Awesome book, Denai, Humans, and the Septori.
587428
I think this book is quite awesome and the end definitely hooks you to read the second book. I also enjoy Chanda Hahn's other book series. I'm on the second book now fairest can't wait to read it  .
4655303
I am so glad I read this.  The author is brilliant in his incorporation of history and archaeology into the novel.

Main character was "Dr." Sinuhe.  Time frame: New Kingdom, 18th dynasty, before 1355 B.C. to about 1300 B.C.

(The only weak point was Sinuhe's enthrallment to the hooker Nefernefernefer; I skimmed it then enjoyed the rest of the book.)
1121625
Awesome read, especially if you love shikamaru. It really brings out the dark side you don't get to see. The table of contents page is neat. I also got some random bookmarks ha.
3805091
I love this book.it is kind of destructive but it Involves my favorite mythical god Anubis. I can't say it's super accurate. Anubis is not the god of the dead he's the god of mummification. And babi replaced Ammut devowerer of hearts. Etc. But other then that it was really good. Hope there's a sequel.
2677291
The complexities of Oankali sexuality are fully revealed as Butler introduces Jodhas, the first construct ooloi. Butler addresses unanswered questions such as why Lilith never left Nikanj, how ooloi get and keep mates - some that don't want them, etc. In addition, human sexuality is brought to the fore with the construct ooloi-human relationships and taboos such as incest are touched upon. That Butler is able to introduce these topics without causing her readers to cringe is a testament to her storytelling ability.

Readers receive snippets about the Mars colony and human emigration. Butler also allows her readers to truly feel what ooloi's experience when they need a mate. She does a wonderful job of retelling the story of a construct's life on Earth (previously told in Book 2) while still keeping the story fresh, exciting, and interesting.  Jodahs is introduced as his metamorphosis begins and, as the first construct ooloi, we are taken with him as he discovers his ooloi and construct abilities. Jodahs is a captivating character and, as we are pulled along on his journey, we cannot help but care about the outcome for him.  The only issue I had with this final book is the series was:

1. There was no follow-up on Akin and the Mars colony.  Akin was such a well-crafted character that I wanted to follow him to Mars to see how he fared. The way this book was written makes Book 2 seem incomplete.

Overall, it is a good story and I would recommend it.
480780
I've run a feudal Japan SIG for 12 years now, and have quite a library on the samurai and Japanese culture. This is by far one of my favorites. The book begins with an overview of the warrior culture in Japan, reviewing the eight points of Bushido (the Way of the Warrior) and the periods in Japanese history.
It then begins with photos and descriptions of early history armor and weapons, back in the 800s when Japan was just forming its culture. It then moves into the more and more elaborate outfits and armor, with drawings, photos and historical illustrations explaining how the items were put on and used.
The helmet and armor photos are simply gorgeous, with all details showing up clearly and then described in full detail. I could look at the photos of the swords and tsuba, or guards, for quite a while. The glossary at the back helps explain any terms with which you are unfamiliar.
Highly recommended for any fan of this fascinating culture.
2515466
I found it interesting an addition to the game and anime series that started off with Haseo entering the world.  The art work was excellent, you could see Haseos iritation drawn into his facial expressions.  You meet new characters like Atoli,  and get a better understanding of where things are going.  They also give you revelations of certain characters that even I did not expect.  It's worth picking up and checking it out, I totally enjoyed it, waiting for the second book.  By the way there will only be 3 books out  with each having four chapters in it.  ^_^
2102971
It's amazing to see Sagara on her game. I was worried she was losing her touch, since the Elantra series is really starting to meander and naval-gaze. (I'm still reading it though. I think she just needs to end it) But she's putting out this new series at the same time and it's such a breath of fresh air! So she definitely CAN still do strong, poignant writing. This new story is interesting, and enthralling, and heartbreaking. I was crying while reading this on the subway. And not just the end, I'm talking throughout the book. Yes, there's a supernatural adventure plot, but this is really a story about human connections and grief. Real, REAL grief. It's amazing. I've already read and loved the second book as well. I'm looking forward to the final one.
1173887
Nearly a century ago an dense fog cut Huttons Bridge off from the rest of the world.  At that time Tressas grandmother was just a child now she is dying and Tressa has been chosen to be one of the three to enter the fog.  Those that have entered since the fog descended have never been seen and Tressa does not want to go, but her grandmother makes her swear that she will do so.  Granna knows that she is the only thing that stands between her daughter and Udor who wants her as his second wife.  Udor is over the council, but it is Granna that the people love and respect; she is the only one alive who knows what it was like before the fog; she is also the healer and wise woman of the village
.
For years Udor has wanted to stop the yearly ritual of sending three people,chosen at random into the fog.  With Grannas death he urges Tressa to accept his offer and protection and Tressa briefly waivers.  Then a dragon appears and dies which leads to a mysterious plague that is killing the people of the village.  They turn on Tressa and are going to force her to enter the fog alone.  When she is defended by some others, she knows that to keep the only other person that she has loved besides Granna safe that she must go through the fog as her Granna had wanted.

This is fantasy at its best, its well written and fast paced.  The world-building and character development are excellent.  I cannot wait until I have time to reread this book and the rest of the series.

4.5/5 STARS:  **I want to thank the author and/or the publisher for providing a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review; all opinions are mine.**
1186098
I really enjoyed this book. As a dragon lover, I was attracted to this book by Raz the rare winged atherian who looks like an anthro dragon. Raz was my favourite character in this book. I also loved the family who took him in, the nomadic and human Arros. The cultures are well.done in this book and there's plenty of action. I had a hard time putting this down.
3256515
The 7th part of the Silo series is excellent.  It delves deeper into the people who created this bizzare society and possible reasons why they did what they did.  There are some very relevant analogies to current US and world societal behavior but even without drawing on them, the book is interesting, thought provoking, fun to read, and makes you think hard about what makes us click as humans.  Well worth the read.  I am looking forward to future installments as there are some characters in previous parts that I want to know what has happened to them.
1727355
This book is excellent. It combines great concept art, poster art and background info on the Nausicaa movie and manga by Hayao Miyazaki. The attention to detail and research undertaken to create Nausicaa and the world she inhabits is breath taking. The progression of basic ideas (wanting to do a Japanese period drama anime of 'Beauty and the Beast') to final concept (creating 'Nausicaa' as we see her today) was especially interesting to me. This book is a high-quality coffee-table book. The only downside is that many of Miyazaki's comments on his work are especially self-deprecating. Cheer up mate! Highly recommended. 10/10

I don't know if the other Art of Nausicaa book found at Amazon is similar or the same. Can anyone help there?
3565934
I loved this book.  It is pretty long, and I spent about 6 weeks slowly working my way through it, looking forward to reading a little every night.  The author is a very good writer. This might have been dry material in other hands, but Jennifer Hecht has a gift for language.  I went to her web site and discovered she is also a poet.
I had no idea that there were so many doubters in so many
cultures over the last several thousand years.  She starts
about 500BC and discusses the ancient Indians, Greeks, Chinese,
Japanese, continues through to the Moslems and Europeans of the
middle ages and all the way to current day Europeans and
Americans.
It is interesting that the works of many of the great doubters
have been destroyed by the religious groups that held political
power in their day.  We only know about many of them by the
books that criticized them, which represented the views of the
prevailing religious establishment and were naturally allowed
to survive.  We know of the doubters during the Inquisition by
the records of the Inquisition itself, as they were trying and
often torturing these people.  The actual writing of the
doubters of that time have been lost or destroyed.
The book taught me a lot.  It gave me more than just a history
of doubt. It gave me a brief history of the growth and
evolution of philosophy in many major world cultures.
1066559
I'm not an expert on Japanese literature, but I've done my fair share in that I lived in Japan for a year etc...  Whether it's Japanese or non-Eastern literature, any human being into novels and philosophy is going to love this work.  It's very deep, but not wordy nor dense.  It's simply a very well written book about the essence of humanity (at least one part).  I acknowledge that this is a very lame review, but the bottomline is it is truly one of the great novels of all time.  Highly recommended.  By the way, the translation is top notch.
2194980
Another fantastic, well done continuation of the collected works & the life of Roger Zelazny.  NESFA really did a fantastic job with this as they have with the others in the collection.  The amount of research & documentation they did is staggering.  They collected comments & old correspondence from Zelazny's friends & peers.  The sheer number of authors that he interacted with is amazing.  A list of them reads like the Who's Who of the SF & Fantasy community.  The insight into that community is wonderful.

The stories were fantastic, as always.  They were also well documented, each with a summary explanation of the allusions made & with related comments either by Zelazny, his editor or peers.  Exactly what I've come to expect from the previous works.  More fantastic was the corrected conversation between Morningside & Jack from "Jack of Shadows".  It never seemed to be quite right & now I know why.  There was also a deleted scene from "The Guns of Avalon" that was interesting, but not critical.

I had one complaint with the book, the lack of a few pictures.  In the previous books, once or twice it was mentioned that Zelazny wrote a story based on a picture.  In this volume, it was mentioned several times fairly close together.  Often enough that I put the book down & tried to find them on the Internet without any luck.  Even thumbnails would have been nice.  A fairly minor complaint, but a real one.  If I could knock off a 1/4 star for it, I would. I've heard that early in 2010, there might be a 7th volume that will correct this.

All told, this is another fantastic effort by NESFA.  I highly recommend it to anyone, but it's a must if you're a fan of Zelazny's work, as I am.
1752645
In _Soul Hunter_, Aaron Dembski-Bowden changes pace from his prior book (_Cadian Blood_) and gives us a wonderful tale of the remnants of a Chaos Marine company.

Having survived the Horus Heresy and escaped the failed Siege of Terra, the 10th Company of the Night Lords Legion fled into the warp. Some 10,000 years later, they still roam the spaceways, though to them a mere century has passed thanks to their forays into the immaterium. The 10th Company has degraded significantly from their glorious days under Konrad Curze, their slain Primarch. Many are possessed by demons or insane in the worship of the foul creatures. Few have resisted the taint of chaos. One, who himself suffers precognitive dreams that torment him, is Talos, named by Curze as Soul Hunter. His fellow survivors of 10th Company refer to him as the Prophet because of his cursed dreams.

Talos is a wonderful character. An anti-hero who hates the Empire for the Emperor's betrayal of the ideals of secularism and of the Night Lords Legion in ordering the assassination of the Primarch, owing mostly to their obedience to Horus in the Heresy, Talos is at once touched by chaos as indicated by his dreams but revolted at the infections amongst his fellows. He loathes them for their betrayal of Curzes ideals, but he performs his duty and joins them in battle against various enemies. He is a ruthless combatant, but he keeps and cares for two human slaves who serve him. His response to the assassination of the Primarch was itself a betrayal of Curze's wishes, a stigma he suffers through constantly. Facing the degradation of time and extreme combat, his power armor shows decay like his fellows, so outwardly he appears as they do. It is his inner strength, the hatred for those things incompatible with his philosophy, that keeps his drive true.

While the introduction of the various characters makes the initial chapters of the book a bit slow, the book soon becomes a page-turner, especially in Part II which essentially is the latter half of the book. Dembski-Bowden has taken a member of a Traitor Legion and made him someone the reader can empathize with instead of telling a tale of purely reprehensible chaos-infected characters. The perspective of the human slaves gives us a viewpoint of helplessness in the face of terrible circumstances to balance out the power of the Chaos Marines. Truly, this tale of betrayal and stalwart dedication to principles is a worthy read.
4171496
If you are interested in Telos, Lemurians, Mt. Shasta or the ancient history, which is not normally presented..this is a great book.