Five out of five stars.
Author: Rick Riordan
Third installment in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series.
Another amazing, hilarious, and exciting book. I really have nothing to add to what I've already said about the series. The story continues to flow well. The additional twists and turns were surprising and delightful. Read the books! :-)
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Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Percy Jackson and the Olympians - The Sea of Monsters
Five out of five stars.
Author: Rick Riordan
Publisher (paperback): Hyperion, 2007
Second installment in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series.
I absolutely loved this book. It was a fast read (only took a few hours) and built perfectly on the world established in the first book. The Greek gods played their parts wonderfully (especially Hermes! ("I didn't know whether to kneel or buy postage stamps")) and I loved the foreshadowing for the rest of the series.
Like the first book, the dialogue was easy to read, and I laughed out loud several times. The action was believable. I loved the different twists that were thrown in when Percy and his friends needed help. The "monsters" fit the book perfectly and added to the Greek feel.
I'm looking forward to reading the third book. :-)
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Author: Rick Riordan
Publisher (paperback): Hyperion, 2007
Second installment in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series.
I absolutely loved this book. It was a fast read (only took a few hours) and built perfectly on the world established in the first book. The Greek gods played their parts wonderfully (especially Hermes! ("I didn't know whether to kneel or buy postage stamps")) and I loved the foreshadowing for the rest of the series.
Like the first book, the dialogue was easy to read, and I laughed out loud several times. The action was believable. I loved the different twists that were thrown in when Percy and his friends needed help. The "monsters" fit the book perfectly and added to the Greek feel.
I'm looking forward to reading the third book. :-)
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Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Thirteenth Child
Author: Patricia C. Wrede
Publisher: Scholastic Press, 2009
I give this book 2.5 stars out of 5. Why I'm not giving it less is because I really didn't mind reading it, even though it was almost a waste of time. The writing flowed well, the characters had interesting personalities, and the idea behind the book was a good one.
What I didn't like about it, however, was the fact that the first 240ish pages were introduction to the last 100 pages. The book didn't get into the meat of things until near the end when the excitement started. What I mean about this is that whenever an exciting thing happened it was skimmed over with no real detail given. It felt like a journal - no attachment to anyone or anything, just a synopsis of what happened. It briefly skimmed through 13 years, starting when the POV (Point of View) was 5 and ending when she was 18. There were no jumps in time, just updates every couple of months. If the main characters had died I wouldn't have felt bad since they didn't feel real to me and the POV's feelings weren't really attached to them. Also, I felt like there was a lot of buildup to an exciting and dangerous climax which turned out to be nothing more than what the actual first chapter should have been - a way to get the story started.
On a good note, the premise was interesting. It's about magicians (not Harry Potter type magicians) in a frontier type America overrun with magical creatures. The magicians struggle to keep themselves safe from these animals by using different types of magic and different spells. For a sick day it was easy enough to read without having to put in a lot of concentration. If it turns out to be a series I'll probably read the next one in the hopes that the story will take off.
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Publisher: Scholastic Press, 2009
I give this book 2.5 stars out of 5. Why I'm not giving it less is because I really didn't mind reading it, even though it was almost a waste of time. The writing flowed well, the characters had interesting personalities, and the idea behind the book was a good one.
What I didn't like about it, however, was the fact that the first 240ish pages were introduction to the last 100 pages. The book didn't get into the meat of things until near the end when the excitement started. What I mean about this is that whenever an exciting thing happened it was skimmed over with no real detail given. It felt like a journal - no attachment to anyone or anything, just a synopsis of what happened. It briefly skimmed through 13 years, starting when the POV (Point of View) was 5 and ending when she was 18. There were no jumps in time, just updates every couple of months. If the main characters had died I wouldn't have felt bad since they didn't feel real to me and the POV's feelings weren't really attached to them. Also, I felt like there was a lot of buildup to an exciting and dangerous climax which turned out to be nothing more than what the actual first chapter should have been - a way to get the story started.
On a good note, the premise was interesting. It's about magicians (not Harry Potter type magicians) in a frontier type America overrun with magical creatures. The magicians struggle to keep themselves safe from these animals by using different types of magic and different spells. For a sick day it was easy enough to read without having to put in a lot of concentration. If it turns out to be a series I'll probably read the next one in the hopes that the story will take off.
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Saturday, June 20, 2009
Percy Jackson and the Olympians - The Lightning Thief
Absolutely loved this book. Five out of five stars.
Rick Riordan writes in a style that is easy for me to read and enjoy. While reading the book I only remembered a couple of times that I was also an author. This is huge! I found the dialogue believable and spellbinding. I found the characters interesting, funny, and I rooted for them all along. The story line was enjoyable, and there were several times when I felt like shouting "Hurray!" for something Percy did or said. It definitely delivered on its promise.
And I just learned it is being made into a movie! Yay!
Note: it isn't necessary to have an in depth knowledge of Greek gods or history to enjoy the book.
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Rick Riordan writes in a style that is easy for me to read and enjoy. While reading the book I only remembered a couple of times that I was also an author. This is huge! I found the dialogue believable and spellbinding. I found the characters interesting, funny, and I rooted for them all along. The story line was enjoyable, and there were several times when I felt like shouting "Hurray!" for something Percy did or said. It definitely delivered on its promise.
And I just learned it is being made into a movie! Yay!
Note: it isn't necessary to have an in depth knowledge of Greek gods or history to enjoy the book.
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