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Bones to Ashes: A Novel
Kathy Reichs
Manufacturer: Scribner
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Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0743294378 |
Book Description
Temperance Brennan, like her creator Kathy Reichs, is a brilliant, sexy forensic anthropologist called on to solve the toughest cases. But for Tempe, the discovery of a young girl's skeleton in Acadia, Canada, is more than just another assignment. Évangéline, Tempe's childhood best friend, was also from Acadia. Named for the character in the Longfellow poem, Évangéline was the most exotic person in Tempe's eight-year-old world. When Évangéline disappeared, Tempe was warned not to search for her, that the girl was "dangerous."
Thirty years later, flooded with memories, Tempe cannot help wondering if this skeleton could be the friend she lost so many years ago. And what is the meaning of the strange skeletal lesions found on the bones of the young girl?
Meanwhile, Tempe's beau, Ryan, investigates a series of cold cases. Three girls dead. Four missing. Could the New Brunswick skeleton be part of the pattern? As Tempe draws on the latest advances in forensic anthropology to penetrate the past, Ryan hunts down a serial predator.
Customer Reviews:
Newest 'Bones' novel.......2007-10-05
This is the tenth Temperance Brennan novel. She is a North Carolina-born, Montreal-based forensic anthropologist. In her childhood, she met and became great friends with an Acadian girl two years her senior. Then the friend, Evangeline, disappeared, along with her mother and sister. For the next few years, Tempe sought traces of her friend with no success.
Thirty years later, a skeleton is found, one of a young girl unearthed in Acadia. Immediately, Tempe theorizes it could be Evangeline. Meanwhile, a number of other missing girls flood the crime scene, with Tempe's partner tracking cold cases, two unidentified corpses and three missing persons. All teenage girls.
While working the cases, Tempe continues to obsess over the possibility that the skeleton is that of her friend. She locates Evangeline's sister in Acadia, who tells Tempe her friend was murdered 30 years before. Some clues implicate the sister's husband, an operator of strip joints, among other shady dealings. Ryan and Hippo, another cop, and Tempe pursue the mysteries of the cold cases, and Tempe keeps up her hopes of identifying Evangeline.
As in previous novels, there is an abundance of forensic anthropological science, details of bone dissections and linguistic analyses, all of which prove useful in the process of solving the mysteries. The customary fast-paced writing and tight plotting brings the novel to an unanticipated conclusion
Reichs Does It Again.......2007-10-04
The TV show Bones will NEVER be as good as its mentor series of books by Kathy Reichs. She has taken the job she holds so dear and the characters she has worked with over the years and made them more than life like. The latest book makes me yearn for longer books and many more of them. The woman is amazing. I want to know more about her love life, but the work she does as a forensic anthropologist is the real thing and the cutting edge of science. Waiting with great expectations for the next part of the series. Hope it is soon.
More Bones.......2007-10-04
This is the latest in Kathy Reich's series about Tempe Brennan. It is, as usual, a great mystery, and loads of fun following the engaging characters. In addition, this series has a lot to teach about forensic anthropology, things that are intelligent without being excessively deep or "teach-y." I have loved this series, and I am sure I will continue to get the books as they come out. I look forward to them. It's also been fun to follow the tv series, which really has a different feel from the books - of course, I'm a confirmed bibliophile, and I like to develop my own visions from the printed word. While the tv series is great, IT does the vision creation.
Too much jargon!.......2007-10-03
I have very much enjoyed Kathy Reichs' books over the years and have read every one. This time I was a bit disappointed. I found the medical explanations overly lengthy and too jargon-filled. I also found it annoying when French was used and not translated for the reader. I'll continue to read and enjoy the books about Tempe, but I'd like to see Ms. Reichs bring them back down to a more general reader level. Good book, though.
great book.......2007-10-02
Kathy Reichs fans will not be disappointed! Twists and turns and surprise ending, all in one great story. You will not be disappointed !
Book Description
After years of hard work, archaeologist Emma Fielding has a great marriage, a dream job, respect in her field, and a house that is finally being made livable. But she's also being bedeviled by increasingly bizarre and threatening occurrences, and what started out as a series of harmless pranks is quickly turning dangerous. Whoever is behind these events is spiraling in on Emma, through colleagues, friends, and family, and is becoming more violent each time, targeting those she loves with arson, theft, and, finally, murder.
Some think the events are unrelated, but Emma knows that she's the target, and even more frighteningly, the perpetrator shows a detailed knowledge of her and her past. Is it the work of a disgruntled student, a thwarted ex–lover, or is it, as Emma fears, the work of Tony Markham, a dangerous and brilliant man who everyone but Emma believes is dead? Estranged from her friends and stalked by escalating violence, Emma must find who is behind this before she comes to the end of her resources, her sanity, or her life.
Customer Reviews:
Some cheese with that whine?.......2007-07-18
I agree with the other reviews that this is the weakest of the series. Emma's consistent whining about her life and continual questioning of her motivations, career, marriage, relationships (which are better than most of us have) reaches peak annoyance level in this novel.
Disappointed.......2007-03-13
I enjoyed all her other books and was looking forward to this one. What a disappointment. If you are reading this series because you like the archaeological aspects, skip this one there aren't any.
Ashes are what you'll want to turn these pages to.......2006-10-04
I'll keep this simple and short. If you enjoy mysteries that have no mystery, suspense, character development, creative storyline, etcetera - this book is for you. I'm serious. It reeks of an endeavor the author was goaded into by some teaching colleague that thought she had some talent. The author tries to be witty and is overly wordy in the process.
I bought this book thinking the description, title, and cover looked interesting, particularly for this time of year. Don't make the same mistake!
I missed the archeology.......2006-09-21
As a fan of this series I was disappointed in this latest work, but it may be a question of unmet expectations. Usually the main character, Emma Fielding (an archeologist) solves a mystery based on work being done at some site, and the stories have been interestingly augmented by the author's knowledge of the discipline. This addition to the series is a real departure from that format. There's almost none of the archeology, and the plot is basically "I'm not paranoid, there really is someone out to kill me." And, even though I'd read the earlier works, I could not recall why the villain was supposedly after the main character anyway; the author could have done more to either fill in or remind readers of that part of the story line. The references are there, but I at least kept wondering about the motivation for such (apparent) hatred. I also found the description of the academic setting weak, but then I'm a tenured college professor, so it may just be me. I kept being surprised that a dean of something or other didn't show up when certain events transpired at the college, and I REALLY wondered how Emma was able to miss all those classes!!! I hope the next book, now that Nemesis has been laid to rest, will be closer to the earlier stories. It's a good read overall; I think it was just a let down because it was not what I expected based on the earlier works.
adrenaline jumping thriller.......2006-07-25
In January, Caldwell College archeology professor Emma Fielding received a post card with the word "soon" written on it. She assumes it is from Tony Markham, who tried to kill her and did murder her best friend. The police say that the fingerprint doesn't match his but when tTony escaped in a boat, his body was never found. While on vacation in Hawaii, she receives an anonymous gift of Lilies of the Valley, a flower that has special significance to Tony.
Her husband Brian calms her down feeling this is just a coincidence but when they are at the airport, Emma Believes she spots Tony but the man disappears before Brian can see him. Back home, a series of pranks on those close to Emma soon escalates into a mugging, a bullet hitting her martial arts teacher and the death of a security guard. This brings Emma to the brink of madness; only the threat to Brian brings her back from the abyss.
Even though all authority figures and Brian believe Tony is dead, the audience has doubts because the heroine is so sure he is the culprit. This is a predator vs. prey thriller but it is up to the audience to decide who is who. As each prank escalates another notch of violence the reader will wonder if Emma will be the last victim. Dana Cameron has written a pulse pounding, adrenaline jumping work that will appeal to sub-genre fans.
Harriet Klausner
Book Description
In the depths of his Cornish hideaway, retired Detective Inspector Frank Elder's solitary life is disturbed by a call from his estranged wife, telling him his seventeen-year-old daughter, Katherine, is running wild, unbalanced by the abduction and rape he feels he should have prevented. Meanwhile, in the heart of London, the takedown of a violent criminal goes badly, and Detective Sergeant Maddy Birch is uneasy about the reasons why, an uneasiness that is compounded when she starts to believe she is being stalked.
Maddy and Frank have a connection, a brief and clumsy encounter years before that has left a trace of lingering regret. In Ash & Bone their lives connect again when a second phone call persuades the unsettled, unhappy Elder out of retirement, only to find that a cold case has a devastating present-day impact.
Customer Reviews:
Great Crime Novel.......2006-08-18
This is the first book I've read by John Harvey, the famous British crime novelist. It won't be the last. I really enjoyed reading this novel.
This is the second book of a series, but you don't need to read the first book to thoroughly enjoy ASH & BONE. Nottingham cop Frank Elder is drawn out of retirement to investigate the murder of a policewoman he once knew. This book follows his investigation, his difficult family life, as well as the lives of various secondary characters who are affected by the crime he's investigating.
I read a lot of mysteries and thrillers, and I would place the quality of Harvey's writing right up there with Michael Connelly and Robert Parker. This book takes place in the UK, but American readers won't have much of a problem following the story or relating to the characters.
This is a first-class novel, and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys top-notch crime fiction. John Harvey doesn't have much a following in the United States, but I hope that will change soon.
Solid police procedural.......2006-01-07
This is my first exposure, I think, to John Harvey. The man certainly knows how to tell a story and keep you awake while he does it.
Set in England, Frank Elder is a retired Detective Inspector. The rape and near-death of his teenage daughter a year before, a divorce, just the tiredness of the job caught up with Frank and off he went to semi-rural England. Occasionally he, like other retired officers gets a call to help out on cold-cases, but Frank has had enough . . . until a woman officer is brutally raped and murdered.
Back into the Fray for Frank as he assists Karen Shields, an up and coming Inspector who feels often picked upon because she is a woman and Afro-Jamaican. Elder actually does act as a mentor, a helper. He doesn't take over the investigation of the murder of Maddy Birch, but rather suggests, prods and calls in favors. Author Harvey hit upon a masterstroke to keep the story going while allowing otherwise lesser characters to have their own believable story.
The late Detective Sergeant Birch had been a witness to the fatal shooting of one James Grant by George Mallory, another police officer. The shooting may not have been entirely "righteous" and suspicion falls upon Mallory. Harvey is expert at building backstory as we see when another suspect emerges.
Elder's 17 year old daughter becomes part of the story as she gets into a few scrapes of her own, one of which may involve corrupt police officers. Yet one more story added to the mix.
There are few more little stories blended in as well and none of them are distracting. All in fact help round out Elder and give this procedural a human quality it might otherwise lack.
Like many good police procedurals, "Ash & Bone" conveys the boredom of much police work without becoming boring itself. There are more than enough surprises to keep things moving perkily along. (About 50 or so pages in I thought I knew who the murderer was and asked myself why was I continuing to read: this John Harvey can't write suspense. Boy, was I wrong.)
"Ash & Bone" is a fine read.
Jerry
Twists and Turns and Plenty of Suspense.......2006-01-02
Ex police officer and now sometime police consultant Frank Elder is living a quiet life after having surviving his last case, in which almost saw his daughter killed. Now the teenager is hanging around with undesirable types, to say the least and Middy Birch, a woman he cared about, has been murdered, so again he's off to London to try and set things right.
Maddy Birch was a police detective, who following a confrontation where her partner shot and killed a man had complained about being followed. Elder and lead investigator Karen Shields are determined to find out what happened to Maddy and as they dig they find that Maddy had enemies she didn't even know about and they wind up in plenty danger indeed as the close in on the truth.
This is a terrific police procedural with plenty of characters, who all ring true, and Mr. Harvey is generous in having them share the spotlight with Frank Elder in this story. Elder himself comes across as very human, a flawed man who is easy to identify with. There are twists and turns and suspense and family problems and lots of plain good writing in this book. I really liked it, can't you tell.
A GOLD TROPHY FOR "ASH & BONE".......2005-12-11
"Maddy Birch would never see thirty again. Nor forty either." This is what she thought as she frowned into a mirror that revealed wrinkles beginning to show around her mouth and gray sneaking into her hair. The first lines of "Ash & Bone" describe someone growing older. Sounds benign, doesn't it?
Here's a woman none too pleased with the signs of aging as she approaches her 44th birthday. She's a British detective sergeant assigned to Serious and Organized Crime. Her bank account's thin and she's making payments on her flat. Maddy doesn't think that's much to show for "half a lifetime on the force."
Readers are immediately drawn to this no-nonsense likable woman. She's devoted to her job, doesn't much care for the condescension shown females on the force, and most definitely isn't interested in suggestive leers or clumsy gropes from her fellow officers. When we first meet her she's in a minor state of shock. She had recently accompanied Detective Superintendent Mallory and young Paul Draper on a raid to capture a top criminal, James William Grant. During that foray Grant is shot and killed by Mallory who notes, "Textbook. Head and heart." The killing, Mallory finds, is cause for "A wee celebration."
At this point readers are totally hooked, wondering where ace thriller writer John Harvey is going with Maddy and her response to this experience. Thus, it's quite a shocker when she is found dead early on, page 64 to be exact.
Leading up to this Harvey has skillfully reintroduced retired Detective Inspector Frank Elder, who has received a disturbing telephone call from his former wife. It seems their teenage daughter, Katherine, is running amok, staying out for all hours, sometimes overnight, keeping company with a drug dealer.. Elder blames himself for Katherine's anti-social behavior, believing it to be trauma caused by her earlier kidnaping and rape - a crime he feels he could have prevented. This is remorse he can't erase even by "the slow but steady application of alcohol to the wound, the plastering over of helplessness and guilt."
Thus, we have two parallel stories, Katherine's salvation and the murder of Maddy Birch. Elder, humane, honest, lonely, comes out of retirement to help with the investigation of Maddy's death and at the same time try to reconnect with a daughter he loves.
Word master Harvey creates revelatory dialogue that tells you more about the characters than any physical or emotional description could. This author is so adroit that even silences between people speak. His story is, of course, a police procedural, but penned with realism seldom found and respect for the characters he has created. He's devised a fast moving many layered plot that totally absorbs.
Suffice it to say that Elder almost meets his match in Detective Karen Shields, smart, black, great looking, and an intimidating six feet tall. Together they begin to unearth evidence that Grant's killing goes far beyond a routine police shooting and may, in fact, jeopardize the credibility of the entire unit.
Harvey's first novel featuring Frank Elder, "Flesh & Blood," won the British Crime Writers' Association Silver Daggar Award - polish a gold trophy for "Ash & Bone."
- Gail Cooke
You had to get involved, you couldn't let things be.".......2005-12-03
A police procedural with several simultaneously unfolding plot lines, Ash and Bone is full of twists and turns, surprises and shocks, certain to keep mystery lovers reading well into the night. Complex and well developed, it features almost forty characters--police, crooks, and police who may be crooks, along with their lovers and families. Ostensibly "a Frank Elder mystery," Elder himself does not play a major role at the beginning of the novel. Instead the focus is on Maddy Birch, a detective sergeant in Serious and Organized Crime, who is on a bust with Paul Draper, a young detective constable, trying to apprehend James William Grant, a man accused of armed robbery, money laundering, drug dealing, and extortion, when things go very wrong.
Detective Inspector Frank Elder, retired from the Nottinghamshire force and now living the life of a semi-recluse in Cornish, is persuaded to help in the internal investigation of Grant's death. Maddy Birch is someone he has known for years and has cared about. Separated from his wife for several years, Elder blames himself, in part, for his daughter's abduction, rape, and violent assault when she was in her early teens. As Frank tries to reconnect with this estranged daughter, he is, at the same time, investigating the Grant case and the people involved in it.
Karen Shields, detective chief inspector of Homicide West, initially does not want to talk with Frank, but they become confidantes as three separate plot lines unfold--the story of Maddy and the death of Grant; the story of Frank's daughter Katherine and her lover Rob Summers, who becomes the subject of a police investigation for drugs; and the story of a rogue police detective who may have much to hide--someone who is willing to do whatever it takes to protect his own, mostly financial, interests.
A gritty police procedural, Ash and Bone tracks several characters who have connections to more than one plot line--involving drugs, prostitution, and graft--creating suspense and dramatic tension as new information is revealed about each of these characters and their behavior. Eventually, characters become linked to "cold cases," and the horror of their betrayals of the public trust creates even more suspense as the implications regarding Elder's cases become obvious.
Lovers of police procedurals will find this novel a classic of the genre. Realistic, often depressing because of the venality of some of the players, but carefully constructed within a tight narrative structure, Ash and Bone offers much to intrigue admirers of character development, at the same time that it keeps the tension high with plot twists and new characters. Though Elder himself is not fully developed here, the "bones" that author Harvey has created will allow further development in future novels. Complex, the plot keeps the reader fascinated, and all "loose ends" are eventually resolved. n Mary Whipple
Book Description
In the depths of his Cornish hideaway, retired Detective Inspector Frank Elder’s solitary life is disturbed by a call from his ex-wife, telling him his seventeen-year-old daughter, Katherine, is running wild, unbalanced by the abduction and rape he feels he should have prevented. Meanwhile, in the heart of London, the takedown of a violent criminal goes badly, and Detective Sergeant Maddy Birch is uneasy about the reasons why, an uneasiness that is compounded when she starts to believe she is being stalked.
Maddy and Frank had a brief and clumsy encounter years before. In Ash & Bone their lives connect again when a second phone call persuades Elder out of retirement, only to find that a cold case has a devastating present-day impact.
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The Gilda Stories / Bones & Ash
Jewelle Gomez
Manufacturer: Quality Paperback Book Club
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ASIN: B0006RQZJC |
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ASH & BONE
John Harvey
Manufacturer: Publisher Unknown
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Ash and Bone
John Harvey
Manufacturer: Arrow
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Ashes Are Bone and Dust
Jill Battson
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ASIN: 1895837022 |
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Lyric and elegiac poetry that maps the way through grief and recovery from well-known poet Jill Battson.
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Bones and Ash
Jaya Sati Bhagavati Ma
Manufacturer: Jaya Press
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ASIN: 0964046938 |
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Spiritual teaching in poetic form, drawn from the personal journals of an interfaith spiritual teacher and mystic.
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The Bones of Jesus
William Ash
Manufacturer: Omni Publishxpress, LLC
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ASIN: 1930575017 |
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The novel is an adventure story. An archaeologist accidentally discovers the bones of Jesus and finds his career and life threatened. He must solve the problem of what to do with the bones.
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- Terry Pratchett is a master at plot, humor, characters, and satire
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The Light Fantastic: A Discworld Novel
Terry Pratchett
Manufacturer: Harper Paperbacks
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ASIN: 0060855886 |
Book Description
Terry Pratchett's profoundly irreverent, bestselling novels have garnered him a revered position in the halls of parody next to the likes of Mark Twain, Kurt Vonnegut, Douglas Adams, and Carl Hiaasen.
In The Light Fantastic, only one individual can save the world from a disastrous collision. Unfortunately, the hero happens to be the singularly inept wizard Rincewind, who was last seen falling off the edge of the world.
Customer Reviews:
Terry Pratchett is a master at plot, humor, characters, and satire.......2007-04-24
You can never go wrong, will never be disappointed, and I guarantee you'll laugh out loud when you read any book by Terry Pratchett. I scoured the internet to purchase all his books in hardback, now I've hooked my 20 year old on his books and I have to keep what's left of my collector's items hidden.
First book I read, "Witches Abroad". Favorite, "Monstrous Regiment."
You can turn a horrible day around with his satire on our world and culture. Better than Douglas Adams, which is a compliment because I love everything by Douglas Adams. I often answer questions with, "42."
Charlene Clancy
Average customer rating:
- Great
- Not Free SF Reader
- Glow of the Octavo
- Discworld Decoded
- No Bad Books
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The Light Fantastic (Discworld Novel)
Terry Pratchett
Manufacturer: Corgi Adult
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Binding: Paperback
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Book Description
As it moves towards a seemingly inevitable collision with a malevolent red star, the Discworld has only one possible saviour. Unfortunately, this happens to be the singularly inept and cowardly wizard called Rincewind, who was last seen falling off the edge of the world...
Customer Reviews:
Great.......2007-09-17
This book lives up to all the noise regarding the Discworld series. Its humorous. Really funny - I'm not kidding. Its a great read because of its humor and because of its zany, quirky material - it isn't predictable. Rincewind and The Tourist (& Luggage) are back again and getting themselves involved in lots of trouble.
The best worst thing about the series (so far) is that it makes you want to make jokes and reference the silliness in the stories... which makes you seem insane to all your friends who have, unfortunately, not read the books! Needless to say, this one was memorable and enjoyable. Well worth the cover price.
Not Free SF Reader.......2007-09-03
While not as funny as the first Discworld book, this follow-up is still pretty funny, and some of the Cohen the barbarian bits and other things like that definitely get a laugh.
Pratchett is continuing his Douglas Adams style fantasy rift, and it is pretty enjoyable, overall.
Glow of the Octavo.......2007-02-27
Octavo is the name Unseen University gives a book with eight of the most powerful spells in the universe. Seven these days, Rincewind the wizard has one of them stuck in his head...
Discworld #2 is "The Light Fantastic", first written in 1986. Goes pretty well straight after "The Colour of Magic" I think, as it has a lot of the same characters and plot points. Was listening to the Isis audiobook for this one (with Nigel Planer). Terry Pratchett's a bit wordy for me. Can see why he does it though. From what I've read, he's pretty passionate about the idea of storytelling, and the wordier it is, the more time spent with the storyteller. Guess so...
Discworld Decoded.......2007-01-31
Having introduced the Discworld to Roundworld readers with "The Colour of Magic", Terry Pratchett enhances our knowledge of it through this volume. New characters, previously unexplored regions of the Disc and deep questions about The Great A'Tuin almost garner answers. Rincewind, the failed wizard, is still acting as a guide to Discworld's first tourist, Twoflower. It's not always clear however, who's doing the leading and who the following. Twoflower, who is thrilled by everything and refuses to feel threatened by anything, absorbs all the novelty introduced to the reader. Through it all, Pratchett's delightful wit and innovative abilities keeps the reader's full attention. Only your laughter will interrupt the flow of narrative.
There's magic to this book, and no little magic in the story. Rincewind, having been catapulted over the Rim marking the edge of the Disc, inexplicably finds himself lodged in a pine tree. The entire universe has been rearranged to let him survive. Why should one timid outcast be so favoured? Twoflower, in a side gesture of cosmological justice, isn't far off. Rejoined, the pair struggle to find a way home to Ankh-Morpork. A sense of urgency over that return has appeared in the sky - and the Disc is likely to be destroyed soon.
Rincewind's role in changing the universe and coping with a "new star" that's appeared soon become apparent. As a student wizard, one of The Eight Great Spells entered his mind. Those spells are the glue holding the cosmos together. To survive, the Spell must keep Rincewind alive - not out of danger, but a survivor of many dire threats. Even Twoflower has noticed Rincewind's special role in life. The tourist has actually counted the number of Rincewind's near-death experiences. Those threats keep the wizard in a state of tense expectation. Rightly so, since there are yet more to come. Including the end of the world.
In their attempt to return, Rincewind and Twoflower encounter some fascinating characters. Perhaps the most engaging is the aging hero, Cohen the Barbarian, the Disc's Greatest Warrior. He, too, is a survivor, having long ago shed the notion of a "fair" fight. Fast with sword and knife, he knows the value of treasure, the delight in rescuing virgins, and the comforts of "soft lavatory paper". Trolls are encountered - those night creatures who live backward in time and who "suffer from philosophy". Yet, the Discworld isn't lodged in some parallel of the Roundworld's Middle Ages. There are computers and hardware consultants serving them. The Ring of Stones on the Vortex Plains "has gone down again" - a phrase every computer user will recognise. Who but Terry Pratchett could so successfully broker a liaison between such disparate concepts? And adapt from a hotly contested work about the meaning of the Stonehenge monoliths? **
There are other elements Pratchett considers in this tale. Death, who can be seen by wizards, joins the party to observe people's reaction to the new star. Death's perplexity is manifest at encountering humans who fear him, yet will subject themselves to a "death of the mind" almost without hesitation or reflection. Pratchett will keep you pondering many paths as you wend your way through this book. It's a delight to read Pratchett at any time, but taking up this book again after a long hiatus proved even more enlightening. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]
** Note: for young folks who find this meaningless today, Gerald Hawkins published "Stonehenge Decoded" in 1965, explaining that chalk- and charcoal-filled pits at Stonehenge provided a "computer" to forecast eclipses.
No Bad Books.......2006-11-10
Terry Pratchett does not write bad books. They are clever, punny, and funny. I laugh out loud every few pages. Read Terry.
Product Description
Adapts the 2nd discworld novel.
Product Description
adapts terry pratchett's 2nd discworld novel
Product Description
adapts 2nd discworld novel
Product Description
adapts pratchett's 2nd discworld novel
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Books Index
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