End of Year - Goal Reached.

So, it's December 31st as I write this. My blog's up to date, and I don't intend to do more than browse through my copy of Absolute Sandman 2 before midnight, which will conveniently rid me of the pesky issue of being halfway through a book when the clock strikes midnight. Final count is 102 books read, which is more or less two books a week. Not too shabby, if I do say so myself!

I've had a fair amount of fun doing this blog this year. At some stage I intend to go over all 102 of the books I got through, and collate some data about them to see what I can find, more or less. Book genres, and standard length of books I read, and suchlike. Patterns, if there are any, general statistics if there aren't. At a glance it looks like I had a very sci-fi/fantasy rich year, with a good smattering of books intended for younger audiences, but also a very decent helping of new authors that I hadn't tried before to mix and match with tried and true favourites. I'm pleased to see that I've tried a lot of new people this year, and even more pleased to see that so many of them have been such good reads.

I don't know yet if I'll continue this blog in 2013. I doubt that I'd manage to read another hundred books, given recent changes in lifestyle and net decreases in 'free time' due to work, friends, animals, and other worthy causes. And I do have my own personal record of all my best books, which I'll be updating some time early in the new year. This has been fun, though, and I've enjoyed setting out my thoughts about each book (even though some of them have been very overdue and somewhat rushed, it's still been a time to reflect on each story).

All the best and Happy New Year from me and mine, to you and yours. May your imagination run wild and take you into the heart of an adventure without further ado. Thanks for reading, folks.

102. Airman, by Eoin Colfer.

Airman is about Conor Broekheart, a young nobleman born in an aeronautical balloon and raised as a scientist as the world races to invent a proven method of flight. He is privileged with a progressive king and willing mentor, loving family, and ideal prospects to woo and win the princess of the islands, until treacherous underlings deprive him of mentors, family, and freedom in a few vicious strokes. Shattered, he clings to his dreams of flight to survive his time in the diamond mine prison of Little Saltee Island.

Airman is a good read by a favoured author. I've read several of the Artemis Fowl books, and a few of Eoin Colfer's other books, and I'm fairly sure I moderately enjoyed all of them. Eoin Colfer has a very straightforward manner of explaining things, and his plots are all unusual enough that they captivate the interest - helped along by his amusing portrayals of even the grimmest characters. Definitely worth a read, as a young adult or an old one.

101. Heart Shaped Box, by Joe Hill.

Had to read this one after Horns, since I enjoyed Horns so much. This is about Jude, a heavy-metal musician with a penchant for the strange and the creepy. After stumbling across an auction for a ghost for sale, and purchasing said ghost, he is shipped a suit in a heart shaped box, which is all that is advertised with a side order of hatred and cruelty. The ghost turns out to be that of his previous girlfriend's (Florida) dead stepfather, who is determined to kill them both to get revenge for how Jude changed Florida's life, and caused her death.

I didn't like this one as much as I liked Horns. It's still written very well, and the storyline is still kinked and snarled enough that you can't see from the beginning how it will end (but it's not so snarled that it's impossible to keep straight, either), but it's lacking a certain...grab...to it. I liked it, and it's a decent book, but Horns is undeniably my favourite of the two.

100. Horns, by Joe Hill.

Ig Perrish stands accused of the rape and murder of his girlfriend following a very public split. On the one-year anniversary of her death, he wakes up from a blackout drunk with horns protruding from his skull. Horns that, when seen, encourage everyone to spill their innermost secrets and ask permission to commit secret sins. As he tries to come to terms with this new identity, he finds out some startling things about Merrin's demise.

This book was very, very good. I enjoyed it immensely. If this is anything to go by, his books are definitely going to become a staple of my reading diet. His story's fairly unusual, and his characters are seen from an interesting point of view. Lee in particular is very well executed, both in form and in function. Definitely a book I recommend to anyone who likes darker fantasy (or fantasy, or good books) and I'll be keeping my eyes peeled for more by this author.

99. Boy, by Roald Dahl.

Boy is an autobiographical novel of Roald Dahl's childhood, that goes through his school time, and to the start of his career with Shell in Africa. It tells a variety of amusing stories and paints an image of what schooling must have been like for him. Interspersed with the chapters are fragments of letters, photographs, and drawings.

I've read this story before, but not for a while. It's quite strange to think how different things were such a short time ago. It makes me wonder how much things will change between my school years and those of children born when I am old, if so much has changed between his and mine.

98. Absolute Sandman, volume 1/5, by Neil Gaiman.

This volume is the first of five, and collects issues 1-20 of the comic in a hardback cover, which is awesomely presented. My American friend (yes, you) suggested this to me a while back, but it took me a while to get my paws on a copy, since I wanted to read it in physical form and not off my computer screen, and thus needed to wait in a rather long waitlist to get one from my library. However, it finally arrived, and I got about halfway through before going online and purchasing copies for myself. I love stories like this - strange fantasy that's not necessarily strictly nice, odd little snippets that make you think of things from a different perspective. Sandman is very much like that, so it's a very good fit for me.

Volume one covers Dream's capture and escape from the mortal realm, introduces us to some of his sibling Endless, and some of the denizens of the Dream realm, and others. I particularly liked the story about cats dreaming of a new reality.

97. Matilda, by Roald Dahl.

Matilda seems like a book I would have absolutely loved to bits in childhood, but amusingly enough, never got around to reading until now. Although I've seen the movie, and liked that. She's a precociously intelligent child born into a family of numbskulled crooks, who teaches herself to read ridiculously early, devours books at an incredible rate, and develops telekinetic powers due to her undertaxed mind's frustration with never being able to use its full potential. These come in very handy for hijinks and mischief, although she only uses these with good reason.

I quite enjoyed finally reading this story. It's been a while since I've thought about it much, but it's one of those books that I always promised myself I'd get round to eventually. And eventually turned out to be now, since I finally had a copy near to hand, and some spare time at lunchtimes to sit down and read it.

96. The Twits, by Roald Dahl.

The Twits is about a pair of horrible people that are married, and play nasty practical jokes on one another. But it's okay, because they get their comeuppance when their circus monkeys that they are training to perform upside-down warn off all the birds they were planning to catch for their dinner, and then play the best trick of all on the Twits themselves.

Another funny little story good for some quick amusement that isn't terribly long or in depth, but would be good to offer to younger readers. I read this one mostly for the nostalgia value again, but it was still rather amusing as an adult, if more than a little nonsensical.

95. George's Marvellous Medicine, by Roald Dahl.

George's Marvellous Medicine is another childhood favourite of mine. George is left alone with his horrible grandmother, and resorts to making her a new and improved medicine, since her old medicine is clearly not helping her temper at all. He collects a variety of articles from around the house in a giant saucepan, and boils it up, before giving her some and watching in dismay as she grows taller...and taller... and taller.

Another funny and entertaining read. Roald Dahl is very good at finding light-hearted ways to deal with odd topics (especially the ending) and I especially like the fact that most of these books have pictures to go alongside the writing, even if they're little sketchy-pictures as opposed to full colour. It makes these books a nice sort of transition from picturebook reading to more grown-up reading. Definitely recommend to younger readers.

94. The Magic Finger, by Roald Dahl.

I'm not entirely sure that this should count as a 'proper' book, seeing as it was ridiculously short, but I suppose it balances out some of the monster books I've read through the rest of the year. It's about a girl with magical powers in her index finger, who is able to cast spells when she's angry - say, over the neighbours hunting ducks, for example.

This is a silly little book for kids, but it's quite amusing to read it and remember reading it as a child (I'm sure it wasn't this short back then!) Roald Dahl does his usual comic magic, and the result is easy to read and entertaining. Definitely something to introduce younger readers to.

93. The B.F.G, by Roald Dahl.

I was lucky enough to spot a box set of Roald Dahl books going relatively cheaply in a fundraiser box at my work. 15 books for $50 sounded like an excellent excuse to indulge my nostalgia, so...I did. As you'll see over the next few entries.

The BFG is about a little girl, Sophie, who is awake late in her orphanage one night, and spots a giant blowing dreams through bedroom windows. When he realises he's been spotted, he takes her away to giant country, where they find out that he's the Big Friendly Giant, as opposed to one of the other giants that like to eat people. Sophie is determined to put a stop to this after hearing about how the others go galloping off each night to gobble up people by the dozens, and enlists the help of the Queen to do so.

This was one of my favourite books in primary school. I remember sitting in the library reading it multiple times, and Roald Dahl is probably one of the authors that really got me hooked on reading from a young age. The story's bizarre enough to be funny, yet it's still set out clearly and is easy to understand. He has a great gift for involving the reader's imagination.

92. Use of Weapons, by Iain M. Banks. (A Culture Novel)

Use of Weapons is approximately the fourth book about the Culture that Iain M Banks has written, and it follows much in the same vein as the rest. The Culture, while seeming to be this fantastic paradise of good moral standing, seems to love to meddle with other worlds and other universes, and every so often they have to pull operatives in to help divert or clear up events that may turn into quite nasty little wars. They don't necessarily pick the best tools, however.

I was a bit ambivalent about this one, although I've really liked most of the other Culture stories I've read. The narrative was quite confusing (the story jumps around in time quite a lot, with either flashbacks or previous events explained at quiet points in the current story) and it was sometimes difficult to tell immediately when in the protagonist's life you were reading about. Aside from that, the action was quite fast-paced, but there was not a lot of background given on a lot of the places mentioned. Perhaps this was done intentionally to show how often conflicts cause the same basic problems regardless of location. Mostly the only thing that irritated me was the confusion between past and present.

91. Daughter of the Forest 3: Child of the Prophecy, by Juliet Marillier.

Child of the Prophecy is the third book in a planned trilogy that (I believe) has since expanded to contain several more books. It deals with Ciaran's daughter Fainne, and her manipulation by her wicked sorceress grandmother into bringing about chaos and despair at Sevenwaters as part of a larger plot to bring down the faerie folk for good. 

This book was much in the same vein as the other two, and reasonably enjoyable. Fainne is a bit annoying most of the time, and there are a few quite convenient events that prevent things from getting too out of hand. She's incredibly lucky in how things turn out, and it's fairly surprising that people both didn't suspect her earlier, and that her grandmother didn't use a more stringent method of controlling her. Additionally, I thought a few 'hidden' things were rather easy to spot, which ruined a little of the shock value of the ending. Overall, a decent book.

90. Daughter of the Forest 2: Son of the Shadows, by Juliet Marillier.

Second book of the series. About Sorcha's daughters and son, and the mischief the Fair Folk wreak upon their lives, after their mother's triumph over their designated occurrences. Liadan is a homebody, and wants to heal and care for her people and her village. Her self-sacrificing ways get her into trouble, and she ends up in the position to tip the balance one way or another.

I liked this one quite a lot. Not based on the fairytale anymore (well, now just loosely on parts of several, so I understand it), but it holds the same sense of mystery and excitement that the original did. Liadan is mostly intelligent and nice, although she has a few I-want-to-smack-you moments, too.

89. Kingdom Come, by Alex Ross and Mark Waid.

My nerdy American friend recommended that I read this, as I haven't read many comics but enjoyed Watchmen. It's about what happens when superheroes retire, but their successors are too weak or bigoted or just plain stupid to keep the balance.

I have to admit that I think I would have enjoyed this more, had I had a better idea of what the interpersonal relationships were between the characters. I feel like I got the story just in its broadest strokes, missing a lot of subtle meaning and layers of veiled references in favour of he-said-she-said story. It was still a pretty interesting read, but it did disappoint me a little. I thought it would be better than it was. But I also know that I wasn't able to appreciate it to the full value that it represents. So there's fault on both sides, really. Nevertheless. Interesting to see a comic where the 'good guys' aren't necessarily good.

88. Daughter of the Forest, by Juliet Marillier.

Based heavily on the fairytale about the maid that saves her brothers, cruelly transformed into the guise of swans, by sewing shirts of nettle thread, woven by hand and in silence, in order to thwart a witch's spell.

Fleshed out and expanded upon, this story closely follows the markers set down in the fairytale, but segues off into new information extrapolated from smaller elements. The baseline is all present - swans, a spell, six brothers, a beautiful youngest sister, a handsome stranger - but the extra information is all very much worthwhile also. The story evolves nicely, and the characters relate to each other well, which can be a struggle. Interesting read, and definitely enjoyed it.

87. Earthsong, by Victor Kelleher.

Two young adults are sent in a colony fleet from terraformed moons, back to a potentially inhospitable Earth, where contact has been lost with the previous human inhabitants, who did not leave with the rest. They're supposed to be the First Parents, but instead they nearly crash-land into a hostile world, left with a muddled computer and half a continent away from the rest of their supplies.

I remembered reading this book in high school, and enjoying it quite a lot, although it never my favourite book of Victor Kelleher's (That honour goes to Parkland, which I would have read instead, had my library been able to supply a copy). Reading it now, all I'm struck by is how the plot is really interesting in some ways, and really annoying in others. Their crashed computer/child-simulator is both frustrating and rather unique, and their interpersonal relationship is particularly Barbie-and-Ken-like, as if they don't get a choice in the matter. Which, I suppose, they don't. I'm left with the feeling that it could have been handled better, although the ideas behind it were excellent.

86. Song of the Lioness 4: Lioness Rampant, by Tamora Pierce.

Fourth book of the Lioness quartet, chronicling Alanna's triumphant yet hurried return to the capital. Cut off from contact during her travels, she has yet to realise what a state the city is in, and isn't specifically prepared for the showdown.

I like this book as well. It's a good end to the series, but it leaves Alanna free to be a secondary character in lots of the other series that Tamora Pierce has written - like the Protector of the Small series, and others. She occupies an interesting place, and it's good that she's such an interesting character to go there. I think she was quite a good role model to grow up with, and I hope that there are similar characters available to children reading books today.

85. Song of the Lioness 3: The Woman Who Rides Like A Man, by Tamora Pierce.

Third book in the Lioness series. Alanna's newly knighted, and newly exposed as a female before the court, right after outing the king's brother for treason, and right before killing him. She decides it would be wise to gain some perspective from a distance, and rides off on adventure, finding new companions and treasures around every corner.

I always had 1,2, and 4 of this series growing up, so this part of the story is always the bit that I'm least familiar with. I enjoyed the new characters, though, and it rounds Alanna out nicely to find out what she does after 'school', as well as during. She continues the strong-heroine theme, and she doesn't let anyone boss her around. I always liked that about Alanna, and this part of the story really emphasises those characteristics.

Hiatus.

So. I kind of maybe skipped like six weeks worth of updates. Mostly because I'm lazy, partly because I've been legitimately busy. I find myself with more social responsibilities than I usually expect, and it seems that whenever I'm at the computer, I'm always wanting to do something else rather than talk to myself about books, much as I love them. Combined with a general business causing me to read less than usual also (and no transport-reading time acting as a backup, I find that I have less to talk about, as well as less of an inclination to do so. However. I made a deal with myself, and I plan to hold me to it. The next ten or so entries are probably going to be brief, but damn it, they'll be there.

84. Song of the Lioness 2: In The Hand Of The Goddess, by Tamora Pierce.

Alanna has survived her years as a page, and is training as a squire, deception still intact. This book covers her years as a squire, her first war, and her ongoing struggles with some very prominent smiling noblemen.

After sorting my bookshelves and being thoroughly distracted by the first book of this series, I decided it had been enough years since I read them to make a reread worth my while. I chewed through this one in a similarly abrupt fashion, reacquaintancing myself with familiar characters and old friends. Much like the first book in the series, it's written for young adults and uses simple language and plot themes to get the ideas across. Lots of nostalgic value, but also a decent read, particularly if you're after something  reasonably easy to follow.

83. Song of the Lioness 1: Alanna: The First Adventure, by Tamora Pierce.

Alanna is determined to become a knight. Only problem is, she's female, and that's just not done. Due to some lax parenting and a mischievous twin brother, she is able to swindle her way into training, masquerading as 'Alan', and pretending to be male. Training to be a page is hard enough for most, but it's even harder when the gods are taking a special interest in your case. This book covers Alanna's training as a page, and the adventures she has therein.

This was one of my favourite books as a child. It's got a strong heroine, it's fantasy based, the characters are set out simply and concisely, but with depth and meaning hidden behind every sentence. The story's interesting and the pace is fast enough to prevent boredom. Even on the umpteenth re-read, I was able to sit down and finish this book in one session of reading, and I'd gladly do the same again.

82. The Fire Raiser, by Maurice Gee.

When fires start being lit in the small town, everyone is busy trying to figure out who is behind them. Some lucky schoolkids happen to be in the right places at the right times, and are able to put together the pieces to point out the culprit. But he's not going to give up without a fight.

This is very much a children's book, and the writing reflects this. I found it a bit dull and far too convenient in places, but I imagine it would suit a younger audience more thoroughly. It was written quite well, but there are more than a few plots that are starteed in various places and never finished, which makes me wonder why he bothered to include them at all, since several of them don't actually contribute much, and leave more questions unanswered than they actually help. Maurice Gee is an author I've heard good things about, but on the basis of this book alone, I would find it hard to gather much enthusiasm for his work.

81. Doctor Who Quick Reads: The Sontaran Games, by Jacqueline Rayner.

The Tenth Doctor is between adventures when he lands in an elite sports academy. As usual, he stumbles across a nefarious plot, hidden aliens, and some humans for him to bring out the best in.

As previously mentioned, a good friend introduced me to Dr Who and I quickly became enamoured with the series. So when I saw this book at a library sale (for 50c!) I automatically picked it up. First thing I noticed was that when they say "quick read" they really aren't kidding - I think it took me twenty-five minutes from cover to cover. It reads rather a lot like fanfiction to me, but the Tenth Doctor is very much in character, which made me happy. Decent story, but really rather too short for it to be explored in enough detail to satisfy.

80. The Redemption Of Althalus, by David and Leigh Eddings

The Redemption of Althalus follows the key character of Althalus on a number of brief adventures before he is hired to steal the Book from the House at the End of the World. Upon his arrival there, he is greeted by a talking cat, and concludes that he has gone mad, or died without noticing. Emmy disabuses him of this notion after a while, and he returns to the world to seek out those who may help him and Emmy in their quest to preserve the universe and current version of history.

I'm quite a fan of this book. I like most of the characters, and I think it has some interesting ideas put forth in the text. One of the characters appeals to me rather a lot, and those who know me well may be able to pick them out based on a few obvious physical characteristics. I enjoy the story because it plays around with some neat mechanics and keeps your attention through almost all of the book. I do find that one of the last sections gets a bit tedious, but that could just be me being finicky. Overall definitely worth a read for any classic fantasy fans.

79. Watchmen, by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons.

(I am aware that this is a comic rather than a book, but I'm counting it nevertheless because it was equivalent time-wise. And look! The cover even refers to it as a novel.)

Watchmen depicts the adventures of a few masked vigilantes towards the end of their socially acceptable reign of power. Nuclear war draws ever closer, both pushed forward and impeded by the presence of Dr Manhattan, a true super hero. Society is very unstable, and there are some out there that want to take advantage of that to tip the future into the channel they prefer.

Several of my friends are comic fans, but I've never really gotten that involved with them before. I really enjoyed reading Watchmen, not only because the story was chaotic enough to be interesting while still being straightforward enough to understand, but because I enjoyed the medium as well. Comics are much more visual than books, and it's quite fun to read a story mostly through dialogue and images. I had a bit of trouble reading this at first due to computer display issues, but once I had located a paperback copy at my local library, I was able to dive right in to the story. Definitely worth a look.

78. Watchers, by Dean Koontz.

Travis is hiking when he stumbles across an unusual golden retriever. The dog seems far too intelligent, and ensures that he leaves the mountains immediately - but not before he catches a glimpse of something unusual that seems to be making the dog very uneasy. After adopting him, Travis sets about figuring out where the dog came from, and what the creature in the mountains was.

This book was fairly decent. Nothing particularly special, but a decent read that left me guessing at rather a few points. I found it fairly amusing that Dean Koontz read into things enough to know about certain dog diseases, but not to know that chocolate is fairly toxic for dogs. I thought a few of the ideas in this book were sort of beaten into the ground by the end of it (mostly because all the good characters are pristinely amazing and all the bad characters are hideous monsters), but it was a suitable way to while away some lunchtime hours.

77. Knife, by R. J. Anderson

Knife is a young adult faerytale about Bryony, a faery girl that is growing up in the tattered shreds of a once-great faery Oak, while the rest of her society slowly decays around her for lack of input. Everyone is confined to the tree for fear of humans, but Bryony is more alert and more curious than many of the older faeries, and refuses to stay within the boundaries. Once she's appointed as a Hunter for the tree, it becomes even more difficult to keep her away from the humans.

This book was an interesting read. Bryony/Knife (as she calls herself later in the book) is a fairly typically wilful young adult, and I can see how the book would appeal to teen readers quite a lot. The ending is somewhat expected, but also a bit...odd...in a few ways. And it leaves a lot hanging open to interpretation. Apparently also the first of a series (I have a bad habit of picking these up and never getting the rest), so I may have to read the others, should I come across copies. I want to know what happens next!

76. Gifts, by Ursula K. Le Guin

Gifts is about two Upland children, who live in a settlement where most people are Gifted with a power that travels through their families. Gry's family calls animals, whereas Orrec's family has the power of Unmaking. But Orrec can't control his power, and Gry refuses to use hers to call animals to slaughter.

Gifts was another of my $1 bargain books that I've finally got around to reading. Previously I've been a little ambivalent towards her books - they're interesting, and good fantasy, but they weren't catching my fancy as they could have. Gifts was a good read though, and I'd definitely give another of her books a chance, should one tweak my interest. Her characters are interesting, but I would have liked to see a bit more fleshing-out of how their magics came to be and such. This isn't really covered in the book, but it's also quite clearly the first in a series (works alright standalone, but it's clear the story continues) so perhaps that's something that is more fully described later. In any event, it was an interesting book, and I enjoyed reading it.

75. Hunter's Run, by Daniel Abraham, Gardner Dozois, and George R. R. Martin.

Hunter's Run is about an independent miner on a small human colony world, just as humanity is starting to branch out amongst the stars with the help of a mostly indifferent alien race for dispersal. Ramon is crude and angry, and enjoys his time spent out in the wildnerness more than the time boozing and fighting in the cities...although that's always good for some light exercise. After he kills a man, he needs to make a quick trip out. And as luck would have it, this is the trip that he finds something remarkable.

I was very pleasantly surprised by this book. It was a $1 bargain from the library, and it had three authors, and I was thinking 'ehhhh...maybe I'll give it a go' when I started reading it, but it really blew my expectations out of the water. Ramon is a very interesting character, and I really enjoyed the storyline. Unusual, just predictable enough in places to be enticing, and a really good look at an interesting method of character depiction and development. Totally satisfied my classic-sci fi need that the Shadow series was lacking, and I'm definitely earmarking this one for re-reads in the future. Definitely a fitting book to hit for the three-quarters mark.

74. Shadow Of The Giant, by Orson Scott Card.

Shadow Of The Giant is the fourth book in the Ender's Shadow series. It continues the story of Bean, and Petra, and Peter, and the other Battle School grads. It wraps up...well, to be honest, not very much of the story. I thought this was the last of the series, but it turns out that there is one more after this. Which makes sense, given that they leave two giant gaping holes in the plot NOT addressed at all. More or less, Earth's battles are mostly resolved in one fashion or another, but there are lurking problems off-planet that are alluded to in a very foreshadowing manner.

It's a good story, but to be honest, I got bored of the politics. The Shadow series, after the first book, turns into a political war drama book series, whereas I wanted sci fi, because politics isn't my cup of tea anyway. I didn't read this book in a very condensed or even cohesive fashion, but I'm sure it would be an okay/good read for those who are more interested in this type of thing.

73. Shadow Puppets, by Orson Scott Card.

Shadow Puppets is the third novel of the Ender's Shadow series, and it continues to follow Bean and the other Battle School grads - particularly those that are from Ender's Jeesh - through the political scheme-hatchery of life back on Earth. Peter is a figurehead Hegemon, Petra is trying to convince Bean to marry her and give her children, and the nations of the world are squabbling over countries and borders, each trying to take supremacy. Achilles is betraying different governments in turn, furthering his own cause at all costs.

This series is quite connected. It's difficult to read one without continuing to finish the series. Each novel has its own flow to it, and its own climax, but the plotline is developing through multiple books at a time, so it seems more like one large book rather than a series of small ones. I got a bit bored during this book, and I was a little annoyed with how some of the characters were portrayed. Peter and Petra in particular did not develop as I was thinking they would, and I'm not sure I'm entirely a fan of their actual personas.

72. Shadow of The Hegemon, by Orson Scott Card.

Shadow Of The Hegemon is the second book in the Shadow series, which kinda-sorta parallels the Ender's Game series. It's focused on Earth, and the Battle School grads that don't board colony ships and fly off into the relativistic sunset. Achilles is emerging as a dangerous foe, whilst Petra and many other grads are seized as tools of war, with countries putting armies in their hands. With the Buggers gone, nations are itchy for something else to point guns at, and everyone thinks that their Battle School grads will give them the edge.

I picked this series back up because I was curious to see what happened with the story. Ender's story doesn't really have too much detail on what happens 'back home', so to speak, and I was interested to see how Bean was going to deal with his emerging differences, as well as how Peter was going to develop as a character. He's somewhat demonised in the Ender books as the hideous big brother, but it's interesting to see that he's given weaknesses, and generally humanised as this series develops. It's quite a radical change in some ways, and aspects of it become sort of unbelievable unless you accept that previous information is incorrect, or skewed.

71. The Windup Girl, by Paolo Bacigalupi.

The Windup Girl is a sci-fi novel where biotechnology has become the major source of energy and power. It's set in near-future Thailand, where calorie companies are prying their way into a mostly self-governed, if wildly corrupt, nation. It follows a variety of characters, and uses them to show different facets of the same city.

This book was a pleasant surprise. It's one I've had on my lists for a while, but I never got round to checking it out. I'm glad I did pick it up, because it kept me entertained on a fair number of long bus rides. The characters are all interesting, and their thought processes hook into your attention. I liked the setting immensely, and the storyline was complicated, but also came together really nicely at the end. Not many loose threads to tug at, which is satisfying. I really liked it.

70. The City of Ember, by Jeanne DuPrau.

The City of Ember is a book aimed at younger readers, but it's a neat little story nevertheless. Lina and Doon are 12, and have just been given their first jobs. They live in a city built by the Builders, where the sky is always black, food and goods come from the Storage Vaults, and the only light comes from electric bulbs, powered by a failing generator. When Lina finds what appear to be Instructions for something, she and Doon investigate further.

I liked this story because it was short, sweet, and simple. The idea is cool, and it's executed pretty well, with a reasonably satisfying ending. Lina and Doon are cute characters, and it's definitely a book I'd recommend to kids of about that age group.

69. Night Shift, by Stephen King.

Night Shift is a book of short stories written by Stephen King. It probably has the scariest of his stories in, at least in my opinion. The Mangler, Jerusalem's Lot, and Graveyard Shift are particularly worrisome, and The Last Rung On The Ladder is sad but sweet.

Most of the stories in this collection gave me that uniquely horrified yet fascinated feel that the good King books manage so well. They're stories about some terrible things, but at the same time, it's very difficult to prise yourself away. Not really a night-time read, unless you want to have some interesting dreams.

Interlude.

I recently started a new job, which has caused a few pretty big changes in my life. For one, I've been able to quit my supermarket job, which is much more liberating than I was expecting - I feel like a giant weight's been lifted off my self-esteem. Working there was honestly starting to do my head in. My new job is infinitely better, in that it is actually in the field that I studied and love to bits - vet nursing. One of the most noticeable effects is that I suddenly have a regular schedule for weekdays, and it's a good four or five hours off my "natural" cycle of going to sleep past midnight and waking up at ten. Currently I live quite far away from my job (and I can't drive yet, more's the pity) so I am resigned to a nearly-two-hour commute to and from work. It's expensive and time consuming, but it's also more-or-less uninterrupted reading time that I've been putting to good use. I love my ereader because of things like this. I do plan on moving closer as soon as a suitable house comes up, but unfortunately - nothing yet. Mostly because I am insisting on a cat, now. I have the job, I'll get the savings, and I want a cat because I miss the companionship and the cuddles. I'll always miss my first cat, Lolly, but I know I can make another cat as happy as I hope I made her. Regardless, and as always, hope you found something interesting to read.

68. Xanth 2: The Source of Magic, by Piers Anthony.

This is book 2 of the Xanth series.
In this book, Bink has married Chameleon (a girl who cycles from clever-ugly to stupid-beautiful with the moon), but something is challenging his magic talent and acts as the final push to send him away on a quest to find the Source of magic within Xanth. He sets out with a motley arrangement of companions, all whilst trying to avoid muysteriously vague actions against him.

Piers Anthony continues his 'boy's club' theme in this second book, which irritates me a little. His female characters are all lacking in at least one painfully obvious way, causing most of this book to be taken up by the adventures of an all-male band. I'm hoping that improves as the series goes on. The story continues to be unusual, with all sorts of adventures taking place as they progress towards the Source. A fun read, although my copy stopped rather...abruptly...and I'm concerned that I don't actually have the whole story. Must get round to looking up what the proper ending is supposed to be.

67. Xanth 1: A Spell For Chameleon, by Piers Anthony.

A Spell For Chameleon is the first book in the Xanth series. It tells the story of Bink, a human who lives in the magical world Xanth, which is attached to the world of Mundania - a place bereft of magic. In Xanth, everything is magical - people, trees, inhabitants, even landforms have magical powers. Bink has no talent, and as such, is due to be expelled from his world unless he is able to find a way to reveal it.

I quite liked reading this book. I'd been feeling like some classic Fantasy reading for a while, and this series as about as fantasy as it gets. Magical creatures abound, and while I didn't like the way Piers Anthony depicts some of his characters (His females are all...second-rate), I did enjoy the story. There are a lot of other books in this series, which is still in progress (this one was published in 1977), so it's nice to have another series I can return to as I like.

66. Galapagos, by Kurt Vonnegut.

Galapagos was recommended to me by a friend, who is a Vonnegut fan. I haven't read any of his other books, although I'd probably give at least one more a read. Galapagos is set a million years from now, and is told by the ghost of a man that died building a cruise ship.It's written in a bit of an interesting way, because it's looking back on everything, and most of the suspenseful events are pre-explained.

I'm not entirely sure I'm a fan of writing things in and alluding to them multiple times before they actually happen, but it was different, and not necessarily in a bad kind of way. While I generally like having more guesswork involved, figuring out the parts of the story that weren't main plot points was a challenge in itself. It's an amusing read, although it wasn't what I was expecting.

65. Fragile Things, by Neil Gaiman

Fragile Things is a collection of short stories by Neil Gaiman. It has the standard Gaiman feel of three-degrees-off-true, but each story/poem executes this in its own distinct way. I liked the Fairy Reel, A Study in Emerald, and The Monarch of the Glen, in particular.

Most of these stories had a sinister air to them, which I quite enjoy. Monarch of the Glen reintroduces us to Shadow, the main character in American Gods, and gives us a bit of a clue as to how his life continued to develop after the conclusion of that tale. A Study in Emerald was good because it had some unexpected plot points - though I did think that was probably where the story was headed. The Fairy Reel has a good rhythm and was a fun, quick read.

64. Doctor Who: Human Nature, by Paul Cornell.

Recently, I started watching the revived series of Doctor Who. I remember being told about it while I was at school, and discounting the series for one reason and another. A friend recommended that I give it a go, seeing as I'm quite the sci-fi fan, and so I watched a few episodes. Then I watched a few more episodes. Then I got emotionally involved with the series. And...well, I'm pretty sure I'm hooked, at this point. I'm about to start watching Season 4, but I paused briefly to read one of the books, which some of my favourite episodes (so far) are based off.

The novel Human Nature is very similar to the episodes Human Nature/Family of Blood which it gets made into. The Companions and Doctors involved are slightly different, but the same base storyline is involved. More or less, the Doctor converts his body into a human body, and places his mind, and memory, within a holding device as he replaces it with an assumed identity - Dr. John Smith. He lives as a teacher for several months, as his companion attempts to keep him safe and out of harm's way. However, the plan falls apart when aliens (Aubertides/The Family) attack the school in a bid to gain Time Lord biodata for themselves, as a way to ensure continuation and multiplication of their familial line.

Some parts of the book, I really liked - the Aubertides seemed a bit more fleshed out in the books, and it's a bit clearer how they change form, and impersonate people, and WHY they wanted to get Time Lord data in the first place. I liked how their attack on the school was written, and I preferred the Biodata pod to the watch-like artifact in the TV series. But some parts of the story were also done really well for the TV. They integrated Martha (and her temporally-sensitive ethnicity) in quite well, and I think that having her as a maid was probably a better plot, as it allowed her to keep a thorough eye on the Doctor. I preferred that the Doctor had the body-changing tech himself, as it seemed to me that the Aubertides were a bit silly allowing him to get away from Laylock in the first place. And I really liked the TV ending. I thought it was acted really well, and it's just heartbreaking watching a character I've grown very fond of watching his life get shredded by circumstance. I feel like I can relate to John Smith's memory gaps, and the episodes did a better job of showing his anguish at events outside his control. I get the feeling that I'll be reading a lot more of the Doctor Who books (not to mention a whole bunch of Classic episodes!), so expect to see a fair amount more commentary on each.

63. Genesis, by Bernard Beckett.

Genesis is a dystopian fiction novel set in New Zealand. Being from New Zealand myself, I thought it would be interesting to see if any Kiwi culture had managed to survive into the future depicted in this novel. Sadly, nothing recognisable emerged. New Zealand effectively became the last bastion of humanity, after plagues, implied nuclear attacks, and general war devastate much of the rest of the world. The population builds a giant fence, and shoots any people attempting to cross it on sight. Except, one of them can't do it. Someone gets in, temporarily. Because of Adam's failure to shoot, he is incarcerated with Art, an experimental A.I. robot.

It's written in an interesting way. Rather than a story, it's set out as a written record of an oral exam, covering the history of the Affiliation and the life of Adam. We learn a bit about Anaximander, the girl undergoing examination, but not much of her past. Not much of the present situation. It all leads up to the climax, which could have been done better in some ways. It was expectedly unexpected. An interesting book.

62. Smoke and Mirrors, by Neil Gaiman.

Smoke and Mirrors is a book of short stories by Neil Gaiman. I enjoy his short stories because they are very readable, and they usually have a very interesting, rather odd premise to be built off. This book of stories is no exception, although I'd read a few of them before in various other collections. Topics range from little old ladies buying the Holy Grail from a charity shop, to darkly tinted rewrites of classic fairytales.

My favorite stories from this book were Nicholas Was, The Price, We Can Get Them For You Wholesale, The Sweeper of Dreams, and Fifteen Painted Cards From A Vampire Tarot, which in itself is a bunch of complementary little fragments, and not a whole story. Much like the book itself. Neil Gaiman is very good at doing stories that flirt with the idea of real life - they're just outside the borders of the real world, but close enough that it's easy to imagine they might be real. I look forward to reading more of his books in the future.

61. The Eyes of Light and Darkness, by Ivan Cat.

The Eyes of Light and Darkness is a book I remember reading at quite a young age, so it's another book that has nostalgic value for me as well as intrinsic value. It's very science fiction-y, with the first human colony rebelling against Earth as it establishes itself along the native, intelligent, species of Jayvee 9. A budding anthropologist (Bartlett) is sent off on a make-work mission after a leaked translation is released to the public, where she teams up with a mentally wobbly mining pod pilot (Walker) and his Fuzzie gunner (Nis) out in the Ring Belts to investigate strange artifacts being picked up by the mining crews.

Eyes is a very interesting book. I particularly enjoy sci-fi books that incorporate populations on other worlds, especially establishing colonies interacting with different alien species. This ticks all those boxes, as well as being pretty well written. Some parts are overstated, but the strong style of writing is fitting for a lot of the book. I like how Ivan Cat portrays different alien species. I've read another of his books - The Burning Heart of Night, also a good read - and he's good at imagining other mindsets, without presenting his characters as fully formed objects. There's a lot of room for personal vsariation - Fuzzies are never fully described, so the reader is free to imagine. It's nice to have some perceived input into the story.

60. The Dark Tower 7: The Dark Tower, by Stephen King.

This is the final book in the Dark Tower series, and it's one of the best ones. Slowly, the tet is made whole through some very fast-paced adventures and back-and-forth-ing through doors between the Keystone worlds. They save the Beam they are travelling on, then progress towards the Tower, on the home stretch of their journey. As in the beginning, so in the end: Roland enters the Tower alone.

I really liked the last book. It's very action-packed, with never a dull moment - something is always going on. I don't like some of the things that happen in it, but that's partially down to emotionally distressing events, and partially down to differing character interpretations. Susannah, particularly with Detta's influence, strikes me as someone that would see things out to the end regardless of the consequences, and I'm not sure that I liked the end to her story. It seemed too much like running away from the truth to me, especially since she knew it wasn't real. Eddie's, Oy's, and Jake's ends were well in line with the images of them I have in my heads, so even though they were sad events, I was able to accept them. Roland's end is puzzling, and answers barely any of the questions I had amassed up to that point (in fact, it added about two dozen extras) but it also seems quite fitting. He is the Wanderer, and I get the feeling that the health of the Tower itself might, in part, be reliant on experiences brought to it by the line of Eld, which is at this time just Roland out in the world (and the Crimson King). It's a puzzle, and I don't think we'll get a clear answer, but it's interesting to contemplate.

As for Beam information, Gan's Beam is Elephant to Wolf.  Eagle to Lion was the beam snapped while the tet was in the Callas.

Finally in this last book, Walter is further explained. Walter answers only to the Crimson King, he is his second-in-command, but he has his own designs upon the Tower. Planning to kill Mordred and enter the tower himself, he is killed. Book seven does tell us that he served Farson, as opposed to WAS Farson, which I think is slightly contradictory to an earlier book. Roland pushes Walter on even as Walter pushes Roland. It's confirmed again that Walter is Flagg under an alias, and that he did not die at the end of The Gunslinger, but placed bones in his robe to fool him.Also confirmed again that Marten is another alias. We learn that Walter Padick was his first name, when he was a farm-boy in Delain. Interesting to see that Walter, the spectre that has haunted the story from the very first words, is not evil, is not black-hearted and bad, he is a more or less ordinary person that fell upon hard times and acted accordingly. Gray characters.

59: Dark Tower 6: Song of Susannah, by Stephen King.

Book 6 of the Dark Tower. Song of Susannah is refreshingly short after the last two monsters, but it sets a punishing pace, with the ka-tet split into three parts. Susannah has been spirited away by Mia, the Mother of her demon pregnancy, taking Black Thirteen to servants of the Crimson King, while Roland and Eddie have been flung after Calvin Tower to save the Rose, and Jake, Oy, and Callahan are following Susannah to the Dixie Pig far in the future. All three sub-plots are moving along steadily, with new revelations at each turn.

This is another one of the books that I quite like. It has a few doubtful plot points - for one, Stephen King is a character within his own novel, which is simultaneously very arrogant and also a necessary part of the story somehow. If the Dark Tower spans all worlds, and given that several of the characters come from worlds that are already very similar to ours, it does make sense that there'd be a number of Stephen Kings in those novels, and that the Stephen King in the key world, as the author of the stories that are, in some form, one of the Beams, would be a key player.

We learn that Walter was the one that offered Mia her Faustian bargain - mortality in exchange for the chance to bear and raise her chap, and that he is Sayre's overlord. Beam-wise, we are told that Fish and Rat anchor ends of a Beam.

58. Dark Tower 5: Wolves of the Calla, by Stephen King.

The fifth book in the Dark Tower series. Roland and his ka-tet are back on the Path of the Beam, and travel through the village of Calla Bryn Sturgis, which is having a problem. Wolves come down out of Thunderclap, End-world, and steal one of every pair of twinned children in the village, sending them back roont. As gunslingers, they are compelled to give aid, despite the delay. As it happens, the Calla contains many things they need to continue their journey - Father Callahan, another tet member, Black Thirteen, knowledge of Nineteen and of Susannah's pregnancy. The fight for the rose begins in earnest, with Eddie travelling to New York to begin negotiations with Calvin Tower.

Wolves is a great book, that highlights the aspect of what gunslingers used to be, especially the political aspect. We've seen Roland as the lone relic, but it takes the Calla to show us how manipulative he can be with a large group of, for lack of a better word, normal people. The ka-tet is struggling to stay together, but they manage to talk things through. After the lull while we hear of Mejis and Susan, Wolves picks the pace right up and lets us know just how close the Tower is getting.

In regards to Flagg, Wolves is pretty definitive. In the introduction, we're flat out told several things. The boys (Roland, Cuthbert, Alain) were sent to Mejis to be beyond Walter's reach, The Pusher is Mort (not Walter, but a representative of sorts), and we're also told that Marten is Flagg, who is also Richard Fannin (rescuer of TickTock), who is also John Farson. Since these revelations occur in the introduction, I feel that it's safe to take them as fact - and not misleadings that different characters believe, which may be wrong. Although later in the book, Roland does connect Walter with Flagg and Flagg with Marten, while talking to the Manni. Walter has been meddling here also, leaving tape recorders

We don't learn more of the Guardians or the Bends O' The Rainbow, aside from the encounters with Black Thirteen, which lives up to the reputation its name suggests quite thoroughly.

57. The Dark Tower 4: Wizard and Glass, by Stephen King.

Wizard and Glass is the fourth book in the Dark Tower series, and it tells us about the end of the ka-tet's trip on Blaine, followed by their arrival in Topeka, Kansas in the world of The Stand. Here, Roland shares with him the story of his first love, and the discovery of his purpose in life. After fighting Flagg to be returned to the Path of the Beam, they continue on their journey.

Wizard and Glass is a very emotive book. A very large part of it is dedicated to the adventures of fourteen-year-old Roland in Mejis, and his love for Susan Delgado. It gives us a lot of insight into why Roland feels so driven to find the Dark Tower - not just because it is failing, and not just because the Grapefruit planted the idea in his mind, but also because of what it had cost him at that point, so young - his love, his child, and later, his mother, by his own hand. Susan and Roland are the embodiment of careless love, and it was necessary to see their downfall to understand a little more why Roland was able to be so detached from his new ka-tet at first.

In the more chronologically relevant part of the story, we see the ka-tet work to defeat Blaine through their individual strengths. Jake brings the treasures of another world to help fight the battle, and is given clues that identify Blaine is not to be trusted. Charlie the Choo-Choo is rife with symbolism, and even stresses how they may defeat Blaine - although I suspect that defeating him too early would have been as bad as defeating him too late. Susannah is able to crack the password to get them into the coach at all, while Roland is able to talk Blaine into some semblance of reasonable conduct, in the form of their altered Fair-Day riddle contest. However, it is Eddie that saves the day, with his silly games. This is important for Eddie's own development, as Roland has earlier scolded him for asking silly joke-riddles. Roland is only human, after all, and this book really shows us his humanity.

As for Walter/Flagg, we are told that he is in league with Farson as Walter, because he shows up as Farson's emissary to the Big Coffin Hunters in a priest's robe, with the name, and with the tittering laugh and discomforting presence that we now expect. Marten is supposedly in Cressia with Farson at the time of Roland's mother's death, too (although it becomes apparent later that he is not). Finally, when they fight Flagg in the City of Oz, he is dressed as the Walkin' Dude (the jeans, the boots, the smiley-faced badge) but is addressed by Roland as Marten - either he has the same face, or he is the same person, but I don't feel we can be sure either way just yet.

Bends O' The Rainbow that we are told of are Black Thirteen, the Pink Grapefruit, Blue, and Green. In Mejis, there are statues of seven of the Guardians - Bear, Turtle, Fish, Eagle, Lion, Bat, and Wolf. The Gates of Oz have a yellow bar filled with fish, and a purple bar filled with birds, as well as the pink bar filled with horses - this suggests to me that the colours are indelibly linked to the Guardians, although I could be mistaken. I was thinking that the Rainbow and Guardians might make a good basis for a tattoo, but I've come to realize that even though I like the aesthetic appeal, I don't support the ideas it would represent. Doing harm for the fun of it is not something I wish to support. Plus, I am so far unable to gather definitive data on the links between each Guardian and each Colour, and their positions relative to each other on opposing Beams, and within the circle of the world. As such, that idea has been shelved for good. My other idea is as yet quite unformed, and requires a lot more thought before I'm willing to disclose it.

56. Dark Tower 3: The Waste Lands, by Stephen King.

The Waste Lands reintroduces us to Jake, and tells us the story of how he enters Midworld for the second time, with the help of Eddie, Susannah, Roland, and the rose. It further tells us about their journey through the outskirts of Midworld to the city of Lud. Lud is rotten, and is falling, but they must persevere if they are to find Blaine the Mono, and pass safely through the Waste Lands and continue on their journey.

The Waste Lands is where the story starts to pick up some (heh) steam. Book one is our introduction to Roland, book two is the introduction of the ka-tet, and this book is where everyone has come together and it's buckle your seatbelts time. Most of the major characters have made their debut appearance, and the story's course seems straight, at least for a time.

Flagg is not mentioned much in this book, but we do get told that he is a better sorcerer than Walter, and that Walter is only half human. Some doubt is cast on whether Walter actually does push Jake, and it's reasonably certain that, while he may have been there (and thus able to travel through the levels of the tower) it was Jack Mort that did the pushing, or else the resultant paradox they use to bring Jake through would probably not have occurred. We are told that Flagg, under the name Richard Fannin, visits the Tick-Tock man up to no good. He says he has been called the Ageless Stranger, the Magician, the Wizard. He says he has been called Merlin or Maerlyn, but that he was never that one, though he never denied it either.

In other news, I am also trying to decipher the Guardians of the Beam in their partnerships, and hopefully their relation to each other. So far, Bear is opposite to Turtle, heading south-east. Fish is opposite to Rat, and Horse is opposite to Dog, as discovered by the statues on Blaine's Cradle. I don't know which are related to which of the Wizard's Rainbows, but if anyone can expand my knowledge I would be grateful.

55. Dark Tower 2: The Drawing Of The Three, by Stephen King.

The Drawing Of The Three is book two of the Dark Tower series. It covers the period of time after Roland speaks with Walter, the Man in Black, until he has drawn the members of his new ka-tet into the world. Eddie, The Prisoner, is drawn into the world first, and is not at all happy about the fact for some time. Heroin junkie and one-time drug mule, Eddie has Roland to thank for his life, but has still lost a great deal. The Lady of Shadows, Odetta Holmes/Detta Walker is next - schizophrenic, legless, and two-toned. While Odetta is refined, cultured, and lovely, Detta is malicious gutter filth. Finally, Roland's final venture into New York is into the body of Jack Mort, The Pusher. Sickening from illness and in desperate need to show the Lady of Shadows her true self, he succeeds and draws the third, Susannah Dean, from the twin psyche of the Lady of Shadows.

This is possibly my favourite Dark Tower book, although it may not contain my favourite part of the story. I love that it's a mean book. Roland, our indomitable hero, is quite literally chopped down to size within the first few pages, and his future is far from certain throughout the rest of the book. I like that the main character is not safe. I like that I have to be on my toes for injury or trauma to my heroes, and I like that my main characters all have recognisable, humanising flaws. A heroin junkie Eddie may be, but he still makes heroic efforts to help Roland with his quest, despite not believing in it himself. Detta is mean enough to survive in this world, but is too dangerous to leave alive without the soothing, controlling presence of Odetta. The created Susannah takes the better elements from both, and combines them to form something that seems extraordinary.And Roland, our gunslinger now sans fingers, is very nearly as impressive as he once was, but will now be forced to rely on others in ways that he would not be otherwise capable of doing.

As for the Man in Black/Marten/Flagg conundrum, the Drawing of the Three has not got much to say on the matter. It's reiterated that Marten is more powerful and a different person than Walter, but Flagg is not brought into it at this point. I'm not sure if I missed any references.

54. Dark Tower 1: The Gunslinger, by Stephen King.

This is book one of the Dark Tower series.

The Gunslinger is the beginning of the story of the Dark Tower. While it can be read stand-alone, it's much, much more than that when read as part of the series. Roland is travelling across the desert, trailing the Man in Black, avoiding the many traps and pitfalls he has left along the way. He seeks the Dark Tower, as he has for some time, and is implacably bent upon reaching his goal, or dying in the attempt.

The Dark Tower series is one of my very favourite book series. A few different things convinced me it was time for a re-read, namely discussions with a good friend, not having read much Stephen King lately, and the recent release of The Wind Through The Keyhole, which I read just as soon as I got my hands on it. The Gunslinger has been a warm welcome back into Roland's world, a meeting with an old friend. This book is just the beginning, but it positions the characters for a truly epic story.

In this round of reading, I plan to try and puzzle out the Man in Black's relationship to Flagg and his many counterparts. The Gunslinger mentions that he works through Marten, but that he is not Marten. He is known as Walter, and is 'nearly immortal'. He tells us that he has never met the Crimson King, and that before Roland meets him, he must meet the Ageless Stranger. Flagg? I'm not sure yet. Walter, the Man in Black, appears to die at the end of the first book. His robe is rotting, and filled with bones when Roland awakes.

53. The Icarus Hunt, by Timothy Zahn.

The Icarus Hunt is a story about Jordan McKell, a starship pilot taking an extra contract to fly the Icarus to Earth as part of a crew of loose spacers picked up on Meima. Their trip is plagued by unusual troubles, and he's hard-pressed to figure out what is going on before something goes terminally wrong.

The Icarus Hunt is a book I first read in high school. I picked it up from the school library for cheap, and have re-read it multiple times since then. It's an extremely cohesive story, and in all my re-reads, I've yet to find a loose end that wasn't just me missing something within the text, and even though I know what's going to happen, I still enjoy reading through it again. Definitely a good one for sci-fi fans.