Courtesy of Teens Read Too

I didn't discover the delight that is the ARTEMIS FOWL series until a week ago, when I read ARTEMIS FOWL in one day. So, of course, I had to pick up a copy of THE ARCTIC INCIDENT right away, to see if it was as good as the first. It definitely is, and in my own humble opinion, I think I liked it even better than the first book. There are points throughout the book where Artemis, now thirteen, shows a softer, more vulnerable side that I truly enjoyed. Don't get me wrong, he's still an evil genius, but he's an evil genius with heart, and you can't help but love him.

Now that Angeline Fowl is out of her depression, thanks to some fairy magic from Captain Holly Short, she's sent Artemis back to Saint Bartelby's School for Young Gentlemen in Ireland. Artemis is having quite a large amount of fun flummoxing the school's counselor, Dr. Po, when he gets an urgent message from Butler, his bodyguard/butler/majordomo--it seems that Artemis Fowl the First is alive, being held for ransom by the Russian Mafiya.

Young Artemis, of course, immediately sets out to devise a scheme to rescue his father. It's been almost two years since Artemis Senior was last heard from, and his son is most eager to bring him home. Before he can work out a devious scheme, though, he's visited by none other than Captain Short and her superior, Commander Root, and brought down to Haven City and into Police Plaza. It seems the goblin triad, the B'Wa Kell, have a human counterpart aiding in their smuggling, and Artemis the Second is, quite justly I believe, suspected of being that human.

The fairies soon realize, however, that this time Artemis Fowl isn't the bad guy in this problem. But now they'd like Artemis and Butler's help in figuring out who is behind the alliance between the goblins and the Mud Men--and Artemis is quite willing to help them out, in exchange for the fairies help in rescuing his father.

What follows is an action-packed story of good versus evil below ground, with deceptions, backstabbing, and revenge taking center stage. As Holly, Root, Butler, and Artemis race to save Haven City from being destroyed, some of the same characters from the first book make appearances--Foaly, Mulch Diggums, Cudgeon, and Captain Trouble. There's also a new foe in
THE ARCTIC INCIDENT, Opal Koboi, to be dealt with.

I highly recommend the ARTEMIS FOWL series to anyone and everyone. Highly enjoyable, thoroughly entertaining, and not soon forgotten.

Reviewed by: Jennifer Wardrip, aka"The Genius"

Three and a Half Stars

Magic Study picks up very shortly after the end of Book 1 - Poison Study. Yelena and her companions have journeyed to the land of Sitia, reuniting the stolen children with their parents. Yelena meets up with her own family but this is an awkward reunion. She doesn't stay with them long before journeying on to the Magician's Keep where she must begin her training as a magician. Unfortunately it seems nothing in Yelena's life is fated to go smoothly. Once again, she needs to use her magical abilities to sort everything out and once again it's her own life that's on the line.

There's a lot going on in this story: - Yelena's reunion with her family - the fact that her brother seems to despise her, Yelena enrolling in Magic School, a serial killer, a visit from the Ixian ambassador and the exiled heir of Ixia turns up. It's quite busy plotwise and Yelena is at the centre of it all - which leads to my problem with this book.

I'm not saying I didn't enjoy the story because I did (though not as much as Poison Study). But somewhere in between Book 1 and Book 2, Yelena became a little too arrogant for me. When four master magicians don't know what to do but Yelena does and they're looking to her for help it annoyed me a little. Apart from this her character is still well drawn and you want to read about her and her adventures. It's just grating that she's always right. Even when events spiral beyond her control, things still have to be done Yelena's way, because she knows best. It's a positive thing that she's so independent, but you can't help thinking at certain points that if she had just stopped and asked for help the outcome may have been resolved differently.

Saying that, there were plenty of other things I enjoyed about the story.

Yelena's time in the Magician's school.

The complex relationship she develops with her brother, who was the most interesting character in the book for me.

The visiting Ixian dignitaries because this means Valek, Janco and Ari are in town. Though Valek is not as present in this story as in Poison Study. Which makes sense as this one really is more about Yelena, but it was great to have him turn up. And Maria V. Snyder maximizes the impact of his appearances.

It quickly becomes apparent that Sitia is just as dangerous a place, if not more so, than Ixia, but in different ways.

I think middle books in trilogies can be tricky. So I am left wondering how fair it is to grade this book on its own, without knowing how the third book goes. I am heartened by reading other reviews that consider this the weakest of the three, as hopefully that means Fire Study is a return to form. I will be getting Fire Study but I don't have the desperate urge to immediately get it, that I did for Magic Study.

New series from the author of 'Moon Called'

'Moon Called', 'Blood Bound' and 'Iron Kissed', the Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs, are excellent books. 'Cry Wolf' is a book in a different series but with many characters the same. At the beginning of the story the hero and heroine have already met each other and discovered that they are 'mated' - these events took place in the short story in the anthology 'On The Prowl'. Although I've read that story it was some time ago and I couldn't remember all that much about it, I think it would have been helpful for it to have been printed at the beginning of this book to set the scene.

However part of Patricia Briggs' writing skill is that her books work as standalone novels, even when part of a series. It doesn't take too long before the reader learns about the life of Anna Latham who was Changed to a werewolf three years ago and kept under the thumb of the evil Alpha Leo. She was rescued eventually by Charles Cornick, brother of Samuel who appears in the Mercy Thompson series and son of Bran, the Marrok or top werewolf of North America. Charles is taking her back to their home in Montana and as they arrive Anna starts to wonder what her place will be in this world, what skills she has and whether she can fit in.

Charles is his father's enforcer, hired muscle to deal with problem werewolves, and he's worried that gentle Anna who has been badly treated by werewolves might struggle with this. However before they have any real time to settle in Charles is sent out into the Cabinet mountains in Montana to investigate reports of a vicious werewolf attack, and Anna comes with him. As they uncover evidence of what took place it becomes clear that there are links to events that took place hundreds of years ago, that some other wolves in Bran's pack may share some responsibility for events, and that they are working against an evil person.

Although I enjoyed this story I didn't engage with it in quite the same way as the Mercy Thompson series. This tale is told in the third person so we see events from Anna's and Charles's view, sometimes from other characters too, which gives us perhaps a more rounded but less involved take on events. The relationship between Anna and Charles didn't entirely work for me and I felt that I didn't learn a great deal about their characters. However the book was very informative about Bran and the werewolf structure and history and there were some interesting side characters such as the briefly-met Leah, wife to Bran.

I don't think that Patricia Briggs can write a bad book. However this one wasn't quite to the standard of 'Moon Called' and 'Blood Bound' in my opinion and it's not one for my keeper shelf. The teaser excerpt from the next Mercy Thompson book, Bone Crossed, looked very good though, and I look forward to her next novel with great anticipation.

Dissapointment

I was really anticipated in the release of this book, and I managed to get it really quick, way before a lot of people. However, after I read a few chapters I was dissapointed in what I had read so far.

I have been a devoted James Patterson fan for a very long time and his website mentioned the long anticipated realease of this book, with the trailor of the book being screened on the homepage of the author's website. The trailor had fooled me into thinking this was a book full of action and thriller, however it was nothing but a childrens book with wierd names given to aliens and with a very weak plot.

It may be that if you are a Maximum ride fan, this book might appeal to you, but as mentioned before it certainly shows that James Patterson was debating with himself if the book is aimed at adults or for a younger audience. Hopefully, he will come up with better thrilling plots and stories for any of his future sci-fi books.

A science fiction masterwork

This is one of the most important books of the genre. Yes he got some things wrong - like the cost of Ram (but so did Bill Gates).

The book is something totally new and definitive. It lets you see the dark underside of a internet world. While there are flavours of Metropolis, describing how we deal with human computer interaction, it is mainly a thriller in a technological world.

Winter comes for Tiffany

As the third book in the Tiffany Aching series `Wintersmith' had a lot to live up to as `Hat Full of Sky' was one of my favourite books and while it didn't totally live up to its predecessor `Wintersmith' is still thoroughly entertaining. This book begins with Tiffany, now almost thirteen, working with the eccentric old witch Miss Treason but when she is taken to witness a mysterious dance in the middle of the night she gets caught in the moment and things can only get worse. Now the personification of Winter is in love with her, Annagramma is making a mess of things and the gods are spying on her.

Although not as good as the previous book in the series `Wintersmith' is still a cut above many books that I have read and continues to make the Tiffany Aching books some of the best in the Discworld series. The first quarter of the book is slightly lacklustre but the story soon picks up in chapter five, which in and of it self has some of the most beautifully written scenes that I have read in a while. Terry Pratchett is a brilliantly imaginative writer and this book shows off his talents will, blending mythology, folklore and common sense into a brilliantly funny, involving and in places tender story.

Very, very poor.

Having been enthralled by the originality and breakneck speed of the first three books of this series, I was looking forward to this immensley; sadly it's a disaster.

Pros: The prose is decent and and fairly readable. Jamie Lannister's chapters are probably worth a read.

Cons: Martin has always had a problem with being long-winded. Why write two words when five thousand will do? This has led to the whole series being much longer and more bloated than necessary, but it reaches ridiculous proportions here. Everything that happens in this book could have been covered in three or four chapters at most.

All the most interesting chapters of this series have taken place in the North and 'Across the Sea', the two locations Martin ignores in this book. Instead we're left with King's Landing, Dorne and the Iron Islands. Without Tyrion Lannister, the politicking of King's Landing is mere drudgery, whilst the introduction of Dorne and the Islands as locations halfway through a multi-book series is a mistake. A whole swathe of new characters is introduced, such that it becomes virtually impossible to keep track of them all.

One gets the feeling that, for whatever reason, Martin actively chose to put all of the most irritating, pointless elements of the series into this book. Many characters have had a tendency to wander without purpose for page after page; here Brienne of Tarth does this ad naseum. Certain characters have been irritating in the extreme without advancing the plot one iota; here we have Sansa Stark and Samwell Tarly. While their endless whining and self-pity might have some overall valuable purpose in the series, their chapters are nonetheless unreadable sludge.

I have complained before about Martin's view of sexuality, and nothing improves here. No character is capable of describing the human body without a stock of about four words; breasts are ALWAYS 'teats', the male genitals are always 'cocks', etc. Sex occurs only when you wish to control or harm somebody else. Meanwhile not a single couple makes love with even a hint of tenderness. Add in some gratuitous lesbianism and one begins to feel that Martin handed over the writing of the character's sexuality to a fifteen year old.

Ultimatley, this book is a waste of time. The overarching plot is not advanced at all. There are so many new characters and locations that you may begin to question if you're reading 'A Song of Ice and Fire' at all, and all Martin's worst stylistice traits are magnified by about a thousandfold. If you absolutley MUST read this book, then borrow it from a library, don't waste your hard-earned cash. While I bought this without reading any reviews, such was my love for the first three books, I certainly won't be touching the next installment without extensive review-reading beforehand.

Better Than Fantastic!

Best book EVER! I can't decide whether I liked this better or the gift better. One thing the books have in common: I COULDN'T PUT THEM DOWN!

If you are considering reading the series DO IT! DO IT!

Well done on a wonderful sequel!

Ree123
xxx

Lost sleep

This book is the best in the series by far. I read the first in the series of George Martin's 'A Song of Ice and Fire' and I was blown away by it. So much so I wrote a review here on Amazon to exult it to those considering buying it. I have now read Book 1, 2, 3 part 1 and this book, A Storm of Swords: Blood and Gold, Book 3 Part 2. I was let down by book 2 and 3 part 1, they were good but not great and if I tried to write a review I could not because the plot all amalgamated into a fuzzy series of events that I think should have been shortened down. However this book makes up for the previous 2 completely. It is a fantastic read and truly insomnia-inflicting! I could not put this book down virtually till I finished it. There are more twists and turns in this book than any of the previous. Events that were dragged out in the previous two are teetered over the edge and thrown off into a thundering development that you cannot help but get swept up in. Remarkably characters that were evil redeem themselves, characters that were good frustrate and annoy the reader.

Martin's use of the written language makes him a master at his craft and can slow or pick up the pace at will and completely manipulate your emotions. If you are reading this review then I presume that you have read at least the first one in the series 'A game of Thrones' therefore I wont summarise the plot incase I ruin it for anyone.

If by book 3 part 1 your getting a little stuck in the mud from the length of the story and the lack of significant movement then please read on because it is worth it to reach this far.

Fullfilling!

All the things that wernt quite right about the previous book (Noive) including lack of excitment, and forgotten characters, are all fixed in this book!
To anyone who read Noive, and thought"well its not worth reading the next one" I urge you to re-think.
Sonea really deveopled into a young woman in this book, and Ceryi was rememberd! You see new sides to the High lord, and un-answerd questions are finally answeard!
An excellent read, well worth it!

And it started so well....

This series started brilliantly and somewhere down the line began to take itself way too seriously. The amount of waffle by the characters in this book makes you think you are reading a play. The author seems to want to draw things to a close by making all of his characters give incredibly longwinded explanations to things that have happened in previous volumes. I am glad that this series has finished, the main character Richard starts off as an easy going sort of bloke trying to do the best he can and falling in love, it ends up with him preaching so long and hard about the virtues of mankind, freewill, and the tyranny of all those that oppose it that he actually becomes more annoying than the forces he opposes, who are doing the same thing from the other side!! He would have made Cromwell's staunchest Ironside seem like a card carrying member of the Stringfellows club! Give this series a miss, unless you have already begun - in which case I wish you luck seeing it through to the greatest anticlimax in fantasy writing history!

Gripping but....

Picking up right where 'A Game of Thrones' left off, 'A Clash of Kings' is just as gripping as its predecessor and is a very captivating book. The series main strength is the presence of some fantastic characters, most notably Tyrion Lannister, one of the best anti-heroes I've come across in fiction. One thing that must be made quite apparent though is that one should utterly ignore the ridiculous quote on some versions of his books that George RR Martin is 'the American Tolkien.' Other than the fact that they both have two 'R's' in their name and have books on sale in the 'Fantasy' section of your local bookshop, there is no call for comparison. Tolkien invented modern fantasy and set out a template which far too many authors have simply ripped off (the unlikely hero, the quest, the band of heroes etc.) Martin deliberatley ignores or subverts these conventions and indeed his work is much closer, in the main, to historical fiction. To sum up; there's no reason to suppose a fan of Tolkien's will enjoy Martin's style.

On the positive side: Martin is a very good writer. The plot is intricate and epic, and the dialogue is far beyond the vast, vast majority of fantasy novels. As well as that he's writing for the adult market; there's plenty of adult humour and situations, while there's a goodly, but not gratutious amount of swearing. It all adds to the realism of the book. You really get the sense that you're reading a warts and all account of a bygone era. Too often fantasy writers aim for the young adult end of the market and end up offering up incipid novels in which nobody (even the most hardened warriors) ever curses, has sex or uses the toilet.

On the negative side: Martin is far better at the 'swords' end of the 'swords and sorcery' business, to the extent that the 'magical' elements of the story (such as they are), feel out of place. It's rather like reading a blood and guts account of the Wars of the Roses when all of a sudden a warlock shows up. The sections that involve magical elements are by far the weakest parts of the book.

And one MAJOR gripe I have is that for all his skills with words, Martin's characters seem utterly incapable of using more than two words to describe the male and female genitals (a hint, they're both 'C' words). It's not a matter of prudishness, it's simply that the English language contains an unbelievable wealth of words for human anatomy and yet Martin can't seem to get away from those two terms. In every intimate scene between two characters whether higborn or peasant, male or female etc. they all talk like sailors. Indeed none of the sex scenes in the first two books are very appealing. Rather than offering a tender riposte to the savagery on display in the rest of the book, sex is rough and unpleasant throughout.

That said the good parts far outweigh the bad, and it's a fantastic series of books so far; captivating, well plotted, and well worth investing time in.

the ginger goddess

an original novel based on the tv show doctor who, telling an all new story in prose form. featuring the tenth doctor as played by david tennant on tv, with his companion donna noble, who was played by catherine tate.

as usual with this range of books, the novel runs for roughly 248 pages of relatively large print, and can be read by readers of all ages, and the two lead characters are perfectly captured, with dialogue that you can well imagine the tv version saying.

does this one stand out from the range?

set in a distant galaxy it's determinedly alien in setting and succeeds in creating such a world, but it's more than accessible and never too alien. the doctor and donna are caught up in a struggle between an anti robot group and those out to stop them, and both are after control of a powerful artefact. a chase around the galaxy to reassemble it follows, and the book moves at a nicely fast pace as a result.

some comedic scenes and moments are well played and never silly, and there is a strong moral message at the heart of the story that will give you pause for thought.

the pace does let up slightly mid way through, but it manages to recover in time for a decent finale.

as with all of this range, they are not great literature, but this is an above average entry in the series and a decent enough read if you want a new doctor who story

I didn't like it.....................

To be honest I was expecting a lot more from this book. I found it very"thin". I like the Witches better

The best in the series so far.

Except for Descent of Angels, all books in the Heresy series have been great. Still, Legion tops them all. The Alpha Legion is by far the most interesting chapter featured so far (and im not usually for the Traitors...honestly!), and the literary quality of the writing is really astonishing. Where some of the other book have relied heavily on the fantastic W40K uninverse to see them through, Legion is an awesome book all in itself.

Skip Descent of Angels, which sucked, and go straight to Legion.

I love it (and Pritkin)

Cassie's back and I've been waiting impatiently. There is just something about this series that really works for me. I love the characters, I enjoy the dialogue, the descriptions are great and the historical detail is interesting, but I think the main thing for me is that the books are fun in genre that can take itself far too seriously.

Anyway on with the review, which is quite tough to write without giving important stuff away - a lot happens in this book!

'Embrace the Night' opens with Cassie in Paris with John Pritkin, the renegade war mage and on the trail of the Codex Merlini. She needs Merlin's spellbook to lift the geas which binds her (twice over) to Mircea the vampire and which is becoming more destructive. She also needs to fulfil her promise to the Fey King to recover the book.

As always this turns out to be a far from straightforward task. Cassie finds herself zipping backwards and forwards in the timeline, meeting earlier versions of Mircea and Pritkin, and causing chaos. There are some major revelations and betrayals along the way.

Cassie has definitely grown during the books. She is much more in control in this one. Deciding what needs to be done and doing it, but she's still really likeable. She won't leave Pritkin to die at the start of the book when they get trapped in the catacombs and rescues a group of children with mixed magical gifts.

I loved the idea of Cassie being forced to endure Pritkin as her personal trainer and him forcing her to go jogging and to learn to sword fight.

It'll be interesting to see where Cassie goes next - trusting people remains a big issue for her.

Then there's Pritkin. I love, love, love this character (and not just because he can speak Welsh!) At one point Cassie describes Pritkin as"smart and brave and sometimes strangely funny" and that's how I see him too.

He's such an intense character, always taking direct action - there's a wonderful straightforwardness to him, even though it's obvious that he has a number of very big secrets. Some of these secrets come out in this book. One of them - about who he really is - I thought was rather fitting, the other - about what he really is - I'm still not quite sure about.

His relationship with Cassie goes through some big up and downs, but he's the character that I like seeing at her side - there's an equality in their relationship which is absent when she's with Mircea. As much as Cassie likes Mircea (and vice versa) I can't shake the fact that, at its heart, their relationship is based on a little girl's crush. Whereas with Pritkin it's a constant tussle for control - their sword training session epitomised this and is one of my favourite scenes - but deep down both of them seem to care about each other - whether it's trying to cure his caffine addiction or searching desperately for a spell to break the geas.

That said I do like Mircea and wasn't too unhappy with where the book took him and Cassie. I guess I just find scruffy, intense and direct sexier than tall, dark and suave.

The tone of this book seemed slightly different to the first two. Despite all the time shifting, there was a clear sense of progression towards the end goal - getting rid of the geas.

By the end of the book, it's clear that Cassie has accepted her powers and has a new sense of purpose. The final scene left me feeling that the first act of this story has ended, but there are going to be some much bigger fish to fry in the next installment, which I will be waiting for very impatiently.

Children's novel

This is a good children's book. I give a 3 star rating regarding it's enjoyability as an adult reading this. There were a few instances in this book where the storyline felt like re-hashing of another story I'd read somewhere else.