Amazing

This book was AMAZING!!
Icouldn't put it down

100% reccomened read!!!

Hmmmm

Well
The first putdownable Pratchett for me
Took me a few sessions to get through this one (usally one session of about 8hrs for a new TP book)
Nice idea but just not up to usual standard imo
Really hope that this isn't the end for TP and that Unseen Academicals (or whatever the next Discworld book is called)see's a return to form.

A great gift for any Dr Who fan!

My son aged 10 is heavily into Dr Who and was dying to get this annual. He was impressed by this new one and found it both interesting and entertaining. Although a cheap gift he rated it above some of the PS2 games he was given!!! Would recommend this annual for any Dr Who fan.

Ill keep it short

Ok so theres enough people on here having big long rants pointing out all the flaws of the characters and plot so ill keep this short and maybe not so sweet.
I discovered the twilight series after book three was released so i read the first three and fell in love with the characters. I was awaiting the third book was such excitment and i was so disapointed.
The author seemed to have given up. I have read another of her recent books - Host - and it was amazing so what went wrong here?
I was actually heart broken to see how badly the series was ended.

Glorious Convolution

While I agree with one reviewer about the usefulness of a summary of Part I, I also think that you just have to sink yourself into Hamilton's marvellous universe (or universa?) to fully appreciate the wild and convoluted rollercoaster you're about to undergo.

Plus that I think Hamilton is one of the very few to have created a consistent universe, including delightfully contradictions. I'm wondering why others in this region (Iain Banks, Terry Pratchett, Alastair Reynolds, to mention just a few) are all British writers. Mmm... something to do with Empire-building... ;-)

In the meantime, enjoy Hamilton. And now we have to wait about 1 1/2 year for the conclusion...

Pure Genius!!!

I can't even explain the fantastic plot twists that riddle this book.
The tension of one Criminal Genius against another, with an old, surprise character from earlier in the series it's completely enthralling.
both Artemis's have trouble hanging on to life especially when K....... comes into the fray!

Probably the ultimate window into the frantic world of Doctor Who

There's no shortage of glossy"Doctor Who" books on the shelves but this is by far the most revealing. It digs deep and gives the reader a fascinating insight into the exhaustion, exhileration and relentless hard slog that goes into the flagship show. Read it, even if you don't care for DW, if you want to know the truth about a writer's life. It's very warts-and-all, at times very funny, and always comes over as being honest. You won't get closer than this to finding out why things turned out the way they did. In particular, RTD's thoughts on"Journey's End", the S4 finale, are intriguing and reveal how he copes with the inevitable gulf between his first concept of how a story should end and the version that reaches the screen, subject to the limitations of budget, time, actor availability and overall tone.

Like the Doctor himself, RTD clearly feels under pressure as the man everyone looks to for answers, he finds it almost impossible to relinquish control of his beloved show, yet a part of him longs for a break from the constant creative demands on his energies, preferably before the stress kills him.

There are certainly a few dark nights of the soul here, but also complete versions of the scripts of"Voyage of the Damned","Partners in Crime" and the explosive two-parter finale, including the early drafts and absorbing explanations for the way things changed later. An extra bonus is a plethora of photographs, some from deleted scenes, and RTD's unexpectedly witty and professional cartoons of cast and characters.

Hmmm...it was okay

This is more a 3.5 star review but I don't know how to get the half star!Okay, I agree with the above reviewer in saying that it is a good bridging book but...it was just far too short. Big print. Not really a book IMO more like a novella because you will be able to read it in a few hours. Although we got to see why Stryker is the man he is today, I still felt as if the story could have been fleshed out a bit more and the romance just seemed a little flat to me. Maybe because his HEA isn't that likeable, she's bitter and cruel but then again perhaps that's what he needs for a Daimon Queen? I don't know, I expected some redeeming features but couldn't find many.

On the plus side if anyone was getting a little fed up with Nick and his sulking...I think he's gradually going to come out of that. Also, as with all Sherri books, she's introduced some interesting new characters and pantheons, a healthy dose of 'warm and fuzzies' and she always keeps us guessing...

wonderful

This trilogy is excellent. Took me a while to get into book one but once the story really got going I couldn't put it down. Lyra grows into a young adult throughout the trilogy and its wonderful to follow her through her trials and tribulations.

Armoured bears, witches, deamons, god, angels, heaven and hell-all and more are wonderfully thoguht up by Pullman and I recommend these to anyone.

A beautifully drawn, but very dark, tale.

This was my first introduction to more"adult orientated" graphic novels (as opposed to comics). I bought it on a whim after seeing the cover featured in a TV programme hyping the 1989 Tim Burton Batman movie, and it was a real eye-opener. The tone is certainly much darker than the image of Batman which I'd grown up with (ie Adam West in all his campness) and provides a fascinating origin for the Joker. He comes across as an ordinary man driven beyond his capacity for reason, instead of the stereotypical insane clown of lazier Batman stories. (In fact the entire story is based around his"one bad day is all it takes" philosophy...)
The story itself is short but all the more effective for it, with some beautifully - if chillingly - drawn characters. The Joker is especially well rendered, with several large and extremely detailed frames - which is hardly surprising given that much of the book focuses on him and his"past life".
All in all,"A Killing Joke" is a worthy complement to"Batman: Year One" and"Dark Knight Returns", as it gives the reader a solid - and believable - origin to Batman's most enigmatic adversary. Highly recommended.

Oh dear

"The final book in one of the greatest epic series of all time" - aye right. I read the first few and gave up when the plot was lost early on. Epic series? No, just like the Shannara books latter days, it has is going for the buck.

Chuckle double effect!

Making Money is a Discworld novel and features the Man in the Golden Suit, Ankh-Morpork's Postmaster Moist von Lipwig.

Moist is bored. He misses his old, more adventurous life, back when he was Albert Spangler the con artist. So when he's not running the Post Office, he likes climbing to its roof at night, and has already picked all its locks.

But when Mrs Topsy Lavish, chairwoman and owner of 50% of the Royal Bank of Ankh-Morpork, but owner also of Mr. Fusspot the dog who owns 1%, dies and leaves her shares to her dog and bequeaths Mr. Fusspot to Moist... he has no choice but try and make it work again.

It starts with the Mint, which actually runs at a loss. Since making coins costs too much and people are already using stamps as currency, Moist devises the first bank notes, which soon have the same success as his stamps.

In the meantime, Cosmo Lavish tries to take Vetinari's identity and Moist's girlfriend Adora Belle Dearheart uncovers ancient golems buried in the desert. And all the while the Glooper gloops.

I really like the character of Moist von Lipwig and was glad to read about him again. The book is of course filled with references that make you chuckle twice: when you get them, and when you find yourself clever because to got them... it's the Discworld double effect!

a story for all time, all ages

This is a classic story for children, set in the 50's, it is about time, memory and friendship.
Tom, lonely and isolated as he is in quarantine, finds his way back in time, at night (when the hall clock strikes 13), to a wonderful old garden and a little girl called Hattie, who, to his curiosity, is dressed in old fashioned clothes. The two lonely children become friends and I don't want to give away the beautifully devoloped plot, but Tom slowly realises that Hattie is growing up, while he remains the same age.
The atmosphere of the story is both mysterious and engaging, as Tom slowly works out where he is and who Hattie really is.
The end of the story takes in the biblical idea of time coming to and end, or the modern notion of not existing at all and the recognition that Tom and Hattie can/could be friends across time and for always.

A comprehensive overview of the stories and traditions that helped create Discworld

This is a great well of knowledge of the sources that helped inspire many of the Discworld characters, motifs and situations. It's really wonderful to have so much secondary information on the series in one book, an encyclopedia-esque store of the kind of cultural tidbits that are fascinating in their own right as well as in relation to to Discworld. However the writing style, while clear, is a bit dull and sometimes the line between human mythology and its Discworld counterpart is not exactly clear all the time, at least to me. I was also disappointed by a reference made to the Robin of Sherwood TV series in which the author dismisses a great reimagining of the classic folktale with some pedantic complaints about its apparently archaic use of the Herne the Hunted story. Nevertheless Ms Simpson is very knowledgeable and the book is comprehensive and very informative. A great way to dip one's toes in the pools of folklore. I can't wait to read some of the texts she and Terry have listed in the references.

Living With The Dead

I agree with the first review. A good read but certainly not the best in the series. I'm not a fan of Hope as a main character and would have preferred Karl to have a larger role than he did. In saying that, I did like her character better in this book than I did in the last. She doesn't come across as quite as helpless as previous.
If you are looking for a quick and easy read then I do recommend this. It's entertaining but as I've already mentioned certainly not the best. Won't stop me from looking forward to future publications from this author.

A really enjoyable read...

MIDNIGHT'S DAUGHTER is Karen Chance's fourth novel, her first three being the Cassandra Palmer series, and it is set in the same world with some of the characters we became familiar with in her previous novels.
If you haven't read the Cassie Palmer series, then I would highly recommend it, but have no fear because MIDNIGHT'S DAUGHTER can easily be read as a stand alone novel, although I do think readers of Chance's other work will get more from this novel.

The main heroine is Dorina Basarab, a 500-year old dhampir (half-human, half-vampire). Seeing as dhampirs tend to live very short, violent lives, hated and feared by vampires and humans alike, Dorina has done very well for herself. She's managed to retain her sanity by making sure she unleashes her anger on those who deserve it the most, demons and rogue vampires. The only reason the Senate (sort of Vampire Government) have allowed her to live this long is because of who her father is - Mircea Basarab, the darkly dangerous and seductive vampire lover of Cassie in TOUCH THE DARK, CLAIMED BY SHADOW and EMBRACE THE NIGHT. Now 'Daddy Dearest', as she calls him (just to get on his nerves), needs her help because her uncle Dracula has escaped from prison, and he is renouned for his cruelty and murderous ways even amongst the vampires...

I prefered Dornia as the main protagonist over Cassie, because she can really take care of herself - there are some delightful scenes where she wrestles for superiority and control with Louis-Cesare, the master vampire Mircea wants her to work with in order to capture 'Uncle Drac'. Previous readers of Chance will recognise him from the Cassie Palmer series, and we really get to know more about him and his past in MIDNIGHT'S DAUGHTER. I have to say I found him rather delectable :)
Dhampirs are certainly a lot tougher than humans, in fact one of the few things that can contest Dory's speed and strength is a master vampire. Despite this, however, there is a battle scene near the end of the book and I wasn't sure how she wasn't a corpse of the floor, let alone jumping back up to kill some more bad guys - she is one tough cookie that is all I can say!

In terms of style of writing, it is very Karen Chance - everything that could happen happens, every mythical creature you can think of is mentioned at some point, each a cliche in it's own right (ogres and trolls and beautiful fairies), but with their own Chance twist...very muddled, and yet it all works and comes together perfectly for an exciting, adventurous, unexpected, gory, sexy, funny novel! I think you can tell this her fourth novel, because it has more purpose and direction in terms of plot than her previous three; there is a clear goal set out from the beginning of the novel, and, with some twists and turns along the way, it is wrapped up nicely at the end, and yet it still has plenty of room for a sequal - personally I can't wait!

I would recommend MIDNIGHT'S DAUGHTER to anyone who loved her Cassandra Palmer series, or to anyone who loves fantasy novels with vampires and mages but with a modern feel, and with a good sprinkling of sexual tension and gorgeous lead men to spice it up :)