» Review, If you've read it and feel like sharing

[Espen Lee Tennant]

So, the idea of this thread is to review books you have read. I'm intending this to be mostly positive, and trying to get other peoples to read the books you liked, but if you really want to rant against a horrible piece, I won't stop you.

No spoilers, please, you want to get people to read the book, not just summarize it.

[Espen Lee Tennant]

Skulduggery Pleasant
by Derek Landy

Plot Premise: After her uncle dies, Stephanie Edgley meets Skulduggery Pleasant. Quite a character, the detective is part of another society. The magically adept are alive and well in Dublin (Ireland) and Skulduggery has a case concerning the newly deceased uncle. Stephanie walks into a world that she can never come back out of.

Characters:

Stephanie Edgley, our heroine and the character we follow around. She has a boring life, all routine and normality, but her parents are introduced and are interesting enough to at least seem real. She really is a little young (twelve) to really be believable to me (maybe just 'cause I'm old now ) even though what she things makes perfect sense...

Skulduggery Pleasant, (Taken from inside cover) Meet Skulduggery Pleasant
Ace Detective
Snappy Dresser
Razor-Tongued Wit
-and-
Walking, Talking,
Fire Throwing Skeleton



Personally I just love the look...


So! This book is really a light read. I think the intended age group is middle school, but I still find it nice to read very when you don't have anything new. The wit in the book works very well, some 'witty' characters come off as jerks and wise asses, and the banter feels dry or forced, but not here. The back and forth between the characters keeps the plot moving. And the whole 'magic underground world in our world' concept may be over-used. In this book, it is explained well enough so that you can believe the concept... almost. But it isn't over explained. You know little enough that you can still feel like the main character, suddenly exposed to a new world.

Buy the book? no. Find it at the library when bored? Definitely

Quotes:

(opening lines) Gordon Edgley's sudden death came as a shock to everyone- not least himself"

"Ah yes, back to the crux of things. Yes. I am, as you say, a skeleton. I have been one for a few years now."

"He put his hand to his chest. 'Cross my heart and hope to die.'
'Okay.'
He nodded and led the way back to the Bentley.
Though you don't actually have a heart,' she said
'I know.'
'And technically, you've already died.'
'I know that too.'
'Just so we're clear.'"

[May S. Cyrus]

That sounds like a kickass book, dude... I'd review some but I like almost never read. Unless it's fanfiction.

[Espen Lee Tennant]

Hey, do what you can, the point here is to try and get people interested in what you read. And to practice critique type writing.


WELL, as I'm going on a road trip next week... I currently have oh, around 6 books from the library, 4 more waiting for pickup, and even more on hold. Expect some reviews on my return

[Espen Lee Tennant]

Lords and Ladies
by Terry Pratchett

Plot Premise: As universes swirl throughout existence, they will occasionally draw close. The elves(but don't say or even think they're name, they can hear you!) are coming back to Discworld. And they want everything.

Characters:

Esmeralda 'Granny' Weatherwax, witch. Well, she only uses magic if good old iron hard will and psychology doesn't work. The most evil witch you could get and still be good. She has a bit of a extensive past.

Nanny Ogg, other witch. She is plump and matronly, with a smile and a perverted wink for all. With a never-say-no attitude (especially when it comes to the occasional drink) she is the perfect counterpart for Granny's steel personality

Margrat Garlik, the third witch, rounding out the group(things go well in threes, no?). She is, through a series of events in previous books, now the queen of the small town of Lancre and due to be wed to its king, Verence. She is soppily optimistic and believes in silly things like tarot cards, crystals and people.



The cover I got from the library...

First things first, and get this through your heads. TERRY PRATCHETT IS A LITERARY GOD. His work seamlessly blends comic satire, an open fantasy realm, serious themes and characters with an overall skill with explanation and description to create one of the most immersible enviroments.
And this book is by no means an exception. The characters are all tempered too. Esme Weatherwax may be hard as cold steel, but she has a dry wit to match. It is impossible where the comic mishaps and setup turn into a dramatic finale and you find yourself rooting for characters you were laughing at earlier.

Quotes:

(opening line) "Now read on... Where does it start? There are a very few starts. Oh, some things seem to be beginnings. The curtain goes up, he first pawn moves, the first shot is fired (probably at the first pawn), but that's not the start. the play, the game, the war is just a little window on a ribbon of events that may extend back thousands of years. The point s, there's always something before. It's always a case of Now Read On."

(Back cover) "Ever wonder what those magic circles of stones in the English countryside are for? They're for keeping the elves out."

[Espen Lee Tennant]

Thief of Time
Terry Pratchett

Plot Premise: The Clock is being built again, and this clock only ticks once, and Time will stop.

Characters:

Ronnie Soak, the fifth horseman of the apocalypse. He also delivers milk and yogurt. (His actually name is his last name spelled backwards)

Lu-Tze is a sweeper for the Monks of History. These monks not only make sure that everything happens in the right order, but that it happens at all. Lu-Tze is a legend in the monastery, they say he's gone into some of the most complicated knots of time and unraveled them... So some are disappointing when they find that h is just an old man (800yrs or so, doesn't look a day over 50) with a broom and some cunning.

Lobsang Ludd is an apprentice to Lu-Tze. A natural at redirecting, slowing and neutralizing time, his past as an orphan that was adopted but the Thief's Guild may sound clichéd, but his real origins will shock everyone.

DEATH is an singular chap. Tall, thin (skeletal really), wears a black cowl and uses a scythe. And of course, SPEAKS IN ALL CAPITAL LETTERS. He has a duty to do (he meets everybody, just once, for a little trip) but nonetheless, like humanity and wants it to keep existing. Also, likes cats.

Susan Sto Helit, or 'Susan Death' is Death's Granddaughter. While Death can't literally *ahem* create life, he did once adopt a newly-orphaned girl, who then went on to marry his apprentice. Their child is Susan, and according to Pratchett "Some characteristics are transferred via the soul". She has even done Death's job for a while

The Auditors of Reality. These beings, who look like floating gray cloaks, are the ones that make sure gravity keeps constant, that rocks fall and the sun stays yellow. They can do just about anything, and can learn anything that exists. Which is why they don't like humans, humans have things like peace, love, humor, philosophies that aren't physical. The Auditors see life as an annoying stain on an otherwise nice and neat universe. You won't find better villains anywhere.



It is my goal to eventually own and read regularly every Terry Pratchett book in existence. So, I will try not to review every one of them, but there are a few that need mentioning.

This is one of them. Discworld is really just a collection of books, with some mini-story-arcs in it (like the books about Death, the Witches, or the City Watch) and I have to say, DEATH is just about the coolest character...ever.

Terry Pratchett is the only author I know, who can have immortal personifications, semi-immortals, time travelers, philosophers and martial arts in one book and yet...somehow... explain it all and have it make sense.

Quotes:

"For something to exist, it has to be observed.
For something to exist, it must have a position in time and space.
And this explains why nine-tenths of the mass of the universe is unaccounted for.
Nine-tenths of the universe is the knowledge of the position and direction of everything in the other tenth. Every atom has its own biography, every star its file, every chemical exchange its equivalent of the inspector with a clipboard. It is unaccounted for because it is doing the accounting for the rest of it, and you cannot see the back of your own head. (Except in very small universes).
Nine-tenths of the universe, in fact, is paperwork."

[Espen Lee Tennant]

The Scott Pilgrim Series
by Bryan Lee O'Malley

Plot Premise: Scott has just met the girl of his dreams... literally. Ramona Flowers is a ninja delivery girl with a past, and along the way Scott must deal with (and fight) ex girlfriends, his band, and other issues (like Ramona's League of Evil Ex-Boyfriends) to keep her.

Characters:

Scott Pilgrim is a bit of a flop. Living with his gay roommate in a one bed apartment (long story) he is in a rock band and no job at the moment. He is also the best fighter in his province of Canada, a character quirk that rises to the surface as he attacks and defends himself from Ramona's seven evil ex-boyfriends.

Ramona Flowers literal job description is ninja delivery girl. She skates through people's dreams and is the only Amazon.com employee in all of Canada. She is that good. She has a bit of a past, some she won't talk about.

Knives Chau, the high school teen Scott was dating before he met Ramona. He had to dump her, and now she has some issues...



I don't read that much romance, so I'm really not a good judge of that, but I like this series. It has it's romantic moments, but there is a lot of realistic chatter, with wit and nostalgia. The characters, even the ones you barely know, feel like they could have a story

It is also one of the most amusing comic/manga series I have read in a while. It switches from romance/drama (with lots of exes and pasts and so on) to action (the fights with evil boyfriends) to humor (the boyfriends give Scott extra lives and rare items (like Mithril Skateboard) when defeated)

Quotes (from various volumes):

"Dude...wait...Mystic Powers?"

"Omigosh, Knives, your highlights. She punched out your highlights!"

"Freeze! Vegan Police!"

"Giant Hammer +2 against girls."

[J Nathaniel Graves]

Scott Pilgrim FTW

THE THURSDAY NEXT SERIES
By Jasper Fforde

This is a series of delightful British novels I have currently been making my way through. If you like postmodern references to classic British literature, time travel, vampire hunting, corrupt governments and cheese smuggling, this is pretty much the series for you.

The series focuses on Thursday Next, who lives in an alternate history Britain in the 1980s, where cloning is commonplace, the Crimean War never ended, and people treat literature like a combination of how we treat sports, film, art, and religion. She works in LiteraTec, the agency devoted to protecting books throughout England. This first novel has her hopping inside Jane Eyre in order to rescue the heroine from a power-mad supervillain. Later books have her trying to save her husband from being killed at age 2, protecting the inner world of books from escaped Minotaurs and the spelling vyrus, and trying to hunt down rogue fictional characters in the real world while dealing with a striking group of nursery rhyme characters, dealing with a controversial upgrade to the new book operating system, and trying to get Hamlet to learn conflict resolution. And she's a freelance monster hunter.



By nature, this series covers many subjects. It's a rather unique blend of postmodern comedy, fierce political satire, and intense action-adventure. Rather than spreading himself thin, however, Fforde manages to work these together into a delectable whole. Particularly of interest are the villains, a unique and usually very funny bunch. He also manages to devise clever ways for them to attack our intrepid heroine, most notably Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow

trying to kill her through coincidence, memory loss, and slapstick[/spoiler]. Also of note is his planning. Fforde is akin to Jo Rowling in that it seems he has planned it all from the beginning; for instance, a scene in the first book doesn't pay off until the fourth, plot elements carry over through out the books. Two key examples of this are [spoiler]how her trail for a crime she commits in the first book takes until the fourth to finish, and how the major villain is named Yorrik just so Hamlet can make the obvious joke when he is defeated.

Spoilers end here Finally, his use of classic literary characters is brilliant. He alternated between public domain characters and characters of his own device that reflect classic genre characters. The epitome of this concept might just be when Thursday has to run the anger management class for the Wuthering Hights characters, which gets more violent every read-through.

This is a brilliant, witty postmodern series with a unique voice yet to be captured by any other author.