I don't read comics or graphic novels so I'm not overly familiar with the happenings in the original formats and cannot judge this novel in relation tI don't read comics or graphic novels so I'm not overly familiar with the happenings in the original formats and cannot judge this novel in relation to them. However, as a stand alone novel this was a very well thought out and executed story. The story revolves around the introduction of a government act that requires all those with super powers to register with the government and to reveal their real identities. Iron Man is all for this and Captain America is completely against it. Various superheros pick their allegiance, with some changing sides as the story progresses, with the main crux of the story revolving around Iron Man, Captain America, Spider-Man and The Fantastic Four...although The Thing is really only a peripheral figure. I have to say that I couldn't put this novel down once I had picked it up...that's the last time I use crazy glue before reading a book! In all seriousness this is a page turner and once I got into the storyline I was engrossed enough to finish the whole novel in one day. I'm hoping there's a sequel in the works as there are a few loose ends that could easily make another novel such as the X-Men's role in this whole deal (they are only mentioned a couple of times in passing and play no part in the novel other than brief appearances by Wolverine at the beginning and Storm at the end) and what becomes of the characters whose stories hinted at further things to come. All in all this is a great read for anyone who is a fan of Marvel prose novels. ...more
Anansi Boys was akin to a leisurely stroll in the park in that it was pleasant and relaxing but nothing to write home about. The story itself starts ofAnansi Boys was akin to a leisurely stroll in the park in that it was pleasant and relaxing but nothing to write home about. The story itself starts off slow but I was escorted through the pages by Gaiman's quaint style of writing and it picked up once Spider entered the story. From then on in it progressed at a saunter and was adequate lounging in the sun reading. The characters are interesting and well fleshed out and the tale that is told is original. Together they give the novel a certain charm and even though it never grabbed me by the short and curlies it was a pleasant and gentle diversion from everyday life....more
This was one of those novels that I enjoyed but never really fell in love with. I found the main character to be fairly annoying at times and never boThis was one of those novels that I enjoyed but never really fell in love with. I found the main character to be fairly annoying at times and never bought into the character of Jenner, an older, slight Asia male, whom everyone feared. The story moved along okay but was hampered by the closed environment in which it was set and so a fair amount of the story revolves around the fights, which would be okay in a longer novel, even though the novel itself is fairly short. The twist near the end was a good one and allowed the main character to break free of the shackles that had inhibited him and thus I think he could be a lot more entertaining in the second installment of this series. There were plenty of times throughout the novel when I'm sure certain characters would have been killed off had the story been more realistic but that was a minor qualm. Decent enough novel and certainly worth checking out considering it's available free. ...more
It was a combination of the book cover and the book title which drew me towards this novel both of which I thought were excellent. As you may have gueIt was a combination of the book cover and the book title which drew me towards this novel both of which I thought were excellent. As you may have guessed it's about a reaper, although not the usual one associated with death, who forces its victims to live out their darkest fantasies. Should they resist those fantasies then, as associated with the usual reaper, they die. The main character in the story, Jon, does his best to avoid living out those fantasies and thus flees the Red Reaper and therein we have the premise for the story.
"It awakens� Summoned by the will of a powerful psychic, The Red Reaper forces its victims to live their darkest fantasies. If they resist, they die. In a college town during a record cold winter break, Jon, a lonely professor, wonders the empty campus barely holding on to his sanity. Unable to stay awake during the daytime he sees a red hooded creature in the shadows at night; immediately after, his twisted desires come to life. Searching for answers he finds Clay, a local psychic who is more than he seems, and Sarah, a gorgeous expert on the underworld who has depraved secrets of her own. Chased by demons and with the Red Reaper at every turn, the three must face their fears, survive its relentless attacks, and find a way to escape from the Reaper."
I found the scenario put forth interesting but had some slight trepidation that it was going to turn out to be a 'Final Destination' clone with a slight twist. Perhaps the author was inspired by such movies but this book turned out to be a good read that stood on its own two feet regardless of where the inspiration for it came from. So far I've avoided using the word "novel" as one of my biggest dislikes of 'Run From The Reaper' was its lack of length. Smashwords.com has the word count at a little over 36000 words although with the final 16% of the ebook being excerpts from some of the author's other works it surely works out a lot less than that. If the story had been fleshed out more I think the author may have been onto a real winner here as his characters are strong and the storytelling engrossing. The pacing of the story is excellent and as it progresses so does the action, suspense and horror and I found myself racing through page after page really wanting to know what would happen next. It didn't start out that way though... I have to admit to finding the first chapter somewhat confusing. It made sense in hindsight, once the story got into its flow, but it didn't really grab me as I was left unsure as to what was going on. In that respect I think the first chapter was the one part of the book that needed condensing, editing and perhaps being used as a prologue rather than as a first chapter. Even though there were no major grammar issues in this book there were some spelling mistakes and use of the wrong words here and there. For instance one part read "...it appeared to be a bit of brilliants..." when it should, of course, have been "brilliance". No big deal in the grand scheme of things but little errors like that do pull me out of a story and take away from the overall "polish" of a book. As the story raced towards its conclusion I did have a few gripes as to how it played out. For one, Jon is accused of a very serious crime against a female student, Sarah, which she herself reported to the police. Yet within no time at all they are helping each other out and the issue is brushed aside. Perhaps with the Red Reaper pursuing you all logic goes out of the window but I would rather the story had been taken in a different direction altogether as to avoid that conflict of interest within the storyline. Also, at around the same point in the ebook Sarah was pinned to her bed by bats but there was never an explanation as to why? Sure, it made for an exciting point in the story but unless being attacked by bats was her darkest desire then it didn't really make sense for such a thing to be occurring. The same can be said for the fly incident that followed and while these incidents actually added to the story and made it more unique and horrific, when looking back upon what happened, they did appear to be lacking any logical basis in relation to the story. It could have been attributed to the Red Reaper's powers I suppose but then we're left with the problem of where do its powers begin and end? If it had already forced someone into their darkest desire shouldn't its job be done? So how can the Red Reaper continue victimizing that person? And why? 'Run From The Reaper' is definitely the kind of book that would make a fun horror movie but as a novel it needed more fleshing out. However, taken "as is" it was an enjoyable ebook and the build to the ending when we find out what Jon's ultimate desire was, and why he had been running from that desire, was well done. Certainly worth a read if you're looking for an entertaining story but not for those who require deeper reading with more explanation as to the hows and whys....more
'Light of Eidon' is a fantasy novel filled with magic, mystery and suspense. It also happens to be a Christian novel which I didn't know when I starte'Light of Eidon' is a fantasy novel filled with magic, mystery and suspense. It also happens to be a Christian novel which I didn't know when I started reading it and I'll get more into that in a few. The story centers around Abramm Kalladorne who is banished from his country by his brother, the king, and ends up sold into slavery. From there he becomes a gladiator known as the White Pretender and ultimately ends up battling the ultimate evil. As his life unfolds his faith, and what he believes in, is turned upside down and he finds himself evolving as a man and spiritually. Although Eidon can be read as a straight up fantasy novel there are a few major points in the story where the characters engage in philosophical debate about Eidon (who, I do believe, represents Jesus) and as a non believer it did pull me out of the book. I actually went to Catholic schools from the ages of 4 through 18 and then spent another three years as a born again Christian so I know all about Christianity and nowadays actually detest it (BA Christians usually end up leaving me alone as I can argue scripture with the best of them and I love quoting verses that I know are just out and out fantasy - there's one where Jesus says that any two or more people gathered who pray to him and ask anything in his name will receive it and so if ever stopped by more than one Christian I challenge them to pray for 100 Bibles to appear letting them know I will happily hand them out to non believers with them...thus glorifying their God they want me to believe in. They either ignore my request completely or try and talk their way around that particular verse altogether because they know it isn't happening even though their scripture says it will.). Sorry, this is supposed to be a book review and not a debate on Christianity but the book pulls you into those type of debates in how it incorporates the author's beliefs into the storyline. Anyhow, setting Christianity aside it is actually a well written story with strong characters. Due to the type of novel it is it does pull its punches at times and doesn't get too graphic in its descriptions of sex and violence (which is ironic considering the Bible is full of occurrences where God himself orders mass slaughters, slavery and rape) although the violence at times does push the envelope a little albeit in a fantasy way. I found the style of Hancock's writing to slow the story down. Usually I can pick up the pace of a book and start devouring it. I found I couldn't do that with Eidon and it took me nearly four weeks to read. Now, not all that length of time can be blamed on the writing but it certainly didn't help and even during the exciting moments I still found the pace to be slow. I never found it boring though, Christian elements aside, and so please don't take the slow pace as meaning it was dull. The ending of the story did let it down from a neutral perspective as it becomes all about the main character's faith, allegorical to faith in Jesus, and it made me feel like I was cheated out of a proper ending. It's due to that ending I find myself not recommending this to those of a non Christian persuasion. However, if you're all for the Jesus juice and have a love of fantasy novels then I'm sure this one will be a winner for you. As for me I liked and disliked it equally as much and so I'm going to have to endure splinters in my arse on this novel as I'm sitting on the fence in terms of a rating....more
'The Meowmorphosis' was up for grabs over at Librarything.com and I found myself intrigued as to whether it would be the cat's meow or a slimy hairbal'The Meowmorphosis' was up for grabs over at Librarything.com and I found myself intrigued as to whether it would be the cat's meow or a slimy hairball of a book. My luck was in and I accosted a copy and, ladies and gentleman of the public, the verdict is in. The story is a mash-up of Kafka's classic novella 'Metamorphosis' where Gregor wakes up to find himself a cockroach. Instead of a cockroach though he wakes up as a kitten in this version of the story. Being more lovable than a cockroach one might expect the author to deviate slightly from the original story but he sticks to the tried and trusted formula laid out by Kafka with one exception being a brief hiatus from the house, by the kitten, into the outside world. While this makes the story true to the original it really does only replace a cockroach with a kitten and having read the original there wasn't anything in this book, other than the novelty of replacing the cockroach with the kitten, to maintain my interest. 'The Meowmorphosis' is best described as a dark comedy although the humorous elements are far more plentiful in the first couple of chapters than throughout the rest of the book. The middle of this novel, which at around a couple of hundred pages still seemed too long, follows Gregor into the the outside world and his meeting with other cats. Here he is put on trial, although I can't tell you what for as that would spoil the mystery which is a major element of this part of the story, and it's during this trial that the book is at it's most dull. Needless to say Gregor returns home and the original plot, as written by Kafka, is resumed. I don't think this was a good choice of novella for a mash-up. For one, it is based on a novella and so had to be fleshed out more than necessary to make it a stand alone novel. Also, not much actually happens in the story and the original is more of a literary text one would study as opposed to one that would be read for enjoyment. Throughout the novel are amateurish pictures, akin to the one on the book cover, of various situations that are taking place in the story. These pics are purposely amateurish and actually work quite well as harbingers of smirks. Even though I wasn't sold on 'The Meowmorphosis' there is a similar book that I would very much recommend called 'Kockroach'. It's written by an author named Tyler Knox and although not an out and out mash-up it plays on the theme of 'The Metamorphosis' by having a cockroach waking up as a human. From there it leaves its Kafka elements behind and becomes a stand alone novel that is quite the read. Overall, I think Coleridge Cook (which is a pen name for a famous fantasy author apparently...any ideas anyone?) did what he could with the material at hand. However, it's not a great novel and not one I would recommend unless you are big on mash-ups or really have a thing for Kafka....more
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