Showing posts with label 17th century. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 17th century. Show all posts

Ring of Fire (Century Quartet, Book 1) Review

Ring of Fire (Century Quartet, Book 1)
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Ring of Fire (Century Quartet, Book 1) ReviewRating System:
1 star = abysmal; some books deserve to be forgotten
2 star = poor; a total waste of time
3 star = good; worth the effort
4 star = very good; what writing should be
5 star = fantastic; must own it and share it with others
Blurb from back cover: "Every Hundred Years, humankind is put to the test. Every hundred years, four young people must take on an enormous challenge. Another century has passed, and the children have been chosen. The challenge begins in Rome, the city of fire."
1) I like the concept of a four part challenge covering four books with four kids who each plays a key role in completing the challenge
2) Right at page 8 my fears were realized when the writing of the character's actions, dialog and emotions was just HORRENDOUS. I don't know if this was due to the translation and/or the author is just a novice writer. Either way, it doesn't get much better throughout and only the cleverness of parts of the story keep the reader half-interested.
3) I like the cover and inserts. Eye-catching!
4) Did I mention the author seems to play the hand of God card too often?! There never is really any threat as things always miraculously work out perfect for our four protagonists...then again why wouldn't it? I mean after all they need to survive three more books. But still the suspension of belief was pushed passed reasonable limits in some cases.
5) If you don't want to care about the characters or appreciate the writing, then hold on to the mystery of the story. That has some meat to it, which is the main reason I didn't give this a one star.
I know. I know. I hate rating a book so low, but I read a LOT of YA books (just finished bk 2 of the Hunger games. Very good read!) But let's face it, there are more and more authors trying to break into this booming market of YA. That is especially good and bad for the audience as more good books and more poor books will be available and until you read it (or read the reviews) you won't know which is which.
Personal recommendation is move on unless the story concept and pretty inserts intrigues you.Ring of Fire (Century Quartet, Book 1) Overview

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1632 (Ring of Fire) Review

1632 (Ring of Fire)
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1632 (Ring of Fire) ReviewBasically, this book is about a coal-mining town in West Virginia which is mysteriously transported to Germany at the time of the Thirty Years War. This theme has been developed before, going back to Mark Twain (or maybe further). To my knowledge, S.M. Stirling was the first major writer to move a whole community back to another time, with his Nantucket Series, and now Eric Flint seeks to get his version in. I am a fan of this genre, so I expected to enjoy this book, and I did. One way that it is different from most of these stories is that it focuses on the "little people"--The movers and shakers of this book are not professors or military officers or big-time politicians. The hero is a failed boxer who is a minor union official. On the other hand, the book is filled with affectionate praise for King Gustavus Adolphus. Gustavus Adolphus was a real historical figure, and if you don't know who he is, don't worry, you will know when you finish the book! I enjoyed the book, think most who are interested by this idea will enjoy it. Only criticism I have are that too much time is spent with the time travellers offstage, describing the Battle of Breitenfield, a real historical battle. Some may be disappointed that a minimum of time is spent describing clever technological improvisations--These seem to be a staple of this genre, but there isn't much of it here. If you enjoyed this book, I'd look up H. Beam Piper's LORD KALVAN OF OTHERWHEN, S.M. Stirling's ISLAND IN THE SEA OF TIME, and L. Sprague deCamp's LEST DARKNESS FALL.1632 (Ring of Fire) Overview

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