Simon MacDonald

I read this in the 70s just after I saw the movie. The book is an excellent, but hard read. It gets easier once you get your head around the Nadsat slang.

Terrific fun!

Rating; 3.5.

It was OK. My initial enjoyment wore off somewhat as I progressed through the book. Glad when it finished.

Heavily influenced by Man in a High Castle, but not to its detriment. It was a very nilhistic story; the main characters purported a loyalty to either the Emperor or to their own code of ethics, but ultimately meaningless and futile. Kept me interested, but left me unsatisfied

Pretty good - not his best work. Needs a sequel.

I had not realised that this was a third of a trilogy, but it was a freebie so I read it anyway. An odd little book, but quite entertaining.

Much to my surprise I quite enjoyed thus. I wouldn't have said romantic SF was my thing but it was OK.

I expected to enjoy this book more than I did. It started well, but somewhere in the middle I started to lose interest. I persevered with it and the ending picked up my interest again. It seemed a lot longer than 630 pages and it took me a lot longer to read than normal. Not sure if will bother with #2 when it is published.

A great read and a storming end to the trilogy.

Rated: 4. 5
I don't rate many books this highly.
A read that is emotionally stormy and tortuous. To comment on any of the directions of the plot would give too much away. Just read it.

This is one of my favourite books. Every few years I reread it and usually find something that I previously missed.

A good yarn, but the plot was somewhat weak in parts. The writing style is a bit naive and simplistic, but the story got told and I enjoyed it, despite the lengthy sadomasochism scenes and the spattering of paedophilia....

I originally read this in the 80s and I enjoyed it immensely. Once again I enjoyed reading the book. Perhaps because I'm now older I had a greater appreciation of the world weary cynicism of the ageing warrior, Brian Duffy.

An excellent finale to this well written trilogy.

Probably a 3.5. I might have rated it higher, but this is the 12th Bosch in a row that I've just read. I'll give it a Harry a rest for a bit, as I'm getting a bit jaded ☺

Probably one of the best crime novels I have read.

My rating was a 2.5.

Overall, I was disappointed in the trilogy of books, of which this is the third. It started well in the first book, but went downhill with the second and third volumes.
Yama's ongoing mission to find his origin, was in my view, tedious. I really had to force myself to finish the book, and when the culmination was reached it was pedestrian and somewhat predictable.

I'll try some of the authors other books which I hear are better.

There is some interesting world building stuff in this trilogy. However I can't shake off the feeling that the hero, Yama, is a bit of a prat. I just wish he'd get on with it, rather than delving into metaphysical angst about Truth and Destiny. sigh.

Anyway, on with book#3, and let's see if Yama can get his act in gear. ☺

A well written story with a well crafted main character - Ren . The book dealt with the arrival at a planet and the events thereafter; hence the title - Planetfall . However I was frustrated by the vagueness of the pre-story - there were some brief hints and flashbacks, but I would have liked to know more about why the hell they went there, and how the character Suh discovered the planet. Yes I know there was some detail about this, but really, on that basis, would you build a starship and go off into the unknown!

Read this when it first came out. Better than some of his later books. Think I'll re-read the other two.

Short but very enjoyable. A complex mix of science and philosophy with some mysticism and business management technique also thrown into the mix. The two main characters are interesting and enigmatic - but there are so many frustratingly, unanswered questions in the story line. I can't be more specific without giving away the story, but Carolyn, we need to know. Another book please!

My initial reaction when I started reading this book was that I would not enjoy it, but the more I read the more I was drawn in to it. An intriguing mix of characters, alien and human, set against a fairly standard space opera universe. Not much action, but lots of interaction between characters, and some inter-species love! It was the characters that made this book so good. More please!

This novella sets up the universe of the novel House of Suns, and introduces the Gentian Line and their technology and ethos.

Horowitz has pulled it off. A terrific tale, in classic Ian Fleming style. A must read for all those who loved the original Bond books.