Mikko Saari
Another old science fiction classic. This one was a bit confusing, but I suppose that is to expected from a novel featuring lots of time travel. Asher Sutton returns to Earth from a journey into space, but he has changed. For starters, he's not really alive anymore. It seems he is a very important man now, with an important message to humankind, and some people want to kill him because of that – turns out he's a key to a time war in distant future, actually. Interesting novel of great ideas, but like I said – it can get confusing at times.
Historiallinen murhamysteeri 1400-luvun Firenzessä. Valtaosa henkilöistä on todellisia historiallisia henkilöitä; Pekka Matilainen on opiskellut klassista filologiaa ja perehtynyt aikakauteen perinpohjaisesti. Tuloksena on historiallisesti uskottava romaani mielenkiintoisesta aikakaudesta. Vielä kun juoni olisi ollut jotenkin vetävämpi, tähtiä olisi läiskinyt enemmänkin. Nyt arvelen, ettei tästä kovin pysyvää muistoa jää, vaikka olikin mukava luettava.
What an interesting thriller. The basic scheme has nothing new: there's a killer at loose, making fun of useless cops and challenging them to find him or her. What made this interesting is the challenge: the killer has set up a geocaching mystery for the cops. The author is a geocacher and knows what she's writing about. If you don't care about geocaching, this is a decent thriller and that's it, but for geocachers, this is a must.
Philip K. Dick basic elements, alright: unstable mental health, simulacra, unhealthy relationships... I think the book could've used a bit more action and bit less waddling about. Lots of conversation and thinking going on in here, and frankly, it wasn't quite interesting enough. Some clever ideas in here, sure, but definitely not my favourite PKD novel.
Interesting story, set in late 1940s Macedonia. The government wants a glorious new working class. People want to keep their goats. A conflict ensues. Lyrical novel, with lots of love for the goats. Why not – the goat is an essential animal for these people, while at the same time a roadblock for communist progress.
Amazing. Picks up the story, couple of hundred of years after [b:Under Heaven 7139892 Under Heaven Guy Gavriel Kay http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327894315s/7139892.jpg 7373286] ends. The book describes many intertwined destinies in Kitan, a version of China, an empire where the fear of strong military leaders (after the events in Under Heaven) has made the empire weak, and ripe for picking for ambitious barbarians. Masterful storytelling, and interesting characters living in interesting times. Guy Gavriel Kay has done some of his very best work in these two books.
Interesting sequel to [b:Snake Agent 429890 Snake Agent (Detective Inspector Chen #1) Liz Williams http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347985008s/429890.jpg 418875]. This time Zhu Irzh takes the leading role. Somebody's messing with the meridian lines holding the worlds together. Hell is about to break loose, quite literally, and somebody has to do something about it. Once againt the book is chock full with all sorts of lovely details from world of Chinese occultism, and the result is an interesting story.
Small book about smells and tastes. Interesting collection of tidbits. The book reads a bit like a collection of newspaper columns, as it has short chapters that jump from topic to another. The book is full of interesting little details and mentions some new advances in science that I've never heard of, so thumbs up from me - this was a fun little read.
Pidin [b:Gräset är mörkare på andra sidan 15990859 Gräset är mörkare på andra sidan Kaj Korkea-aho http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1352046546s/15990859.jpg 21747040] -kirjasta, joten tämä Korkea-ahon esikoinen piti tietysti myös lukea. Samantyylisiä teemoja tämäkin pyörittelee. Pohjanmaalla ollaan, siinä sitten sivutaan syyllisyyttä, salaisuuksia, tukahdutettuja muistoja ja kuolemaa. Jännä juttu, kaikin puolin.
An old-fashioned fairy tale. Mysterious factories, orphan slave labour, power struggles in a fairyland, lots of interesting elements in the book. On the other hand, the story felt a bit on the long side, and it ends without proper closure. I seem to remember the first Wildwood book had a better ending. This one continues in the next part, I think, and the ending isn't quite satisfactory now.
This was surprisingly interesting. There are many things going against it: the whole book is pretty much 200 pages of old man complaining about everything (and I do mean everything), with not a single paragraph break in the book. However, if you stick around mr Reger, he turns out to be an interesting human being after all, with weaknesses and vulnerabilities. The book is subtitled a comedy, but it's also quite tragic.
Excellent fantasy novel, great follow-up for the Night Watch. This book gives a voice for the Day Watch, the evil side of the balance. However, being on the side of darkness does not mean these characters are stereotypical movie baddies; quite the contrary. This is very good contemporary urban fantasy.
Very good, just as I expected from Diamond. Interesting view on how the modern world could learn from the traditional socities (but also a review of how life sucks in the traditional societies; Diamond is far from naïve in his views). Good discussion of diabetes, dietary issues, child-rearing, war, violence... Educational and interesting book.
