Ringworld - February 2011

11. Ringworld - Larry Niven

352 Pages, Borrowed from Local Library

Another Science Fiction Classic!

Ringworld won the Nebula award in 1970 and the Hugo and Locus Award in 1971.

You know a book is going to be good when the main character Louis Wu is 200 years old and flies off in a ship called "Lying Bastard"!

Wu, along with Speaker, a cat-like alien called a Kzin, a beautiful woman called Teela, and Nessus a three legged, 2 headed alien called a Pierson's Puppeteer, fly out of Known Space to explore a Ringworld.

A Ringworld is an artificial ring about one million miles wide and approximately the diameter of Earth's orbit (which makes it about 600 million miles in circumference), encircling a sunlike star. (I copied this description from Wikipedia as I tried a few times to describe it and couldn't!)

I consider this book a nice mix of science and soap opera which kept me entertained from start to finish.

The only problem I had was there were a few instances were things got a bit far-fetched...which is ironic considering this is a fictional tale of humans and aliens flying to a planet shaped like a ring!

Otherwise I enjoyed it immensely! There are 3 sequels and 4 prequels so I'll keep an eye out for them.

I give Ringworld 4.5 "Tasps" out of 5.

Royal Assassin - February 2011

10. Royal Assassin - Robin Hobb

688 Pages, Borrowed from Local Library

The second  book in the Farseer trilogy sees Fitz recovering and back at Buckkeep. More court politics, intrigue and adventure. I can't say more as it might ruin it for people who haven't read the first book yet!

A great follow up to Assassin's Apprentice and really makes me want to go buy the third installment.

I can't recommend these books enough as I'm really enjoying being immersed in the land of the Six Duchies and all it's history and tales.

This book gets 5 "Red Ship Raiders" out of 5

Childhood's End - February 2011

9. Childhood's End - Arthur C. Clarke

224 pages, Borrowed from Local Library.

Another Arthur C. Clarke book and another Science Fiction book that's always in the Top 10 Best Science Fiction list.

Alien spaceships turn up one day and announce they're taking control of us in a limited way to prevent us killing ourselves. The aliens stay in their ships and won't show their faces...or whatever they have for faces.

Not what I was expecting at all. I thought it was going to be a bog-standard alien invasion tale but it's so much better and different than that.

Humourous, fascinating and so unlike anything else I'd seen or read, it is easy to see why this was one of the authors favourite books.

A book that will stick with you long after you'd finished.

I give Childhood's End 5 "Overlords" out of 5!

The Death of Grass - February 2011

8. The Death of Grass - John Christopher

195 Pages, Borrowed from Local Library

The Death of Grass is a very English disaster story which follows John Custance and his friends/family as they make there way across England as the grass dies, starvation really kicks in and civilization crumbles.

Unlike anything I've read before, I was lulled into thinking things wouldn't be too bad if the grass died but this book really brings home how devastating it would be.

You really feel for the characters as they find themselves acting in ways they never thought possible, just to survive.

The book was renamed "No Blade of Grass" for the U.S. market and was also made into a film in 1970 which is available to watch on YouTube (unless you live in Ireland or one of the other countries Warner Bros. won't let you see their films for free.)

I was going to say I enjoyed this book immensely but "enjoyed" seems wrong considering the misery and death and everything but I can't think of a better word and searching on Thesaurus.com didn't help :)

I give The Death of Grass 5 "Blades" out of 5!

Prayer: the Mightiest Force in the World - February 2011

7. Prayer - The Mightiest Force in the World. Thoughts for an Atomic Age - Frank C Laubach

95 Pages, Ordered from Amazon

Now, anyone who knows me at all knows I'm not a big BELIEVER.

I was raised a Catholic but since 12 I've only been in church for weddings and funerals.

Having said that, my dad was diagnosed with Lung Cancer recently and had to have his left lung removed...and then a course of chemotherapy and radiation.

I'm sure I'm not alone in thinking "Hey, maybe I should start seeing if there's anything in this whole praying business that might help out my Dad"

I didn't want to mindlessly trot out the usual prayers I'd been taught as a child so I searched online and this book was mentioned as being different from the usual spiel.

I read it, and it was definitely different. It encourages you to make more personal prayers and pray in different ways. It is interesting although dated...keeps mentioning "atomic power"!

Like I said, I'll give it a go and see what happens.

I give this 4 "Halleluiahs" out of 5 as it is an interesting idea.

Deal Breaker - February 2011

6. Deal Breaker - Harlan Coben

368 pages - Bought in Charity Shop

Deal Breaker is the first Myron Bolitar novel from Harlan Coben. My Mam, sister and fiancée love his books so I figured I'd give it a go.

Didn't do anything for me really.

I read the book, it passed time but I can't say it was anything special.

That's no reflection on the writing, which is clear, sharp and punchy. It was just the characters of Myron and his psychopathic associate Win that didn't gel with me.

Having said that, this is the first book so maybe if I read a few more I'll grow to love them as much as everyone else obviously does.

I give this 3 "Career-ending Knee Injuries" out of 5

January 2011 Round Up

Arthur C. Clarke

Just a quick round up of what's happened in January!

Books Read: 5

Total Pages: 1733

Average Pages Read per day: 55.9

Sources of Books:
Charity Shop: 2
Library: 3

Genres:
Fantasy: 2
Sci Fi: 2
Non-Fiction: 1

Find out more about Arthur C. Clarke by visiting his website http://www.clarkefoundation.org/