Look I really like this series and will probably give the omnibus edition a 4 star rating. This however is sold as a single book and since I am so sicLook I really like this series and will probably give the omnibus edition a 4 star rating. This however is sold as a single book and since I am so sick of books that are not books I am going to review this as if it were a stand alone book.
As an overview of an amazing city that exists inside a silo it is an excellent guide. The book doesn't have a plot and fails to explain one of the key elements of the previous book. If this book has its own ISBN then I should be able to pick it up and read it. The author should fill me in on a few things.. Such as what "cleaning" is and why they are celebrating it, and who is Holston and how did he die.. These are all prominent parts of the book that the author doesn't bother to explain.
The story goes like this. Since Holston is dead the Mayor needs to find a new Sheriff. She and the old deputy head down to the bottom level of the silo, level 144, to talk to a woman who they want to offer the job to. . It takes two days to walk down the stairs and four days to come back up. On the way back up the Mayor turns off power for four days so the generator can get repaired. The end.
No exciting twists, not really. The closest thing to suspense isn't even fully explained. I will have to read book three to figure that one out.
This should be part 2 of a book.. Not a book on its own. I am going to review the omnibus as a whole book and it will do much better because I am enjoying it. That is no excuse for publishing part of a book as if it were a book on its own.
ETA: Don't read this on its own. Just go buy the omnibus (which I understand is just being sold as a whole book without the word 'omnibus' in some countries). It is a really awesome book. ...more
This book has about the stupidest name I have ever seen. This book popped up on my Amazon recommendations but I ignored it over and over again. I did This book has about the stupidest name I have ever seen. This book popped up on my Amazon recommendations but I ignored it over and over again. I did finally read it then promptly forgot that I had read it. The name kept putting me off every time I saw it sitting on my Kindle list, where I thought it was just a sample and for months I further ignored it... all because of the name.
Somewhere amongst all that I did indeed read it and thoroughly enjoyed it. I have thought about it from time to time. I just noticed it has sequels so I am off to read those.. I always love (okay there are exceptions) when a finished book has a sequel (as opposed to an author writing an unfinished book and calling it a trilogy).
.. I am not telling you what the book is about. It is an easy read so just go enjoy it. ...more
Orson Scott Card always amazes me with his ability to build worlds. This novel is as wonderful as his many others.
What do you write about books like Orson Scott Card always amazes me with his ability to build worlds. This novel is as wonderful as his many others.
What do you write about books like these? It is science fiction. It is a different society. There are fantasy elements. The truth is revealed slowly as the protagonist journeys to find his parents. But none of this says much and I hate giving anything away.
I don't read reviews until I have read the book. The most innocent comment is enough to ensure I have guessed plot twists long before I would have enjoyed seeing them revealed. So I don't like to write things on my reviews that might spoil the enjoyment and discovery of the story.
The beginning of the book is really amazing, but midway through the book kind of fast forwards one hundred years and the tone of the book changes. It The beginning of the book is really amazing, but midway through the book kind of fast forwards one hundred years and the tone of the book changes. It switches from something incredibly interesting to more or less a version of "The Walking Dead" (and I realise the book was written first) with vampires instead of zombies.
It isn't that this section of the book is boring, but it is just a very different style. It becomes more focused on relationships, and details, and characters that don't matter in the long run.
I did enjoy it, and I will read the sequels, but I am not raving about it.
____________________________________ The following is my response after my first attempt at reading the novel. I leave it here for posterity (For the record, it took me 4 years to return to it).
I am going to abandon this novel. It is well written, suspenseful, interesting, and has great characters, but I don't like scary books.
It is too scary, too gripping. I want to forget it. I should give it a 4-star rating and mark it 'abandoned', but then I would notice it again. I want to bury it amongst the 3-star books and not be scared.
This part of the review was based on the ebook sample
Rating: the sample has hooked me.
The sample has about four separate storylines that seem to have nothing in common. It switches from a sad story about woman selling her body to keep food on the table to a series of emails between two scientists then on to a prisoner on death row.
This is the type of book that I know I don't want to read the cover blurb, and definetly not any of the reviews. The type of book that you are supposed to know nothing about so that everything can be revealed in the way the author intended. As I logged on to type this review I caught the first two lines of the blurb and I already feel like I have learnt too much.
Not generally my type of book. It feels very scary and has some rather dark bits (murder, brutality), but the sample has hooked me. ...more
It turns out that I like 1950s science fiction. I am pleased that I like it as it means a whole world of new authors to read.
I really enjoyed this stoIt turns out that I like 1950s science fiction. I am pleased that I like it as it means a whole world of new authors to read.
I really enjoyed this story of survival. The books spans some two hundred years, following each leader as they shape the colony toward a single purpose.. luring the enemy race back to the planet in order to conquer them.
The steps they take in order to do this are quite interesting, the ending is very nice. The vision of the planet at the end is very different to the one in the beginning.
The book was original released as 'The Survivors' but the name was later changed to 'Prison Planet', I am not sure why as the first title is more suitable.
I don't read these kind of books...but I was pushing my trolley through the supermarket and there it was. (My two year old daughter bought a copy of DI don't read these kind of books...but I was pushing my trolley through the supermarket and there it was. (My two year old daughter bought a copy of Dear Zoo: A Lift-the-Flap Book). I ended up enjoying it so much that I bought an electronic copy just so I could finish the book (actually I was frustrated by a baby that would not settle so I figured reading on the iPhone would settle me!).
The book was really enjoyable and provided such an insight into such a different way of life. The American 'deep south' in the 1950s is an incredibly shocking and interesting period. After finishing the book I watched the movie which really trivialised the entire book, the movie was sweet but disapointing after reading something as good as the book.
I am sick of reading novels that take an ordinary story and turn it into a trilogy. I have been reading lots of YA dystopian novels lately. However I I am sick of reading novels that take an ordinary story and turn it into a trilogy. I have been reading lots of YA dystopian novels lately. However I am continually feeling like a chump. I bought the book, it was an okay read, I am invested enough to want to see how it ends, but instead of ending I get slapped with a "to be continued". Apparently I have to insert more money to see the ending.
/end rant
The selection is a basic YA romtopian (a YA romace novel set to a dystopian/utopian theme). The book has an extremely thin plot. In fact, I bet I can describe the entire book in a paragraph or two. Don't worry about spoilers.. there is nothing much to spoil.
In a dystopian world based on a caste system, a beautiful female singer in the fifth caste falls in love with a handsome cleaner from the sixth caste. Families in such low castes struggle to put food on the table so nobody is going to be happy with this marriage. He breaks it off when his ego gets the better of him. She gets selected as one of 34 women presented to the heir to the throne from which the heir will choose his wife, very similiar to the tv show "The bachelor". She hits it off with the prince until the old boyfriend turns up at the castle as a palace guard. She and prince kiss, she and old boyfriend kiss.... And then the book says 'to be continued'. A very predictable book without the courtesy to provide the reader with an ending.
I kept reading because the characters were interesting. The prince was lovely, despite some of his descriptions being at odds with how he was portrayed. She was a predictable heroine, you know the type that stand out from the crowd by being the only normal person in the room, but still quite likeable. The old boyfriend had no redeeming qualities so don't expect an "Edward vs Jacob" or "Peter vs Gale" calibre engagement from a reader perspective. I suspect the author thinks it is interesting and will drag it out for another book or two.
I adding a new bookshelf "books that should not be trilogies". ...more
I first heard Ben Robertson talking about this book on the radio as I was doing the housework and wrangling my own two children. He said things that rI first heard Ben Robertson talking about this book on the radio as I was doing the housework and wrangling my own two children. He said things that rang true, I knew he understood! What is more I was impressed that it was a bloke telling me that he understood. I logged on to fishpond.com.au and bought the book.
At first I was very disapointed. The opening chapters of the book are mediocre. He talks about stuff that nobody could possible be interested. Why do I care that how he met his wife or what type of shananigans he got up to in his earlier life. I bought the book to read about a man struggling with the role of being a SAHD, not what some random bloke had done when he was a drunk student.
I was wondering why an editor hadn't kept him on track, but then I saw it was published by the University of Queensland Press, which makes me wonder just how much editing was actually done... Did the publisher care about the content at all? Probably not. At any rate the book is a light read and it didn't take too long to get to the second half where he does actually start talking about what I bought the book to hear... The trials and tribulations of a stay at home parent (in this case a Dad).
Once the book got into the good stuff I almost got out my highlighter pen, since I was generally breastfeeding a baby while reading I settled for putting little dog ears on all the pages instead. He really did explain very well what makes being a sahm hard... why my husband gets home and I proudly tell him I mopped the bathroom, and explain why he should be proud that I finally managed to do it. Robertson tells story after story of the kind that every single sahm understands because every single sahm has her own book of stories.
This is one of those hard books to rate. The beginning was 1 star and the second half was a 3.5. I will be lending it to my friends, but only because it is a quick read. I will be telling them to 'skip through the first bit'.
Some nice ideas and am already planning on making a couple of them.
The photography is rather uninspiring... The fA lovely birthday gift from a friend.
Some nice ideas and am already planning on making a couple of them.
The photography is rather uninspiring... The front cover is very pretty but after a while it gets old seeing bed linen presented on a bed under a tree... would like to see it in a location with inspiring coordinates. ...more
I am a bit confused about who this book is aimed at. The plot was simple but enjoyable and the writing of some of the characters was surprsingly subtlI am a bit confused about who this book is aimed at. The plot was simple but enjoyable and the writing of some of the characters was surprsingly subtle. However the book was very short, 160 pages and the text was double-spaced throughout the book, making me wonder if the author was writing for older children. I honestly could have read the entire book in a matter of an hour or two. I think if I was a reader from the target audience I might have rated it as 4-stars, but instead my 3-star rating reflects where it fits amongst my other books.
I generally do not enjoy first person dialogue, so I struggle to enjoy the book at first. There was a lot of dialoge and I found myself mentally rewriting some of the unnessecary dialogue out. I think a bit more of it could have been told rather than spoken, especially in the opening four to five chapters.
I was impressed with the way she wrote her characters. They had a great deal of depth and she didn't give the reader all the answers. I am believing it was intentional.
For example, I liked the way the character Gilhey was introduced to us by the protaganist. The protaganist clearly disliked him and believed him to be a bad person. The protaganist offered no proof, allowing the reader to have some doubt. Later when we get our first glimpse of Gilhey we do see he does not like her, but we also see the she behaves in a childish antagonistic manner toward him, perhaps deserving his distain. I was impressed that the author gave me room to think that the protagonist was wrong about him. [I was about 35% of the way through the book when I wrote those notes and at that point was not entirely sure about him... I like that the author has allowed me room to wonder.]
The story itself was intricate enough to have me guessing and doubting at various points during the book. I am not actually convinced that the author intended this, but I like to believe she did.
One thing I did not like was that it was set in Ireland 350 AD... I think the time and place was not needed. Likewise I think the glossary of words at the back was a bit of an insult to the reader, especially in a world where Google is at our fingertips. I enjoyed reading her strange phrases and figuring out what they meant by the context that they were used in. Those are little things though.
Overall I enjoyed the book. It was a quick read and I would recommend it to any older children/young teenagers who were interested in historical fiction.
I received this book as an ARC from the goodreads program....more
After reading "Chart Throb", by Ben Elton, I don't think I will ever be able to watch a reality tv series again. I feel kind of dirty and want to cry.After reading "Chart Throb", by Ben Elton, I don't think I will ever be able to watch a reality tv series again. I feel kind of dirty and want to cry. It rings so true that it is almost upsetting.
The story revolves around the producer of a hit reality television show similiar to Idol or X Factor. The book focuses on the manipulation used to make the show such a success, the scripting of events, the frankensteining of interviews, the general lack of conscience exhibited by the staff of the show as the exploit contestant after contestant.
The manipulation of the characters was horrendous, and yet I struggle to believe that it is really fiction. I am kind of left with the feeling that that must be the way it is... and that sickens me.
I am fast becoming a fan of Ben Elton, his novels just seem to hang around in my mind for days and weeks. He creates the most realistic visuals that I can't seem to forget, and he seems to have such an understanding of the human pysche. Ben Elton writes unforgettable books.. Funny, dark, and always deep.
Still busy reading "Down to Earth" the book written by Rhonda Hetzel who I kind of know through her online down-to-earth forum. I really only bought tStill busy reading "Down to Earth" the book written by Rhonda Hetzel who I kind of know through her online down-to-earth forum. I really only bought the book to be nice to the person running the forum. I was expecting a self-published unimpressive book. I was not expecting it to impress me as much as it has. I have been well and truelly surprised. This book is going to be recommended to all my friends, and probably a good half of them will get it as a xmas present.
It is the type of book that looks gorgeous. The cover art, the texture of the pages, the photos throughout the book. They are all inspiring and uplifting. I keep finding myself jotting down quotes and sending them to my friends.
The book talks about the simple ways of living, not as an alternate lifestyle but as a way that we all need to be living (though the author is not so presumptuous to say it like that). The author explains the important of taking control of your spending and fills the book with suggestions and advice on exactly how to do this.
I am slowly working through this book at night, after my children are in bed, with a cup of tea beside me... I kind of get the impression that this is how the author meant it to be read.
LOVE LOVE LOVE the book. I am recommending it to all my friends. I want to buy copies for all my friends now. I want to buy copies for my brothers and sisters. Very inspiring and uplifting....more
A solid 3.5 stars, which means I really enjoyed it but am snobbish and reserved about handing out 4 and 5 star ratings.
Like any good dystopian novel, A solid 3.5 stars, which means I really enjoyed it but am snobbish and reserved about handing out 4 and 5 star ratings.
Like any good dystopian novel, the world is complex and foreign enough that plot flaws are inevitable. I would happily jump in on a conversation discussing all the plot flaws and hand waves. That didn't stop it from being a really good read.
Although the book has teenagers as protaganists it is not a YA novel. This I say with relief as I have been tired of all the books-that-should-not-be-trilogies that I have been reading lately. This books ends. I have since found out that sequels have been released, which I will read or ignore at will.. This book is complete all by itself!!
The short version is that UNWIND is about a world in which parents are able to commit a teenager to be harvested for body parts. The story follows the point of view of three of those kids, offering some very different perspectives and showing a range of community views.
UNWIND bears a lot of similiarites to Never Let Me Go, however it takes a very different approach.
Like I said the plot is full of flaws and I am tempted to fill this review with them. I will not do that because I was able to easily ignore them and get on board with the book, which I enjoyed, it is only in retrospect that I have a thousand questions and clarifications that I want answered... Which in my mind makes the book even better....more
As far as YA dystopian/romtopians go this one is pretty good, but that is because YA dystopian/romptopians generally tend to be sub-par.
I just spent tAs far as YA dystopian/romtopians go this one is pretty good, but that is because YA dystopian/romptopians generally tend to be sub-par.
I just spent ten minutes writing a review for the wrong book, so clearly this one doesn't stick in the mind that much. At least, now that I remember what book I am reading, it is better then the book I orginally thought I was reviewing (still following?).
So I love the idea that at a given age everyone is matched with their partners in a public ceremony of arranged marriages.
A lot of the freedoms in this world are a bit hard to swallow, but it is readable. I have read the second book, which was not as good, but will still happily read the third (which I believe has been released, I probably even pre-ordered the e-book, but still isn't that high on my reading list)....more
I am starting a new category "rom-topian" for all the dystopian/utopian novels that are no more than an interesting idea wrapped up in a youthful romaI am starting a new category "rom-topian" for all the dystopian/utopian novels that are no more than an interesting idea wrapped up in a youthful romance.
Typically a "rom-topian" novel will work like this. Society has changed so that social classes are law. A compliant-but-still-strong girl winds up in the lower classes. A handsome/obnoxious-but-shows-promise boy from the upper classes falls in love with her and rescues her. More "rom-topian" points if a baby is involved.
This particular attempt could almost be read as a woeful attempt at copying and watering down the highly rated The Handmaid's Tale. It follows such a similar storyline.
I am becoming increasingly frustrated with these romances that pose as dystopian novels. Blah. ...more
Two pages in and I am already groaning at the clumsily written introduction to the romance between two characters. It goes something like this "we werTwo pages in and I am already groaning at the clumsily written introduction to the romance between two characters. It goes something like this "we were friends but then we kissed and now I think he is so handsome. Our other friend, conveniently his sister so there is no fear of a love triangle, knew and had been setting us up on accidental dates all year. The places were getting more and more romantic....". Barf.
Wait it got worse... He just purred at her.
A third of the way through the book now and I am getting the jist of it. She did well, he did not. I am betting the reason we have been subjected to pages of badly written romantic drivel is in hope that the reader gets how in love they are... So we understand why she will make sacrifices for him (I am guessing). Gah.
.. And yet whether by skill or accident (on the author's part) I did cry a little at the end of chapter 4.
I have figured what is bothering me. Lack of character development. I know two things about the heroine. I know that she is pretty, and I know that she is rude.
I kept reading because I was enjoying the concept of the book. The idea that a single test at the end of highschool could direct your entire future, including who you are allowed to socialise with and what size house you are allowed to live in. Despite an interesting concept the writing was incredibly poor....more
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