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saintmark

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Everything posted by saintmark

  1. yes that would work for Frank Herberts original 6 books. When you start with the Brian Herbert & Kevin Anderson series you should read in sequence from the beginning. That said the House of ..... trilogy is worth your time and the current School of ...... trilogy is quite good [even if the third novel has yet to be published]. Whatever you do DO NOT READ: worms & hunters of Dune as they are really shhhhhhh!
  2. Margaret Atwood --vs-- George Orwell --vs-- Daphne Du Maurier Vladimir Nabokov --vs-- John Banville Samantha Hayes --vs-- Stephen King Edward Rutherford --vs-- L.E. Modesitt Sophie McKenzie --vs-- Leo Tolstoy Peter F Hamilton --vs-- Chris Manby Franz Kafka --vs-- Bernard Cornwell Hilary Mantel --vs-- Terry Pratchett Charles Dickens --vs-- Salman Rushdie Robert Jordan --vs-- Edgar Allan Poe Donna Leon --vs-- Paul Auster Elizabeth George --vs-- E M Forster Tash Aw --vs-- Oscar Wilde Maggie O'Farrell --vs-- George Eliot Virginia Woolf --vs-- JRR Tolkien Fyodor Dostoyevsky --vs-- Edith Wharton Conn Iggulden --vs-- Jane Austen Neil Gaiman --vs-- Sophie Kinsella Gabriel Garcia Márquez --vs-- William Faulkner Paulo Coelho --vs-- Rebecca Gable
  3. I love browsing in any bookstore, I do like the internet prices better. I generally buy books at both, especially to keep the bookstore alive. But too often I did order a specific English book and they come with a different version, Like ordering the US edition of Dr. Sleep and getting the UK version. When I ask them about it they tend to be angry with me for asking such stupid things. And then I order for a while on the internet. I just bought a collection of 30's Edgar Wallaces in their red hardcovers, and those you find on the net easier than in most shops.
  4. 1. Did you like the book? What was it that you enjoyed? If you didn't like the book, what were your reasons for disliking it? I first read this book when I was 15 now 30 years later I have reread it quit often and as my knowledge grows so does my understanding of this huge book in scifi. 2. Did you have any expectations about the book before you started reading it, and if so, were they correct? I expected it to be about a desert planet and got a book about intrigue, eco-systems, cultures and religion. 3. Who was your favourite character...? Jessica for defying her destiny and future of mankind in exchange for love, and thus destroying a future that would have undoubtely would have been far worse. 4. ...and your least favourite? Most characters were well fleshed out and served a purpose. 5. Was there a particular part you enjoyed more than the rest? Once they arrived on Dune the story picks up speed and depth of plot. 6. Was this the first book you've read in this genre / by this author, has it encouraged you to read more? Read all six originals in sequence 7. Were there any parts/ideas you struggled with? The religious bit, but learning more about religious history you see what Herbert tried to do. 8. Overall, was reading the book an enjoyable experience? An excellent experience 9. Would you recommend the book and if so to whom? Anybody who likes intelligent books and can see through the scifi label 10. Will you read the sequels/prequels? Have read all Frank Herbert originals and all of the stuff written by his son & Kevin Anderson, whose output are hit and miss.
  5. Le Grande Blue by Luc Besson, one of my altime favorite movies and actually the first movie I bought when I changed from VHS to dvd close to 14 years ago.
  6. I did pre-order the new Connolly already, even if it is till 1 1/2 month away.
  7. I AM PILGRIM by Terry Hayes the next Robert Ludlum?? 700 pages of exciting thriller and no urge to go to bed and sleep.
  8. When I first discovered James Patterson I quite liked his books but as soon as it turned into a writing factory he lost my interest. While I really admire his style and ideas his marketing concept towards writing is something that annoys me more than it intrigues me. If mr. Patt Perhaps I am too much a fan of the sometimes lonely plotting novelist who have a hard time finishing the book at the deadline.
  9. I just started season two of the Avengers starring Mr Steed & Cathy Gale. Nice b/w fun from 1961.
  10. Simon Templar aka the Saint has gone through various phases, but my favorite remains that great optimist and daring swasbuckling adventurer in the books by Leslie Charteris before the WOII. Charlie Parker by John Connolly who seems to wander a path of sinners and angels and on whoms side does he will find himself?? His tales are dark and mysterious, and often gruesome. Harry Hole by Jo Nesbo the deeply flawed, intelligent and sensitive detective that tries to find his course through life and responsibilities. Special Agent Aloysius X. L. Pendergast by Messieurs Child & Preston is an annual pleasure that never fails to live up to expectation. They always bring something new and exciting to the table.
  11. two GOLD medals at the team pursuit events, the men had to really work with the women the competition was just glad they got a medal which made the final a bit embarrising for the Polish ladies team they were never in it to win. The Dutch ladies did do their business and ended with an improvement of the Olympic record. Overall one can easily say that the speedskating events were the property of team Netherlands, they got on average most competition from their own nationality.
  12. Watching the Winter Olympics with two more GOLD for the Netherlands finishing us with the grand toat of 24 medals of which 8 are gold. We had a good time in Sochi.
  13. I loved AVATAR too and look forward to at least one of the sequels which is supposed to take place under the sea, and there are some excellent movies by Cameron that take place in the water. As for cash-ins look no further than the Nolan Batman trilogy, the first one was largly a copy of the 1997 The Shadow movie, the second hitched a lot on the demise of one of its leadstars Heath Ledger and the thirs installment was just plain stuuf-that-makes-the-grass-grow-green. The new Star Wars movies, like GL's attempt to better his original trilogy I would expect very little from the new movies. AVATAR had a least the guts to be bold in its innovative 3D and spectacle it proved to be on the big screen, I saw the movie 3 times on the big screen in its original 3D and whenever somebody who saw it on tv wants to have a discussion about the quality I ignore them as they failed to behold the grandness of Camerons original vision.
  14. High fidelity the book and the movie are both actually quite good, I agree. LOTR the movies are very impressive, while the book is brilliant. Mr. Jackson did complete the movies with material from other places, but written by Tolkien himself, the make the tale more complete. And at the same time he left a significent part of the first book out of the movies, where they perhaps meet the mst powerfull creature of whole of Middle-Earth.
  15. It was a rather satisfying pilot I fully agree.
  16. read Milan Kundera's "Unbearable lightness of being" and then watch the movie, a brilliant attempt imho. Dr No / Goldfinger / From Russia with love / OHMSS are all very good movies and rather faithfull to the books of the writer Ian Fleming. "The Thin man" the movie is actually a different beast but better than its original novel by Dashiel Hammet.
  17. Todays women 1500 m speedskating was a thriller for us Dutch that is, a clean sweep of the medals including a 4th place. We all enjoyed those women and their glory and pain. The Goldmedal winner was 4th in a shorttrack finale less than a day before and then came out to beat an olympic record. The nr. 2 came out to defend her title and came fairly close and for he SILVER felt a little like losing, number three was just happy to get a medal and the number 4 was just sad in missing out. With an awesome 17 medals so far the Netherlands are enjoying themselves a lot.
  18. The male speedskating is becoming a very Dutch affair, today the Netherlands took Gold & Bronze on the 1000 metres. With three distances for the men they have taken 3x GOLD, 2x SILVER & 3x Bronze.
  19. Broken Homes by Ben Aaronovitch (Orion Publishing Group) Harbour Street by Ann Cleeves (Pan Macmillan) How The Light Gets In by Louise Penny (Little, Brown Book Group) I am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes (Transworld Publishers) The Gods of Guilt by Michael Connelly (Orion Publishing Group) This one I look forwars to in big anticipation: The Wolf in Winter by John Connolly (Hodder & Stoughton)
  20. I have read only the 1st so far and was impressed, will certainly seek out some of the next books, or watch the tv show.
  21. Writers that copy original and bestselling ideas and do not add anything themselves to the formula. While Dan Brown is not the greatest writers he does know how to tell an exciting tale, a lot of copycats and very few are as readable. Ian Fleming & John Le Carre both are benchmarks in the spy genre, very few writers can actually match their writing and their plots. John Connolly does write and excellent PI crossed with paranormal content and I have yet to read somebody who does it better.
  22. I generally do not judge a book by its cover, even if I admit that a striking one can catch your attention. I read the blurb and try to read a page or two to judge if I would read the book in its full. Some styles do put me off and get left behind in the bookstore. Once you caught my attention I will really buy all you have. With John Connolly I bought all of his books within a year and have caught up with his work. With Tana French I have bought her 4 novels while I am only halfway the first. With Phillip Kerr I have found his later Gunther novels. the 1st three are hard to find. These are 3 of the recent thriller/detective writers I found to my liking and am always looking for more. John Irving, Donna Tartt, Preston & Child & Jo Nesbo are blind buys with each release
  23. I was very impressed with John Connolly and his Charlie Parker books, even if they overwhelmed me occasionaly with their content. Louise Penny her Canadian detective made me feel that another Christie has come. Phillip Kerr and his German WOII policeman shows how history mixes very well with a detective story. A man without breath is a brilliant book. Currently working my way through Tana French and she is impressive.
  24. Stereotypical characterisation, for example Daniel Silva in whose Allon books you feel more and more that the Arabs are bad and the Israeli are good, and more and more the shade becomes less grey into more black and white. It made me stop reading him for quite a while. A lack of development in serial characters by a writer or when it gets way too soapy. Continuation writers that fail to give the character the magic that the original writer gave, even if they are bloody brilliant on their own merit, for example Jeffery Deaver & William Boyd with 007 or Lustbader with Jason Bourne. While Horowitz did a great job with Sherlock Holmes.
  25. Philip Kerr's Bernie Gunther books are excellent. Tess Gerritsens' Rizzoli & Isles are excellent, very different from the TV show. John Connolly and his Charlie Parker books are well worth your while. Jo Nesbo's Harry Hole books are time well sped as well. Leslie Charteris' Simon Templar aka Saint books are my favorite.
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