Soul Of The Fire by Terry Goodkind

In this, the fifth volume in the Sword of Truth series, the Chimes are loose in the world and intent on destroying all its magic. This spurs our heroes, Richard Rahl and his wife Kahlan Amnell, to embark on a quest into the middle of a civil war that will further splinter an embattled land.

I deliberately used the shortest synopsis I could find, as this is a book in a series, and any more info would give the game away to someone reading one of the earlier books.

Let me start by saying I'm not big on fantasy. In fact, before the Sword of Truth series, I was unable to finish a fantasy novel, and that is not for lack of trying. Spurred on by several good friends who wholeheartedly embrace the genre, I tried again and again to find the soul of a fantasy novel, only to give up half way each time. I got to page 100 on the Grandfather of them all, The Lord Of The Rings, and it was like hitting a brick wall - I just could not turn that page and continue. Enter Terry Goodkind.

While Terry Goodkind's books are classed by his public as fantasy, he does not consider himself a classical fantasy author. As he said in an interview: "I believe that fantasy for fantasy's sake is not valid. Fantasy is only valid if it's used to illustrate importance to human beings." And I believe this is why I have finally found a fantasy series I enjoy. It has real people dealing with real things, in a world that has the same real problems as we do today. It has romance, mystery and political intrigue. The big difference is that some of these people have magic.

Goodkind is a brilliant author. His characters and involved plots leap off the page at you; his writing is so lifelike you feel you are journeying with your heroes. There are not many books that have captivated me like these ones. Having said that, his characters are only human (well, most of them), and as with any humans, you feel frustrated and annoyed by their human failings at times. This, however, is his drawcard - you can identify with them.

Goodkind is really uncategorisable in terms of the type of books he writes. One thing is certain though - his books are a breath of fresh air which transcend all genres, and I can't wait to start the next one.

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Coraline by Neil Gaiman

The day after they moved in, Coraline went exploring....

In Coraline's family's new flat are twenty-one windows and fourteen doors. Thirteen of the doors open and close.

The fourteenth is locked, and on the other side is only a brick wall, until the day Coraline unlocks the door to find a passage to another flat in another house just like her own.

Only it's different.

At first, things seem marvelous in the other flat. The food is better. The toy box is filled with wind-up angels that flutter around the bedroom, books whose pictures writhe and crawl and shimmer, little dinosaur skulls that chatter their teeth. But there's another mother, and another father, and they want Coraline to stay with them and be their little girl. They want to change her and never let her go.

Other children are trapped there as well, lost souls behind the mirrors. Coraline is their only hope of rescue. She will have to fight with all her wits and all the tools she can find if she is to save the lost children, her ordinary life, and herself.

Critically acclaimed and award-winning author Neil Gaiman will delight readers with his first novel for all ages.

For the first time in a long time, a children's story that allows itself to be frightening. There are a lot of parallels to Pan's Labyrinth, though neither suffer from the similarities. Also, Coraline's real life is nice and normal and not half so scary as the beldam's world. A wonderfully funny and frightening escapade that anyone who liked to explore as a child will appreciate and enjoy.

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Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Illustrated Novels by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Match wits with the razor-sharp mind and keenly honed instincts of literature's most famous detective. Every one of the immortal Sherlock Holmes novels appears in this single volume, unabridged, embellished with the beautiful original illustrations, and reasonably priced. The classic works include:
A Study in Scarlet: the very first Holmes adventure--and the start of a beautiful friendship between the detective and Dr. Watson.
The Sign of Four: Holmes is called upon to solve the case of a missing treasure in India.
The Hound of the Baskervilles: Holmes and Watson find themselves involved in an age-old curse.
The Valley of Fear: A cipher message. A grisly murder. A dark and powerful tale.with a battle between Holmes and his infamous nemesis, Professor Moriarty.

I was rather surprised to discover that the complete illustrated novels amounted only to four. Perhaps the other novels were not illustrated? Or, from the very small amount of research I've done, it seems that all the others were short stories, as opposed to novel-length books. Anyway, on to the books - in case you can't read it off the picture, the four novels are: A Study in Scarlet, The Sign of Four, The Hound of the Baskervilles and The Valley of Fear. The first two novels were not very good, in my opinion. The first one suffered from being, not only the first Sherlock Holmes story, but from [apparently] being the first in the murder mystery genre. Either way I did not enjoy them. They seemed somewhat far-fetched and contrived - after all, what on earth is the whole mormon sub-plot necessary for? He did a similar thing in The Valley of Fear, but that was far more interesting and seemed less out-of-step with the novel. The Sign of Four had a similar problem to the first one - there was no possible way for you to work out anything. The first time that you were introduced to half the clues, was when Holmes was explaining to you what had happened. The last two novels in the set were far more enjoyable, for the simple reason that you were shown all these enigmatic tidbits and could actually figure one or two things out. Of course, they might've been a lot more enjoyable if I actually liked any of the characters...

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Related Website: The Lazy Library

Ever read a book that was a few hundred pages longer than it needed to be? Yeah, so have we. Fortunately, there are authors out there that would rather have a concise and effective book than a lengthy and diluted tome, and that's where the Lazy Library comes in.

The Lazy Library, where you can find books on any topic without having to worry about high page counts. If it's over 200 pages, you won't even see it. Read all about anything, in less time, for (usually) less money.

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie

One of the most ingenious (or infuriating, depending on your point of view) of Christie's novels. Narrated by a Doctor Sheppard, who takes the place of Hastings (now living in Argentina with his wife) in assisting Poirot. A wealthy widow in the village of King's Abbott, Mrs. Ferrars, is found dead, and Dr. Sheppard suspects suicide until Roger Ackroyd, a widower who was expected to marry her, is also killed. Poirot is Sheppard's new neighbor, and is relieved to escape the boredom of the vegetable marrows he has been growing by investigating the case. Most of the suspects were Ackroyd's house guests, including Ackroyd's niece, Flora; Major Blunt, a big-game hunter romantically interested in Flora; Geoffrey Raymond, Ackroyd's secretary; Ursula Bourne, a parlormaid; and Ralph Paton, an adopted son with gambling debts. Poirot is also assisted by Sheppard's sister Caroline, a middle-aged village spinster who anticipates Miss Marple's character. Both a play (1928) and a film (1931) were made of the story, both called "Alibi". There is apparently a more recent film version from 2000.

If you only read one book by Agatha Christie, make it this one. Published in 1926, this story of Poirot is one of the best written. All the clues are there, if only you could see them the way that Poirot sees them. The book is seen through the eyes of Dr. Sheppard - Captain Hastings being in the Argentine. We start, unsurprisingly with a death. An apparent suicide, if you believe Dr. Sheppard's nosy sister, Caroline. She believes that Mrs. Ferrars [and there's a nod to Jane Austen even] killed herself because she was overcome with remorse as she murdered her husband. It's not the death of Mrs. Ferrars that pulls Poirot into the mix - it's the death of Roger Ackroyd, a wealthy inhabitant of the small town. What's the significance of the chair? What is Miss Russell [the housekeeper - very lucky to have an alibi, according to Caroline] up to? And most importantly - if all the evidence points to Ralph Paton, surely he's guilty? And if he's not guilty, where on earth is he? Fantastic, unexpected and obvious all at once.

A number of criticisms have been levelled at this book, relating to internal consistencies and the fact that some people just couldn't handle having the rug pulled out from under them. No book will be completely consistent in every way, but the minor inconsistencies in this book, can be easily explained away. Utterly fantastic, read it, read it, read it.

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Brother Grimm by Craig Russell

A girl's body lies, posed, on the pale sand of a Hamburg beach, a message concealed in her hand. 'I have been underground, and now it is time for me to return home...' Jan Fabel, of the Hamburg murder squad, struggles to interpret the twisted imagery of a dark and brutal mind. Four days later, a man and a woman are found deep in woodland, their throats slashed deep and wide, the names 'Hansel' and 'Gretel', in the same, tiny, obsessively neat writing, rolled tight and pressed into their hands. It becomes clear that each new crime is a grisly reference to folk stories collected almost two hundred years ago by the "Brothers Grimm".

Although this took me quite a while to read, what with my recent busy social schedule, I did enjoy it. When it got to the conclusion at the end it was tough to put down.

It's well written and you're provided with plenty of characters to speculate on "whodunnit" but in the end I must admit that I was none the wiser. My only issue with this book was that it was written like it had been translated (like The Beast), and with all the police titles in German, it means the reading flows slightly less as you pass over these words that you understand their meaning but are not articulated in your head (does that make sense?).

Aside from all that, I am curious to read his first book (the story is reference occasionally as background for the characters) and will definitely be borrowing the next one (Eternal) from book club :)

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The Knife Man by Wendy Moore

This title is the winner of the Medical Journalists' Open Book Award 2005. Revered and feared in equal measure, John Hunter was the most famous surgeon of eighteenth-century London. Rich or poor, aristocrat or human freak, suffering Georgians knew that Hunter's skills might well save their lives but if he failed, their corpses could end up on his dissecting table, their bones and organs destined for display in his remarkable, macabre museum. Maverick medical pioneer, adored teacher, brilliant naturalist, Hunter was a key figure of the Enlightenment who transformed surgery, advanced biological understanding and even anticipated the evolutionary theories of Darwin. He provided inspiration both for Dr Jekyll and Dr Dolittle. But the extremes to which he went to pursue his scientific mission raised question marks then as now. John Hunter's extraordinary world comes to life in this remarkable, award-winning biography written by a wonderful new talent.

A fascinating biography of one of the fathers of modern surgery. This is not for the squeamish or those who cannot bear to admit or face the realities of what brought us to our vaunted state of enlightenment. It's a progressive world that we live in and sometimes scientists and researchers step outside the boundaries of what is strictly legal in order to make fascinating new discoveries and push the boundaries of both what we know and what we're capable of. The ethics are a little dodgy, in some cases more than others, but read the book and decide for yourself. Personally I'm grateful for the advances in modern medicine, and that I wasn't in need of medical attention in the mid-eighteenth century.

phillygirl reviewed this book on 3 December 2007:
This was a very interesting read and I can only agree with akika when she says she's grateful for all the advances of modern medicine but even more grateful that she wasn't one of the folks around in the mid-eighteenth century who needed medical assistance. I think for me what was so fascinating, since we're all so used to how medicine works these days and that all new medical advances should go thru a number of tests and trials before being let loose on the general public, is how differently things worked back in the day. The number of "surgeons" of the day who were obstinately opposed to testing new theories, or even to thinking for themselves is frightening.

I for one am heading onto Google right now to see where Hunter's preparations from his museum can be found (if any have survived to this day & age).

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Poirot Investigates by Agatha Christie

What connects a movie star, an archaeologist, a French maid, a prime minister, a wealthy dowager, and an Italian count? Crime, of course—and the master crime-solver, Hercule Poirot.

I've always enjoyed Christie's writing, for the very reason that most people seem to hate it - it's so very intricate and detailed. Yes it's horrendously outdated - this set of eleven short stories was published in 1924. But it's still a collection of fascinating and intricate mysteries. And with only a few short pages for each story, you've got to be on the ball to work out whodunnit before Poirot tells you. Of course, sometimes it's easy to know who it was, just not why or how.

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The Ninja by Eric Van Lustbader

Totally absorbing...as gripping a tale of hatred and revenge as you will read... It is superb. This is the story of Nicholas Linnear, half-Caucasian, half-Oriental, a man caught between East and West, between the sexual passions of a woman he can't forget and the one he can't control and between a past he can't escape and a destiny he can't avoid. A sprawling erotic thriller that swings from postwar Japan to present-day New York in a relentless saga of violence and terror elaborately designed for the most savage vengeance of all...

A curious book, detailing a large portion of the life of Nicholas Linnear and why he is the way he is. Why the mix of three different cultures has such an influence on him - his American father, (mostly) Chinese mother and the Japanese land they live in.

Who is the Ninja, why is he in America killing people. More importantly, what connects all those people? It's utterly riveting, though suffers from occasionally lengthy bits of description that, while lovely in and of themselves, do tend to detract from the otherwise enthralling narrative. Of course, that may well be the entire point of them...

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The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger

THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA gives a rich and hilarious new meaning to plaints about "The Boss from Hell." Narrated in Andrea's smart, refreshingly disarming voice, it traces a deep, dark, devilish view of life at the top only hinted at in gossip columns and over Cosmopolitans at the trendiest cocktail parties. From sending the latest, not-yet-in-stores Harry Potter to Miranda's children in Paris by private jet, to locating an unnamed antique store where Miranda had at some point admired a vintage dresser, to serving lattes to Miranda at precisely the piping hot temperature she prefers, Andrea is sorely tested each and every day--and often late into the night with orders barked over the phone. She puts up with it all by keeping her eyes on the prize: a recommendation from Miranda that will get Andrea a top job at any magazine of her choosing. As things escalate from the merely unacceptable to the downright outrageous, however, Andrea begins to realize that the job a million girls would die for may just kill her. And even if she survives, she has to decide whether or not the job is worth the price of her soul.

I picked up this book more out of curiosity than anything else since I enjoyed the film but found that it was lacking in some places and I was wondering what the book would be like. I'll tell you one thing it is completely different from the film! From the beginning to the end this book is just so much better, the characters are more real, the boss more of a bitch, the tasks more insane and the storyline is completely different. It even ends differently! Not as neatly and perfectly as the film I might add, but a lot more like real life and a lot more interestingly.

For anyone who has ever had a bitch as boss and thinks that theirs is the worst read this book and marvel over how truly impossible someone can be! This book is a fantastic escape and is fiction at his best. Weisberger writes very well and you really engage with all of her characters; personally I had the over whelming urge to reach into the book and rip out Miranda's throat. The characters are more fleshed out than the film and aren't completely glossy Hollywood as in the film.

Don't watch the film after reading the book though because you'll only be annoyed by the film.

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McCarthy's Bar by Pete McCarthy

Despite the many exotic places Pete McCarthy has visited, he finds that nowhere can match the particular magic of Ireland, his mother's homeland. In McCarthy's Bar, he journeys from Cork to Donegal. Travelling through spectacular landscapes, but at all times obeying the rule, Never Pass a Bar That Has Your Name On It, he encounters McCarthy's Bar's up and down the land, meeting fascinating, friendly and funny people before pleading to be let out at four o'clock in the morning.

Through adventures with English crusties who have colonised a desolate mountain; roots-seeking, buffet-devouring Americans; priests for whom the word 'father' has a loaded meaning; enthusiastic Germans who 'here since many years holidays are making'; and his fellow barefoot pilgrims on an island called Purgatory, Pete pursues the secrets of Ireland's global popularity and his own confused Irish-Anglo identity.

This is quite literally one of my favourite books ever. I challenge anyone to read it and not have fits of giggles and feel the desire to go and visit Ireland. I guess that I am completely obsessed with Ireland and all things Irish but I seriously would recommend this book.

Whilst the book is not strictly fiction and is in fact a travel book the stories about the places that he goes to and the people that he meets make this book a rival to any fiction story. In fact if it was set anywhere else I'd refuse to believe that it was real and would be completely convinced that Pete had taken creative licence and embellished the people. However Ireland being Ireland these stories are all true and it is his delicious dry and naughty humour which make this book so amusing.

Throughout this book Pete asks the question of whether or not you can truly belong in a country that you've never lived in and whether just having family descent from an area can remain in your blood and make that country your true home. For me it can be an interesting question as I am first generation South African with no other family being born there but I believe myself to be a true South African. Many other people disagree with me and say that I am British however I refuse to believe this!

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The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith

The No.1 ladies' detective agency consists of one woman, the engaging and sassy Precious Ramotswe, who sets up shop in Gabarone, Botswana. This unlikely herione specialises in missing husbands, wayward daughters, con men and impostors.

A fun book - you'll find phillygirl did the review for the follow up a couple of weeks ago. This is not your usual detective agency, nor will you find the latest technology or jargon or anything else that we've come to expect from detective novels. What this is, is a lyrical wandering through the life of Mma Ramotswe - how she came to start the agency and so on... It's fun, entertaining reading. It's also very light and a welcome change of pace after my previous read. I very much enjoyed the style and the slow pace, as well as the fact that it's a collection of vignettes from her life that are strung together by their connection with her work.

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Cries Unheard by Gitta Sereny

Pieces together the damaged life of Mary Bell, who aged 11 was tried and convicted of manslaughter after the death of two young boys. Only as an adult has she been able to realize the moral enormity of her crimes...

This was truly disturbing. Not only the fact that she killed the two boys, which is integral to the book, but not what the book is about. The book is about what led up to her killing the boys [after all, what would drive a child to kill an unknown toddler?] and what happened to her afterwards. At what age do children become criminally responsible - which means they are tried in an adult court. In Scotland, it's as young as 8. How is a child that young supposed to understand why it's there and what's going on? If the child's only contact with a psychologist is a brief meeting where they decide whether or not the child can tell right from seriously wrong, how can they possibly make any judgements on the child? How can they convict one child as guilty and another as not-guilty simply because the one has a loving family and the other doesn't?

One would hope that since Mary Bell was convicted in 1968 that the system had radically changed with new, progressive knowledge. At the time this book was published [1999] it hadn't. After all - who cares about the people [adults and children] that aren't happy and whole. If they're damaged, just push them away and ignore them... Like I said, this is a very distubring book. I never realised that there are actually people who completely deny the existence of paedophilia. If you're squeamish, don't read it. It's not particularly gruesome or gory, but I couldn't put it down and every time I did [even when I finished it] I was miserable and depressed about the state of the world and wanted nothing more than to hide in the bed and cry.

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The Last Legion by Valerio Massimo Manfredi

A brilliant new historical epic from the best-selling author of The Alexander Trilogy. As the Western Roman Empire begins to collapses in 470AD, a small band of British Roman soldiers, make a long and arduous journey to Rome. They arrive to find the city on the edge of chaos, over-run with rebellion, not far from destruction. Despite the tumultuous events around them, they resolve to continue their mission: to keep the spirit of Empire alive by rescuing the young son of the last Emperor, Romulus Augustus. A daring rescue ensures and, hearing rumours of an entire Legion of the Roman Army that has remained loyal to Rome, they begin a trek across Northern Europe to find them. By finding the Legion, and establishing the boy as the legitimate Emperor, the Romans believe an uprising can be launched and the Empire revived. But the journey is futile, the Legion is nowhere to be found and they find themselves quickly losing heart. Deciding to turn back to Britain, they cross the channel in defeat, little knowing the mysterious revelations and magical destinies that await them on their return.

The Last Legion is an historical novel with a healthy dose of fantasy thrown in for good measure, as the author's inventive plot describes the events leading up to the end of the Roman Empire as being the root of the Arthurian legend. I didn't hate reading the book, but I found it quite simplistic, both in terms of plot and characters. Sometimes simplicity is best; in this case, I think he could have done so much more with the idea, not to mention the characters - but perhaps that was not the novel Manfredi set out to write. I have a deep affection for historical novels, and I have read many that have enthralled and inspired me. Unfortunately, although it was a pleasant read, this was not one of them; and really, to call a book pleasant is not much of a compliment at all. Read only if you have nothing else on your bookshelf. I hear they've recently made a move based on the novel - I will probably be giving that a skip too.

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Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie

In 1971, as Mao's Cultural Revolution swept over China, shutting down universities and banishing "reactionary intellectuals" to the countryside, two teenage boys are sent to live on the remote and unforgiving mountain known as Phoenix in the Sky. Even though the knowledge the narrator and his best friend Luo had acquired in middle school was "precisely nil," they are nevertheless considered dangerous intellectuals and forced to spend their days carrying buckets of excrement up and down the mountain to fertilize the fields. But when they bargain their way into obtaining a forbidden Balzac novel from their friend Four Eyes, a new and dizzyingly vast world opens up to them. Through Balzac, the narrator discovers "awakening desire, passion, impulsive action, love, all the subjects that had, until then, been hidden" [p. 57]. And when Luo falls in love with the beautiful Little Seamstress, life and literature come together in a passionate romance. Luo and the narrator plot to steal Four Eyes' suitcase full of books both for their own pleasure and to transform the seamstress from a simple peasant into a sophisticated woman. Their success in doing so, and the unexpected consequences that follow, drive the novel to its stunning, heart-wrenching conclusion. Part historical novel, part fable, part love story, Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress is a moving testament to the transformative power of literature.

While trying to find the picture, I found that they made a movie out of this book. I'd love to see it. The book is set in post-Cultural Revolution China. The children with high school education or more of the people classed as "enemies of the state" are sent into the rural areas to be re-educated by the peasants. This book follows the story of two young boys, one of which is 'writing' in the first person and his name is never mentioned. The life of re-education is harsh, often brutal and almost utterly without reward. Until, that is, the two boys meet the Little Seamstress and a talent for storytelling no the part of the one gets them out of some of the work. The story is intense and strangely gripping. I say strangely because at first glance this is a simple story about two boys who fall in love with a girl, watch some movies and read some [forbidden] books. It is, however, engaging and so well-written that you can almost smell the sweat and the excrement as they toil up to the fields. You can feel their joy and their pain - and more importantly their confusion in a world they've barely lived in that has branded them dangerous outcasts.

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Wicked by Gregory Maguire

When Dorothy triumphed over the Wicked Witch of the West in L. Frank Baum's classic tale, we heard only her side of the story. But what about her arch-nemesis, the mysterious Witch? Where did she come from? How did she become so wicked? And what is the true nature of evil?

Gregory Maguire creates a fantasy world so rich and vivid that we will never look at Oz the same way again. Wicked is about a land where animals talk and strive to be treated like first-class citizens, Munchkinlanders seek the comfort of middle-class stability, and the Tin Man becomes a victim of domestic violence. And then there is the little green-skinned girl named Elphaba, who will grow up to become the infamous Wicked Witch of the West, a smart, prickly, and misunderstood creature who challenges all our preconceived notions about the nature of good and evil. Unlike the popular 1939 movie and Baum's writings, this novel is not directed at children. It contains language and content which catches some readers by surprise. Wicked, the hit Broadway musical based upon the novel, is also very different in tone from Maguire's book.

Alright, I'll start by saying that this book took me an inordinately long time to read ... and I'm not convinced it was purely because I took it on holiday with me and was saving it for my flight. Even once home, I've struggled thru it.

Maybe I didn't remember the basic story of The Wizard of Oz well enough, but even on it's own this book is draining. It is a complex (and not terribly interesting) book with many very odd characters that I just couldn't bond with. Apparently it's supposed to be "a political, social, and ethical commentary on what good and evil really are" - obviously I just didn't get it at all. And for the life of me I cannot imagine what the musical must be like!

It's a pity really because I had quite high hopes for it based on the back-cover blurb (above). But I just honestly wouldn't recommend this to anyone.

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