Tag: 2007

Sea of Shadow

~ Bookstooge ~ 2 Comments

Sea of Shadow
The Twelve Kingdoms #1
Fuyumi Ono
light novel
4 stars
462 pages

A girl is confronted by a stranger who gives his allegiance to her and then is swept into another world. Yoko starts out as a self-centered, cowardly whining girl. By the end of the novel she is a strong, capable woman. Turns out she is the next Queen of Kei. This is the book that the anime was based on but this was much tighter and focused exclusively on Yoko. I really liked it and look forward to the next 10 novels as they are released.

Hyperion

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Hyperion
Hyperion Cantos #1
Dan Simmons
SF
4 stars
512 pages

The Hegemony of Man, the TechnoCore[AI’s] and the Ousters[humans who fled into space to escape the Hegemony] all collide on the world of Hyperion. A world where Time Tombs are in an entropic field which seems to be moving backwards. 7 travelers come together to seek the Shrike, mystical/mythical Lord of Pain, thinking that one of them will be granted their wish and the other 6 taken in sacrifice.

This book concentrates on their backstories and what brought them to Hyperion. Excellent writing. The only things I had against it was the profanity used, frequently, by one character and a couple of instances of semi-graphic sexuality.

Heaven’s Net is Wide

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Heaven’s Net is Wide
Tales of the Otori #0
Lian Hearn
fantasy
3 stars
484 pages

follows Shigeru and his brother Takeshi; Otori who are betrayed and fall under the power of Iida. Gives the back story of all that happened before Takeo is found. This series is a brutal look at feudal life. Women were helpless, those not of nobility were helpless and death was but one step away for almost everyone. Also delved into the Hidden a lot more. Showing the difference between their regard and love for life in contrast to the Warrior Class’s lust for death and personal power. Truly, Christianity is the only thing that will save this world.

Prince of Chaos

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Prince of Chaos
Amber #10
Roger Zelazny
fantasy
2 stars
225 pages

Ok, Merlin is going to become the King of Chaos, to keep peace between the Pattern and the Logrus. Corwin has been imprisoned, and basically it is Corwin/Oberon all over again. How dumb can guys get? Zelazny simply cannot seem to allow his characters to live their lives. I believe this is the last original Amber novel. I’ve heard there are prequels written by another author, but I don’t have any interest in those.