Ami's comments (member since Feb 24, 2009)

Ami's comments from the SciFi and Fantasy Book Club group.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Sold as a young adult book, I don't know anyone who has read it that hasn't liked it.

I've read the whole series, and it's interesting starting here at the beginning again. The books do get better and more developed as the story goes on, and I'm finding that I like a lot of the later ones better.

Yeah, I guess it wasn't too highly rated by most readers, but if I remember right it was fun to read. It's been a few years though, so maybe I should see if the library has it and try it out again. Have a good one.

Rainbow Mars by Larry Niven. I'm a wealth of useless trivia.

Totally creepy and haunting. I'll be trying not to think about it in church tomorrow morning.

I'm looking forward to The Crown Conspiracy, and I'm hoping I'm able to get ahold of it in time to participate in discussion. My library doesn't have it, but they are getting it on loan for me and it may take weeks for that to happen. If necessary, I'll order it, but I try to avoid doing that because if I always did my house would be overflowing and I'd be broke.

Anyway, I've heard good things about this one and excited to participate.

I'd say I enjoyed the book, but I don't know if you can truely enjoy something so morbid and dark. So I guess what I really mean is that I became emotionally involved in experiencing the story. I hope that's what the author was going for. His narration and accounts of such disturbing events was well thought out.

I liked that character of Norman. I thought it was interesting that he was a hero for simply living- not much in our world, but when everyone else is killing themselves, simply staying alive is a big deal. I thought he was developed well and I enjoyed how he kept himself going- even keeping humor- in the Despair.

I do have to say I felt unsatisfied at the end. I guess I was expecting the Source to be something more tangible- I was waiting for a noxious monster releasing the suicide virus, or aliens who want to kill off the planet to take it for themselves. Predictable, I know. But I wanted the bad guy to be someone more tangible- someone Norman could wrap his hands around the throat of and strangle for causing such destruction to his world and life. The Source wasn't much of a being- just light that gave off bad vibes. And I guess Norman caused te destruction of the Source by blowing it to heck. But I found that all to be a bit anti-climactic.

Maybe the author was being symbolic and ethereal, and I get that in a litereary sense. But after reading about mass suicide and the destruction of civilization, I wanted a grittier ending.

I liked the majority of this one and I look forward to his future work.

Woah. I read this one today. I couldn't tear myself away and I may have trouble sleeping tonight. Thanks, Oppegaard.