Book Review - Notorious Nineteen, by Janet Evanovich

Stephanie Plum Novels, by Janet Evanovich
1. One for the Money    10/18/2007
2. Two for the Dough    11/19/2007
3. Three to get Ready    11/24/2007
4. Four to Score           11/25/2007
5. High Five                 11/26/2007
6. Hot Six                    12/6/2007
7. Seven Up                3/10/2008
8. Hard Eight                3/11/2008
9. To the Nines            3/16/2008
10. Visions of Sugar Plums    3/14/2008
11. Ten Big Ones          3/17/2008
12. Eleven on Top         5/2/2008
13. Twelve Sharp          5/12/2008
14. Lean Mean Thirteen        5/13/2008
15. Plum Lovin’                5/14/2008
16. Plum Lucky                5/15/2008
17. Fearles Fourteen        8/18/2008
18. Plum Spooky                TBR
19. Finger Lickin’ Fifteen    9/25/2009
20. Sizzling Sixteen             11/4/2011                   (My Review)
21. Smokin' Seventeen        11/11/2011  * * *      (My Review) 
22. Explosive Eighteen         2/1/2012     * * * *   (My Review)
23. Notorious Nineteen        4/5/2013    * * * *

From Goodreads:
"#1 bestselling author Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum novels are: “irresistible” (Houston Chronicle), “stunning” (Booklist), “outrageous” (Publishers Weekly), “brilliantly evocative” (The Denver Post), and “making trouble and winning hearts” (USA Today).

New Jersey bounty hunter Stephanie Plum is certain of three truths: People don’t just vanish into thin air. Never anger old people. And don’t do what Tiki tells you to do.

After a slow summer of chasing low-level skips for her cousin Vinnie’s bail bonds agency, Stephanie Plum finally lands an assignment that could put her checkbook back in the black. Geoffrey Cubbin, facing trial for embezzling millions from Trenton’s premier assisted-living facility, has mysteriously vanished from the hospital after an emergency appendectomy. Now it’s on Stephanie to track down the con man. Unfortunately, Cubbin has disappeared without a trace, a witness, or his money-hungry wife. Rumors are stirring that he must have had help with the daring escape . . . or that maybe he never made it out of his room alive. Since the hospital staff’s lips seem to be tighter than the security, and it’s hard for Stephanie to blend in to assisted living, Stephanie’s Grandma Mazur goes in undercover. But when a second felon goes missing from the same hospital, Stephanie is forced into working side by side with Trenton’s hottest cop, Joe Morelli, in order to crack the case.

The real problem is, no Cubbin also means no way to pay the rent. Desperate for money—or maybe just desperate—Stephanie accepts a secondary job guarding her secretive and mouthwatering mentor Ranger from a deadly Special Forces adversary. While Stephanie is notorious for finding trouble, she may have found a little more than she bargained for this time around. Then again—a little food poisoning, some threatening notes, and a bridesmaid’s dress with an excess of taffeta never killed anyone . . . or did they? If Stephanie Plum wants to bring in a paycheck, she’ll have to remember: No guts, no glory. . . ."


My Thoughts:
Wow - Number Nineteen!  Who would have thought that this series could go on for so long?

No really, who thought that?  Well, while certain things about the series may be getting a bit long in the tooth, I have to admit that Notorious Nineteen was quite a bit better and definitely more enjoyable than the last two books in the series.  All the expected elements are there where they should be, like comfortable slippers beside the bed - Grandma Mazur is crazy yet oddly helpful, chicken gets eaten, Joe is hot, Ranger is hotter, etc.

But somehow - and I totally can't put my finger on why, exactly - Notorious Nineteen ends up being funnier and much more entertaining than the previous few novels.  Evanovich may have found a new enjoyment and life in her characters, perhaps, but whatever it is, I liked it. 

Overall I continue to enjoy this series, and recommend it to anyone who enjoys light-hearted mystery romps with a touch of romantic comedy.  I still hope the series tops out at 20, but if not, I at least hope that Evanovich continues having a little more fun with the series.

Book Review - The Kingdom of Gods, by N. K. Jemisin

The Inheritance Trilogy, by N. K. Jemisin
1. The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms (My Review)    12/13/2012    * * * *
2. The Broken Kingdoms                  (My Review)     12/31/2012    * * * *
3. The Kingdom of Gods                                            01/26/2013    * * * *

From Goodreads:

The incredible conclusion to the Inheritance Trilogy, from one of fantasy's most acclaimed stars.

For two thousand years the Arameri family has ruled the world by enslaving the very gods that created mortalkind. Now the gods are free, and the Arameri's ruthless grip is slipping. Yet they are all that stands between peace and world-spanning, unending war.

Shahar, last scion of the family, must choose her loyalties. She yearns to trust Sieh, the godling she loves. Yet her duty as Arameri heir is to uphold the family's interests, even if that means using and destroying everyone she cares for.

As long-suppressed rage and terrible new magics consume the world, the Maelstrom -- which even gods fear -- is summoned forth. Shahar and Sieh: mortal and god, lovers and enemies. Can they stand together against the chaos that threatens?

My Thoughts:
The Kingdom of Gods is the third (and final?) novel in the Inheritance Trilogy, and Jemisin definitely ramps up the action for the conclusion.  While the first two novels were more tightly focused on a specific event and time, The Kingdom of Gods is a bit more sprawling, spanning multiple years and story lines, some of the going back to the beginning of time.  We learn much more about the history of the world first introduced in The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, and even some additional information about the gods themselves.  But the main focus of the story does revolve around one of the godlings who the reader of the first two novels in the series is already familiar with - Sieh.

Sieh becomes interested in the two current heirs of the Arameri family, Shahar and Dekarta, and forms a bond with them that sets off an unexpected chain of events.  The three of them struggle with their various issues, as their world seems to crumble around them, and before long they realize that not only is their world and way of life at risk, but that an unknown entity may be trying to destroy the entire universe by wiping it out of existence.

As I mentioned above, the first two novels were fairly tightly focused, which worked well in terms of plot and pacing.  Unfortunately, The Kingdom of Gods, being much more widely focused, tends to sprawl a bit and feels messy and disorganized.  The narrative is more difficult to follow at times, and some of the characters behave in ways that don't quite feel true, or realistic, and to me this made the pacing feel off at several key points in the story.  Some of the plot points felt weak as well, with events happening off the page and characters behaving oddly.

However, none of this deterred me from reading the story, or from thoroughly enjoying it.  It's probably not the best book in the series - I personally think that honor belongs to The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms - but it finishes the over-all story of the world in a mostly satisfying way, and neatly completes the grand story arc begun with the first book in the series. 

In spite of these few missteps, there is much to love about The Kingdom of Gods, including Sieh's personally journey and revelations, and his relationships with Shahar and her brother.  This is where Jemisin really excels anyway, with the chemistry between her various characters and how they relate to each other.

I gave The Kingdom of Gods four stars, the same as The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms and The Broken Kingdoms, I thoroughly enjoyed it, and highly recommend it, with the caveat that if you try to read them out of order, you do so at your own risk.

Have you read The Kingdom of Gods, or either of the first two novels in the Inheritance Trilogy?  What did you think?  Leave me a comment and let me know - I'd love to hear your thoughts!!

Book Review - The Broken Kingdoms, by N. K. Jemisin

The Inheritance Trilogy, by N. K. Jemisin
1. The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms (My Review)    12/13/2012    * * * *
2. The Broken Kingdoms                                           12/31/2012    * * * *
3. The Kingdom of Gods                                            01/26/2013    * * * *

From Goodreads:

In the city of Shadow, beneath the World Tree, alleyways shimmer with magic and godlings live hidden among mortalkind. Oree Shoth, a blind artist, takes in a homeless man who glows like a living sun to her strange sight. This act of kindness engulfs Oree in a nightmarish conspiracy. Someone, somehow, is murdering godlings, leaving their desecrated bodies all over the city.

Oree's peculiar guest is at the heart of it, his presence putting her in mortal danger -- but is it him the killers want, or Oree? And is the earthly power of the Arameri king their ultimate goal, or have they set their sights on the Lord of Night himself?
 
My Thoughts:

*** Possible Spoilers for Book 1 in the series, The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms.  You've been warned! ***


The Broken Kingdoms continues the saga begun in The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms - sort of.

Ten years have passed, and the world of the Kingdoms has changed in many ways.  The palace of Sky now sits high amid the branches of the World Tree, and the city below has been shattered and divided by the Tree's roots and renamed Shadow.  The gods have been freed from their slavery, and many of the godlings who had previously avoided the Kingdoms have come to live among the humans in the city of Shadow.  The world is a vastly different place for the ruling Arameri family.

But for the common folk, things aren't just different, they're also more difficult.  Surviving from day to day is still a struggle, but the multitudes of godlings inhabiting the city, and the various religious factions warring in the streets, make survival much more complicated.

Oree finds out just how complicated it can become when she accidentally becomes involved in a murder mystery - who is killing the immortal godlings, and how?  Oree tries to survive the power struggle that results from the void left by the missing and dead godlings, while also attempting to survive the riddle of who can kill someone who cannot be killed.  And the truth is beyond anything she could have imagined.

N. K. Jemisin masterfully weaves a delicious story that keeps you at the edge of your seat, with never a dull moment.  The shift of focus from the ruling class to the common citizen allows the reader to view a completely new aspect of the Kingdoms, and nicely fills out the overall story and mythology of the world.  The Broken Kingdoms is a much more tightly focused story, dealing more with the problems of individual people rather than the issues of the gods.

I highly recommend The Broken Kingdoms - it's a great novel and a great story.  I think that it could probably be read alone, but to fully enjoy the story I would recommend starting with The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms before reading The Broken Kingdoms.

Have you read either The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms or The Broken Kingdoms?  What did YOU  think?  Leave a comment below!

Book Review - The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, by N. K. Jemisin

The Inheritance Trilogy, by N. K. Jemisin
1. The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms    12/13/2012    * * * *
2. The Broken Kingdoms                      12/31/2012    * * * *
3. The Kingdom of Gods                       01/26/2013    * * * *

From Goodreads:

"Yeine Darr is an outcast from the barbarian north. But when her mother dies under mysterious circumstances, she is summoned to the majestic city of Sky. There, to her shock, Yeine is named an heiress to the king. But the throne of the Hundred Thousand Kingdoms is not easily won, and Yeine is thrust into a vicious power struggle with cousins she never knew she had. As she fights for her life, she draws ever closer to the secrets of her mother's death and her family's bloody history.

With the fate of the world hanging in the balance, Yeine will learn how perilous it can be when love and hate - and gods and mortals - are bound inseparably together."

My Thoughts:
The Arameri family rule the world with an iron fist.  Any dissent or heresy is quickly and brutally stamped out of existence.  For you see, the ruling family has an advantage - they control the gods, who must bow to the whim of anyone in the family.

When Yeine arrives at the elevated city of Sky, she is somewhat naive about what awaits her, even though she is used to ruling a country herself.  But the political intrigue, the silent battles fought between her various relatives, and the casual cruelness that she encounters all combine to throw her off balance as she tries to learn how to survive in what seems to be a mad house.

Luckily she has some help.  One of the captive gods has taken an interest in her, and seems to have plans that involve her participation - whether she wants to or not.  And the world will pay for her choice, no matter what decision she makes.

N. K. Jemisin has created an amazingly beautiful and unique world filled with interesting and colorful characters.  The prose is dreamy, and often surreal.  The story moves quickly and there is never a dull moment as Yeine is thrust from one impossible situation to another, until she at last begins to understand her situation and takes control of her own life and future.  Yet the story never feels rushed.  Fantasy, action, politics, family, and a small amount of romance all collide and create a whole that is greater than the sum of its' parts.

I truly enjoyed reading The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, and highly recommend it to anyone.  I gave it four stars.  This is the first books in a trilogy, but at the same time is a complete story in itself, making it easy to try out.  But I'm willing to bet that if you try The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, you'll be instantly hooked, as I was.

If you've read The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, leave a comment below and let me know what you thought!  If you haven't read it yet - well, what are you waiting for?

Book Review - The Casual Vacancy, by J.K. Rowling

The Casual Vacancy   J.K. Rowling     11/25/2012   * * * *

From Goodreads:
"A BIG NOVEL ABOUT A SMALL TOWN ...

When Barry Fairbrother dies in his early forties, the town of Pagford is left in shock.

Pagford is, seemingly, an English idyll, with a cobbled market square and an ancient abbey, but what lies behind the pretty façade is a town at war.

Rich at war with poor, teenagers at war with their parents, wives at war with their husbands, teachers at war with their pupils ... Pagford is not what it first seems.

And the empty seat left by Barry on the parish council soon becomes the catalyst for the biggest war the town has yet seen. Who will triumph in an election fraught with passion, duplicity and unexpected revelations?

My Thoughts:
I want to start right away by saying that I quite enjoyed The Casual Vacancy, even though it's been months since I read it and I've been so very slow in writing a review.  The delay is not because the novel was bad.  But it has been difficult for me to sort out my thoughts about this novel.  And sometimes it was a difficult novel to read.

The story revolves around a group of residents of the small town of Pagford, some adults, some teenagers.  On the surface, the town seems idyllic and perfect, simple and peaceful.  But simmering just below the surface are tensions and hatreds and hurts and loves and desires and secrets; all things that people try to hide from their friends, neighbors, and acquaintances.  Barry Fairbrother's death in a parking lot acts as a catalyst, bringing all the hidden emotions and feelings to the surface, and leads to a devastating turn of events that no one could have foreseen.

While that description is correct, and sounds exciting, The Casual Vacancy is not a past-paced exciting novel.  It is, instead, a very quiet, character driven story of regular, ordinary, everyday people living their lives and dealing with the regular, ordinary, everyday things that happen in life.  Adults worry about their jobs, and what their neighbors might be saying about them, and what their kids are getting up to in school, and wonder how to make their lives better, happier, and more tolerable.  The teenagers go to school and worry about whether they will survive the day, or what form of bullying will affect them today, or how to continue without their favorite teacher.  They steal smokes, have sex in in the cemetery, try to keep their mother from overdosing, and cut themselves in the middle of the night because that's the only thing they have control over.

This is where J.K. Rowling really shines - her teenagers are brilliant, and were easily my favorite characters in the story.  A great deal of the drama in the novel revolves around the younger characters, and they are affected by it more strongly, partly, in my opinion, because they have less control of their own lives, and are left at the mercy of the adults around them.

The Casual Vacancy deals, or touches on, quite a few very serious subjects.  Drug use, rape, child neglect, teen sex, cutting, bullying, and domestic violence are all among the things that various characters deal with in their daily lives, and J.K. Rowing handles these very serious subjects with a grace and delicacy that is astonishing, while at the same time forcing the reader to look head-on at the horror of these situations and truly feel the pain and anguish the characters feel.

All of this is described with the authors very familiar style of prose, or at least, familiar to those of us who have spent years reading the Harry Potter series.  When I first began the novel, that sense of familiarity, the sing-song style of her writing lulled me into such a feeling of comfort and security that the first time a character swore or lit a cigarette it was as if a glass of cold water had been tossed in my face.  Shocking!  But I personally became used to this new adult J.K Rowling.  Used to, perhaps, but never quite comfortable with.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed The Casual Vacancy.  I don't know if I would ever choose to re-read it, but it's a good solid novel that I would recommend to any adult or older teenager.  I gave it four stars, and feel that it is a solid Adult Fiction debut for J.K. Rowling.  I can't wait to see what she comes up with next.

Have you read The Casual Vacancy? What are your thoughts?

Book Review - Shadow of Night, by Deborah Harkness

All Soul's Trilogy, by Deborah Harkness
1. A Discovery of Witches    12/01/2011  * * * * * (My Review)
2. Shadow of Night              10/21/2012  * * * *

From Goodreads:

"Together we lifted our feet and stepped into the unknown"—the thrilling sequel to the New York Times bestseller A Discovery of Witches

Deborah Harkness exploded onto the literary scene with her debut novel, A Discovery of Witches, Book One of the magical All Souls Trilogy and an international publishing phenomenon. The novel introduced Diana Bishop, Oxford scholar and reluctant witch, and the handsome geneticist and vampire Matthew Clairmont; together they found themselves at the center of a supernatural battle over an enchanted manuscript known as Ashmole 782.

Now, picking up from A Discovery of Witches’ cliffhanger ending, Shadow of Night plunges Diana and Matthew into Elizabethan London, a world of spies, subterfuge, and a coterie of Matthew’s old friends, the mysterious School of Night that includes Christopher Marlowe and Walter Raleigh. Here, Diana must locate a witch to tutor her in magic, Matthew is forced to confront a past he thought he had put to rest, and the mystery of Ashmole 782 deepens.

Deborah Harkness has crafted a gripping journey through a world of alchemy, time travel, and magical discoveries, delivering one of the most hotly anticipated novels of the season.

My Thoughts:
Shadow of Night is indeed a gripping novel in many ways.  The author, Deborah Harkness, has definitely done the required research of the historical period and characters involved in this portion of the story, and manages to make England and Western Europe come alive.  From the moment Diana and Matthew arrive in England, and as they travel to London, France, and beyond, the reader is steeped in fascinating and colorful historical detail.

Unfortunately, as wonderful as the setting is, the story itself suffers from middle book syndrome.  The couple join up with Matthew's  friends - the School of Night - and seem to just wander aimlessly from place to place, reliving events that Matthew has already experienced, and is unable to change the outcome of those events.

Additionally, occasional forward-flashes to the current time are interspersed throughout the story, many of which don't seem to connect to anything that it happening in the story, and these tend to be a little confusing.

Overall though, it's a good story, if a bit slow, and sets the characters up for the events to come in the third novel, which I am anticipating reading.  I give Shadow of Night four stars, one less than A Discovery of Witches, due to the dragging plot lines and confusing flash-forwards.

Have you read Shadow of Night?  What did you think??

Book Review - The Templar Legacy by Steve Berry

Cotton Malone Series, by Steve Berry
1. The Templar Legacy     06/09/2009     * * * *

From Goodreads:
"The ancient order of the Knights Templar possessed untold wealth and absolute power over kings and popes . . . until the Inquisition, when they were wiped from the face of the earth, their hidden riches lost. But now two forces vying for the treasure have learned that it is not at all what they thought it was-and its true nature could change the modern world.
Cotton Malone, one-time top operative for the U.S. Justice Department, is enjoying his quiet new life as an antiquarian book dealer in Copenhagen when an unexpected call to action reawakens his hair-trigger instincts-and plunges him back into the cloak-and-dagger world he thought he'd left behind.
It begins with a violent robbery attempt on Cotton's former supervisor, Stephanie Nelle, who's far from home on a mission that has nothing to do with national security. Armed with vital clues to a series of centuries-old puzzles scattered across Europe, she means to crack a mystery that has tantalized scholars and fortune-hunters through the ages by finding the legendary cache of wealth and forbidden knowledge thought to have been lost forever when the order of the Knights Templar was exterminated in the fourteenth century. But she's not alone. Competing for the historic prize-and desperate for the crucial information Stephanie possesses-is Raymond de Roquefort, a shadowy zealot with an army of assassins at his command.
Welcome or not, Cotton seeks to even the odds in the perilous race. But the more he learns about the ancient conspiracy surrounding the Knights Templar, the more he realizes that even more than lives are at stake. At the end of a lethal game of conquest, rife with intrigue, treachery, and craven lust for power, lies a shattering discovery that could rock the civilized world-and, in the wrong hands, bring it to its knees."

My Thoughts:
Cotton Malone is a retired CIA agent who has retired to Copenhagen to open a bookstore, and is, for the most part, living quite happily in his new home.  But that all changes when his old boss blows into town for a visit, and suddenly Malone finds himself swept up in a desperate chase across the city and eventually across Europe, as he deciphers secret clues to try to stop the plans of a crazy man who also happens to be the Grand Master of a new secret Templar cult. 

The pace moves at breakneck speed, for the most part, although as so often happens, there is a section in the middle that I felt got a little bogged down.  Full of murder and mayhem, blackmail, kidnapping, betrayal and seemingly impossible escapes, The Templar Legacy is quite good, considering that the first novel in a series usually leaves a bit to be desired.  Characterization is a bit weak, I suppose, as it's a little difficult to get to know a character while he's running for his life, but that's a small quibble and something that does get better as the series continues.  The subject matter feels impeccably researched, and the reader may accidentally find themselves learning quite a bit of early Christian and European history without even noticing.

Similar in tone to Dan Brown's Angels & Demons and The Da Vinci Code, but smarter, with a heavy dose of James Bond thrown into the mix, many will find this novel to be controversial in scope and subject matter in terms of religion and Christianity.  Nonetheless, I highly recommend The Templar Legacy.  It's a fast, fun, fact-filled, fascinating, and fulfilling novel.  If you like Dan Brown's novels, and aren't afraid of controversial ideas in your fiction novels, then I think you'll enjoy The Templar Legacy.

Have you read The Templar Legacy?  What did you think?  Did you find the ideas regarding Christianity too controversial?

Book Review - The Third Secret, by Steve Berry

The Third Secret, Steve Berry  10/18/2005  * * * *

From Goodreads:
"Explosive in both its pace and its revelations, The Third Secret is a remarkable international thriller. Bestselling author Steve Berry tackles some of the most controversial ideas of our time in a breakneck journey through the history of the Church and the future of religion.

Fatima, Portugal, 1917: The Virgin Mary appears to three peasant children, sharing with them three secrets, two of which are soon revealed to the world. The third secret is sealed away in the Vatican, read only by popes, and not disclosed until the year 2000. When revealed, its quizzical tone and anticlimactic nature leave many faithful wondering if the Church has truly unveiled all of the Virgin Mary’s words–or if a message far more important has been left in the shadows.

Vatican City, present day: Papal secretary Father Colin Michener is concerned for the Pope. Night after restless night, Pope Clement XV enters the Vatican’s Riserva, the special archive open only to popes, where the Church’s most clandestine and controversial documents are stored. Though unsure of the details, Michener knows that the Pope’s distress stems from the revelations of Fatima.

Equally concerned, but not out of any sense of compassion, is Alberto Cardinal Valendrea, the Vatican’s Secretary of State. Valendrea desperately covets the papacy, having narrowly lost out to Clement at the last conclave. Now the Pope’s interest in Fatima threatens to uncover a shocking ancient truth that Valendrea has kept to himself for many years.

When Pope Clement sends Michener to the Romanian highlands, then to a Bosnian holy site, in search of a priest–possibly one of the last people on Earth who knows Mary’s true message–a perilous set of events unfolds. Michener finds himself embroiled in murder, suspicion, suicide, deceit, and his forbidden passion for a beloved woman. In a desperate search for answers, he travels to Pope Clement’s birthplace in Germany, where he learns that the third secret of Fatima may dictate the very fate of the Church–a fate now lying in Michener’s own hands."

My Thoughts:
So, it's been awhile since I read this novel, but I still remember how much I liked reading it.  It isn't my favorite of Steve Berry's novels - I much prefer his Cotton Malone series - but reading The Third Secret was fascinating and enjoyable.  As usual Mr. Berry has done what I can only imagine was a massive amount of research, which makes the story feel complete and authentic, and also manages to be informative about the history and workings of the Vatican without ever feeling boring or educational.

Suspenseful and exciting, the story is full of political intrigue, action, murder, with a little of the supernatural thrown in for good measure.  The writing is solid and the pacing is good, though there is a bit in the middle where it bogged down a bit, for me at least.  But overall, even though this isn't my favorite of his novels, I do strongly recommend it as an enjoyable read.

Have you read The Third Secret by Steve Berry?  What did you think?

Movie Review - Resident Evil 5: Retribution

Resident Evil: Retribution (2012) * * * *
Director: Paul W.S. Anderson
Stars: Milla Jovovich, Sienna Guillory, Oded Fehr, Michelle Rodriguez

From IMDB:
"The Umbrella Corporation's deadly T-virus continues to ravage the Earth, transforming the global population into legions of the flesh eating Undead. The human race's last and only hope, Alice, awakens in the heart of Umbrella's most clandestine operations facility and unveils more of her mysterious past as she delves further into the complex."

My Thoughts:
Many people feel that by now, the Resident Evil franchise has run its' course and should be allowed to die a gruesome, bloody death, followed by a quick shot to the head to keep it from coming back to life as an undead reanimated mutant.

I am not one of those people.

I do not know why I like this series of movies so much, as I usually dislike horror films in general and blood and gore in specific.  But I love these movies, and I suppose most of the blame belongs to Milla Jovovich, who I adore.

However much I may have loved the first few films in the series, I have to honestly admit that RE5, while not bad, was not all that it could have been.  The beginning of the film recaps the story up to now quite nicely, beginning immediately where the previous film ended, and then, as so often happens, Alice wakes up in an Umbrella Corp cell, unsure of where she is or how much time has passed.  She soon learns that she is deep below the surface of the ocean in a secret testing facility where the Umbrella Corporation is continuing their testing of the T-virus.  A rescue team is on the way to extract her, but she must travel through the testing facility to meet them so they can escape to the surface.  Umbrella Corp has perfected the cloning technology that began with Alice, and have created clones of many of the people from Alice's past, who she encounters throughout her escape, and depending on the clone's programming/brainwashing, may be helpful or trying to kill her.  Add in the hundreds of infected mobs roaming the facility, and Alice has her work cut out for her.

Unfortunately, the plot is nearly non-existent.  Alice has to meet the extraction team and escape - that's it.  Along the way she fights mutants and infected that she's defeated before, in a variety of situations, and there is very little of anything that is new or fresh.  Basically this movie is all about getting Alice out of the impossible situation that she found herself in at the end of RE4, and moving her into position for the real story and action that is to come next.  The ending scenes of RE5 are truly amazing and horrifying as she learns just how close to extinction the human race has come, and I wish that most of RE5 had been cut and we had just been brought straight to the exciting part.  I hope they do end up making RE6, because THAT is where the story will get good again, but with so much wasted time and space in RE5, I don't know if that will ever happen.

Most of that probably didn't make much sense unless you've already seen the movie - Sorry for that.  I guess my point is that they wasted a lot of time getting her to where she needs to be next.  I just hope we get to someday see what happens after she got there, as the ending of the film is a giant cliff-hanger.

As usual, the film is visually compelling and stunning for the most part, although sometimes more gory than it really needs to be.  The fight scenes are pretty awesome, as is to be expected, and there are major scares around almost every corner.  I really wanted to be able to give Resident Evil: Retribution five stars, but it probably deserves less than three.  I'm splitting the difference at four stars due to some of the amazing visual moments in the film (watch for the underwater pyramid of undead, and the final shot in the film - both are stunning!).  Basically if you are a fan of the franchise you'll probably love the movie.  If you aren't already a fan you probably won't, and if you haven't seen any of the previous films then this may not be the best place to jump in for the first time.

So there's my opinion - What's yours?  Leave a comment and let me know what you thought of Resident Evil: Retribution, or if you are planning on seeing it.

Movie Review - The Odd Life of Timothy Green

The Odd Life of Timothy Green (2012) * * * *
Director: Peter Hedges
Starring: Jennifer Garner, Joel Edgerton and CJ Adams

From IMDB:
"After receiving bad news from a fertility doctor, Cindy and Jim Green try to bury their dreams of having a child by writing out all the great traits their child would have and putting them in a box in the garden. During a freak storm in the middle of the night, they awake to find a boy named Timothy, with leaves growing from his ankles, standing in their kitchen calling them mom and dad. Cindy and Jim are thrown into the midst of parenthood and over the coming months, Timothy will teach them more than they could have imagined about being parents and raising a child, no matter how he comes into their lives."

My Thoughts:
I've adored Jennifer Garner for years and years, and so even though I didn't think I was particularly interested in what seems at first glance to be a kid's movie, when Bob said he wanted to see it I was more than willing.  But it turns out that The Odd Life of Timothy Green is a thoroughly adorable movie suitable for both children and adults.

The story starts off a little sad as the couple find out they can never have children of their own, and they return home to their mid-western small town home and begin to deal with their grief by making a list of every great and awesome quality that they would want their child to posses, and burying the list in a box in their vegetable garden.

When Timothy first arrives they aren't quite sure what to think, or what to do, and as they try to introduce Timothy to their friends and family while making everything seems totally normal are hysterically funny.  Before long they realize that Timothy is, one by one, fulfilling all of the items on their original list.  Meanwhile, Timothy begins to lose the strange leaves attached to his legs, a fact which he carefully hides from his new parents, who try so hard to protect Timothy and make his life awesome while struggling to not make the mistakes of their own parents..

I won't spoil the ending even though it was predictable from the very beginning of the film, but in spite of the film's predictability it was satisfying, fun, cute, adorable, and nearly perfect in all of its' sugary sweetness.  Great writing and good pacing make this a fun movie, suitable for all ages.  I give it 4 stars, and Bob loved it.

Have you seen The Odd Life of Timothy Green yet?  What did you think?

Book Review - Blue Remembered Earth by Alastair Reynolds

Poseidon's Children:
1. Blue Remembered Earth, 09/11/2012 * * * * *

From Goodreads:
"With his critically acclaimed Revelation Space novels, Alastair Reynolds confirmed “his place among the leaders of the hard-science space opera renaissance.” (Publishers Weekly) With Blue Remembered Earth, the award-winning author begins a new epic, tracing generations of one family across more than ten thousand years of future history—into interstellar space and the dawn of galactic society…

One hundred and fifty years from now, Africa has become the world’s dominant technological and economic power. Crime, war, disease and poverty have been eliminated. The Moon and Mars are settled, and colonies stretch all the way out to the edge of the solar system. And Ocular, the largest scientific instrument in history, is about to make an epochal discovery…

Geoffrey Akinya wants only one thing: to be left in peace, so that he can continue his long-running studies into the elephants of the Amboseli basin. But Geoffrey’s family, who control the vast Akinya business empire, has other plans for him. After the death of his grandmother Eunice—the erstwhile space explorer and entrepreneur—something awkward has come to light on the Moon, so Geoffrey is dispatched there to ensure the family name remains untarnished. But the secrets Eunice died with are about to be revealed—secrets that could change everything...or tear this near utopia apart."

My Thoughts:
Blue Remembered Earth opens a window into a future history that feels very believable.  The story traces the events in the lives of two siblings who are part of a vastly wealthy family with business ventures spanning the solar system.  Though both Sunday and Geoffrey have each turned their backs on the family business in their own ways, they remain close to each other, and when their grandmother Eunice dies, they are each drawn into the mystery of her life and death, and the clues she left behind to carefully guide her descendants to a nearly unimaginable discovery.

I haven't read much by Alastair Reynolds, but after finishing Blue Remembered Earth, I think that is something that I need to change.  Reynolds seems to have a limitless imagination and his vision of the future of humanity and its' passage into space is intriguing, fascinating, and above all, positive.

I began reading Blue Remembered Earth immediately after finishing 2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson (my review here), and it was impossible not to compare the two novels in my mind as I read.  Both novels have a similar scale of where the story takes place (all across the solar system), both take place in the not-too-distant future, and both authors make use of interesting, fantastic, and yet believable technology.  I gave 2312 only three stars, which was a little disappointing to me, as I had expected so much more from it.  So if the two novels seem so similar on the surface, why am I giving Blue Remembered Earth five stars?

Blue Remembered Earth feels like a very intimate story, for one thing.  The characters feel real, and have understandable reactions and feelings that I as the reader can identify with, and I felt that I was living the story with them, rather than having their stories relayed to me by a third party.  And this is something that Reynolds seem to excel at - showing and making the read feel what is happening.

You hear it all the time, if you read anything about writing, or have taken classes or workshops.  One of the cardinal rules of writing is "Show, don't Tell."  Reynolds seems to be a master at this, showing us his version of this future Earth through the eyes of his characters, rather than telling or instructing the reader.  This doesn't always work perfectly of course - characters in the story "voked an aug" several times before I finally realized what this meant, but really this just made me more curious about his world and this future, and the realization of the possibilities of these different types of neural "augmentations" was fascinating in and of itself.

Another major difference between Blue Remembered Earth and 2312 was the subtle yet powerful way that Reynolds made me care about and identify with the main characters, Geoffrey and Sunday, and even several of the lesser characters, to the extent that I found myself quite upset when Memphis---Ah! But that would be a spoiler!  Suffice it to say that the characters are real and likable, and even the unlikeable characters are still engaging.

Again, Reynolds' talent of showing the reader not only what is happening to or around his characters, but also how they feel and think is masterful to the point that I believed I could see the landscape of Mars with Sunday, or feel the loneliness that Geoffrey imagined when looking back at the tiny blue marble of Earth.

Overall, Blue Remembered Earth is well paced story of a plausible future, and a family's search for the truth.  Told with a sense of awe and wonder, and set in a series of fantastic locales, it is never preachy, and always intriguing.  As I stated above, I believe this novel deserves 5 stars, and I cannot wait to read book two!

Have you read Blue Remembered Earth by Alastair Reynolds yet?  Do you plan to?  What are your thoughts?  As always, feel free to leave a comment below and let me know what you think!

Movie Review - The Bourne Legacy

The Bourne Legacy (2012) * * * *
Director: Tony Gilroy
Starring: Jeremy Renner, Rachel Weisz and Edward Norton

From IMDB:
"An expansion of the universe from Robert Ludlum's novels, centered on Aaron Cross, a new hero, who experiences life-or-death stakes which have been triggered by the events of the previous three films."

My Thoughts:
Over the last few years I have quite enjoyed the first three movies in the Bourne saga, partly because they are great action films, partly because of the "mystery/spy" elements, and partly because I'm one of those people who just really likes Matt Damon.

I do!

Stop laughing.

So when I began to hear rumors that a fourth Bourne film was in the works, and that it would NOT have Matt Damon in it, I was very disappointed and skeptical, and was literally mere seconds away from swearing a solemn vow to refuse to see The Bourne Legacy when I realized it was starring Jeremy Renner - who, as it happens, I like even more than Matt Damon.

Still I wasn't sure it would work.  It's a new agent, ok, I can handle that. It's good to mix things up a little, freshen up the story.   Then things started sound confusing - simultaneous timelines, different black ops agencies, and super-powers?  Say, whaaaaaat??

So, yeah. But it turns out that The Bourne Legacy is a REALLY good film.  Aaron Cross is an agent in a different program - the agents are treated with various drugs to increase their physical and mental abilities, and closely monitored and studied.  But when Jason Bourne and Pamela Landy blow the lid on Treadstone, the resulting investigations threaten other secret programs, and the head honchos begin cleaning house to cover their own asses - eliminating all their agents and researchers.  Cross manages to evade his own assassination attempt, and goes looking for the doctor who can get him more of the drugs that will help him maintain his mental acuity.  Unfortunately, she's also being targeted by the agency for knowing too much, so of course, they both go on the run to try to save their own lives.

Shakespeare it isn't - but what it is, is loads of fun.  Renner does a great job as Agent Cross, effectively portraying both the hardened agent and also the vulnerable not-so-bright soldier he used to be before the drugs opened his eyes to a whole new world that he is now terrified of losing.  I've always loved Rachel Weisz, and she's amazing in this role - brainy, frightened, hysterical at times, yet pulling it together to get the job done when it counts.

Of course in a movie like this there's lots of explosions and chase scene, and while some have complained that there were too many chase scenes or that some of them lasted too long.  I heartily disagree, but I will admit there was a brief moment where I thought, "Just escape already!" but then something awesome happened so it was all ok!

I think The Bourne Legacy lives up to it's predecessors and deserves 4 stars.  A little more character development might have bumped it up to five stars, but overall it's a great action film, and if you like the previous Bourne movies I believe you'll like this one as well.

I'm way late on this review, so most of you have probably seen it already - What did you think of The Bourne Legacy?  Leave me a comment and let me know if you agree with me, or if you think I'm all sorts of wrong about the film!

Book Review - Elantris, by Brandon Sanderson

Elantris, Brandon Sanderson  09/16/2005  * * * * *

From Goodreads:
"Elantris was the capital of Arelon: gigantic, beautiful, literally radiant, filled with benevolent beings who used their powerful magical abilities for the benefit of all. Yet each of these demigods was once an ordinary person until touched by the mysterious transforming power of the Shaod.

Ten years ago, without warning, the magic failed. Elantrians became wizened, leper-like, powerless creatures, and Elantris itself dark, filthy, and crumbling. Arelon's new capital, Kae, crouches in the shadow of Elantris.

Princess Sarene of Teod arrives for a marriage of state with Crown Prince Raoden, hoping -- based on their correspondence -- to also find love. She finds instead that Raoden has died and she is considered his widow. Both Teod and Arelon are under threat as the last remaining holdouts against the imperial ambitions of the ruthless religious fanatics of Fjordell. So Sarene decides to use her new status to counter the machinations of Hrathen, a Fjordell high priest who has come to Kae to convert Arelon and claim it for his emperor and his god.

But neither Sarene nor Hrathen suspect the truth about Prince Raoden. Stricken by the same curse that ruined Elantris, Raoden was secretly exiled by his father to the dark city. His struggle to help the wretches trapped there begins a series of events that will bring hope to Arelon, and perhaps reveal the secret of Elantris itself.

A rare epic fantasy that doesn't recycle the classics and that is a complete and satisfying story in one volume, Elantris is fleet and fun, full of surprises and characters to care about. It's also the wonderful debut of a welcome new star in the constellation of fantasy."

My Thoughts:
Wow - it has been almost seven years since I first read Elantris, the debut fantasy novel written by Brandon Sanderson, and I still count it as one of the best Fantasy novels I've ever read.  This is where Sanderson showed the world for the first time his amazing ability to create new and exciting worlds and characters, an ability that has only gotten better with time.  The magic system in this novel is unique and creative, and the story balances nicely between action and political intrigue.

Princess Sarene herself is a fascinating character.  Sanderson writes strong female leads quite well; Sarene is sharp, quick-witted, and not afraid to get her hands dirty when the need arises.  I thoroughly enjoyed discovering Elantris through her eyes as she and Prince Raoden search for the truth and try to save their kingdoms.

Overall I've given Elantris five stars, which might seem like a lot for a debut novel, but it's just that good.  If you haven't read anything by Brandon Sanderson, there's no better place to start than with Elantris.

If you have read Elantris, or plan to, leave a comment below and let me know what you think!

Movie Review - Total Recall

Total Recall (2012) * * * *
Director: Len Wiseman
Starring: Colin Farrell, Kate Beckinsale, Jessica Biel, Bryan Cranston

From IMDB:
"A factory worker, Douglas Quaid, begins to suspect that he is a spy after visiting Rekall - a company that provides its clients with implanted fake memories of a life they would like to have led - goes wrong and he finds himself on the run."

My Thoughts:
Total Recall is, as I'm sure everyone is aware, a remake of a 1990 film of the same name starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sharon Stone and Michael Ironside, and inspired by a short story written by Philip K. Dick.

In the original film, Douglas Quaid ends up on Mars and saves the red planet from a maniacal overlord.  It's campy and comedic as often as it is serious, and for its' time the technology was breathtakingly imaginative.

The remake however, goes a different way.  It's serious through and through, the technology is still awesomely inventive (a hand-phone? Yes PLEASE, sign me up!), but it's grittier and darker, and completely Earth-bound.  The special effects were very well done (I loved the "weightless" scene), and overall the movie is visually stunning.  Colin Farrell did a better acting job than I expected, and Kate Beckinsale shines (as she usually does - no surprise there) as Quaid's "fake" wife. 

My problems with the movie were that I had a really hard time suspending my disbelief throughout several sections of the film (Elevator through the Earth's core?), and that I kept comparing it to the original in my mind while watching it.  But overall I do think it was a good film, it was loads of fun, and told a fantastic spy/mystery story.

But I did kinda miss Mars a little bit.

Have you seen Total Recall yet?  What were YOUR thoughts about the film?

Book Review - Threshold by Sara Douglas

Threshold, January 2004, * * * *

From Goodreads:

Over the hot southern land of Ashdod looms the shadow of Threshold, a massive pyramid which the Magi of Ashdod are building to propel themselves into Infinity, a plane of existence that holds the promise of technological magics and supposedly unimaginable power. For decades, thousands of slaves have lost their lives in the construction of this edifice. Now that this construction is almost complete, the Magi need only to add the finishing touches, and they will let nothing stand in the way of achieving their desire.

The Master of the Magi, a young and ambitious man, ready to do anything for power, sees the glassworker slave Tirzah as a plaything, a trifle to relieve the tensions of the day. He senses that under her placid façade Tirzah is hiding something, but try as he may to see beneath her surface, she remains an enigma.

What he does not know is that her secret is the knowledge of forbidden magic. That she senses the inherent power in glass and can communicate with it-and that the glass in Threshold screams to her in pain.

For it knows what neither Tirzah nor any of the Magi suspect. That something waits in Infinity, watching, biding its time, and when the final glass plate is laid and the capstone cemented in blood, it plans to use Threshold to step from Infinity into Ashdod...

My Thoughts:
Threshold is probably my favorite of all of Sara Douglass' novels.  It's a some-what stand-alone novel - it can be read on it's own, but the story and characters also tie into the Darkglass Mountain series which Sara Douglass wrote much later.

Set in an unusual fantasy realm reminiscent of ancient Egypt, Threshold tells the story of Tirzah, a young slave woman who works with glass, who comes to the attention of Boaz, one of the Magi who have designed Threshold, a giant glass pyramid that they hope will connect them with Infinity, granting them unlimited magical powers over all creation.  The unlikely pair don't realize how their fates are intertwined at first, and even though they begin as enemies they soon begin to work together against a force of unimaginable power and evil.

The novel itself has a good plot, and Sara Douglass is an amazing story teller.  The pacing of the novel is good for the most part, although there is a section in the middle where things bog down a bit before it picks back up again for the ending.

I recommend Threshold to anyone who likes fantasy in general, and the desert setting makes a nice change from the traditional Euro-centric landscape.  Interesting characters and an innovative plot make this novel very enjoyable and well worth the time.  I give it four stars - if you haven't read it give it a try and let me know what you think!

Have you read Threshold by Sara Douglass, or is it on your To Be Read List?  Leave me a comment and tell me if you agree or disagree with my review, or if you plan to read it in the future.

Book Review - Beyond the Hanging Wall by Sara Douglass

Beyond the Hanging Wall, 09/30/2003 * * * *

From Goodreads:

Like his physician father, Garth Baxtor is gifted with The Touch. By laying his hands upon a person, Garth can sense what dwells within: pain, illness, joy, or sorrow. It is through the application of The Touch that the gifted minister helps the sick of Escator by diagnosing ills and promoting healing.

By decree of the royal treasury, for a period of three weeks each year, physicians of Escator - in lieu of taxes - are required to attend to the needs of the criminals who labor endlessly in the Veins, the labyrinth of mines carved deep into the earth and from which they harvest the gloam-a priceless commodity upon which the fortunes of Escator depend.

It is during one such period of mandatory service that Joseph Baxtor decides his son is old enough to accompany him to the Veins as his apprentice. Garth is delighted. It's a chance to escape the dull and dreary surroundings of his quiet village for the delights of the capital city of Ruen. Joseph has been ordered to attend King Cavor himself. Garth will actually meet the king in person!

As he discovers all too soon, however, the task at hand is a grim one. Descending into the mines for the first time, Garth could hardly be less prepared for what he encounters: thousands of men laboring like animals in dreadful conditions deep below the earth's surface.

Applying his hands to the wound of one prisoner known only as Lot No. 859, Garth is stunned by what he discovers. This man is no common criminal. But then, who is he? Could it be? After all these years?

The answer to the riddle will involve Garth in a harrowing journey out of the Veins and into the Land of Dreams as he tries to resolve the question of the identity of Lot No 859. In the process, Garth will solve a centuries-old mystery-a mystery that will pit one king against another and shake the Kingdom of Escator to its foundations.

My Thoughts:
Beyond the Hanging Wall is one of Sara Douglass' stand-alone novels, along with Threshold, but it also ties into her Darkglass Mountain series, which itself is an extension of her Wayfarer Redemption series.  It's a well written novel and and entertaining fantasy story.

Sara Douglass has been one of favorite authors for quite awhile, although I did get a bit tired of the Wayfarer Redemption series by the time we got to the end.  But Beyond the Hanging Wall was quite refreshing, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  Great pacing along with a decent if somewhat predictable (at times) plot, and interesting characters.

I give Beyond the Hanging Wall four stars, and I think that this is an excellent novel for someone who wants to give Sara Douglass a try but isn't sure if they are ready for one of her longer series.  It's a perfect place to dip a toe in and test the waters!

Have you read Beyond the Hanging Wall?  What did you think?

Teaser Tuesday - Blue Remembered Earth, by Alastair Reynolds

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just:
* Grab your current read
* Open to a random page
* Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
* BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
* Share the title and author, too, so that other Teaser Tuesday participants can add the book to their To Be Read (TBR) Lists if they like your teasers!

----------

Still very much enjoying this novel.  In this scene, Geoffrey and his sister Sunday, along with some friends, are contemplating the wisdom of following the clues that their grandmother left before she died, and their own ability to do so.

The Tease:

 "Jitendra was recharging their glasses. "It could be called Happy Smiley Fun Moon and it wouldn't make it any easier to get to.  Look, it's a nice idea, all this adventuring, but we need to be realistic.  We can't afford Mars.""

 -Blue Remembered Earth, by Alastair Reynolds

What's your Tease?

Book Review - 2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson

2312, Kim Stanley Robinson, 08/12/2012 * * *

From Goodreads:

The year is 2312. Scientific and technological advances have opened gateways to an extraordinary future. Earth is no longer humanity's only home; new habitats have been created throughout the solar system on moons, planets, and in between. But in this year, 2312, a sequence of events will force humanity to confront its past, its present, and its future.

The first event takes place on Mercury, on the city of Terminator, itself a miracle of engineering on an unprecedented scale. It is an unexpected death, but one that might have been foreseen. For Swan Er Hong, it is an event that will change her life. Swan was once a woman who designed worlds. Now she will be led into a plot to destroy them.

My Thoughts:
I have an odd relationship with Kim Stanley Robinson.  I remember reading the Mars Trilogy, years ago, and liking it quite a bit.  Based on that memory, I often pick up his books, read them, and then sort of vaguely wonder why did I read that, and what was it about anyway?

"2312" kind of falls into this same category.  I've been looking forward to reading it for months.  The general idea sounded amazing.  Robinson has an awesome imagination, and his world-building is off the charts, so I knew there would be lots of fantastic stuff to read about.

In this, Robinson doesn't disappoint at all.  He has imagined a future solar system where humans have spread out from the Earth and inhabit many planets, moons, and asteroids.  Mars is terraformed, Venus is in the process, and an enormous city glides across the surface of Mercury on huge rails, always staying just ahead of the fatally destructive sunrise.  While Earth still suffers under the weight of failed political systems, insufficient resources, and crushing poverty, the Spacers have formed innovative governmental systems based on survival and cooperation, with Artificial Intelligences known as Qubes that help run things and keep track of everything that needs to be known.  Longevity treatments, physical and mental augmentations, all these and more are available to this futuristic society.  Exploring Robinson's creation is awe-inspiring, amazing, and often thought-provoking as he speculates about social and cultural evolutions.

Unfortunately, it is difficult to define what the story is actually "about."  First of all, the publisher's "back of the book" blurb is extremely misleading:  There is an unexpected death before the narrative begins, but I didn't see anything to lead me to believe that the death could have been foreseen.  True, Swan spent years of her life designing worlds, but she isn't led into a plot to destroy worlds, although she does become part of an investigation to find out who might want to destroy worlds.  And to my recollection, at no point was "humanity" forced to confront it's past, present and future.

The plot is nebulous and scattered, and dozens of pages will pass without anything actually "happening."  People think about stuff, and talk about things, and there are large sections of info-dumps.  When things do happen, they are exciting and amazing and mind blowing, but they just don't happen very often.  The story is part mystery & part love story, both of which seem to take a back-seat to the travelogue & history lessons, and ultimately the mystery and love story both felt somewhat unsatisfactory.  Most of the characters are either unlikable, or incompletely formed, with the exception of one side character whose storyline ultimately seems to go nowhere.  And personally, I cannot for the life of me figure out why the love story happened at all, as the neither character was more than passably interesting and in some cases were downright annoyingly awful.

And yet there are scenes here and there, tucked into unexpected places, that are so incredibly amazing and wonderful.  Animals drifting down through the sky in protective bubbles, surfing on the rings Saturn, the landscape of Mercury transformed into amazing works of art.  Some of the ideas and imagery that Robinson evokes are so stunning as to be almost indescribable. 

There's a heavy theme of created intelligences gaining some sort of sentience and becoming indistinguishable from humans, which leads to what I felt was an amazing plot twist near the end, but this plot twist is so subtle that most reviewers seem to have missed it completely, and the narrative doesn't actively confirm the readers' suspicions about what may or may not have just happened.  Certainly the characters don't seem to realize anything, which leads back to the vague feeling of dissatisfaction that I had upon finishing.

One point that many other reviewers, both positive and negative, have touched on, is the formatting of the story itself - the chapters are interspersed with short sections of "lists" and "extracts" almost as if someone was gathering information from the (future) historical contexts and filing the information for future use.  Most people seemed to strongly dislike these brief interruptions in the narrative, but they didn't really bother me much, although they can get dry and dull, as info-dumps tend to do.  But as I got closer to the final chapter I began to think that these "lists" and "extracts" may have had something to do with the plot twist and the revelation near the end, but again it was so subtle that I'm just not sure if the connection was really there or if I merely imagined it in an attempt to make the narrative more interesting.

My final verdict?  I'm unsure.  Despite all the cons, "2312" really is an amazing novel.  And despite all the pros, it's really an awfully unsatisfying story.  I think I'm going to split the difference and give "2312" three stars - I liked it, but as with many of his previous novels, I'm left wondering what it was really about, if I missed something, and why did I read it in the first place?

Have you read "2312" yet?  Do you plan to read it?  Do you agree or disagree with my thoughts about the novel?  Please leave a comment below and tell my YOUR thoughts!!

Book Review - The Seventh Scroll by Wilbur Smith

Ancient Egypt Series, by Wilbur Smith
1. River God: A Novel of Ancient Egypt (Have Not Read)
2. The Seventh Scroll  07/08/2012 * *
3. Warlock: A Novel of Ancient Egypt (Have Not Read)
4. The Quest (Have Not Read)

From Goodreads:

For 4,000 years, the lavish crypt of the Pharaoh Mamose has never been found...until the Seventh Scroll, a cryptic message written by he slave Taita, gives beautiful Egyptologist Royan Al Simma a tantalizing clue to its location.  

But this is a treasure cache others would kill to possess. Only one step ahead of assassins, Royan runs for her life and into the arms of the only man she can trust, Sir Nicholas Quenton-Harper-a daring man who will stake his fortune and his life to join her hunt for the king's tomb. Together, they will embark on a breathtaking journey to the most exotic locale on earth, where the greatest mystery of ancient Egypt, a chilling danger and an explosive passion are waiting.

Steeped in ancient mystery, drama and action, The Seventh Scroll is a masterpiece from a storyteller at the height of his powers.

My Thoughts:
I'm not even sure where I got this book from - I think it might have been out of a bag of books that my mom gave me.  I'd never heard of the author before, and didn't even realize it was part of a series until I looked it up on Goodreads when I was about halfway through the novel.  But even though The Seventh Scroll is actually the second book in a series, it works as a stand alone novel.

Mostly, I enjoyed The Seventh Scroll.  The character of Royan was entertaining to read and easy to relate to, for the most part.  Overall it's a decent story, and parts of it were fascinating.  Many other parts were boring, dull, poorly written, overly descriptive, super predictable, and a few were actually cringe-worthy.  And something that bothered me immensely, the POV changes randomly, sometimes even in the middle of a paragraph.  I love multiple Points of View, but I'm of the opinion that the POV change needs to happen at a chapter break, or at least a section break within a chapter.  But in The Seventh Scroll, the POV seems to change completely randomly, and didn't always makes sense to me.

As I read through the many reviews from other people, though, I almost wonder if I'm missing something.  Many others seem to love the author and this series, and rave on and on about how good it is.  I didn't hate The Seventh Scroll, but I didn't love it either.  It's a good read, and starts well, but the middle part of the novel loses momentum and never quite picks it back up again.  By the time I muddled through to the end I just wanted them to find the treasure and be done already.

I'm giving The Seventh Scroll two stars.  I feel vaguely bad about doing so, but I'm also not quite willing to go to three stars and say I liked it.  It was ok.  I probably won't try any of the rest of the series, even though the first book in the series, River God, seems to get rave reviews. But I think I'll pass, for now at least.

Have you read The Seventh Scroll by Wilbur Smith?  What did you think - am I way off base?

Movie Review - The Dark Knight Rises

The Dark Knight Rises (2012) * * * * *
Director: Christopher Nolan
Starring: Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Anne Hathaway, Morgan Freeman, Tom Hardy, Matthew Modine.

From IMDB:

"Eight years on, a new terrorist leader, Bane, overwhelms Gotham's finest, and the Dark Knight resurfaces to protect a city that has branded him an enemy."

My Thoughts:
I totally loved this movie.  I'm not even gonna try to be all critical and professional about it either.  It's an awesome movie, you must see it, and you must love it!

*sigh*

Ok, fine.  I suppose you don't "have" to "love" it.  But I am betting that if you are a fan of Nolan's take on Batman in general, as evidenced in "Batman Begins" and "The Dark Knight," then you probably will love "The Dark Knight Rises."

(Here there be spoilery things).

This third installment in Nolan's series felt to me like a perfect third and final movie in a trilogy.  The story is involved, and fantastically layered, providing answers to questions that we didn't know we had, and tying certain events back to previous points in the story.  (As an example, when the residents of Gotham's prison system are released, we see some familiar characters, who take an active role in the story as it unfolds).

The movie is long, and could have been made shorter with tighter editing, without sacrificing any actual plot content, but at the same time, it didn't feel like a long movie, to me at least. Several plot twists, and some truly great action scenes and character growth moments made this film a winner.

One of the things I really enjoyed was the way that Batman, who disappeared in disgrace at the end of The Dark Knight, is able to rehabilitate himself and his image.  During his 8 year absence, the city government and citizenry have grown and learned to care for themselves - the police, who were previously too terrified to fight against the mob and other criminals infecting Gotham's underbelly, are now all too willing to fight against the terrorists, and take back their city when given the chance, creating a situation where Gotham finally doesn't need its' Dark Knight any more, but instead has the symbolism of heroes to look up to and emulate.

But the bottom line is it is awesome and you should totally watch The Dark Knight Rises on the big screen.  I give it five stars, and even Bob enjoyed it.  Go see it as soon as possible! 

But when you do, take a moment to think about the victims and families involved in the shooting in Colorado.  My thoughts and best wishes go out to them, with the hope that someday, the true meaning of what Batman and all the other Super-Heroes stand for will be realized and understood by everyone, and events like that will no longer happen in our world.  As Bruce Wayne says, "Anyone can be Batman."  Let's try to remember that, because we can all be heroes in our own way.