I think I've read this before...

I love Terry Pratchett's discworld novels (and his other works) and usually rate them very highly, but this one seems to be a lot like its predecessor 'Going Postal' (which was a classic). Same storyline and characters; though thankfully - different jokes and historical musings.

I suppose everybody is entitled to at least one dud and although it is not a total loss as it has its funny moments, I can't help thinking that there was something lacking in this offering.

If this was a school report card, it would read:
Could do better, least he turned up.

A great little adventure, for fans and newcomers alike.

After the slightly disappointing Lyra's Oxford, Once Upon A Time In The North came as a great relief to me. It was as if Philip Pullman had learned from his last short story from the His Dark Materials universe all the lessons he needed to in order to make this second spin-off the perfect gift for any fan of the trilogy, people who have only seen the film, and even any adult or child who has never even heard of Lee Scoresby or Iorek Byrnison before.

Serving as a companion or even introduction piece to His Dark Materials, the short story part of the book (there are other surprises, though if you have read the product description you probably know what they are by now) is a genuinely exciting account of Lee's (and, of course, Hester's) first meeting with sentient and honourable Polar Bear Iorek Byrnison. What makes this exciting is that both were already fully fleshed out characters, and firm friends, in the novels, yet the details of their first meeting were never revelled - until, of course, now.

I honestly have never read a short story I enjoyed more than this one. Whether that was influenced by my already existing love of the characters, I don't know - but the story was gripping from start to finish.

As for length - I felt it was exactly the right length for a good short story. As someone who has written a number of short stories as a hobby, I know that that is something it is very difficult to get right.

If you are a fan of the series, there's also a nice twist waiting for you in the supplementary material at the end.

lover enshrined

much much better than lover unbound which i found very disappointing!
j.r. ward is back on track with this book introducing us to new characters and a new enemy for the brotherhood to deal with.
i highly recommend this book!

Another entertaining story to this outstanding series

The one and only goal Cade and his brother have is to get Rydstrom back on his thrown and now a simmer of hope is offered. Omort The Deathless is between Rydstrom and his thrown and as his name proclaims, he cannot be killed...until now. As a sword is forged especially for the Woede's to wield that can kill Omort The Deathless, they in return have to find and deliver The Vessel. With every Accession there is a female from The Lore that would come into sexual maturity. Her child would be a warrior of ultimate good or ultimate evil, depending on the side of the father.

Cade is indebted to his brother to get him back on his thrown and when he finds The Vessel, he looks into silvery eyes. The eyes with the color of a Valkyrie awoken. Holly felt the rage flow away as the threat subsided and looked in the eyes of another demon. Cade couldn't believe it, this female...his female... against all odds was one of The Lore! Yet apparently she was also The Vessel and his heart struggled with his honor, how could he give up that which he searched for nine hundred years but nor forgo on his vow to his brother?

Cade has until next full moon to deliver Holly to Groot The Metallurgist and in return get the sword that will kill Omort The Deathless. But can a demon let go of something as precious as his female?

As Kresley Cole let us taste a bit of the Demon world in the previous novels, in DARK DESIRES AFTER DUSK she gives it to us all with one of the Woede brothers, Cadeon"The Kingmaker". I was plunged into a fast paces tale almost from page one without the author losing eye for details and background. Though Cade and Holly are hunted by various Factions this story feels very character driven as much revolves around the couple and their problems.

Holly with her OCD problems turns her into such a heroine that you can't help but like and her quirks are just another thing that makes her stand out. She has a whole new side to discover and in combination with Cade she triggers the humorous side in me. If there was one thing that had me stuck to the pages was the formidable verbal sparring between those two, and both give as good as they get! Cade is just a rude, overbearing, chauvinistic demon but has his endearing moments and in the end always tries to do the right thing. The vow to his brother weighs heavily upon him and the fact he has his female in reach makes him torn in two.

If there are two minor flaws in this novel, which is colored by preference, it is Rydstrom. I just didn't know what to do with him as he remains a bit of an enigma and in the end he even gets darker which left me a bit ambivalent towards him. Also the ending of the story itself was a bit underdeveloped as to what I'm used to from Kresley Cole. Still, despite this, the romance was beautifully captured again with the road trip Holly and Cade had to take. The sensuous blossoming of Holly was believably integrated within the love story and at times steaming hot and at other times...no, it remains steaming hot!

Though Cade is rude and chauvinistic it is his need for Holly that is so evident through all his actions, the torment between his vow and the need for his female is what makes him do all he can to keep both. In doing this he threads dangerous waters that does not always end well and might even cost him that which he wants to protect. This is something that kept me on edge because for quite a while it kept me guessing as how it all would progress and play out in the end. Kresley Cole held me riveted to my seat almost until the ending and surprised me along the way with certain turnabouts that I did not see coming.

Of course Nïx also appears in this novel and I have such a fondness for her. The power combined with a bit of arrogance and intertwined with true Nïx humour makes her a formidable secondary character that becomes treasured throughout the series and makes you eager to meet again in future novels. She has such a personality that upon reading an Immortal After Dark without Nïx is like apple-pie without whipped cream.

DARK DESIRES AFTER DUSK with Cadeon and Holly add another well entertaining story to this outstanding series!

Reviewed by Leontine
Courtesy of Realms On Our Bookshelves

Begone, foul dwimmerlaik

This is bad. If you are a fan of D&D in it's many guises over the years please avoid this obscenity. I've been a player and DM for 25 years. I've played many different RPGs from basic D&D to Vampire with about 20 others in between. I think this is just about the worst. D&D never was particularly logical or realistic but this takes it to the extreme so much so that the game no longer feels like D&D. It feels like Warcraft or something similar. D&D used to be the RPG that everyone else tried to emulate; now they are knocking off second rate fantasy.

Other people have mentioned some of the changes; changes that I feel are being made to make the game"cooler" to the xbox or PC playing generation that think that Final Fantasy is a role playing game. I wonder if the game designers have ever played first or second edition. Have they any idea of the history and legacy that has been handed to them? This version of the game is completely incompatible with previous versions. The game mechanics are totally different. Combat now takes place in"squares"; a retrograde step harking back to tabletop battle games. In my opinion this is to help the sales of D&D miniatures.

I loathed this version so much that I gave it on permament loan to a gaming friend. I suspect he'll hand it back shortly.

Excellent Spine-Tingler and Fast-Paced Story!

I bought the first book in the series,ostensibly for my 10 year old son, which was released in America as"The Last Apprentice." I loved it so much I was unwilling to wait for the U.S. release of future Wardstone novels, instead buying the books online just as soon as they came out in the U.K.! It's been well worth the extra shipping, and now my son and I have something to talk about that has a touch of magic about it without being Harry Potter-esque.

I wouldn't mind making mischief with this demon possessed warrior!,

Long ago a band of immortal warriors stole and unleashed the evil within Pandora's box. In the melee, the box was lost. As their punishment for the deed, the gods forced each warrior to 'contain' one of the demons within themselves. So the Lords of the Underworld were born. The warrior who opened the box (Lucien, former Captain of the Guard) was 'gifted' with the demon of Death forever escorting souls to heaven or hell whenever the call came.

At present, some of these possessed immortals live a sheltered life high on a hill in Budapest. They struggle daily with their demons eventually succumbing to the demons desires. As well as warding off attacks by the radical humans called Hunters who want to see them and their demons dead.

The most serious and somber of the warriors is about to be the victim of a little mischief. For the minor goddess of Anarchy has her sights set on the sexy scarred warrior called Death. Lucien can't believe that any woman would be interested in him due to his harrowing looks, let alone a beautiful goddess. But Anya is. She's a stunning immortal who brings light into his dark soul and entrances his demon. Too bad he's been ordered to kill her.............

Woo Hoo! Another scarred hero book! I just love those! Lucien (Death) really didn't see the train called Anarchy coming until it plowed right into him. I thought Anya was hilarious. She flipped him upside down and inside out, teasing poor serious Lucien and keeping him totally off balance. I didn't know which way their fighting was going to go -would he actually try to kill her or kiss her (don't think you know what the answer is cause you don't!). They just made a great couple. I loved their bantering. I think Anya called Lucien *Flower's* (well he does smell like roses cause he's death ya know!) just to mess with his head and get him to lighten up -cause Death really needs to take a chill pill every once in a while. Anya is Anarchy after all, so she might make you crazy but thats the point. So that didn't bother me all. Lucien needs this kind of chaos or his soul will succumb completely to the dark demon inside. And for my favorite part -there's tons of sexual tension. Showalter didn't skimp on their love scenes either (more woo hoo!).

Along with the romance there were some major plot developments in DK as well. The Lords are still searching for Pandora's box, racing against the Hunter's to find it first. They gather new information which leads them on treasure hunts in separate parts of the world. Showalter also explains some more Greek myths/legends.

I thought that The Darkest Kiss was even better than its prequel The Darkest Night (Lords of the Underworld, Book 1). And it can be read as a stand alone since Showalter gives plenty of background information on the Lords.

Next up is The Darkest Pleasure (Lords of the Underworld, Book 3)which is Reyes (possessed by the demon of Pain) book. And then perhaps? Paris's book in Nov 09' -Ack! Over a year!

A worthy addition to the Immortals After Dark series!

The Wroth brothers are set out to save the last and final brother who has succumbed to the vampire bloodlust and in no way willing to give it up. Conrad is hell bend on revenge as he was turned in to a vampire without his knowledge at the time. A remote manor is bought for the very occasion of determining if Conrad can be saved or is lost for all eternity. As the Wroth brothers find Conrad it takes all three of them to bind Conrad with magical enforced handcuffs and sedate him as he is brought to this secluded manor.

Néomi was brutally murdered at her manor, Elancourt, in the 1920's and has haunted the place ever since. No one can see her, touch her, hear her and she lives in her small world of her manor. Now four giant men enter her world, stir up her dull routine and trash her beloved place as they try to hold on to a giant mad man. As her anger turns in to rage for their disrespect of her belongings it evaporates just as fast when the mad man says:"beautiful.....woman." He could see her!

Now Néomi visits this man as much as she can and with the drugs leaving his system Conrad gets to meet this vivacious woman that yearns to live again and he discovers a peace with her he never knew could exist. But how can a mad vampire, who can only live again by finding his Bride, fall for a ghost, who can never become a woman of flesh and blood again?

Prepare yourself for a searing paranormal romance story that is out of this world. It never seizes to amaze me how Kresley Cole can take me on this emotionally intense and at times action packed tale. The love that develops between Conrad and Néomi is so profound that it left me breathless, aching for more as I turned the last chapter but yet utterly satisfied. But it was with the mere first page I was part of The Immortals After Dark World again luring me to keep turning the pages, devouring every scene and in one afternoon I finished DARK NEEDS AT NIGHT'S EDGE.

I must admit that I had a few fears as I heard about this novel and that it would evolve around a ghost and a vampire. The question with the capital Q was:"How is Kresley Cole going to pull it off?" Well let me tell you, she is pulling it off and in an amazing way too. Kresley Cole leaves no doubt that from the minute Conrad and Néomi meet it is all about feelings, not always nice feelings, but true to their characters making them leap of the pages. One of the most erotic scenes in this tale is where Conrad and Néomi verbally seduce each other, a scene so masterfully described it made my heart speed up in anticipation.

Their sensuous passion is a double edged sword, for they both hunger for physical release, they both want to explore. Nonetheless, she as a ghost and he as a vampire who hasn't found his Bride yet, are just incapable of doing much more then talk and fantasize. This gives a feeling of a hauntingly beautiful romance that has very little chance and it makes you empathize with all Conrad and Néomi have to endure. It just made me root for every step forward in their conquest of love. It is not only their sensuality that is captivating. It is also their past that bares the foundation for some gripping events and gives Conrad and Néomi a depth that makes you relate to them so very easily.

What would an Immortal After Dark novel be without the Valkyrie? You just have got to love Nïx as"The Ever-Knowing" soothsayer, her particularly humor as she is consulted by many just makes me wonder with what kind of man she will end up. But most of all she makes me smile and laugh, especially her comment about licking horns just cracked me up! There were various secondary characters like the demons Cade & Rydstrom, the Wroth brothers, more of the Valkyrie coven that all gives authenticity to the Lore, The Accession and the world in general created by Kresley Cole. Though it all gives a splendorous background this novel was all about Conrad, Néomi and their love for each other.

Kresley Cole knows how to give the reader a superb plot, action driven scenes that rises the blood pressure but for me DARK NEEDS AT NIGHT'S EDGE is first and foremost an emotionally moving paranormal romance which can do nothing but reverberate with the paranormal romance reader of now-a-day! A more then worthy addition to this series and I can't wait for DARK DESIRES AFTER DUSK released on June 16th.

reviewed by Leontine
Courtesy of: Realms On Our Bookshelves

Very good read

Having read both Night's Dawn Trilogy and the Commonwealth Saga, I think this is the best of Mr Hamiltons's works.

It has familiar content from the previous Commonwealth story with a lot of new elements. The characters feel alive and realistic. The detail in each scene is just about right - not too wordy but with enough explanation. It is fascinating, exciting, funny in places and leaves the reader guessing, but with enough information coming to light to keep up the interest.

Is is a fairly long book (as are most of his novels) but I found myself towards the end before I realised it. I really want more now!

Another short but entertaining read

These books are a very tried and tested formula but they are very easy to read not very chalanging but extremely hard to put down..

If you liked the first three this is a must..

Hmmmm

For a disclaimer and a little background please take a look at my review of the Players Handbook, it's OK, I can wait here...
Back now? Ok good. :)
Production and so on are as good as the PHB, so pretty good, still don't like the style of the artwork though. :)
The content however is, well, there is a lot there for novice DM's, an awful lot, but it's all 'fluff' some of the things that were covered with helpful tables under old editions, and I'm thinking here of settlement generation, are dismissed in a few paragraphs of generalised advice, some tables would have been nice.
Then again that seems to conflict with their 'the world is just the place between dungeons' feel that pervades this new edition.
The section on traps is nice, and very complete, an improvement on the old section, and thee system for resolving skill based encounters is interesting, if a little simplistic, again I get the feeling they expect you to resolve things by force.
The section on treasure however seems needlessly complicated, and again could REALLY benefit from a couple of extra tables rather than a less than handy thumbnail guide stuck in a paragraph.
I'm pretty certain the combat will play well, but then it does seem now to be the be all and end all of the game.
(I wonder if the adventures will come with pre programmed responses for the NPC's, labelled ABC.)
Frankly important for the treasure rules, and XP, but frankly not really 'crunchy' enough for the veterans among us.
(If I don't know how to make a game fun after 30 years I doubt this book will help)
Caveat. There are ALWAYS new tricks in storytelling to learn, there are a couple in here I hadn't really considered....
Good in parts

Better than many!

This book about Anita Blake is well written and very entertaining perhaps because of rather than despite the lack of the usual large cast of characters. It lets us into the lives of Anita and Jason and we learn more of their earlier lives. It is also better due to a lesser emphasis on marathon sex sessions. There is sex, but it takes second place to the story, which is as it should be and the story benefits from it.

However, that said, it is Anita lite, the plot what there is of it is interesting but there was not enough of it. It is, obviously, setting the scene for the next book in the series it might have been better to have shortened this book and amalgamated with the next one. I personally do not like our author's habit of using an entire book to cover very short periods of time, I would prefer a faster pacing of story lines.

That all said this is a reasonably entertaining book and you should enjoy it.

Quality, grim, fantasy

Totally failed to answer most of the questions in the first two books!
Where do the Shanka come from?
Why is Bethold getting help form the witch?
Where did the fierce come from?
Etc etc.

Still, somehow manages to be a wonderful, laugh outload at the audacity of it, blast of a novel

brilliant

Have to say I was a little sceptical at first but I'm half way through the book and am loving it. Granted, i am an eve online devout but this book is really well written with an interesting storyline. It ties in really well to the game and adds to the all important immersion. What's even better is you get to participate in the new update which allows you to join forces with one of the factions from the book and continue the war

bugging out

a talking book doctor who cd. read by david tennant, who plays the doctor on tv. This runs for two and a half hours spread over two cd's. It's not an audio play, it's more like one of the current range of doctor who novels, being read out by someone.

The story involves the doctor and current companion donna arriving on a world where humans and a race of alien centaurs are fighting a war. strange things are happening to some of the humans, who are turning into monsters. the tardis is lost. and there's a big robot on the loose that seems intent on killing absolutely everything. can the doctor rescue the tardis, stop the war, and find out what's really going on?

This is not a classic story but it's fine for what it is, and hits all the notes you'd expect in regards to things that happen to the tardis crew. david tennant is an excellent reader and very good to listen to. he narrates in his normal tone, but does the doctor's voice for when that character is talking, and provides different voices for all the other characters. one of them I found slightly too comedic but the rest are very good. his impression of donna does slightly sound like her with a blocked up nose, but it's very good indeed.

there are roughly twenty two tracks on each cd but there are no part breaks in the story so it can be a bit long to listen to in one go. and whilst it's a bit slow to start the pacing does really pick up in the second half. so this is nothing special, but it's a good listen, and it's worth 4/5

From Good to Great

A lot of the reviews that I have read for"From Dead to Worse" have not be outstanding, favourable but not outstanding. I have to disagree. I found the book to be highly entertaining and read the book in one sitting - which is quite typical for a book from Charlaine Harris.

Sookie is back home in Bon Temps and the book starts out with the double wedding for the Bellefleur siblings with Sookie standing in as a bridesmaid. Attending the wedding is a otherwordly stranger who becomes part of the main story. Shortly thereafter Sookie's life is threatened (again). We learn that Sookie has family other than Jason, who in the book is a cad with Crystal not much better. Amelia is still living with Sookie when her mentor Octavia Fant tracks her down for the 'Mistake' done to Bob (who by the way has become the proud papa to a litter of kittens). Charlaine also introduces Amelia's father Copley - call me Cope - Copeland. We also learn how Sookie came by her telepathy. Sookie and Eric actually have a real conversation and I feel that their relationship is progressing.

****SPOILER**** Quinn is written out of Sookies life which is a shame as he was not in it for very long. It would be nice if Sookie found her one and only in the following books.

This book ties up a lot of lose ends and answers a lot of questions that you may have in regard to the series. I am eagerly awaiting the next book to begin the next chapter in Sookies life.

This is not a stand alone book you must read the preceding books in the series.

This comic is in the DC Alan Moore compilation

If you want to read this story, it is currently available in DC Universe: The Stories of Alan Moore.

Great story of the creation of the Joker with stunning artwork.