Jondalar is a boring, annoying Gary Stu. Reading about him and Thonolan bored me to tears.
Ayla is still sometimes interesting, but her feats are becomJondalar is a boring, annoying Gary Stu. Reading about him and Thonolan bored me to tears.
Ayla is still sometimes interesting, but her feats are becoming absolutely ridiculous. Honestly, being the first person to tame a horse, create a cart (without wheels, but still), create fire with stone sparks, tame a cave lion (sure, he was a baby, and close to death, but why wouldn't he have eaten her when he got a little older? Don't believe it), and use stitches on a wound? Her sudden grasp of Jondalar's language was stupid as well, like the author said, 'well, I'm getting bored with all these language barrier issues, so Ayla's just going to get it now.'
And the sex? Totally unnecessary. I don't consider myself a prude, but I like my novels to be mostly sex free, because it's really hard to write good sex (and this was not good sex). Jondalar the Sex God seems to be the author's fantasy man, and why in the world would Ayla, who's only every had sex with one man before, and only every had one child, be able to take his huge p*nis more easily than all the older, more experienced women he'd had before then? I understand now why the reviews I read before starting the series called it caveman porn. And it's all Jondalar's fault - hate that irritating character....more
Not quite what I expected when I borrowed it from the library, but still an interesting read. Really makes you understand the importance of early chilNot quite what I expected when I borrowed it from the library, but still an interesting read. Really makes you understand the importance of early childhood development. I can see why today's youth have so many problems, given the little amount of time their parents can devote to them....more
**spoiler alert** Yay. I have been planning on reading this book since I heard that it was coming out, and now I finally have. And I loved it.
There we**spoiler alert** Yay. I have been planning on reading this book since I heard that it was coming out, and now I finally have. And I loved it.
There were a lot of similarities with The Pillars of the Earth but I found that most of them didn't bother me. Merthin's resemblance of Jack wasn't a worry because Jack was my favourite character in Pillars so it was nice to read about him. And I liked Caris more than Aliena, so I appreciated the love between Merthin and Caris and was happy when they finally managed to tie the knot.
The plague was a fascinating story line, and I loved reading about Caris's management of it and the hospital.
The only issue I have with this book, and with Pillars as well, was the rape scenes. I'm not particularly prudish, and most of the sex scenes don't bother me, but the author seems to have a particular fascination with rape because these scenes were the most vivid, and seriously disturbing.
But aside from that, awesome epic book. Loved it...more
I think this book is a little out of my league. I didn't understand most of it, and came away with the single thought that Freud was a very creepy manI think this book is a little out of my league. I didn't understand most of it, and came away with the single thought that Freud was a very creepy man....more
While this book is short and quite bare of detail, it does paint a broad and unappealing picture of the media's portrail of women. We may have come a While this book is short and quite bare of detail, it does paint a broad and unappealing picture of the media's portrail of women. We may have come a long way since the inception of feminism, but it seems that in the public eye, women have been promoted from wife and mother, to sex symbol and nothing more....more
Oh, this is probably my favourite Buffy/Angel book. I know I sound supremely geeky admitting it, but I don't care. I love the Whedonverse, and I love Oh, this is probably my favourite Buffy/Angel book. I know I sound supremely geeky admitting it, but I don't care. I love the Whedonverse, and I love fanfiction, so what could be better than Whedonverse fanfiction by an actual published author?
The book is rather simple, but I take that as a good thing because the action really just flows along, and you get dragged along with it. The characters are mostly true to the show (though Conner seems a little too...normal. Gnarley? Sure, he's a teenaged boy, but he's a teenaged boy that grew up in a hell dimension and now lives as a squatter, essentially. Where would he have picked up the word gnarley?).
And I loved the Mac Lindley storyline. His fanatics were fascinating, and it does shine a light on misguided vigilantism (sp?). I've actually just finished reading it while hearing about the Greek riots, and I see the similarities. These young people fighting against something they perceive as the enemy (I am on the police's side. He should have aimed higher perhaps, so as not to kill the boy, but it was not unprovoked, and the death was an accident), and just making things so much worse. Mobs are scary.
This is up there as one of my favourite Tempe Brennan books. The change of scenery was refreshing, the mystery was complex but not too ott. I read it This is up there as one of my favourite Tempe Brennan books. The change of scenery was refreshing, the mystery was complex but not too ott. I read it in two days and it was just a blast the whole way. And Ryan is such a sweetie....more
**spoiler alert** Decent effort. Terri and Septimus were interesting original characters, the fire demon cult was an interesting concept, and having t**spoiler alert** Decent effort. Terri and Septimus were interesting original characters, the fire demon cult was an interesting concept, and having the cult leader turn out to be the lead investigator of the case was a good twist. Diedre being the summoner was a bit disappointing though, and I'm not sure why.
I did love that they killed the demon with fire extinguishers (kind of reminiscent of Buffy killing the Judge with a rocket launcher - using something that was recently invented to kill a demon who last rose before these things were around).
A very good book. The writing style was enjoyable, the characters were disturbingly relatable (for all their oddities, the Lisbon sisters were very reA very good book. The writing style was enjoyable, the characters were disturbingly relatable (for all their oddities, the Lisbon sisters were very real and similar to how I imagined teenages to be in that age (Lux reminds me of my mother's stories of when she was young). ...more
**spoiler alert** My best friend talked me into watching the mini-series a few years ago, and while the sex scenes made me a little uncomfortable (as **spoiler alert** My best friend talked me into watching the mini-series a few years ago, and while the sex scenes made me a little uncomfortable (as a sixteen year old heterosexual virgin at the time), I was fascinated by the story and determined to read the book.
And I'm glad I finally got around to doing so. This book is wonderful. The characters (especially Flo and her brother) are all lovable, and while I sometimes had trouble relating to Nancy, her viewpoint was fascinating, and I did feel for her - especially when she turned Kitty away in favour of Flo. The sex scenes in the book are less uncomfortable (though that may be beacause I'm no longer a sixteen year old virgin), though there is one scene I find remarkably unbelievalble.
Very good read and I intend to look into Waters' other books....more
I quite liked this book. I enjoyed the interactions between Ayla and the Clan, and was interested by her actions and thoughts.
There were a few detractI quite liked this book. I enjoyed the interactions between Ayla and the Clan, and was interested by her actions and thoughts.
There were a few detracting factors however. The writing style was mostly adequate, but I was yanked out of the flow of the story a lot of the time by the overuse of adjectives. When we were told about the plants or trees, and there'd be at least five or six trees listed with one or two adjectives each. Some got as many as six or so - the tall gnarled asp with small bright yellow flowers and pale green foliage and thick brown papery bark (as an example that I just made up). I'd spend more time counting the adjectives than actually following the story in some points.
Also, Ayla is most definitely a Mary Sue. It's less noticeable in Clan than it is in following books, but she is like, the original cavewoman Sue. Exotic, an orphan, insanely bright, beautiful, tall and blonde. She has modern thoughts (sex makes babies, sex with someone you don't like is traumatic, women can do anything men can, etc) that don't fit with the thinking of the time, and she does things that a modern audience would find admirable, like hunting, when these things would be frowned upon, or punishable by death as the case may be, by her peers. I can forgive her Sueness in Clan because at least she's an interesting and somewhat unique Sue, but it becomes quite irritating in future. ...more
Well, Buffy/Angel fanfics (and I count this as fanfiction, even though it's published, because it's not part of the show canon) are one of my guilty pWell, Buffy/Angel fanfics (and I count this as fanfiction, even though it's published, because it's not part of the show canon) are one of my guilty pleasures. They're not often as great as the show, but I do find a few gems. monolith isn't one of them, but it's still a fun read.
I did enjoy the Angel/Conner dynamic. I wasn't a huge fan of it on the show, mostly because I thought Conner was a whiny brat, but it was handled well in this book.
The story was quite bland, mostly because you know that nothing really bad can happen to the main characters because they have to go on and do all the things they do in the actual canon series. I did really enjoy the ending though. No real anxiety, but still entertaining. The double helix stairs and the eyes and the demons were all quite interesting.
All in all, a fair attempt and an enjoyable junk-food read....more
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