Captain Vorpatril's Alliance (Vorkosigan Saga)
Captain Vorpartil’s Alliance is an extremely entertaining book for me. There is a lot of humour and witty dialogue in it and many situations just invite to laugh.Meet captain Ivan Xav Vorpatril who, thanks to helping an old friend to watch over someone, gets into a very strange situation, one that is supposed to be only temporary: he gets married. His wife, who comes from a high family on another planet in an entirely different area of the universe, brings with her a heritage that she herself was not even aware of, but when Ivan Xav’s family in law arrives, things really take a turn for the worse!
The Dragonriders Of Pern (Turtleback School & Library Binding Edition)
I really enjoyed Dragonriders of Pern. Anne McAffrey paints a fascinating world, the world of Pern, that used to be threatened by mysterious matter falling from the sky whenever the Red Star appears. This Red Star has not been around for a long long time (many Turns), so the ways of old to counter the mysterious falling Threads have been fallen in disuse. And then the Red Star appears again.Ann McAffrey introduces a wonderful world with fabulous characters and many dragons, that will not disappoint the avid fantasy reader.
The book I read consists of the first 3 Dragonriders stories, I have for now stopped after the first story as there is so much more to read… but I’ll return to Pern.
The Eye of the Heron
"The word for world is forest" is one of the books that is contained in the rumour that it influenced James Cameron to make his Avatar film. While I can see some similarities, there are not more in this book than there are in e.g. Fern Gulley, or Dances with Wolves (also contained in the rumour)."The word for world is forest" introduces us to a planet with lots of forest, inhabited by a species of small creatures who call themselves the Ashthean, and who are related to humans. This species has a special way of interacting with their world, through dreams. Their peaceful life is disrupted when the humans arrive and see a lot of potential in this planet, being the trees. This is the start of an interesting number of events, where humans and Ashthean learn a lot.
Heart of the Gods
Heart of the Gods. The first book I read that mixed fantasy and ancient Egypt. And what a surprising read this made. Meet Ky Farrar, a man driven by a passion to learn about the Tomb of the Guardian that is hidden somewhere in the vastness of the Egyptian desert. A tomb that has been looked for by many and so far found by no one. Together with his team he ventures on a journey to locate the tomb. As a reward, he gets beaten up, shot at, and almost thrown out of the country. Meeting a mysterious woman who knows her way around the Egyptian culture is an extra reward. But who is this woman that steals Ky's heart?If you want to know more about tombs, Djinns, and the old Egyptian Gods, then this fast-paced book is definitely one you should not miss.
Gods of Atlantis
I gave up on this book after getting little further than halfway. It started very well, interesting, with a lot of things going on, but then the story dwindled down to lengthy conversations with lots of details about the lives of all characters. Also enormous amounts of information and background on mythology, archaeology and other historical facts are touched in the book. For a long time I forced myself to read on - after all, this could not last. Unfortunately it did.If you like in-depth details about the topics I mentioned here, this is the book for you. If you like a book where something happens, you might reconsider.
The Hunger Games (Hunger Games Series #1)
I had heard a lot about The Hunger Games. There are books, there is a film. After a while I became intrigued and purchased the e-book. At first it was difficult to get ‘into’ the story, as I could not entirely place it in its temporal context, but as soon as that was over (took me a while, I admit), the book became good, and more interesting as I progressed.I find the background of the Hunger Games shocking. Think of a society that looks nice, advanced, refined, and then there are the Hunger Games. The background of the games is laid out very well in the story, and it’s done in a way that is not boring. The story moves along at a good pace and has a nice balance between introspection of the main character, Katniss, and what happens around her. The story also shows what can go around inside the heads of people when they are thrown into an arena where literally they battle for life and death.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Hunger Games. I am not certain if I shall continue with the other two books in the series. Perhaps in time.
The Sable City (Norothian Cycle, #1)
The Sable City was a very good read. Very good indeed. Mr. McNally introduced me to a wonderful world with a wide variety of aspects, people, cultures and terrains. We meet a Guilder called Tilda Lanai who sets out on a journey with a Captain of the House Deskata. They need to find someone, and as should be expected, finding this person is not the easiest of tasks.Encountering many colourful (and also less colourful but nonetheless entertaining) characters and people, we learn the secret behind, and the dangers of the Sable City, and we see many questions answered, during which also beautiful and interesting relationships emerge and intriguing truths are told.
Mr. McNally presents, with The Sable City, an interesting mix of fantasy and known (Earthly) aspects, which is definitely worth reading. There are two more books in this series called "the Norothian Cycle", Death of a Kingdom, as well as The Wind from Miilark, both of which I am definitely going to buy and read.
The Wrath Of Fate
Let me begin by saying that I am a huge fan of Abney Park and their music. The idea that Robert had written a book about the band and how this would weave through the song texts of the latest albums was very appealing.The idea of the book is very nice, I liked how it started. I did not manage to end it, however. After about 1/3 of the book, the number of errors in writing and in some of the historical facts were bad enough to make me stop. The manuscript could do with a spell-checker and a person who would do at least some basic editing. Alas.
Werehunter
Werehunter is an entertaining collection of short stories and the occasional novella from the hand of Mercedes Lackey. The diversity of the subjects and environments of the stories is quite broad, which makes every story a surprise.There is not much more I can say about this book, as there are many stories in it. If you like collections of short stories, this is certainly one to look for. And the good thing is that you can get it for free at Baen Ebooks.
The Map of Time: A Novel
The Map of Time is a very special book. At first it pulled me in, as the story was very intriguing. Then I wondered why the story went on and on about a person. I was not sure in what way this contributed to the book - until part two started. An entirely new thread in the book, it seemed - except it wasn't. And the same thing happened for part three of the book as well, during which it became clearer and clearer how all the parts were interconnected.I find it difficult to say more about the book unless I give things away, which I would hate to do. Let me hence state that I enjoyed the company of the cousins Charles and Andrew, felt pleasure in the events around Tom and Claire, and time travel will never be the same again.
The Devolution Chronicles: Passage to Niburu
Passage to Niburu is the first book of a set of two. The story starts on Earth, with a number of very strange and apparently unrelated abductions. All the abductees are brought together and blasted into space, on the way to a moon station. When they are threatened by a missile, things become precarious for the crew of the moon-shuttle and interesting for the reader. A lieutenant who is not who he claims to be is a bonus to the perils of the people on board.If you like fast-paced action, diverse characters and interesting creatures that not only come from outer space, true science, witty quips and also ethical questions, then Passage to Niburu is the book for you. It is followed by the book Rise of the Chimera (of which a review will follow as soon as I have read it).