a story for all time, all ages

This is a classic story for children, set in the 50's, it is about time, memory and friendship.
Tom, lonely and isolated as he is in quarantine, finds his way back in time, at night (when the hall clock strikes 13), to a wonderful old garden and a little girl called Hattie, who, to his curiosity, is dressed in old fashioned clothes. The two lonely children become friends and I don't want to give away the beautifully devoloped plot, but Tom slowly realises that Hattie is growing up, while he remains the same age.
The atmosphere of the story is both mysterious and engaging, as Tom slowly works out where he is and who Hattie really is.
The end of the story takes in the biblical idea of time coming to and end, or the modern notion of not existing at all and the recognition that Tom and Hattie can/could be friends across time and for always.

"I know you're a mass murderer, but can't we be friends?"

Alan Moore provides the reader with plenty motivation for us to hate the Joker in this short story; so much in fact that it make's Commisioner Gordon's response largely unbelievable, and Batman's 'let's be friends, I can help you' reaction somehow cowardly. The villain is elevated to such a level of cruelty and malice that Batman's idealistic moral outlook has no counter. The result is Batman comes off as a wimp.

The artwork by Boland is wonderful, but probably the worst story I've read of Moore's.

A worthy introduction but only goes so far

This book is a useful tool for students wishing to grasp the basics, and sample a broad range, of critical approaches to literature. However, if you wish to explore a particular approach to a higher level, then this book will not be adequate on its own. For example, the fact that only a few pages are dedicated to the concept of 'gender' goes to show that this really is only an introductory work, and it could be argued that literary theory is not something that can be 'summed up' in the form of brief, introductory chapters.

Having said this, each chapter provides reading lists for additional relevant material, and therefore it is a good way to break into the field. Just be prepared to get in the library and seek out other books if a particular approach interests you. Don't expect to rely entirely on this.

A good story for children and grown-ups, too

"The Hobbit" was published in 1937 for the first time, and it was because of it that"The Lord of the Rings" came into existence. It's funny and entertaining, and it shows Bilbo Baggins' most important adventure of his life in an appealing manner. One should clearly understand that this book was at first intended for Tolkien's own children, and only later was published. One should therefore not expect the powerful and often deadly serious narrative of"LotR". As a trivial example, Sauron is not named in"The Hobbit", but appears under the name"the Necromancer", and is of no importance other than keeping Gandalf away from the party of Dwarves for a while, thus allowing for more breath-taking adventures.

I recommend this book if you are parents of young children (Rayner Unwin, the first reviewer, was 10 when he approved for it and convinced his father to print it), since it is an easy reading, that can develop a taste for Tolkien and deeper novels, such as"LotR" or"The Silmarillion". Also, if you've read"LotR", give"The Hobbit" a try - it's not at all a bad story.

An exercise in cynical publishing

This volume has never been proof-read by anything or anyone with a level
of consciousness above that of an amoeba; at best it was processed through an automated grammar and spell checker; it's full of typographic errors, it's full of incorrectly utilised words, it has missing words, it has repeated words, it has .... the list goes on.

Worst of all these errors are persistent and frequent. It's a rare page that doesn't have one error or another, many have several.

One expects and allows for the odd mistake or typo, but this is at the
level which - if one is in the least bit sensible of language -
utterly destroys the enjoyment and readability of the work.

Frankly, I'm exceptionally disappointed in Harper Collins, and I'd expect Mr Feist to be equally disappointed and angry. One wonders if the US editions of the work suffer in the same manner.

Don't buy this unless you're extremely patient and even-tempered.

Yes it is not the best but.....

I know that this is not the best in the series but read it anyway, i still enjoyed it. I believe that anyone is allowed a off day! so just read it!!!!!

Ruthless

The Prince... well its difficult to describe exactly what it entails. I think to start with all who consider going into politics or any kind of management role should be handed a copy of this book at the same time as they recieve their application forms. It is ruthless but efficient also and so its central premises should always be remembered, particularly by our governing bodies.
Machiavelli writes with a self assurance which is refreshing in an age of hesitation and self correction.
I'm not convinced that this was a life changing book for me to read, it certainly affected my attitudes and values but is not a inspirational self help book (not that its supposed to be).
I recommend this to anyone who has an interest in history or in politics.

Richard, go back to what you know.

I'm a big fan of Richard Morgan's work. He has put out tremendous stories -- this isn't one of them. Most of what he wrote appeared to be an attempt to break from the nomral fantasy genre and put some shock value. However, along the way, he missed the fact that you need a strong story and I never really cared for any of the main characters. If you haven't purchase this yet, you should consider it based on the strength of his past success -- you might like it, I didn't. I'll wait until he goes back to the SciFi.

Themes and images I enjoyed thinking about.

When I completed reading,"A Doll's House", by Henrik Ibsen, I had thoroughly enjoyed, this particluar piece of literature and thought about how its themes and images, relate to my own personal experiences. Not only does the play have its motives for the past, but it also serves as a revealing a moral message for modern day society.

Whilst reading the text, Ibsen allows me to mentally picture,"A Doll's House", by so many walls and"doors", which confined the chararcters to becoming alienated within their own environment.

From beginning to end, the text focuses on how Nora becomes isolated by her husband's dominance, which is portrayed through his patronizing behaviour. He calls her,"little spendrift","little squirrel" and manipulates his,"doll wife" when he articulates her moves, for practicing the"Tarrantella". Overall, Nora becomes the,"songbird" trapped within a cage.

Krogstad is symbolic for bringing the threat of the outside world, into Nora's idealized home, through his blackmailing behaviour. It is frightening to know the damage it causes to ruin a beautiful relationship, which is based on a lie, that metophorically contaminates and poisons individuals within an enclosed home.I found that the atmosphere was so stifiling for the characters,I felt symapthetic towards them.

Ibsen's moral message entails, in order for women to feel independent, they need to get to know themselves, so they are able to experience, develop knowledge and deal with the outside world alone. This is what Ibsen wanted to portray to a Nineteenth Century audience.Ibsen's play relates to everyday experiences, such as,"debt", causing a home to,"never be a place of freedom and beauty". This piece of literature is so powerful, that I believe it is one of Ibsen's most striking master pieces, I have ever read that deals with conventions and norms of women living in a Victorian masculine society.

One to watch! this new book is awesome

I'm always hesitant about trying new authors but wow was i glad i did. Very enjoyable, gripping book- finished it in 2 days. Now have to wait another yr for the next one AHHHHH

Another triumph

As a huge fan of Kelley Armstrong's books i eagerly awaited this new series and was not let down. Although this book does seem to be aimed at a slightly younger audience than the Otherworld series, i would still recommend reading it and yes it can be read in only a couple of sittings. Cant wait for the next in the series though

Awful

Very disappointed with this book... In fact I threw it away four fifths of the way through after finally giving up. Angel Stations is one of my favorite SciFi books of all time, its original, well written and the characters engaging and well developed. By contrast Stealing Light is poorly written derivative trash. The plot is a rehash of ideas that have been written many times before (David Brin anyone?) and the characters are very superficial, unbelievable and I found myself feeling no empathy whatsoever.
Go buy the new Ian M Banks book instead...

"Magic Moments"

Tilly has wild aspirations of becoming a famous opera diva.
Sandra dreams of creating the perfect bra to revolutionize womens' lives and what has become of Professor Martin Presley whose scientific discovery has the worst repercussions ever?

These are just some of the topics explored in"Magic", which is an interesting anthology produced for The National Council For One-Parent Families. It aims to raise money to support the millions of single parents, like myself, facing financial hardship in bringing up a child single-handedly.
Its forward is by J.K Rowling, Ambassador of this charity and herself a lone parent once caught in the poverty trap.

The stories are kindly donated by well-accomplished authors including Fay Weldon, Sue Townsend and John O' Farrell.
Oozing originality, its tales stretch the imagination and provide its reader with escapism in abundance whilst also supporting a worthwhile cause.
Hocus Pocus this is not. This is British Fiction at its finest.

An enjoyable collection of Doctor Who stories

The Doctor Who Storybook from Panini Books is good value for money. There are seven text stories and one comic strip, all illustrated in full colour by different artists. With stories written from some of the television series writers, the Doctor and Donna have been captured perfectly and it is easy to imagine the characters enacting the parts described in the text. This book comes highly recommended and is a suitable companion to the Doctor Who AnnualThe Official"Doctor Who" Annual ("Doctor Who").

Already waiting for the next Spook book

Never fails to amaze me how good this series is. Every book so far has had me wanting to read it in one go.
This will appeal to all age groups and I could not praise it enough. I like the fact that the books are a good size (always leaving you wanting more) and have stuck on a good price and not become too expensive.
Meet the authour recently and he hopes to be doing about 8 or 9 books overall. Cant wait. And will be interesting to see what the film will be like.

Third in Tairen Soul series

C L Wilson's first two books in this series, 'Lord of the Fading Lands' and 'Lady of Light and Shadow' were an astonishing debut pair of novels that introduced us to the world of Rain Tairen Soul, a shapechanging powerful fey King and his truemate, apparently ordinary Ellysetta Baristani. But there was far more to Ellysetta than met the eye and the first two novels showed how her powers were gradually revealed and how she began to understand her position as truemate to Rain.

The third book, 'King of Sword and Sky', continues the story directly after the end of the previous book. After the shock of Elly's mother's death, she and Rain, their bodyguards and the remaining members of her family set off for the Fading Lands. However this isn't going to be happy ever after, there are many problems within the lands of the Fey as their lands become barren, their women no longer have children and the Tairen, the great cat-like flying beasts, also seem to be sickening. Can Elly's arrival change things, or will the dark forces that are buried deep inside her cause problems? Can Rain continue to be king or will his association with Elly mean that he is placed under suspicion? Can Elly come to terms with her powers and will she understand from where they spring?

I read this book almost a year after reading the previous two and it took me some time to get up to speed with the story, events, characters and - particularly - terminology. This would be a very difficult book to understand if you hadn't read the previous books and it makes few concessions to a reader with a rusty memory. The author piles on more and more terminology and phrases in Feyan, a foreign language that appears to be liberally sprinkled with apostrophes. I found the first half of the book particularly heavy going and it seemed to take a long time to get round to any action. Elly is still a rather difficult character, one who leaps before she looks and who tends to do her own thing, albeit with usually the best of motivations. There were some slightly disturbing scenes in which the evil High Mage played a part and there was more focus on sex than in the previous book.

Despite some of these criticisms this was still a very good book. C L Wilson's imagination is impressive, her list of characters interesting and varied and her worldbuilding congruent. Those who enjoyed the previous books will enjoy the continuation of the story - as long as they can remember the people, events and Feyan phrases from the previous two books!

Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book © Helen Hancox 2008

Very different from the other books in the series but equally fantastic

Barcode: 9780141320793

This is Artemis Fowl on an epic scale. Taking longer to get into than the other novels in the series, this is in every way a completely different aspect of the series in its content. In many ways it presents a far more mature scenario, going hand in hand with Artemis's growing maturity as he reaches puberty. The introduction of the demon world adds to this as we follow No1, a young imp shunned by his peers.

Once the book kicks into the swing of things though, it contains some of the best moments of the Artemis Fowl series so far. The break-in to Minerva's house is classic high-octane action in the way Colfer does so well. Minerva herself is a charming character and a fascinating deviation from the classically evil villains of the previous books in the series. In many ways she is basically the female Artemis Fowl and of course, the chemistry between the two is awesome.

All the usual jokes and smart humour is present here, ensuring an immesnely enjoyable read and the conclusion of the novel (last 100 pages or so) is epic in its awesomeness. From the dramatic showdown on the Tapei Tower to a certain scene in the demon world that is heartbreaking in how moving it is, you come to see Artemis in a whole new light.

As a whole, the Lost Colony represents a fascinating new chapter in the series and i can't wait to see where things go from here. Highly recommended!

Brilliant

There's nothing I can say except"absolutely brilliant". I have never read a more refreshing, thought-provoking, moving or, most importantly, entertaining children's series.