The greatest storyteller of our time!

If you ever doubted that Philip Pullman is the greatest storyteller of our time, here's the book to assuage those doubts. This tale of the first meeting of Lee Scoresby between Iorek Byrnison combines adventure, mystery, excitement and humour in one delicious package. Like the other reviewers my only complaint is that I was left wanting much, much more. Having said that, it is the brevity of the story that proves to my mind why Pullman is such a great teller of tales. This is a book for children and adults alike, and while you could read it to your children in the course of a rainy afternoon, you will return to it again and again when your children are in bed to enjoy time and again the richness of the descriptions and the humour of the dialogue and to delight in Lee's relationship with his daemon Hester.<br />The board game that is included with the book is another treasure which subverts traditional board games in that it is the"loser" of the balloon race (i.e the last player to reach the centre) who actually wins!

This book is educational but highly entertaining and engaging.

I am absolutely hooked on the Shardlake novels by C J Sansom. Being born in 1977, my state education did not seem to see it fit to teach me anything of Tudor England, I therefore feel shamefully ignorant over my own country's political/social history and are lazily filling in the gaps about the Tudors by reading novels like this! I'm reliably informed by the author himself that he has researched the novel with historical accuracy wherever possible..that's good enough for me.<br />I am of the view that these novels get better and better. Sansom manages to weave breathtakingly 3 dimensional descriptions into his prose without you ever thinking"here we go i am now reading a huge paragraph of description about this scene." It feels like I am following Shardlake around the whole time and that he is sharing all his thoughts and worries with me; this suits me down to the the ground I am a 'people person' and feel privileged to be let in on their inner most thoughts and understanding what makes them tick.<br />Sanom's use of part of the prophecy of revelation in the book (don't want to give too much away for those who haven't read it) is a stroke of genius as it also allows the author to explore the climate of Christian views at the time both of the domineering"religious leaders"and the ordinary folk of the day which then had a profound influence on both peoples mind sets, attitudes and relationships. It is here that we really feel for Matthew as he struggles in his personal relationship with God and has to deal on a professional capacity with people with fervent views of a certain stance in the biblical understanding of Christianity. <br />I would recommend this book for anyone but especially folks like me with poor knowledge of Tudor England and for those interested in biblical theology as it helps us in some way understand how the bible was interpreted and used at this time in history.

Bring on the sons!

I greatly enjoyed this next chapter of the Genghis story but not as much as Wolf of the Plains. <br />I think this is partly history's fault, Genghis was so all conquering that this books lacks for a bit of competative tension, also, whereas the first book made you very sympathetic to Genghis cause, following his childhood exile, in this his exploits of mass slaughter, rape and plunder make him a little less easy to share a camp fire with. Iggulden tries to a degree to excuse his actions as him 'removing the foot of the Chin from the neck of his people' however as the book progresses this is hard to buy and I really don't think he should bother, Genghis is what he is, the original meglamaniac.<br />The intrigue with his sons and ancestors is where the Mongol story really gets interesting and I do hope Mr Iggulden explores this part of history for us rather than stopping with the death of the great Khan himself.<br />Then I hope he does for the Alexander story what he did for Julius Caesar, as I don't want to think of him as Colin Farrell for the rest of my days.

FANTASTIC!

This is book, and indeed a trilogy ,that deserves many more than the 5 stars Amazon allow me to award. It is written with a pace, humanity and realism that most authors can only aspire to. <br /><br />Many of the other reviewers of this book have commented on Mr Gemmell's passing and the major contribution to his legacy of his wife Stella. I can only add that the Mrs Gemmell's contribution links seemlessly with that of her husband and together they have written one the best historical trilogies ever. I was hooked from the first chapter of the first book and stayed there to the end. If you like Cornwell, Iggulden or Scarrow read this, it beats all three hands down.

A Terrific Read

Alison Weir is a much read and respected historian with a string of non fiction books to her name. She is widely known for her biographical books about British Royalty. She lives in Surrey with her two children, John and Kate.<br /><br />In this her second novel it is plain to see that it has been written by someone who is at the very top of her craft. Fact and fiction blend so well together that at times it is difficult for the reader to know where one begins and the other ends.<br /><br />The obvious knowledge of the author makes for a rare treat for the reader, who is taken to the very heart of Tudor England, in this, the story of the young girl Elizabeth before she became England's queen. Elizabeth of course had Henry VIII for a father, one of the most domineering men of his time. Who could fail to be impressed and to an extent moulded by such a father, even when that man has snuffed out the life of Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth's mother. Certainly not a young girl eager to please.<br /><br />Elizabeth's young life has many twists and turns, not least her mother's death, but also the loss of a brother a tradgedy that culminates in her elder sister Mary taking the crown and then doing everything in her power to get Elizabeth to return to the true faith. She is said to have had a dalliance with Thomas Seymour, the Lord High Admiral, even though he was married to the old queen, Katharine Parr although this was short-lived as the admiral was shortly to lose his life as a traitor. The many other traumas she has to suffer as well as her own naked ambition are brilliantly woven together by the author into a book that is well worth reading.<br /><br />

As good as The Other Boleyn Girl

I was expecting this book to be a little worse than The Other Boleyn Girl, simply because the other one was just so good! But this is excellent, and a brilliant sequel to her previous super-successful novel, now turned into a film. Gregory can really set the tone and her vivid recapture of the habits, dialogue and everyday life at the Tudor court is not just convincing but extremely enjoyable. She uses 3 different narrative voices to tell the story: Jane Boleyn (widow of George), Anne of Cleves (4th wife of Henry VIII) and Katherine Howard (5th wife), and each one is so well-characterised that you don't even have to read who it is who is"speaking" at the beginning of each chapter. The three voices are powerful and evocative and you can share the feelings of every one of the main characters and feel their despair, especially that of Kitty Howard at the end of the novel.

Amazing

My children entertained for more than 30 minutes.<br />It is a good book then.<br />They have to make their own story.<br />Great concept<br />

A must for any 3-5 yr old

This is one of the children's favourites at the nursery i work at, and my fav!<br />The characters are beautifully illustrated and the story is very clever and not in the slightest bit scary. It helps children to pick up and understand rhyme and the story is just a pleasure to read.<br />Highly reccomend as a must have!

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 />

My toddler prefers other sing along books

My 17 month old little boy has this, along with other sing along books, he's never taken to this one.<br />He much prefers"the wheels on the bus", I'm not sure if it's because this book isn't very colourful.<br />I have to say I was pretty disappointed with it when it arrived.<br /><br /><br />

Epic

As I first began reading this book I wasn't all that sure about it, the narrative style seemed a little too ambitious and as it followed many different characters in the third person, and it became a little confusing at some points. <br /><br />I carried on and gradually it really hooked me. The presentation of the characters is immense, for instance the fight between Hektor and Achilles is described with such emotion and awe you'd think that David Gemmell had actually been there. <br /><br />Every character seems like a real person, and the tragedy and heartbreak that occurs so frequently throughout the novel is truly touching. In the latter chapters of the novel, when war has broken out, the battles and the slaughter that takes place is utterly epic. I was also amazed how many of the more separate stories came together to a magnificent climax at the end. Unbelievable.<br /><br />A definite must read!

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.

Oh my goodness!

This is the book I dreamt of finding in my gran’s attic when I was a kid! this is the book that outdo every other book about faeries. It’s beauty, it’s fun and"real-ness" is outstanding! You really dont have to be a Spiderwick fan to enjoy this, you just need to believe in faeries! Or at least *want* to believe in them... and appriciate art! Because Tony DiTerlizzi does the best job on his illustrations... Pure Magic from front to back!

A fast and fun way to learn.

I brought these books for my 3 1/2 year old daughter 2 days ago. We have been looking through the first two books together. I think they are brilliant. She has a fairly short attention span (what 3 year old doesn't), but these books managed to hold her attention. <br /><br />Within a couple of days she has managed to identify the letter sounds, and amazingly has just sounded out/blended the word cat. What a fantastic start to her education!!!

This was a really good read

With lots of twists and turns, this book is full of entangled secrets and plot lines. It kept me entranced the whole way through and gave a different view to the popular nice image that is used so much

go on, read it, you've read all the others, it's quite good, really...

I only read this because I had become interested in the Katherine after watching 'The Tudors' on TV, where she was portrayed as a strong, intelligent woman. This book underlines that impression, Katherine comes across as supremely royal, born to the job, and quite committed to her role as the Queen of England. I got a bit annoyed at the words in italics, which seemed to drag on a bit at times, and wanted more action and dialogue, however, the book kept me gripped for three or four days, and desipite knowing exactly what happens to Katherine in advance, don't let this put you off, it is still interesting to learn about her life from a different angle.

Be careful you don't order the spanish version.

Amazon don't make it clear that there is a spanish language version which is listed under the S. Meyer books. You have to look closely to see it.<br />This is just a warning in case you are about to make the same mistake as we did.

Good in Parts

<br />Bernard Cornwell is the author of the acclaimed Richard Sharpe series, set during the Napoleonic Wars; the Nathaniel Starbuck Chronicles, about American Civil War; the Warlord Trilogy, about Arthurian England; and, most recently, Stonehenge 2000 B.C. Mr. Cornwell lives with his wife on Cape Cod.<br /><br />In this the fourth in the series of books about the Saxon Chronicles, Uhtred our hero from the previous books, a dispossessed son of a Northumbrian Lord now has a wife and two children and has done very well for himself. Despite is connections with the Vikings and his constant bickering with Alfred, Uhtred has been made Governor of London. It is his job to hold the city while Alfred, when he is not praying or at other religious devotions will build fortifications and maintain his push into Mercia . . .<br /><br />The book is about a time when England is at peace albeit a tenuous one. It is 855 and there is still the Danish kingdom in the north and the Saxon kingdom of Wessex in the south. The Vikings still hold dreams of conquering the South and they believe that with Uhtred's help they can achieve that goal. The author is a master of this type of novel and his knowledge of this period of English history and his descriptions of battle scenes is second to none.

informative and entertaining

I bought this book for my 4year old as her class were"doing space" at school. She took it into school one day and the teacher read it to the whole class who apparantly all enjoyed it. My daughter certainly loves it and its helped her rememeber things about the different planets.