A major disappointment...
595468
Here we have a perfect example of how a book can affect people in very different ways. Highly recommended by several people whose opinions I value and with whom I often find myself in agreement, I assumed I would love this book. Hmm!

When our first-person narrator, Martin Clay, is invited by his cartoonishly-oafish country bumpkin neighbour to look at his art collection, Martin (though hardly an expert) thinks he has spotted a missing Breugel. Martin then plots how to acquire this painting for himself, ostensibly to have the honour of being the one who discovered it, but the two million or so he expects to get for it is a further motivation.

There seems to be an unfortunate habit developing amongst authors whereby they do a ton of research and then decide they're going to use it all - every single word - loosely bunging a flimsy plot into the gaps and then calling it a novel. At least sixty percent of this book is Frayn regurgitating the history of the 16th century Netherlands together with everything he could find on Breugel. Not subtly weaving it into the story and not with any redeeming beauty of writing - just pouring it out in a 'Look what I know!' kind of way.

"On the table in front of me I have Friedlnder (of course), Glck, Grossman, Tolnay, Stechow, Genaille and Bianconi. They quote each other freely, together with various other authors not available in the London Library - Hulin de Loo, Michel, Romdahl, Stridbeck and Dvok - and they refer to the often mutually contradictory iconography used in two breviaries illuminated by Simon Bening of Bruges in the second and third decades of the sixteenth century, the Hours of Hennessy and the Hours of Costa; in the Grimani Breviary, also done, a little earlier, by Simon Bening and his father Alexander Bening, although the calendar itself is attributed to Gerard Horenbout; and in our own dear 'Calendrier flamand', as I think of it, in the Bavarian State Library."

The other forty per cent is a fairly unsubtle farce as our unlikeable, intellectually snobbish hero tries to do down his equally unlikeable 'half-educated' neighbours, while trying not to fall out with his enigma of a wife - the woman with the least personality of any fictional character I have encountered. There are some funny moments, but many of the jokes are inviting the reader to join with the author/narrator in laughing at the bumpkins for their ignorance of art and philosophy or in mocking the narrator for his snobbery. This combination means that the whole book has a sneering quality which left me unable to empathise with any of the overblown unattractive characters.

Despite the fact that by a third of the way through I began to skip whole sections devoted to presumably partially made-up art history, it still took me the best part of two weeks to plough through the remaining snippets of plot, mainly because I couldn't bear to read any more about the tedious, self-absorbed and yet apparently irresistible-to-women Martin. And since the ending was pretty much inevitable it was hardly a surprise, except in that the author managed to make it more unpleasant than I anticipated by adding in an incident of entirely unnecessary animal cruelty.

Sorry to all of you who love Frayn - you're obviously seeing something in this that I'm not...but I'm afraid I found this one a major disappointment and doubt I'll be seeking out any more of the author's work.
3570527
I have been in love with the works of Jane Austen for the better part of the last twenty-five years.  Although Pride & Prejudice isn't my favorite Austen novel, what fan wouldn't be excited to discover that a "sequel" existed?  Within a few pages I realized I was in for an incredibly disappointing read.  Despite what other reviews may say, nothing of Austen's astute observations, careful characterizations, and quick wit exists in this novel.  Frankly, Chronicles reminds one of the Book of Genesis in which so-and-so begat so-and so, except that this novel has marriages and deaths thrown in haphazardly amongst the begetting.  By the middle of the book there have been so many names hurled at the reader--all of the characters so cardboard you can't tell one from the other--that you can hardly maintain any interest at all.  The author may have been a fan of Austen, but she is unable (as Austen did quite well) to maintain interest in the day-to-day goings-on of a two sisters and their families.  The primary problem that I see in Chronicles is that there is no "conflict" whatsoever in the story.  Whether it be P&P, S&S, Persuasion, Mansfield Park, Lady Susan, Northanger Abbey, Austen created conflict, often in the first page of the novel.  (Does "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife" ring a bell for anyone?) Chronicles contains no real conflict , other than a page or two of worry by this girl or that girl about whether or not she will be allowed to marry her suitor, a plot that Austen was able to draw out quite successfully over the length of an entire novel.  The author tries to maintain the relevancy of the story by continually referring to the political and social upheavals of the Regency Period in England, but a true fan of Austen would know that she purposely ignored the macrocosm of the larger world to focus on the microcosm of the family and the nature of relationships between individuals--especially those of different social statuses.  The author is unable to create any interest whatsoever in any of the characters.  Quite frankly, even Elizabeth Bennett Darcy is a bore in this book.  Where is the evidence of her vivacity, charm, and excellent understanding?  The author would have done well to focus on the Darcy family instead of turning her novel into a genealogy of the Darcys, Bingleys, and Gardiners.  Lovers of Austen should consider reading instead the lovingly written book "Presumption: An Entertainment" by Julia Barrett.  Here is where you will find the humor and language of Austen.  (Consider the first sentence: "If, as the prevailing wisdom has had it these many years, a young man in possession of a good fortune is always in want of a wife, then surely the reverse must prove true as well: any well-favoured lady of means must incline, indeed yearn, to improve her situation by seeking a husband.")  Finally, Austen was famous for stringing the reader along, often until the final page or two, before finally delivering a happy ending.  The author of Chronicles makes a horrible mistake by ending the novel with the death of a major character.  Despite her efforts in the final pages to lift the spirits of the reader, there is no way to create any kind of Austen happy ending with this disastrous story twist.
4270782
What a disappointment.  I was really looking forward to this book, having enjoyed the other 3 so much, but honestly I think they cut corners on editing or something.

First of all, I honestly can't figure out what the main plot line was.  There was just so much going on, all at once sometimes.  There was no one thread to hang on to that the others wove through, it was a hot mess of subplots fighting for domination.  I guess the Leo subplot won, but it didn't dominate most of the book.

Second, since this book focused on Emma's job as with the celestials, you see them a lot.  since they all have more than one name that got very confusing and she did nothing to help you out- no visual assistance or anything, and sometimes she would switch from one name to another.  Often she introduced new characters with very little explanation and to the English speaker the names are similar enough you'd wonder whether it was someone you were supposed to know.  I spent a lot if time lost even having Chinese family and having read the first trilogy.

Third, it was boring.  Seriously, I didn't care about a lot of it.

And lastly, Emma came off as a terrible guardian and as a total doormat.  People would say cruel, nasty things or try to kill her or whatever and she would say "I don't blame them."  What?  That isn't the sassy warrior bride we got to know in the first trilogy!  And Simone is 15 and Emma is saying "she needs to make that decision, I can't push her" and is too busy to help her with school- not sure if this is a cultural difference, but I have a 15 year old daughter and she still needs a parent. It made me dislike her and want to slap her silly.

 So overall not good.  Undecided whether to give the next book a try.  I am not sure why a book without John was even done.  He made the books.
320141
[Mild spoilers]

Huge disappointment and truly awful.

It doesn't bother me that this book picks up after the first  miniseries. I don't dislike The Final Battle. The production value had  gone inexplicably down considering how successful the first miniseries was, and I think the ending with Elizabeth is too deus ex machina. (I  would rather have seen John continue to argue with Diana that they'd lost and it's time to go.) I loathed the TV series. So that's easy for me to ignore. I understand Kenneth Johnson picking up where he did  because he had creative differences with people working on Final Battle and had his credit changed from Kenneth Johnson to a pseudonym, Lillian Weezer. (He's still credited with his real name as creator of the series.)

I was really looking forward to The Second Generation. I love V and The Final Battle, and I wanted to see what the *creator* would do with the story. Now I have to ignore this book like I do the TV series of V. It's a little too similar to what George Lucas did to Star Wars with those horrible prequels. (And I disagree with people who say Johnson's and Lucas' stories are theirs to do with what they choose. No. They have become our stories. Lucas and Johnson break the storytelling contracts they  made with us, their audiences, when they continue their tales in such absurd ways that ring false.)

I re-watched the first miniseries before reading this book so I'd know where the characters were story-wise. I bet Kenneth Johnson didn't do that. Robin Maxwell is nowhere to be found despite the first series  ending with hints that she's pregnant with a Visitor's child. Julie and Donovan don't even show up until around page 130! They're more like supporting characters...and just as one-dimensional as all the other  characters.

I agree so much with the other negative reviews here that I don't have much to add: cardboard characters you don't care about, plot holes, amateurish.

The reason I decided to add my review is Johnson's bigotry towards fat people. Fat=evil to Johnson. Not only is that bigoted, it's lazy writing. "Oh, this is a bad character. How will I describe their physique? Fat." Again and again. I think Blue is the only large character who is not a jerk, and I suspect it's because he's black. In fact, Johnson describes Blue as "strong" more than "fat." Similarly, all of the good characters are good-looking. How very creative...

Johnson obviously has no idea what a 250-pound woman looks like, as he  describes the wrestler as some hideously and enormously fat monster. I wish he'd Google the BMI project and get some idea of what different weights actually look like, not just what Hollywood erroneously guesses them to look like.

This book is a slow and torturous read because it's boring and his  writing does not flow. The first 150 and last 50 pages were drudgery. The rest flowed somewhat better, but it's still terrible not to care  about any of the characters, especially considering how much I adore Julie and Donovan from the first two miniseries.

One thing I loved about the original two TV movies and is nowhere to be found here is how Julie and Donovan are co-leaders of the Resistance. Sure, Donovan is broken in this book, but I disagree with the decision to write him that way, on so many levels.

Basically this book is a slight variation of Final Battle that is worse  storytelling and makes little sense. It's also not entertaining in the least.
4464998
I was enormously disappointed in this DVD. I had just reached the age of 5 when they were announcing the Mickey Mouse Club show. I don't think I ever missed an episode. I loved it, (had an enormous crush on Annette--but what boy at that time didn't?) What you have here are 5 half hours shows from the last season. Sadly even Talent Roundup Day was missing the great beginning of the earlier seasons when they sang "Saddle your pony, here we go!"... Forget it... the tap-dance routine from Monday is shown instead.  I can never figure why they totally screwed up Circus Day's intro scene with Mickey. I recall distinctly that Mickey was saying "Today is, ... uh... uh..." and the kids in the background shouting "Circus Day!" to which he responded "RIGHT!"... they've somehow or other dubbed it to a sequence making no sense at all, he greets the mousketeers then goes silent (while clearly still saying SOMETHING) then he shouts "Right"! Go figure!  Also, the so-called "dates" for the 5 shows is completely false. I have no clue what those dates represent, but according to the menu, some are from the 60's, and the last year it showed on air was 58-59. These half-hour butcher jobs of the one hour MMC are pretty pitiful. But it's still nice to see the kids I sang and just plain enjoyed in those innocent days of the mid to late 1950's. Another disappointment was that while they had Tim Considine and Tommy Kirk INTRODUCE the NEW Hardy Boys serial (The Mystery Farm --or something akin to that)... not ONE serial show was on any of these.  All you get are 5 daily 30 minute (22 minutes sans commercials) shows--none of which link together cohesively. There was Monday (not sure if it actually was Fun with Music) then Tuesday: Guest Star Day  Wednesday: Anything can happen day -- Thursday -- Circus Day -- and Friday --Talent Roundup.  I gave it two stars simply on the nostalgia value.  As a good representation of what was a great show I would LOVE to have the complete season of-- I'd have given it a single star--and that would've been charity.
313397
My title actually reflects the entire contents of the book. It is an immense disappointment when considering the scope and inventiveness of the first volume. While the first novel&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Ancillary-Justice-Imperial-Radch/dp/031624662X/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Ancillary Justice (Imperial Radch)</a>&nbsp;encompasses galaxies, with multiple characters and perspectives, this second volume is not even two-dimensional but seems to take place in the closed caf of a sleepy suburb with no plot to speak of. Another meaning of ancillary, for certain, but of no appeal for a novel!
3903641
This was an EXTREMELY disappointing book. I have been a longtime fan of the series and have eagerly awaited sequels...until now. The great parts that I think many fans like such as the brotherly bond between Cal and Niko, Cal's identity/power struggles, the conniving irreverence of Robin, Niko's superhuman ability to keep everything together, and the threat of some creature of unknown power/destruction that the trio have to overcome has been a fairly standard pattern for the books. And it usually works.

But here, it's almost as if the author heard that fans like the Cal/Niko co-dependence and Robin's sexual ridiculousness, and Cal's over-the-top violence/foul mouth and decided to write a book that is 75% comprised of those elements (with a noticeable increase in violence, graphic descriptions, and general crudity)  and about 15% plot (and it's a decent enough idea for a plot). The unbalance of plot and these elements is so extreme that this book is almost unrecognizable from previous stories. While Thurman has tended toward repetition in some of the more recent installments (same phrases and ideas over and over again, we get it already), this book is by far the worst offender. The grand pronouncements and speeches different characters make at different points to each other are over-the-top bonkers, pretentious, unrealistic, and furthermore, completely unnecessary. Oh, and also the retconning of Cal's childhood continues (in that he apparently was always conniving, crude, and somewhat terrible, despite the first 1-5 books' depictions), which is also annoying.

Here are some examples of what I mean (minor spoilers):
1) Cal and Robin are running away from things that they can't defeat. So they're running for their lives. How in the world could they have a meandering multipage conversation of Cal whining about how Robin doesn't trust him despite all Cal has done in previous lives for Robin? I mean, seriously, this is neither the time nor the place to be having this kind of conversation that is completely tangent from the main story.

2) And another tangential story that takes WAY too long to convey is Cal and Loki meeting. Which is pretty much completely prima donna posturing nonsense between Cal, Loki, and Robin (who also seems to get more and more retconned into having additional powers), and also does not seem to have impact or payoff in this story.

3) The ridiculous melodrama after younger Cal lets older Cal fall asleep. And oh no older Cal has bad dreams. And everyone suddenly hates younger Cal for "betraying" him. I mean, seriously, WHAT? Completely unnecessary, stupid whining and whinging. The inconsequential angst and stupidity of everyone involved has hit 11 with that one.

Part of why my review is so negative is my love of the series as a whole, and I'm disappointed it has come to this. If there wasn't so much repetition and ridiculous filler, there wouldn't need to be "two" books for this story (looks as though the fluff/filler was to stretch this story into 2 books, rather than adding some more interesting twists; we hardly even meet the bad guy. I think this would have been a better story if we see more of the brothers' running battle with the Vigil and then getting intel on the new Big Bad that culminates with the opening scene, and then ends with Cal going back to fix things. That would be a more worthy two-parter. So much of what happens with the Vigil since the last book occurs "off-screen" so to speak that it is very unsatisfying.) I hope Thurman gets a good editor and can turn this mess around with the next book.
3688920
Perhaps my expectations were too high. Perhaps I expected something entirely different than what was served. Perhaps it was just poor timing when it came to reading this... Though UNREMEMBERED by Jessica Brody was an enjoyable enough read, a poorly executed "mystery" and characters lacking in emotional depth caused it to fall a bit... flat.

Flat. What an excellent word to describe this book. Let's start with the main character, Violet (aka. "Seraphina" according to the description, which itself is a spoiler that completely kills one "mystery" element in the book). She is a positively "perfect" being, and we are constantly reminded of this fact throughout the book. Oh, and she has purple eyes. Seraphina is so perfect and flawless, in fact, (and don't forget she has purple eyes) that it is obvious that she is either a) an unnatural human/science experiment/robot or b) an alien. Take your pick. And she is super smart and probably has the highest IQ in the world, buy yet she knows nothing at all about the modern world... Hmm, I wonder where she came from? Either she comes from a) a different time or b) another planet. Again, take your pick. Other than these attributes, there was very little that made Seraphina interesting.

UNREMEMBERED was too entirely predictable and so straight forward in how it was presented from the very beginning. As a result, the element of mystery was killed for this (typically naive) reader. In fact, even though it is also supposed to be a romance novel, I found my self not at all invested with either of the romantic interests. So even that part of the story fell a bit flat for me. Sadly, the other half of the love story, Zen, simply came across as a lucky hormonal boy who happened to fall in love with the "perfect woman". I think that any boy who happened upon her could have easily fit the bill. I tried to find some redeeming quality that would make Zen special or stand out as more than just a cardboard character, but I couldn't... Not to mention, there seemed to be too many characters thrown in the story out of convenience, as though they were there just to help the characters along in their quest. And the bad guy... Is it bad that I didn't feel the tension with this one?

I do not want to sound too negative, though. The writing IS quite good and the words/dialogue flow fairly easily. While much time is spent running (from both the obvious truth and the bad guys) and the pacing is off a bit, I still found UNREMEMBERED to be a quick and entertaining enough read. At least, I wasn't bored, even though I knew the outcome before I read it. How exactly was the pacing off? Well, UNREMEMBERED starts right off with the discovery of Seraphina, but after that it contains an overly slow middle + a too quick resolution. While this is actually the typical pacing of mystery fiction, in this case the element of mystery wasn't exactly there... so phooey.

I do know many other readers who have found the story to be quite exciting and the mystery to be rather unpredictable, though. Maybe I will be the black sheep when all is said and done.

Will I be continuing the series? Well, UNREMEMBERED did end on a pretty big cliffhanger, one that sends the characters and story in a direction that could be insanely awesome. Plus, now that the predictable brouhaha of discovering the origin of Seraphina is over and done with, perhaps the story can move forward to something more gripping. I have a feeling that, in spite of my lack of a full connection with UNREMEMBERED, I will still be checking out book two when it is released.
3056816
To say I was immensely disappointed with this book would be a monumental understatement. For the first three-fourths of it, I was totally underwhelmed and basically just . . . waiting. Waiting for Mare to break out of Maven's grasp, waiting for her reunion with Cal, and waiting for any hint of the action and intrigue that I loved so much in Red Queenbut none of those things happen until the last third of the novel! That simply wasn't enough to redeem this book. Overall, this was just one big whine-fest. Ideally? I was imagining banging Mare and Cameron's heads together and knocking them both out.

However, Mare and Cal are so adorable in this book until the very last second . . . when their ship literally goes to hell. I'm so angry about this in particular because most of Cal's character growth and development are completely destroyed in the last few pages, and it was so frustrating and totally unnecessary. I am now officially concerned that I'm going to end up hating how this series ends. I'll still read the series conclusion though, since I've stuck around for this long.
2104661
This book was a tremendous disappointment. I had expected some insightful looks, by an outsider, into what goes on in a modern school room. Instead, I got, literally, an almost minute-by-minute recitation of the minutiae of the daily routine, as if someone had turned on a tape recording and then published the results. Scattered throughout the book are some useful nuggets, but they are few and far between.

 Seldom have I felt so misled by reviews in the major media. Still baffled as to what produced those glowing reviews. I can only say to prospective buyers: read carefully the one and two-star reviews.
3866873
The ONLY reason I finished reading "The Casual Vacancy" is because I purchased it as soon as it came out - i.e., the "new hardback" version, and didn't want to have completely wasted my money.  I expected SO much better from this author, but was horribly disappointed.  With any good, enjoyable book, I can stop at most any point & know there will be something exciting to get back to.  In "The Casual Vacancy", I had to search the entire book for just one paragraph which called me back to reading.  Sadly, I found none.  My recommendation is - SKIP THIS ONE - entirely.
906649
Where oh where to begin? The supporters of this "novel" seem to have two points to make: this wasn't written to fit any preconceptions of a "Silence of the Lambs II" and that anyone expecting a sequel to  the *movie* deserves to be disappointed. However, I would expect that an  author having over ten years in which to craft a novel would have at least  avoided the laughable stock characters and the hopelessly amateurish lapses  in tense and character within paragraphs. The absolutely pathetic  "villian" presented here would be more believable in one of the  70s-style hokey-jokey James Bond movies - eel, steroid-buffed lesbian and  all. (I kept expecting a dwarf to pop out - that certainly wouldn't have  been out of tune with the rest of the grotesqueries substituted in lieu of  "plot"!) As for Lecter's great genius and "taste" for  the finer things - what a commoner! The Great Hannibal comes across far  more as an insecure bourgeois than as a sophisticated aesthete. Perhaps the  most frightening part of this otherwise weak-beer book is Lecter's shopping  spree - my jaw dropped, and so will yours, in his total buy-in into the  consumer culture. Big-dollar "big name" stuffing for a picnic  basket just does not impress me, and if Harris's point was to depict Lecter  as one sick puppy, it was THIS part that did it for me. Through the course  of the book, it becomes increasingly evident that Mr. Harris has spent far  more time in cooking classes than in thinking about this book, and one more  reference to the "carbon steel" knives would have been enough to  justify a personal visit by Hannibal himself to the jumped-up gourmand that  Harris seems to have become. And Bach and Dante' - really?! Our great  genius doctor hasn't developed an appreciation for arts somewhat more OFF  the well-trod paths? No Pettersson, or Janacek? Somehow, I'd think Lecter  would have an affinity for Maturin's "Melmoth", but nope - just  the most very obvious will do, I suppose. And then the ending: by now,  everyone must know that Clarice is (apparantly) lost to us, and dines in  cannibal lust with the doctor. I'll agree with the book's supporters that  there's no reason for Harris to meet his audience's expectations based only  on a viewing of the "Lambs" film, but I read this gratuitous plot  twist more as an angry slap at what Harris must see as the superficial fan  than as an exercise in real horror.
Many here have written how they  "finished it in one read" - a day or so and you're done. Small  wonder - at over 100 chapters in a 480 page book, with LARGE breaks, wide  line-spacing, and pretty good-sized font, this just isn't THAT big of a  book.
Anyone looking for more "horror" with better research and  less obvious disdain for their readers should try one of the Michael Slade  novels, starting with "Headhunter". For those seeking a more  profound literary vision into horror, I'd recommend Arthur Machen and  Algernon Blackwood. THIS literary AND culinary dog's breakfast is an  embarrasment to the author and an insult to any intelligent reader.
1546434
Let me start off by saying I had high standards for this book: I have a degree in literature and Bioshock is my favorite video game series. Sadly, I was very disappointed by this book. The character descriptions were far more "tell" than "show," a problem which got worse when the author started making such liberal narrative use of the audio diaries (especially the ones he made up, i.e. that weren't quoted from the game). (I mean, seriously? You have both Lamb and Steinman literally muttering their secret plots to themselves under their breath while in conversation with others?) Bioshock's visual aspect is such a main part of its appeal, and the author seemed to make no effort to describe the environment beyond saying they were "Art Deco" (or, in one attempt at variance, describing something as "Art Decoratif"). Every now and then I'd find a phrase that I thought was well-turned, but a lot of the descriptions were kinda lazy (he described three different female characters in the book as "frowzy"). I know only marginally more about the characters' backstories with the exception of Ryan, McDonough, and Fontaine. We already know that Sander Cohen is crazy, effeminate, and obsessed with bunnies; we played the games. Give us a sense of WHY he's that way. What character descriptions were given, were shallow, off-target, or just didn't make sense (see e.g. Tenenbaum's bewildering relationship with Frank, or the unrealistic explanation of her experience in the concentration camp). The emotional spectrum was fairly limited. The dialogue was disappointing, and not just because McDonough's/Atlas's/Tenenbaum's/Suchong's accents/speech styles were unconvincing. There was so much missed opportunity here, and that made me sad. I feel this should've been an early draft, not a finished product. There was very little of it that actually added to what I knew from the games, and it detracted from the actual story's emotional depth for me.
3558325
What a great disappointment. I enjoyed immensely Mark Bebbington's previous concerto discs for SOMM (4 of them in all). In those he brings to life rare and unusual - and quite wonderful - repertoire, brilliantly played and with excellent orchestral support. Why he decided upon the all too familiar (and over-recorded) Gershwin program is a complete mystery. Especially when it's so poorly done.

Unfortunately, much of the blame for the failure of this disc lies at the feet of his accompanist, conductor Leon Botstein. Tempos are slow in everything he conducts here. There is not an Allegro to be found, nor is there any spark of verve, flair or a sense of high spirits. Has he never, ever heard Arthur Fiedler in this repertoire? Or Andrew Litton? Or Peter Oundjuan? Or Michael Tilson Thomas? Or had he even glanced at the score for tempo indications?

The conductor is not entirely to blame, of course. Bebbington himself obviously had something to do with tempos. And he certainly had something to do with preparation. It sounds as if he considered this fluff material and therefore didn't feel he needed to practice it much beforehand. That Concerto in F is more difficult to play than it sounds, and his sloppy execution of the repeated 16th notes in the 3rd movement is evidence of that fact. Even in the solo Preludes, Bebbington pedals his way through anything remotely challenging.

And, at first, one wonders - why TWO discs, when the 2nd disc (of the 8 solo Preludes) lasts just 17 minutes? The answer is simple. SOMM and Bebbington decided upon a program, and after recording it, the tempos are SO slow, it simply wouldn't all fit on one disc.

How slow? Well, Rhapsody in Blue here lasts nearly 20 minutes! This is completely absurd. Earl Wild (with Arthur Fiedler) does it in 16 (with NO cuts, by the way). Similarly, Variations on I Got Rhythm drags on for 10-1/2 minutes; Wild takes less than 8. And in the Concerto, the first movement Allegro (no, it's not Andante Maestoso, Mr. Botsetin), takes these guys nearly 15 minutes to plod their way through; Wild - 12. And in the Allegro 3rd movement - Bebbington takes over a minute longer than Wild!

I want to reiterate how disappointing this is after the glorious music-making heard in their previous concerto recordings. I listen in disbelief that this could be the same pianist. It hearkens back to Pascal Roge's abysmal 2004 Gershwin recordings for Oehms.
4035835
I've been a big fan of Cherry Adair since her first book in the Wright series.  It seems, however, that with each consecutive book, the quality has diminished.  This one was a utter disappointment.  The summary of this book made me want to buy it right away.  Imagine my sadness, when instead of being transported into an exciting and sexy story, I was treated to a science fiction novel filled with a dirty sandcrusted couple traipsing across the desert.  Even though Kane seemed like a hottie, I couldn't understand why he would want to spend time with A.J. the one dimensional robocop. The sex scene on the camel was one that I will never forget (not a good thing).  Sex and romance sells, I want to see more of it in Cherry's next novel or she will lose this reader.
4897581
Like the other reviewers, I was profoundly disappointed
in this book.
I was a loyal Auel reader for her first four, though
admittedly they descended into mostly tedious botanical
descriptions and repetitive sex scenes by the third and
fourth books.
There was so much potential in _Shelters of Stone_--a
pregnancy, marriage, Other-Clan relations, intrigue.
But none of it is developed.  I can't believe how much
time Auel spends on inane repetition of details from
the earlier books, and on incredibly annoying side
comments to the reader about scenery and reasons for
traditions.  (A good author makes those clear from
the story.)
Much of the book reads like a bad home movie, with
no editing--for instance, we read about how Ayla was
thinking of stopping to say hello to Folara, and then
how she does but Folara is a little bit busy right
now, so they decide to talk later when she gets a
chance.  I mean, please.  Who needs to read that??
My eyes started to glaze over at around page 200, when
really there had been no plot development whatsoever.
This book reminded me of the movie _The English Patient_
(though if possible, it's worse)--the darn thing goes
on about three times as long as it needs to.  Really,
for the number of years Auel spent on this book, she has
produced a surprisingly poor result.
I wish that a loyal Auel fan would condense/edit/revise
this book and add some punch to the plot.  There are
a lot of people who would really like to read about what
happens to Ayla.  But please, not another thousandth
identical breast->oralsex->intercourse scene.
748435
A huge disappointment.  I wish I'd read the reviews before I purchased this book.  In short the book seems to be about big government and the coal industry.  While I can sympathize with the issue, it doesn't change the fact that the book is extremely lackluster.  I turned the page to see what the next chapter would bring--surely something!...and it said "acknowledgements!"  I was in disbelief and was irritated for about a week that I'd wasted my time on the book.  I kept assuming it would go somewhere.  (Since I was reading it on my kindle I didn't realize I was nearly finished with the book.)  The characters are not the least bit winsome.  In fact, by the end (spoiler alert) when the main character decides to stay in the small town and work, you wonder why?  Throughout the book she's not drawn to one single person (nor was I).  From the five "close" women who talk about the one who happens to miss the meeting, to the funeral with the horrid food and the fat people, to the two brothers with whom nothing develops, to the unsatisfying family relationships she has, to all the discouraged, poor families to whom you're not drawn because their characters are undeveloped...what was this editor thinking?  Grisham, in retrospect, must be embarrassed for letting this be published before it was done and for having done such a lousy job of getting us to be interested in something about which he must be passionate.