The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

The Night Circus

512 Pages

Trade Paperback

Fiction

2011

Hurrah, I am finally reading something that isn't Terry Pratchett or Stephen King. What a wonderful book to make the journey with. My wife gave me a copy of this book for Christmas this year. After reading just the first few pages I was drawn in and I quickly read through the rest of the book in about a week. 

The book tells a story through mystery, secrets and revelations. It seems as if we are jumping through time and getting the tale by walking around the outside slowly circling until things become more clear. Between some of the chapters we are giving a first hand account of certain parts of the circus that display the magical inner workings of the circus tents. 

We start with two magicians making a deal. We aren't privy to what the deal really consists of, but realize that it will involve each training an apprentice of sorts and that this is not the first time these two men have played this "game" before. We meet a young boy who is drawn to the circus when it appears in a field near his house. 

The two apprentices soon find themselves a part of the Night Circus and they start to prove there magical worth by creating astounding and beautiful sights that seem to only be possible within the limits of the Circus. The young boy befriends a circus performer and starts to revel in the mystery of the Night Circus. 

It is really difficult to explain fully what the story involves without revealing too much. The reader is invited into the world of the circus and becomes intertwined with all the workings within. 

3 Emotional/Intellectual - I read other reviews that say the two main characters are wooden and "unemotional" I didn't feel that with the books, both of them are extremely reserved because of their unique experience and upbringing. I personally found them and many of the other character to be real and I cared for them.

5 Style/Readabilitty - I really enjoyed Morgenstern's writing. She presented us with this mysterious place with magical happenings, then carefully revealed how it came to be and why it continues to exist.

3 Long Term Impact - The book is a National Bestseller and it is her first novel. I hope this is an indication of other great things to come. More fantastic books like this is what I crave.

11 out of 13. I really enjoyed the book. I think a reader that enjoys magical realism would find this to be well worth your time.

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Under the Dome by Stephen King

1074 pages

Trade Paperback

Fiction

2009

I continue with my Stephen King obsession with a pick from his more recent efforts. I think from the outside I had thought King had jumped the shark a bit and was putting out books that seemed to be rehashes of his older books. I felt it was only fair to give him a chance on some of his newer stuff and so far I have been impressed. 

We start in a small town called Chester's Mill. A new pilot is learning to fly when the plane suddenly strikes an invisible barrier. Soon a few cars run into a barrier that seems to be like a huge invisible wall. It doesn't take people to long to figure out that the barrier completely surrounds the town like an enormous dome. 

The book is a thousand pages and there is a lot of development of characters and there relationships. The efforts of the American government to "help" free the people and the downfall of the social norms. We follow three main Characters and a host of others. Big Jim Rennie is the local politician trying to make his move in "his" town before the outsiders can fix it. Julia Shumway is the local newspaper editor who is trying to expose the political corruption that is vying for power and Dale Barbara. A discharged Captain that is the Army's choice to take over leadership within the Dome. The town keeps things moving along mostly in a normal state, but soon the local children start have seizures and seeing visions of the future. A small group of teenagers appoint themselves the mission of finding the source that is creating the dome and the local Police force starts adding rookies to its ranks to help 'in this time of crisis".

I really got sucked into the book and read the over 1,000 pages in just a few weeks. King made the townspeople very believable except to a certain degree, Big Jim Rennie. It doesn't take to long to see that he is the Bad Guy. It seems at times he goes out of his way to be the bad guy when it really isn't necessary. 

Overall, it is story of town being trapped with itself and how quickly that starts to fall apart.

3 Emotional/Intellectual - Many of the characters on the "good" side are easy to care about and come off as realistic.

4 Style/Readability - King sells millions of books for a reason. He takes fantastic elements and puts them in real situations. He has great aptitude for foreshadowing, creating a problem, adding additional problems, solving earlier ones and then continuing the story. You don't want to stop reading to see what happens next, but then another conflict arises that you want to see solved as well.

3 Long Term Impact - King will surely be read for a hundred years, but this may not be as popular as other earlier books of his, but honestly it still deserves recognition.

10 out of 13. Any King fan should give it a try. I wouldn't suggest it as a first book for him, but I don't think it would be a bad place to start if you did.

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Pyramids by Terry Pratchett

(This wasn't the actual book cover, but I couldn't find a good pic of the one I read.)

323 pages

Paperback

Fantasy

1989

RIP, Sir Terry Pratchett. If you have read much of my blog before than you know I love Pratchett. He past away last year and I was sad to know that his world wouldn't be growing anymore. I think everyone who has read even a couple of his books knows that he made a tremendous contribution to writing, but specially to fantasy. He made it so that fantasy could be funny. 

The reader finds themselves on disc world again, but this time in the desert Kingdom of Djelibeybi. But it soon revealed to be a parody of ancient Egypt. The pharaoh is dead and Teppic must now take his place. Tradition says that he must make the greatest of all pyramids in honor of his father, but he really doesn't want to.

He soon finds him self dealing with the mystic powers of the pyramids, architectural contracts, demanding priests, and a beautiful handmaiden. We join him on his quest to help his kingdom and also come to terms with his new found authority.

3 Emotional/Intellectual - Pratchett always does a great job of making characters lovable and endearing this book is no different.

4 Style/Readability - Though his books are set in a fantasy world, they always closely resemble our own world. He is a master of making fun of everything without ever hurting those he is kidding.

2 Long Term Impact - This is a stand alone book within a series of books that have loosely tied books throughout. Pratchett deserves all the praise he receives, but it is never enough. This book will probably always be an outlier.

9 out of 13. This is a great read of fans of Pratchett, but I would recommend picking up some of he other better known work before reading this one. Even though it stands apart from the others getting used to his style would be worthwhile first.

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The Eyes of the Dragon by Stephen King

380 Pages
Paperback
Fantasy Fiction
1987

Yes, Yes, Yes another Stephen King, what can I say I got sucked back in. My wife and I each had a copy of the book so we decided to have a little 2 person book club. We had both read the book before, but it had been a long time.

King makes a detour on this away from his normal styled book and puts us in a fantasy setting. Now many King books deal with fantastic and supernatural subjects, but this is set in a more typical fantasy setting with Kings, Knights, a Kingdom and Peril, Dragons and, of course, an evil Wizard. This book follows a royal family, a King and his two sons. The Wizard Flagg quickly shows he is not to be trusted, but the family doesn't realize that.

I always give King credit for his ability to come up with the most fantastic of ideas and then make them into a story that you care about. This one seems almost like he took a bunch of regularly used fantasy tropes and tries to tell a story within those restrictions. We have a murdered King, A prisoner in a tower, an evil wizard trying to establish control. We have the unlikely hero go beyond what is possible to save the day. But somehow he makes it work with out becoming obvious.

3 Emotional/Intellectual - The Prince is the most likeable character, but for Stephen King fans we also get a good look at the beginnings of Randall Flagg.

3 Style/Readability - Though it seems to be done on purpose the overused tropes of the typical fantasy novel make this less than great. He does keep it interesting considering that.

2 Long Term Impact - I imagine Stephen King's books will be read for hundreds of years. I think this will probably be one of the lesser celebrated ones.

8 out of 13 - I have read it twice. I would say it has redeeming qualities, but over all you can find better King books and you can find better fantasy books.

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Firestarter by Stephen King

401 Pages

Paperback

Fiction

1980

I haven't posted anything in a few months. I have still been reading a lot, but haven't had a lot of time for keeping up to date on my posts. I am going to make a bunch of short reviews to get caught up. 

I have to admit that I have fallen back in love with Stephen King. He writes in a way that resonates with me so well. I can easily tear through one of his books in less than a week and he does a great job of making an story seem real. He succeeds most in making the characters seem like people you might meet at any time. 

Firestarter is a book I read as a young man and I thought I had remembered. I did remember a good portion of the book, but then it seemed like the last half of the book eluded me. We follow a man, Andy, and his daughter, Charlie, as they are chased around New England by members of the government. Eventually, it is demonstrated that Charlie has powers. She can manipulate objects, she can "push" people and she can start fires. Not just a little flame, not just a campfire, but fiery infernos that she can't control and destroy everything it contacts. 

This is one of King's earlier works and was gripping. I tore through it quickly and was disappointed when it ended.

3 - Emotional - Charlie is easy to love and you even begin to empathize with one of the men sent to hunt her down.

4 - Style/Readability - King has great skill in making a story flow. He is one of the easiest writers to get into so much you don't know how much time passes as you read.

3 - Long Term Impact - The book is already famous and relatively well liked even amongst the piles of other books he has written. I wouldn't put it at the top of his writing though.

10 out of 13. This seems right on. A very enjoyable book that would be liked by many. King is touted as a Horror writer, but this book demonstrates that he is much more than that.

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