false 13 78 56 true 5815773 read 5 true 3268578 currently-reading 17 true 3268577 to-read 20 false 3599859 science-fiction 9 false 3272630 non-fiction 7 false 3272531 popcorn 1 false 3599855 fantasy 1 false 3272714 photography <![CDATA[Steve added 'And Another Thing ...: Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Part Six of Three']]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/78627982 to: And Another Thing ...: Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Part Six of Three (Hitchhikers Guide 6) by Eoin Colfer
]]> <![CDATA[Steve added 'The Lost Symbol']]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/74433528 to: The Lost Symbol (Robert Langdon, #3) by Dan Brown
bookshelves: popcorn
]]> <![CDATA[Steve joined a group.]]> http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/954.Hard_SF Steve joined the Hard SF group. ]]> <![CDATA[Steve added 'House of Suns']]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/64383247 to: House of Suns (Gollancz) by Alastair Reynolds
bookshelves: science-fiction
]]> <![CDATA[Steve added 'Matter']]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/57132952 to: Matter (Paperback) by Iain M. Banks
]]> <![CDATA[Steve is on page 404 of Matter ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/57132952 Steve is on page 404 of 544 of Matter ]]> <![CDATA[Steve added 'Only Forward']]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/41321392 Only Forward (Paperback) by Michael Marshall Smith
bookshelves: to-read
]]> <![CDATA[Steve added 'The Talisman']]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/31653420 to: The Talisman (Hardcover) by Stephen King
bookshelves: fantasy
I picked up this book having read a few decent Stephen King titles and one Peter Straub book that I remember enjoying. The Talisman is essentially a coming-of-age quest featuring Jack on a mission to save his dying mother by hitch-hiking across the USA to retrieve the object of the title. On the way he's pursued by his dead father's evil business partner along with a whole host of unsavoury, misshapen things. Oh, and he also finds out that his mother is a dying queen in a parallel world that he's able to visit by drinking cheap wine.

On the whole, it's reasonably well-written with some interesting ideas. There are some charged, page-turning set scenes and some emotional moments, but by and large the book suffers from its own grandiose scale and the pacing is uneven. There's no moral complexity, either - The Talisman's characters are either saints or psychopaths.

Ultimately, with its kid-on-an-epic-quest theme and deus ex machina ending, it could just be that the book is showing its age; The Talisman means well, but just doesn't achieve the level of resonance I was hoping for. I don't imagine I'll be reading its sequel, Black House. Next up: American Gods - fingers crossed... ]]> <![CDATA[Steve added 'The Blade Itself']]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/34569348 The Blade Itself (The First Law, #1) by Joe Abercrombie
bookshelves: to-read
]]> <![CDATA[Steve added 'American Gods']]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/34569331 American Gods (Paperback) by Neil Gaiman
bookshelves: currently-reading
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