Its grim up north

Don't bother with this purchase Small Mercy by Tom Dawes instead, its the future of trashy literature.

triumph of evil

There are few heroes and nobody gets what they deserve. Abandon your ludicrous notions of justice, and confess, the Practicals are waiting...<br /><br />Few books I can think of have genuinely breathed new life into a genre but The Last Argument of Kings and the rest of this series does a pretty good job of it. Fantasy is awash with limp heroes and LOTR clones but this gleefully subverts the whole concept. <br />The"heroes" are as monstrous and in some cases worse than the enemies -if there is a real flaw it's that it isn't made clear enough how terrible life would be under the demon worshipping Gurkish. Perhaps that's the point...

Converted Potter Fan

I absoluteley loved these books. I have always been a potter fan and decided try this trilogy as someone recommended them, I have to say I have been blown away. Pullmans imagination is unrivalled. His worlds draw you in immediately, as you start you won't be able to put them down. I especially loved his characters, totally believeable and engrossing. The characters are all perfectly described, and the idea of daemons works well (daemons are a persons soul in animal form that stays with them). The later books focus upon other worlds which works great. I won't give lots away but the ending is excellent, the best ending for a long time. I don't recommend the books for young children. The plot could perhaps be a little hard for them to grasp as a lot of the story is about religion and government. (That makes it sound boring but trust me - it isn't). Buy them now, you won't be disappointed.

And it continues...

Kim Harrison continues with her series about rachel morgan...I really must insist that if you havent read the other books in the series then do because you will be lost as well as missing out on the other excellent books. Anyway this book holds a few suprise about Rachel that people have probley been trying to guess at from the first book. I cant say more than the previous reviewer about the plot without giving away the plot...but I highly recommened this book and series which is getting better book by book.

Can a *ghost* tempt a deadly Vampire out of total darkness?.....or is he simply far too mad?

Dangerous 'turned' vampire, Conrad Wroth, is imprisoned by his brothers in an abandoned mansion. Controlled by his bloodlust and plagued by the horrific memories of his victims, the mercenary slowly edges closer to insanity. There, on the eerie estate, a beautiful confined phantom, Neomi, haunts the grounds. A spirit that no one can see, touch or hear. An insignificant being. That is, until she discovers that there is one person who can *see* her. A force deep within Conrad calls to this woman. But he can't seem to resist the extreme pull of his darker side. And a desperate Neomi longs to be *bodily* again, willing to do anything. Their needs and desires will them to be together. If only that were possible.<br /><br />Another great installment in The Immortals After Dark series. Unlike its predecessor, Wicked Deeds On A Winter's Night, this book can be read as a stand alone. Although I recommend reading the series in order because the other books are just so darn good!<br /><br />Also unlike in all the other books, the hero starts out as a completely vile villain. But Cole (author) manages to make him a sympathetic character without somehow losing his dark edge. And Neomi is another eyebrow raising character for a heroine -no body. Huh? -what are the love scenes like? You won't get it from me! ;). So both characters are similar due to there own uniqueness from any I've ever read. Two people (if you will) looking for something they may likely never be able to have because of physical (Neomi) and mental (Conrad) roadblocks. How sad is that!<br /><br />And as usual, along with those great characterizations, steamy love scenes and intriguing plot, there are plenty of interesting surprises and tons of teasers for future books (especially the next one, Dark Desires After Dusk). Previous couples also make appearances, markedly Mariketa & Bowen (who else is in love with this werewolf?).<br /><br />So Dark Needs At Nights Edge is another keeper for me. Hmmmm....demons are next. Wonder whats up with those horns -*wiggling eyebrows* ;). LOL!

More rip roaring invention from Reynolds

Campion and Purslane are clones who have been travelling the galaxy for millenia. En route to a periodic reunion of their clone family they learn of an ambush which has devastated their numbers. This is the basis of a wildly twisting plot which culminates in a breakneck centuries long intergalactic chase.<br /><br />This book is both familiar and a new development. It takes familiar elements in Reynolds work of huge near light speed starships, weapons of unimaginable power, suspended animation, intergalactic chases (a la Galactic North), adds in a twist of something that feels like Iain Banks, but then sets this in a different universe to that of Revelation Space, and builds the story around something as tiny as a love affair.<br /><br />The most impressive thing about this novel is that Reynolds has created another self consistent yet wildly imaginative universe and based a well constructed story within it. <br /><br />The book isn't perfect, it drags a little in the middle and maybe Reynolds overreaches himself in one or two inconvincing elements (the curators of the Vigilance ?), but those are minor quibbles, and I have to say highly recommended.

more like 2.5 stars, but (heh) no matter

Banks's first 3.5 Culture novels (Consider Phlebas, Player of Games, Use of Weapons and State of the Art) established The Culture as one of the great SF settings. However, the nearly 20 years since then have seen it has become a victim of its own success: subsequent Culture novels were variations on a theme: take a quirky, unique setting, present some vague threat or mystery to drive the plot along, add in the typical Culture combination of liberal angst plus hypertechnological might, and - boom - the Culture always wins, even though the individuals protagonists themselves are left either world-weary or dead.<br /><br />Despite its reliance on these stock elements and considerable length (over 500 pages), Matter builds its tension well, intercutting between the Culture and the Feersum-Enjinn-like setting of the Shellworld. Its main problem is that, as the speed increases and events reach their climax in the last 50 or so pages, all the carefully built themes, mystery and characterisation goes out the window, and the action (and most of the characters) come to an abrupt end. <br /><br />Matter, then, is for most of its length an entertaining read but ultimately a disappointing one. Banks's skill as a writer and his undeniable imagination are enough to keep the pages turning, but by the end, his limitations are even more starkly underlined. There's sadly nothing new here &, while he may write more Culture novels in the future, unless he is able to say something new or do something different, it'll be increasingly hard to look forward to them.<br />

WELL!!

Can't say more than the previous reviewers as I'm not that great a writer but I highly recommend this book.... so I'll try and be as enlighting as possible. Basically, read a few pages and thought this was going to be some boring story but by the second chapter couldn't put it down. A great read if you like those stories which give you a bit of enlightenment on how someone else sees the world. A must for anyone who enjoys excellent thriller/mystery fantasy sagas that don't rely on special effects to move the story along. Great writing style as well, treat yourself.

An eagerly anticpated novel.

My son and I have been waiting for the second book from Derek Landry since finishing the first Skulduggery Pleasent.<br /><br />We devoured it as soon as it got into greedy hands. Neither of us were disappointed. It starts at a fast pace and doesn't slow down carrying you away on this exhilirating adventure.<br /><br />Derek Landy has a brilliant way of creating belivable characters. My son describes Skulduggery as a skeletal Dr Who without the time travel, just the quick wit and whacky humour.<br /><br />If you haven't read this book yet then please do. It is a book you can share as a family, as it is not age dependant.<br />

Not the movie! Thank my Stars!

I read this book when I was a teenager and after being invited to go see the film(which I review elsewhere) I decided to read it again before viewing the film.<br />Well it was as exciting now as then.A book that in an oblique way reminded me of"The Body Snatchers". An allegory for our times, a disease that becomes an evolutionary change, where those that are immune are the new enemy.<br />I found this book well plotted and thought provoking, unlike the film.<br />Read it!Read it twice!

Excellent 3rd book

The narrative continues from the 2nd book but also references parts of the 1st, which makes this difficult to read without having read the others. However, if you are a fan of the series then this does not disappoint - the usual pace and excitement continues and there are a couple of real surprises in store for heroine Cassie Palmer. I could not put it down and was disappointed when I finished it - so I started all over again!

Nothing new.

I already owned the Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales. This book doesn't add much more to the versions of the tale of the children of hurin as recounted in those earlier volumes. I am not sure it would be very easy to read for those unfamiliar with the Silmarillion, as there are so many characters from the tales of the First Age that will be unknown to those who have only read Lord of the rings. <br /><br />

3 stars for wrapping things up, 0 stars for effort.

I hate having to do this with an author who was once my favourite but here comes another poor review.....<br /><br />I guess I shouldn't have been overly surprised given his recent efforts (for my main gripes, see my review of King Of Foxes) but like many loyal readers, I simply wanted to know what happens to a number of characters and worlds about whom I care greatly. I've felt that he has been rushing his books for too long, probably spending six months every year putting his feet up (and why not, he's earned the right to do so) but then spending the remaining six hastily putting together as many pages as he can muster in a short space of time in order to meet his publishers' demand that he put out a book roughly every twelve months. <br /><br />The last book, Into A Dark Realm, ended so abruptly that I thought maybe Feist had died before he finished writing it. This latest offering literally picks up where the last one left off without any recap whatsoever, literally as though he threw what he had written at the publisher in order to meet their deadline and then carried on writing, so as a standalone book it would make almost no sense to a reader who hadn't read the last couple of books. Other reviewers have mentioned the factual mistakes so I won't go into these apart from to say that it simply isn't good enough. Equally, the number of typos in the book is disgraceful; HarperVoyager should hang their heads in shame.<br /><br />I understand that Feist has started work on his next series and I pray that he will be allowed time to do them justice. I really don't care if I have to wait five years for the first book if that means it could present some value for money. I've just got my wife to start reading Magician and I could have cried when I picked it up again and realised that you could probably have fitted two to three of the pages from Wrath into one page of Magician, yet Magician is over twice as long. I really have felt ripped off by the last few books as, frankly, the whole of the Darkwar saga could have been presented as one, reasonably good value, book.<br /><br />I suppose I should finish by saying whether I would recommend the book itself. If you're an avid Feist reader then you will have no choice but to read it as, like me, you will want to see the latest episode in the lives of characters that have been around for over two decades. You'll probably agree that events in the book that would have previously been dealt with in epic proportions are now given little more than lip-service but I suppose it's better than nothing at all. However, even at Amazon's discounted price, I implore you to wait for the paperback version or get down to your local library. If you have never read a Feist book before, or haven't read the other Darkwar books, avoid this at all costs. If you fall into the former category, do yourself a favour and buy Magician - my wife hasn't been able to put it down and she isn't even a fan of the genre.<br />

Give this a miss

I totally agree with Professor Paradox's review, except that it took me only 15 minutes to read!<br />I loved the trilogy but somehow this book has altered my view of His Dark Materials. Probably because I feel like I've been ripped off - this book offers nothing to extend the trilogy, rather it annoyed me that it is clearly a quickly-written, no-depth-to-it, money-making venture. Disgraceful!<br />

Modern Fantasy

Thank God for Joe, Scott Lynch and Erikson.<br /><br />Fantasy for adults with a sense of humour.<br /><br />Stop reading fantasy a few years ago as I was reading the same story again and again....<br /><br />But the this series especially is outstanding.<br /><br />Well done Joe and keep up the good work.

An enjoyable addition

I really enjoyed the latest enstallment of the otherworld series. It was quite different from the other in many ways, but refreshing.<br /><br />I liked hope, I thought it was good to have a character who struggled more with her identity as a woman of the otherworld. Since Elena got to grips with her new identity, we've had a string of confident women who have embraced their powers. I really enjoyed the conflict Hope felt and was on the edge of my seat waiting to see if she would master it. I though her relationship with Karl was well done and made more poignant because of their backgrounds and their isolation without each other, the two are the 'black sheep' of the otherworld.<br /><br />I struggled at first with the dual narration, I distracted me, and to be honest I didn't find it interesting enough, so I was desperate to get back to Hope. But then I was drawn in, mirroring Lucas, and found the world of the cabals darkly fascinating. <br /><br />The tone of this book is quite different, there is a distinct lack of happy ending in my opinion, I was not left feeling that all would be well. I was left worrying for Lucas and Paige, and wondering how the cabal developments would alter their lives, and their relationship. I hope we find out in future books, although I haven't heard of anymore Paige/Lucas books, the series is currently contracted to ten books, with plots for the last two already outlined, but it may be extended due to popularity.<br /><br />For the first time I would really recommend that you read the earlier books, I guess after seven other books there is just too much back story now. If I came in cold I would have been frustrated, especially seen as Hope and Karl have had only very minor parts up till this point, so there was a lot of reference to past events in an attempt to tie them into the series, so that we understand that they were there all along, albeit in the background.<br /><br />Overall highly enjoyable, with a darker undertone than usual, which is not bad, but different.

consistantly great

Well worth waiting for! The whole series is great I love the characters the humour and the adventure. There are books you read once and pass on but these deserve to be treasured. These are beautifully presented they look great so you would want to keep them just for that reason alone. You can enjoy reading them again and again.

Quite entertaining

Another Reynolds book based around his established universe. This time, set earlier than Chasm City, and the Glitter Band is threatened by takeover of the myriad satellites computer systems. Prefects have the responsibility for overseeing a sort of computerised Delphi democracy. Nicely paced, I never got bored and the protagonists were believable. A good read.