Combo Yêu Không Bến Bờ (Bộ 3 Cuốn) tải về miễn phí cuốn sách

Jane Lukas lukashenko6702 — Atticus O'Sullivan is older than he looks. By about two millennia. But that hasn't stopped him from trying to lead a 'normal' life in Tempe Arizona. Unfortunately, when a human, and a Druid no less, has lived for 2000+ years one is bound to make some enemies, and his archenemy is none other than the Irish god of love Aenghus Óg. For a god of love he's actually a pretty nasty guy. A while back—a long while back—Attitus got his hands on the magical sword Fragarach from one of Aenghus' military generals. The god has been trying to get it back ever since; he's been sending his minions to do his dirty work, and Atticus has been doing a pretty good job avoiding trouble. But now Aenghus is finally coming to finish the job himself. The first thing you'll notice in HOUNDED by Kevin Hearne is Atticus' first person narrative: it's quick-witted, clever, and (this is important) not cliché. Life can get a little crazy for Atticus, with gods trying to kill him, but fortunately he's got a sense of humor. His repartee with his Irish wolfhound Oberon was pretty hilarious, and it proves to be an interesting relationship beyond sidekick/comic relief. The humor was a little too nerdy sometimes, with all of its pop culture references mixed with mythology and old jargon, but that's a minor complaint. The first couple of pages sets up our hero Atticus and the kind of guy he is...and then leaps right into the story. He's attacked outside his store by a group of Fae sent by Aenghus. We get to see what this Druid can do, what his brand of magic means, and how he uses it to preserve his life. From there on out the tightly written plot flows quickly, moving forward without a single hiccup. He uses his magic in realistic ways, with its own limits. Hearne handles that little bit of world-building rather well, considering the short amount of time he has to explain it. He's done his homework and integrates it fluidly into a compelling story. This is present-day U.S., but where there are vampires, werewolves, and witches—and where gods of every pantheon exist (if I had to guess an influence, it would be Gaiman's AMERICAN GODS). Some of them still dabble in human affairs. Some of them even have a great deal of power at their disposal. Take for instance the Morrigan, the Celtic Chooser of the Slain and goddess of war, who's made a deal with Atticus to let him live as long as he continues to irk Aenghus, whom she doesn't much like. In order for Atticus to survive he has to know not only how to fight and use his magic, but also how to keep as many people on his side as possible, even if it means schmoozing. A guy doesn't get as old as he does by being stupid. I finished the first page with a smile on my face. And I was a grinning fool clear until page 289 mere hours later. Urban fantasy lovers will take great delight in Hearne's new world of magic, gods, and mayhem. Yep, druids are cool.

Ruben Bt _uben_ — I read this book when it first came out in the mid-1990s, and it's still my favourite Jonathan Coe novel -- well, maybe joint favourite with The House of Sleep. It sizzles with rage, and yet makes you laugh out loud as well. As Michael, the reclusive failed writer who is the "hero" of the novel writes in a book review: We stand badly in need of novels, after all, which show an understanding of the ideological hijack which has taken place so recently in this country, which can see its consequences in human terms and show that the appropriate response lies not merely in sorrow and anger but in mad, incredulous laughter. Michael is clearly based on Coe himself -- even the titles of his two early novels are similar. Suffering from writer's block since a massive argument with his mother in a Chinese restaurant three years before the novel opens, he now spends most of his time alone in his flat watching old videos -- notably one of What a Carve Up!, a spoof horror film he saw part of on his ninth birthday before his mother dragged him out, claiming it was unsuitable. Now, he has a mysterious but well-paid commission from a vanity press to write a family history of the ghastly Winshaws, an all-powerful family with a stately pile, Winshaw Towers, in Yorkshire. The first, longer part of the novel alternates chapters about Michael and his gradually blooming friendship with his neighbour Fiona, with chapters each devoted to a member of the Winshaw family. They are a microcosm of the Establishment in Thatcherite Britain: an MP (once Labour, now Tory and a fervent admirer of Mrs T), a merchant banker, an arms dealer, the owner of a massive agribusiness churning out processed TV dinners and battery-raised animals, an art dealer, and a tabloid columnist. The savagely satirical chapters tear apart the morals of the 1980s -- yet even if they seem over the top, they are based on documented historical facts, many of which are clearly recognisable to anyone who followed current affairs in Britain in the 1980s. This part ends in very personal tragedy for Michael -- a tragedy which can be blamed at least partly on the members of the Winshaw family and what they have done to British institutions. The second part returns to farce in an over-the-top parody of a horror film, and more particularly the film What a Carve-up!, as various villains meet their ends in appropriately ghastly ways in the gothic setting of Winshaw Towers. Verdict: I still love this book, so long after the events it describes. I have never read such a perfectly balanced cocktail of venom, satire, lyricism, Greek myth, and lunacy. Coe's later, better-known novels (Rotters' Club et al) are excellent in a more conventional way, but this is truly one of a kind.