Saturday, December 17, 2011

Random Recommendations

Prince Ombra by Roderick MacLeish
This is a rather obscure fantasy book, but it is one of my favourites. It is about the thousand and first hero to fight the evil that never dies, by the name of Prince Ombra. The writing is very evocative, the references to mythology delightful, and has wonderfully deep themes surrounding destiny.


The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson
The novel is centered around Rory Deveaux, a Louisiana born teenager, who decides to go to an English boarding school; around the same time, a copy-cat Jack the Ripper is appearing in the city. Rory is the only one who can see the man that is thought to be the suspect. I didn't originally think I was going to enjoy this book, because of the somewhat cliche plot, but the writing is very well done and the characters are likable and realistic. 


Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
I'm not even going to cover the plot of this one; everyone should know about Frankenstein. However, I know a lot of people haven't read the book, and I think everyone needs to. It's very philosophical and just splendid. 


The Ego Tunnel by Thomas Metzinger
A non-fiction recommendation written by a philosopher, about "self" and reality. It addresses some science (quite a bit, actually) and includes the results of several scientific trials about consciousness. I liked this book because it made me question reality a bit more (a good thing, I think, when you're a writer) and think.


Ancestor by Scott Sigler
It has all my favourite things in a book; realistic sounding science, DNA, compelling plot, and fabulous, to die for, characters. It's centered around characters dealing with genetically-engineered monsters, and it's both horrifying and thrilling. However, it is also disgusting (though not as much as his other book, Infection); it's very reminiscent of watching a scary b-movie.


The Relic Master Series by Catherine Fisher
This one is difficult to summarize, so I'll let the novel's description speak for itself;"Welcome to Anara, a world mysteriously crumbling to devastation, where nothing is what it seems: Ancient relics emit technologically advanced powers, members of the old Order are hunted by the governing Watch yet revered by the people, and the great energy that connects all seems to also be destroying all. The only hope for the world lies in Galen, a man of the old Order and a Keeper of relics, and his sixteen-year-old apprentice, Raffi." The plot is pretty simple, but the characterization of Galen and Raffi (and everyone else) is done nicely, and the world-building is done extremely well. I especially liked how Raffi (the teenage protagonist) was not quite the chosen one.


Those are my book recommendations for week. 


Everyone enjoy the rest of their weekend!






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