What's this? More vampires? More Dracula? Could it at least be as good as Dracula?
Sadly, no. This is actually a collection of short stories, published after Bram Stoker's death. Only one of them is related to Dracula. All in all, the stories are okay. None of them are great, and I thought a few of them were kinda crap. Sorry I can't go into more detail about these stories. Most of them weren't very memorable at all.
If you love dark stories with dark themes, you'll probably enjoy a lot of these stories. If that's not your thing, you'll probably hate a lot of these stories. I'm not so into them myself. So I can't say that this book is really worth reading.
Click here to view this book on Amazon.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
The Time Machine by H.G. Wells
In the year 2000....humanity will be split into two groups. One group will be comprised of soft-skinned little people who not only live a life of luxury, but are also highly amused by matches. The other group will devolve into some barbaric ape-like creatures who live underground and fear the light, even matches.
Actually, Mr. Wells doesn't say what year this will all occur. It doesn't really matter, though, because I thought the whole thing was kinda rubbish (to use the British term). He had the unlimited possibilities that a time machine provides, and came up with little people and hairy apes. He also came up with giant crabs for a bit later. It's all a bit boring, to be honest.
The explanations he offers for why things are this way do make a bit of sense, I admit. That is, except for the crabs, they were random and really seem kinda pointless in terms of the story. It seems like he just wanted to show off how smart he was and how imaginative he could be, but the result just wasn't very good. At least from a modern perspective.
I can't recommend this book.
Click here to view this book on Amazon.
Actually, Mr. Wells doesn't say what year this will all occur. It doesn't really matter, though, because I thought the whole thing was kinda rubbish (to use the British term). He had the unlimited possibilities that a time machine provides, and came up with little people and hairy apes. He also came up with giant crabs for a bit later. It's all a bit boring, to be honest.
The explanations he offers for why things are this way do make a bit of sense, I admit. That is, except for the crabs, they were random and really seem kinda pointless in terms of the story. It seems like he just wanted to show off how smart he was and how imaginative he could be, but the result just wasn't very good. At least from a modern perspective.
I can't recommend this book.
Click here to view this book on Amazon.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells
In this book, aliens from Mars decide to travel to England and party like it's 1899. Their math was a bit off, though, and they landed a few years early. This makes them a bit upset, because they can calculate how to shoot themselves off Mars and land in England, but they don't know what year it is. So they do what any angry alien would do in their situation, they started melting people and blowing crap up. Why are aliens always such drama queens?
All in all, this book is pretty interesting. I'm not used to reading science fiction set in the past. I think I found the book more interesting because of that. I enjoyed reading about England and London from back in the day. The alien invasion was interesting, too. It's such an overused plot device these days that I don't think it would have been as enjoyable if the defense of Earth wasn't so different from what I'm used to.
If you decide to read it, be advised that it's a bit heavy on the geography side of things. Specifically English and London geography. I live in London and I had a hard time following everywhere the characters went. Maybe it's a good idea to have a map handy (I didn't, though. I just pretended I knew where they were talking about).
If you feel like reading an old-school alien invasion story, I'd recommend this one. If you're not so interested in it, I'd give it a pass.
Click here to view this book on Amazon.
All in all, this book is pretty interesting. I'm not used to reading science fiction set in the past. I think I found the book more interesting because of that. I enjoyed reading about England and London from back in the day. The alien invasion was interesting, too. It's such an overused plot device these days that I don't think it would have been as enjoyable if the defense of Earth wasn't so different from what I'm used to.
If you decide to read it, be advised that it's a bit heavy on the geography side of things. Specifically English and London geography. I live in London and I had a hard time following everywhere the characters went. Maybe it's a good idea to have a map handy (I didn't, though. I just pretended I knew where they were talking about).
If you feel like reading an old-school alien invasion story, I'd recommend this one. If you're not so interested in it, I'd give it a pass.
Click here to view this book on Amazon.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
This is the story about a mad scientist who, with the help of his hunchbacked friend, create a monster from corpses and lightning. This monster then goes on to terrorize...actually, I'm lying to you. It's totally not that story.
There is a "monster" that's created, but it's never specified that corpses were used. Lightning certainly wasn't. Mr. Frankenstein (not Dr.), created this creature in his apartment. He then freaked out and left it to wander around his college town and the countryside by itself. It later learns how to speak perfectly and is apparently a tortured soul who wants a monster wife. I won't bore you with further details. If you want to be bored, you can just read the book. There really isn't a whole lot to the plot, and the book takes forever to get there.
It's not an easy read. It goes on forever. It isn't interesting. I can't recommend this book.
Click here to view this book on Amazon.
There is a "monster" that's created, but it's never specified that corpses were used. Lightning certainly wasn't. Mr. Frankenstein (not Dr.), created this creature in his apartment. He then freaked out and left it to wander around his college town and the countryside by itself. It later learns how to speak perfectly and is apparently a tortured soul who wants a monster wife. I won't bore you with further details. If you want to be bored, you can just read the book. There really isn't a whole lot to the plot, and the book takes forever to get there.
It's not an easy read. It goes on forever. It isn't interesting. I can't recommend this book.
Click here to view this book on Amazon.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Dracula by Bram Stoker
Checklist time!
The book is written as a series of journal entries. At the beginning of the book, all the entries are written by one character. It later branches out and there are entries written by several characters. Not all of the entires appear in chronological order, so I did get confused a few times as to which events were happening when. Even so, it wasn't hard to follow, and was a pretty easy read. There was a point in the book where I think the behavior of the characters wasn't very believable. They knew a lot about what was going on, and behaved as if they didn't (I don't want to be too specific, here).
If you want to read a vampire book with a really good story that keeps you interested until the end, you should read this book. If you want to read a vampire book filled with bad writing and a stupid plot, you should seek professional help.
I definitely recommend this book.
Click here to view this book on Amazon.
- Creepy stalker vampires? CHECK
- Girls who are into creepy stalker vampires? NO
- Romance? CHECK
- Romance involving vampires? NO
- Set in a frequently cloudy area? CHECK
- Teenage angst? NO
- Vampires involved in their community? CHECK (in a manner of speaking)
- Glittery-ness? NO
The book is written as a series of journal entries. At the beginning of the book, all the entries are written by one character. It later branches out and there are entries written by several characters. Not all of the entires appear in chronological order, so I did get confused a few times as to which events were happening when. Even so, it wasn't hard to follow, and was a pretty easy read. There was a point in the book where I think the behavior of the characters wasn't very believable. They knew a lot about what was going on, and behaved as if they didn't (I don't want to be too specific, here).
If you want to read a vampire book with a really good story that keeps you interested until the end, you should read this book. If you want to read a vampire book filled with bad writing and a stupid plot, you should seek professional help.
I definitely recommend this book.
Click here to view this book on Amazon.
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