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Sonali Tandon sonaliphot6e26 — I have finished reading Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke. I've never really been a fan of Clarke, which is probably a holdover from HOW FREAKING MUCH I hated the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey, although granted I hate most movies and I haven't read the book. In fact, I don't know that I've read ANY other books by Clarke; my exposure to his style has been short stories in compilations here and there. He's always struck me as a technically efficient writer, but with little insight into human nature (which, let's face it, is most of the reason I read). So if nothing else, Childhood's End was a bit of a departure from that and throughout the course of the story some interesting observations are made. We are introduced to the concept of this world in "present day" which I guess is sometime in the 1950s when the book was written. Man is developing scientifically and looking toward the stars only to be thwarted by the benign arrival of a technologically superior alien race we come to know as "the Overlords". Not there to conquer exactly, but mastering the human race all the same, the Overlords guide mankind into a utopian state free of war and wanting where everyone has access to all he needs. Some of the characters struggle with this and lash out against it. Perhaps it's just because it is a concept that resonates with me (the sense of struggling to find a purpose in utopia, that is), but I would like to have seen more of this explored. Clarke predicts a great shift in morals and dogma as demanded by scientific acheivement. I found this particularly humorous: "This extention of human apprenticeship so far past the beginning of physical maturity had given rise to many social changes. Some of these had been necessary for generations, but earlier periods had refused to face the challenge - or had pretended that it did not exist. In particular, the patterns of sexual mores - insofar as there had ever been one pattern - had altered radically. It had been virtually shattered by two inventions, which were, ironically enough, of purely human origin and owed nothing to the Overlords. The first was a completely reliable oral contraceptive: the second was an equally infallible method - as certain as fingerprinting, and based on a very detailed analysis of the blood - of identifying the father of any child. The effect of these two inventions upon human society could only be described as devastating, and they had swept away the last remnants of the Puritan aberration." So hmm, oops. Guess DNA tests were bound to ruin mankind eventually, I just always figured it would be borne of a particularly violent episode of Maury Povich. Instead of continuing down this examination of the impact of advancement on morals, the plot switches abruptly again. I say "again" because it switches a lot. Rather than reading like a comprehensive novel, it seems more like a series of intertwined short stories. And when I say "plot" it's sort of a loose term. It really seems that mid way through he just changed his mind about what exactly the idea here was and went off on some completely different direction. A direction that REALLY fell apart at the end. At first it was about the Overlords on earth, and then humanity's reaction to that, and then about the supernatural, and then about travel into space, and then back to humanity and its boredom with perfection, and then its evolution, and then about the Overmind and then some weird shit happens and... yeah. I'm not sure I know what the point WAS other than an odd chronicle of the growth, evolution, and destruction of mankind. But that criticism aside, it actually was an enjoyable read. The characters, although you only barely get to know them before they are gone, are interesting and have hints of complexity. The concepts are thought provoking enough that I wonder if Clarke ever pursued them in other stories. There were a few surprises along the way, and a discussion as to the importance of art and innovative creation to the human psyche, so all in all I'd say it was pretty good. I'm not going to be rushing out to buy any of his other novels, but I might not avoid Arthur C. Clarke so much in the future. You know, assuming any of us HAVE a future.

David Martin _reamwalker_hotos — Very inspiring...this book made me realized that I can be a stockholder even with a little knowledge about it.

Pedro Lobo pedrolobo_ic — I have read this book at least a half dozen times. Although I tend to like horror fiction, the real reason I like this book is the way that all the elements of the story tie together. It has a lot to say about who you are on the inside being the best indicator of who you are.

Aïda Rahn nharadia — Let me just say that I love the idea of this book. A girl who has suffered poverty, famine, loss, and abuse in 17th century Ireland winds up finding herself in the role of “scourge of the seven seas” and just when she thinks that she has it all made, she ends up dead and cursed to live out one hundred lifetimes as a dog. Sounds like a really terrific and original idea, right? Well, it is. It’s just not executed very well. This story feels rushed, bland, and forgettable. So I say five stars for the amazing idea, but two stars for the carrying out of that idea. I still think that A.S. King is a tremendously talented writer, and this book is by no means excruciatingly bad. But I would probably read Please Ignore Vera Dietz before this one, just so you know how good she can be. We catch up with this feisty girl in the 1980’s, where she’s a now a teenager named Saffron, born into a lower middle class family in the U.S. Some of the most entertaining and enjoyable parts of this book are found in the opening scenes, where Saffron is a wee mite of a preschooler with all the memories and experiences of a bloodthirsty pirate tucked away in her head. With all of the knowledge of a ruthless adult, plus one hundred canines, Saffron excels at school. Her parents’ greatest wish is that she will go to college and raise the status and wealth of her family, but she has no desire to follow that path. She remembers one night a few centuries ago when she lost the love of her life, and left behind a hoard of treasures. Now she’s determined to go back and reclaim what she lost. At just over two hundred pages, I think that this book is too short. I needed more time to know these characters and fill in all of the gaps in this story. Some elements I feel could have been trimmed to make way for more explanation and character building. For example, Saffron’s very inconsequential and brief relationship with a neighborhood boy who turns out to be a jerk. Why not cut that and include something more about Emer’s lost love? I also didn’t really feel like the “one hundred dog lifetimes” element was developed or linked to the story enough. The little doggie care tips do not feel connected to the story in any clear way (although I can see how a few of them are vaguely connected), and mainly just seem unnecessary. I love the whole idea, but I would have liked to see Saffron learn, grow, and mature from those one hundred canine lives. It really didn’t seem like she did. Many of the important story-driving scenes seem shoved in, and even nonsensical. For example, when Emer is revealed as a woman among a wounded group of sailors recovering from a battle with pirates, the Captain, unsure of what to do with her (can’t strand her, can’t keep her aboard), decides to give her an entire ship and some of his few remaining crewmen and set her up as the Captain with no strings attached. Seriously. Or when Emer decides to volunteer to go to Tortuga as a sort of mail order bride, but then is completely aghast to discover that the men there want to sleep with her. What did you think was going to happen?! Perfect Musical Pairing The Black Eyed Peas – I Gotta Feeling This book is a bit like a pop song. It’s catchy and flashy and so much fun on the front end. But then you get it stuck in your head and go on a listening marathon, about halfway through which you realize that this song is actually not fun or exciting. It’s extremely repetitive and the lyrics are complete shit.

Minerva Gdm minervagdmdbd4 — I think this book was kinda boring because all they really did was tell about this girl and then she moved away.

Marlina Mells nomelleena — ** spoiler alert ** Another blanket review, this one of all Pern books I've read: Oh, of course I read crazy amounts of Anne McCaffrey when I was in my teens! Your own personal dragon who talks to you? I was all over that - although, as I recall, I did read the Harper Hall trilogy first. I liked this universe as a pre-teen/teen/young adult,which is why the 2 1/2 star rating. However, I've recently gotten rid of all my Anne McCaffrey because there's a lot about them that I began finding extremely unsatisfying, most particularly the politics, both in the sense that politics in the narrative were frequently all-consuming, and definitely in the meta sense. There are a lot of problems with gender dynamics. When books begin to bore the hell out of me/annoying me when they're just sitting on my shelf, it's time for them to go. I also didn't like the giant leap from a pre-industrial society to one with super-intelligent AI and other modern marvels. It felt as if she got bored of writing fantasy and decided she wanted to get back to sci-fi. I didn't like the meticulous attention to world-building when I was younger, but now I think it's rather fantastic, and the best part of the books. eta Huh, I just looked at my bookshelf and realized I kept the Dragonriders/Harper Hall trilogies, because my late grandmother gave them to me. But I doubt I'll read them again.

Stayc Connolly stayconnolly — Mysteries just really aren't my thing because I can usually figure them out well before the end of the book. Heather Wells, former pop star, is a Resident Assistant at a prestigious college in NYC. After a series of killings of students, she sets out to discover who is committing the mysterious murders. This book was okay but I don't believe I'll be reading the rest of the Heather Wells series.

Marco Van marcovdschf769 — This book is really sad but you can see the character growing throughout the entire thing and her dealing with loss.