The Broken Blade (Marston)

The Broken Blade, Ann Marston

I was incredibly happy when I got the call that this book had arrived at my local library, by my request.
I can't remember being so disappointed in a book. It was still a good book, but it wasn't up to the level of the previous two books, nor was it a satisfying conclusion to the first trilogy. (I wasn't too happy about that "first" business, either.)

Where the stories in the first two books spanned years, this book spanned four months -- one week followed by a four-month gap followed by another week. Most of the action is centered on a couple of individuals. We rarely, if ever, lose their point of view even though an entire island nation is under attack. One character was dismissed with "and we never saw him again". Is that a fitting farewell for a character that was supposed to be the King's greatest ally? (That designation was according to a prophecy, mind you.)

Yes, I went on to read the next three books.

The Return of the King (Tolkien)

The Return of the King, J. R. R. Tolkien

After a long wait, I finally read The Return of the King. Great ending (or maybe I should say "endings") to one of the greatest fantasy tales ever told. By this point, I had already seen the Rankin-Bass cartoon, heard the BBC radio series, and seen the Peter Jackson epic. I still enjoyed reading it and making my own comparisons.

I didn't realize how much of this book was made up of appendices. The climatic scene actually occurs relatively early in the book.

Books 2004

Sometime in 2003, I stopped writing mini-reviews in my mini-journal (seriously, it's about 2 inches tall, so it fit in my jacket pocket), probably because I was taking classes at night. Likewise, there weren't many books read because I was commuting by car again, instead of subway, and I didn't bother listing the textbooks that I was reading at the time. (Psychology ... education ... ick)

In 2004, I started listing the titles of the books read only in a file named Books04. So the reviews for these books are new, based on five-year-old memories.

There were a lot of books read, but there were a lot of series books and children's books.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling)

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, J. K. Rowling

OK, I'm caught up with the Potter books now. Liked it better than four, but I thought that some of it was either forced or unnecessary.

I believe this got me caught up with the Harry Potter books and I had to wait for the new books to be published. I thought that the tournament was a little strained because it didn't really fit into the one book per year format that Rowling had set.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling)

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, J. K. Rowling

Didn't thrill me as much as the others. The "one year per book" rule was a little strained as was the Tri-Wizard Tournament. Could've been shorter.

It was still a good story and better than a lot of stuff I'd been reading, and it did move the series along, but it was a little bit of a letdown after the third book.

Star Trek TNG: Dyson Sphere (Pellegrino, Zebrowski)

Star Trek TNG: Dyson Sphere, Charles Pellegrino, George Zebrowski

Liked the use of the Horta, didn't like the story or the ending. Lots of possibilities wiped out quickly.

Thought it would be good, but I didn't particularly care for it. Like the use of Hortas, hated the story and the ending.

The story also ended long before I thought it was going to because there was a science essay at the end about Dyson spheres. Ringworld is wasn't.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Prime Evil (Gallagher)

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Prime Evil, Diana G. Gallagher

I don't even remember it.

I debated leaving this one out because there isn't a review of it.
Then I realized that for some people, those five words are a very powerful review.
In fairness to Ms. Gallagher, the review obviously wasn't written as promptly as most of the others, but I should've remembered something a few weeks later.

Holes (Sachar)

Holes, Louis Sachar, 1998

Read it in two days. It was almost a novelization of the movie. (I saw that first.) Good adapatation to film. Fun little story.

Saw the movie, so I read the book. I'll rank it as the best movie adaptation of a kids book that I've seen. Enjoyed the book, and appreciated that there was a little more to some of the characters in the book.

This is either a "kids" book or a "young adult" book. I've recently found out there are different sections in the library but sometimes a book from one section at one branch of the library is in the other at a different branch. This recently happened to me.

I also just labeled it "fiction" because it isn't really "fantasy" although there almost seems to be some magical or supernatural element holding it together (rather than just amazing co-incidence).

The Western King (Marston) -- reread

The Western King, Ann Marston

Even more fun the second time around. The next generation continues the story years later. And there is another generation coming. Third book is on reserve.

I had to reread it after reading part I. Still as good on the second read-through. Better, because I had part I as an intro this time.

This is still one of my favorite fantasy books, and it was better for having read the preceding book.

Update: There was a review in my log book. My computer log doesn't have the same sequence for some reason. One of them was out of order.

Kingmaker's Sword (Marston)

Kingmaker's Sword, Ann Marston

Excellent. I'm glad I reserved it from the library. I'm rereading the Western King right after it. I have a few Harry Potter books to read before I reserve part 3.

First part of a trilogy I stumbled across a few years back. I found book 1 in the library. Great book, and it didn't matter that I know how some of it would turn out because I had read book 2.

A great fantasy tale. The story is completely told in one book, but the overarching theme spans generations (and books). It explained a few things that I had to take for granted when I had read The Western King.

Destiny's Road (Niven)

Destiny's Road, Larry Niven

Excellent worldbuiling. Hard SF. Quick read.

Enjoyed it, very much. A world-building travelogue with a story wrapped around it so that you don't realize that you have a world-building travelogue. (That's the way to do it.)

This was made quicker by the fact that it was a summer reading book, so I had more time. Someone afterward told me that he borrowed heavily from his "Known Space" books, but I haven't read those, so if he did, it didn't bother me.

It had a good story, and he was able to give a tour of the world he built along the way that made sense in the story.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Rowling)

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, J. K. Rowling

Excellent. She keeps expanding on the characters without betraying or retconning anything we already knew.

Probably my favorite one to date (though subject to change). I was totally taken in by this one, waiting for something so fricking obvious to happen and then have an alternate, which I didn't suspect, happen.

The second entry came from a file on an old hard drive, not from my log.

Of the series, this was probably my favorite standalone book. It was better than Goblet of Fire, and the final three books were more of a continuous narrative working toward the climatic battle.