Science Fiction Fantasy Books

This novel, though considered urban fantasy, is actually set in it's own world. I think the handsome goblin idea -though a more interesting take- did not work for me.
Now here are the Pros and Cons:
Pros:
Intriguing bad guy (you never really know where it's at),strong heroine, edge-of-your-seat love triangle, Mychael, Phaelan, and Raine's witty comments.
Cons:
Tam, the Sarad Nukpana is so sexy thing, Talon, the way Raine does indeed get out of every situation unharmed, and the lack of descriptions on clothes and meals.

Buton the whole I had to give it 5 stars because the pros way outnumber the cons (in importance)

It was no surprise to read a review on Lisa Sharin's website comparing her to Janet Evanevich. I had the same thought reading her first novel. The begining of the novel has pooor editing. There were too many dublicate statements. How many times do you need to be told that her cousin is a smuggler? I got the hint the first time, the twelveth was just annoying. But despite it's rough writing you could see the author's potential.The second half of the book that potential shined through. You could escape into the story. Writing is at it's finest when you don't think of it at all. If you are looking for a unique fantasy read for a lazy afternoon then I would deffinatly recommend you try out Magic Lost, Trouble Found - the first in what proves to be a captavating series.

I read this because I had heard that it was quite good; similar to the Heart of Stone series by C. E. Murphy.

Like the C.E. Murphy novels Raine is a fully formed character that already has had quite a bit of life rush past her and so she starts off (almost immediately) into a whole heap of trouble.

That might be helpful for some people to get them sunk into the story, but I tend to prefer a little more backstory before a full mental plunge into a character's life and story.

Raine comes into possession of a magical amulet that an employee (and friend) of hers had been hired to steal. This amulet while looking like a plain piece of ugly jewelry is really a powerful beacon to a much more dangerous magical item called the "Soul Thief." Once Raine has the amulet in her possession it won't let her go and so poor Raine goes the whole book trying to avoid all the bad guys who want the amulet and "Soul Thief." With the possession of the amulet Raine also gains all kinds of fun and interesting powers which she definitely needs to be able to survive all the bad guys that don't care if she lives or dies.

I had such a hard time getting into this book, especially at first... However about half-way through the book (once Raine has gotten herself thoroughly steeped in trouble) we really start to get to know and work with this Conclave Guardian named Mychael whose job it is to protect the amulet (and "Soul Thief"). And it was MUCH easier for me to read the back half of the book because of him.

Its good. The second in the series is even better.
Beautifully written and great fun.
And its on Kindle.

As others have already mentioned, within the first 30 pages or so I got lost in all of the characters that were being introduced. Here are my issues with this book.
1. Too many characters.
2. Too much handed to you via first person narration.
3. Two possible love interests? Enough already! Is this even necessary?
4. Level of the plot is YA!

I'm not sure how anyone rated this anything above three stars! I will not be reading the sequel. The only reason I finished reading this title is that I lived in hope that at some point the author would redeem herself. Unfortunately, the only way I was able to get through the entire book was by reading every other page and then simply skimming the pages that I actually stopped on.

Woe to the woman who can't have sex with the one man she wants to, or to the man that completely understands.

Yes, Georgina Kincaid, aka Thetis, aka Fleur, and aka Letha, among other names (which got annoying since each main character called her something different), is slaving at love and sex like the rest of us mortals. But all of that made more complicated by the fact that she has sex with other men in order to take in their life force, and condemn them to hell. Evil is as evil does, and boy, is it in a great package, right?

Maybe, and maybe not. At least, that's what our many personalitied reigning succubus believes. While Seth, who's fast becoming the love of her life, even as she knows it could do more harm than good, the whole no touch clause is becoming the third wheel in their relationship. The issue is made ever more complicated when an old time friend (literally) comes prancing around. Bastian, an incubus on the run, is in a crux. He tasted what he had not right to taste and is trying to redeem himself by nailing a hardcore radio schmoozing and very right-wing Christian evangelist, by the name of Dana Dailey. The problem? Despite his centuries of oozing talent he learned from our gal Georgie, he's hitting a dry pot. What he doesn't get, and fails to notice due to his duress of getting killed for good, is the fact that Dana's not even remotely what he thinks she is.

Meanwhile, Doug, Georgie's assistant manager friend, and lead singer for an up and coming band, begins to exhibit the signs of a drug addition. While it seemingly seems to amp his abilities, and the entire bands as well, it also has a devastating side effect. What Georgie later discovers is that it's not an ordinary drug, in fact, it's extraordinary, as in...a drug that should stay on her side of the block.

Let's get to the point here (even if I didn't in the synopsis): this is a story about Georgie's personal and emotional growth as a succubus in love with a human mortal, and a man. Everything else, from Bastian's conquest (which was not only annoying and empty, with little pull or even interest) to Doug's near-death-experience and the fact that Georgie ends up taking out a major player in the whole immortal vs immortal game (mere filler here, at least) all are nothing but padding around the main theme at hand. None of which pulls the story along. While it's not bad padding, it's a little tedious to get through, though Mead does make sure to not only tie up any loose ends terribly well, but doesn't leave them any of those threads too frayed or left with too many questions.

In this second book, Georgie is at a crossroads between her reality and the reality that everyone else lives by, normalcy and every day specialness. She's also trying to understand her past lives to understand the situation she's in now, with Seth. While I understand that that story line would only take up a quarter of the book, and all the background tidbits and plot lines are ways to help clarify and explain Seth and Georgie's concepts of love and their love for eachother, it was long winded and, while well done, is obviously meant to propel the rest of the book forward, to give it the action and disturbance that Mead does so well, by balancing both excitement and adventure, tongue in and cheek quips with thoughtful and enlightening introspection, and the grin worthy scenes that made me go out and buy the first book.

But here, while the growth and character development is done well, certain turn of events at the end of it, once which involves Georgie betraying the trust between her and Seth, the way that unfurls and is handled is unsatisfactory with a rather syrupy sweet resolution. In fact, everything, including all the wrongs from beginning and up to the end, is wrapped up in a pretty little bow and given (somewhat hurriedly) its good graces. Not to mention the all too problem of a lead character having all the stereotypical traits (beauty, brains, some braun) as well as the one to save the day yet sweet, sensitive and thoughtful, though Mead makes sure not to make it the focal point. The wittiness and stark honestly of Georgina is still refreshing, though her friends were sorely missed but the solid writing ability and strong story telling, though weak here, is still present and promising, giving me the hope that there aren't just one hit wonder writers out there. Or a waste of my time.

Succubus on Top, while good, is not the same calibre as the first one, but it won't stop you from wanting to read it, and relish getting your grubby hands on the second one. Just like me.

This book is a fun follow-up to the first in the series, _Succubus Blues_. Georgina Kincaid continues to be an engaging narrator, and this book continues the first's breezy mix of humor, sex and the supernatural.

That said, I did have some problems with this book, mainly related to Georgina not "connecting the dots". In the first book, Georgina told us that despite being something of a ditz with a messed-up personal life, she was actually quite smart, that nobody dumb survives several thousand years in style. Of course this could be self-delusion, but events in book one pretty much confirmed her self assessment.

In *this* book, she completely misses two facts that are evident to the the reader almost immediately. The situation involving the band is the more excusable, though she *really* should have made the connections, but the situation involving Dana bears directly on the job she's had for over a thousand years, and is supposedly quite good at. It beggars credulity that an experienced incubus like Bastien couldn't figure out what was going on and having them *both* fail to figure it out is just unbelievable. In addition, it took her an awfully long time to figure out an obvious loophole in her "intimacy" issues with Seth.

Another problem I had with the Dana storyline is that it ignores Georgina's back-story. Here is a woman from the early Christian era who automatically condemns attitudes she herself must have been raised with (and who indeed spent thousands of years living in societies with similar mores) with nary a word about how she came to change her mind. I also didn't care for the author trying to sugarcoat Georgina's betrayal by doling out an unnecessary bit of extenuation.

Mead is just too good. Another second novel in a series she has written that just blew the first book out of the water. Mind you that the first book (Succubus Blues) was fantastic. Then Mead just blows you out of the water with the next one.

Forgetting about our last troubles. We open up into a whole knew world. Which I thought would make this novel lack terribly. I mean how could you not continue the problems from last time. But Mead does it. And makes this one even better than the last time.

The story dives further into the background of Georgina. It's nice that even though she's lived all of those years (hundred, thousands) she still has problems. She may be a Succubus but she has flaws, very human flaws.
Great knew characters and villains are in this new book. And loved characters from last time are explored more.
**** Richelle Mead knows how to deliver, and you will not want to miss the delivery. Even if you don't like Urban Fantasy this novel (series) has something for you. If you love urban fantasy add it to your collection.

Georgina is a succubus and an immortal. Her very existence depends on having sex with mortals so that she can take a little bit of their life force for her own. Georgina is now in a new and loving relationship with her favorite author and mortal, Seth. The problem is that she can't touch her boyfriend in an intimate way without sucking years off his life, pun intended. So Georgina and Seth have a mentally satisfying and sexually frustrating relationship.

Georgina's pals start acting funky, she finds herself sensing an immortal signature she doesn't recognize and in the midst of another mystery. Adding to the chaos and fun in Georgina's world is the appearance of her long time best friend, Bastien, she hasn't seen him in ages and he is on a mission of his own.

After reading the first book in the series, Succubus Blues (Georgina Kincaid, Book 1), I wasn't sure where this one would head. I really enjoyed the first book and this one, I believe, exceeded that one. This book gives us another glimpse into Georgina's past as a mortal and her past as a succubus. I enjoy Georgina's complex personality. As an immortal and a succubus she is sexy and confident, but she also has a huge heart, sense of loyalty and some vulnerability.

Like the last book there is a very decent mystery and plenty of succubus lovin'. Mixed in with all the heat is a good dose of hilarity and an abundance of show stealing side characters. I found myself tearing up a few times as I found this book emotionally deep and touching. And I have to say the last chapter is probably one of the most erotic, moving, intimate and romantic things I have ever read. It was perfect. I am loving this series and am looking forward to the next book, Succubus Dreams (Georgina Kincaid, Book 3).

Cherise Everhard, August 2008

I can't believe that I am reviewing this book. I am an academic political scientist. But I find Richelle Mead's books in the Georgina Kincaid series irresistible. I read the first in the series because a couple Amazon Friends whose reviews I respect a great deal spoke well of that book. I read and enjoyed--and against all odds--reviewed that work. And when I discovered that a second book had been published, I found myself eager to read it. And, in some ways, I think that this is even better than the captivating introductory volume in this series. For those who might be interested, rest assured that one need not read the first work to enjoy this book. Now, I understand that the third in this series will be published later this year. I look forward to reading that, too. So, at the outset, anyone reading my review knows that I have come to enjoy the series and its characters a whole lot.

Characters? A demon, an angel, vampires, an imp, a god, a succubus (Georgina, the primary character), and an incubus--as well as assorted mortals. This book features two major plot lines. One, the rapid ascent of a band featuring some of Georgina's mortal friends, who are powering their way to the top with artificial means. Two, the assignment of an incubus (a male equivalent to a succubus--hey, I'm learning stuff here!), Bastien, to try to use his charms and ways to discredit Dana, a conservative, moralistic advocate. Bastien has known Georgina for centuries, so they renew their friendship (sometimes in odd ways) here.

A story line continuing from the first book is Georgina's relationship with a human, Seth. Now here is a challenge for a couple who feel warmth for one another. A succubus sucks life energy from partners when there are intimacies. So, how can Georgina and Seth develop a relationship that doesn't shorten his life? One of the charming aspects of this book is the set of workarounds that the two develop at the very end of the volume, as they try to share their developing love (seems pretty far out, given their obvious differences!).

The two plot lines--the band and Dana--are not really tied together, but who cares? Both are played out nicely, and it is intriguing to see Georgina try to "take on" a god. The plot twist with Dana? I'm stunned! For one of the few times in my life, I diagnosed a plot twist--why Bastien was not succeeding.

If you liked the first book in the series, you'll really enjoy this. If you simply enjoy this genre, I think that you will enjoy, too. The author has a nice way of creating characters and situations that seem almost believable (Weird, huh? Imps, vampires, gods, and believable??).

The books are really cute. However, all of the books in the series are small chapters in a larger story. That means you have to go back and buy the other books to see how the story ends. It was a tricky way to get me to buy more of their product. Because I had to buy six books for my daughter to finish one story, I'm not sure I will buy the other fairy books from this author.

This is the second series of "Rainbow Magic" fairy books written by Daisy Meadows, picking up where the seven-part Rainbow Fairies series left off. These books are innocent and engaging, focusing on two young girls, Kirsty and Rachel, who meet while on vacation with their parents, and are drawn into the magical world of the fairies, who are in conflict with the mischievous Jack Frost. The structure of this series is nearly identical to the first: the girls are given a quest in which they must help seven fairies (each with sparkles aplenty and cute, super-girly outfits and princess-y names such as Hayley, Heather, Iris, Amber and Iris... ) who have been bothered by Jack and his goblin helpers. In each book they complete one part of the quest and meet one new fairy.

It is important to know going in that these books are interconnected -- each individual volume ties in with the others, so you will want to start with book #1, then go on to #2, etc. The plots are not very complicated, but they do make reference to each other, and the idea is to read them all together.

The other thing to know is that these books are not very scary or troubling - there is action, but no violence and not much real danger (the goblins are easily beaten, and not very frightening) so if you are looking for longer narratives for young kids to read, but don't want anything disturbing, this series is good option. One criticism is that the books are pretty WASP-y, and while a couple of the fairies might be seen as Asian, basically the entire series takes place in an all-white, middle-class world, populated with thin, blonde girls and a few brunettes. Other than that, though, this is a good series for families looking for light, engaging, age-appropriate stories. (ReadThatAgain children's book reviews)

My daughter is 9 and has Asperger's syndrome, or high functioning autism. She collects feathers, and the weather is one of her IMPORTANT subjects. She reads fast, and finished this book quickly.... and informed me that she needs to read the rest of them so could I please help her get them right away? The story itself is a little intense because the goblin is actually trying to hit Storm and girls with lightning, but of course it all comes out okay in the end. We will definitely read the other books in the series!

We've been struggling for a way to get my daughter to read now that she's run out of Junie B. Jones books. The Weather Fairies books have done the trick. She seems to enjoy reading again for the first time in half a year or more.

I have to say I haven't read any of the Weather Fairies myself but I caught my twelve-year-old son reading the series because his sister had obviously liked it. He said he wanted to read more, too.

My soon-to-be 5 year old daughter and I LOVE this series. The stories are simple enough and short enough (about 40 min) to hold her attention as a read aloud, and there are enough illustrations peppered throughout to give her something to look at as I read. Both the stories and the illustrations are delightful. These books have ignited a passion for reading in my daughter, and she is now extremely motivated to read on her own so she doesn't have to wait for me to read them to her. We can hardly wait for the rest of the series to be published in the US. There are also the Jewel Fairies, the Pet Fairies, and the Party Fun Fairies that are only available in the UK right now, but it looks like some of them will be published here this summer. You can be sure we will be pre-ordering them!

Hamilton's got a real knack for writing expansive, compelling sci-fi epics, and along with the initial "Pandora's Star", this is another great read.

_Judas Unchained_ by Peter F. Hamilton is the exciting, action-packed sequel to his earlier work _Pandora's Star_, a book that completes this two-part series. I found it every bit as good as the first installment and found this novel a page-turner to the very end. There are even bigger battles and more intrigue than the first book and there are many twists, turns, and surprises.

Hamilton continued with his huge cast of characters in _Judas Unchained_, helpfully listing these individuals and a few words about their role in this tale in a three page dramatis personae section before the story begins, organizing into categories whether the characters have to do with the Navy, the various Dynasties, the Senate, the Guardians of Selfhood, are Alien, or fit in the category Others, a categorization that included such individuals as the irrepressible Mellanie Rescorai, Orion (Ozzie's companion from Silverglade), and Simon Rand, the founder of Randtown and the leader of the Resistance there to the Prime invasion. Despite the large cast of characters though, the main actors from the first volume remain the same ones in this installment as well.

Readers of _Pandora's Star_ know that the Prime invasion finally happened towards the end of the first novel, and that twenty-three planets (the Lost23) were successfully invaded and captured by the Prime, with human causalities running into the hundreds of millions. Though there were some successes - one world, Wessex, an industrial Big15 world, was spared invasion, millions of refugees were saved thanks to the CST and the Navy, and resistance groups survive behind enemy lines to harass the Primes - the feeling in the Senate and the Navy is that the Lost23 are truly lost and the focus should be on preventing the Prime from invading still more worlds, worlds deeper in the Commonwealth with larger populations and a greater role in the Commonwealth economy.

At the same time, intrigue continues outside of the public eye, as the Guardians of Selfhood continue their quest to oppose and ultimately destroy the Starflyer and its agents, the Starflyer and its servants continue their quest to bring down the Commonwealth, and officials in the Navy and the Senate such as investigator Paula Myo and Senator Justine Burnelli and their allies have to decide whether or not to continue to pursue the Guardians, whether or not the much mythologized Starflyer is real (which has for most of the Commonwealth the same status and respect we would today probably give Bigfoot), and whether or not they should and even can work with the Guardians against the Starflyer.

We also continue to follow Ozzie, Orion, and Tochee on the walkabout to end all walkabouts, as when we last left the three they were at the cliffhanger of all cliffhangers.

The action at the end of the book, the final showdown, maybe the last quarter or so of the novel, takes place on Far Away. I found it gripping and exciting and really loved how an already fleshed out world became even more detailed, as readers become familiar with this distant and mysterious colony world at the very edge of the Commonwealth, from the crowded, byzantine, cosmopolitan streets of Armstrong City to the planet-girdling epic Highway One to the equatorial grasslands of giant Anguilla grass to the bizarre climate of the wet desert in the shadow of the towering, epic Grand Triad mountains, mountains so high that their peaks are above the planet's atmosphere. I would love to see more stories set on Far Away, perhaps exploring the mysterious Barsoomians.

Though all the major plot threads are neatly tied together and finished at the end of the book, there were a few unanswered questions, though more in the vein of suggesting that some of the major characters will continue to have adventures and there are still mysteries in the Commonwealth universe rather than story elements left dangling. If Hamilton wanted to write more I would be glad to read more about the intentions and plans of the SI for instance, the truth about the Barsoomians, visit Tochee's homeworld, or find out just what it was that Catherine Stewart (aka the Cat) did to earn such notoriety but I imagine it is good to always leave the reader wanting more.

Actually, I am a fan of Peter Hamilton's writing, but found too many technical and conceptual flaws in this series. In Pandora's Star, the idea of transporting a neutron star into the center of a gas giant is certainly a very novel idea until you realize that the gas giant would then probably mass more than the entire solar system, which would then accrete into one giant glob which wouldn't be cool for all the folks trying to live there.
Unfortunately, Peter appears to be pandering to black folks,with his 400 year old black genius who is apparently developmentally arrested in 20th century hip talk and a somewhat anachonistic "afro". He then embarks on some ridiculous Quixotic quest to save a race of unspeakably evil beings who will continue to be a horrific threat to the entire universe. I'm afraid it was at this point I put the book down and gave it away. Peter you are capable of so much more.

Judas Unchained, by Peter Hamilton, is part two of a two part epic beginning with Pandora's Star. And it really is part two. Pandora's Star without Judas Unchained is half a story, and vice versa. These books don't stand alone.

The general theme is as follows. Because of their ability to control the formation and location of wormholes, humans have expanded throughout the galaxy. They've encountered a few sentient alien species, but none that were particularly harmful to human interests.

An astronomer was "lucky" enough to watch a star... disappear. However, it didn't just disappear. It was enveloped in some type of super cocoon. What technology could envelop a star? Did an advanced race put this cocoon up to protect it from a greater danger? Or was something very, very dangerous, penned inside?

We needed to find out.

As a mission approaches the barrier, it suddenly switches off, and humans meet MorningLightMountain. Let's just leave it at "bad things begin to happen."

These "bad things" result in a fight for, quite simply, the survival of humans as a species (in Judas Unchained).

If that's not enough, this series also has the mysterious Starflyer, possibly manipulating both races to get them to annihilate each other so that it can pick up the pieces. Of course, Starflyer is a myth, right? Only zealots care about Starflyer.

You don't want to miss the history of MorningLightMountain in chapter 18 of Pandora's Star (remember the tale of opening Pandora's box?).

Humans, by the way, have really ratcheted up their biotechnology: re-life, rejuvenation, memory crystals, defensive and offensive implants ("wet wired"), and connections to the unisphere.

Cool.

There are very complicated personal relationships in both books, and, I have to admit, they begin to get tedious. Hence the four stars.

Judas Unchained brings all the loose threads together. Will humans survive? Is Starflyer real? Do the interests of the Dynasty Families lie with the human race?

Your questions will be answered. Make sure you have time to read all 2000 pages!

OMG, what went wrong? After reading PANDORAS STAR, which I loved (overlooking the excessive exposition), I looked forward to the follow up in JUDAS UNCHAINED, but what I found was a long suffering, boring book. Hamilton goes on and on and on and on about the naval security force investigation that turns this non-science fiction into a tired police story. If I wanted to read a mystery I would have bought a mystery. I wanted science fiction that stimulated my imagination. This didn't do it.
After 900 pages of PANDORAS STAR and getting into 600+ pages of this 1000 page thick excuse for a sci-fi novel, I realized I had to press on to the end since I already had so much time invested. I wish I hadn't.
Like some reviewers have stated, both books waste entirely too much time with description of useless minutia and not enough story. Who cares about the breeze in the trees or the color of the sidewalk, GIVE ME STORY and not endless exposition! This seems to be the way of most authors today who are so in love with their words, they loose sight of just telling a good story, that the reader and ultimatly the paying audience, can enjoy.
What the author has done here is take one good story and strech it into two books, maybe in the attempt to make twice the money. This story would have been better served in one 600 or 700 page book, then he really would have had something here worth reading.

This is the 4th book in the Malazan series. This is the book that introduced one of my favorite characters in the Malazan series, Karsa Orlong. He makes a grand entrance and does not let up. Any fan of Erikson will love this book.

As you already know this book follows Deadhouse Gates (Book 2), so you know where this book takes place. And it mentions events of Deadhouse Gates all the time, so do not read out of order.

When I first started to read this book I was thinking it would take me 2 months to read if not longer. Why you ask? Deadhouse Gates was good but slow, so I was not all that interested in the events in Raraku. But with the end goal of reading the whole series.... I started it. WOW it was a good book, keep my interest throughout the whole book. In the end I read it in just under one month.

Breakdown:
Begining ~ Nothing to do with Raraku, very entertaining.
Middle ~ A little slow, but with enough going on to hold your attention.
End ~ Best part of the book, you will learn a lot and its fun to read how everything falls apart.

If you have already read the first 3 books you will read this one, just be content to know that this one will keep you picking up the book everyday.

Enjoy!

The further I have gotten in this series the more I like his books and writing. His characters and dialogue are great and the plots seem to flow better now than they did in the first couple of books. There is still some confusion with multiple warrens/worlds,characters, powers, etc. that leave a lot of questions but I think I am begining to feel that is a more realistic approach to storytelling. We do not always get all the answers. I do sometimes wish his descriptions of creatures/people were a little better occasionally.

In this book I really liked the introduction of Karsa Orlong and did not see his story as detracting from the series as some others have.

Great world, great characters, great dialogue, good action, great thinking, good plot all adds up to a 5 review and a wonderfully enjoyable and thoughtful series.

See my review of Deadhouse Gates for context if you wish.

Erikson's first book was a fun, if confusing fantasy novel. His 2nd book was a gore and rape filled horror slog through hell. I understand some of that was necessary for the point he was trying to make, but I felt it was over the top.

With the third and fourth books of the series he has finally found the balance he needs to bring all his elements together. He is still 1/2 horror novelist, 1/2 fantasy novelist, but the mix of these two elements comes more naturally and there is more humor, and pleasant characterization going on. The plot is intensely complicated, and each book adds even more characters to learn about. Read the other reviews for plot elements and such, but here are the few things you really need to know:
Erikson is a great writer of very complex stories. If you like world building you will be wildly impressed, but often confused!
He likes war, soldiers, strategy, gods and magic and the books are FULL of these elements
He dislikes romantic stuff. People do care for each other and there have been some meaningful story lines that have a relationship bent, but in general he avoids them. Even when it happens it is never "romantic"
He has a sarcastic and cutting sense of humor that I really enjoy

Try the first three books (you'll make it through the 2nd I promise... jsut keep going) and you'll know exactly what you're going to get.

I loved the first book of the series, Gardens of the moon. Unfortunately each new book is a little bit less then the previous one, and this one is the worst of the 4 i've red so far.

First, how annoying is it to have new major charachters in ever single book? What's the point of sequels if i have to deal with hundreds of boring pages that bring new charachters to life over and over again? By the time you reach the forth book of epic fantasy, it's inexcuable.

Second, since Deathhouse gate the story drags to much. The whole books consist of one little element that is streched thru enitre book, at the end of which only 10% of developed polots are concluded, making you feel like an idiot for reading 800 pages to find out almost nothing - pretty cheap trick from Mr. Erikson to ensure a million sequels. In which the same thing starts over again.

And finaly, since Gardens of the moon, there has been to much characher's invards thoughts, particularly consiting of cheap philosphy. Do we really need that in fantasy books? The whole series it starting to get a little bit to "outthere", to apstract, almost like he's losing touch with ceirtan forms of reality that are desirable in fantasy. Wonder if he'll come up with a fifth race now, that is even more ancients than the already superpowerfull ons that followed them.

This book is the first where i actually started to skip pages because it was to boring and pointless...i knew i wouldn't miss anything since the story drags so. Well, the whole Mhybe thing in the third book was wreched as well, but there were other charachters that more than made up for it.

Those are the bad things, however there is a lot of good things that continue over from previous books so by now you should know them. Overall i love this series and will place an order for books 5&6, hoping they will be as good as book number 1, or at least not as bad as book number 4. Thou i was shocked some people dare compare it to Martin. We need faster turn of events with less dancing around the subject, charachters we love on regulars basis, less introspection of such constant basis and more substance and conclusion per book. Then we can talk about this series being a contender for top3 places of modern epic fantasy.

When you read this novel it will begin to give you a fuller story of Star Wars, its not as simple as Bad and Good.

I played the KOTOR game and loved it, So when I heard they were making a comic book that was going to take place during the mandalorian wars I was very excited. This comic is different enough from the game to be a separate story, but still have that KOTOR feeling. I really enjoyed reading it and will probably start collecting the comics.

This story reads like a precuel to Lucas' Knights of the Old Republic video games. It is excellent. In it you can FEEL the rot in the Republic and the weakness and stupidity of the Jedi Order. The Jedi all come out as idealists. And all are in the wrong paths. Except for the young Jedi apprentices. It is as if as they grow all Jedi IN the Order become twisted.

It's nearly 3,900 years before Episode IV. On the city-planet Taris, Jedi padawan Zayne Carrick is about as big a bumbler as one can get - in fact, he's so inept that he's become a running joke not only with his fellow padawan, but with their masters as well. However, the laughter's over once Zayne's classmates are found murdered on the night they are to be promoted to Jedi Knights - and Zayne is the prime suspect. What ensues is a chase through the many urban levels of Taris and the surrounding solar system as Zayne tries to figure out how he became framed for the crime and discover the true killers. Along the way he befriends the wily smuggler Gryph and a pair of offbeat scofflaws as the evidence mounts - and points to a solution no one expected.

I have to be honest - I didn't expect very much out of this volume; I picked it up on a whim. What drew me to it was Brian Ching's pencil work (those of you familiar with his art on the Clone Wars series know what I'm talking about - it is dramatic and reminiscent of the conceptual work of Ian McCaig; Ching pencils most of this volume), but I also found myself interested in the story. Certainly, it is not an original plot by any means - this kind of tale is about as standard as any you'll find. Additionally, none of the characters are too relatable or innovative. However, the dark thoroughfares that this Star Wars yarn takes you down are surprisingly compelling, and the ending quite unexpected, and none too tidy. I'll be interested to take a look at Vol. 2. Recommended for the Star Wars fan and those looking for some great artwork.

It seems no one is able to come up with a fresh angle on Star Wars.

Here we have a new series set four millennia prior to the Anakin/Luke saga, a wonderful opportunity to do something different, to try on some new clothes, to even do an extensive makeover. What we get is a rearrangement of the essential elements: a Jedi-centric story featuring a white teenage boy set in the midst of a galaxy-wide war populated with the same old species playing the same tired roles.

The story is the film prequel in reverse. Our "hero," Zayne Carrick, is the evil chosen one, a padawan feared by a secret group of Jedi seers to be the next Sith Lord. Framing Carrick for murder, the Jedi cabal intends to arrest and then liquidate him - and all on a very flimsy pretense. In a seance-like trance, the seers have a joint vision of a Sith in a red suit. And, by gosh, Garrick has a red environment suit that looks eerily similar, in a trance induced dream-like way. Even George Bush had more credible evidence for his adventure in Iraq.

Zayne turns the tables by escaping and promising to hunt down every last one of the seers in order to clear his name. So rather than a chosen one who turns out to be the Jedi's nemesis, we have a supposed Sith Lord who appears set to save the Jedi - and the universe.

Admittedly, this is a clever plotting twist and not the only surprise writer John Jackson Miller has up his sleeve. In fact, given the warmed-over flavor of the concept, it's Miller's scripting and plotting chops that rescue the series from utter mediocrity. Besides a sharp wit and deft sense of comic timing, his writing is crisp and cinematic, with no exposition to slow the pace of events. He's aided and abetted by Brian Ching's pencils, some very sharp art that is sorely missed in Travel Forman's anime-style fifth chapter.

To be fair, Dark Horse and Miller may not be entirely to blame for the repackaged characters and plot devices. With two best-selling video games built around this era, Lucas Arts no doubt also had a say. While you need not have played the games to enjoy these comics, it might help if you haven't read or watched too much Star Wars. For those that have, you can play spot-the-retread:

+ Jedi obsessed with the reappearance, after a long period of inactivity, of the Sith
+ A Jedi council that despite its collection of big brains doesn't have a collective idea of what goes on among its members
+ Yoda leading the Jedi academy (actually, he has another name and a little more hair, but otherwise he's Yoda)
+ The Jedi council chamber looking the same as 1000 years later
+ A junk heap of a ship that breaks down at inopportune moments
+ Spaceships escaping pursuit in asteroid fields
+ Self-absorbed drifters and shady merchants who abandon the hero, only to return to rescue him from certain death

While Star Wars fans have come to expect this kind of patchwork storytelling in the EU, it would be of great service to the Star Wars universe as a whole if writers didn't borrow every latest addition and shoe-horn it into stories set in the far past. It makes for a static universe. In Commencement, for example, we have a Jedi talking about the "Living Force," a concept first introduced through Qui Gon Jinn. By the time it appears now in The Phantom Menace it is a tired and perhaps even trite conception. The same goes for "Shatterpoint," from the Clone Wars novel of the same name. Mace Windu's ability to perceive the universe as a woven object with points of stress, weakness, vulnerabilities - shatterpoints - is as a result of the millennial retrofit now stripped of any special associations with Windu or the Clone Wars. This same process of over-drawing from the idea-bank applies as well to species. One of Commencement's minor characters, a restaurant manager, is a Besalisk, who fans know most commonly as the four-armed biped Dex, the diner proprietor from Attack of the Clones. Besides robbing this species of a history that might have involved being discovered in the four thousand years between KOTOR and the Clone Wars, the Besalisk are now under threat for the next four millennia of being relegated to service in the food and beverage industry.

Miller and Dark Horse aren't the only ones guilty of this kind of clumsy universe crafting and I mention it here only because this volume offers a few choice examples. Despite its flaws, though, Commencement is a better than average comic and a lot more entertaining than the current novel series, Legacy of the Force. I'm looking forward to the next chapter - and hoping to see a little more originality.

#

This is not her best book. Nothing lined up right for me. The character didn't act believable. The character's had no depth to them. Everything in this book happened quickly and the reactions from the character in the book didn't mesh up. I couldn't stand Kathy. (I love Raphael but I don't want to be with a vampire)

Get this book from your library.

90% of this book is describing the battles. And they aren't even interesting descriptions. Most of the battles were pretty much described the same way too so there was no variety. Heldenhammer was much better. This book also jumps around too much between times. I would have rather seen it divided up beginning, middle end instead of flipping back and forth through multiple time periods. There was very little character examination. Nagash is simply a crazed loon and you don't get a chance to really look at his character. He spends most of his time acting like a generic bad guy. Overall I would say for rabid warhammer fans get it, but don't expect much.

I was marginably disappointed by Heldenhammer, the first of the Time of Legends books. While the character devlopment was good, certain aspects of the story were a bit of a let down. Not so with Nagash, the first of three novels detailing the exploits of the Great Necromancer.

Nagash exudes evil like stars exude light. It isn't overblown until his rise to power, and his balancing act of politics and his horrific experiemnts and magical study will make your skin crawl. The supporting characters, a motley collection of scum and villany, are well fleshed out and still manage to appear as individuals, rather than being lumped into the general thug and important thug categories.

The scenery and culture of Nehekhara is incredibly vivid and well described. The plot bounces around at times, sometimes forcing you to make educated guesses for certain terms until they're defined later. However, it proceeds at a decent pace, slowing for background, and picking up steam during the great war between Nagash and the other Priest-Kings of his homeland.

There are some significant and some not so significant deviations from accepted lore. The Blessed Land apparently had their own pantheon of gods, which provided very real, very tangible rewards to their worshippers, and are incredibly entertaining, though they're essentially molded after the major egyptian pantheon, though few people could miss that subtle reference. A couple other points can be glossed over or easily retconned, but quite a few definitely are different from fluff provided for the tabletop game.

The in-depth lore is what makes the book 5 stars. The building of the Black Pyramid, Nagashs education in dark magic by the Dark Elves, his monstrous attacks and atrocities performed during the war give the novel a punch I was not expecting so early in the trilogy.

The only downside is some of the macroed text. They apparently did a lot of metal beating back in the day, as every descriptive of armor and equipment includes the word "hammered" at least twice. While I appreciate detail and visual cues as much as the next reader, a thesaurus would've helped.

However, my annoyances at lack of descriptive terms pale beside the entertainment and depth of the book. While you might shake your head at the stupidity of some of the other characters for their actions towards Nagash, you'll find yourself rooting them on. Definitely looking forward to his dealings with the Skaven in book 2.

Mike Lee is a notorious lore butcher, he writes beautiful stories, but fails to follow what warhammer has set the lore to be. with the nagash book it was no different. i loved the book and will purchase all sequals, but am disappointed that he got only the general outline of nagashes history.

*SPOILER WARNING*

the general lore is accurate, yes...but on most details he fails to stay true to the lore, the vampires (called "immortals" in the book) are not weak to sunlight until nagash curses them with this affliction for betraying him. in the end, when nagash is defeated, he is not betrayed by arkhan, arkhan gives his live to save nagash. nagash also escapes into the desert, where he almost dies and becomes a liche, he does not get transported straight to the brittle peaks and to the warpstone surplus located there. these are the three biggest lore-faults that i found with this book. once again, i loved this book, and would recommend it to any1 who likes nagash, just be warned that it is only partially accurate.

This book succeeds where books like Heldenhammer fall almost flat. In the ancient empire of Nehekhara Nagash's father dies and he begins plotting to seize total power. As royalty and a high ranking priest in the Mortuary cult, he is delighted when dark elf prisoners fall into his hands and he strikes a deal with the dangerous followers of Malekith to learn the black arts from them in order for sparing their lives.

From their it only gets better, as an epic story of world gripping ambition, black treachery and the epic struggle of Ancient civilization whose covenant with their Old Gods is threatened by the Dark Forces Nagash threatens to unleash upon the entire world.

Brave Kings and Priests of Old Gods of Nehekhara must take a stand against one of the greatest evils the world has ever seen and beware treachery from their own as they fight to preserve their way of life against the undead legions of Nagash and his evil folllowers. It all leads to an epic showdown at the most ancient city of Nehekhara between the heroes of that great civilization and the Black Necromancers evil sorcery.

The book was advertised accurately and it was in fine shape when I received it.

Thanks

It's not hard too hard to understand why this series was so successful. It's written in a very easy to read style, the pacing is quick, the subject matter is very interesting, and it's obviously written in a style to appeal to women and men. The romance element of this book is a little strange; why in a book about the end times and the Antichrist is a romance element so prominent? (Does she like me? Does she not like me?) The book is definitely not as heavy as Randy Alcorn's Deadline (Ollie Chandler Series #1), which is more intellectually stimulating but a more challenging read. Having said that, I plan to read at least one more book in the series.

Two minor criticisms: The phone call from Eli at the end of the book was strange. When Buck had such as significant meeting with him earlier, it seems awkward to reduce Eli to a normal sounding phone conversation. The last 10-15 pages were awkward too. Why fast forward 18 months and change so many characters' situations so quickly?

Yes, I read this one too, hoping that somehow it would be better. It was but it is still unbearable. I sincerely do not care about the teaching - it's all in the technique. The same thoughts of the characters are related over and over and over, it hits you over the head with LaHaye's views, it's really just horrible. There is plenty of other good and even great eschatological fiction out there, much even from the same theological perspective. Invesitgate that instead.

I tried reading the third book as well but could only make it half way through before I decided to stop punishing myself, so I did not write a review for it.

The Rapture and biblical prophecy are fascinating subjects that could be the basis for a roller coaster modern story. Unfortunately the authors dilute the potential with long, boring, inconsequential text. I trudged through the first 2 books, then finally threw in the towel on the 3rd after reading a *chapter* describing a traffic jam! The best of this series could be distilled to just a few books but, keeping with the theme, it's already too late...

Leave this false rapture teaching behind. Read Carl Olson's "Will Catholics be left behind?" Totally debunks the "Rapture" and these books.