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blairconrad's Reviews (1.12k)
Pretty fun. Nice pictures, and entertaining. Not as in-depth as say Brian Greene books, so probably more fun for most people.
I enjoyed the anthropic principle bits, but I still don't think that the strong anthropic principle is a huge jump over the weak anthropic...
I enjoyed the anthropic principle bits, but I still don't think that the strong anthropic principle is a huge jump over the weak anthropic...
I was about 140 pages in - probably would've been done in 15 minutes - and I realized that the book was too terrible to continue with. The pile of clichés studded with laughably bad "plot twists" had finally accumulated to the point where I was driven away. I might've been able to stand it if even one character had even one redeeming quality, or if the artwork wasn't horrible, but sadly 'twas not to be.
An interesting book. I like the way that (some aspects of) the Spartan culture was presented - the "outsider who grew up in the system" mechanism worked well, as did the choice to have the narrator retell the story to his captors. The arrangement let the narrator skip around in time a little, presenting vignettes to illustrate a particular point in order of interest, rather than chronology.
I found the book started a little slow, but I was completely engrossed by the description of the first clash between the Greeks and Persians - unwilling to put the book down until it was done, even though it was time to go to work. Thereafter, my interest remained high, although it never quite reached that peak again.
Pressfield knows his way around the English language - the sentences were well crafted, and a joy to read. The only exception to this is his choice to repurpose a popular English vulgarity to mean something else (and I'd argue not particularly related), explain that a few pages later, and then shortly thereafter use the word for its traditional meaning. I didn't really see the point of that, and it was a little jarring. Still, that's a fairly minor quibble, and I'd strongly recommend the book to anyone interested in historical fiction, especially historical war-ish fiction.
I found the book started a little slow, but I was completely engrossed by the description of the first clash between the Greeks and Persians - unwilling to put the book down until it was done, even though it was time to go to work. Thereafter, my interest remained high, although it never quite reached that peak again.
Pressfield knows his way around the English language - the sentences were well crafted, and a joy to read. The only exception to this is his choice to repurpose a popular English vulgarity to mean something else (and I'd argue not particularly related), explain that a few pages later, and then shortly thereafter use the word for its traditional meaning. I didn't really see the point of that, and it was a little jarring. Still, that's a fairly minor quibble, and I'd strongly recommend the book to anyone interested in historical fiction, especially historical war-ish fiction.
I was charmed by this book. From the very beginning, when we first meet Mor and Mor, there was a mystery - What's going on, exactly? What has gone on? How much of this is in the girls' heads?
Then off to boarding school, where we empathize with Mor's feelings of loss and isolation.
There several things that drew me to the book: an ability to identify with Mor's love of SF, and desire to talk to someone about it (and books in general), the fact that the story can be considered to be set during "what happened after", and the coming-of-age aspects, where Mor attempts to figure out who she is and who she wants to become.
I really liked the way that magic was handled (and not handled) in this book - much more satisfying than the wish-fulfillment in the Harry Potter book.
The language was nice - not particularly flat, but not as arresting as some. I found myself smiling over passages, but not so much for the beauty of the words, rather for how I identified with the quotes, e.g. "There are some awful things in the world, it's true, but there are also some great books."
I'd be inclined to recommend the book to teens as well as adults, but parents be warned - Mor's 15 and at an all-girl boarding school. There are discussions of such "disturbing" topics as sex, homosexuality, masturbation, spells, and fairies. Nothing prurient, but people Have Views...
Then off to boarding school, where we empathize with Mor's feelings of loss and isolation.
There several things that drew me to the book: an ability to identify with Mor's love of SF, and desire to talk to someone about it (and books in general), the fact that the story can be considered to be set during "what happened after", and the coming-of-age aspects, where Mor attempts to figure out who she is and who she wants to become.
I really liked the way that magic was handled (and not handled) in this book - much more satisfying than the wish-fulfillment in the Harry Potter book.
The language was nice - not particularly flat, but not as arresting as some. I found myself smiling over passages, but not so much for the beauty of the words, rather for how I identified with the quotes, e.g. "There are some awful things in the world, it's true, but there are also some great books."
I'd be inclined to recommend the book to teens as well as adults, but parents be warned - Mor's 15 and at an all-girl boarding school. There are discussions of such "disturbing" topics as sex, homosexuality, masturbation, spells, and fairies. Nothing prurient, but people Have Views...
Another winner of a YA book, although perhaps not as much for the younger YA reader as [b:Among Others|8706185|Among Others|Jo Walton|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51H3gJdaqsL._SL75_.jpg|6449955]. The beginning is a little hard going, with a somewhat whimsical but naughty prologue followed by a difficult introduction - Liga has a rather difficult time of things. Later on, there are some sexual scenes and dialogue.
The story is very good, though. Lanagan has built a world that has rich and real-feeling. The characters are varied and interesting, and mostly sympathetic, at least where they're supposed to be. The magic feels like something that could be real - a living thing with its own rules, not just a construct to fulfill the characters' desires.
The language was interesting and lyrical, with characters engaging in dialect and idiom.
Although I've read complaints about the pacing, I found the plot proceeded well, and just carried me along. Read it.
The story is very good, though. Lanagan has built a world that has rich and real-feeling. The characters are varied and interesting, and mostly sympathetic, at least where they're supposed to be. The magic feels like something that could be real - a living thing with its own rules, not just a construct to fulfill the characters' desires.
The language was interesting and lyrical, with characters engaging in dialect and idiom.
Although I've read complaints about the pacing, I found the plot proceeded well, and just carried me along. Read it.
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Really good. Not perfect, and I found some of the action scenes a little confusing, but well-written, with a sufficiently sophisticated vocabulary to keep it from getting boring.
The world that Mieville made is definitely rich and full and ambitious, but maybe a little too much was introduced for the one novel. Also, I sometimes found myself analyzing the “sciency” bits, but I tried to keep that to a minimum as they really weren’t intended to be rigorous and I’m only hurting myself.
Very enjoyable, and I’m hoping to get to [b:The Scar (Bas-Lag)|68497|The Scar (Bas-Lag) (New Crobuzon, #2)|China Miéville|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1285272320s/68497.jpg|731674] real soon now.
The world that Mieville made is definitely rich and full and ambitious, but maybe a little too much was introduced for the one novel. Also, I sometimes found myself analyzing the “sciency” bits, but I tried to keep that to a minimum as they really weren’t intended to be rigorous and I’m only hurting myself.
Very enjoyable, and I’m hoping to get to [b:The Scar (Bas-Lag)|68497|The Scar (Bas-Lag) (New Crobuzon, #2)|China Miéville|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1285272320s/68497.jpg|731674] real soon now.
A promising premise, but pretty slow-moving. And I'm not sure what was going on with the Kipling bit. Not terrible, but I'm not sure what all the fuss is about.
An intimate look at two friends' experience during WWII. An interesting story, and it was nice to see it from the point of view of "the little people". I thought the story lagged a little at the end, though.
What really made the book for me, though was two things.
First, the book - the notebook style, complete with elasticized hold-closer, made the story feel very personal, like a memoir. Second, I really enjoyed the visuals. The spare drawing style was very effective, but the use of colour blew me away. There were very few colours used in the illustration, but Chantler applied them expertly to emphasize, to convey mood, and to manipulate our emotions. Very nicely done.
What really made the book for me, though was two things.
First, the book - the notebook style, complete with elasticized hold-closer, made the story feel very personal, like a memoir. Second, I really enjoyed the visuals. The spare drawing style was very effective, but the use of colour blew me away. There were very few colours used in the illustration, but Chantler applied them expertly to emphasize, to convey mood, and to manipulate our emotions. Very nicely done.
A bit of a letdown. Started out promising, with the trademark Greene conversational style and the relatively-interesting patchwork parallel universes. Somewhere toward the middle and the landscape multiverse, the book became quite plodding. I don't know if it's that the subject matter is just so dense that not even Greene can enliven it or what, but that section was a chore to get through.
Eventually things got better, and we ended up on a higher note, so the book was not a complete loss. The discussion of Holograms and the Quantum Multiverse were interesting enough.
I was pleasantly surprised to see the chapter on simulated universes, and the implications of same. It wasn't the sort of thing that came to mind when I heard of this book about parallel universes, but it was definitely worth consideration.
Eventually things got better, and we ended up on a higher note, so the book was not a complete loss. The discussion of Holograms and the Quantum Multiverse were interesting enough.
I was pleasantly surprised to see the chapter on simulated universes, and the implications of same. It wasn't the sort of thing that came to mind when I heard of this book about parallel universes, but it was definitely worth consideration.