Reviews by Crooty

This is the third and last of the Pentecost books (after The Song of Pentecost and Pentecost and the Chosen One).

It's winter. At Earlswood lake, the only recently orphaned Otter decides to leave his home for ever. Following what he believes is his Lucky Star, he settles in the pond at the foot of The One Hundred Steps, just below Lickey-Top. But the pond belongs to Owl, and when Pentecost and Fox, thinking Otter won't stay, come to greet him, he challenges them.

For Pentecost, this is another chance to prove he's a hero by saving his family from the eviction Owl is threatening them with, if he manages to fulfill Otter's outrageous conditions and rescue Otter's hostage, the always grumbling Uncle. But as always, the Cockle-Snorkle is here to "play both ends against the middle".

Like the first two books, this is again a real nice animal story with some funny passages. As an adult, I was slightly annoyed by the many moralizing bits, but I would recommend it to all children.

This the second of the Pentecost books (after The Song of Pentecost and before Petecost of Lickey-Top).

After settling on Lickey-Top, the harvest mice live a life of peace and quiet. But after the tragic death of their leader, the hero who lead them to the Promised Land, the newly elected Pentecost dreams of danger and adventure where he could prove himself worthy of his leadership.

One day an old hedgehog and his son arrive on Lickey-Top. And when the Old Codger, gifted with devinatory skills, reveals the Prophecy that a mouse is to go to the City to overthrow a tyrant and bring back peace, it doesn't take the restless Pentecost long to take the opportunity and desert his family.

So on the back of Fox of Furrowfield, he travels to the City, where he will meet the Gas Street Mob, a gang of rogue mice lead by the mean and not very bright Zero, among which is a mouse who, strangely, looks very much like Pentecost himself.

Pentecost and the Chosen One is nice adventure novel, if you don't mind being lectured from time to time. It isn't very suspenseful, although funny at times, and you can be sure the Cockle-Snorkle is always up to some mischief.

This is the first of the Pentecost books (followed by Pentecost and the Chosen One and Pentecost of Lickey Top).

After his father's death, Snake is bamboozled by his alleged Cousin who, backed up by a Frog, claims he whas fallen heir to Snake's dear home, the Oily Green Pool.

Determined to have his pond back, Snake sets out in search of the lying batrachian. He ends up in a old farm, the home of a family of harvest mice, the leader of whom is Pentecost. The mouse agrees to help Snake find Frog if in return he finds them a new home, as the farm is going to be detroyed by the over-spilling City.

The story goes on to describe their journey across the English countryside to the Oily Green Pool and the Lickey Hills, meeting numerous beasts on the way, either friend or foe, but often "playing both ends against the middle".

The Song of Pentecost is a lovely animal fable, where in the end everyone learns from their mistakes or repents from their treacheries, but I must say I was a little bit disturbed by the religious, often moralizing metaphors. I was also deeply shocked by the end.

In Nemesis, Miss Jane Marple is quietly sitting in her house in St Mary Mead, reading the obituaries in her favourite newspaper, when one of the names printed there strikes her as familiar. Mr. Rafiel, whom she'd met briefly during a sojourn in the West Indies a year earlier, and with whom she'd help solve a mystery, has died.

About a week later, she recieves a letter from London, asking her to go to the late Mr. Rafiel's solicitors' office. There she learns that Mr. Rafiel is leaving her a rather large amount of money, at the condition that she manages to solve a certain mystery, for the sake of Justice he says. The problem is, he doesn't give her any clues as to where she should start, nor what she should be looking for. Is she to witness, or prevent a crime? Catch a murderer red-handed, or maybe right some wrong that was done in a time long past? Intrigued, Miss Marple decides to accept the proposition.

Not long after, she recieves an invitation to go on coach tour of the Famous Houses and Gardens of Great Britain. Everything has been arranged and paid for by none other than Mr. Rafiel. Miss Marple starts her investigation.

What I enjoy the most in Nemesis is the way Agatha Christie makes you look at the world through the eyes of an old lady, the way you can follow her thoughts and deductions. How Miss Marple takes advantage of seeming a harmless old lady to bully people into revealing things is very funny too. Of course it's cleverly written and very suspenseful, but you wouldn't except less from "The Acknowledged Queen of Detective Fiction", now would you?

And Then There Were None tells the story of ten people, all with different backgrounds, and who don't know each other, who are invited by a certain U. N. Owen to spend some time on Nigger Island, off the shore of Devonshire. When they disembark they learn that their host has't arrived yet. They're all speculating as to who this mysterious man or woman can be when a record starts playing on the gramophone, accusing each guest of murder. Not long after, one of them dies, poisoned.

The next morning, it's another one's turn. One by one they die, according to the verses of the nursery rhyme Ten Little Niggers, and one by one the ten little negroid statuettes displayed in the dining room disappear. After a thourough but infructuous search of the island, they're forced to face the music: the murderer must be one of them.

It was the third time I read this book, albeit the first in its original language. And even though I was bound to find it a little less suspenseful, it was nice to see the tension build up as the guests all start to suspect each other, and it was much entertaining. Lady Agatha Christie sure knew how to write them detective stories!

This is the story of an Englishman called Arthur Dent, and how he's saved from the destruction of the planet Earth by his friend Ford Perfect, who's in fact not from Guildford after all, but from a small planet somewhere in the vicinity of Betelgeuse.

I read this book because I wanted to do so before seeing the film, and because I wanted to know the Answer to the Great Question to Life, the Universe and Everything (well to tell you the truth, I actually knew the Answer, but I wanted to know the Question, too), and because I'm a great fan of English humour (Pratchett, Monty Pythons). But overall, I was a teensy-weensy bit disappointed, probably because I'd heard so much praise about it, I really expected to laugh my buttocks off, and I didn't. OK, I chuckled quite a bit and even guffawed sometimes, but it wasn't as hilarious as I thought it'd be.

You've got to love Marvin the paranoid android though.

This single-volume epic fantasy tells the story of Althalus, a highly talented thief who prides himself upon being the best of his trade.

Attracted by the riches of the modern cities of the plains, Althalus gets out of his frontierland to rob the wealthy merchants of their goods. But after several fruitless attempts to break in luxurious houses, he has to realize that his Luck, which he's been counting on for so many years, has turned sour on him. And he soon finds himself on the run.

And as he's resting in Nabjor's camp in the remote forests of Hule, drowning his sorrows in home-brewed mead, he is accosted by a cloaked stranger named Ghend. The man has heard of his exploits and hires him to go to the House at the End of the World to steel a book. But on arriving there, Althalus meets a mysterious talking she-cat. After locking him in, she starts teaching him how to read the Book, which, she tells him, was written by the God Deiwos.

And so he'll stays in the House much longer than expected, and after several years, Althalus and the cat he now calls Emerald, because of her green eyes, finally set out on a quest to find a sacred dagger. The runes carved on the blade are supposed to help them pick up allies in their oncoming war against Daeva, Deiwos's brother and enemy, and his minions.

Although The Redemption of Althalus is written in a relatively light and comic tone, the battle scenes are complex and well developed, the characters touchingly natural. The way the Eddings use magic and the teleporting doors of the House makes the plot unpredictable and funny, and even tough it turns out a little bit silly at times, the book is a real page turner and perfectly achieved its goal: it entertained me!

Do not expect a book as thrilling as the Belgariad or the Malloreon because this time, there's absolutely NO action. But if you really are a FAN of David and Leigh Eddings's series The Belgariad and The Malloreon (as I am), you'll love this book. It contains the theological, social and cultural backgrounds of each country, including money value, traditionnal costumes and other stuff. It also contains comments by David Eddings, advising you not to try to write Fantasy unless you really have the vocation, or simply telling you what to do and what not to do if you still want to write... In a few words, this book is funny to read because you learn many thing about how characters came to life, but do not expect to find even a single once of suspense in it...

StarMan is the third and final book of the Axis Trilogy (started with BattleAxe and Enchanter).

After defeating his half-brother Borneheld, Axis and his army march North for the final battle against Gorgrael, who's bringing along his terrible legion of Gryphon. The situation seems hopeless.

Meanwhile the Prophecy of the Destroyer goes on enfolding, and Azhure and Faraday both set off on a journey to fulfill their part. Azhure, accompanied by StarDrifter, travels to the Island of Mist and Memory, where she'll unravel the mystery of her and Axis's heritage. Faraday, now freed from both Borneheld's and Axis's love, moves East to replant the forty-two thousand seedlings, souls of the dead Avar banes, and reawaken the ancient forests whose power must, in the end, help Axis defeat Gorgrael.

The only two reasons why I didn't give this book five stars is because some battles sometimes seemed to be won too easily, and because I found the Skraelings and Gryphon a tad grotesque. But aside from this, StarMan is an spellbinding, beautifully woven tale of love and friendship, where enchanting moments and unexpected events take place, and where the descriptions and atmosphere betray the author's deep, passionate love of Nature.

Enchanter is the second book of the Axis Trilogy (beginning with BattleAxe _The Wayfarer Redemption in the US_ and ending with StarMan).

After the terrible battle of Gorkenfort, Axis is spending some time with his new family, among the Icarii. While learning the songs that are the core of his Enchanter powers, he is also training the Icarii Strike Force, among which the beautiful Azhure, for the oncoming confrontation with his hated brother Borneheld and Gorgrael's Skrealings.

In the meantime, Faraday, now wed to Borneheld, patiently awaits the return of the man she loves, managing from time to time to escape the bitter reality with her magical powers and to link with the Mother.

This middle volume is definitely focused on Axis marching across Achar, determined to reunite the three races, Acharites, Icarii and Avar, and to recreate the legendary kingdom of Tencendor; of Faraday and the Avar, little is said. However, everything slowly clicks into place, and it soon becomes clear that each character has a role to play, that all must fulfill their part of the Prophecy in order to save the world from a Gorgrael who is becoming more powerful with every passing day.

Even though the pace slows down at times, Enchanter is a suspenseful novel with some great battle scenes and above all, believable characters. The outcome of certain intrigues might sometimes seem too easy, or to have come out of nowhere, but as a whole it is a very enjoyable story. The end was most surprising and I'm looking forward to discover what happens next.