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maribouArtemis Fowl and the Eternity Code, by Eoin Colfer, read by Nathaniel Parker (unabridged audiobook)
Parker does a great job of narrating, and I'm still enthused by these books. I'm a little baffled by some of the negative reviews explaining that the books are horrid because one is so obviously supposed to adore Artemis when he is so obviously a little prat. I really don't get that impression from the two books I've read, particularly the first one, where I thought it was so obvious that he was the least sympathetic character in the book, and that his obnoxiousness was part of the fun. But perhaps liking the idea of a protagonist who appears designed to make one grind one's teeth is an unusual trait in a reader.
(238/200)
The Road to Dune, by Frank Herbert, Brian Herbert, and Kevin J Anderson
I'm not counting this book because I gave up on the largest chunk of it, a terribly-written alternate version of Dune by the prequelists. But the parts with Frank Herbert's letters and the original scraps of cut scenes and chapters from Dune? Those were fun. The Herbert/Anderson short stories were forgettable.
Dragon's Eye, by James Hetley
I liked this author's previous two novels so much that I was dreading reading this one a little bit. What if it didn't hold up? Silly me. I really liked how natural the characters were. It's rare to read a contemporary-fantasy-type-thingie where the characters know about magic, know about the real world, and just sort of pragmatically deal with both (while still having a reasonable sort of awe/fear when appropriate) instead of being all 'whoa, crazy, wot iz opp???' all the time.
(239/200)
Very Bad Deaths, by Spider Robinson
This is more of a 'whoa, crazy, what is up?' kinda book, though dealing with telepathy/serial killers rather than magic, but I enjoyed the heck out of it anyway. Spider Robinson reminds me of my uncle; this is a good thing.
(240/200)
The Children of The Company, by Kage Baker
These books have been getting darker and darker, haven't they? This one was good. Kinda choppy, yes, but I didn't mind that as I don't know how I would've managed to put it down for work and other life stuff if it didn't have stopping places. Kage Baker remains on my most-trusted list. I was glad to have a lot of the stuff I had to figure out in the last one backstoried in this one, too.
(241/200)
Prep, by Curtis Sittenfeld
Hm. On the one hand, I devoured this book and it shows signs of scraping onto my 20 best list at the end of the year. On the other hand, it certainly wouldn't make it onto my 5 best list, so I'm a little uncertain as to the reason for all the hype. It's touching and funny and heartbreaking and precise and I would certainly be interested in another novel from this author.... but it's just a story about a girl at boarding school, and I don't really see what the NYT finds sooooooooooo marvelous and fascinating about it. It feels like good chicklit, honestly. But that's not a bad thing.
(242/200)
Parker does a great job of narrating, and I'm still enthused by these books. I'm a little baffled by some of the negative reviews explaining that the books are horrid because one is so obviously supposed to adore Artemis when he is so obviously a little prat. I really don't get that impression from the two books I've read, particularly the first one, where I thought it was so obvious that he was the least sympathetic character in the book, and that his obnoxiousness was part of the fun. But perhaps liking the idea of a protagonist who appears designed to make one grind one's teeth is an unusual trait in a reader.
(238/200)
The Road to Dune, by Frank Herbert, Brian Herbert, and Kevin J Anderson
I'm not counting this book because I gave up on the largest chunk of it, a terribly-written alternate version of Dune by the prequelists. But the parts with Frank Herbert's letters and the original scraps of cut scenes and chapters from Dune? Those were fun. The Herbert/Anderson short stories were forgettable.
Dragon's Eye, by James Hetley
I liked this author's previous two novels so much that I was dreading reading this one a little bit. What if it didn't hold up? Silly me. I really liked how natural the characters were. It's rare to read a contemporary-fantasy-type-thingie where the characters know about magic, know about the real world, and just sort of pragmatically deal with both (while still having a reasonable sort of awe/fear when appropriate) instead of being all 'whoa, crazy, wot iz opp???' all the time.
(239/200)
Very Bad Deaths, by Spider Robinson
This is more of a 'whoa, crazy, what is up?' kinda book, though dealing with telepathy/serial killers rather than magic, but I enjoyed the heck out of it anyway. Spider Robinson reminds me of my uncle; this is a good thing.
(240/200)
The Children of The Company, by Kage Baker
These books have been getting darker and darker, haven't they? This one was good. Kinda choppy, yes, but I didn't mind that as I don't know how I would've managed to put it down for work and other life stuff if it didn't have stopping places. Kage Baker remains on my most-trusted list. I was glad to have a lot of the stuff I had to figure out in the last one backstoried in this one, too.
(241/200)
Prep, by Curtis Sittenfeld
Hm. On the one hand, I devoured this book and it shows signs of scraping onto my 20 best list at the end of the year. On the other hand, it certainly wouldn't make it onto my 5 best list, so I'm a little uncertain as to the reason for all the hype. It's touching and funny and heartbreaking and precise and I would certainly be interested in another novel from this author.... but it's just a story about a girl at boarding school, and I don't really see what the NYT finds sooooooooooo marvelous and fascinating about it. It feels like good chicklit, honestly. But that's not a bad thing.
(242/200)
