Very interesting book, mainly because of the narrator. He's not your normal protagonist, and I really liked that part of this novel. It was a good insight into a different type of person and how someone such as himself would think.

I was rather disappointed. I remember finishing and thinking 'so little happened, how'd the book get to be so large?' The pacing was slow and the POV from the bot's side of things was lacking. I wanted more computers and engineering talk (not that I'm an engineer) because I feel like that is what the mechs would talk about, but it was hardly mentioned. And I wanted character information, backgrounds and interactions with each other. While it was given for human characters (who DIED and thus had no place in the movies, even in passing) there was none for the stars of Transformers, the Cybertronian's themselves. And this really did not set up anything for the Earth chapter of the war. Still no answers as to why Bee was sent onto earth alone, or how the Cons got there first, or any such interactions. I wanted more canon information and was disappointed.

I really would only recommend this book to those who are over the top fans, for anyone else it really wouldn't be worth the time. Hell, the 80s Marvel comics were more interesting than I find this to be.

T

I love Duane's "Young Wizards", but had only heard of this companion book once. But regardless, knowing how successful Duane is in writing I had to snag this book when I saw it for sale at a used book store. Seriously, $3.50 is a steal. The entire cat culture described in this book is phenomenal; so detailed and yet also not entirely fiction. Yes, this is a fantasy novel, but everything is so plausible. If cat wizards did exist, they would behave exactly like this. And the word crafting! Duane has this wonderful ability to write about about magic in terms of science, blending the two together that I'm absolutely convinced most of this stuff could really happen. Comparing the infrastructure of portals to other worlds to plant physiology gives everything this advanced and mystical feeling that maybe, just maybe such things can actually be true. And the meshing of different stories from a variety of cultures is superbly done. It's impossible to read this book, or any others by her, with out stopping to think of how it relates to the world as you perceive it. Definitely something not only to re-read, but save for you kids.





The entire

I haven't read the movie adaptations, but I much preferred this one to The Ghosts of Yesterday. There's interesting plot elements, lots of new characters, and tons of details about the TF world that I loved. I was surprised about the loose ends that were hanging around at the end of the novel. Especially since they were not fully resolved in the second movie.

This was an amazing book! Busy with school an all, I typically finish one per me reading a semester, but it didn't even take me a week to finish this one!



The characters are so vivid, and each filled with their own version of sass that it's hard to not be enthralled by them. They really are what draw you through the book, the plot is okay, but I really just wanted to read about the Spellmans. And I couldn't help but laugh out loud at times!

I loved this book, devoured it actually. Checked it out from the library yesterday and am returning it tomorrow. As always Duane has a way of describing the magical and making it sound real. I was surprised by how much detail went into this, from explaining the routine problems the Spirit rover has to having the simplest things said in passing to have an effect later.

I was disappointed however to see an inconsistent detail in the novel, that fancy dinner Kit was to have with his family was stated to be first at seven, and then six later on in the book. And I kept waiting for a couple missing plot elements to be explained, but they never happened.
I was rather dissapointed in the minor plot hole and in consistant details.

I absolutely loved this. I picked it up at a dollar store, thinking it would be a quick read while on vacation and something I could leave behind when I leave to make way for souvenirs, but now done I think I might keep it. Kingston gives a wonderful view into the world of the blind, and not just the mechanics of how to use a cane, but the emotional and mental adaptations that someone has to go through while learning to deal with the disability.



Not born blind, he has a great way with words to compare his before and after lives, and while I can never envision the upheavals of such a transformation completely, Kingston has enabled a glimpse into. And his dealing with the issue mirrors what I feel countless people go through in a myriad of other issues, not just blindness; struggling with how you perceive yourself, how others perceive you, and learning how to deal with reality.



This is a wonderful book, and certainly something I'll want on my self for times to come and pass along to others.

I've read Hoffman's other books, the Stravaganza ones and loved them to death. So I was really disappointed by this one. I felt no connection to the characters, the plot was only mildly interesting, and as a whole the book was very, very simple. Even for a YA book. However, it's very obvious that Hoffman did her research and the look into the lives of monks and nuns during the Medieveal times is nice to see. I particularly enjoyed reading about the processes that went into to making colored inks.