Genre: Non-fiction
Thomas Pakenham went around the world looking for remarkable trees and when he found them he took photographs of them. If you like trees ( like I do ) then the premise of the book is extremely interesting. Thomas does not try to find record holders (like largest tress or tallest tree), though he may have visited some of them. Rather he is looking for interesting trees, trees with character. Each chapter of the book focuses on one aspect, like gaints, dwarfs, Methuselah (old trees) and so on, with Thomas finding interesting examples of these.
Thomas textual description of the trees and the environment he encounters them is good, poetic sometimes even. The photographs in the book are lovely. I really wish that there were many more photographs in the book though. This kind of a book demands a large number of high resolution photographs. Perhaps If this book was written more recently and Thomas used a modern high resolution digital cameras we would get many more gorgeous photos. Thomas likely lugged around a old school film camera and so had to be careful with what he shot.
So any cons of this book are really a function of when it was written and nothing more.
Rating: 3 / 5, Good, wish it had many more photos though.
Friday, July 15, 2011
Book review: Elminster Ascending: Sage of Shadowdale by Ed Greenwood
Genre: Fantasy
This collects three books in the Elminster saga - Elminster: The Making of a Mage, Elminster in Myth Drannor, and The Temptation of Elminster. I read it as one big Novel. For such a large book there was surprisingly little story to it. The initial character and plot development was solid. There is however no epic story that unfolds in these 3 books. Ed Greenwood has a god acting mysteriously in the book and sending Elminster of on random tasks to "increase the use of magic in the world". Why ? And to what ends ? None of these questions get answered. Some clues into why the God was getting Elminster to perform these tasks would have helped peaked interest in the sequels that followed. These books simply feel like episodes of a soap opera that you know will never end or resolve anything in a meaningful or satisfactory manner.
If you are desperately hankering for some fantasy fiction then consider this book. Else give this a pass.
Rating: 2.5 / 5, Meh average.
This collects three books in the Elminster saga - Elminster: The Making of a Mage, Elminster in Myth Drannor, and The Temptation of Elminster. I read it as one big Novel. For such a large book there was surprisingly little story to it. The initial character and plot development was solid. There is however no epic story that unfolds in these 3 books. Ed Greenwood has a god acting mysteriously in the book and sending Elminster of on random tasks to "increase the use of magic in the world". Why ? And to what ends ? None of these questions get answered. Some clues into why the God was getting Elminster to perform these tasks would have helped peaked interest in the sequels that followed. These books simply feel like episodes of a soap opera that you know will never end or resolve anything in a meaningful or satisfactory manner.
If you are desperately hankering for some fantasy fiction then consider this book. Else give this a pass.
Rating: 2.5 / 5, Meh average.
Book review: Inferno by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
Genre: Fantasy.
This book is a modern day retelling of Dante's Inferno. In this version we follow a science fiction author who lands in hell and follow his journey as he attempts to get out of hell. The book is jointly authored by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, two well respected authors.
Never having read Dante's Inferno, I can't comment on any links between the two tales. The concept of a science fiction author in a hell or a hell like place is intriguing. The first third of the book was fun to read as the authors explore the initial concept. However after the initial exuberance has waned, the shallowness of the plot starts to come through. The book is basically composed of "Allen Carpentier" the main character of the book and "Benito", his guide / companion visiting various levels of hell and seeing the punishment being meted out. The plot is thin and the conclusion is insipid.
This is not a bad book however, namely because the writing style is good and there is some entertainment to be had from the description of a modern (well 70'e era) hell. However instead of fulfilling its promise of being a special book, we end up with one that is just average.
Rating: 2.5 / 5; Average.
This book is a modern day retelling of Dante's Inferno. In this version we follow a science fiction author who lands in hell and follow his journey as he attempts to get out of hell. The book is jointly authored by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, two well respected authors.
Never having read Dante's Inferno, I can't comment on any links between the two tales. The concept of a science fiction author in a hell or a hell like place is intriguing. The first third of the book was fun to read as the authors explore the initial concept. However after the initial exuberance has waned, the shallowness of the plot starts to come through. The book is basically composed of "Allen Carpentier" the main character of the book and "Benito", his guide / companion visiting various levels of hell and seeing the punishment being meted out. The plot is thin and the conclusion is insipid.
This is not a bad book however, namely because the writing style is good and there is some entertainment to be had from the description of a modern (well 70'e era) hell. However instead of fulfilling its promise of being a special book, we end up with one that is just average.
Rating: 2.5 / 5; Average.
Book review: Plant (DK Eyewitness Books) by David Burnie
Genre: Casual non fiction
This is a well presented introduction to plants. The book consist of chapters of a couple of pages each, that focus on a aspect of plants like leaves, flowers, propagation method etc. These chapters then present the information visually using highly detailed photographs and little blurbs that detail out the illustration. A surprisingly large amount of information is packed into each of this chapter. This information is presented in a way that is clear and extremely easy to understand.
A great read for anyone have a casual interest in learning more about plants or a great gift if you are looking to spark a interest in plants in some one else.
Rating: 5 / 5; Highly recommended.
This is a well presented introduction to plants. The book consist of chapters of a couple of pages each, that focus on a aspect of plants like leaves, flowers, propagation method etc. These chapters then present the information visually using highly detailed photographs and little blurbs that detail out the illustration. A surprisingly large amount of information is packed into each of this chapter. This information is presented in a way that is clear and extremely easy to understand.
A great read for anyone have a casual interest in learning more about plants or a great gift if you are looking to spark a interest in plants in some one else.
Rating: 5 / 5; Highly recommended.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)