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Rivers of London (Midnight Riot in the US) is the first novel in the Peter …
Thoroughly enjoyable, easy reading. Plot moves quickly, very visible set up for the continuing series.
The wizards of Unseen University in the ancient city of Ankh-Morpork must win a football …
More lighthearted than other recent pTerry novels, I didn't expect to enjoy this and was pleasantly surprised. May go on the pile of pTerry stories to revisit on rainy days.
The Wanderer is a science fiction novel by American writer Fritz Leiber, published as a paperback original by Ballantine Books …
All of the 36 billion people who ever lived on Earth are simultaneously resurrected on a world that has been …
You should learn a programming language every year, as recommended by The Pragmatic Programmer. But if one per year is …
The Count of Monte Cristo (French: Le Comte de Monte-Cristo) is an adventure novel written …
The seminal revenge novel, with themes of redemption and justice.
Wow, it's freakin' long. Took months to read all 117 chapters. Oddly though, pretty well paced. At no point was I bored with it, which is not something that can be said for novels of a significantly shorter length.
Understandable how this has never been well transferred to either the small or big screen. The intertwining plots and motivations are so multitudinous, that it requires a notebook just to keep track of all that's going on. Very much enjoyed the conclusion, care was taken to wrap up all the story lines and unlike many novels I've read recently, the ending is heart-warming.
Well worth the time. All of it.
Enoch Wallace took part in the American Civil War. Today, he lives on his family's farm a solitary existence, and doesn't look to have aged a day. Wallace is responsible for a way station, a stop over point on a galactic transport network that brings him visitors from far and distant planets.
Enoch is a very likeable character. A simple man, he brings an air of personal responsibility. He believes in solving problems on his own means, and keeps a certain honour about himself. Not perfect, by far, but he always strives to learn, having grasped alien languages and branches of advanced off-world mathematics. Very little phases him, and the relationship he has with aliens tends to be one of friendship and comradeship - rarely is he hung up on appearance. Enoch is a wonderful ambassador for the human race.
The story starts following two viewpoints - Enoch and his …
Enoch Wallace took part in the American Civil War. Today, he lives on his family's farm a solitary existence, and doesn't look to have aged a day. Wallace is responsible for a way station, a stop over point on a galactic transport network that brings him visitors from far and distant planets.
Enoch is a very likeable character. A simple man, he brings an air of personal responsibility. He believes in solving problems on his own means, and keeps a certain honour about himself. Not perfect, by far, but he always strives to learn, having grasped alien languages and branches of advanced off-world mathematics. Very little phases him, and the relationship he has with aliens tends to be one of friendship and comradeship - rarely is he hung up on appearance. Enoch is a wonderful ambassador for the human race.
The story starts following two viewpoints - Enoch and his day to day life, and a CIA operative who has been watching him for many years. Enochs life is simple, and uncomplicated until the operative interferes, kickstarting a series of events that increase in complexity until a crescendo is reached.
The number of books with a genuine "happy ending" that doesn't feel contrived are few and far between. This is one of them, and happily goes on my pile of books to read on a rainy day, or when in a less than superb mood. It's honestly uplifting.
One minute, down and out actor Lorenzo Smythe was — as usual — in a …
As far as I can tell, Heinlein has two big political novels: Starship Troopers and Double Star. I first read Starship Troopers over Christmas 2012, and to be honest I rather enjoyed it. Yes, there's a major military glorification, and Heinlein's views that citizenship should be earnt through service are not for everyone, but I could respect the viewpoint, and the story was well paced.
Double Star is a completely different approach. We start with a definitely unlikeable protagonist who is so up his own backside that today he would probably carry a business card saying "Rockstar Developer". An out of work actor from the age of luvvies, he's hired to act as a double on behalf of a major political figure that's gone missing. Over time, he starts to become the figure, even thinking like him, until not much of the original person remains. The politics are distinctly different, …
As far as I can tell, Heinlein has two big political novels: Starship Troopers and Double Star. I first read Starship Troopers over Christmas 2012, and to be honest I rather enjoyed it. Yes, there's a major military glorification, and Heinlein's views that citizenship should be earnt through service are not for everyone, but I could respect the viewpoint, and the story was well paced.
Double Star is a completely different approach. We start with a definitely unlikeable protagonist who is so up his own backside that today he would probably carry a business card saying "Rockstar Developer". An out of work actor from the age of luvvies, he's hired to act as a double on behalf of a major political figure that's gone missing. Over time, he starts to become the figure, even thinking like him, until not much of the original person remains. The politics are distinctly different, and Heinlein expresses a viewpoint of freedom, trade and expansion. It feels distinctly different in tone to Troopers, and is rather refreshing.
The political plot is quite straightforward, but clever enough to keep the story going and get his point across. The read is quick, and not too taxing, nor are the morals as overbearing. The theme of identity and sacrifice runs throughout, with an interesting conclusion to the story. It's not overbearing.
Heck, in many ways I'd probably say better than Troopers. More subtle and less ramming, elements of Dick shine through, in a pre-Dick era.
After a devastating tsunami destroys all that they have ever known, Mau, an island boy, and Daphne, an aristocratic English …
Guy Montag was a fireman whose job it was to start fires...
The system was simple. Everyone understood it. Books …
The Man in the High Castle is an alternate history novel by American writer Philip K. Dick. Published and set …
It is the late 21st Century and the Moon has been colonized -- as a giant, open, prison. Every aspect …
