Karsa Orlong

It's worth a try, bobbly! I've just knocked my score for it down by '1' after looking at some of the other books to which I've given '9's. It wasn't quite in the same bracket as some of those, so it's now got an '8'. Making a start on Cornwell's The Pale Horseman today. I was hoping the paperback of The Sunne in Splendour would turn up, but it hasn't as yet.

Nah, don't like either of them And comparing Sophie to Kate How very dare you!

Book #52: Pompeii by Robert Harris From Amazon: A sweltering week in late August. Where better to enjoy the last days of summer than on the beautiful Bay of Naples? But even as Rome's richest citizens relax in their villas around Pompeii and Herculaneum, there are ominous warnings that something is going wrong. Wells and springs are failing, a man has disappeared, and now the greatest aqueduct in the world - the mighty Aqua Augusta - has suddenly ceased to flow. Through the eyes of four characters - a young engineer, an adolescent girl, a corrupt millionaire and an elderly scientist - Robert Harris brilliantly recreates a luxurious world on the brink of destruction. Thoughts: As mentioned up-thread, this book had been sitting on my TBR list for nearly three years. Silly really, because it's very good indeed. The story spans four days, starting 48 hours before Vesuvius erupts. The aqueduct that serves the towns along the coast of the Bay of Naples is in trouble. The new aquarius (chief engineer, if you like), Marcus Attilius, has this brought to his attention when a slave is fed by his master to a bunch of moray eels. The slave's crime was to allow his master's prize fish to die. But Attilius quickly realises that this was not down to the slave's inattention, but due to the water being poisoned by sulphur. This discovery sets off a chain of events that lead Attilius into a sequence of life-threatening situations and behind all this is the impending cataclysm. Naturally, the characters aren't aware of what's going to happen, so I really liked the way Harris played with my knowledge of the events. I did find myself wondering at times whether it was his skill that was building the suspense, or the fact that we all know what's going to happen, but whatever it was I thought it worked brilliantly. The atmosphere and sense of place is also very well handled. The characters are perhaps lacking a little depth, and I feel he uses archetypes in order to develop them quickly and keep the story moving at pace. I didn't find the tale boring at any stage. I think there's always a danger with this sort of story that it could get bogged down in the historical - and geological, in this case - detail, and become more like reading a textbook. That didn't happen here - it's never dry or uninvolving, largely because of the pace and the impending doom. And, although the dialogue is no doubt modernised, it works well. There's a small amount of swearing, but nothing much to worry about (one use of the 'c' word is the worst of it, I think). If anything - given what we know about the language of the time from preserved poems, graffiti and such - there probably isn't enough swearing The only part of the book that didn't quite work for me was the very end. And, no, I don't mean the volcano erupting I mean the very final page, which came off as a little convenient. Given everything he'd achieved up to that point, carrying me to the very heart of the disaster in quite thrilling style, I thought it was a bit of a shame to end on a bum note. But there you go. Overall, a terrific read. 8/10

Happy birthday

I'm catching up on Ray Donovan. Up to ep 6 now. It's grim but it's pretty good This did make me laugh, though. The FBI agent had just unknowingly taken some LSD . . .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaHQqI3fksM

Very good!

Tbh, looking at the line-up, if Rachel wasn't on it I doubt I'd bother with it at all until the latter stages. But then I've seen her run (it was like watching Big Bird run down Sesame Street ) so I doubt she'll be around for long, which means I have to watch the early shows

Do you have one of these stores near you, Sarah? You could go and have a look at them and see which you like best

I Am Legend

Damn, I'd better return it I don't do cake, unfortunately

She just looked embarrassed and self-conscious all the time - is that what you mean by devastating?

I saw Ana get knocked out by Azarenka yesterday. Poor Ana If she ever learns to serve she might be quite good!

Looks like my TBR list is set to hang around the 60 mark forever A visit to Waterstone's on the way home and two new books have been added to it: Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence - had my eye on this trilogy for a while. The buzz about it on the Malazan forums has been spectacular, so it had better be good! The Fortune of War by Patrick O'Brien - they had it, it's in perfect condition, so I bought it

I didn't think she looked good standing still, either

What about her?

I hope they bring the Matchbook feature to the UK, sooner or later.

Blimey But then you can just delete books you no longer want to keep on it. If ever you want to go back to them you can just download them again from your Amazon account

I've pre-ordered one. I want to upgrade - but I might change my mind between now and November 6th.

Who? I don't know why I was worried about reading Pompeii. I'm a third of the way through it already and really enjoying it Well, thank you. You should definitely start your own thread, it's fun to do

Available to pre-order

And it's now available to pre-order

Will that bring your TBR pile below 700? Crikey, Can't say I've ever had problems with a treebook Got an email from Amazon confirming the refund and asking me to delete the book from my Kindle. I suppose, if I were cheap, I could read the book before deleting it But no, I've ordered the paperback

Wimp Yeah! Well, I hope they are. Anyway, I've now decided to order a secondhand copy of the old paperback. This has been confusing me all day, but it's done now! Bargain!