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Michael

mtorpey@ramblingreaders.org

Joined 1 year, 4 months ago

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Michael's books

Samuel Pepys: Great Fire of London (2015, Penguin Books, Limited) 3 stars

Review of 'Great Fire of London' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

A well-chosen extract, with a deeply personal insight into life in 17th-century London, and a gripping real-time account of a dramatic disaster. Quite a lot of extra stuff I don't care about (I don't know who all these people are) but it's amazing to think this was a person's actual diary, written day by day.

reviewed The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman (His Dark Materials, #2)

Philip Pullman: The Subtle Knife (Paperback, 1998, Del Rey) 4 stars

As the boundaries between worlds begin to dissolve, Lyra and her daemon help Will Parry …

Review of 'The Subtle Knife' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Entirely different from the first book in tone and scope, but continuing the excellent story and delivering everything that was promised and more. Suffers a little from second-in-the-trilogy syndrome, meandering and not quite satisfying on its own.

Again I listened to the excellent audiobook version, by the author and a full cast.

reviewed Northern Lights (His Dark Materials (1))

Review of 'Northern Lights' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

A plot-driven adventure, told from the point of view of a single character - but told in such style and in such a vivid universe that it kept me interested all the way through. Furthermore, the greater meaning of the adventure is kept hidden from the main character and from the reader, except for a few tantalising glimpses of things to come.

I listened to the audiobook version - an exceptional reading by a full cast, which brings the story to life even more.

Robert Harris: Lustrum (2009) 4 stars

Lustrum (US: Conspirata; 2009) is a historical novel by British author Robert Harris. It is …

Review of 'Lustrum' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Fascinating historical novel about the dying days of the Roman Republic. Just as good as Imperium (#1), but more exciting - things are really getting serious. It's thrilling, addictive and readable, and by the end we were so hooked we had to start Dictator straight away.

J. K. Rowling, Jack Thorne, John Tiffany: HARRY POTTER AND THE CURSED CHILD (PARTS ONE AND TWO) (Chinese Edition) by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne, John Tiffany (2016) 4 stars

Review of 'HARRY POTTER AND THE CURSED CHILD (PARTS ONE AND TWO) (Chinese Edition) by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne, John Tiffany' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

My family did a dramatic reading on holiday, and it definitely brought the play to life. After nine years it's great to get back into the Harry Potter world. I'm guessing J.K. Rowling didn't have much to do with this project - with cheesy cameos and sentimental one-liners it reads more like fan-fiction than anything else - but it's good in its own right. Think of it as a new story written by John Tiffany and Jack Thorne, not the eighth Harry Potter book.