So this book has all the subtlety of a sledgehammer to your face. Given that, it’s still sort of enjoyable? But by about page 200, you’re a bit tired of all the sneers and plotting. It’s not even subtle plotting – everyone’s motivations are just told to you, rather than having anything come together slowly. … Continue reading
Tag Archives: The List
Book review: Assassin’s Apprentice
I’m trying to muster up the enthusiasm to write this review but it’s kind of hard as nothing really happened.So plot: a young boy is dropped off at a castle (he is the illegitimate child of the person next in line for the throne) and is treated alternatively really nicely or really badly, depending on … Continue reading
Book review: The Crystal Cave
The first of three Arthurian-themed books on this list and it was disappointing on more than one level. First: the tone Basically, Merlin, is a bit of a prick. The tone of his voice is insufferable know-it-all. Considering one of the things he does is organise adultery, it’s…wearing. As well, it was just too forced … Continue reading
Book review: Cryptonomicon
I think the point where I went from being merely frustrated and annoyed at the overly long, pointless and most often trite passages of this book came around page 484. This is because the next 7 or 8 pages are solely about Randy (one of the main characters) eating Cap’n Crunch. At this point, I … Continue reading
Book review: The Martian Chronicles
So this was all good except for the casual sexism and occasional threat of domestic violence. So, there isn’t really a plot as it’s a collection of short stories about Martians, people going to Mars, people leaving Mars and a few people going back to Mars. Some of them were really quite creepy and others … Continue reading
Book review: 20,000 leagues under the sea
That was such a hard slog. We can probably cut ol’ Jules Verne some slack given he helped start the genre but holy crap that was quite tedious. So, first off, I don’t think there is one single woman in the book (there are crowds of people on a boat but there’s no single defined … Continue reading
Book review: Elric of Melniboné
God. I’m getting tired of these. Really. Maybe this was good when it was published in the 1970s but god, it’s just…ugh. So, plot: in some mystical land, where everyone is an arrogant, self-entitled, slave-owning bastard – you’re supposed to like this one particular arrogant, self-entitled, slave-owning bastard because he’s got ‘weak blood’ and talks … Continue reading
Book review: The Road
OMG. How depressing was this!? How did they say ‘yeah, that’ll make a great film where EVERYONE WILL CRY FOREVER.’ So plot. End of the world, everything is dead and dying, people have turned to cannibals as they scavenge the dying world for things to eat. A man and his son are walking the road, … Continue reading
Book review: The Doomsday Book
Right off the bat: brilliant. So the plot is that in the future, we can send historians back in time (if the conditions are right). The protagonist, Kivrin was supposed to be sent back to 1320 but instead ends up at the height of the plague in 1348. At the same time, chaos breaks out … Continue reading
Book review: Nine Princes in Amber
So Nine Princes in Amber by Roger Zelazny is part of a whole suite of novels about a place called Amber. I don’t know if I’m going to bother with the rest. So Amber is the true world, all the rest of the world’s (including this one) are just shadows of Amber (it’s a bit … Continue reading
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