An interesting book with an interesting world that is slightly hard to get into but then becomes an interesting book as it goes on. Setting up Max Silverskin for his quest almost took too long but the pace gets better as he goes along his quest and then it stops.

There's probably a sequel, I don't know if I'm motivated enough to hunt it up. Not that this is a bad book, no, it's just that it wasn't all that special. The world is interesting, where families are associated with metals and some of the minor families have their names because they were marriages between specific houses. A brilliantly concieved world with a lot of interesting issues going on. Very steampunk lite but with a very mythic feel.

If I come across book two in the library I'd consider reading it, but I would have no real enthuaism for the hunt.

I didn't care about the characters, nor did the story of a war of gods being played on a human level move me. It was readable but not memorable.

An interesting exercise in using the viewpoint of the bad guys but it just doesn't seem to work quite right for me.

Not a book to read if you're new to the series because a lot of the events follow on from the previous book. Eric and Magnus are trying to get Magnus free from their parents. Their parents have joined forces with Ace's and things are getting worse whien some of the Unseighle join in.

I found it difficult to get into this one but at around page 150 it started to drag me in and then took me on a rollercoaster of a great sf detective novel. It takes voodoo, AI and psychology and creates a great read.

A bunch of friends decide to go across europe following lines of energy which seem to follow a fair amount of Michael sites. Interesting but sometimes they make leaps that are just too much for my poor mind to accept.

Interesting read to work out what you really want and need from your wardrobe rather than relying on fashion and trends to tell you what you should be wearing. Concentrates on getting you to think about your clothes rather than relying on someone else to tell you. Requires a lot of work, which I didn't put in but it did make me think about my clothes.

One of the big things I got from it was not to buy something because I need the clothes or because someone else thinks I should but because I feel comfortble and confident in them.

A fun Russian fantasy romp that captures the spirit of some Russian fairy tales. Magic, shapeshifting, love twarted and a beauty and the beast storyline weaves through this to provide a really great read.

Damiano Delstrega is an interesting character. His dog talks to him, the Archangel Raphael teaches him music and the beginning of the book sees him being left behind by his fellow villagers while they run away from an invading army. Through the trilogy he learns about life and love from a variety of people, not all of whom want to seem him alive and lives through plagues, wars and starvation.

Left Hand of Darkness is an interesting book, seminal and of it's time and yes it is a classic,however the message seems to overwhelm the actual story. I didn't really care for the characters and didn't really mind what happened to them.

This is a good starter on reincarnation. However if you've read anything about this before this really isn't anything new. Don't get me wrong, the story of a psychiatrist finding out that examining the past lives of a patient of his would help her in her present. During the sessions he gets messages about being nicer to people and by being better to people we help ourselves.

Does it add anything to the existing corpus of stuff about reincarnation. Not really, it does though show a professional changing his mind when he's faced with the evidence

To me it read like a long-term role-playing campaign and despite the plaudits I was quite unmoved by the entire thing. Not even curious about the rest of the series. That having been said it wasn't the worst thing I've read in a long time, just not really what appeals to me.

I was a little underwhelmed with this one, a book that comes with a lot of recommendations from people all around the place. I dunno, I never really connected with all the characters and I felt myself almost wanting to skip specific chapters.

To be honest it was a readable book but compares unfavourably with David Weber's Excalabur Alternative which has largely the same premise but I found it a better read.

A very readable georgian style period piece. Enjoyable characters with believable characters that made me want them to succeed or not succeed. The minor plot device of having different periods of time going on simultaneously didn't really work for me but I can understand how the writer wanted to explain what was going on but sometimes it jarred a little and I had to re-read parts in order to get what was going on. It was very good at showing how secrets can lead to confusion about motives and come between people.

Finished 13/2/6


Well I've got through the Andre Norton section, being an fan it was for her I really bought the book, the others aren't bad either. Arthur C Clarke, Isaac Asimov, Alfred Bester and Ray Bradbury feature. Interesting and varied stories.

finished 11th February 2006
An interesting mix of stories with an average of 6 pages per story, many much shorter. Some Urban Fantasy, some horror, some quite ingenius some very cliched.

Interesting if bitty fantasy that left me with no urge to find the sequels, in fact it almost works as a standalone. There's almost too many characters and they all seem to have no issues with being thrown into unusual circumstances. There is a lot of acceptance of the strange without wonder.

Just Finished



Thoughts: the first 100 pages were quite hard to get into, and I nearly abandoned the book but now I'm just flying through it.

It's pretty much an Alien living hidden in human society story. R'shiel is different, feels different, her mother is a political animal who won't let anything, even her children stand in the way of her ambitions. Her son, Tarja, is a captain on the front-lines, protecting the Sisterhood's society from the god worshipers. The gods have plans tho and they involve both of these people, who turn out not to really be brother and sister. Yeah kinda spoilerish but it's pretty telegraphed from the start.

Obvious first novel, screamingly obvious, and possibly a good editor would have tightened the first few chapters up to make it flow smoother and got the punters into the story quicker. Also the relationship developing into love between Tarja and R'Shiel, WTF? I have a foster sister, now granted she is my cousin but NEITHER of my brothers would even think of someone brought up from early on as ANYTHING other than a sister. Shame on the Goddess of Love for that squick.

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