainly one of the best and smartest time travel books I have read. Also, even though the book is 20 years old, it still reads great. It was kind of fun to have a flashback to my child hood considering I am about the same age as her Laura's son Chris. Great book!

I loved it. It has that Terminator, Sliders, Quantum Leap feel to it. I put this book alongside "Intensity, Hideaway, and Odd Thomas" as one of his best.

A very good book from beginning to end. Christopher Lane did a great job of reading the book.

i actually did not like the main character Rachael in the first book (Dead Witch Walking)...in fact i remember thinking i had no interest in reading a sequel...the plot seemed silly and the character relationships were really weird...i accidentally bought the second book and only realized after a couple of chapters, this was the same ditzy heroine i had vowed never to read again...however, i was wrong, wrong...this time the story line is cleaner, clearer, darker and the magic sizzles...Rachael is still her impulsive, unpredictable self, but she becomes smarter, and it's fun to watch her change in her relationship to the demon and how this subplot evolves. I plan on doing Book 3.

After having read the first two books of this series I must say that I am hooked. This is fast becoming one of my favorite series and author to read. This the second book picked up roughly where the first left off, so you have a fluid connection from the first book to the next. Right from the beginning I was greedily reading as much as I could, loving everything about Rachel Morgan's world.

We see a couple of aspects explored that I had hoped would be from the first. Namely, Harrison goes in deeper with vampires as well as, and this I loved, demons. She explores both much more in depth, in addition to the typical pixie and witches and warlocks from the first book, which only rounded out and made the Hollows world that much more real. Additionally, an aspect (left unspoken here so as not to spoil anything for someone) that I had hoped and predicted from the first was explored in this installment as well. Very vague, but... I hate spoilers, so I will leave it at that.

Harrison does have a tendency to repeat herself (such as Rachel always saying about every character practically, "I forced myself not to flinch", "I stood my ground so as not to show my fear" and so on), but when the world she is creating is so rich and vibrant, who really cares? We see much more of Trent and Quen, more of Ivy and Piscary, and, just as important, more of Nick and his warlock skills. Oh, and the important character, Rachel explores her powers a lot more. We are also given little treats to feast our imagination, such as a troll swimming in the creek playing with ducks by pulling them underwater. Small, and unimportant in the grand scheme of things, but nonetheless an important part of how Harrison writes.

All around a right rousing read. I would whole heartedly recommend this book, series and author to anyone asking.

5 stars.

Book 2 in the Kim Harrison Hollows series continues with excellent character developement, plot and enough twists and turns to make you think you just stepped off a roller coaster.

Kim has created the type of story and characters that will have you thinking about them long after you've finished reading the book. I personally love the fact that she doesn't over play sex in her books. If I wanted to read about that, I'd pick up a paranormal romance

Kim gives you a story you can sink your teeth into. It's a good read that will have you coming back to the Hollows for another visit. Pick up her first book Dead Witch Walking and go from there. You won't be disappointed. Melissa NC

After reading book 1 (Dead Witch Walking) I could tell this author had something. After book 2 I needed a fire extinguisher. After book 3 I was hooked for the long haul. Her Character is so well drawn out in this series, you forget they aren't real.

I admit that, while it has its flaws, I really enjoy this series. It's just so much fun. It's not high literature, or full of deep meanings, and there's nothing spectacular about the writing (if I hear one more description of Jenks's wings `blurring to nothing' I might scream!), but it's so enjoyable to let yourself get lost in this world among these characters that it's high on my list of favorite series so far. Rachel is not the perfect heroine, and yes, she's a bit on the edge, but she's basically a nice person... er, witch, and I find myself rooting for her. There's plenty of action and interesting side characters, good dialogue and a touch of mystery. With each mystery that is put to rest, another situation crops up.

In this book, we learn the mystery of Trent but gain even more complications of a demon...

I might get blasted for this, but in a lot of ways this series reminds me of the Harry Potter series, slightly grown up. It has the same fluid writing that drags you into the story, the same type of action-packed storyline with twists and turns, the same brand of main character (the main character bumbles through on luck and with the help of friends), and the same enjoyable supporting cast. The writing isn't high-brow and I'm sure there are plenty of plot holes, but it's just so... addicting. The story is plain fun to read, and I can't wait to get my hands on the next one.

And a note on the audiobook: the reading isn't as smooth as it could be, with some odd pauses mid-sentence that were occasionally distracting, but the vocal work was good and it's still one I'd say is good to listen to.

It is a book that makes you aware of your surrounds. When I was reading "Life As We Knew It".. and heard bad news relating to the weather, economic, looting or just feel a breeze and think something is blowing in, I felt apprehensive.
I need to find another book written for young minds by Susan Pfeffer. I want to know if she is always cynical about a political party who elected a president who just happens to be from Texas. More important, is she cynical about God.

This book was amazing! I normally take a month to read a book since I have a young child, but I was completely obsessed with this book and finished it in two days. I couldn't stop thinking about the book when I wasn't reading it. I'm going to start reading the dead & the gone tonight and I'm so excited. By the way I found the author's blog and it is very interesting. http://susanbethpfeffer.blogspot.com It sounds like there is a third book on the way that takes place in Texas about a girl named Sarah. I can't wait!

This was an extremely powerful book to me. Pfeffer is an amazing novelist, and she makes the whole situation seem so incredibly, frighteningly real that your mind really begins to wonder if this could happen to us, and if so, how would we survive?... Would we survive at all? And that reality, that terrifying thought that the whole premise of the bookcould actually happen, makes it such an intriguing and fast-paced read. I truly couldn't put this book down, I NEEDED to know what was going to happen to Miranda and her family, I needed to know that they were going to make it through and that eventually the world would begin to stabilize again. I especially enjoy the way Pfeffer wrote the characters, I really ended up caring about all of them and hoping so badly that they would all be ok in the end.

This book is very well written and is an easy read. In addition it is written so well that it made me start to think what I would do in the same position as the main character. I recommend this book to everyone!

One of the worst books I've ever read. Looks like it was written by a 12 year old trying to seem 16 years old but it would only be interesting to someone who was about 8 years old. Extremely boring, totally unrealistic to anyone who even has a 5th grade science background (The scientists didn't predict that the asteroid would throw the moon out of orbit?), kept waiting for something tough or interesting to happen which never did, no serious struggles for any of the characters (who weren't very well developed at all), lots of questions left unanswered (she keeps wondering about her dad's new wife and the baby throughout the book and gets a few letters from her dad and what not but we never find out anything), went on and on about how ridiculous it was to believe in god in such a scenerio when even the toughest of atheists would probably be filing into church, and on and on and on. I was going to try and use this for my esl students but it would be way too boring for them. Avoid this book unless you have absolutely nothing else to do (like if the moon were actually hit by an asteroid and you had used all your other books for firewood and you only had clothes and a fire and no food). I will never buy another book at an airport again. I only gave it the one star because I didn't see any grammar mistakes and there were a lot of pages. I totally wasted about 6 hours of my life. Total wannabe ripoff of Ann Frank. Wish I could get a refund.

Snow Crash was brilliant, this story was pathetic and poorly put together. There is no point to the majority of what happens in this novel and the ramblings of the author could have easily been cut in half. Worse still, all the possibly interesting contents -- Hackworth's story, Dr. X, CryptNet -- weren't flushed out and instead ignored in this tale about nothing. A war happens at the end, unexplored and for no purpose to the plot. Read a different novel, as this one isn't worth your time. I want the time I spent on it back.

As is often the case within the science fiction genre, the novel relies too much upon the whiz-bang intricacies of a Victorian-retro future ruled by nanotechnology. Too often it veers into tangential details about this gizmo or that advancement which can be tiresome after a few hundred pages. Even worse, the conclusion of the novel features an abrupt, extreme shift in gears which seems forced, at best. However, despite all that, it retains Stephenson's manic charm, his innate ability to combine the wry and the cool into something more. There are dry spells, to be sure. Stephenson offsets them with moonlit martial arts duels, dashes of steampunk, swarm technology programs/orgies, and etc... It is a patchwork fantasy, and flawed. But it is still a great read, especially in snippets. Personally, I kept it in my bathroom for a few weeks. Worked well. Recommended for those who need some idle, interesting reading with more continutiy than the funny pages or Popular Mechanics or... yeah. Buy it and see! Or don't! }:-)

Diamond Age is a fascinating read although it loses steam half way through. Stephenson writes about the future with nano technology as if hes been there. The characters are well written (more believable than Snow Crash) and there is a lot of insight into differences between cultures (philes). Stephensons background in Geography and Physics is quite evident here. I would give it 4.5 stars and it would be even better if the plot was cleaned up a little as it starts to drag and become convoluted in the middle. Still worth the read.

I'd read Snow Crash about a year ago, and despite some problems with pacing and blatant Deux Ex Machina, I liked it enough to give Stephenson another go.

I gather Diamond Age is his second novel, and he certainly has improved in style over his original offering (Snow Crash.) This book consciously imitates Victorian (late 18th-century English) prose and dialogue, which can be awkward to the unsuspecting but is very much justified by the narrative framework.

The setting was intriguing, and quite-likely cutting-edge for when it was written. Nanotechnology plays a major role, and Stephenson does a good job of running with it to show the logical conclusions: a superficial utopia that is quite dark once one delves beneath the surface. To his credit, the technology isn't heavy-handed in this, and anyone with even the most basic scientific knowledge can follow (and appreciate) what's going on. I also have a soft-spot for Chinese history and culture, so he gets a few bonus points for including it as a setting subplot. Speaking of subplots, Diamond Age includes one that at first struck me as suspiciously similar to one of the subplots of Mona Lisa Overdrive (ie: an interactive book that helps a young girl cope with her surroundings) but I quickly found the similarities were superficial and Stephenson does go into new territory with his handling of it.

That said...

The last 75 pages of this book were a jumbled mess, with key plot points being introduced way too late, others (from earlier) completely forgotten, and overall left me with a feeling of "where the heck did THAT come from?!?" It honestly struck me as if 400 pages into it, he got tired of writing it and just wound things down as quickly as he could. Ironically, there's a fair amount of padding in that last section (notably a too-long sequence of a character at an interactive theatre.) Most of my complaints about the book come from the last 75 pages, but alas, I can't give specifics without breaking my personal reviewing oath of not divulging spoilers. Suffice to say that he again resorts to intervention from the Gods of Plot Convenience **a couple of times** in ways that are as unconvincing as they are unsatisfying.

That said, if you liked Snow Crash (or presumably any of his other works) you will probably like Diamond Age. It **is** necessary to keep your expectations in check, though. On a personal level, one of the aspects I really liked about Snow Crash was the wry narrative tone woven throughout, and that was very-much lacking throughout Diamond Age (I think I cracked a smile twice.) By all means, give it a go, but beware: the ending isn't so much a "let down" as a "plummet from 75 stories up."

The Diamond Age is an ambitious book, and one that kept me enthralled through about 350 of its 450 or so pages and then impatiently waiting for what turned out to be a highly improbable, fairly confusing, Hollywood style ending (where at all odds and in spite of massive casualties on all sides and the cataclysmic world-changing significance of the events they are caught up in, all of the main characters we're supposed to care about get the kind of familial reconciliations they want).

I didn't want to end up being disappointed by this book because I love Neal Stephenson's style and have enjoyed immensely every one of his other books -- I haven't gotten around to the few books he co-wrote with a relative, but they don't strike me as up my alley. The problem, it seems, with this book is the problem Stephenson confronts but admirably resolves in every one of his other books: it is the balance of story and background, of worldmaking and storytelling, or (in his most recent books) of history and speculative historical fiction. Here the balance between these seemed to oscillate back and forth until the weight of the world began to overwhelm my interest in the characters, and the trouble was that the world historical developments he was painting would be difficult to follow even for a contemporary.

When the story focuses on Nell and her primer it's exciting: like a futuristic version of Rousseau's Emile, where the problem is not merely to raise a child as independent in a world where we were increasingly dependent on others, but to raise a child capable of transcending and subverting a fully networked world in which interdependence is indispensable.

Where it gets into trouble is the effort to paint a shift from a "feed" based nanotechnological society (at least one or two technological revolutions beyond ours) to a "seed" based society (that I don't really understand at all even though he makes the political implications clear enough).

This is a good read, and a nice step forward in scope from Snow Crash -- but it gets a bit unwieldy and Stephenson doesn't to my mind quite pull it off. He does admirably in his next four books.

Ever wanted to escape into a book with a child and feel young again? This book combines fantasy and Christmas into one story that is something to treasure and share with someone young at heart.

I orderred this fpr my grandchild and they loved it. I personaaly haven't read it yet. But they say it is good.

A wonderful adventure and an enchanting tale for the Christmas season, although this story can certainly be enjoyed at any time of the year. Once again, Mary Pope Osborne has done her own magic with book # 29 in her Magic Tree House series.

How exciting for a child to travel to Camelot with Jack and Annie on their quest. The story is fun, scary, thrilling, and upbeat. It certainly held my grandson's interest from the beginning to the end.

The illustrations by Sal Murdocca are beautifully done. They add so much to the total enjoyment of the book.

Denise Hillman Moynahan
The Great Cavern of the Winds: Tales from Backbone Mountain

Book arrived in a timely manner. Was suprised it didn't have a dust cover as that was not stated in advertisement. However, book was in good shape.

The magic treehouse series has been and continues to be a wonderful series for my son. Educational and interesting, these books capture his attention and inspire his imagination. It is so rewarding to see your child be enthusiastic about reading stories and reading in general. I have and will continue to suggest these books to other parents.

For those of you who are worried because Mignola is no longer drawing Hellboy, don't be. I was worried too, but this Fegredo guy is great. He apes Mignola's dramatic shading style while adding more detail and nuance to the character designs. If anything, I'd say the art looks better than in previous volumes (no offense Mr. Mignola, should you happen to read this!)

Of course, Mignola is still in charge of the plot, and man does he deliver. While promises that Darkness Calls contains plot elements from the new movie turn out empty, the reality is far better - this volume weaves together all the loose threads from previous hellboy tales into a weird and beautiful tapestry. The Baba Yaga is back, and she does her best to makes life miserable for our nonchalant red hero. Hecate gets her just desserts, and Igor Bromhead, that sniveling worm from Box of Evil, makes an appearance as well. I don't want to give away too much of the plot, but expect some questions to be answered, many more to be raised, and an engrossing new chapter to be added to the mythology of Hellboy.

I won't go into the plot much here, but I'll say this: close-read this one. Don't be surprised if you finish it quickly, only to find yourself missing a thing or two. Read it over a second time, taking it in slowly, and it should all fall into place.

That would be my main criticism, actually: Fegredo doesn't have the same sort of "leading" style that Mignola does, so it can be a challenge to know where the artist wants you to look. That interferes with the flow of the comic a little, and makes the circumstances of the initial conflict a little confusing.

Also, as much as Hellboy hates it, his adversaries usually talk more! The Council of Witches don't explicitly state what their problem is, and Gruagach (Hellboy: The Corpse) is vague as can be about what he's lugging around in that box. It's a little reminiscent of a short-lived Guy Davis project, the noir-superheroic "Nevermen", in that you have to read very closely, and even then, you have to infer some details.

I thoroughly enjoyed the tour through Russian history, though, and Mignola indulges us with a fight scene that, reminiscent of "The Wolves of Saint August" from The Chained Coffin and Other Stories (vol. 3), takes many pages indeed to come to a proper resolution. It's worth it, though: we get a stronger sense of the forces at work, and, as always, we see mythological figures taking themselves way too seriously. A delight!

As others have mentioned before - the story is quite thrilling.
BUT - the artwork is not by Mike Mignola! The novel has been drawn by some artist called Fegredo. The style comes close to Mignolas style, but its definitely not as good as his. So, be aware that you will buy a book which says "Hellboy by Mike Mignola" on the cover but offers something completely different inside.

FYI: HELLBOY 8, as delivered by Amazon 6/08, includes a small sticker on the cover (atop the art) advertising the Hellboy movie. Shoulda been in the solicitation image. Selling another product on THE COVER is low.

Sometimes art doesn't matter. Sometimes it's the writing that carries a book through. Up to now, the Hellboy series has been a delicate balance between writing and artwork. Mignola's art is exceptional, and his writing is slightly more then above average. Unfortunatly this outing replaces his art with Duncan Fegredo's.

Fegredo is good, but, it is defiantly a step down from Mignola's work. Fortunately, Mignola continues the writing duties, which may well be the only reason the book really works.

Fegredo does his best to emulate Mignola's art style, and the book retains the limited color pallet common to the series. Unfortunately his art, which, while quite good, is also quite cluttered, and would probably benefit from a broader selection of colors. What his art lacks is the elegant surrealism that Mignola creates. The story itself retains every bit of Mignola's flavor, style and pacing.

If your primary interest in Mignola's work is in his writing, then this is every bit as good as what came before, as Hellboy explores a world of Russian folklore. If your love for the series comes primarily from his art, then expect to be disappointed. It's still Hellboy, but, somehow it feels less fluid then you've come to expect over the last 14 years.