Saturday, October 14, 2006

Quickie Book Reviews

I read all these books in a span of a week. They're not really that thick, and I don't really need to engage any brain power to get through them (unlike, say, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell--excellent book, by the way).

The Righteous Men, by Sam Bourne (aka Jonathan Freedland). "It's like The Da Vinci Code, only with Jews!" is what you'd think. Actually, no, not really. It doesn't reveal a "hidden secret the Jews don't want you to know!!!!" like Da Vinci Code did; in fact, the peek into Jewish life was probably the most interesting aspect of the book. I'd say it's probably more like Angels and Demons. Not great art by any stretch, but a good little diversion. A bit predictable, though, and the end sequence made me roll my eyes.

Dragons of the Dwarven Depths, by Weis and Hickman. I think I wrote elsewhere that this a pure money-grab. This felt more like it was written by Weis rather than Hickman, as it reads in the same stilted style as Soul Forge, which I didn't even bother finishing. DotDD I actually finished, but it didn't have the same magic as the Chronicles and Legends.

Bad Twin, by "Gary Troup". Yeah, "Gary Troup" is an anagram for Purgatory. I only read this because of the Lost tie-in, which apart from mentioning Sydney, Oceanic Airlines, Hanso and Widmore, wasn't really connected in any way. Oh, I'm sure there's some hidden message or dome throwaway line which reveals all the secrets of Lost, but I was too bored with it to care.

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