Plenty of holes, lack of serious research, childish nonsense and a writer's addiction to "as though". It's a somehow enjoyable fast-reading when you're bored. The general idea is nice - heavily inspired by the classic Bodysnatchers -, but the writing is meh. Moreover, it feels like the first 30min of a 70s sci-fi movie!
This review was written for LibraryThing Member Giveaways.
This was an intense, insanely fun journey through a psycho's mind!
I had read only a small part of the first book and got deep into this book without noticing it was a trilogy, but, oh my... it was such a fun and intense reading I just couldn't stop and go back to the first 2 books! I don't regret it though.
End of Watch makes the boogeyman look a nice guy! It's a book between thriller and psychological horror, but you won't get the chills here. It makes you tense though, imagining the sordid methods Brady will use next. It's a must read for any King's fan os thriller fans.
I had read only a small part of the first book and got deep into this book without noticing it was a trilogy, but, oh my... it was such a fun and intense reading I just couldn't stop and go back to the first 2 books! I don't regret it though.
End of Watch makes the boogeyman look a nice guy! It's a book between thriller and psychological horror, but you won't get the chills here. It makes you tense though, imagining the sordid methods Brady will use next. It's a must read for any King's fan os thriller fans.
I had little to no idea of what I should expect from The Basilisk's Creed... I was even a bit scared by some of the available reviews!
But I couldn't be more delighted reading the thoughts of Mr.Soul Reaper! haha...
To begin with, you have to keep in mind that this is only the first part of the whole book and by the last pages, you will get "angry" for a good reason: because you will want to read more and it ends all of a sudden, without that "to be continued" feeling you have with other book series!
You'll devour it all pretty fast and want to read the other parts asap.
The way the book was written is pretty similar to Liam Hearn's style: with chapters being told by the 2 main characters, alternately. This is a very good narration style that makes the reader understand and sympathize deeply with atleast one of the characters.
Talking about characters... Matt is a character made to be loved by everyone! He's charming and his storyline is super interesting... something that doesn't happen to the other main character. You'll be looking forward for their meeting though.
I totally recommend trying it... specially when the whole book comes out as a unique volume.
But I couldn't be more delighted reading the thoughts of Mr.Soul Reaper! haha...
To begin with, you have to keep in mind that this is only the first part of the whole book and by the last pages, you will get "angry" for a good reason: because you will want to read more and it ends all of a sudden, without that "to be continued" feeling you have with other book series!
You'll devour it all pretty fast and want to read the other parts asap.
The way the book was written is pretty similar to Liam Hearn's style: with chapters being told by the 2 main characters, alternately. This is a very good narration style that makes the reader understand and sympathize deeply with atleast one of the characters.
Talking about characters... Matt is a character made to be loved by everyone! He's charming and his storyline is super interesting... something that doesn't happen to the other main character. You'll be looking forward for their meeting though.
I totally recommend trying it... specially when the whole book comes out as a unique volume.
This review was written for LibraryThing Member Giveaways.
I had little to no idea of what I should expect from The Basilisk's Creed... I was even a bit scared by some of the available reviews!
But I couldn't be more delighted reading the thoughts of Mr.Soul Reaper! haha...
To begin with, you have to keep in mind that this is only the first part of the whole book and by the last pages, you will get "angry" for a good reason: because you will want to read more and it ends all of a sudden, without that "to be continued" feeling you have with other book series!
You'll devour it all pretty fast and want to read the other parts asap.
The way the book was written is pretty similar to Liam Hearn's style: with chapters being told by the 2 main characters, alternately. This is a very good narration style that makes the reader understand and sympathize deeply with atleast one of the characters.
Talking about characters... Matt is a character made to be loved by everyone! He's charming and his storyline is super interesting... something that doesn't happen to the other main character. You'll be looking forward for their meeting though.
I totally recommend trying it... specially when the whole book comes out as a unique volume.
But I couldn't be more delighted reading the thoughts of Mr.Soul Reaper! haha...
To begin with, you have to keep in mind that this is only the first part of the whole book and by the last pages, you will get "angry" for a good reason: because you will want to read more and it ends all of a sudden, without that "to be continued" feeling you have with other book series!
You'll devour it all pretty fast and want to read the other parts asap.
The way the book was written is pretty similar to Liam Hearn's style: with chapters being told by the 2 main characters, alternately. This is a very good narration style that makes the reader understand and sympathize deeply with atleast one of the characters.
Talking about characters... Matt is a character made to be loved by everyone! He's charming and his storyline is super interesting... something that doesn't happen to the other main character. You'll be looking forward for their meeting though.
I totally recommend trying it... specially when the whole book comes out as a unique volume.
This book is the first book of the YA series "The Books of Abarat", written and illustrated by the brilliant Clive Barker himself.
The series includes the following 5 fantasy novels:
> Abarat (2002)
> Days of Magic, Nights of War (2004)
> Absolute Midnight (2011)
> Kry Rising (work-in-progress)
> Until The End of Time (forthcoming)
In the first book, we're introduced to Candy, a lonely bored girl who decides to explore a brand new world: the exotic and fantastical islands of Abarat, where each island in Abarat represents an hour of the day and is populated with the most different creatures.
There, she is hunted down by Lord Midnight, who has a mysterious interest on her, but she has no idea what kind of dark fate she just brought to herself.
Abarat is Clive Barker's "children's tale" that has very little of "children" and a lot of dark fantasy & exotic creatures in the colorful yet dark world of Abarat islands.
It's darker than Neil Gaiman's books, but can be placed together with his Coraline.
It's both Barker's play with Surrealism and his gift to younger readers who, after reading this, will surely want to get a taste of the real thing whenever they can. =D
The series includes the following 5 fantasy novels:
> Abarat (2002)
> Days of Magic, Nights of War (2004)
> Absolute Midnight (2011)
> Kry Rising (work-in-progress)
> Until The End of Time (forthcoming)
In the first book, we're introduced to Candy, a lonely bored girl who decides to explore a brand new world: the exotic and fantastical islands of Abarat, where each island in Abarat represents an hour of the day and is populated with the most different creatures.
There, she is hunted down by Lord Midnight, who has a mysterious interest on her, but she has no idea what kind of dark fate she just brought to herself.
Abarat is Clive Barker's "children's tale" that has very little of "children" and a lot of dark fantasy & exotic creatures in the colorful yet dark world of Abarat islands.
It's darker than Neil Gaiman's books, but can be placed together with his Coraline.
It's both Barker's play with Surrealism and his gift to younger readers who, after reading this, will surely want to get a taste of the real thing whenever they can. =D
You simply can't read Clive Barker without going through his Books of Blood: they are a collection of stories that synthesizes this world covered on blood, tragedy & darkness he showed us!
Barker's writing is full of a complex network of dark stories that challenges your mind, defies your beliefs, your perspicacity, your morals and even your reading skills.
The poetic perversity in Barker's words only creates the charming nature of his books.
The 6th instalment of the Books of Blood is particularly gore, even grotesque sometimes and has some of the brutal stories written by him outside the Hellraiser and Agonists universe.
Barker's writing is full of a complex network of dark stories that challenges your mind, defies your beliefs, your perspicacity, your morals and even your reading skills.
The poetic perversity in Barker's words only creates the charming nature of his books.
The 6th instalment of the Books of Blood is particularly gore, even grotesque sometimes and has some of the brutal stories written by him outside the Hellraiser and Agonists universe.
You simply can't read Clive Barker without going through his Books of Blood: they are a collection of stories that synthesizes this world covered on blood, tragedy & darkness he showed us!
Barker's writing is full of a complex network of dark stories that challenges your mind, defies your beliefs, your perspicacity, your morals and even your reading skills.
The poetic perversity in Barker's words only creates the charming nature of his books.
Barker's writing is full of a complex network of dark stories that challenges your mind, defies your beliefs, your perspicacity, your morals and even your reading skills.
The poetic perversity in Barker's words only creates the charming nature of his books.
The Book of Nod is the equivalent of a bible for the vampires of WhiteWolf's World of Darkness and has a specially important part in the clans' mythology of Vampire: The Masquerade.
The book is the transcription of a collection of old poems that depict the beginning of days and the first kindred, Lilith and Cain.
The poems, in general, are of such a beauty and darkness beyond descriptions. They are very deep and can be interpreted in varying ways out of the reader's feelings.
It's highly recommended by both art appreciators and Vampire fans.
My edition is a beautiful Collector's Edition with leather-like cover and old-looking pages.
The book is the transcription of a collection of old poems that depict the beginning of days and the first kindred, Lilith and Cain.
The poems, in general, are of such a beauty and darkness beyond descriptions. They are very deep and can be interpreted in varying ways out of the reader's feelings.
It's highly recommended by both art appreciators and Vampire fans.
My edition is a beautiful Collector's Edition with leather-like cover and old-looking pages.
Cats! Cats! And more CATS!
If you're a catlover, you can't go wrong with this book.
I paged atleast 4 cat coloring books and only 2 looked original and had varying cats and poses.
Cat Therapy is a real catherapy to all your cat lover needs when you can't be around RL cats... and even with cats, as my cat Marishka seemed to enjoy it too!
If you're a catlover, you can't go wrong with this book.
I paged atleast 4 cat coloring books and only 2 looked original and had varying cats and poses.
Cat Therapy is a real catherapy to all your cat lover needs when you can't be around RL cats... and even with cats, as my cat Marishka seemed to enjoy it too!
Excellent coloring book with pretty nice and very diversified illustrations based on photography.
I had a particularly fun time using my metallic pencils in the many mantises, beetles and bugs with dedicated pages.
As an illustrator and designer myself, I found it really nice to draw background elements or even entire scenarios in this book.
Overall, the animals drawn in Animal Kingdom looks really cool and I super recommend this coloring book.
I had a particularly fun time using my metallic pencils in the many mantises, beetles and bugs with dedicated pages.
As an illustrator and designer myself, I found it really nice to draw background elements or even entire scenarios in this book.
Overall, the animals drawn in Animal Kingdom looks really cool and I super recommend this coloring book.
I got my copy of Glitch Rain from the awesome guys at Apex via LibraryThing.
I devoured the first few chapters really fast… to be honest, this is a fast reading.
First, you have to understand that if you're looking for a Cyberpunk story, this shouldn't be the first in your queue.
Instead, it's a fast-paced action story about Akuba, a girl who got herself into big debts with a lone-shark, Enazim "Shaky" - who she met when they're younger and is now a minor crime lord -, and now Akuba has to run away from him with the help of her best friend and "crime partner", the geek Isaac. All happening in a not-so-far future, in a lil utopic Earth with some fancy technology that turns the world into a SecondLife "Live Edition", high emphasis on data mining, civil surveillance and your typical criticism on capitalism and environmental issues.
There are good and bad things about this book:
The best part lies on Isaac, a very good character who is responsible for showing us a very well-done approach on what would be otherwise just a cliché of criticism on modern society, in the shape of an entirely artificial island made of the plastic waste of humans by a group of other hackers and private investors who wanted to have a place to escape the controlled cities.
I find it particularly interesting how the author created an "artist guild" in the plastic island: a group of indie musicians, poets, writters, etc... who work as informants in the island in exchange for some patronage.
Now the really show more bad part of the book are the regular mentions of brands that turn the whole thing pretty annoying, specially coz there are some stuff that makes no sense at all and seems to have been just thrown around randomly to make the reader recognize them, hence doing the world more realistic but has the completely opposing result.
In general, it's nice fast-paced novelette worth reading for the fans of action, utopic worlds and maybe for fans of Cyberpunk. show less
I devoured the first few chapters really fast… to be honest, this is a fast reading.
First, you have to understand that if you're looking for a Cyberpunk story, this shouldn't be the first in your queue.
Instead, it's a fast-paced action story about Akuba, a girl who got herself into big debts with a lone-shark, Enazim "Shaky" - who she met when they're younger and is now a minor crime lord -, and now Akuba has to run away from him with the help of her best friend and "crime partner", the geek Isaac. All happening in a not-so-far future, in a lil utopic Earth with some fancy technology that turns the world into a SecondLife "Live Edition", high emphasis on data mining, civil surveillance and your typical criticism on capitalism and environmental issues.
There are good and bad things about this book:
The best part lies on Isaac, a very good character who is responsible for showing us a very well-done approach on what would be otherwise just a cliché of criticism on modern society, in the shape of an entirely artificial island made of the plastic waste of humans by a group of other hackers and private investors who wanted to have a place to escape the controlled cities.
I find it particularly interesting how the author created an "artist guild" in the plastic island: a group of indie musicians, poets, writters, etc... who work as informants in the island in exchange for some patronage.
Now the really show more bad part of the book are the regular mentions of brands that turn the whole thing pretty annoying, specially coz there are some stuff that makes no sense at all and seems to have been just thrown around randomly to make the reader recognize them, hence doing the world more realistic but has the completely opposing result.
In general, it's nice fast-paced novelette worth reading for the fans of action, utopic worlds and maybe for fans of Cyberpunk. show less
This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.
So I won a copy of another book (an anthology) from this same author by LibraryThing... but mr.Strasser sent me the wrong link and I ended up getting a copy of Equinox and WOW!
Thanks the gods by this coz I've been devouring this book since I got it. I even prioritized it over all my other books that are halfway done.
Even if I don't feel comfortable to review a book before finish reading it, Equinox is one of those rare cases that you simply can't go wrong. Specially coz it's in the middle of a series.
But even if I didn't read the first book (yet!), I doubt it would change my mind about this one.
Equinox is full of fantasy, mysteries, a lot of hope, war for secrets, charming characters (though MC can be kinda irritating in some parts) and endless adventure!
Dirk Strasser is a storyteller! A damn good one (!) that makes you feel like the book is reading itself to you and not by you.
I can't end this review before comparing Dirk Strasser's captivating Storytelling style to the one present on Michael Ende's "Die Unendliche Geschichte" (Neverending Story) novel!
(And, no, I'm not saying that because there's an "Atreu" in Ascension at all, please! haha)
So, for what I've read of Strasser until now... if you liked Ende's famous novel, you will certainly enjoy Strasser's Ascension series.
And I'm looking forward to add hardcover editions of the series to my personal library!
Thanks the gods by this coz I've been devouring this book since I got it. I even prioritized it over all my other books that are halfway done.
Even if I don't feel comfortable to review a book before finish reading it, Equinox is one of those rare cases that you simply can't go wrong. Specially coz it's in the middle of a series.
But even if I didn't read the first book (yet!), I doubt it would change my mind about this one.
Equinox is full of fantasy, mysteries, a lot of hope, war for secrets, charming characters (though MC can be kinda irritating in some parts) and endless adventure!
Dirk Strasser is a storyteller! A damn good one (!) that makes you feel like the book is reading itself to you and not by you.
I can't end this review before comparing Dirk Strasser's captivating Storytelling style to the one present on Michael Ende's "Die Unendliche Geschichte" (Neverending Story) novel!
(And, no, I'm not saying that because there's an "Atreu" in Ascension at all, please! haha)
So, for what I've read of Strasser until now... if you liked Ende's famous novel, you will certainly enjoy Strasser's Ascension series.
And I'm looking forward to add hardcover editions of the series to my personal library!
The Discworld series must be one of the most amazing worlds I have stepped into and, though it may sound strange, my formal entrance ticket was this book: it was the first Discworld book I finished reading, yet it's the one that doesn't look like one.
It took me around 6 years to find a Brazilian copy and put this book in my personal library. It's been one of my favorite books since then and I have read it atleast 4 times.
"The Amazing Maurice & His Educated Rodents" (aka "O Fabuloso Maurício & Seus Ratos Letrados") is that kind of book that you want to carry along with you when you're in a travel... and Discworld is the kind of series you want to read when you're overstressed with the trials & tribulations of daily life!
Terry Pratchett was an amazing writter and he will be greatly missed by both the literary world and its fans!
It took me around 6 years to find a Brazilian copy and put this book in my personal library. It's been one of my favorite books since then and I have read it atleast 4 times.
"The Amazing Maurice & His Educated Rodents" (aka "O Fabuloso Maurício & Seus Ratos Letrados") is that kind of book that you want to carry along with you when you're in a travel... and Discworld is the kind of series you want to read when you're overstressed with the trials & tribulations of daily life!
Terry Pratchett was an amazing writter and he will be greatly missed by both the literary world and its fans!
Leander Kahney achieved something very few writers did when talking about master Steve Jobs: he was impartial to his stormy temperament while exploring the greatness behind the methods used by such a genius leader and "followers-maker" through its very concise chapters with a "most important points' recall" in form of lists by the end of each one.
This is the one book about Steve Jobs you wanna read if you have to chose only one and it's a must-read for anyone interested on improving his/her professional life and the way you deal with the world. You will understand why he was taken as a genius leader, a revolutionary futurist thinker and why you should learn from his methods.
"Inside Steve's Brain" is my supreme bedside bible. I keep it along Machiavelli's "The Prince" and Zhuge Liang's "Art of War"!
Just as every methodically designed and powerful speech made by Steve Jobs gave me deep enlightenment through my whole life, about various things... Kahney's book is a fast-reading reminder of what's important for me as a professional... and as a person too, because citing the Master himself:
"If you're working on something exciting that you really care about, you don't need to be pushed: THE VISION PULLS YOU!" (Steve Jobs)
This is the one book about Steve Jobs you wanna read if you have to chose only one and it's a must-read for anyone interested on improving his/her professional life and the way you deal with the world. You will understand why he was taken as a genius leader, a revolutionary futurist thinker and why you should learn from his methods.
"Inside Steve's Brain" is my supreme bedside bible. I keep it along Machiavelli's "The Prince" and Zhuge Liang's "Art of War"!
Just as every methodically designed and powerful speech made by Steve Jobs gave me deep enlightenment through my whole life, about various things... Kahney's book is a fast-reading reminder of what's important for me as a professional... and as a person too, because citing the Master himself:
"If you're working on something exciting that you really care about, you don't need to be pushed: THE VISION PULLS YOU!" (Steve Jobs)
Being mildly familiar with Apex Magazine, I was super excited to read this anthology and I was gifted with an Early Reviewer pick.
If I could resume my experience with a single word... being unfair, I'd say it was... strange!
I wished it was a "good strange", but it wasn't. In general.
Don't get me wrong: there are a few very well-written stories and some really crazy yet interesting ones inside this anthology… but you have to be very patient to get to them, as they are hidden among some pretty… depressing material, so to speak.
Maybe the main problem was the order of the stories as it's totally out of pace and it's like playing Russian-Roulette!
The very first story made me want to stop right there, after just a few paragraphs. It really made me wonder how that story has won any award, coz the thoughts were so poorly organized… the storytelling was zig-zagging from poetic to boring-hell to mildly interesting to boring again to a rushed ending; and that first one wasn't even close to the worst.So, imho, this anthology is far from the very "best" around Apex by what I've read so far from Apex Magazine, but has some interesting plots lying inside.
Now let's talk about some of the must-read stories here… and there are some stories in the Anthology that will be specially appealing for the fans of Surrealism and the crazy side of Sci-Fi!
> To begin with, I have to comment on a story I had already partially read prior to Apex: the award-winning short story "If You Were a show more Dinosaur, My Love" by Rachel Swirsky: it's one of those short and fast-reading scripts you just need to read and read again… and you'll smile every single time you read it coz it's just thaaat adorable, yet so sad, so sad! And if it is just so sad, then it must really be adorable. And if it's that adorable, you will simply smile and want to hug your dearest ones. And if you hug them tight, you'll fix any broken heart. ^^
> "A Matter of Shapespace" by Brian Trent is not your typical near-utopic megacorps war story, yet it's the Cyberpunk gem of the anthology! It feels a lot like a blond of the game Syndicate and the Japanese series Ghost in the Shell.> While the first make you dream of electrical sheeps, "Advertising at the End of the World" by Keffy Kehrli is your typical funny story about robots that can't be missed on any Sci-Fi anthology, playing with the readers "Empathy-Boxes"! Haha…
> In the other hand, stories like "A Performance Artist" by Lettie Prell and "Build-a-Dolly" by Ken Liu are the kind you'd call "art" as the art in a Cirque du Soleil presentation. They are visual yet place you within it, a personal perspective of the events.
A few hours after I've finished written this review on OneNote, I read a story from Apex Mag [March 2016] called "Screaming Without a Mouth" by Travis Heermann and it fits well among those two, though told in a different way and being a ghost story more to the likes of "Multo" by Samuel Marzioli in this anthology (and that's the only thing these two have in common!). So check it out as well.
> At last, I want to take note on a very bizarre story called "Going Endo" by Rick Larson. First, I have to say I'm not an English native-speaker and even though I'm fluent, the author confused me to the weird point of making me restart it out of frustration to understand what was going on. At the end, I decided it was just a "WTF?!" story after all and the confusion had nothing with the words, but the whole "wtf?!" story itself! Keep reading and it'll make you laugh so hard with a "I f*knew it!!" along the characters at the end, when you realize your thoughts were as correct as the cover of a random Space Opera novel by a Hentai addicted you stumbled upon in some fair. The sky is the limit! Go buy your Apex!
As a side note, I'd like to congratulate the artist who made the cover art. It's amazing! show less
If I could resume my experience with a single word... being unfair, I'd say it was... strange!
I wished it was a "good strange", but it wasn't. In general.
Don't get me wrong: there are a few very well-written stories and some really crazy yet interesting ones inside this anthology… but you have to be very patient to get to them, as they are hidden among some pretty… depressing material, so to speak.
Maybe the main problem was the order of the stories as it's totally out of pace and it's like playing Russian-Roulette!
The very first story made me want to stop right there, after just a few paragraphs. It really made me wonder how that story has won any award, coz the thoughts were so poorly organized… the storytelling was zig-zagging from poetic to boring-hell to mildly interesting to boring again to a rushed ending; and that first one wasn't even close to the worst.So, imho, this anthology is far from the very "best" around Apex by what I've read so far from Apex Magazine, but has some interesting plots lying inside.
Now let's talk about some of the must-read stories here… and there are some stories in the Anthology that will be specially appealing for the fans of Surrealism and the crazy side of Sci-Fi!
> To begin with, I have to comment on a story I had already partially read prior to Apex: the award-winning short story "If You Were a show more Dinosaur, My Love" by Rachel Swirsky: it's one of those short and fast-reading scripts you just need to read and read again… and you'll smile every single time you read it coz it's just thaaat adorable, yet so sad, so sad! And if it is just so sad, then it must really be adorable. And if it's that adorable, you will simply smile and want to hug your dearest ones. And if you hug them tight, you'll fix any broken heart. ^^
> "A Matter of Shapespace" by Brian Trent is not your typical near-utopic megacorps war story, yet it's the Cyberpunk gem of the anthology! It feels a lot like a blond of the game Syndicate and the Japanese series Ghost in the Shell.> While the first make you dream of electrical sheeps, "Advertising at the End of the World" by Keffy Kehrli is your typical funny story about robots that can't be missed on any Sci-Fi anthology, playing with the readers "Empathy-Boxes"! Haha…
> In the other hand, stories like "A Performance Artist" by Lettie Prell and "Build-a-Dolly" by Ken Liu are the kind you'd call "art" as the art in a Cirque du Soleil presentation. They are visual yet place you within it, a personal perspective of the events.
A few hours after I've finished written this review on OneNote, I read a story from Apex Mag [March 2016] called "Screaming Without a Mouth" by Travis Heermann and it fits well among those two, though told in a different way and being a ghost story more to the likes of "Multo" by Samuel Marzioli in this anthology (and that's the only thing these two have in common!). So check it out as well.
> At last, I want to take note on a very bizarre story called "Going Endo" by Rick Larson. First, I have to say I'm not an English native-speaker and even though I'm fluent, the author confused me to the weird point of making me restart it out of frustration to understand what was going on. At the end, I decided it was just a "WTF?!" story after all and the confusion had nothing with the words, but the whole "wtf?!" story itself! Keep reading and it'll make you laugh so hard with a "I f*knew it!!" along the characters at the end, when you realize your thoughts were as correct as the cover of a random Space Opera novel by a Hentai addicted you stumbled upon in some fair. The sky is the limit! Go buy your Apex!
As a side note, I'd like to congratulate the artist who made the cover art. It's amazing! show less
This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.