An excellent series, well continued.

THE STORY:
Having barely survived Prince Regal's attempt to kill him, Fitz returns to Buckkeep weakened and with a new position in castle's society. He becomes the apprentice and aide to Prince Verity and must attempt to match wits with Regal whilst ensuring the safety of this he cares about; Burrich, Patience, Verity, Kettricken, Shrewd and the love of his life, a passionate girl named Molly.

WHAT'S GOOD:
Where 'Assassin's Apprentice' asked questions we all ask (Who am I? What is my place in this world?), this book deals with a different element of all our lives; the coming of age. Throughout this book we see Fitz grow from being a mere boy into a man of responsibilty, intelligence and influence. As far as I know, never before has a fantasy author been able to so completely immerse the reader in a character as Hobb emerses us in Fitz, we feel his pain, triumph and frustration as keenly as if they were our own. I cannot recommend this series strongly enough for anyone who wants a change to the 'quest' style of fantasy novel.

WHAT'S BAD:
Two things. Firstly, Regal is a bit too much of a cliched scheming villain, which detracts from the emotional impact of his sadistic plots somewhat. Secondly, this book is just way too depressing! You'll find yourself being unreasonably tense whenever Fitz has a fight with Molly or when a clever plot is foiled by Regal's agents. You'll just wish, in vain, that Fitz will throw caution to the wind and make a stand.

Secon Volume is quality...

Well, theres no Superman fight in this one...so there. But then we don't read comics for gimmickry! Jeph Loeb takes some brave steps with the Batman universe, bringing back old characters, reFACING some (big clue there) and delivering a quality set of stories, which is the best work Loeb has done in a while.
The artwork is also gorgeous, with Jim Lee showing some of the best images of Batman EVER. Its worth the great Amazon £6.99 price, as it used to be £19.99 in hard back.
Why only 4 stars then? Because its too short. This is the problem with comics now; too many adverts mean that individual issues get barely any bang for their buck.
This is the best Batman title in a while though, and its gonna take a lot to beat it.

Superb swashbuckling adventure with a Greek setting

Although this is set in ancient Greece it could really be set in Drenai or any other of Gemmell's worlds as it reads very similar to those, which is no bad thing as no one does heroic fantasy better than Gemmell.

This book is full of action, violence and war-mongering, along with some very well written characters. Gemmell's heros are never whiter than white, they always have their own flaws, which makes them very believable. Another awesome book from Gemmell.

Not this author's best

I recently ordered three books from Amazon: this was the one I was looking forward to the most and, ultimately, enjoyed the least. Maybe my expectations were too high? I'm a huge fan of Patricia Briggs' Mercy Thomson series of books (Moon Called, Blood Bound, Iron Kissed), and couldn't wait to start what seems to be a new series set in the same world. Unfortunately I was disappointed. I won't recap the plot, as that has already been done very efficiently by another reviewer, but for me it had a number of weak points. Anna is a very meek heroine, and for those more used to the feisty Mercy the danger is that her timidity will rapidly pall. Charles, who has always seemed to be an intriguing character, was reduced to little more than a Mills & Boon style hero, and the novel as a whole reminded me strongly of the Lori Handeland werewolf novels - fun enough is you're in the mood for romance with claws but unsatisfying if you were hoping for something meatier. Moreover, we join Anna and Charles in the middle of their story, and what's gone before, which we only get in bits and pieces, sounds a lot more interesting than where we come in. If, like me, you haven't read 'On the Prowl' this is very irritating!

It says a lot that I enjoyed the sneak preview of Bone Crossed we get at the back of the book more than the main feature. For fans of Briggs' Mercy Thomson series this book is worth reading if you would like to know more about some of that series' secondary characters, or as something to fill in the time until Bone Crossed is published. For newbies, I would suggest starting with Moon Called to give you a real example of what this author can do.

Marvellous original Russian fantasy

I agree with the previous reviewers -- read the other two books first. I found this one first without knowing about the others and it was more enjoyable to revisit after the first two. The fantasy world is original, the stories have pace and are full of intrigue like a political novel, the characters, both Light and Dark, interesting, and the dialogue often funny. Each novel has three stories, each of which starts as a separate story but is in fact complexly intertwined with the previous history.
What gave these novels the edge for me is the setting of modern Russia, with its post-Soviet background, the new and the old still side by side, the Moscow street names, the run down trains... Now I understand something about the proper Russian way to drink vodka and why only Russians can do it right.
The camaraderie between the characters -- more with the Light ones -- is satisfying, the way they manage to have fun even though they're engaged in a permanent secret war with the other side, the occasional uneasy fraternizing with the enemy, all contribute to the enjoyment.
By the way, the blurb"Harry Potter, Russian style" on the book covers does not cut it at all, in my view. If you like fantasy and are looking for something original, dark but not dirty, and which may cause you to search your own heart for the good & evil that is there, then I think you'll be well served.

Dark Second Act, or Daft Sequel Axed?

I loved the idea, the artwork and the dialogue of the first book. I also love H.G.Wells' War of the Worlds so expectations were high. Too high as it transpired.

There probably is a great story to be told around the theme of War of the Worlds in much the same way there are endless Star Wars stories woven around the six films, but my overriding impression with this second League book is that Moore was so angry with the movie of the first one that he wanted to write an unfilmable sequel. He succeeded.

Still, there's enough here to keep me keen to read the next instalment. Maybe with lower expectations it will be more satisfying.

Very well written

Yelena was convicted of murdering a General's son and was sentenced to death. As she is walking to her death she is redirected to Valek's (chief of security) office where she is offered a choice: the noose or becoming the food taster for the Commander. Only the next convict sent to their death after the predecessor has died can become the new food taster as it is a death sentence anyway. Yelena accepts Valek's offer but she is not only in danger from possible poisons in the Commander's food but her life is threatened by the grieving General whose son she killed.

When Yelena was convicted no one knew her motive for the murder so everyone believes she is a cold-blooded killer, though Valek rightly begins to suspect otherwise. In this society any unnatural death is murder and therefore the punishment is always execution.

I was intrigued by the political structure in this society. The monarchy was overthrown by the current Commander and a new military structure was put into place. It seems like a very communist society for example, every child at age 12 is assigned a job based on their skills and is entered into training and every person must wear a uniform according to their political and social standing. This is very different to most of the fantasy books I have read.

Yelena was very well written she is a victim to begin with, she would run away at the first sign of trouble but as she is put in more and more danger she decides to find people to teach her some fighting skills. She becomes more confident and stands up to those that are bullying her.

This is a very easy to read fantasy with plenty of action and adventure as well as a slow burning romance. A brilliant start to the Study series

The biggest load of crap I have ever read!

Satanic Verses is quite frankly the biggest load of crap I have ever had the misfortune to read. Salman Rushdie is both a terrible and untalented writer (maybe the worst I have ever read), who has serious emotional problems. If it wasn't for his attack and attempted satire of Islam, making for a controversial topic, he would never have been recognised as a writer, let alone receive a knighthood for his literary services! With strange twisted plots, far too many characters and the akward writing style, I struggled to find the motivation to continue on to the end of this novel. Should you own a copy - rip it into thousands of pieces, burn it, use it for wiping your bottom next time you run out of toilet paper (you choose) - but whatever you do, don't waste your precious time reading this trash! If you are looking for a great read, by a brilliant writer though, do read 'A Thousand Splendid Suns' or 'The Kite Runner' by Khaled Hosseini.

Incredible

I sat and though about the title for this review for a couple of minutes and 'incredible,' I'm afraid to say, was the best I could come up with to describe this book.
As a child I would read comics my father brought back from work. Second hand, many folded, dog eared comics at that. This book was my reintroduction after many years and I have to say a big 'Thank you' to Mr Loeb and Mr Lee for it. My bookcase now labours under the weight of a great many more graphic novels now.
The writing is very clever and I really did not see the ending (of vol. 2 that is) coming. Jim Lee's visuals (and remember this medium is as much about the visuals as it is the story) are quite frankly sublime and, in some instances literally take your breath away.
The negative reviews I see here quite baffle me. I heartily recommend this book, a work of art in every sense.

The Doctor trap made my head spin

"The Doctor Trap" is one of the first Doctor Who novels to feature Donna as the Doctor's companion. Though, through the first half of the book she isn't very present, as the Doctor and her get seperated on the first pages.
Sebastiene, the ruler of his own planet, has set out to hunt the doctor down and kill him. Therefor he brought a couple of hunters to Planet 1, all infamous for wiping out rare species. He even created a Doctor-double, made from the Doctor's"biggest fan", Baris. The Doctor manages to swap places with Baris, though and now has not only to rescue Donna, but also get back his TARDIS and escape from the planet.

When I read the book description, I was afraid this could be a second"Last Dodo", another Doctor Who novel where he is hunted for being the last of his kind. But"The Doctor Trap" certainly does not imitate that one. It is faster and more exciting. Again the Doctor and his companion are very well written (including some small banters the way I liked them on the TV series). Plus, I really had to use my brains at one point - the"Doctor Trap" and it's explanation (or the explanation Sebastien though it had), made my head spin. So confusing.
A really good read I'd certainly recommend to Doctor/Donna friends.

So good.

I'm a great fan of Harry Potter and also liked Septimus Heap from the start. I think that the 2 series are very different: the atmosphere, the period, the way people talked or are dressed... I finished Queste today. I just LOVE books that make me completely forget that I am in the bus going to work and that it takes me a few minutes just to get back to reality. Queste did that.I don't know if it's the last and I hope not. I'll miss the characters too much!

A great book....

... But not one to start the Culture series with.
I found Banks is one you have to ease yourself into, his sardonic take on societies takes a while to get in to. Once you are there though, excellent: Rich, polished caracters and worlds. Very good fun to read.

How long until the next one........???

I loved 'Touch the Dark' and have been dying for the next installment to arrive. Fortunately, it didn't disappoint!

The plot traces Cassie's journey from partial Pythia to the real deal, while acquiring some new problems in the form of a malfunctioning geis and a quest for a book of Merlin's spell - and she's still looking for her vampire nemesis, Tony. The ongoing war that pitches the Vampire Senate and the Silver Circle against Rasputin and the Black Circle is rumbling on, but is not central to developments.

The plot meshes beautifully with the previous novel, with little strands being picked up and developed.

The author's style is fluent and highly engaging. The book is written in the first person from Cassie's perspective and it works really well.

It's also extremely funny in places.

The descriptions in the book are wonderful. Scenes such as Dante's casino are vividly described, but so are the action scenes - and there are some real gems like Mac's tatoo parlour.

Most of the characters from the first book return and there are a few lovely new characters.

Cassie is a great lead character, with lots of personality and her conflicted feelings about her new powers and the motivations of those around her are nicely pitched. Her relationship options get a bit complex, with her getting intimate with one character, desperate to get in the same position with another and rather alarmed to discover another one apparently rather likes her. This is all well handled and the differing responses to each make sense.

Mircea returns and is still enticing although he doesn't have a lot to do apart from respond to the geis and help Cassie out.

We also get to meet Mac, a retired war mage. He's a lovely character and rather uniquely 'good' person in the book.

But the standing ovation has to be reserved for Pritkin. He is such a fantastic character - one of those that just spring up of the page with the force of their personality. He's as aggressive as ever, but occasionally shows some other facets to his personality. Most of my favourite bits of the book had him in.

I can't wait until the next installment.

Great success for Scalzi

Following on from Old Mans War this tale continues in the futuristic world dreamed up by John Scalzi. Whilst to many a sci-fi book relies upon the sheer strength of the science within, Scalzi likes to let his characters do the talking and with each protagonist allowing the sheer strength of character to push the tale futher along. That's his key strength to my mind, the way that he allows them to grow and decide their own destiny within the book. Well written, cracking characters and above all a story where the spirit of man demonstrates what it can truly accomplish when pushed to the limits.