Thursday, July 31, 2008
July '08
NIGHT WATCH
-T. Pratchett-fantasy
-338-Vimes goes back in time and must resolve a time conundrum to make "his" future happen. Vimes is getting old. Character age wise. Also interesting wise. Pratchett needs to move on. This whole book screamed "tired" at me. Sure, there were amusing parts, but overall, it seemed that trying to read it was as hard a process as Vimes getting up in the morning. The Discworld "ride" is slowing down and almost at the gate for debarking. I just hope Pratchett knows when to stop.
THE DARK SIDE OF THE SUN
-T. Pratchett-fantasy
-158-written back in '76, this is one of Pratchett's pre-Discworld novels. BUT. So many of the names and ideas from discworld were in this novel. Basically, a young man finds the creators of the known universe, the Jokers, who are now little lizards on his homeworld. It was a crazy story with huge jumps from point to point. A serious precursor to Discworld. Pratchett wrote one little book and then expanded it to a whole series and called it the Discworld :-)
FRUITS BASKET #18
-N. Takaya-manga
-209- this manga is no longer about Tohru, but about the cursed Soma family. I don't like this. Every single member of the clan is the most messed up person ever. Doesn't exactly make for uplifting reading. Ever time I get tempted to go buy Fruits Basket, I just read the next volume and it depresses me and the desire to buy disappears.
BARNABY RUDGE
-C. Dickens-classic
-599-An idiot[mentally retarded], Barnaby is swept up into mob action of protestants against catholics. Is caught and sentenced to hang, but in the end his many friends save him. Sidestories of an innkeepers son and a smith's daughter. A catholic landholders niece and a protestant "lord"'s son. Barnaby's father, who supposedly died many years ago. The protestant "lord"'s illegitimate son and his rabble rousing companions. Overall, it was a fictional account of a non-fictional incident [the riots of "something or other" or 1786 or whatever]. Dickens never writes just one story, but about 4-6 interweaving stories that are all tangentially connected. Good stuff!
COREAN CHRONICLES: LEGACIES
-L.E. Modesitt, Jr-fantasy
-558-a different series by Modesitt. A young man, a herder with some sort of talent, goes into a local militia. In a fight, is captured and taken prisoner. Forced to wear a collar that can kill unless orders are obeyed, he joins the other side. The other side is run by the Matrial, an ageless woman. In the end, the man destroys a crystal which seems to be the Matrial's lifesupport and takes a company of soldiers back to his homeland. I really enjoyed this story. A completely different flavor than Recluce and a very different writing style. It flowed, more novel like, instead of the choppiness that permeates the Recluce books. Look forward to reading more.
RECLUCE: SCION OF CYADOR
-L.E. Modesitt, Jr-fantasy
-720-Lorn becomes Emperor of Cyador in the end. This was a pretty flat book. It was like drinking cola that has been sitting open in the fridge all night long. It has taste, but not something you really want or like. I felt no connection with Lorn and I didn't see how him becoming Emperor would enable him to save Cyador. New faces but same problems and gridlock. Blah.
MALAZON BOOK OF THE FALLEN: DEADHOUSE GATES
-S. Erikson-fantasy
-598- oh man, where to start? I'm not really going into the plot, too many different threads, almost Dickensesque. I really enjoy this series. Erikson pays attention to detail, has a very fullbodied storyline and obviously has an overarching storyline. First thing though, it all gets confusing. Creatures more powerful than gods. So many different kinds, names, etc, etc. It seems to be getting to the point where being a god is pointless because there are so many other things just as, if not more, powerful. Second, nobody is safe. Anybody can die. Of course, nobody is of the Heroic Cast, so you dont really feel happy or sad about them. Thirdly, this book seemed filled with the hopelessness of living in such a world. One characters sums it up as "smile, what else is there?" There really is no hope for characters. Even death isn't always final, nor is it necessarily a release. Nor is god-hood a safety. There are things meant to simply deal with the powerful. I wouldn't want to live in this world, not at all!
Saturday, June 28, 2008
June '08
THE RUNELORDS: THE SUM OF ALL MEN
-D. Farland-fantasy
-613-a universe where endowments [brawn, wit, beauty, etc] can be taken and given. One Wolf Lord is trying to take over. A prince becomes a legendary king, the Earth King. Humanity has a common enemy called Reavers, some sort of huge insect like race. It was an ok story, but I wasn't wow'ed or really impressed.
RETIEF!
-K. Laumer-scifi
-589-a bunch of short stories about a diplomat named Jame Retief. He works in the CDT, a galaxy spanning Corp that is about as helpful as the Circumlocution Office in a Dickens' novel. He actually gets things done. Light and amusing. I like Laumer's stuff.
TSUBASA: RESERVOIR CHRONICLES #17
-Clamp-manga
-182
RECLUCE: COLORS OF CHAOS
-L.E. Modesitt, Jr-fantasy
-798-continues the story of Cerryl. This is a counter-story to Dorrin's tales. Really interesting to see how a True White is committed to protecting the weak and seeing that all play fair. I thought that the two books involving Cerryl were some of the best in the Recluce Saga.
FIFTH ELEPHANT
-Terry Pratchett-fantasy
-494-Vimes goes to Uberwald as a diplomat. Lots of things happen and Ankh Morpork gets good deals with the dwarves. It seems that Pratchett has replaced Rincewind [and other wizards] and the witches with Vimes. I am not sure how I feel about this. Vimes is a good protagonist but I really enjoyed the hapless terror that was the daily deal for Rincewind.
RECLUCE: MAGI'I OF CYADOR
-L.E. Modesitt, Jr-fantasy
-560-deals with Cyador. Near the end of its reign. The white power that the magi'i use is definitely on a different level than what the future white wizards use. Lorn is a magi who doesn't quite cut it so is sent to become a Lancer. He is constantly the center of plots to get rid of him. He has his own plots to take over Cyador. Deals a LOT with the Forest, that is restrained.
PROPHET
-F. Peretti-religious fiction
-461-A forties something news anchor must deal with God. His father is a prophet, who is killed. He is given the mantle and must confront the current governor about lies about abortion and the death of the governor's oldest daughter. A bit fluffy. The thing I really didn't like was how characters were thrown together without any apparent intro. I had to reread parts several times to make sure I hadn't missed something. I'd buy it hardover if I could find it cheap.
MALAZAN BOOK OF THE FALLEN: GARDENS OF THE MOON
-S. Erikson-fantasy
-488- An empire of humans is trying to take over the world, the Malazan Empire. There are also a plethora of gods, old and new, several additional races [all of which seem to be old and dying out] and various types of magics. Complicated. The Empress, who ousted the Emperor 15-20 years before the book starts, seems bent on taking over all that she can while also wiping out those in the army who still respect the Emperor. Follows one company who is set for destruction, called the Bridgeburners. Some High Magical Lord of an Elder race who must face a resurrected Tyrant who ruled for close to 3 Millenia back in the day. Gods playing around with fate and it is all tied together, even if not directly. Complicated, confusing and very indepth. I still don't feel like I have a grasp on everything that happened. I know that I missed stuff when I skimmed, but there was SO much that I couldn't help but skim. Definitely looking forward to reading more though.
-D. Farland-fantasy
-613-a universe where endowments [brawn, wit, beauty, etc] can be taken and given. One Wolf Lord is trying to take over. A prince becomes a legendary king, the Earth King. Humanity has a common enemy called Reavers, some sort of huge insect like race. It was an ok story, but I wasn't wow'ed or really impressed.
RETIEF!
-K. Laumer-scifi
-589-a bunch of short stories about a diplomat named Jame Retief. He works in the CDT, a galaxy spanning Corp that is about as helpful as the Circumlocution Office in a Dickens' novel. He actually gets things done. Light and amusing. I like Laumer's stuff.
TSUBASA: RESERVOIR CHRONICLES #17
-Clamp-manga
-182
RECLUCE: COLORS OF CHAOS
-L.E. Modesitt, Jr-fantasy
-798-continues the story of Cerryl. This is a counter-story to Dorrin's tales. Really interesting to see how a True White is committed to protecting the weak and seeing that all play fair. I thought that the two books involving Cerryl were some of the best in the Recluce Saga.
FIFTH ELEPHANT
-Terry Pratchett-fantasy
-494-Vimes goes to Uberwald as a diplomat. Lots of things happen and Ankh Morpork gets good deals with the dwarves. It seems that Pratchett has replaced Rincewind [and other wizards] and the witches with Vimes. I am not sure how I feel about this. Vimes is a good protagonist but I really enjoyed the hapless terror that was the daily deal for Rincewind.
RECLUCE: MAGI'I OF CYADOR
-L.E. Modesitt, Jr-fantasy
-560-deals with Cyador. Near the end of its reign. The white power that the magi'i use is definitely on a different level than what the future white wizards use. Lorn is a magi who doesn't quite cut it so is sent to become a Lancer. He is constantly the center of plots to get rid of him. He has his own plots to take over Cyador. Deals a LOT with the Forest, that is restrained.
PROPHET
-F. Peretti-religious fiction
-461-A forties something news anchor must deal with God. His father is a prophet, who is killed. He is given the mantle and must confront the current governor about lies about abortion and the death of the governor's oldest daughter. A bit fluffy. The thing I really didn't like was how characters were thrown together without any apparent intro. I had to reread parts several times to make sure I hadn't missed something. I'd buy it hardover if I could find it cheap.
MALAZAN BOOK OF THE FALLEN: GARDENS OF THE MOON
-S. Erikson-fantasy
-488- An empire of humans is trying to take over the world, the Malazan Empire. There are also a plethora of gods, old and new, several additional races [all of which seem to be old and dying out] and various types of magics. Complicated. The Empress, who ousted the Emperor 15-20 years before the book starts, seems bent on taking over all that she can while also wiping out those in the army who still respect the Emperor. Follows one company who is set for destruction, called the Bridgeburners. Some High Magical Lord of an Elder race who must face a resurrected Tyrant who ruled for close to 3 Millenia back in the day. Gods playing around with fate and it is all tied together, even if not directly. Complicated, confusing and very indepth. I still don't feel like I have a grasp on everything that happened. I know that I missed stuff when I skimmed, but there was SO much that I couldn't help but skim. Definitely looking forward to reading more though.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
May '08
MIDDLEMARCH
-G. Elliot-classic
-800-a look at a village named Middlemarch in the 1830's. Lots of people acting like people, ie, selfish and stupid. It was interesting, but people refused to talk to eachother and that really annoys me.
FOUNDING OF THE COMMONWEALTH: DIUTURNITY'S DAWN
-A.D. Foster-scifi
-341-I didn't even know what Diuturnity meant. It means "long lasting". This novel is about the actual founding of the HumanX commonwealth. Each book became less interesting than the previous.
PUDD'NHEAD WILSON
-M. Twain-classic
-224- a negro woman switches her baby and her masters. The new young master grows up and ends up killing his uncle for money. Is caught by the work of Pudd'nhead Wilson, a lawyer who has an interest in fingerprints. Ends with the switch being revealed and the new young master being sold down the river[they are in their 20's].
SHERLOCK HOLMES: THE SIGN OF FOUR
-A.C. Doyle-mystery
-100-a man is murdered. He is connected to another missing man, who has a daughter who comes to Holmes and Watson. Turns out there is a huge indian treasure involved. 4 men stole it and hid it. Then went to prison. The murdered and missing man found out about it and made a deal to free the prisoners for a part. Backstabbing. Prisoner escapes and takes his revenge. Watson ends up marrying the daughter.
LITTLE DORRIT PART I
-C. Dickens-classic
-433-a man and his family go into debtors prison. 20+ years later, through the efforts of a 40 yearold man recently returned from China, they come into money. Dickens has so many different threads all running at once that it is hard to define just what the exact story is. There is the story of Little Dorrit[youngest daughter, born in prison], of her family, of Mr Clennam [the middleaged man from china who it appears Little Dorrit is in love with], of some italian who has a tie to an english murderer, to Mr Clennam's business partner[who is in perpetual warfare with the Circumlocution Office of government]. It is SO fascinating though. Dickens descriptions of his character is perfect. From comparing them to inanimate objects in mannerisms to how they simply talk, you KNOW what Character X is like. I am just in awe.
RECLUCE: THE WHITE ORDER
-L.E. Modesitt, Jr-fantasy
-468-Finally, a novel from a white wizards point of view. From the time of Justin and Gunnar. A young white ends up being a wizard under Jeslek while trying to figure out everything. Shows that the White Order was in place to check unbridled chaos wizards[which is what happened in the time of Lerris]. Much more enjoyable than the Justin and Gunnar arc.
TEMERAIRE: EMPIRE OF IVORY
-N. Novik-fantasy
-404-dragons of England are all sick. Temeraire isn't. They figure it must be something he ate in Africa on his journey back from China. Bunch of sick dragons go to Africa. Find a cure. Laurence and others are captured by a tribe of Africans and taken prisoner. The tribe of humans and dragons wipes out all European towns along the coast. Laurence and others escape to England. English infect rest of European dragons, now that they have a cure. Laurence and Temeraire go to France with the cure. Ends with Laurence and Temeraire preparing to head back to England to face court-martial for treason. Ok, Novik is a history buff.It shows. Once again, the dragons are given very little character developement time. They are almost just a sideshow to allow Novik to probe into alternate history. I don't care 2 bits about most of what goes on in the human society, I want dragons! And Novik insists of slogging through the human society and dragging us along.
LITTLE DORRIT PART II
-C. Dickens-classic
-398-everything comes to an end. Fortunes are lost and gained. In the end, Rigaud dies, Clennam marries Little Dorrit and Doyce [his business parter] goes off to Europe to be wildly successful at inventing things. I think I really enjoyed this Dickens novel the best of all I've read so far. I just wanted to keep on reading and find out what happened. I can't really point out what I liked more than in his other novels, but this is my favorite Dickens, to date.
THE FOUR LOVES
-C.S. Lewis-religious
-192- can't say that I really enjoyed this. About the four different kinds of love. Lewis, however, goes into so many different kinds of love that I was lost almost from the beginning. Good points about "love", not sublimated to God's Will, being demoniac and "God usurping", but not a clear, concise read. I hope to reread this several times in my life, and to understand it a bit more each time.
DEATHNOTE #13: HOW TO READ
-T. Ohba-manga
-270-this is pretty much an encyclopedia of everything in the Deathnote series. Character bios, explanations of who did what and why, etc, etc. Even had the original "Deathnote" pilot chapter that Ohba wrote. A bit of a hard read, since there was just SO much info. Not really a manga, in the traditional sense. Definitely including this in my "number of books I read this year" as a "real" book :-)
THE CATTENI: FREEDOM'S LANDING
-A. McCaffrey-scifi
-342-aliens invade earth, take lots of prisoners. A bunch get dumped on a new planet to see if it is "safe" for the alien overlords. Main character is a woman. She falls in love with one of the alien overlords, who has been abandoned on the planet with them all. Ok, but nothing that I really liked. Might read the next couple, might not. Depends on how I'm feeling I guess.
CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN
-F. Gilbreth Jr & E. Gilbreth Carey-biography
-180- a hilarious semi-biography of a family with 12 children. Back in the 19'teens or so. Really made me laugh. A good "read out loud to the family" kind of book.
-G. Elliot-classic
-800-a look at a village named Middlemarch in the 1830's. Lots of people acting like people, ie, selfish and stupid. It was interesting, but people refused to talk to eachother and that really annoys me.
FOUNDING OF THE COMMONWEALTH: DIUTURNITY'S DAWN
-A.D. Foster-scifi
-341-I didn't even know what Diuturnity meant. It means "long lasting". This novel is about the actual founding of the HumanX commonwealth. Each book became less interesting than the previous.
PUDD'NHEAD WILSON
-M. Twain-classic
-224- a negro woman switches her baby and her masters. The new young master grows up and ends up killing his uncle for money. Is caught by the work of Pudd'nhead Wilson, a lawyer who has an interest in fingerprints. Ends with the switch being revealed and the new young master being sold down the river[they are in their 20's].
SHERLOCK HOLMES: THE SIGN OF FOUR
-A.C. Doyle-mystery
-100-a man is murdered. He is connected to another missing man, who has a daughter who comes to Holmes and Watson. Turns out there is a huge indian treasure involved. 4 men stole it and hid it. Then went to prison. The murdered and missing man found out about it and made a deal to free the prisoners for a part. Backstabbing. Prisoner escapes and takes his revenge. Watson ends up marrying the daughter.
LITTLE DORRIT PART I
-C. Dickens-classic
-433-a man and his family go into debtors prison. 20+ years later, through the efforts of a 40 yearold man recently returned from China, they come into money. Dickens has so many different threads all running at once that it is hard to define just what the exact story is. There is the story of Little Dorrit[youngest daughter, born in prison], of her family, of Mr Clennam [the middleaged man from china who it appears Little Dorrit is in love with], of some italian who has a tie to an english murderer, to Mr Clennam's business partner[who is in perpetual warfare with the Circumlocution Office of government]. It is SO fascinating though. Dickens descriptions of his character is perfect. From comparing them to inanimate objects in mannerisms to how they simply talk, you KNOW what Character X is like. I am just in awe.
RECLUCE: THE WHITE ORDER
-L.E. Modesitt, Jr-fantasy
-468-Finally, a novel from a white wizards point of view. From the time of Justin and Gunnar. A young white ends up being a wizard under Jeslek while trying to figure out everything. Shows that the White Order was in place to check unbridled chaos wizards[which is what happened in the time of Lerris]. Much more enjoyable than the Justin and Gunnar arc.
TEMERAIRE: EMPIRE OF IVORY
-N. Novik-fantasy
-404-dragons of England are all sick. Temeraire isn't. They figure it must be something he ate in Africa on his journey back from China. Bunch of sick dragons go to Africa. Find a cure. Laurence and others are captured by a tribe of Africans and taken prisoner. The tribe of humans and dragons wipes out all European towns along the coast. Laurence and others escape to England. English infect rest of European dragons, now that they have a cure. Laurence and Temeraire go to France with the cure. Ends with Laurence and Temeraire preparing to head back to England to face court-martial for treason. Ok, Novik is a history buff.It shows. Once again, the dragons are given very little character developement time. They are almost just a sideshow to allow Novik to probe into alternate history. I don't care 2 bits about most of what goes on in the human society, I want dragons! And Novik insists of slogging through the human society and dragging us along.
LITTLE DORRIT PART II
-C. Dickens-classic
-398-everything comes to an end. Fortunes are lost and gained. In the end, Rigaud dies, Clennam marries Little Dorrit and Doyce [his business parter] goes off to Europe to be wildly successful at inventing things. I think I really enjoyed this Dickens novel the best of all I've read so far. I just wanted to keep on reading and find out what happened. I can't really point out what I liked more than in his other novels, but this is my favorite Dickens, to date.
THE FOUR LOVES
-C.S. Lewis-religious
-192- can't say that I really enjoyed this. About the four different kinds of love. Lewis, however, goes into so many different kinds of love that I was lost almost from the beginning. Good points about "love", not sublimated to God's Will, being demoniac and "God usurping", but not a clear, concise read. I hope to reread this several times in my life, and to understand it a bit more each time.
DEATHNOTE #13: HOW TO READ
-T. Ohba-manga
-270-this is pretty much an encyclopedia of everything in the Deathnote series. Character bios, explanations of who did what and why, etc, etc. Even had the original "Deathnote" pilot chapter that Ohba wrote. A bit of a hard read, since there was just SO much info. Not really a manga, in the traditional sense. Definitely including this in my "number of books I read this year" as a "real" book :-)
THE CATTENI: FREEDOM'S LANDING
-A. McCaffrey-scifi
-342-aliens invade earth, take lots of prisoners. A bunch get dumped on a new planet to see if it is "safe" for the alien overlords. Main character is a woman. She falls in love with one of the alien overlords, who has been abandoned on the planet with them all. Ok, but nothing that I really liked. Might read the next couple, might not. Depends on how I'm feeling I guess.
CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN
-F. Gilbreth Jr & E. Gilbreth Carey-biography
-180- a hilarious semi-biography of a family with 12 children. Back in the 19'teens or so. Really made me laugh. A good "read out loud to the family" kind of book.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
April '08
RECLUCE: FALL OF ANGELS
-L.E. Modesitt, Jr-fantasy
-592-explains the origins of the Westwinds, from which Recluce was born. Quite interesting. A starship of women from another universe appears. Some appear to be able to use Order. One man, Nylan [the main character], is the Ordermaster of this story. He comes with the women. More whining and complaining about how he hates that force is necessary. Just refuses to accept that some people will only submit to a greater application of force. That is the main flaw with this series, in my opinion. Modesitt harps [and man, if he was a woman, I'd say she bitches] about this over and over and over. Every single novel. I like the storyline, but not that part of it. I'll keep reading, but no longer have any desire to try to buy these.
AZAZEL
-I. Asimov-fantasy
-221-a collection of short stories about a 2cm tall demon. He is at the beck and call of an acquaintance of the authors. He [the friend George] is always trying to "help" his friends using Azazel's powers. They always turn into misadventures.
THE STAND
-S. King-horror
-1153-first off, what a massive book. Second, I really enjoyed this. A plague with 99.4% death rate devastates the world. In America, people gravitate toward Boulder or Las Vegas. In Boulder is Mother Abigal and in Las Vegas is the Dark Man. This is a story about Good vs Evil and how good pays in blood and evil causes its own downfall. Some messed up views on God, some profanity and enough graphic sexual things degrade my overall view on this story however.
STAR WARS: REPUBLIC COMMANDO: TRUE COLORS
-K. Traviss-scifi
-472-follows the commandos as they find out more about the war and slowly realize that things are not as presented by Palpatine and the media. Skarata is hunting down the Kaminoan who engineered the clones so she can reverse the "fast aging" so they can live a normal length life. Traviss is really setting things up to tie in with the Legacy books. I didn't enjoy this novel nearly as much as the first two. The military jargon, the Mando'ese, it was just over used, imo, this time. You have so many different identifications for the same people [usually group oriented] that I felt like I lost track of who was who. Nulls, Alpha's, ARC's, Republic Commandos, Delta, Omega, etc, etc. Keeping track of it all really bogged the story down.
MARS: A FIGHTING MAN OF MARS
-E.R. Burroughs-fantasy
-200-a red martian man goes to rescue a martian woman who has been kidnapped. In the process he falls in love with another, discovers yet another crazed, world domineering wannabe and yet another mad scientist. Everything works out in the end. Burroughs uses the word "indubitably". How pretentious.
RECLUCE: THE CHAOS BALANCE
-L.E. Modesitt, Jr-fantasy
-596-continues the story of Nylan. He, his lover and a son leave Westwind. He ends up battling Cyador, which is the remnants of a Rationalist empire founded by long ago. Destroys Cyador by letting loose the forest of Daclos and he and Arylin become the first druids. A lot less whining. I think perhaps Modesitt realized it was overused? I don't know, we'll see how it is in future books.
ONE PIECE #16
-E. Oda-manga
-188
SHAMAN KING #13
-H. Takei-manga
-190
THE GREAT GATSBY
-F.S. Fitzgerald-fiction
-159- a man tells a sordid tale about his neighbor and a cousin. The neighbor loved the cousin 5 years ago but left. She married someone else. Her husband cheats on her but is rich. The neighbor comes back rich [from bootleg(illegal liquor, this was in the 20's) and other shady affairs] and tries to woo the cousin back. The husband gets his revenge by telling his mistress's husband that the neighbor is actually the mistress's lover. The neighbor tries to get the cousin to leave with him, she won't. The mistress's husband kills the neighbor after the mistress is run over and then kills himself. Confused yet? This was a story about fallen humanity with no redeeming quality. Why it is a "classic" is beyond me. There is no redemption and there must be in all True Stories.
TSUBASA RESERVOIR CHRONICLES #13-16
-CLAMP-manga
SHERLOCK HOLMES: A STUDY IN SCARLET
-A.C Doyle-mystery
-86- how Watson meets Sherlock Holmes. Solves a double murder mystery. Always knew the mormons were a bunch of no good...
FOUNDING OF THE COMMONWEALTH: PHYLOGENESIS
-A.D. Foster-scifi
-327-How the Thranx and Humans began the Commonwealth. Not their meeting [as in Nor Crystal Tears], but the pivotal moment when they united together. About a rogue thranx poet and a petty criminal. Pretty trivial drivel actually. But engaging.
FOUNDING OF THE COMMONWEALTH: DIRGE
-A.D. Foster-scifi
-310-a new race, the Pitar [humanoids who are physically what we all dream of] are discovered by humans. Turns out they wipe out a colony of humans[about 600,000]. Brings the thranx and humans together militarily. Also shows the founding of the interspecies church. The humanx invade the pitar homeworld. Pitar, xenophobic narcisssists, commit mass suicide to avoid the "pollution" by lesser species.
SHAMAN KING #14-15
-H. Takei-manga
ONE PIECE #17
-E. Oda-manga
-206
-L.E. Modesitt, Jr-fantasy
-592-explains the origins of the Westwinds, from which Recluce was born. Quite interesting. A starship of women from another universe appears. Some appear to be able to use Order. One man, Nylan [the main character], is the Ordermaster of this story. He comes with the women. More whining and complaining about how he hates that force is necessary. Just refuses to accept that some people will only submit to a greater application of force. That is the main flaw with this series, in my opinion. Modesitt harps [and man, if he was a woman, I'd say she bitches] about this over and over and over. Every single novel. I like the storyline, but not that part of it. I'll keep reading, but no longer have any desire to try to buy these.
AZAZEL
-I. Asimov-fantasy
-221-a collection of short stories about a 2cm tall demon. He is at the beck and call of an acquaintance of the authors. He [the friend George] is always trying to "help" his friends using Azazel's powers. They always turn into misadventures.
THE STAND
-S. King-horror
-1153-first off, what a massive book. Second, I really enjoyed this. A plague with 99.4% death rate devastates the world. In America, people gravitate toward Boulder or Las Vegas. In Boulder is Mother Abigal and in Las Vegas is the Dark Man. This is a story about Good vs Evil and how good pays in blood and evil causes its own downfall. Some messed up views on God, some profanity and enough graphic sexual things degrade my overall view on this story however.
STAR WARS: REPUBLIC COMMANDO: TRUE COLORS
-K. Traviss-scifi
-472-follows the commandos as they find out more about the war and slowly realize that things are not as presented by Palpatine and the media. Skarata is hunting down the Kaminoan who engineered the clones so she can reverse the "fast aging" so they can live a normal length life. Traviss is really setting things up to tie in with the Legacy books. I didn't enjoy this novel nearly as much as the first two. The military jargon, the Mando'ese, it was just over used, imo, this time. You have so many different identifications for the same people [usually group oriented] that I felt like I lost track of who was who. Nulls, Alpha's, ARC's, Republic Commandos, Delta, Omega, etc, etc. Keeping track of it all really bogged the story down.
MARS: A FIGHTING MAN OF MARS
-E.R. Burroughs-fantasy
-200-a red martian man goes to rescue a martian woman who has been kidnapped. In the process he falls in love with another, discovers yet another crazed, world domineering wannabe and yet another mad scientist. Everything works out in the end. Burroughs uses the word "indubitably". How pretentious.
RECLUCE: THE CHAOS BALANCE
-L.E. Modesitt, Jr-fantasy
-596-continues the story of Nylan. He, his lover and a son leave Westwind. He ends up battling Cyador, which is the remnants of a Rationalist empire founded by long ago. Destroys Cyador by letting loose the forest of Daclos and he and Arylin become the first druids. A lot less whining. I think perhaps Modesitt realized it was overused? I don't know, we'll see how it is in future books.
ONE PIECE #16
-E. Oda-manga
-188
SHAMAN KING #13
-H. Takei-manga
-190
THE GREAT GATSBY
-F.S. Fitzgerald-fiction
-159- a man tells a sordid tale about his neighbor and a cousin. The neighbor loved the cousin 5 years ago but left. She married someone else. Her husband cheats on her but is rich. The neighbor comes back rich [from bootleg(illegal liquor, this was in the 20's) and other shady affairs] and tries to woo the cousin back. The husband gets his revenge by telling his mistress's husband that the neighbor is actually the mistress's lover. The neighbor tries to get the cousin to leave with him, she won't. The mistress's husband kills the neighbor after the mistress is run over and then kills himself. Confused yet? This was a story about fallen humanity with no redeeming quality. Why it is a "classic" is beyond me. There is no redemption and there must be in all True Stories.
TSUBASA RESERVOIR CHRONICLES #13-16
-CLAMP-manga
SHERLOCK HOLMES: A STUDY IN SCARLET
-A.C Doyle-mystery
-86- how Watson meets Sherlock Holmes. Solves a double murder mystery. Always knew the mormons were a bunch of no good...
FOUNDING OF THE COMMONWEALTH: PHYLOGENESIS
-A.D. Foster-scifi
-327-How the Thranx and Humans began the Commonwealth. Not their meeting [as in Nor Crystal Tears], but the pivotal moment when they united together. About a rogue thranx poet and a petty criminal. Pretty trivial drivel actually. But engaging.
FOUNDING OF THE COMMONWEALTH: DIRGE
-A.D. Foster-scifi
-310-a new race, the Pitar [humanoids who are physically what we all dream of] are discovered by humans. Turns out they wipe out a colony of humans[about 600,000]. Brings the thranx and humans together militarily. Also shows the founding of the interspecies church. The humanx invade the pitar homeworld. Pitar, xenophobic narcisssists, commit mass suicide to avoid the "pollution" by lesser species.
SHAMAN KING #14-15
-H. Takei-manga
ONE PIECE #17
-E. Oda-manga
-206
Monday, March 31, 2008
March '08
RECLUCE: THE DEATH OF CHAOS
-L.E. Modesitt, Jr-fantasy
-640-We come back to Lerris, from The Magic of Recluce. Hamor is slowly taking over the world with machined order. Technology not as good as Ordered Steel, but close enough. Because of that, free Chaos is gathering under Candar and getting ready to explode. Hamor wants to destroy Recluce. Lerris, along with Justen and Gunnar [and their wives] face the Hamorian fleet, give their lives [except Lerris and Krystal] and use up most of the Order [and hence the Chaos] available. Interesting but this whole balance thing, I'm not sure about it. Modesitt doesn't explain it well enough, so one can't judge what he is doing with it or if he is just making things up as he goes and gets away with it because the reader has no idea of the underlying rules [or lack thereof]. I plan on reading the rest though.
HIKARU NO GO #1-6
-Y. Hotta-manga
-a young boy comes in contact with a GO master and begins playing the game. Kind of like a very, very indepth checkers. Not something you'd expect to find interesting, but this stuff is really intriguing. Makes you want to go out and start playing GO.
BOOK OF THE GODS: ARIADNE'S WEB
-F. Saberhagen-fantasy
-412-a little cleaner than Face of Apollo, but still just a recast of the Sword books. Not enjoyable enough to read any more I think.
MARTIN CHUZZLEWIT PART II
-C. Dickens-classic
-563-Jonas murders someone and is caught. Martin and Mark go to America and come back. Tom Pinch sees Mr Pecksniff for what he truly is. Everything is resolved in the end.
LITTLE WOMEN
-L.M. Alcott-classic
-669-the story of 4 sisters. How they grow up and marry. Rich in lessons. Alcott isn't afraid to say that without God life is empty. Very enjoyable.
MARS: MASTERMIND OF MARS
-E.R. Burroughs-fiction
-160-Apparently, when one goes to Mars, one no longer needs to go to the bathroom. I mean, 4 beings, one a 15ft tall ape, stay hidden in a little closet all day, without leaving? clench those buttocks Bobby!
HIKARU NO GO #7-16
-Y. Hotta-manga
-scanlations can be found at Anime-Eden.com. You'll need an account though.
BATTLE ROYALE #1
-K. Takami-manga
-216- graphic depictions of violence, rape and abuse. Filth. I had no idea.
GRAVITY DREAMS
-L.E. Modesitt, Jr-scifi
-468-this was a schtickload of philosophical crap. I want to label this sophist garbage. It felt like Modesitt was preaching at his audience the WHOLE time. There wasn't much of a plot, needless to say.
THE TWELVE KINGDOMS: SEA OF WIND
-F. Ono-fantasy
-317-chronologically, takes place shortly before Sea of Shadow. Deals with the Kirin of Tai. He was blown into our world by a Shoku and didn't come back for 10 years. His story as he adjusts to the fact that he is a Kirin and must choose the next king of Tai. Much shorter than Sea of Shadow, but MUCH less confusing; mainly because it doesn't deal with as much.
HIKARU NO GO #17-23
-Y. Hotta-manga
-scanlations can be found at Anime-Eden.com. You'll need an account though.
MERUPURI #1-4
-M. Hino-manga
-Shojo's shojo! thankgoodness it wasn't longer than 4vol.
IT
-S. King-horror
-1138- some big space bug comes to earth a long time ago. Now it resides in a Maine town and feeds on kids every 26years or so. Anyway, some kids hurt it and then come back in 26 years to finish the job. The horror in this novel lay in fact that humans are so bad. The people did horrible things, ignored horrible things, etc. Murder, madness, death and destruction. I haven't read any of King's stuff since highschool [and those were some short story collections] and I don't plan on reading anymore. I don't want to fill my mind with evil.
THE OLD CURIOSITY SHOP PART I & II
-C. Dickens-classic
-362/355-an old man and his granddaughter are brought to ruin. They wander. Are chased down by the grandfather's brother and the villain who ruined them. The villain, a coarse dwarf, dies by drowning at the end. The brother, who is rich, finds the grandfather and granddaughter, but only after the granddaughter has died. Very melancholic story. I enjoyed it immensely though.
-L.E. Modesitt, Jr-fantasy
-640-We come back to Lerris, from The Magic of Recluce. Hamor is slowly taking over the world with machined order. Technology not as good as Ordered Steel, but close enough. Because of that, free Chaos is gathering under Candar and getting ready to explode. Hamor wants to destroy Recluce. Lerris, along with Justen and Gunnar [and their wives] face the Hamorian fleet, give their lives [except Lerris and Krystal] and use up most of the Order [and hence the Chaos] available. Interesting but this whole balance thing, I'm not sure about it. Modesitt doesn't explain it well enough, so one can't judge what he is doing with it or if he is just making things up as he goes and gets away with it because the reader has no idea of the underlying rules [or lack thereof]. I plan on reading the rest though.
HIKARU NO GO #1-6
-Y. Hotta-manga
-a young boy comes in contact with a GO master and begins playing the game. Kind of like a very, very indepth checkers. Not something you'd expect to find interesting, but this stuff is really intriguing. Makes you want to go out and start playing GO.
BOOK OF THE GODS: ARIADNE'S WEB
-F. Saberhagen-fantasy
-412-a little cleaner than Face of Apollo, but still just a recast of the Sword books. Not enjoyable enough to read any more I think.
MARTIN CHUZZLEWIT PART II
-C. Dickens-classic
-563-Jonas murders someone and is caught. Martin and Mark go to America and come back. Tom Pinch sees Mr Pecksniff for what he truly is. Everything is resolved in the end.
LITTLE WOMEN
-L.M. Alcott-classic
-669-the story of 4 sisters. How they grow up and marry. Rich in lessons. Alcott isn't afraid to say that without God life is empty. Very enjoyable.
MARS: MASTERMIND OF MARS
-E.R. Burroughs-fiction
-160-Apparently, when one goes to Mars, one no longer needs to go to the bathroom. I mean, 4 beings, one a 15ft tall ape, stay hidden in a little closet all day, without leaving? clench those buttocks Bobby!
HIKARU NO GO #7-16
-Y. Hotta-manga
-scanlations can be found at Anime-Eden.com. You'll need an account though.
BATTLE ROYALE #1
-K. Takami-manga
-216- graphic depictions of violence, rape and abuse. Filth. I had no idea.
GRAVITY DREAMS
-L.E. Modesitt, Jr-scifi
-468-this was a schtickload of philosophical crap. I want to label this sophist garbage. It felt like Modesitt was preaching at his audience the WHOLE time. There wasn't much of a plot, needless to say.
THE TWELVE KINGDOMS: SEA OF WIND
-F. Ono-fantasy
-317-chronologically, takes place shortly before Sea of Shadow. Deals with the Kirin of Tai. He was blown into our world by a Shoku and didn't come back for 10 years. His story as he adjusts to the fact that he is a Kirin and must choose the next king of Tai. Much shorter than Sea of Shadow, but MUCH less confusing; mainly because it doesn't deal with as much.
HIKARU NO GO #17-23
-Y. Hotta-manga
-scanlations can be found at Anime-Eden.com. You'll need an account though.
MERUPURI #1-4
-M. Hino-manga
-Shojo's shojo! thankgoodness it wasn't longer than 4vol.
IT
-S. King-horror
-1138- some big space bug comes to earth a long time ago. Now it resides in a Maine town and feeds on kids every 26years or so. Anyway, some kids hurt it and then come back in 26 years to finish the job. The horror in this novel lay in fact that humans are so bad. The people did horrible things, ignored horrible things, etc. Murder, madness, death and destruction. I haven't read any of King's stuff since highschool [and those were some short story collections] and I don't plan on reading anymore. I don't want to fill my mind with evil.
THE OLD CURIOSITY SHOP PART I & II
-C. Dickens-classic
-362/355-an old man and his granddaughter are brought to ruin. They wander. Are chased down by the grandfather's brother and the villain who ruined them. The villain, a coarse dwarf, dies by drowning at the end. The brother, who is rich, finds the grandfather and granddaughter, but only after the granddaughter has died. Very melancholic story. I enjoyed it immensely though.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
February '08
STAR WARS: DARTH BANE: RULE OF TWO
-D. Karpyshyn-scifi
-318-the continuing story of Darth Bane. Follows him and his apprentice Zannah. Ends with the Jedi council believing that ALL the Sith are now gone. A light read like the first Darth Bane, but once again, highly satisfying.
MARS: THUVIA, MAID OF MARS
-E.R. Burroughs-fantasy
-124-the adventures of Carthoris, son of John Carter. He is framed for the kidnapping of Thuvia, the woman he loves. Finds her and is bringing her back to stop a war between the city-states.
SPELLSONG: THE SOPRANO SORCERESS
-L.E. Modesitt, Jr-fantasy
-664- a middle aged soprano is transported to a world where magic is invoked through song. Has great power. However, she spends so much time wishing and complaining that it got on my nerves. The idea is interesting, but once again, Modesitt falls back on certain character types who act and re-act like they are on a string.
CASTLE IN THE AIR
-D.W. Jones-juvenile fantasy
-199-a young man daydreams that he is somebody else. Buys a magic carpet and ends up in prison, with a group of bandits, fighting an evil genie and rescuing Princesses with the help of an enchanted Prince. Ends up marrying a Princess. Light and delightful.
DARK LORD OF DERKHOLM
-D.W. Jones-juvenile fantasy
-345-a world is being exploited for its fantasy elements. Tours go through and the people living there have to put on a world wide show. All because one man in our world has control of a demon. It bordered on the funny, but glossed over the horror of what the Tours actually meant-people dying in battle, land and buildings destroyed, livelihoods ruined-if you sat down and thought about it, what was going on was horrific. But it was a good juvie read.
SPELLSONG: THE SPELLSONG WAR
-L.E. Modesitt, Jr-fantasy
-672-Anna unites Defalk and goes after Duram, which has been causing trouble, which in turn has been fueled by the Sturinn. Enjoyable and I'll probably read the rest. However, the whole males=idiots sub-theme is really getting old. Instead of complaining about it, like Anna does in her thoughts almost constantly, do something about it. And that is the problem. Anna is a woman and refuses to understand that the men of Erde will respond to strength alone, so she gets frustrated when "reasoning" doesn't work. Force is her last resort when it should be her first. Modesitt must be trying to get on some woman's good side with this series.
BLEAK HOUSE PART I
-C. Dickens-classic
-511- A young orphan girl grows up and becomes a housekeeper for an older man. He has 2 young cousins who are the principles in a long running legal dispute about some money. There is mystery surrounding the orphan girl and various characters all tie in to her past and present and are attempting to influence her future. Good stuff. Making me realize that without a solid Bible background, many of Dicken's allusions would be meaningless.
THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES
-R. Bradbury-scifi
-182-a series of of short stories chronicling humanities contact with Mars, the decline of Martian civilization, Humanities self-destruction on Earth and ends with a few families becoming the "new Martians". Bradbury has a very unique writing style. Sentences, while whole and complete, are put together in such a way as to suggest fragmentation. His style increases the dark view of humanity that Bradbury seems to hold.
SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES
-R. Bradbury-fantasy
-290-A Dark Carnival comes to town, promising to give people what they want, but turning their own dark desires against them and making them slaves of the Carnival. One middle aged man and two teens fight and win, with laughter. I don't like Bradbury's writings. I shall not be reading anymore. His style annoys me. Patricia McKillip writes of shadows and so does Bradbury; however, McKillip's shadows come from the Light, Bradbury's shadows come from the Dark. I don't want to fill myself with shadows from the Dark.
QUADRAIL: THE THIRD LYNX
-T. Zahn-scifi
-350- Sequel to Night Train to Rigel. Going to be a series, that is for sure. The Modhri tries to get its 'limbs' on some sort of weapon. Compton and Bayta draw a little closer. Ends with Compton realizing that there is a whole world of hidden spaceships and weapons for the Modhri, and he has to keep it secret.
The whole flavor is very light and almost fluff. I am looking for a little bit more depth and substance from Zahn. This universe has a lot to offer, I hope that Zahn utilizes it appropriately.
MARS: THE CHESSMEN OF MARS
-E.R. Burroughs-fantasy
-222-follows the adventures of John Carters daughter. A spoiled brat who should have been spanked, imo. Anyway, a Jed from another kingdom falls in love with her, rescues her and everyone is happy. Meet the kaldanes, heads without bodies and another nation that lives on slavery. Burroughs seems to be running out of people to have adventures. Needs to get back to John Carter.
BLEAK HOUSE PART II
-C. Dickens-classic
-540-Richard and Ada [the cousins] marry. Lady Dedlock is revealed as Esther's mother. Many relationships are shown between characters otherwise thought to be unrelated. Richard dies because the Jarndyce and Jarndyce case is ended because the costs have taken up the whole estate. Esther marries Dr. Woodcourt and Mr Jarndyce remains a guardian to them all. Many twistings and turnings. A thoroughly enjoyable novel. Dickens pokes at society's problems but without a preachy attitude.
THE ILLUSTRATED MAN
-R. Bradbury-scifi
-253-many of these stories[and several in the Martian Chronicles] were in The Stories of Ray Bradbury. His old familiar themes of hate, despair, revenge and weirdness. I only read this because I'd gotten it out at the same time as Something Wicked... and it seemed a waste to have taken it out and not read it. But no more.
THE PRINCESS AND THE GOBLIN
-G. MacDonald-fantasy
-161-a young miner boy rescues a princess from goblins and saves a castle from the goblins revenge.
THE PRINCESS AND CURDIE
-G. MacDonald-fantasy
-160-Curdie, the young miner, is sent off to rescue the King and Princess Irene, who are under the sway of evil men bent on taking the kingdom for themselves. The people of the city ignore what is going on and descend towards beastlife. Ends with a new king [after Curdie and Irene] who mines the city for its gold and jewels and ends up bringing about its destruction. A sad ending. One of my favorite books back in elementary school.
THE ROALD DAHL OMNIBUS
-R. Dahl-fiction
-682- short stories from different books for adults. Many had his trademark weirdness and almost horror. A couple near the end were more sexual in nature. Definitely not recommended. I think I'll stick to his juvenile fiction.
MARTIN CHUZZLEWIT PART I
-C. Dickens-classic
-568- A grandfather by that name. A grandson by that name. Both are obstinate and headstrong. Grandfather filthy rich, no direct heir beyond the Grandson, extended family of venial vultures full of greed. Grandfather looked after by a young woman, Grandson in love with said young woman. Grandfather won't allow marriage. Grandson leaves, strikes out for America. Grandfather begins to sound out other relatives as to worthiness of being his heir. My goodness, this is one of Dickens' wordiest books ever! The characters go on and on in their fawnings and moralizings and the American Groups do the same about whatever Cause they are supporting, that half the time I have no idea what they are actually talking about. Gets across the idea of them all being windbags, but still. I read a whole page and hadn't a clue what the talker was blabbing about. Enjoyable though.
THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA
-E. Hemingway-classic
-140- an old man goes out to sea to fish. Gets a huge fish which drags him all over the sea. Subdues it and begins his trek home. Sharks eat all of the meat on the fish. Hemingway blew his head off with a shotgun. After reading this, I'm not surprised. What a complete waste. Not terrible or something that made me hate it, but so pointless. As was the author's life. Glad to have read one book by him though. Now I KNOW to avoid any others.
HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE
-D.W. Jones-fantasy
-329-a young woman is turned into an old woman by a jealous witch. She ends up becoming the cleaning lady for the wizard Howl in an attempt to get him to turn her back. The jealous witch is after Howl. Everything turns out ok in the end. I would have to recommend reading this before watching the movie by Miyazaki. A much more full bodied story and things are explained a bit more.
-D. Karpyshyn-scifi
-318-the continuing story of Darth Bane. Follows him and his apprentice Zannah. Ends with the Jedi council believing that ALL the Sith are now gone. A light read like the first Darth Bane, but once again, highly satisfying.
MARS: THUVIA, MAID OF MARS
-E.R. Burroughs-fantasy
-124-the adventures of Carthoris, son of John Carter. He is framed for the kidnapping of Thuvia, the woman he loves. Finds her and is bringing her back to stop a war between the city-states.
SPELLSONG: THE SOPRANO SORCERESS
-L.E. Modesitt, Jr-fantasy
-664- a middle aged soprano is transported to a world where magic is invoked through song. Has great power. However, she spends so much time wishing and complaining that it got on my nerves. The idea is interesting, but once again, Modesitt falls back on certain character types who act and re-act like they are on a string.
CASTLE IN THE AIR
-D.W. Jones-juvenile fantasy
-199-a young man daydreams that he is somebody else. Buys a magic carpet and ends up in prison, with a group of bandits, fighting an evil genie and rescuing Princesses with the help of an enchanted Prince. Ends up marrying a Princess. Light and delightful.
DARK LORD OF DERKHOLM
-D.W. Jones-juvenile fantasy
-345-a world is being exploited for its fantasy elements. Tours go through and the people living there have to put on a world wide show. All because one man in our world has control of a demon. It bordered on the funny, but glossed over the horror of what the Tours actually meant-people dying in battle, land and buildings destroyed, livelihoods ruined-if you sat down and thought about it, what was going on was horrific. But it was a good juvie read.
SPELLSONG: THE SPELLSONG WAR
-L.E. Modesitt, Jr-fantasy
-672-Anna unites Defalk and goes after Duram, which has been causing trouble, which in turn has been fueled by the Sturinn. Enjoyable and I'll probably read the rest. However, the whole males=idiots sub-theme is really getting old. Instead of complaining about it, like Anna does in her thoughts almost constantly, do something about it. And that is the problem. Anna is a woman and refuses to understand that the men of Erde will respond to strength alone, so she gets frustrated when "reasoning" doesn't work. Force is her last resort when it should be her first. Modesitt must be trying to get on some woman's good side with this series.
BLEAK HOUSE PART I
-C. Dickens-classic
-511- A young orphan girl grows up and becomes a housekeeper for an older man. He has 2 young cousins who are the principles in a long running legal dispute about some money. There is mystery surrounding the orphan girl and various characters all tie in to her past and present and are attempting to influence her future. Good stuff. Making me realize that without a solid Bible background, many of Dicken's allusions would be meaningless.
THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES
-R. Bradbury-scifi
-182-a series of of short stories chronicling humanities contact with Mars, the decline of Martian civilization, Humanities self-destruction on Earth and ends with a few families becoming the "new Martians". Bradbury has a very unique writing style. Sentences, while whole and complete, are put together in such a way as to suggest fragmentation. His style increases the dark view of humanity that Bradbury seems to hold.
SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES
-R. Bradbury-fantasy
-290-A Dark Carnival comes to town, promising to give people what they want, but turning their own dark desires against them and making them slaves of the Carnival. One middle aged man and two teens fight and win, with laughter. I don't like Bradbury's writings. I shall not be reading anymore. His style annoys me. Patricia McKillip writes of shadows and so does Bradbury; however, McKillip's shadows come from the Light, Bradbury's shadows come from the Dark. I don't want to fill myself with shadows from the Dark.
QUADRAIL: THE THIRD LYNX
-T. Zahn-scifi
-350- Sequel to Night Train to Rigel. Going to be a series, that is for sure. The Modhri tries to get its 'limbs' on some sort of weapon. Compton and Bayta draw a little closer. Ends with Compton realizing that there is a whole world of hidden spaceships and weapons for the Modhri, and he has to keep it secret.
The whole flavor is very light and almost fluff. I am looking for a little bit more depth and substance from Zahn. This universe has a lot to offer, I hope that Zahn utilizes it appropriately.
MARS: THE CHESSMEN OF MARS
-E.R. Burroughs-fantasy
-222-follows the adventures of John Carters daughter. A spoiled brat who should have been spanked, imo. Anyway, a Jed from another kingdom falls in love with her, rescues her and everyone is happy. Meet the kaldanes, heads without bodies and another nation that lives on slavery. Burroughs seems to be running out of people to have adventures. Needs to get back to John Carter.
BLEAK HOUSE PART II
-C. Dickens-classic
-540-Richard and Ada [the cousins] marry. Lady Dedlock is revealed as Esther's mother. Many relationships are shown between characters otherwise thought to be unrelated. Richard dies because the Jarndyce and Jarndyce case is ended because the costs have taken up the whole estate. Esther marries Dr. Woodcourt and Mr Jarndyce remains a guardian to them all. Many twistings and turnings. A thoroughly enjoyable novel. Dickens pokes at society's problems but without a preachy attitude.
THE ILLUSTRATED MAN
-R. Bradbury-scifi
-253-many of these stories[and several in the Martian Chronicles] were in The Stories of Ray Bradbury. His old familiar themes of hate, despair, revenge and weirdness. I only read this because I'd gotten it out at the same time as Something Wicked... and it seemed a waste to have taken it out and not read it. But no more.
THE PRINCESS AND THE GOBLIN
-G. MacDonald-fantasy
-161-a young miner boy rescues a princess from goblins and saves a castle from the goblins revenge.
THE PRINCESS AND CURDIE
-G. MacDonald-fantasy
-160-Curdie, the young miner, is sent off to rescue the King and Princess Irene, who are under the sway of evil men bent on taking the kingdom for themselves. The people of the city ignore what is going on and descend towards beastlife. Ends with a new king [after Curdie and Irene] who mines the city for its gold and jewels and ends up bringing about its destruction. A sad ending. One of my favorite books back in elementary school.
THE ROALD DAHL OMNIBUS
-R. Dahl-fiction
-682- short stories from different books for adults. Many had his trademark weirdness and almost horror. A couple near the end were more sexual in nature. Definitely not recommended. I think I'll stick to his juvenile fiction.
MARTIN CHUZZLEWIT PART I
-C. Dickens-classic
-568- A grandfather by that name. A grandson by that name. Both are obstinate and headstrong. Grandfather filthy rich, no direct heir beyond the Grandson, extended family of venial vultures full of greed. Grandfather looked after by a young woman, Grandson in love with said young woman. Grandfather won't allow marriage. Grandson leaves, strikes out for America. Grandfather begins to sound out other relatives as to worthiness of being his heir. My goodness, this is one of Dickens' wordiest books ever! The characters go on and on in their fawnings and moralizings and the American Groups do the same about whatever Cause they are supporting, that half the time I have no idea what they are actually talking about. Gets across the idea of them all being windbags, but still. I read a whole page and hadn't a clue what the talker was blabbing about. Enjoyable though.
THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA
-E. Hemingway-classic
-140- an old man goes out to sea to fish. Gets a huge fish which drags him all over the sea. Subdues it and begins his trek home. Sharks eat all of the meat on the fish. Hemingway blew his head off with a shotgun. After reading this, I'm not surprised. What a complete waste. Not terrible or something that made me hate it, but so pointless. As was the author's life. Glad to have read one book by him though. Now I KNOW to avoid any others.
HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE
-D.W. Jones-fantasy
-329-a young woman is turned into an old woman by a jealous witch. She ends up becoming the cleaning lady for the wizard Howl in an attempt to get him to turn her back. The jealous witch is after Howl. Everything turns out ok in the end. I would have to recommend reading this before watching the movie by Miyazaki. A much more full bodied story and things are explained a bit more.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
January '08
HOGFATHER
-T. Pratchett-fantasy
-354-An assassin sets out to get rid of the Hogsfather, per contract by the Auditors of Reality. Who don't want the sun to come up, and hence all humanity will die. Death takes over for the missing Hogsfather and Susan must figure how to save Hogsfather and all of humanity. Perfect light start to the year.
HYPERION CANTOS: ENDYMION
-D. Simmons-scifi
-563- 200+ years after the end of Fall of Hyperion. Follows Raul Endymion, entrusted by Martin Silenus to guard Aenea, the next 'chosen one' who also happens to be the daughter of Lamia and the cybrid Keats. The Shrike seems to be her protector also. Turns out the TechnoCore is still controlling humanity through the improved Cruciforms, allowing "eternal" life to any willing to submit to the Pax/Church.
HYPERION CANTOS: THE RISE OF ENDYMION
-D. Simmons-scifi
-709-blasphemy. Nothing else needs to be written.
RECLUCE: THE TOWERS OF THE THE SUNSET
-L.E. Modesitt, Jr-fantasy
-359-how the Island of Recluce began. Characters are hard headed and asinine. Seems to be a trait Modesitt enjoys.
RUROUNI KENSHIN #1
-N. Watsuki-manga
-199-I like Kenshin, but not enough to read the manga, which the anime is directly from.
MARS: A PRINCESS OF MARS
-E.R. Burroughs-fantasy
-160- follows the adventures of John Carter, a Virginian Gentleman who goes to Mars. In this adventure he rescues a Princess, who he marries, and unites the red martians [humanoid] and the green martians [not so humanoid]. Pulp fiction through and through. We'll see how the next 10+ stories stand up.
RECLUCE: THE MAGIC ENGINEER
-L.E. Modesitt, Jr-fantasy
-617- how the Black ships of Recluce came into being. Even though these stories seem to follow a VERY predictable pattern and the characters all start out stubborn and headstrong, I find myself staying up to read as much as I can. I like this series.
MARS: THE GODS OF MARS
-E.R. Burroughs-fantasy
-195-John Carter returns to Mars after 10 years. He has a son who is completely grown up. Goes to rescue his wife and in the process discredits the religious beliefs and discovers the white and black men of mars. The white men were masquerading as the red men's gods and the black men were masquerading as the white men's gods. Overthrows the whole system. Ends with his wife being trapped in a prison that won't open again for a year.
MARS: THE WARLORD OF MARS
-E.R. Burroughs-fantasy
-138-John Carter finds the yellow men of Mars. Rescues his wife and is named the Warlord of Mars.
LES MISERABLES
-V. Hugo-classic
-1463-man, what to write. This was the complete unabridged version. The story was great. A convict is given a second chance by a priest and goes on to make millions and help a whole area in France. He is put back in jail. Once he escapes again, he finds the daughter of a woman who was under his care. He takes care of her until she gets married. All the time being pursued by a police officer with a vendetta against Valjean. Ends with the officer dead, Valjean dying and his secret safe. A good story. Now, to the "unabridged" part of this book. Hugo wrote almost twice as much about whatever he felt like instead of the plot. Convents, sewers, the battle of Waterlou and many other unrelated subjects. I would have to recommend an abridged version to anyone. I wish I could hit Hugo for wasting so much of my time with such trivial drivel!
RECLUCE: THE ORDER WAR
-L.E. Modesitt, Jr-fantasy
-598-Introduces Justen the Grey, who we met in "The Magic of Recluce". I really like how Modesitt started things off with "MoR" and then all the following novels have been the history leading up to it. This novel introduces the involvement of the druids, who serve a deeper balance than either just Order or Chaos. Good stuff!
-T. Pratchett-fantasy
-354-An assassin sets out to get rid of the Hogsfather, per contract by the Auditors of Reality. Who don't want the sun to come up, and hence all humanity will die. Death takes over for the missing Hogsfather and Susan must figure how to save Hogsfather and all of humanity. Perfect light start to the year.
HYPERION CANTOS: ENDYMION
-D. Simmons-scifi
-563- 200+ years after the end of Fall of Hyperion. Follows Raul Endymion, entrusted by Martin Silenus to guard Aenea, the next 'chosen one' who also happens to be the daughter of Lamia and the cybrid Keats. The Shrike seems to be her protector also. Turns out the TechnoCore is still controlling humanity through the improved Cruciforms, allowing "eternal" life to any willing to submit to the Pax/Church.
HYPERION CANTOS: THE RISE OF ENDYMION
-D. Simmons-scifi
-709-blasphemy. Nothing else needs to be written.
RECLUCE: THE TOWERS OF THE THE SUNSET
-L.E. Modesitt, Jr-fantasy
-359-how the Island of Recluce began. Characters are hard headed and asinine. Seems to be a trait Modesitt enjoys.
RUROUNI KENSHIN #1
-N. Watsuki-manga
-199-I like Kenshin, but not enough to read the manga, which the anime is directly from.
MARS: A PRINCESS OF MARS
-E.R. Burroughs-fantasy
-160- follows the adventures of John Carter, a Virginian Gentleman who goes to Mars. In this adventure he rescues a Princess, who he marries, and unites the red martians [humanoid] and the green martians [not so humanoid]. Pulp fiction through and through. We'll see how the next 10+ stories stand up.
RECLUCE: THE MAGIC ENGINEER
-L.E. Modesitt, Jr-fantasy
-617- how the Black ships of Recluce came into being. Even though these stories seem to follow a VERY predictable pattern and the characters all start out stubborn and headstrong, I find myself staying up to read as much as I can. I like this series.
MARS: THE GODS OF MARS
-E.R. Burroughs-fantasy
-195-John Carter returns to Mars after 10 years. He has a son who is completely grown up. Goes to rescue his wife and in the process discredits the religious beliefs and discovers the white and black men of mars. The white men were masquerading as the red men's gods and the black men were masquerading as the white men's gods. Overthrows the whole system. Ends with his wife being trapped in a prison that won't open again for a year.
MARS: THE WARLORD OF MARS
-E.R. Burroughs-fantasy
-138-John Carter finds the yellow men of Mars. Rescues his wife and is named the Warlord of Mars.
LES MISERABLES
-V. Hugo-classic
-1463-man, what to write. This was the complete unabridged version. The story was great. A convict is given a second chance by a priest and goes on to make millions and help a whole area in France. He is put back in jail. Once he escapes again, he finds the daughter of a woman who was under his care. He takes care of her until she gets married. All the time being pursued by a police officer with a vendetta against Valjean. Ends with the officer dead, Valjean dying and his secret safe. A good story. Now, to the "unabridged" part of this book. Hugo wrote almost twice as much about whatever he felt like instead of the plot. Convents, sewers, the battle of Waterlou and many other unrelated subjects. I would have to recommend an abridged version to anyone. I wish I could hit Hugo for wasting so much of my time with such trivial drivel!
RECLUCE: THE ORDER WAR
-L.E. Modesitt, Jr-fantasy
-598-Introduces Justen the Grey, who we met in "The Magic of Recluce". I really like how Modesitt started things off with "MoR" and then all the following novels have been the history leading up to it. This novel introduces the involvement of the druids, who serve a deeper balance than either just Order or Chaos. Good stuff!
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
2007 In Review
1: Tailchaser's Song- Tad Williams-326
2: Plum Pie- PG Wodehouse-252
3: Tsubasa RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE #10- Clamp-185
4: The Riddlemaster of Hed- Patricia McKillip-222
5: Tsubasa RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE #11- Clamp-183
6: The Circle: Black: The Birth of Evil- Ted Dekker-408
7: The Circle: Red: The Heroic Rescue- Ted Dekker-381
8: The Circle: White: The Great Pursuit- Ted Dekker-370
9: Fullmetal Alchemist #1- Hiromu Arakawa-183
10: Neon Genesis Evangelion #1- Yoshiyuki Sadamoto-171
11: Blink- Ted Dekker-389
12: One Piece #1-Eiichiro Oda-207
13: One Piece #2-Eiichiro Oda-194
14: One Piece #3-Eiichiro Oda-195
15: Death Note #1-Tsugumi Ohba-195
16: Death Note #2-Tsugumi Ohba-197
17: Heir of Sea and Fire- Patricia McKillip-207
18: Death Note #3-Tsugumi Ohba-194
19: Death Note #4-Tsugumi Ohba-204
20: Death Note #5-Tsugumi Ohba-200
21: R.O.D.-Read Or Die #1- Hideyuki Kurata-214
22: R.O.D.-Read Or Die #2- Hideyuki Kurata-194
23: Shaman King #1- Hiroyuki Takei-202
24: Shaman King #2- Hiroyuki Takei-190
25: Shaman King #3- Hiroyuki Takei-187
26: Shaman King #4- Hiroyuki Takei-191
27: Shaman King #5- Hiroyuki Takei-190
28: Shaman King #6- Hiroyuki Takei-191
29: Harpist in the Wind- Patricia McKillip-257
30: Trigun #1- Yasuhiro Nightow-358
31: Hunters of Dune- Brian Herbert & Kevin Anderson-525
32: Deathnote #6-Tsugumi Ohba-217
33: Hunter X Hunter #1-Yoshihiro Togashi-183
34: Hunter X Hunter #2-Yoshihiro Togashi-185
35: Hunter X Hunter #3-Yoshihiro Togashi-185
36: Hunter X Hunter #4-Yoshihiro Togashi-185
37: Hunter X Hunter #5-Yoshihiro Togashi-185
38: Hunter X Hunter #6-Yoshihiro Togashi-200
39: Hunter X Hunter #7-Yoshihiro Togashi-188
40: Hunter X Hunter #8-Yoshihiro Togashi-196
41: Hunter X Hunter #9-Yoshihiro Togashi-192
42: One Piece #4- Eiichiro Oda-192
43: Shaman King #7- Hiroyuki Takei-190
44: Shaman King #8- Hiroyuki Takei-192
45: Shaman King #9- Hiroyuki Takei-189
46: Brothers Karamazov- Fyodor Dostoyevsky-822
47: Megatokyo #1-Fred Gallagher & Rodney Caston-156
48: Megatokyo #2-Fred Gallagher & Rodney Caston-180
49: Megatokyo #3-Fred Gallagher-220
50: The Time Traveler's Wife- Audrey Niffenegger-518
51: FLCL #1- Gainax-172
52: FLCL #2- Gainax-198
53: Deathnote #7-Tsugumi Ohba-211
54: Deathnote #8-Tsugumi Ohba-200
55: Deathnote #9-Tsugumi Ohba-192
56: Congo- Michael Crichton-313
57: Beowulf's Children- Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle, Steven Barnes-382
58: Oh My Goddess! #24 -Kosuke Fujishama-172
59: W Juliet #11 -Emura-193
60: W Juliet #12 -Emura-193
61: One Piece #5- Eiichiro Oda-190
62: One Piece #6- Eiichiro Oda-185
63: Ceres: Celestial Legend #1- Yuu Watase-194
64: Ceres: Celestial Legend #2- Yuu Watase-189
65: Ceres: Celestial Legend #3- Yuu Watase-189
66: Ceres: Celestial Legend #4- Yuu Watase-187
67: Ceres: Celestial Legend #5- Yuu Watase-191
68: Tales of the Otori: The Harsh Cry of the Heron:
The Last Tale of the Otori -Lian Hearn-508
69: Megatokyo #4-Fred Gallagher-233
70: Debt of Bones-Terry Goodkind-119
71: Tsubasa RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE #12- Clamp-185
72: Flame of Recca #1-Nobuyuki Anzai-180
73: Flame of Recca #2-Nobuyuki Anzai-182
74: Flame of Recca #3-Nobuyuki Anzai-186
75: Castle on the Hill-Elizabeth Goudge-346
76: One Piece #8- Eiichiro Oda-187
77: One Piece #9- Eiichiro Oda-205
78: One Piece #10- Eiichiro Oda-187
79: 84, Charing Cross Road-Helena Hanff-113
80: StarWars: Legacy of the Force: Tempest- Troy Denning-392
81: The Dean's Watch-Elizabeth Goudge-383
82: Oh My Goddess! #25-Kosuke Fujishima-173
83: Deathnote #10-Tsugumi Ohba-188
84: The Pickwick Papers-Charles Dickens-759
85: W Juliet #13 -Emura-193
86: W Juliet #14 -Emura-207-final volume
87: StarWars: Allegiance-Timothy Zahn-324
88: R.O.D.-Read Or Die #3- Hideyuki Kurata-210
89: R.O.D.-Read Or Die #4- Hideyuki Kurata-210
90: Fruits Basket #1-Natsuki Takaya-206
91: Fruits Basket #2-Natsuki Takaya-194
92: CrossRoads: Spirit Gate- Kate Elliott-445
93: One Piece #11- Eiichiro Oda-185
94: One Piece #12- Eiichiro Oda-190
95: One Piece #13- Eiichiro Oda-182
96: Shaman King #10-Hiroyuki Takei-198
97: Shaman King #11-Hiroyuki Takei-188
98: Fruits Basket #3-Natsuki Takaya-198
99: Fruits Basket #4-Natsuki Takaya-206
100: Fruits Basket #5-Natsuki Takaya-202
101: Tale of Two Cities-Charles Dickens-469
102: Ragnarok #1-Myung-Jin Lee-186
103: Ragnarok #2-Myung-Jin Lee-not numbered. Stupid!
104: Bleach #1- Tite Kubo-190
105: Bleach #2- Tite Kubo-190
106: The Hunchback of Notre Dame-Victor Hugo-586
107: Bleach #3- Tite Kubo-190
108: Bleach #4- Tite Kubo-190
109: Bleach #5- Tite Kubo-190
110: Bleach #6- Tite Kubo-190
111: Fruits Basket #6-Natsuki Takaya-196
112: Fruits Basket #7-Natsuki Takaya-192
113: Fruits Basket #8-Natsuki Takaya-196
114: Fruits Basket #9-Natsuki Takaya-192
115: Down the Long Hills-Louis L'Amour-150
116: Hanging Woman Creek-Louis L'Amour-151
117: Psychic Academy #1-Katsu Aki-187
118: Hunter X Hunter #10-Yoshihiro Togashi-200
119: Hunter X Hunter #11-Yoshihiro Togashi-196
120: Hunter X Hunter #12-Yoshihiro Togashi-186
121: Hunter X Hunter #13-Yoshihiro Togashi-196
122: Full Metal Panic! #1-Shouji Gatou-162
123: Full Metal Panic! #2-Shouji Gatou-194
124: Full Metal Panic! #3-Shouji Gatou-166
125: Full Metal Panic! #4-Shouji Gatou-156
126: Full Metal Panic! #5-Shouji Gatou-160
127: Full Metal Panic! #6-Shouji Gatou-170
128: Full Metal Panic! #7-Shouji Gatou-162
129: Full Metal Panic! #8-Shouji Gatou-162
130: Utah Blaine-Louis L'Amour-191
131: Shadowmarch: Shadowplay-Tad Williams-641
132: The King's Fifth-Scott O'Dell-264
133: Gentian Hill-Elizabeth Gouge-317
134: Fruits Basket #10-Natsuki Takaya-196
135: Fruits Basket #11-Natsuki Takaya-200
136: Fruits Basket #12-Natsuki Takaya-198
137: Fruits Basket #13-Natsuki Takaya-192
138: Angelmass-Timothy Zahn-430
139: Fantastic Mr. Fox-Roald Dahl-88
140: Deathnote #11-Tsugumi Ohba-210
141: Landover: Magic Kingdom for Sale/Sold!-Terry Brooks-308
142: Shaman King #12-Hiroyuki Takei-184
143: Elemental Gelade #1-Mayumi Azuma-180
144: Kare Kano #1-Masami Tsuda-188
145: Kare Kano #2-Masami Tsuda-190
146: Kare Kano #3-Masami Tsuda-188
147: One Piece #14- Eiichiro Oda-186
148: Bleach #8- Tite Kubo-191
149: Bleach #9- Tite Kubo-192
150: Bleach #10- Tite Kubo-200
151: Bleach #11- Tite Kubo-208
152: Bleach #12- Tite Kubo-198
153: Sketches by Boz I-Charles Dickens-421
154: Rave Master #1-Hiro Mashima-195
155: Rave Master #2-Hiro Mashima-195
156: Rave Master #3-Hiro Mashima-187
157: Rave Master #4-Hiro Mashima-195
158: Rave Master #5-Hiro Mashima-196
159: Bleach #7- Tite Kubo-200
160: Bleach #13- Tite Kubo-208
161: Trigun Maximum #1-Yasuhiro Nightow-192
162: Trigun Maximum #2-Yasuhiro Nightow-200
163: Trigun Maximum #3-Yasuhiro Nightow-192
164: Trigun Maximum #4-Yasuhiro Nightow-208
165: Trigun Maximum #5-Yasuhiro Nightow-206
166: Trigun Maximum #6-Yasuhiro Nightow-188
167: Trigun Maximum #7-Yasuhiro Nightow-192
168: Trigun Maximum #8-Yasuhiro Nightow-222
169: Bleach #14- Tite Kubo-200
170: Sketches by Boz II-Charles Dickens-465
171: Blade of Heaven- Yong-Su Hwang-290
172: The Icarus Hunt-Timothy Zahn-362
173: Seikai Trilogy: Crest of the Stars-Hiroyuki Morioka-245
174: Bleach #15- Tite Kubo-184
175: Hunter X Hunter #14-Yoshihiro Togashi-202
176: KingKiller: The Name of the Wind-Patrick Rothfuss-662
177: Landover: The Black Unicorn-Terry Brooks-239
178: Winter Rose-Patricia McKillip-262
179: StarWars: Legacy of the Force: Exile- Aaron Allston-337
180: Ceres: Celestial Legend #6- Yuu Watase-189
181: Bleach #16- Tite Kubo-192
182: Bleach #17- Tite Kubo-216
183: Harrowing the Dragon-Patricia Mckillip-308
184: The Changeling Sea-Patricia Mckillip-137
185: Landover: Wizard at Large-Terry Brooks-238
186: The Golden Gate-Alistair Maclean-233
187: Bone: One Volume Edition-Jeff Smith-1332
188: Goodbye California-Alistair Maclean-310
189: StarWars: Splinter of the Mind's Eye-Alan Dean Foster-182
190: Dragon and Thief-Timothy Zahn-248
191: Prince of Tennis #1-Takeshi Konomi-189
192: Prince of Tennis #2-Takeshi Konomi-183
193: StarWars: The Approaching Storm-Alan Dean Foster-344
194: StarWars: Medstar I: Battle Surgeons-Michael Reaves & Steve Perry-309
195: Bleach #18- Tite Kubo-203
196: Naruto #1-Masashi Kishimoto-187
197: Dragon and Soldier-Timothy Zahn-293
198: StarWars: Medstar II: Jedi Healer-Michael Reaves & Steve Perry-302
199: Alvin Maker: Seventh Son-Orson Scott Card-241
200: Fruits Basket #14-Natsuki Takaya-196
201: Naruto #2-Masashi Kishimoto-206
202: Ombria in Shadow-Patricia McKillip-298
203: The White Witch- Elizabeth Goudge-439
204: The Light Fantastic- Terry Pratchett-217
205: Naruto #3-Masashi Kishimoto-205
206: The Forgotten Beasts of Eld-Patricia McKillip-217
207: Alvin Maker: Red Prophet-Orson Scott Card-311
208: Alvin Maker: Prentice Alvin-Orson Scott Card-342
209: Claymore #1-Norihiro Yagi-188
210: Claymore #2-Norihiro Yagi-185
211: Dragon and Slave-Timothy Zahn-320
212: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows-J.K. Rowling-759
213: The Candidate for Goddess #1-Yukiru Sugisaki-185
214: The Candidate for Goddess #2-Yukiru Sugisaki-145
215: The Candidate for Goddess #3-Yukiru Sugisaki-155
216: The Candidate for Goddess #4-Yukiru Sugisaki-146
217: The Candidate for Goddess #5-Yukiru Sugisaki-184
218: The Night Gift-Patricia McKillip-156
219: The House on Parchment Street-Patricia McKillip-190
220: Alvin Maker: Alvin Journeyman-Orson Scott Card-400
221: Deathnote #12-Tsugumi Ohba-210 final volume
222: Alvin Maker: Heartfire-Orson Scott Card-336
223: The Howling Stones- Alan Dean Foster-330
224: Fruits Basket #15-Natsuki Takaya-194
225: Fruits Basket #16-Natsuki Takaya-196
226: Nicholas Nickleby part I-Charles Dickens-556
227: Dragon and Herdsman-Timothy Zahn-299
228: Fool's Run- Patricia McKillip-221
229: Jeeves in the Offing-P.G. Wodehouse-200
230: Feet of Clay-Terry Pratchet-249
231: On Stranger Tides-Tim Powers-325
232: Chobits #1-CLAMP-183
233: Sourcery-Terry Pratchett-214
234: Dragon and Judge-Timothy Zahn-318
235: The Age of Discovery: The New World-Michael Stackpole-399
236: Nicholas Nickleby part II-Charles Dickens-548
237: Star Wars: Black Fleet Crisis: Before the Storm-Michael Kube-McDowell-336
238: The Color of Magic-Terry Pratchett-210
239: Mort-Terry Pratchett-243
240: Wyrd Sisters-Terry Pratchett-265
241: Hunter X Hunter #15-Yoshihiro Togashi-197
242: Cygnet-The Sorceress and the Cygnet; The Cygnet and the Firebird-Patricia McKillip-406
243: Pyramids-Terry Pratchett-323
244: Samurai Girl: Realbout Highschool #1-Reiji Saiga-176
245: Samurai Girl: Realbout Highschool #2-Reiji Saiga-164
246: Guards! Guards!-Terry Pratchett-355
247: Star Wars: Black Fleet Crisis: Shield of Lies-Michael Kube-McDowell-338
248: Bleach #19- Tite Kubo-216
249: Bleach #20- Tite Kubo-216
250: Otogi Zoshi #1- Narumi Seto-177
251: Otogi Zoshi #2- Narumi Seto-150
251: Oh My Goddess! #26- Kosuke Fujishama-170
252: Genesis of Shannara: Elves of Cintra-Terry Brooks-376
253: Fruits Basket #17-Natsuki Takaya-198
254: Comic Party #1-Sekihiko Inui-175
255: Comic Party #2-Sekihiko Inui-164
256: Comic Party #3-Sekihiko Inui-162
257: Comic Party #4-Sekihiko Inui-180
258: Comic Party #5-Sekihiko Inui-244
259: Chronicles of the Cursed Sword #1- Yuy Beop-ryong-168
260: One Piece #15- Eiichiro Oda-212
261: David Copperfield Part I-Charles Dickens-578
262: Hunter X Hunter #16-Yoshihiro Togashi-192
263: Eric-Terry Pratchett-197
264: David Copperfield Part II-Charles Dickens-583
265: Reaper Man-Terry Pratchett-353
266: Yotsuba&! #4-Kiyohiko Azuma-190
267: StarWars: Legacy of the Force: Sacrifice- Karen Traviss-367
268: Sandworms of Dune-Brian Herbert & Kevin Anderson-494
269: Yotsuba&! #5-Kiyohiko Azuma-192
270: Witches Abroad-Terry Pratchett-350
271: The Act of Marriage-Tim & Bev Lahaye-393
272: For Men Only- Shaunti & Jeff Feldhahn-185
273: For Women Only-Shaunti Feldhahn-184
274: Lords and Ladies-Terry Pratchett-374
275: Crown of the Isles: The Mirror of Worlds-David Drake-333
276: StarWars: Legacy of the Force: Inferno- Troy Denning-312
277: Bleach #21- Tite Kubo-192
278: Mistborn: The Well of Ascension-Brandon Sanderson-578
279: Orbit 10-Damon Knight-208
280: Discovering the Mind of a Woman-Ken Nair-250
281: Landover: The Tangle Box-Terry Brooks-334
282: Amber: Nine Princes in Amber-Roger Zelazny-192
283: XXXHolic #9-Clamp-192
284: XXXHolic #10-Clamp-192
285: Hunter X Hunter #17-Yoshihiro Togashi-208
286: Men at Arms-Terry Pratchett-400
287: Soul Music-Terry Pratchett-384
288: Amber: The Guns of Avalon-Roger Zelazny-222
289: Amber: The Sign of the Unicorn-Roger Zelazny-192
290: Amber: The Hand of Oberon-Roger Zelazny-261
291: Amber: The Courts of Chaos-Roger Zelazny-183
292: Equal Rites-Terry Pratchett-213
293: Star Wars: Death Star-Michael Reaves & Steve Perry-363
294: Amber: Trumps of Doom-Roger Zelazny-183
295: Amber: Blood of Amber-Roger Zelazny-215
296: Amber: Sign of Chaos-Roger Zelazny-184
297: Dombey & Son Part I-Charles Dickens-582
298: The Sword of Truth: Confessor-Terry Goodkind-603
299: Dombey & Son Part II-Charles Dickens-588
300: YuYu Hakusho #1-Yoshihiro Togashi-199
301: YuYu Hakusho #2-Yoshihiro Togashi-193
302: YuYu Hakusho #3-Yoshihiro Togashi-188
303: YuYu Hakusho #4-Yoshihiro Togashi-188
304: YuYu Hakusho #5-Yoshihiro Togashi-206
305: YuYu Hakusho #6-Yoshihiro Togashi-206
306: YuYu Hakusho #7-Yoshihiro Togashi-199
307: YuYu Hakusho #8-Yoshihiro Togashi-187
308: YuYu Hakusho #9-Yoshihiro Togashi-189
309: Amber: Knight of Shadows-Roger Zelazny-251
310: Interesting Times-Terry Pratchett-368
311: Maskerade-Terry Pratchett-368
312: Amber: Prince of Chaos-Roger Zelazny-225
313: Tales of the Otori: Heaven's Net Is Wide: The First Tale of the Otori-Lian Hearn-484
314: Hyperion Cantos: Hyperion-Dan Simmons-512
315: The Space Vampires-Colin Wilson-214
316: Hyperion Cantos: The Fall of Hyperion-Dan Simmons-528
317: The Twelve Kingdoms: Sea of Shadow-Fuyumi Ono-462
318: King Raven: Scarlet-Stephen Lawhead-449
319: The Magic of Recluce-L.E. Modesitt Jr-501
320: Childhood's End-Arthur C. Clarke-216
2: Plum Pie- PG Wodehouse-252
3: Tsubasa RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE #10- Clamp-185
4: The Riddlemaster of Hed- Patricia McKillip-222
5: Tsubasa RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE #11- Clamp-183
6: The Circle: Black: The Birth of Evil- Ted Dekker-408
7: The Circle: Red: The Heroic Rescue- Ted Dekker-381
8: The Circle: White: The Great Pursuit- Ted Dekker-370
9: Fullmetal Alchemist #1- Hiromu Arakawa-183
10: Neon Genesis Evangelion #1- Yoshiyuki Sadamoto-171
11: Blink- Ted Dekker-389
12: One Piece #1-Eiichiro Oda-207
13: One Piece #2-Eiichiro Oda-194
14: One Piece #3-Eiichiro Oda-195
15: Death Note #1-Tsugumi Ohba-195
16: Death Note #2-Tsugumi Ohba-197
17: Heir of Sea and Fire- Patricia McKillip-207
18: Death Note #3-Tsugumi Ohba-194
19: Death Note #4-Tsugumi Ohba-204
20: Death Note #5-Tsugumi Ohba-200
21: R.O.D.-Read Or Die #1- Hideyuki Kurata-214
22: R.O.D.-Read Or Die #2- Hideyuki Kurata-194
23: Shaman King #1- Hiroyuki Takei-202
24: Shaman King #2- Hiroyuki Takei-190
25: Shaman King #3- Hiroyuki Takei-187
26: Shaman King #4- Hiroyuki Takei-191
27: Shaman King #5- Hiroyuki Takei-190
28: Shaman King #6- Hiroyuki Takei-191
29: Harpist in the Wind- Patricia McKillip-257
30: Trigun #1- Yasuhiro Nightow-358
31: Hunters of Dune- Brian Herbert & Kevin Anderson-525
32: Deathnote #6-Tsugumi Ohba-217
33: Hunter X Hunter #1-Yoshihiro Togashi-183
34: Hunter X Hunter #2-Yoshihiro Togashi-185
35: Hunter X Hunter #3-Yoshihiro Togashi-185
36: Hunter X Hunter #4-Yoshihiro Togashi-185
37: Hunter X Hunter #5-Yoshihiro Togashi-185
38: Hunter X Hunter #6-Yoshihiro Togashi-200
39: Hunter X Hunter #7-Yoshihiro Togashi-188
40: Hunter X Hunter #8-Yoshihiro Togashi-196
41: Hunter X Hunter #9-Yoshihiro Togashi-192
42: One Piece #4- Eiichiro Oda-192
43: Shaman King #7- Hiroyuki Takei-190
44: Shaman King #8- Hiroyuki Takei-192
45: Shaman King #9- Hiroyuki Takei-189
46: Brothers Karamazov- Fyodor Dostoyevsky-822
47: Megatokyo #1-Fred Gallagher & Rodney Caston-156
48: Megatokyo #2-Fred Gallagher & Rodney Caston-180
49: Megatokyo #3-Fred Gallagher-220
50: The Time Traveler's Wife- Audrey Niffenegger-518
51: FLCL #1- Gainax-172
52: FLCL #2- Gainax-198
53: Deathnote #7-Tsugumi Ohba-211
54: Deathnote #8-Tsugumi Ohba-200
55: Deathnote #9-Tsugumi Ohba-192
56: Congo- Michael Crichton-313
57: Beowulf's Children- Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle, Steven Barnes-382
58: Oh My Goddess! #24 -Kosuke Fujishama-172
59: W Juliet #11 -Emura-193
60: W Juliet #12 -Emura-193
61: One Piece #5- Eiichiro Oda-190
62: One Piece #6- Eiichiro Oda-185
63: Ceres: Celestial Legend #1- Yuu Watase-194
64: Ceres: Celestial Legend #2- Yuu Watase-189
65: Ceres: Celestial Legend #3- Yuu Watase-189
66: Ceres: Celestial Legend #4- Yuu Watase-187
67: Ceres: Celestial Legend #5- Yuu Watase-191
68: Tales of the Otori: The Harsh Cry of the Heron:
The Last Tale of the Otori -Lian Hearn-508
69: Megatokyo #4-Fred Gallagher-233
70: Debt of Bones-Terry Goodkind-119
71: Tsubasa RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE #12- Clamp-185
72: Flame of Recca #1-Nobuyuki Anzai-180
73: Flame of Recca #2-Nobuyuki Anzai-182
74: Flame of Recca #3-Nobuyuki Anzai-186
75: Castle on the Hill-Elizabeth Goudge-346
76: One Piece #8- Eiichiro Oda-187
77: One Piece #9- Eiichiro Oda-205
78: One Piece #10- Eiichiro Oda-187
79: 84, Charing Cross Road-Helena Hanff-113
80: StarWars: Legacy of the Force: Tempest- Troy Denning-392
81: The Dean's Watch-Elizabeth Goudge-383
82: Oh My Goddess! #25-Kosuke Fujishima-173
83: Deathnote #10-Tsugumi Ohba-188
84: The Pickwick Papers-Charles Dickens-759
85: W Juliet #13 -Emura-193
86: W Juliet #14 -Emura-207-final volume
87: StarWars: Allegiance-Timothy Zahn-324
88: R.O.D.-Read Or Die #3- Hideyuki Kurata-210
89: R.O.D.-Read Or Die #4- Hideyuki Kurata-210
90: Fruits Basket #1-Natsuki Takaya-206
91: Fruits Basket #2-Natsuki Takaya-194
92: CrossRoads: Spirit Gate- Kate Elliott-445
93: One Piece #11- Eiichiro Oda-185
94: One Piece #12- Eiichiro Oda-190
95: One Piece #13- Eiichiro Oda-182
96: Shaman King #10-Hiroyuki Takei-198
97: Shaman King #11-Hiroyuki Takei-188
98: Fruits Basket #3-Natsuki Takaya-198
99: Fruits Basket #4-Natsuki Takaya-206
100: Fruits Basket #5-Natsuki Takaya-202
101: Tale of Two Cities-Charles Dickens-469
102: Ragnarok #1-Myung-Jin Lee-186
103: Ragnarok #2-Myung-Jin Lee-not numbered. Stupid!
104: Bleach #1- Tite Kubo-190
105: Bleach #2- Tite Kubo-190
106: The Hunchback of Notre Dame-Victor Hugo-586
107: Bleach #3- Tite Kubo-190
108: Bleach #4- Tite Kubo-190
109: Bleach #5- Tite Kubo-190
110: Bleach #6- Tite Kubo-190
111: Fruits Basket #6-Natsuki Takaya-196
112: Fruits Basket #7-Natsuki Takaya-192
113: Fruits Basket #8-Natsuki Takaya-196
114: Fruits Basket #9-Natsuki Takaya-192
115: Down the Long Hills-Louis L'Amour-150
116: Hanging Woman Creek-Louis L'Amour-151
117: Psychic Academy #1-Katsu Aki-187
118: Hunter X Hunter #10-Yoshihiro Togashi-200
119: Hunter X Hunter #11-Yoshihiro Togashi-196
120: Hunter X Hunter #12-Yoshihiro Togashi-186
121: Hunter X Hunter #13-Yoshihiro Togashi-196
122: Full Metal Panic! #1-Shouji Gatou-162
123: Full Metal Panic! #2-Shouji Gatou-194
124: Full Metal Panic! #3-Shouji Gatou-166
125: Full Metal Panic! #4-Shouji Gatou-156
126: Full Metal Panic! #5-Shouji Gatou-160
127: Full Metal Panic! #6-Shouji Gatou-170
128: Full Metal Panic! #7-Shouji Gatou-162
129: Full Metal Panic! #8-Shouji Gatou-162
130: Utah Blaine-Louis L'Amour-191
131: Shadowmarch: Shadowplay-Tad Williams-641
132: The King's Fifth-Scott O'Dell-264
133: Gentian Hill-Elizabeth Gouge-317
134: Fruits Basket #10-Natsuki Takaya-196
135: Fruits Basket #11-Natsuki Takaya-200
136: Fruits Basket #12-Natsuki Takaya-198
137: Fruits Basket #13-Natsuki Takaya-192
138: Angelmass-Timothy Zahn-430
139: Fantastic Mr. Fox-Roald Dahl-88
140: Deathnote #11-Tsugumi Ohba-210
141: Landover: Magic Kingdom for Sale/Sold!-Terry Brooks-308
142: Shaman King #12-Hiroyuki Takei-184
143: Elemental Gelade #1-Mayumi Azuma-180
144: Kare Kano #1-Masami Tsuda-188
145: Kare Kano #2-Masami Tsuda-190
146: Kare Kano #3-Masami Tsuda-188
147: One Piece #14- Eiichiro Oda-186
148: Bleach #8- Tite Kubo-191
149: Bleach #9- Tite Kubo-192
150: Bleach #10- Tite Kubo-200
151: Bleach #11- Tite Kubo-208
152: Bleach #12- Tite Kubo-198
153: Sketches by Boz I-Charles Dickens-421
154: Rave Master #1-Hiro Mashima-195
155: Rave Master #2-Hiro Mashima-195
156: Rave Master #3-Hiro Mashima-187
157: Rave Master #4-Hiro Mashima-195
158: Rave Master #5-Hiro Mashima-196
159: Bleach #7- Tite Kubo-200
160: Bleach #13- Tite Kubo-208
161: Trigun Maximum #1-Yasuhiro Nightow-192
162: Trigun Maximum #2-Yasuhiro Nightow-200
163: Trigun Maximum #3-Yasuhiro Nightow-192
164: Trigun Maximum #4-Yasuhiro Nightow-208
165: Trigun Maximum #5-Yasuhiro Nightow-206
166: Trigun Maximum #6-Yasuhiro Nightow-188
167: Trigun Maximum #7-Yasuhiro Nightow-192
168: Trigun Maximum #8-Yasuhiro Nightow-222
169: Bleach #14- Tite Kubo-200
170: Sketches by Boz II-Charles Dickens-465
171: Blade of Heaven- Yong-Su Hwang-290
172: The Icarus Hunt-Timothy Zahn-362
173: Seikai Trilogy: Crest of the Stars-Hiroyuki Morioka-245
174: Bleach #15- Tite Kubo-184
175: Hunter X Hunter #14-Yoshihiro Togashi-202
176: KingKiller: The Name of the Wind-Patrick Rothfuss-662
177: Landover: The Black Unicorn-Terry Brooks-239
178: Winter Rose-Patricia McKillip-262
179: StarWars: Legacy of the Force: Exile- Aaron Allston-337
180: Ceres: Celestial Legend #6- Yuu Watase-189
181: Bleach #16- Tite Kubo-192
182: Bleach #17- Tite Kubo-216
183: Harrowing the Dragon-Patricia Mckillip-308
184: The Changeling Sea-Patricia Mckillip-137
185: Landover: Wizard at Large-Terry Brooks-238
186: The Golden Gate-Alistair Maclean-233
187: Bone: One Volume Edition-Jeff Smith-1332
188: Goodbye California-Alistair Maclean-310
189: StarWars: Splinter of the Mind's Eye-Alan Dean Foster-182
190: Dragon and Thief-Timothy Zahn-248
191: Prince of Tennis #1-Takeshi Konomi-189
192: Prince of Tennis #2-Takeshi Konomi-183
193: StarWars: The Approaching Storm-Alan Dean Foster-344
194: StarWars: Medstar I: Battle Surgeons-Michael Reaves & Steve Perry-309
195: Bleach #18- Tite Kubo-203
196: Naruto #1-Masashi Kishimoto-187
197: Dragon and Soldier-Timothy Zahn-293
198: StarWars: Medstar II: Jedi Healer-Michael Reaves & Steve Perry-302
199: Alvin Maker: Seventh Son-Orson Scott Card-241
200: Fruits Basket #14-Natsuki Takaya-196
201: Naruto #2-Masashi Kishimoto-206
202: Ombria in Shadow-Patricia McKillip-298
203: The White Witch- Elizabeth Goudge-439
204: The Light Fantastic- Terry Pratchett-217
205: Naruto #3-Masashi Kishimoto-205
206: The Forgotten Beasts of Eld-Patricia McKillip-217
207: Alvin Maker: Red Prophet-Orson Scott Card-311
208: Alvin Maker: Prentice Alvin-Orson Scott Card-342
209: Claymore #1-Norihiro Yagi-188
210: Claymore #2-Norihiro Yagi-185
211: Dragon and Slave-Timothy Zahn-320
212: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows-J.K. Rowling-759
213: The Candidate for Goddess #1-Yukiru Sugisaki-185
214: The Candidate for Goddess #2-Yukiru Sugisaki-145
215: The Candidate for Goddess #3-Yukiru Sugisaki-155
216: The Candidate for Goddess #4-Yukiru Sugisaki-146
217: The Candidate for Goddess #5-Yukiru Sugisaki-184
218: The Night Gift-Patricia McKillip-156
219: The House on Parchment Street-Patricia McKillip-190
220: Alvin Maker: Alvin Journeyman-Orson Scott Card-400
221: Deathnote #12-Tsugumi Ohba-210 final volume
222: Alvin Maker: Heartfire-Orson Scott Card-336
223: The Howling Stones- Alan Dean Foster-330
224: Fruits Basket #15-Natsuki Takaya-194
225: Fruits Basket #16-Natsuki Takaya-196
226: Nicholas Nickleby part I-Charles Dickens-556
227: Dragon and Herdsman-Timothy Zahn-299
228: Fool's Run- Patricia McKillip-221
229: Jeeves in the Offing-P.G. Wodehouse-200
230: Feet of Clay-Terry Pratchet-249
231: On Stranger Tides-Tim Powers-325
232: Chobits #1-CLAMP-183
233: Sourcery-Terry Pratchett-214
234: Dragon and Judge-Timothy Zahn-318
235: The Age of Discovery: The New World-Michael Stackpole-399
236: Nicholas Nickleby part II-Charles Dickens-548
237: Star Wars: Black Fleet Crisis: Before the Storm-Michael Kube-McDowell-336
238: The Color of Magic-Terry Pratchett-210
239: Mort-Terry Pratchett-243
240: Wyrd Sisters-Terry Pratchett-265
241: Hunter X Hunter #15-Yoshihiro Togashi-197
242: Cygnet-The Sorceress and the Cygnet; The Cygnet and the Firebird-Patricia McKillip-406
243: Pyramids-Terry Pratchett-323
244: Samurai Girl: Realbout Highschool #1-Reiji Saiga-176
245: Samurai Girl: Realbout Highschool #2-Reiji Saiga-164
246: Guards! Guards!-Terry Pratchett-355
247: Star Wars: Black Fleet Crisis: Shield of Lies-Michael Kube-McDowell-338
248: Bleach #19- Tite Kubo-216
249: Bleach #20- Tite Kubo-216
250: Otogi Zoshi #1- Narumi Seto-177
251: Otogi Zoshi #2- Narumi Seto-150
251: Oh My Goddess! #26- Kosuke Fujishama-170
252: Genesis of Shannara: Elves of Cintra-Terry Brooks-376
253: Fruits Basket #17-Natsuki Takaya-198
254: Comic Party #1-Sekihiko Inui-175
255: Comic Party #2-Sekihiko Inui-164
256: Comic Party #3-Sekihiko Inui-162
257: Comic Party #4-Sekihiko Inui-180
258: Comic Party #5-Sekihiko Inui-244
259: Chronicles of the Cursed Sword #1- Yuy Beop-ryong-168
260: One Piece #15- Eiichiro Oda-212
261: David Copperfield Part I-Charles Dickens-578
262: Hunter X Hunter #16-Yoshihiro Togashi-192
263: Eric-Terry Pratchett-197
264: David Copperfield Part II-Charles Dickens-583
265: Reaper Man-Terry Pratchett-353
266: Yotsuba&! #4-Kiyohiko Azuma-190
267: StarWars: Legacy of the Force: Sacrifice- Karen Traviss-367
268: Sandworms of Dune-Brian Herbert & Kevin Anderson-494
269: Yotsuba&! #5-Kiyohiko Azuma-192
270: Witches Abroad-Terry Pratchett-350
271: The Act of Marriage-Tim & Bev Lahaye-393
272: For Men Only- Shaunti & Jeff Feldhahn-185
273: For Women Only-Shaunti Feldhahn-184
274: Lords and Ladies-Terry Pratchett-374
275: Crown of the Isles: The Mirror of Worlds-David Drake-333
276: StarWars: Legacy of the Force: Inferno- Troy Denning-312
277: Bleach #21- Tite Kubo-192
278: Mistborn: The Well of Ascension-Brandon Sanderson-578
279: Orbit 10-Damon Knight-208
280: Discovering the Mind of a Woman-Ken Nair-250
281: Landover: The Tangle Box-Terry Brooks-334
282: Amber: Nine Princes in Amber-Roger Zelazny-192
283: XXXHolic #9-Clamp-192
284: XXXHolic #10-Clamp-192
285: Hunter X Hunter #17-Yoshihiro Togashi-208
286: Men at Arms-Terry Pratchett-400
287: Soul Music-Terry Pratchett-384
288: Amber: The Guns of Avalon-Roger Zelazny-222
289: Amber: The Sign of the Unicorn-Roger Zelazny-192
290: Amber: The Hand of Oberon-Roger Zelazny-261
291: Amber: The Courts of Chaos-Roger Zelazny-183
292: Equal Rites-Terry Pratchett-213
293: Star Wars: Death Star-Michael Reaves & Steve Perry-363
294: Amber: Trumps of Doom-Roger Zelazny-183
295: Amber: Blood of Amber-Roger Zelazny-215
296: Amber: Sign of Chaos-Roger Zelazny-184
297: Dombey & Son Part I-Charles Dickens-582
298: The Sword of Truth: Confessor-Terry Goodkind-603
299: Dombey & Son Part II-Charles Dickens-588
300: YuYu Hakusho #1-Yoshihiro Togashi-199
301: YuYu Hakusho #2-Yoshihiro Togashi-193
302: YuYu Hakusho #3-Yoshihiro Togashi-188
303: YuYu Hakusho #4-Yoshihiro Togashi-188
304: YuYu Hakusho #5-Yoshihiro Togashi-206
305: YuYu Hakusho #6-Yoshihiro Togashi-206
306: YuYu Hakusho #7-Yoshihiro Togashi-199
307: YuYu Hakusho #8-Yoshihiro Togashi-187
308: YuYu Hakusho #9-Yoshihiro Togashi-189
309: Amber: Knight of Shadows-Roger Zelazny-251
310: Interesting Times-Terry Pratchett-368
311: Maskerade-Terry Pratchett-368
312: Amber: Prince of Chaos-Roger Zelazny-225
313: Tales of the Otori: Heaven's Net Is Wide: The First Tale of the Otori-Lian Hearn-484
314: Hyperion Cantos: Hyperion-Dan Simmons-512
315: The Space Vampires-Colin Wilson-214
316: Hyperion Cantos: The Fall of Hyperion-Dan Simmons-528
317: The Twelve Kingdoms: Sea of Shadow-Fuyumi Ono-462
318: King Raven: Scarlet-Stephen Lawhead-449
319: The Magic of Recluce-L.E. Modesitt Jr-501
320: Childhood's End-Arthur C. Clarke-216
Monday, December 31, 2007
December '07
DOMBEY & SON Part I
-C. Dickens-classic
-582-follows the life of one Florence Dombey, whose mother dies and father ignores, because she is not the son he wanted. A younger brother, the cause of the mothers death, lives until his 6th year or so and then dies. A sad story so far.
THE SWORD OF TRUTH: CONFESSOR
-T. Goodkind-fantasy
-603-ends the Sword of Truth saga. It is obvious that Goodkind has an axe to grind against organized religion and it really comes through in this book. A socio-philosophical diatribe in many respects. Quite a few of the conversations between characters were simply mouthings of Goodkind's thoughts on Determinism. I am glad this is done.
DOMBEY & SON Part II
-C. Dickens-classic
-588-Dombey betrayed by his second wife and pride, Florence marries Walter. Florence and her father reconciled after his ruination. I cried at the reconciliation, which goes to show how sick I was at the time.
YUYU HAKUSHO #1-9
-Y. Togashi-manga
AMBER: KNIGHT OF SHADOWS
-R. Zelazny-fantasy
-251-Zelazny delights in blindsiding his characters [and readers] with all sorts of father issues, family issues and friend issues. Turns out the Pattern and the Logrus are sentient powers and that Chaos and Amber may simply exist to give them place to battle. Merlin is in the position that Corwin was, in the first 5 books, ie, confused and with a bad case of a dad doing something that nobody else knows about.
INTERESTING TIMES
-T. Pratchett-fantasy
-368-Rincewind ends up in the Counterweight Continent, along with Cohen the Barbarian and the Silver Horde. They are attempting to take over the Empire. Rincewind ends up in XXXX, the unknown land.
MASKERADE
-T. Pratchett-fantasy
-368-first off, you have to a fan of Phantom of the Opera to really get this book. Pratchett lifts the story wholesale, and proceeds to slaughter it with the witches of Lancre and one witch-in-training, who doesn't want to be a witch. Good stuff.
AMBER: PRINCE OF CHAOS
-R. Zelazny-fantasy
-225-Ok, Merlin is going to become the King of Chaos, to keep peace between the Pattern and the Logrus. Corwin has been imprisoned, and basically it is Corwin/Oberon all over again. How dumb can guys get? Zelazny simply cannot seem to allow his characters to live their lives. I believe this is the last original Amber novel. I've heard there are prequels written by another author, but I don't have any interest in those.
TALES OF THE OTORI: HEAVEN'S NET IS WIDE: THE FIRST TALE OF THE OTORI
-L. Hearn-historical fantasy
-484-follows Shigeru and his brother Takeshi; Otori who are betrayed and fall under the power of Iida. Gives the back story of all that happened before Takeo is found. This series is a brutal look at feudal life. Women were helpless, those not of nobility were helpless and death was but one step away for almost everyone. Also delved into the Hidden a lot more. Showing the difference between their regard and love for life in contrast to the Warrior Class's lust for death and personal power. Truly, Christianity is the only thing that will save this world.
HYPERION CANTOS: HYPERION
-D. Simmons-scifi
-512-The Hegemony of Man, the TechnoCore[AI's] and the Ousters[humans who fled into space to escape the Hegemony] all collide on the world of Hyperion. A world where Time Tombs are in an entropic field which seems to be moving backwards. 7 travelers come together to seek the Shrike, mystical/mythical Lord of Pain, thinking that one of them will be granted their wish and the other 6 taken in sacrifice. This book concentrates on their backstories and what brought them to Hyperion. Excellent writing. The only things I had against it was the profanity used, frequently, by one character and a couple of instances of semi-graphic sexuality.
THE SPACE VAMPIRES
-C. Wilson-scifi
-214-oh man, written in the 70's, this was pure crap! The whole story is centered around Freudianism, masochim/sadism and some mumbojumbo about "lifeforce". Why anyone would consider this entertaining is beyond me!
HYPERION CANTOS: THE FALL OF HYPERION
-D. Simmons-scifi
-528-the Tombs open, Mankind destroys the Farcaster web to escape domination by the TechnoCore and the Ousters show the Hegemony the path to the future. Full of philosophical dialogue, religious overtones and weird ideas. Well done.
THE TWELVE KINGDOMS: SEA OF SHADOW
-F. Ono-fantasy
-462. A girl is confronted by a stranger who gives his allegiance to her and then is swept into another world. Yoko starts out as a self-centered, cowardly whining girl. By the end of the novel she is a strong, capable woman. Turns out she is the next Queen of Kei. This is the book that the anime was based on but this was much tighter and focused exclusively on Yoko. I really liked it and look forward to the next 10 novels as they are released.
KING RAVEN: SCARLET
-S. Lawhead-historical fiction
-449-Continues the tale of Robin Hood, set in a more historic Welsh setting. Thoroughly enjoyed this tale. I have to say, I think that this series is fast moving up in my favorites list.
THE MAGIC OF RECLUCE
-L.E. Modesitt Jr-fantasy
-501-definitely a shallow book, but enjoyable. You don't see the character grow up, they simply change. But I liked the whole reversal of the typical White, Grey and Black of the types of magic. This is a series about Order vs Chaos.
CHILDHOOD'S END
-A. C. Clarke-scifi
-216-humanistic. Humanity gives up its individuality and becomes one with some great Over-mind. Depressing.
-C. Dickens-classic
-582-follows the life of one Florence Dombey, whose mother dies and father ignores, because she is not the son he wanted. A younger brother, the cause of the mothers death, lives until his 6th year or so and then dies. A sad story so far.
THE SWORD OF TRUTH: CONFESSOR
-T. Goodkind-fantasy
-603-ends the Sword of Truth saga. It is obvious that Goodkind has an axe to grind against organized religion and it really comes through in this book. A socio-philosophical diatribe in many respects. Quite a few of the conversations between characters were simply mouthings of Goodkind's thoughts on Determinism. I am glad this is done.
DOMBEY & SON Part II
-C. Dickens-classic
-588-Dombey betrayed by his second wife and pride, Florence marries Walter. Florence and her father reconciled after his ruination. I cried at the reconciliation, which goes to show how sick I was at the time.
YUYU HAKUSHO #1-9
-Y. Togashi-manga
AMBER: KNIGHT OF SHADOWS
-R. Zelazny-fantasy
-251-Zelazny delights in blindsiding his characters [and readers] with all sorts of father issues, family issues and friend issues. Turns out the Pattern and the Logrus are sentient powers and that Chaos and Amber may simply exist to give them place to battle. Merlin is in the position that Corwin was, in the first 5 books, ie, confused and with a bad case of a dad doing something that nobody else knows about.
INTERESTING TIMES
-T. Pratchett-fantasy
-368-Rincewind ends up in the Counterweight Continent, along with Cohen the Barbarian and the Silver Horde. They are attempting to take over the Empire. Rincewind ends up in XXXX, the unknown land.
MASKERADE
-T. Pratchett-fantasy
-368-first off, you have to a fan of Phantom of the Opera to really get this book. Pratchett lifts the story wholesale, and proceeds to slaughter it with the witches of Lancre and one witch-in-training, who doesn't want to be a witch. Good stuff.
AMBER: PRINCE OF CHAOS
-R. Zelazny-fantasy
-225-Ok, Merlin is going to become the King of Chaos, to keep peace between the Pattern and the Logrus. Corwin has been imprisoned, and basically it is Corwin/Oberon all over again. How dumb can guys get? Zelazny simply cannot seem to allow his characters to live their lives. I believe this is the last original Amber novel. I've heard there are prequels written by another author, but I don't have any interest in those.
TALES OF THE OTORI: HEAVEN'S NET IS WIDE: THE FIRST TALE OF THE OTORI
-L. Hearn-historical fantasy
-484-follows Shigeru and his brother Takeshi; Otori who are betrayed and fall under the power of Iida. Gives the back story of all that happened before Takeo is found. This series is a brutal look at feudal life. Women were helpless, those not of nobility were helpless and death was but one step away for almost everyone. Also delved into the Hidden a lot more. Showing the difference between their regard and love for life in contrast to the Warrior Class's lust for death and personal power. Truly, Christianity is the only thing that will save this world.
HYPERION CANTOS: HYPERION
-D. Simmons-scifi
-512-The Hegemony of Man, the TechnoCore[AI's] and the Ousters[humans who fled into space to escape the Hegemony] all collide on the world of Hyperion. A world where Time Tombs are in an entropic field which seems to be moving backwards. 7 travelers come together to seek the Shrike, mystical/mythical Lord of Pain, thinking that one of them will be granted their wish and the other 6 taken in sacrifice. This book concentrates on their backstories and what brought them to Hyperion. Excellent writing. The only things I had against it was the profanity used, frequently, by one character and a couple of instances of semi-graphic sexuality.
THE SPACE VAMPIRES
-C. Wilson-scifi
-214-oh man, written in the 70's, this was pure crap! The whole story is centered around Freudianism, masochim/sadism and some mumbojumbo about "lifeforce". Why anyone would consider this entertaining is beyond me!
HYPERION CANTOS: THE FALL OF HYPERION
-D. Simmons-scifi
-528-the Tombs open, Mankind destroys the Farcaster web to escape domination by the TechnoCore and the Ousters show the Hegemony the path to the future. Full of philosophical dialogue, religious overtones and weird ideas. Well done.
THE TWELVE KINGDOMS: SEA OF SHADOW
-F. Ono-fantasy
-462. A girl is confronted by a stranger who gives his allegiance to her and then is swept into another world. Yoko starts out as a self-centered, cowardly whining girl. By the end of the novel she is a strong, capable woman. Turns out she is the next Queen of Kei. This is the book that the anime was based on but this was much tighter and focused exclusively on Yoko. I really liked it and look forward to the next 10 novels as they are released.
KING RAVEN: SCARLET
-S. Lawhead-historical fiction
-449-Continues the tale of Robin Hood, set in a more historic Welsh setting. Thoroughly enjoyed this tale. I have to say, I think that this series is fast moving up in my favorites list.
THE MAGIC OF RECLUCE
-L.E. Modesitt Jr-fantasy
-501-definitely a shallow book, but enjoyable. You don't see the character grow up, they simply change. But I liked the whole reversal of the typical White, Grey and Black of the types of magic. This is a series about Order vs Chaos.
CHILDHOOD'S END
-A. C. Clarke-scifi
-216-humanistic. Humanity gives up its individuality and becomes one with some great Over-mind. Depressing.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
November '07
BLEACH #21
-T. Kubo-manga
-192
MISTBORN: THE WELL OF ASCENSION
-B. Sanderson-fantasy
-578-Everything I thought I knew from Final Empire is turned on its head! Vin and Elend get married, Luthadel is sacked, but Vin realizes she has powers unlike any other Mistborn. Goes to the Well of Ascension to destroy the Deepness, only to set free some being that has been manipulating the Terris religion for that very purpose. The Hero of Ages is a deception wrought by this being. Looking forward to the next volume.
AN ANTHOLOGY OF ORIGINAL SF STORIES: ORBIT 10
-Edited by D. Knight-scifi
-208-this was released back in '72, and man, does it show. Every story seems to involve some sort of sex, some form of psychological front and a lot of angst, whining and general immaturity. If this was a true representation of SF back then, I'm glad I missed it.
DISCOVERING THE MIND OF A WOMAN
-K. Nair-counsel
-250- I have to admit, I was expecting a bit more. I was looking for specific insights on how to deal with the feminine and instead he went into generalities about being Christlike. Good stuff, just not at all about the "mind of a woman", imo. It should have been entitled "...the Emotions of a Woman". I'm going to have to read it through in another year or so and see what I think then cause right now, I got nothing.
LANDOVER: THE TANGLE BOX
-T. Brooks-fantasy
-334-some evil faery creature gets loose and traps Ben, Nightshade and Strabo in his old trap. Willow gives birth. The inept conjurer who started all this mess fixes things by releasing Ben & Co and trapping the Gorse again. I enjoyed this novel the most since Magic Kingdom for Sale/Sold, which is surprising. Cause I remember hating this when I read it for the first time. Now I'm looking forward to the next one :-)
AMBER: THE NINE PRINCES IN AMBER
-R. Zelazny-fantasy
-192-Too choppy a narrative style for my taste. Quite effective though considering. A man with amnesia discovers that he is a Prince of Amber, the True City on which all other cities are but shadows. Fights, and loses, to be the king. Ends with him fleeing after imprisonment.
XXXHOLIC #9&10
-Clamp-manga
HUNTER X HUNTER #17
-Y. Togashi-manga
-208
MEN AT ARMS
-T. Pratchett-fantasy
-400-The Night Watch embraces diversity and someone tries to set things up so Cpt. Carrot comes into his royal birthright.
SOUL MUSIC
-T. Pratchett-fantasy
-384-Susan, Death's granddaughter, has a go at the family business. Some bard discovers a magical guitar which uses him and his band to play the "Primal" music played at the beginning of the universe. Nothing memorable.
AMBER: THE GUNS OF AVALON
-R. Zelazny-fantasy
-222-Corwin allies with another brother against Eric and gets a gunpowder that works in Amber. Takes over just as Eric dies from repelling forces from Chaos
AMBER: SIGN OF THE UNICORN
-R. Zelazny-fantasy
-192-It becomes apparent that there is more than just intriguing for the Throne of Amber. It would seem that some faction has allied with the Courts of Chaos, the reality where Dwork and his son Oberon came from.
AMBER: THE HAND OF OBERON
-R. Zelazny-fantasy
-261-Oberon, long thought dead, is shown to be alive and orchestrating everything to date, all to save Amber from complete destruction at the Hands of the Courts of Chaos. Amber is NOT the ultimate Reality, but simply the First Shadow.
AMBER: THE COURTS OF CHAOS
-R. Zelazny-fantasy
-183-Amber fights against Chaos while Oberon tries to restore the Pattern. He succeeds, but Corwin also creates a new pattern. In the end, everything is back in balance, with Corwin about to enter the Realm of Chaos to travel with his son Merlin.
EQUAL RITES
-T. Pratchett-fantasy
-213- a wizard, about to die, confers his powers on what he thinks is the 8th son of an 8th son. Only "he" turns out to be a "she". Deals with Granny Weatherwax and Esk, the girl who wants to be a wizard. Only kind of funny.
STAR WARS: DEATH STAR
-M. Reaves & S. Perry-scifi
-363-ties in characters from Medstar. Basically about the 1st Deathstar from about halfway through its construction to its destruction. Follows 4 different sets of characters. They escape in the end because they can't countenance working for something that destroys millions and billions of lives just to make a point. A very interesting look at the flow and ebb of life on the Death Star.
AMBER: TRUMPS OF DOOM
-R. Zelazny-fantasy
-183-The adventures of Merlin, son of Corwin and Dara. Half Amberite, Half Lord of Chaos. More machinations. Someone is trying to kill him and other Amber royalty. The whole fragmented sentence thing used for shadow traveling is visually effective, but I simply skip it. Nothing happens in it.
AMBER: BLOOD OF AMBER
-R. Zelazny-fantasy
-215-turns out the assassin is Brand's son. Who is Merlin's best friend. But that is not all. More family and outer family rivalry. Corwin has disappeared and no one can walk the pattern he created. This is truly the 2nd Chronicles of Amber. More of the same "keep the reader in the dark and guessing right up til the end and give lots of false, confusing info and trust no one, etc, etc" but with a new generation added to the mix.
AMBER: SIGN OF CHAOS
-R. Zelazny-fantasy
-184-the Masked one turns out to look like Merlin's old girlfriend Julia, who was attacked and killed right at the beginning of Trumps of Doom. I can't speculate, simply hold on for the ride that Zelazny insists on us riding to read his books. Oh, we now have a self aware AI that Merlin created that is able to manipulate Shadow too. Add another confusing factor.
-T. Kubo-manga
-192
MISTBORN: THE WELL OF ASCENSION
-B. Sanderson-fantasy
-578-Everything I thought I knew from Final Empire is turned on its head! Vin and Elend get married, Luthadel is sacked, but Vin realizes she has powers unlike any other Mistborn. Goes to the Well of Ascension to destroy the Deepness, only to set free some being that has been manipulating the Terris religion for that very purpose. The Hero of Ages is a deception wrought by this being. Looking forward to the next volume.
AN ANTHOLOGY OF ORIGINAL SF STORIES: ORBIT 10
-Edited by D. Knight-scifi
-208-this was released back in '72, and man, does it show. Every story seems to involve some sort of sex, some form of psychological front and a lot of angst, whining and general immaturity. If this was a true representation of SF back then, I'm glad I missed it.
DISCOVERING THE MIND OF A WOMAN
-K. Nair-counsel
-250- I have to admit, I was expecting a bit more. I was looking for specific insights on how to deal with the feminine and instead he went into generalities about being Christlike. Good stuff, just not at all about the "mind of a woman", imo. It should have been entitled "...the Emotions of a Woman". I'm going to have to read it through in another year or so and see what I think then cause right now, I got nothing.
LANDOVER: THE TANGLE BOX
-T. Brooks-fantasy
-334-some evil faery creature gets loose and traps Ben, Nightshade and Strabo in his old trap. Willow gives birth. The inept conjurer who started all this mess fixes things by releasing Ben & Co and trapping the Gorse again. I enjoyed this novel the most since Magic Kingdom for Sale/Sold, which is surprising. Cause I remember hating this when I read it for the first time. Now I'm looking forward to the next one :-)
AMBER: THE NINE PRINCES IN AMBER
-R. Zelazny-fantasy
-192-Too choppy a narrative style for my taste. Quite effective though considering. A man with amnesia discovers that he is a Prince of Amber, the True City on which all other cities are but shadows. Fights, and loses, to be the king. Ends with him fleeing after imprisonment.
XXXHOLIC #9&10
-Clamp-manga
HUNTER X HUNTER #17
-Y. Togashi-manga
-208
MEN AT ARMS
-T. Pratchett-fantasy
-400-The Night Watch embraces diversity and someone tries to set things up so Cpt. Carrot comes into his royal birthright.
SOUL MUSIC
-T. Pratchett-fantasy
-384-Susan, Death's granddaughter, has a go at the family business. Some bard discovers a magical guitar which uses him and his band to play the "Primal" music played at the beginning of the universe. Nothing memorable.
AMBER: THE GUNS OF AVALON
-R. Zelazny-fantasy
-222-Corwin allies with another brother against Eric and gets a gunpowder that works in Amber. Takes over just as Eric dies from repelling forces from Chaos
AMBER: SIGN OF THE UNICORN
-R. Zelazny-fantasy
-192-It becomes apparent that there is more than just intriguing for the Throne of Amber. It would seem that some faction has allied with the Courts of Chaos, the reality where Dwork and his son Oberon came from.
AMBER: THE HAND OF OBERON
-R. Zelazny-fantasy
-261-Oberon, long thought dead, is shown to be alive and orchestrating everything to date, all to save Amber from complete destruction at the Hands of the Courts of Chaos. Amber is NOT the ultimate Reality, but simply the First Shadow.
AMBER: THE COURTS OF CHAOS
-R. Zelazny-fantasy
-183-Amber fights against Chaos while Oberon tries to restore the Pattern. He succeeds, but Corwin also creates a new pattern. In the end, everything is back in balance, with Corwin about to enter the Realm of Chaos to travel with his son Merlin.
EQUAL RITES
-T. Pratchett-fantasy
-213- a wizard, about to die, confers his powers on what he thinks is the 8th son of an 8th son. Only "he" turns out to be a "she". Deals with Granny Weatherwax and Esk, the girl who wants to be a wizard. Only kind of funny.
STAR WARS: DEATH STAR
-M. Reaves & S. Perry-scifi
-363-ties in characters from Medstar. Basically about the 1st Deathstar from about halfway through its construction to its destruction. Follows 4 different sets of characters. They escape in the end because they can't countenance working for something that destroys millions and billions of lives just to make a point. A very interesting look at the flow and ebb of life on the Death Star.
AMBER: TRUMPS OF DOOM
-R. Zelazny-fantasy
-183-The adventures of Merlin, son of Corwin and Dara. Half Amberite, Half Lord of Chaos. More machinations. Someone is trying to kill him and other Amber royalty. The whole fragmented sentence thing used for shadow traveling is visually effective, but I simply skip it. Nothing happens in it.
AMBER: BLOOD OF AMBER
-R. Zelazny-fantasy
-215-turns out the assassin is Brand's son. Who is Merlin's best friend. But that is not all. More family and outer family rivalry. Corwin has disappeared and no one can walk the pattern he created. This is truly the 2nd Chronicles of Amber. More of the same "keep the reader in the dark and guessing right up til the end and give lots of false, confusing info and trust no one, etc, etc" but with a new generation added to the mix.
AMBER: SIGN OF CHAOS
-R. Zelazny-fantasy
-184-the Masked one turns out to look like Merlin's old girlfriend Julia, who was attacked and killed right at the beginning of Trumps of Doom. I can't speculate, simply hold on for the ride that Zelazny insists on us riding to read his books. Oh, we now have a self aware AI that Merlin created that is able to manipulate Shadow too. Add another confusing factor.
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