The Flight of Dragons Review

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The Flight of Dragons ReviewPeter Dickinson's classic book on such imponderables as how (and why) dragons fly is one of my favorite books on the care and feeding of our scaled neighbors. He goes into great detail about what it takes to get a 20,000-pound appetite up into the air and speeding to its next meal. Sometimes slightly tongue-in-cheek, Dickinson draws on legend and story to create a delightful theory that takes the imaginary and makes it real.
Not satisfied with explaining away the impossible, Dickinson goes on to explore the dragon life cycle, habitat and sociology. I took particular delight in the section that explains that most horrific of monsters, the george, otherwise known as 'the mean man in the tin can.' He is quite outspoken about the monstrous atrocities committed in the name of 'dragon-slaying.' And for doubters, there is even a section citing the evidences for the existence of dragons. Of course, those of us who drive from peak to peak dragon-watching in our ancient Volkswagen busses need no further evidence.
The other delight in this book is the rich illustration by Wayne Anderson. We find dragons cute and fearsome, old and new. The work is both beautiful and whimsical, and you will find yourself returning to the images countless times, whenever the dream starts to fade. The book is both beautiful and fun - a worthwhile addition to the mythophile's library.The Flight of Dragons Overview

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Turn Coat (The Dresden Files, Book 11) Review

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Turn Coat (The Dresden Files, Book 11) ReviewOver the course of the last few books, the Dresden Files has been steadily upping the ante for our pal Harry Dresden. He has become a Warden, picked up an Apprentice, triumphed over Hellfire, captured the attention and respect of an Archangel and shown significant signs of growth as a Wizard.
Harry has grown so much that by Turn Coat, the series has really come full circle in many ways. In Storm Front, Harry was the suspected Warlock who had to prove himself to the Wardens, specifically Morgan. It was Morgan who had to pull Harry's butt out of the fire. Now, ten books later and at roughly the halfway point in the Dresden Files (according to info at his site), it is Morgan who is the suspected Warlock/traitor to the White Council, and it is Harry he comes to to pull his butt out of the fire.
Morgan shows up on Harry's door, looking like death warmed over and barely able to speak, but what he does say is like a bombshell dropping: he is a hunted man, accused of murdering a member of the Senior Council.
So begins the best Dresden Files book yet. Turn Coat is everything I expected, and more, it is everything I hoped for. It has been the worst kept secret of the series that a traitor was lurking in the highest echelon of the White Council, and the unveiling of that traitor is very well done. The highest compliment I can pay to Butcher is that he genuinely kept me guessing until he wanted us to know. The ultimate reveal is handled with complexity and a laudable maturity of authorship.
Many of the usual faces return for Turn Coat. Molly, Mouse, Thomas, Murphy, Morgan, Ebenezar, Luccio, the Alphas and Toot-Toot!! all have feature supporting roles, (though Ramirez is surprisingly absent since the book is so much about the Council) and of course, they are all as excellent as ever.
Other characters we have already met, but know little about, such as The Gatekeeper and Injun Joe, are explored in more detail. I do not know about anyone else, but this book is worth it for Listens-to-Wind alone. He is just an amazing Wizard, and I look forward to seeing him more in later books. Add in some quality Gatekeeper conversations and a real look at what just some of the Senior Council can do in action, and you really have as much Wizard action as ever before. And they are really only a very small fraction of the goodness that is Turn Coat!
Ultimately what I am most impressed by is how much Butcher is willing to change the "status quo". There are some major shakeups in Turn Coat, and somewhat of a change in direction for the series. As Bob the Skull says, Harry has really started playing in the Big Leagues. His power and abilities are increasing, but so are the threats he has to face, as the world around him is getting nastier and more perilous every day.
I compared Grave Peril to the second season of Buffy once, similar in how both characters really grew up all at once. I would compare Turn Coat to the fourth season of Angel: a movement away from the more singular storytelling and the beginning of piecing together the larger tapestry. Both characters somewhat outgrow their PI status, still utilizing the talents but focused more directly on the larger scale. Both face enormous powers behind the scenes as they are caught up in the whirlwind, losing friends and allies along the way, but they shall Not Fade Away.
This one has it all: good philosophical debate, fascinating new insight into some characters we thought we knew, moral and ethical quandaries that exceed mere "black and white" bordering into grey, killer action, quality one-liners and a deepening sense of maturity to the series as a whole.
418 pages has never felt so short.
5 out of 5 starsTurn Coat (The Dresden Files, Book 11) Overview

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White Night (The Dresden Files, Book 9) Review

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White Night (The Dresden Files, Book 9) ReviewSometimes, it's good to be wrong. Jim Butcher has more than earned hardcover publication for his "Dresden Files" series. In my opinion, "Dresden" is one of the best urban fantasy series around.
What to the casual eye looks like suicides of magical practitioners turns out to be a serial killer using the quote from Exodus, "Suffer Not a Witch to live," as a calling card. There are several practitioners dead and more missing. Worse, it's not just Chicago that's been hit.
When clues start piling up implicating Harry's younger brother, Thomas, who is a vampire of the White Court, Harry has to work hard to clear his brother's name.
"White Night" should have a warning--don't pick this book up unless you have several hours to devour it. Like most of the Dresden Files, I struggled with the impulse to read the book right now--or just a few pages at a time and savor it. Devouring won.
"White Night" is very tightly paced. You have very little time as a reader to contemplate what's going to happen. This is also one of Butcher's more intricate novels. He's definitely improving with each book. Kudos to him, his publisher and many fans would still read him for a long time if he didn't challenge himself--and us. In my opinion, Butcher has reached the point with the mystery and crime portion of the series that regular mystery readers would cross over to him.
Of course, the stable of characters is excellent. I still prefer the novelizations of the Dresden Files to the series--with one notable exception. Bob in the novel now seems 'flat' to me once I have seen Terrence Mann bringing Bob to life.
Overall, this is an excellent book by a writer who ages very well. Kudos to Jim Butcher and the Dresden Files.White Night (The Dresden Files, Book 9) Overview

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Eldest (Inheritance, Book 2) Review

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Eldest (Inheritance, Book 2) ReviewAfter reading this story I felt compelled to write how unsatisfied I was. I will quickly reiterate what others have already said. Eldest is derivative of so many other fantasy books, and there is no question Paolini has taken giant chunks out of Tolkein, McCaffrey, Lucas, Dungeons and Dragons, and probably many other fantasy stories I have not read. But I do not neccesarily mind that. I've read many books that have created their own compelling worlds using generic fantasy formulas, and have fallen in love with them. But this world does not have anything at all that I have not already seen. Elves living in forests? Read the hundreds of Dragonlance stories, Tolkein. Dwarves in mountains? Ditto. It's just so frustrating. But having already read Eragon, I knew all of this so I was not surprised that the world was so familiar.
While his derivative plot and world might bother some, I found many other things much more bothersome to read. I do not mean to attack home schooling, in fact I think it is a wonderful thing, but I question how much of it affected Paolini's writing. His descriptions of the world are interesting, in fact, at times even lyrical. I know he was immersed in a wonderful world to explore as he grew up. But I wonder how much social interaction he might have had. His descriptions of people seem more caricatures than actual people, and at times the descriptions are incredibly immature. The scene where he meets the council of the Varden rings out as particularly irritating. Paolini constantly fixates on the bosoms of one of the council members. I do not know if he thinks this is humorous, but it's a good sign of his immaturity. And if he were skillful enough of a writer he could perhaps have made it humorous which I believe was his intent, but it instead gave me the impression that Paolini has had very little interaction with the opposite sex. The same goes with his writing in regards to love. It is wonderfully romantic in a naive sort of way.
One other major qualm I had with the story is more personal, and probably nothing that anyone really has any problem with or even picked up. But I can't stand it so I will bring it up anyways. I hate, HATE, the depiction of the elves. I personally think Paolini shaped elves after Asians. The elves have squinty eyes, stern and serious mannerisms, and they try not to offend others; they are exotic. These are all stereotypes of Asians. He makes the elves seem so foreign, much in the manner Asians are seen as perpetual foreigners in America, and while I highly doubt Paolini intends to be racist, I think his depiction of the elves can be percieved as highly offensive.
But back to his story. There is one more thing that was a literary travesty. It is of a battle early on in the story when Roran is fighting the Ra'zac's army. Roran slices off a soldiers fingers, and the soldier, fingerless and bloody mind you, states something along the lines of, "Perhaps I should have worn a shield today." And then he is killed. I have no idea what was going through Paolini's mind. Did it make me laugh out loud? Yes because such a stupid line inserted in the middle of an intense fight makes me wonder if anyone editted this thing. No soldier EVER is going to be retrospective when they get their fingers chopped off. It was one of the stupidest things I've read. It was memorable for all the wrong reasons.
Finally, once again reiterating what others have said, Paolini must not lecture us. Trying to convince us eating animals is morally wrong and to tell everyone that aetheism is the way to go is offensive, and unnecesarily assertive. Maybe, which I think was more his intention, he could have gone about trying to illustrate what he finds divisive about religion. This is not a childrens story. I don't think its focus is for children even though Paolini believes it to be. The vocabulary is complicated, though not as bad as people have said, the story is violent, absurdly violent for children in my opinion, and the audience is much more for those who know what a +3 Sword of Dancing is.
I feel any values that Paolini is trying to impart to younger readers are not well thought out. I feel his attempts to grasp right and wrong are shallow. So shallow. He begins to question the absolute values of good and evil, but in the end, there is an ultimate evil in the Empire, and Roran and Eragon will rise up to be the ultimate good. I just can't recommend this book to too many people. Maybe a book you get at the library, but to pay for it seems like a mistake when there are many better and more deserving books. I'll say that if there was a 2 1/2 stars I would give it that rating. He does have glimpses of being a fine writer, but right now hes insane, and ridiculously pompous to believe he can even compare himself to Tolkein. "May the Force be with you..." wait, no, I mean "May your swords stay sharp" when you are making your decision to buy this book.Eldest (Inheritance, Book 2) Overview

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Max (Maximum Ride, Book 5) Review

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Max (Maximum Ride, Book 5) ReviewLike a lot of other readers, I was skeptical picking up this book. The 4th book was about global warming and it was one giant political message. This book wasn't nearly as bad. There was still some global warming and pollution messages however, it's not nearly as bad. Unlike the 4th book, they had a purpose in this book. I don't want to spoil anything from the book, but this time around, the flock was working to actually save something important to them.
This book isn't perfect though. The book is focused around Max, Fang, and Angel. Some of the other characters, such as Iggy and the Gasman, were almost ignored.
Also, the flock seems to have a change in personality. Before, they were kids trying to survive, now they're brats. The flock was still sarcastic and funny, but they were mean to almost all of the adults in the book. All of the characters seemed a little off, like their personality changed between books.
There is definetly more romance in this book. I won't spoil anything. But, I can assure you that romance lovers won't be dissapointed.
Overall, it's not a bad book. Not great either. It's an improvement over the 4th Maximum Ride book. But the political message is still there. The characters seem a little different as well. But the book is still exciting and entertaining. I recommend this book to any of the Maximum Ride fans, you might want to save your money and wait for it to show up at the library.
Max (Maximum Ride, Book 5) Overview

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Eragon (Inheritance, Book 1) Review

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Eragon (Inheritance, Book 1) ReviewWhatever editor green-lighted this book should never again work in the publishing industry. It was pure bloody-mindedness that allowed me to slog through this muddled excuse for a novel. I kept thinking to myself, "This has GOT to get better. It can't be as bad as it seems." I even went back and re-read the several chapters, thinking I'd somehow missed some spark of brilliance.
Fat chance. It's not there.
There isn't an original idea, a novel concept, a well-conceived plot line, or a nicely drawn character in the entire book. Lots of other reviewers have cited the author's various sources. I encourage you to read something from one of the authors Paolini ripped off and skip this miserable piece of fan fiction.Eragon (Inheritance, Book 1) Overview

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