Science Fiction Fantasy Books

I enjoyed the story enough that I ordered all that have been released and have her next book on pre-order. I'll leave the details of the story to others. I hope that her future stories have a bit more depth. I was able to read so quickly that the story was over too soon. The book had many of the elements that I enjoyed in the early Anita Blake stories. I am excited to add another author to my list of favorites.

Almost against her will, Kitty has found herself becoming Alpha. Which, as it turns out, is a good thing.

Kitty's mother has cancer. Kitty, and Ben, have to go back to Denver to be with her and the rest of the family. The only problem is that Kitty has been, essentially, banished. She faces death if she returns, but really? What choice does she have?

Getting caught up in a vampire war and a werewolf dominance struggle weren't on Kitty's Things To Do List but get caught up she does. In the end, Kitty has her own pack and her family is safe. For anything else, you'll have to read the book.

I can't believe I have to wait until fall for a new Kitty book to come out!

Oh, and Ms. Vaughn? Should you happen to read this - white gold *is* funny!

Kitty continues her quest to find an identity she can live with in this book. Ms. Vaughn does an excellent job bringing Kitty and the rest of her cast to life throughout the series, and she keeps it going in this latest installment. A sparse writer (a good thing!), Vaughn truly shows the reader the action and the characters, and the way she handles the narrative when the wolf comes out is surreal and yet makes perfect sense.

This series is deeper than one might assume with its easy style and readability. Vaughn has done her homework when it comes to wolf behavior and monster-lore, and she delves into the psyche of Kitty in a way that a quick first pass may not pick up. She has obviously studied archetypes and how they interact, as well as having a strong command of plot structure. In addition to all of that, the author slips literary nuances and references into the text of each book, making it look so natural that one hardly notices them without looking for them. She shifts between styles of writing without loosing the originality of her voice.

Quick reads, this series is one that I want to keep going back to in order to pick out the details Vaughn has painted into her world. I'd recommend this series for anyone over the age of fifteen, and anyone who likes urban fantasy. It will also be of interest to the furry community (which, I'm led to understand, is well aware of the series).

Nice job.

BW
5/5
21 July 08

I just finished the fourth book in the Kitty Norville series earlier today. The first two were a little slow for me, and I couldn't put down the last two! I was very interested in Kitty's growth from vulnerable follower to independent individual to strong leader, and this series has not let me down. As for the book... the homecoming, the family story, the paranatural war, and the relationships kept me entertained. Kitty's personal issue was unexpected, and it also added depth to the book.

There are a couple of things that took away from the good storytelling. Although I have a degree in English myself and understood the narrator's literary allusions, I still found them a bit pretentious for commercial fiction. Even if you understand the references, in my opinion, they disrupt the flow of the story and immersion in the world of the Kitty novels for the reader. I also noticed a few typos (which should have been caught in editing); this is minor, however, as many novels these days are unapologetically littered with them, so one or two typos is nothing at all.

While this can be either a positive or a negative quality, this novel was formulaic; for me, this was positive and made the novel more enjoyable. The Return Song is a popular story-pattern in oral-derived literature, consisting of an absence, devastation in the absence of the hero, the hero's return, retribution or restoration of order, and... well, I'll leave out the last one since it's a spoiler. :o) I was pleasantly surprised by its use when I finished the novel.

This series ranks as one of my top favorites in the Urban Fantasy genre. If you haven't read it already, do yourself a favor and read it!

Thank you, Ms. Vaughn, for the hours of entertainment you have provided me with, and I look forward to your next novel!

Absolutely wonderful eddition to the series. Kitty goes home. Yep, HOME. Kitty gets a call from her father informing her of a possible illness her mother may have and Kitty rushes home to support her family regardless of the death threat from her previous pride. Of course things come down dark and heavy and Kitty has to discover her inner alfa.

Strangely enough, as paranormal as this series is--it contains many true to life aspects that we "normal" people go through as far as family and relationships go. I think that leaves a very strong appeal toward this novel series and makes readers keep coming back to it for more.

This is what I call a 24 hour book. It's a book I started one night and finish it the next night. Really fast read and I couldn't stop once I started. Okay, I did stop, but not because I wanted to. I still have children living at home and my time isn't always my own. But if it was, I would have plowed though this book in one sitting.

As surprising as this might sound, I skimmed through the meaty part of the sex scenes. I didn't find a connection there - sorry. What I found irresistible was the story of The Coven, the witches and warlocks. It was Harry Potter for grown-ups, but with sex scenes.

My only problem with the book was at the end. This actually started prior to the ending and was the resolution of the story. I didn't like how Mira compared Jack with Ben. It was like comparing apples to oranges. I also feel that the author didn't stay true to Jack's character at the end. If it wasn't for the ending, it would have been a five star (or check) book.

In spite of my complaints, it was a great book, well worth seeking out the next in the series.

Too much explicit sex. If I wanted porn, I would have rented an adult movie. I read to expand my mind, not my libido. By the 10th sex scene in the 3rd chapter (might be exagerating a little, but not much), I was so disgusted I couldn't read it anymore. Sex scenes should be the icing, not the whole cake.

I happened to pick up the second book "Witch Blood" and fell in love with this author. So I had to go back and get "Witch Fire"... I loved this book. I also highly recommend this book. If you enjoy books in this genre you'll love this one.

OMG! I'm 38, a kindergarten teacher, and think this was the best "for pleasure" read I've had in ten years! I love t.v. series like "Buffy" "Roswell" and "Charmed" which was actually mentioned in the book. This, however, didn't make me feel like a teenager wannabe. I love stories about supernatural, good vs. evil and yeah, some sex, porn, erotica, whatever you want to call it. I'm a "grown up" with no time for leisure activities so I have to be picky. It caught me from the get go and I couldn't put it down. Put me in a great mood and gave me back an interest in the things I enjoy for once. This book was AWESOME and I loved it! If you're a fellow science fiction buff and an adult...read on!
Thank you Anya Bast!!!

I picked this up at the library for fun. I'm not big on romance novels, so I gave it a three star (OK) rating, but overall it was enjoyable. If you like romance, with plenty of sex in the mix, and a decent story, then you'll likely enjoy this. It really works for what it is.

If you're looking for great story, deep characters, or are offended by sexuality and erotic literature, then you might want to put this down and try something else. Witch Fire was a fun read with several saucy passages. The characters were interesting without having much background, and the writing was compelling enough that I didn't just flip past the story for the saucy bits.

I had Midnight Tides on my shelf for a few months before I read it. After finishing House of Chains, I was completely in awe of Erikson's masterpiece series. I wanted more immediately, but I knew that MT would not offer me the characters or settings I was familiar with. So, I waited on it...reading other books, reading around the Internet to see whether or not I could skip MT and move directly to The Bonehunters (book 6 of the series). After seeing on Wiki that this book introduced a storyline I probably should know before BH, I picked it up. Am I ever glad I did not skip this one!

Yes, MT introduces you to an almost completely new set of characters and a new continent in Erikson's world. BUT, these characters are well developed, very interesting, and (now I see) going to very integral to the larger Malazan series storyline.

As usual, Erikson does a great job putting you in his world. This new continent of Lether is just as interesting and full of history as the others. Erikson's writing in MT might just be his best in the series so far. The action is great, descriptions of places/people is great, and some dialogue is genuinely funny. Seeing The Crippled God take an active role unlike the previous four books was also very good.

I am very anxious to get back with the Malazan Army, etc. in Tne Bonehunters, but MT was excellent and should not be missed.

This is the fifth book in the Malazan series and Erikson does something amazing with it. He introduces a whole new set of characters on a different contintent. There are a few characters from the other books, but its mostly new characters.

This is another great book in the series and anyone who is a fan of Erikson or Martin will love it.

Just amazing stuff. I can't really say much that hasn't been said already, but I will say that I agree that this may be the best book in the series.

I was worried that a book with no characters I'd met before (and no Bridgeburners, rawr) would be boring, or I'd have trouble connecting. Wow, was I wrong. I should have trusted Erikson. Tehol Beddict, Bugg, Iron Bars...some of the best characters in the series to date.

The book is emotional, bringing tears to my eyes multiple times. The action is incredible, and you literally won't be able to stop turning pages when you get to the final hundred.

Before this, I read "The Sword of Truth" by Goodkind and various Riftwar novels by Feist. I thought those were great fantasy, but man...This series makes them look like trash in comparison. That's not to diss on Goodkind/Feist...I will always hold them in my heart. That said, they can't compare to "The Malazan Book of the Fallen." These books are what fantasy should be.

They're amazing, and this book is amazing. Read them as soon as you can.

It seems Erikson becomes a better writer with each book and in this book he has finally matured into an efforless storyteller. For the first time in the series, I don't have to scratch my head and wonder at what is going on. In other words, the story flows beautifully from start to finish and all the story lines are interweaved nicely. Sure this book doesn't have emotional impact of Memories of Ice or Deadhouse Gates, but it's a great story expertly told. I would take off half a star for his somewhat trite attempt to discuss the evils of capitalism.

This book is so incredibly boring to get started. Not only does it completely divert from the far more interesting Malazan Empire it is just a boring story. Well so I thought but after the mid way point it picks up rapidly and continues to quicken its pace up to the fantastic finish.

I wish I could change my stars to 4.

This was my first decent in a Patricia Briggs novel and I was sorely disappointed. I found the characters weak and the story forced. At the end of the novel I felt dissatisfied in the way I had spent my time. But the novel seems to have been given good reviews as a whole so maybe it's just me.

I cannot help but think that all of the five star reviews on this book are out of loyalty to Patricia Briggs, who has written some very good books in the fantasy genre. And I honestly remember liking this book a lot better when it first came out-- in fact, I have held onto my first copy all these years. But a thoughtful rereading had me cringing a bit at my early enthusiasm for this particular story.

The first part is quite weak. There is way too much "tell" and not enough "show" as Briggs introduces former slave dancer, current horse trainer Rialla; Ren-the spymaster of Sianim; and Laeth a sometime nobleman, current mercenary. The characters are remarkably flat. Rialla for instance has more than a touch of Mary Sue in her with her red hair, green eyes, empathic ability and the ability to be the best dancer and horse trainer evah! Laeth is the wild younger son who ran away to become a mercenary to help deal with his dispair at losing the love of his life to his brother-- of course it was his own darn fault; and Ren is this enigmatic character who "knows all".

Other problems I had with the book was the failure of Briggs to set rules for her magic and abide by them. Rialla and Tris, a character met a little later in the book, both come up with new skills when they are needed. For instance Rialla remembers just at the last minute that she had the power to distract someone from an object she is carrying. Tris suddenly has the ability to disguise himself as a potted plant or a wobbly legged bench. He can also cause a wooden door to disintegrate into sawdust (leaving the hardware hanging in mid air) then reconstitute it.

The coincidences and plot holes are amazing. When Tris needs to be human it just so happens that he has carpentry skills, the old carpenter had died a year ago and the old carpenter's apprentice had gone to the city, leaving behind the old carpenter's tools. At one time we are told that he has made a promise in return for help in a bad situation to stay in the village as their healer. Then when he wants to leave he mentions that he only promised to stay for a year and now it's been two, besides there is a pretty good healer in the village now.

Then at some point it seems like nearly every character has some sort of magic power. There are also characters who are just introduced without any back ground or character to be killed or injured and help move the plot along-- Star Trek fans would recognize Red Shirts*. And the plot holes, oh, the plot holes. I cannot detail them or I'll spoil the story but you could drive an armored troop of mercenaries through some of them.

I really can't say that reading this book is totally unpleasurable. Occasionally there is some flash of the talent that Briggs has shown in her works since and she deals with themes that she comes back to later with a more mature writing skill so if someone is interested in the progress of a writer it is worth reading. But if you care about good story telling be prepared to be frustrated at times.

N.B. This review would have been a lot shorter if I had had not read this book on the Kindle and entered notes on the device everytime something struck me as wrong.

*Red Shirts are crew members on the Enterprise (nearly always wearing a red shirt, hence the name) whose sole reason for existence is to be killed during the fight scenes.

The story, the execution, the characters and the setting all compare favorably to the bulk of Sword and Sorcery novels. Patricia Briggs is definitely worth reading and someone to keep an eye on the career of for the next fifty years or so. This was my first Briggs story, it won't be my last. I particularly like the growth of the main character as the story progresses.

this book is a great game of chess...with pieces moving across the board in a strategy that does not become clear until the end of the book. i liked it. it was well written and entertaining

Although I found to be the ending a bit rushed, Ms. Briggs' book was thoroughly enjoyable. As a "stand alone" book, this is a rare find in a world filled with sequel after sequel. It was an ultimately satisfying vacation read, entertaining and, at some points, thought-provoking.

I can recommend it to people like me, with an interest but not much knowledge of steampunk. The stories are well chosen to give an idea of the range of ideas and styles.

They weren't much fun to read, though. Mostly unimaginative, implausible, sometimes self-parodying pulp fiction with poorly-researched Victorian trappings. Perhaps I'm missing the point, and that's what makes it punk. Even so, it will be of interest either to the committed or the perplexed, but not to people looking for good writing.

"The Steam Man of the Prairie" is intentionally so bad as to be good, however, and "Seventy-Two Letters" is a gem: elegant, provocative, worth reading twice or more until you slap your head and smile.

I had high expectations for the Steampunk anthology; I like Jeff Vandermeer's own writings and i like material from most of the authors included. But, maybe taken all together, most of the material seemed a bit tired and hackneyed. My favorite, by far, was Paul Paul Di Filippo's "Victoria" - a rather sweet take on both the Frankenstein trope as well as the good queen of the British Empire. Joe Lansdale references classic 19thC pulp sci-fi - but the story itself has little besides perversity to recommend it. Ian Macleod is one of my favorite authors - his Light Ages novels are terrific - but i'm glad i didn't start out reading the story included here, because i might well have slid him right off my reading map.

Every anthology tends to offer some hits and misses in terms of story selection, and `Steampunk' is no different. Along with three essays on the genre, the book provides 13 tales dealing with "Victorian elegance and modern technology". With the exception of an excerpt from Michael Moorcock's "The Warlord of the Air", all entries have previously appeared in print within the past 25 years.

Reviewer `Redon' gives a good overview of the book's contents. I'll just add my thoughts on some of the material:

For the essays, Jess Nevins provides a concise history of steampunk in literature, focusing on the role of the "Edisonade" genre of 19th century dime novels in setting the major themes and tropes of the genre. Rick Klaw's essay deals with steampunk in television and film, and Bill Baker provides a history of steampunk comics and graphic novels.

My selections for the best stories in the book, with capsule summaries:

"The Giving Mouth" by Ian R. McLeod: more steam-fantasy than steampunk, McLeod's story takes a page from Michael Swanwick's seminal novel the "Iron Dragon's Daughter" and juxtaposes slag heaps, industrial decay, and magic in a coming -of-age tale with a melancholy, but effective, tone.

"The Steam Man of the Prairie and the Dark Rider" by Joe R. Lansdale: mixing steampunk with splatterpunk, Lansdale relates a violent encounter between the steam-driven robot from the popular 19th century boy's novels, and H. G. Wells's time traveler, made mutated and vampiric by too much travel in the 4th dimension. Readers will be laughing out loud at one paragraph, and squirming at the next. Having a Lansdale story in this collection is bit like bringing along your cousin Bubba from Mississippi - the one who likes NASCAR, squirrel hunting, and making politically incorrect remarks about People of Color, militant lesbian feminists, and ponytailed men who do yoga - to a soiree hosted by the staff of The Nation magazine. But there's no getting away from the fact that Lansdale delivers a great story, howevermuch it sits uneasily with the other entries. [The succeeding tale, "The Selene Gardening Society", which is meant to be a light-hearted parody of a Victorian drawing-room comedy, seems like even thinner gruel than it actually is, coming as it does after a Lansdale adventure. Not a good placement of story order in the anthology by the editors !]

"Seventy-two Letters" by Ted Chiang: a well-written novelette dealing with an alternative Victorian England where Kabbalistic magic gives rise to homunculi and androids, which power a counterpart of our own Industrial Age. Much of the story's plot hinges on the concept of `preformationism', which dominated scientific thought regarding sexual reproduction until supplanted by modern embryology in the late 19th century. Unfortunately, Chiang fails to provide any exposition on the topic in the course of unfolding his narrative; thus readers not familiar with this rather obscure theory may find themselves a bit lost.

"Minutes of the Last Meeting" by Stepan Chapman: a strange, overly worked mélange of steampunk, cyberpunk, and comic fantasy. The story starts on a traditional alt-history adventure note involving the Tsar, his entourage, and Revolutionary Russia, but then get weirder as it goes on, with the author throwing one SF trope after another into the mix. The mix never quite gels, but the narrative has enough crazed energy to keep the reader engaged all the way to the bitter end.

The remaining stories are, in my opinion, disappointments. Some are underdeveloped and needed more work before seeing print ("The God-Clown is Near", "Reflected Light"). Others are rather pedestrian re-hashes of familiar themes, but have some `progressive' element that the editors deemed stylish enough for inclusion ("A Sun in the Attic"). A contribution by current Fiction Darling Michael Chabon ("The Martian Agent") is over-written and plodding. Other stories are pleasant, somewhat droll satires of Victorian social mores ("The Selene Gardening Society", "Victoria"); but in lacking the dystopian, edgy character of steampunk per se, their inclusion in this anthology is a mystery.

In summary, `Steampunk' has too many Misses to make up for the sparse selection of Hits. The `definitive' Steampunk anthology still awaits print......

I had high hopes for this collection, but I found it for the most part a rather bland and scholarly study of the genre. (Or disgusting, in the case of one story. You know which one I mean, if you've read it already.) It felt like I was in a class rather than enjoying short stories. There's just a couple in the book that I'd ever bother to read again.

Another interesting retrospective anthology from the VanderMeer marital team, from the same publisher in Tachyon, too. This one I think with a cooler and more appropriate cover.

The difference here is that neither of the editors are as heavily invested in the subject from a personal writing point of view as with The New Weird. So, there is a Team VanderMeer intro, but then they hand over the non-fictional reins to others more knowledgeable.

For early genre fiction of this ilk, if there is anyone more knowledgeable than Jess Nevins it would be surprising - and they certainly haven't written all the cool stuff on the internet that he has - go and check out his website, it is a marvel. So, pretty much anything he writes on this sort of topic will be worth looking at - and here he gives the early history of work that leads to 'Steampunk'. From before Verne and Wells, to the American explorer-scientist 'Edisonades' as he points out these have been termed, right up to the first 'story 'included here, Michael Moorcock's Oswald Bastable excerpt.

He does talk about the 'punk' element here, and even first and second wave steampunk, and who the first wave authors were - Blaylock, Jeter, etc. Nevins concentrates on prose.

Rick Klaw talks about Steampunk in popular culture in a wide variety of media, film, anime, etc.

Bill Baker gives an overview of Steampunk in graphic format - and there are lots, and gives a reasonable looking bibliography as such, including the awesome Warren Ellis and John Cassaday Planetary and Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill's League of Extraordinary Gentlemen that are must reads, for those that like this sort of thing.

On the whole, reasonably well done, although a couple more lists from Nevins and Klaw wouldn't have gone astray, even though work is mentioned. Such things are good for asking librarians 'here, check these out on Interlibrary Loan for me would you please'?

There is a wide range of stories from the very fluffy-light Molly Brown story through madcap Blaylock, to the, to quote my spousal unit, who read this before me 'the really twisted' Joe Lansdale. The final story is a bit different, nanopunk if you like - from Neal Stephenson's Diamond Age setting. A nice score to get a story from him though, and it, too, is cool.

There are no bad stories here, although the footnote ending of Pollack's is weak, and Chabon's is annoying to read with all the em-dash line beginnings that make it like your eyes are trying to herd ants to follow it.

The publisher shouldn't be shy about making use of spare pages to advertise other anthologies they have done or possible books of interest to those of us that buy these things. I don't think many of us mind that, within reason, if you have the space.

Overall, I'd put it a bit under 4.5, but certainly good enough to round up to there.

Steampunk : Benediction: Warlord of the Air - Michael Moorcock
Steampunk : Lord Kelvins Machine - James Blaylock
Steampunk : The Giving Mouth - Ian MacLeod
Steampunk : A Sun in the Attic - Mary Gentle
Steampunk : The God-Clown Is Near - Jay Lake
Steampunk : The Steam Man of the Prairie and the Dark Rider Get Down - Joe Lansdale
Steampunk : The Selene Gardening Society - Molly Brown
Steampunk : Seventy-Two Letters - Ted Chiang
Steampunk : The Martian Agent: An Interplanetary Romance - Michael Chabon
Steampunk : Victoria - Paul Di Filippo
Steampunk : Reflected Light - Rachel E. Pollack
Steampunk : Minutes of the Last Meeting - Stepan Chapman
Steampunk : Excerpt from the Third and Last Volume of the Tribes of the Pacific Coast - Neal Stephenson


Fleet going down.

3.5 out of 5


Magnetic field massacre mouse save snakes into mad scientist volcano shootout showdown.

4 out of 5


Eater machined.

3 out of 5


Archival barbarian reports.

3.5 out of 5


Really getting their goat.

4 out of 5


The Time Traveler vampire show is a rip of a ride.

4.5 out of 5


The Moon? What a load of rubbish.

3.5 out of 5


Foetal experiment orders named.

3.5 out of 5


Airship hopes.

3 out of 5


Newt but a Queen.

4 out of 5


Less handy rebels.

3 out of 5


Tsar Nukeallofus.

3.5 out of 5


Nano Protoctol crossbow source defense samurai chainsword rescue.

3.5 out of 5




4.5 out of 5

In the walled island Kingdom of Ethrea, Rhian stays with her father the King as he is dying. She sadly muses she will be an orphan soon since her mom Queen Ilda died ten years ago. Rhian detests the unfairness of succession as her two brothers are dead two months and she is the next in line to the throne; however Ethrea has never had a female ruler. Even near dead with his belief he failed the kingdom when he left no heir, the monarch frets that he never found a husband for his daughter.

Sadly Rhian knows she is the best person for the job of ruling the kingdom, but knows the religious leader Marlen will tell the ruling council who she will marry; some loser he controls to the ruin of the kingdom. That is if he even lets her outlive her father. No one seems to accept she is capable not even her dying dad. Rhian concludes she must flee to find allies to take back her country. Toymaker Dexterity Jones pushed by the shade of his late spouse Hettie offers to help the besieged princess. They obtain assistance from Zandakar, the son of the insane Empress of Mijak; he helps them so that they might one day abet him to end his mother's slaughter of millions.

The second Godspeaker tale (see EMPRESS) is an entertaining epic fantasy thriller whose strong cast keeps this fine entry from being just another middle book (though it has many of the set up trappings). Rhian cannot understand why gender not skill or even bloodlines is the prime requisite to be the next ruler; Dex has talked to his wife since she died years ago, but now she is talking to him; finally Zandakar realizes he must depose his mom who is much stronger than him. Although it is a necessity to read EMPRESS first to avoid getting lost in the plot, readers will appreciate THE RIVEN KINGDOM as civil war and much worse have arrived on the island

Harriet Klausner

I bought this book for an art teacher friend who uses it constantly in her high school classes.

I bought a copy for my seven-year-old step-daughters and packed it for a long car trip over Labor Day weekend. The girls giggled wildly while pouring over the artwork and the questions they posed, and then spent a good long time working on their own "What if..." questions and accompanying illustrations.

A fine picture book all around!

Working with kids is great...yet if you don't keep them occupied at all times my job description would be zoo keeper, not Elementary Art Teacher! At first, Sarah Perry's book "If..." served as a functional time filler. I knew the kids would get a kick out of the wonderful images! I introduce the book and the kids are still a bit restless and and not totally convinced that the art teacher is reading a book. Isn't that the librarians job, they think as they roll their eyes. I open to the first page and read,"If cats can fly..." their heads turn and their rolling eyes become transfixed on Perry's beautiful illustrations. I turn the page and by now the audience is silently screaming for more!!! By this time the students' teacher has come to pick the kids up from the art room, but instead of lining up the class, she has pulled up a seat to listen in on the fun! Nine times out of ten, when I am finished sharing the book, the students ask me to read it again. The kids walk out of the classroom with a smile on their face and their imaginations zooming!!! Parents stop me in the hallways to speak about the delight their child experienced when I was reading the book! I give the credit to Sarah Perry! Thank you Sarah...this functional time filler has become an imagination can opener!!!

This book is so beautifully illustrated and the ideas it presents are really fun. We got it as a baby shower gift and it immediately became a favorite of my husband and mine. Now my 2-year old loves to pour over the illustrations and giggles at the silly ideas. It's a book that I know she will keep into her adulthood.

My grandson who is almost four loves this book. He packed it to bring back to Me Me's when he spent the night.

The book, "If" is a great one for teachers to teach the trait of Ideas. Wonderful illustrations!

Woah, well I finished reading tis four weeks ago and I still get flashbacks,
One of the best wind ups to a saga that I have read, enjoyed every page, another month and I'll probably reread. Every character comes across as a real person, what will Gregg deliver next.
I rate Gregg at the same level as Donaldson and Fiest at their best.

Physical presentation, Hardcover, well bound, however pages were rough cut.

Shipping, exceeded expectations by over a month.

I was very dissappointed in this last installment of a series that I was greatly enjoying up to this point. My greatest objection was that all the painstaking character development accomplished in the other books was completely thrown out the window as many of the main characters were taken over by outside forces and acted completely out of character for the last several chapters of the book. The result was a head-scratching, eye-rolling last few chapters that made me set down the book at the end with very little regret, and very little desire to buy the author's next book.

This conclusion wrapped up the story very quickly. It felt like I was rushing downhill to the climax, but that's the way these things happen. I felt that it was a very fitting conclusion to the story, I just wish there were more!

I don't understand these bad reviews, honestly, did these people think that after all these terrible and life changing events that went on in a matter of a year that these characters would stay the same?? I don't get it...I do however understand these people concern with the quickness in which the ending came about. However...reading all three books you realize(or at least i did)that its all coming down to one terrible moment, one clash of the titans so to speak. One final battle, one final push. It all happens at once, which had me turning the pages over and over which had me reading faster than I ever had. Then the very end, the prophecies from the first three books, the anonymous author, it all...all came together in what i thought was a great book and one of the best stories i've ever encountered. Thank you Keyes!

I know it's a harsh criticism, but this ending really rubbed me the wrong way. Admittedly, I didn't even read the whole thing...after the first few chapters I found myself feeling disappointed and confused. I skipped to the end and wish I hadn't even bothered. This series was better without an ending.

If you love sequential art, give this one a try. It's a unique and touching story, exploring the question of what love brings out in us (both the good and the bad.)

Summaries of this book make it seem simplistic, but there is a lot here. The art, and the story, are messy, violent, sad, and beautiful. I can't recommend this book highly enough. It's a shining example of what sequential art can be.

this is by far one of the best manga i've ever read. i'd gotten away from manga, but decided to pick this up when it was published in a single volume. entirely worth. highest possible reccomendation.

Excellent manga and anime. I didn't think I would like the animation but it's amazing. I especially liked White's dream sequences.
The Black & White in the title does refer to the characters. The original title of the manga is Black & White. Also, Viz does a lot of mangas in the left to right format. This one wasn't singled out for special treatment.

"Duh" and yet five stars? That Duh was for me. I was disappointed because when I opened the Amazon box and discovered TEKKEON KINKREET was in black
and white.

I'd thought that B&W label referred to the main
characters, Black and White. See? Duh. On me.

Other than that, I'd thought the cartoon style would reflect the anime, which is great and in full color, which prompted me to buy this book.
Duh #2, then.

Still, it's a very good, very big book and very Zen-like.
So Five Stars. See the anime, it's great. Now Ima gonna go
and actually read the book.

During a trip to Japan recently I came across the film version of this book, which had just won many awards. When I learned it was based on a graphic novel, I scoured the bookstands here in the US for it to no avail. Luckily Amazon had it (along with the English-subtitled movie). Tekkon Kinkreet is a richly engaging graphic narrative, its visual language referencing French comics but with the horizontal, angled paneling of more traditional Japanese Manga. Though it's about two scrappy kids, this is most definitely NOT a comic book for children: it's full of violence and references to the seedy underworld of the city (gangsters, strip clubs, etc.). Though those things would usually turn me off, I found this to be a completely absorbing narrative. Beyond the violence it elegantly explores the issues of gentrification, friendship, identity, and change. The film's great too, but you should definitely read the book first. Totally different visual styles going on. Great stuff. Check it out.

Follows a woman who spends her time, exorcising demons from people...ends up with a demon herself...and has to ask for help (without letting everyone know she needs it) from a co-worker of sorts, Adam, who has very dark tastes..
Interesting idea, unlike other reviewers I thought the sex/erotic scenes were the best part of the book. The book didn't get interesting till she meets up with Adam..and felt it would have been more interesting if the story had started there, and did more to expand that relationship.. The whole demon possession thing was a little too weak for me..
Had a lot of potential, just fell short of reaching it..
Kim Harrison, Laura K. Hamilton is more interesting..

The concept for this book was highly original and I loved it! I absolutely loved everything about this book. Can't wait for the next.

I had a lot of problems with this book, including the amount of sex, and some of the torture/S&M scenes. There was just too much of it for it to really be a mainstream novel, as S&M lifestyles aren't really mainstream... I don't have a problem with sex most of the time, but I didn't like being less than 20 pages into the book or 40 pages or whatever and hitting a sex scene... I didn't know the character well enough to enjoy reading about her having phone or in-the-car-while-driving sexual encounters. I also didn't like that the main character was attracted to everyone *rolls eyes*. I'm tired of paranormal/dark fantasy books turning into hisem or harem type stories where everyone wants to be with the main character or the main character wants to be with everyone. Way too many are following that trend and too much sex actually gets boring.

SPOILERS

Ok, not counting the sex there was also a huge loop hole in the book's entire plot premise. The main character is posessed by the king of the demon world, right? And he's not powerful enough to posess her.... and yet he's supposed to be too powerful for her or anyone else to exorcise. (I apologise if I spell things incorrectly, I'm not really in the mood to check to make sure I get them right.) Ok, so it seems the main character is stuck with this demon inside her and yet he's supposed to be more powerful than her exorcist powers, which would also imply he could take her over right? Nope. He can't for whatever reason. My OTHER big problem with this is part of the rules for this world: demons are supposed to be able to transfer to another human host after they've already been called onto the Mortal Plain and inhabited someone else. So, why didn't this king of the demons do that... because if he did, the entire story would fall apart? Or does he have to be in control of the host before he can do that? That's another thing the author doesn't explicitly state. Near the end of the book he does transfer to someone else temporarily but moves back in... but at the time he was in control of Morgan because she let him. SO maybe that IS it. I just wish it had been said for sure, because I don't even remember the question being addressed. If he transfers to someone else and takes over, would the other demons even be able to find him? I would think that would make him safe until he could return to the Demon Realm or whatever if that's what he wanted.

Also, if the demons were really wanting to kill him, why did they let Morgan go at all? Why didn't they just burn her to death as soon as they had her as a container for Lugh? I don't understand how someone wanting to kill Lugh would allow any chance for him to live.

Another problem is the main character... I have problems with her because she does some pretty stupid things, doesn't really think things through, and she says a lot of mean things during the course of the novel to people who are trying to help her. Part of this just grates on me as a reader, but I understand that it's part of her blunt truthfulness I guess. I just found most of the characters unlikable.

I don't know exactly what parts I liked, but I liked it enough to not give it a 2... and I did finish the book. I think I liked Lugh. I liked the idea of the demons not being too different from humans, except in psychology.

I thought that this was a great book ~ interesting plot, concept, etc. I was hooked after the first page and flew through it in one day. However, the amount of sex was distracting (I never knew that would be possible). Towards the end, I started skimming over the sex scenes to get back to the story; I felt as if I needed to take a shower after reading this. The jury is still out on whether or not I am going to read the second book or not...

I picked this book up, thinking that I might be lucky to grab a book about the paranormal world and hopefully latch onto a new series. The first 20 pages basically cemented the realization that the author is trying way to hard. Within the first 10-20 pages You are introduced to the main character whos name i have forgotten already, but I do know that she has a tattoo, a celtic tattoo on her back, and its really important because she mentions it alot, The character also likes to dress minimally (read trashy) in low rise sweaters and leather pants, did i mention leather pants? because the author is obsessed with telling the reader about them, I counted the words "leather pants" 8 times in 5 paragraphs. I cannot read a book that is introduced soley on what the character is wearing, and it doesnt get any better than that, you really want to yell at the book and say "I GET IT, YOUR SO SEXY AND DIFFERENT AND ALTERNATIVE LETS MOVE ON SHALL WE?" i moved on allright, put it down and never picked it back up.