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[Oct. 30th, 2007|02:24 pm] |
Edit 1422: This is just because I keep forgetting to do it...
50+ Books Update
84) Hogfather, Terry Pratchett
85) The Relic (Pendergast 1), Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child
86) Blasphemy, Douglas Preston
87) Mistress of the Revolution, Catherine Delors
88) Tyrannosaur Canyon, Douglas Preston
89) Reliquary (Pendergast 2), Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child
90) The Cabinet of Curiosities (Pendergast 3), Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child
91) The Daring Book for Girls, Andrea J. Buchanan & Miriam Peskowitz
92) Still Life With Crows (Pendergast 4), Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child
Reviews --
Hogfather - Enjoyable, if somewhat uneven. Hogfather is at its best when Susan and Death are the ones "on screen", as it were, though the real gems -- as always -- come when Pratchett offers his views on humanity, reality, and the power of belief.
Blasphemy - This is one of the scariest books I've ever read. Seriously. It's up there with "The Stand". What starts out as a pretty standard techno-thriller rapidly warps into one of the most chilling horror adventures I've ever read. What makes it so terrifying is how utterly plausible it is -- Preston's keen grasp of mob psychology (particularly fundamentalist religious mobs) makes the last third of this book horrifying beyond all description. It's a true masterwork -- genius, absolutely gripping from start to finish. Highly recommended. Buy this when it comes out -- I think in January (yeah, I got this one on advance readers' copy).
Mistress of the Revolution - A book about the French Revolution that manages to be both charming and captivating. The history is incredibly well-drawn, with a brutal distinction drawn between the lavish excesses of the aristocracy in the 1780s and the stark, bloody reality of the Revolution in the 1790s. One wishes at time that the heroine had a bit more of a backbone, but then again, it's almost commendable of the author that she doesn't. Certainly Delors escapes the anachronistic urges that seem to attack so many authors of historical fiction; Gabrielle is precisely what so many women of that era were: sheltered, naive, submissive, and ultimately she makes for an incredibly sympathetic narrator. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel.
Tyrannosaur Canyon - I decided to read this one mostly because I wanted to catch up with Tom Broadbent from The Codex. It's an amazingly fun read, but I'm not sure it deserves the comparison to Crichton, if only because... well, it's a totally different kind of novel.
The Pendergast novels - Which I'm reviewing as a whole not because each one isn't fabulous in of itself, but just because it's easier (not least because it'd be difficult to review each one individually without giving plot points away). I mean, on the one hand, yeah, they're brain candy. Not particularly deep or insightful or world-changing, but... they're really quality brain candy. I think I'm a little in love with Agent Pendergast, which may or may not have something to do with him being an ass-kicking polymath genius from New Orleans. He's just so damn cool. And the books are chilling. Graphic violence, truly warped psychopath villains, usually with some scientific mysticism thrown in for good measure...
And I've already talked about The Daring Book for Girls.
Okay, so having worked my way through almost all the P&Cs... I need a new author to fixate on. I'm considering reading some Stephen King, but I would need direction there. I've only read The Stand, which I thought was flipping amazing. I don't like gore for its own sake. I like things that lean more towards thriller/mystery than true horror. So which Kings should I pick up, and which should I avoid? |
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