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dirk_bannion_author's Reviews (157)
This was a solid political/archeological thriller with Biblical overtones. Nothing nearly as religiously deep or controversial as The DaVinci Code, but a similar concept. I won't drop any spoilers, but I will say the whole story was exciting and interesting enough to keep me turning the pages right up to the end. Unfortunately, in the final 30 pages, the author resorted to some very cliche' props: the bad guy spells out his whole story in front of a hidden camera that's feeding live to the Internet, then he and his team of heavily-armed henchmen just kind of slink away and all is right with the world again... Yeah. That's what I thought.
Still, I'm not sorry I read it, and for 410 pages, it was awesome. So try it out.
Still, I'm not sorry I read it, and for 410 pages, it was awesome. So try it out.
This was a surprisingly good book. I say "surprisingly" because I came to the reading having heard tons of hype and assuming (as is usually the case,) that the hype was unfounded. Same way I felt about The DaVinci Code, and I was right that time.
But this book is truly an interesting and engaging read with at least one wholly new and complex character in "the girl with the dragon tattoo." Unfortunately, after devouring this book, I greatly looked forward to reading the two other books in the trilogy and found the second one sucked pretty bad. Very disappointing.
But this one is good. I recommend it.
But this book is truly an interesting and engaging read with at least one wholly new and complex character in "the girl with the dragon tattoo." Unfortunately, after devouring this book, I greatly looked forward to reading the two other books in the trilogy and found the second one sucked pretty bad. Very disappointing.
But this one is good. I recommend it.
This kills me, because I want to like Neal Stephenson. I love his ideas and I love his voice and wit. But the fact is, the story just hops around so erratically in time and space, and takes so long to actually get moving into the heart of the plot, that I couldn't take it.
Here's my recommendation: if you're a technophile who has the schedule available to read for hours at a sitting, give this book a try. The characters are incredibly cool and the world he's created is breath-taking in its detail and scope. Perhaps 3 or 4 hours in, you'll be far enough to be in a flow and hooked on the story. My reading habits tend to be in sporadic snippets here and there all day every day, so I need a story that my feeble brain can keep straight under those circumstances.
I still plan to try more Stephenson down the road for the reasons listed above, but I couldn't hack Snow Crash.
Here's my recommendation: if you're a technophile who has the schedule available to read for hours at a sitting, give this book a try. The characters are incredibly cool and the world he's created is breath-taking in its detail and scope. Perhaps 3 or 4 hours in, you'll be far enough to be in a flow and hooked on the story. My reading habits tend to be in sporadic snippets here and there all day every day, so I need a story that my feeble brain can keep straight under those circumstances.
I still plan to try more Stephenson down the road for the reasons listed above, but I couldn't hack Snow Crash.
7/6/12
I'm intrigued to crack open this book. The cover snagged me on the library shelf and the jacket copy guaranteed I would bring it home. Now, reading over the polar extremes of the reviews on Goodreads, I'm excited to find out how good (or bad) this book really is!
7/15/12
I have to tell you... this was a good book. A solid read (at 525 pages or so) that kept me interested and wondering throughout and provided a satisfying ending. As an author, I started turning my nose up at the author's repeated use of that time-worn cliche': "had she known what would happen next, she would never have..." He used it about 30 times throughout the first 200 pages. But you know what? It did exactly what it's intended to: it cranked up the tension and kept me turning pages. I don't know that I would have the guts to stick something so blatant and laughable into my novel, but it worked, so who am I to complain?
Beyond that little idiosyncrasy though, it was a Crichtonesque combination of theoretical physics and good old scare-your-pants-off horror. I tended to cringe at some of the (male) author's obviously shallow treatment of the female characters. Like any B movie would, he made sure they rarely wore anything that wasn't revealing, and he made sure to explain exactly what these ridiculous outfits were revealing as well. Beyond that, they seemed to have little to do or say, even though one of them was the lead.
But again, these silly little things aside, I enjoyed the book, I got through it quickly, which is tough for me, and I hope my next read is as much fun!
I'm intrigued to crack open this book. The cover snagged me on the library shelf and the jacket copy guaranteed I would bring it home. Now, reading over the polar extremes of the reviews on Goodreads, I'm excited to find out how good (or bad) this book really is!
7/15/12
I have to tell you... this was a good book. A solid read (at 525 pages or so) that kept me interested and wondering throughout and provided a satisfying ending. As an author, I started turning my nose up at the author's repeated use of that time-worn cliche': "had she known what would happen next, she would never have..." He used it about 30 times throughout the first 200 pages. But you know what? It did exactly what it's intended to: it cranked up the tension and kept me turning pages. I don't know that I would have the guts to stick something so blatant and laughable into my novel, but it worked, so who am I to complain?
Beyond that little idiosyncrasy though, it was a Crichtonesque combination of theoretical physics and good old scare-your-pants-off horror. I tended to cringe at some of the (male) author's obviously shallow treatment of the female characters. Like any B movie would, he made sure they rarely wore anything that wasn't revealing, and he made sure to explain exactly what these ridiculous outfits were revealing as well. Beyond that, they seemed to have little to do or say, even though one of them was the lead.
But again, these silly little things aside, I enjoyed the book, I got through it quickly, which is tough for me, and I hope my next read is as much fun!
Stephen King remains one of my all-time favorite story tellers, and this door-stop of a book was no exception. I have a tendency to lose patience with long-winded writers, but King is able to fill a thousand pages with enough grab-you-by-your-collar excitement and emotion, I just sit there thinking, "preach on, brother!"
Without wanting to spoil anyone's read, I'll just say the general plot revolves around an accidental time traveler working to prevent the Kennedy assassination and dealing with the problems caused by a past that doesn't want to be changed. It's a great, exciting story that manages to avoid most of the cliche' time-travel "paradox plots" that so many other similar stories get stuck on. Although changing the past looms large in the conflict, King doesn't harp on "destroying the space-time continuum" or any other trite, warmed-over problems. His hero is deeply real, and I found myself rooting for him pretty much from the start, even when he was screwing up big time.
Great read, and a great inspiration for an aspiring author like me.
Without wanting to spoil anyone's read, I'll just say the general plot revolves around an accidental time traveler working to prevent the Kennedy assassination and dealing with the problems caused by a past that doesn't want to be changed. It's a great, exciting story that manages to avoid most of the cliche' time-travel "paradox plots" that so many other similar stories get stuck on. Although changing the past looms large in the conflict, King doesn't harp on "destroying the space-time continuum" or any other trite, warmed-over problems. His hero is deeply real, and I found myself rooting for him pretty much from the start, even when he was screwing up big time.
Great read, and a great inspiration for an aspiring author like me.
Incredible book, and the beginning of an incredible series. As a reader, I can just get swept away in these books, which is awesome in itself. As an author, the scope of imagination and the sheer technical skill required to pull off such a huge, sweeping epic with so many interconnected character and plot arcs is truly amazing. I'll hold off on a full review until I finish the series, but you can probably tell it's going to be a stellar one.
Another incredible book, and so far the best installment of a fantastic series. In this book, a ton of plotlines come to a head, paths that were on a collision course intersect in exciting ways, and no one in Westeros is the same by the end. But, even more interestingly, despite all these climaxes happening all over the story, Martin manages to end the book with about fourteen different cliffhangers, making reading the next one an absolute must.
"As a reader, I can just get swept away in these books, which is awesome in itself. As an author, the scope of imagination and the sheer technical skill required to pull off such a huge, sweeping epic with so many interconnected character and plot arcs is truly amazing."
"As a reader, I can just get swept away in these books, which is awesome in itself. As an author, the scope of imagination and the sheer technical skill required to pull off such a huge, sweeping epic with so many interconnected character and plot arcs is truly amazing."
Continuing the grand tradition of A Game of Thrones, this second installment carries the 1200 storylines into new and exciting realms. By now, we know the main characters so well (at least those who survived the first book) and care so much about what happens to them, that every plot twist is like a dagger in our gut. And believe me, there are a lot of daggers. So watch out!
Well worth the read, whether you're normally a fantasy aficianado or not.
"As a reader, I can just get swept away in these books, which is awesome in itself. As an author, the scope of imagination and the sheer technical skill required to pull off such a huge, sweeping epic with so many interconnected character and plot arcs is truly amazing."
Well worth the read, whether you're normally a fantasy aficianado or not.
"As a reader, I can just get swept away in these books, which is awesome in itself. As an author, the scope of imagination and the sheer technical skill required to pull off such a huge, sweeping epic with so many interconnected character and plot arcs is truly amazing."
Once again, a fantastic addition to the Fire and Ice series. I regretfully have to drop my consistent five star reviews to four on this one for one simple reason: half the story disappeared. Now, Martin explains in an Author's Note at the end, and I kind of figured it out before I got there because of references in some of the chapters along the way, but basically he's going to cover the same time period and more in the next book [b:A Dance With Dragons|10664113|A Dance With Dragons (A Song of Ice and Fire, #5)|George R.R. Martin|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327885335s/10664113.jpg|2936175], while focusing on the characters he ignored in this one. But, it was a little disappointing to me.
Of course, it's just my opinion, and honestly I don't know how I would have handled the dilemma he was dealing with - too much story, too little reasonable printing possibilities... - but I think I would have preferred to span less time and keep all the story threads going rather than leave half the characters in limbo while running ahead with the other half.
I'm just glad I read this now, with Dance With Dragons waiting there on my Kindle, instead of back in 2005, with six years to wait for the other half of the characters to reappear!
All that aside, still one of the very best stories going, and I can't wait to continue!
Of course, it's just my opinion, and honestly I don't know how I would have handled the dilemma he was dealing with - too much story, too little reasonable printing possibilities... - but I think I would have preferred to span less time and keep all the story threads going rather than leave half the characters in limbo while running ahead with the other half.
I'm just glad I read this now, with Dance With Dragons waiting there on my Kindle, instead of back in 2005, with six years to wait for the other half of the characters to reappear!
All that aside, still one of the very best stories going, and I can't wait to continue!
