ian Posted March 2, 2014 Author Share Posted March 2, 2014 Sight Unseen by Robert Goddard It is a hot summer's day in the tourist village of Avebury.A man sits outside the Red Lion pub, waiting. He sees a woman with three young children, two of them running ahead while their sister dawdles behind. A child's voice catches on the breeze. For want of anything more interesting to do, the man watches. He sees nothing sinister or threatening. Even when another figure enters his field of vision, he does not react. The figure is ordinary - male, short-haired, stockily built.But he is moving fast, at a loping run. And then it happens. In one swift movement, the running man grabs the youngest child and carries her away. Still the man outside the pub does not react. Suddenly, awhite transit van bursts into view, its engine racing, its rear door slamming shut.The child and her abductor are inside. The child's sister rushes forward. The man outside the pub jumps up... The tragedy begins at Avebury.But it does not end there My thoughts. I've read a few Robert Goddard's now, and while they all follow the same basis format, my reaction to each one differs. Some I zip through and are very good; others are a bit ordinary. This one swings between the two for me. It starts promisingly, but seems to get a bit bogged down in the middle, before picking up again towards the end. The good points: The tension is kept up throughout the book, the historical aspects are well described, relevant and interesting, there are many twists. The bad points: The protagonist is bland (a common fault with Goddard, I find), there are a couple of chapters set in Kew that stretched my belief to breaking point. The good and the bad tend to cancel each other out, so in the end, I'm left to give this book 3/5. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian Posted March 2, 2014 Author Share Posted March 2, 2014 Oh one more thing in the book's favour - I wasn't aware of Avebury stone circle - apparently one of the largest stone circles in the world. You can walk all the way up to the stones (you can't get anywhere near Stonehenge) and it's free. I'll be planning a day out there as soon as the weather gets better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted March 2, 2014 Share Posted March 2, 2014 Avebury is a National Trust 'property'. The village is very touristy and you do have to pay for parking. There is also a manor house and museum (payable). I've yet to visit those as I believe they've only been open a few years - I'm pretty sure it's the place that featured on TV a while back in a programme called "To the Manor Reborn". I've got a Robert Goddard book to read for the English Counties challenge. I've not read any of his books before but my Mum used to read him quite a lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julie Posted March 3, 2014 Share Posted March 3, 2014 Ian I used to read a lot of Goddard's but haven't read any of the recent ones . The old ones were great, but the last one I tried was probably in the category that you are describing : little bit ho-hum ,not bad, but not great . My 2 favorites were probably Past Caring and In Pale Battalions . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted March 3, 2014 Share Posted March 3, 2014 I've only read one book by Goddard and that was the one you just read! I own it in Dutch and read it many years ago. I agree with your review, I kind of felt the same. I rated the book a bit higher at the time I read it (I was a young teenager). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian Posted March 11, 2014 Author Share Posted March 11, 2014 The Two Deaths of Daniel Hayes by Marcus Sakey It starts with you waking on a Maine beach, naked, half-drowned and very, very cold. Your name is Daniel Hayes. At least, you think it is. That's the name on the insurance card you find in the BMW parked near you. How did you get here? And why? All you remember is a woman's face. So you set off to the only place you might find her. But this raises the most chilling question of all: what will you find when you get there? My Thoughts This book has so much promise, but ultimately I felt a bit let down by it. The first chapter is excellent; it really draws you into the story and leaves you wanting more, but the rest doesn't quite live up to this start. Don't get me wrong, this book is still worth reading, it just doesn't deliver what I thought it would. Normally I'm a writers dream. I will literally lap up most stuff no matter how implausible so long as I am enjoying the read. As soon as that dips, I start asking questions, and this book didn't survive that process for me. Plot twists are telegraphed from about a third of the way through, so you pretty much know how it's going to end. And I must admit, I was expecting more from the memory loss angle. Sakey starts off questioning the role that memory plays in determining who we are and what we do next, but he doesn't follow up on it, which is a real shame. The second half of the book, after the first of the big reveals reverts to straight thriller, and to be fair, becomes better. If the twists at the end weren't so obvious, I would have enjoyed it more. Having said all that, I read the blurb to another of his books at the back of this one and thought "oh, that sounds interesting", so I guess I will give him another chance. 3/5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruth Posted March 11, 2014 Share Posted March 11, 2014 The Two Deaths of Daniel Hayes by Marcus Sakey It starts with you waking on a Maine beach, naked, half-drowned and very, very cold. Your name is Daniel Hayes. At least, you think it is. That's the name on the insurance card you find in the BMW parked near you. How did you get here? And why? All you remember is a woman's face. So you set off to the only place you might find her. But this raises the most chilling question of all: what will you find when you get there? My Thoughts This book has so much promise, but ultimately I felt a bit let down by it. The first chapter is excellent; it really draws you into the story and leaves you wanting more, but the rest doesn't quite live up to this start. Don't get me wrong, this book is still worth reading, it just doesn't deliver what I thought it would. Normally I'm a writers dream. I will literally lap up most stuff no matter how implausible so long as I am enjoying the read. As soon as that dips, I start asking questions, and this book didn't survive that process for me. Plot twists are telegraphed from about a third of the way through, so you pretty much know how it's going to end. And I must admit, I was expecting more from the memory loss angle. Sakey starts off questioning the role that memory plays in determining who we are and what we do next, but he doesn't follow up on it, which is a real shame. The second half of the book, after the first of the big reveals reverts to straight thriller, and to be fair, becomes better. If the twists at the end weren't so obvious, I would have enjoyed it more. Having said all that, I read the blurb to another of his books at the back of this one and thought "oh, that sounds interesting", so I guess I will give him another chance. 3/5 Sounds like an interesting premise - shame you didn't like it as much as you'd hoped, but I'm intrigued by it (especially as you say that it's worth reading). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian Posted March 26, 2014 Author Share Posted March 26, 2014 The Fall of Hyperion by Dan Simmons The mysterious Time Tombs are opening and the Shrike that has risen from them may well control the fate of all mankind. The Ousters are laying seige to the Hegemony of Man and the AIs we created have turned against us to build the Ultimate Intelligence; God. The God of Machines. His genesis could mean annihilation for man. Something is drawing the hegemony, the Ousters, the AIs, the entire universe to the Shrike. My thoughts. Where do I start? This is the continuation of the story started in Hyperion, following on where that book left off. I don't really want to say anything else about the story, as if you have read the first but not this, I don't want to spoil it for you. I'm actually at a loss for words - nothing I can say can convey just how good I think this book is. The story is great; the fight sequences are beleivable; the philosphical/religious dicussions between characters are credible and relevant. And most importantly - the questions you were left with from the first book are answered. This was a very satisfying book to read, in every sense of the word. Easily 5/5. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted March 26, 2014 Share Posted March 26, 2014 Glad you enjoyed The Fall of Hyperion, Ian! Awesome books Do you think you'll go on to read the Endymion novels? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian Posted March 26, 2014 Author Share Posted March 26, 2014 It's my birthday soon - guess what I'll be asking for! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted March 26, 2014 Share Posted March 26, 2014 I look forward to hearing what you think of them - I haven't read them yet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted March 27, 2014 Share Posted March 27, 2014 Nice review ! I'm glad you enjoyed The Fall of Hyperion. I've read both Hyperion and The Fall of Hyperion and loved them both. I hope to reread them some time and then read the Endymion books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian Posted March 28, 2014 Author Share Posted March 28, 2014 I haven't been posting here what I am going to read - I've just been reviewing them when I've finished. However, I think I need to announce that I am today starting A Game of Thrones by George RR Martin, so it may be some time before I post again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted March 28, 2014 Share Posted March 28, 2014 Enjoy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devi Posted March 28, 2014 Share Posted March 28, 2014 I still need to get back to the first book, I got about halfway before putting it aside for other books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian Posted March 28, 2014 Author Share Posted March 28, 2014 Thanks - only a couple of chapters in, and my head is already spinning from all the characters! I have no idea why my last post had such big font. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dtrpath27 Posted March 29, 2014 Share Posted March 29, 2014 Lol! The font size is rather epic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted March 30, 2014 Share Posted March 30, 2014 I hope you enjoy A Game of Thrones, Ian ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian Posted April 14, 2014 Author Share Posted April 14, 2014 Game of Thrones - by George RR Martin. My thoughts I had avoided this, and other books like this for one reason. I was sick of reading books that wanted to be the new LOTR, and only getting poor imitations. So, when I first heard about this series, I didn't really pay any attention. The fact the the author had managed to get a "R.R" in his name just seemed to reinforce the Tolkien comparison. Then, while looking for a book for my Mother-in-law at the hospital, I found this in the waiting room. A quick look at the VERY Tolkien-esque maps in the front gave me a sense of foreboding, but I took it anyway. Ok. I was wrong! This book is simply epic. Great characters you can love and hate, a storyline that never gets boring or samey at any point in the 800 odd pages. I did promise myself to re-read all the Harry Potter books this year, but, I going to have to continue on with this. 5/5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted April 14, 2014 Share Posted April 14, 2014 I was sick of reading books that wanted to be the new LOTR, and only getting poor imitations. Glad you enjoyed it, Ian. I hope you'll check out some other modern fantasy authors when you're done with A Song of Ice & Fire - there are quite a lot (not all) that have moved past the LotR-copycat stage now, in my opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kidsmum Posted April 15, 2014 Share Posted April 15, 2014 Good to hear you enjoyed Game of Thrones, Ian; one of my daughters bought me it for Mother's Day & is reading it herself at the moment. I picked up the first volume of The Forsyte Saga John Galsworthy in a hospital waiting room & absolutely loved it, it's one of my favourite classics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted April 16, 2014 Share Posted April 16, 2014 I'm glad to hear you enjoyed A Game of Thrones, Ian ! I'm currently reading book three part two (for me book three is split up into two parts) and am really enjoying it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian Posted April 16, 2014 Author Share Posted April 16, 2014 It's very nice to have a book that you can completely immerse yourself in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted April 16, 2014 Share Posted April 16, 2014 A Storm of Swords is all kinds of awesome Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexi Posted April 18, 2014 Share Posted April 18, 2014 Glad to see you enjoyed Game of Thrones Ian! I have the first one on my TBR but am reluctant to start it for some reason - length and the hype over the TV show I suspect! I would definitely want to read all the books before tackling the TV series. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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