Fiction Books

Dawn Rochelle has lukemia and her 15th birthday is comming up she starts wondering if she will live to see it.Then she gets a big surprise her big brother comes to town Dawn soon finds out that teddy is getting married Dawn is so excited.When her lukemia takes a turn for the worst how much time will she have before her big 15 or the wedding or will she even live to see it?

I love the Dawn Rochelle novels. I love how the author goes into good detail.

For the past year, Dawn has been in remission. Though she has to be in remission for four more years to be declared "cured", Dawn's blood tests have been coming out positive, and life continues to go on. Then Rob, Dawn's older brother, arrives home from college with great news- he's getting married! His wife-to-be, Darcy, is pretty and nice. But Dawn senses that Darcy doesn't like her because of her cancer. At first Dawn wonders if maybe she's just feeling jealous of Darcy's perfect life and attitude, but when Dawn's cancer returns, with only a bone marrow from her brother to save her life, Darcy becomes more and more upset, which causes her brother to become upset, too, and Dawn is afraid that she is ruining her EVERYONE'S life with her cancer. But that won't last much longer if the transplant doesn't work...

This book was very touching. It talked about the closeness between Dawn and Rob, and Rob's loyalty to her in this rough time, when death is waiting at Dawn's door. It was very interesting, and was a page-turner for me. I ended up reading it from beginning to end in only one morning. Like the last book, it also talks about cancer, and is educational if you want to know what cancer really is. I recommend it to girls who love good books!

The second book of the Dawn Rochelle series...it was astonishing. The book is one true pageturner, and not only that, it brought me to tears. I cried twice in one day, as I've gone on directly to continue with the second book in the series since I got to read the first one.
Lurlene McDaniels has an unbelievably hypnotizing gift with words; she's truly remarkable. Once again, I recommend everyone who has the slightest bit of feeling in them to read it.
It's wonderful and heartbreaking.

I Want to Live is a really good book. I like this book because it tells you what it's like to have cancer. I don't think this book could be any better. If you were looking for a book I would recommend this one especially if you were a girl.

Dawn, the main character, was in remission, but then she needed a bone marrow transplant. Your going to have to read it yourself to find out what happens.

The Never War was better than the first two in the series put together. This book was much more realistic than the first two.

The Never War (Pendragon Series #3) This book came as part of a box set containing the first 3 books in the series. They are quality paper backs. They will probably stand up to a lot of re-reads. I had been in search of a series to fill in the void left from the conclusion of the Harry Potter series. I have found that D. J. MacHale's series about time travel by a teenager and his friends to be an excellent transition from Harry Potter. I am currently finishing up book 8 in the series. I have purchased 7 of the books from Amazon and will buy books 8 and 9 when they come out in paper back. I would highly recommend this series to fans of Harry Potter. Trust me, you won't be disappointed and you will love the adventure.

The Never War is the third book in the Pendragon series. I thought this book was amazing this book I think was the best of all of the pendragons. This book brings back the characters Mark, Courtney, Spader, and Bobby and a new traveler Gunny. This book brings you back into 1937 on first earth. At the start of world war two and ends with a big ending that may shock you.
I would totally recommend this book because it envolve your own world and it makes you brush up on your history. This book is definitely the greatest sci-fi I have read. The Never War is a book that you never want to stop reading it keeps you on the edge of your seat through out the whole story and this book always has you thinking of what could happen next.

This is a really interesting book for probably one reason: the historical fiction.
This book takes you to First Earth, where life is eternally 40 yeaers behind our Second Earth. The plot of this story is where Saint Dane is trying to alter things that have already happened to cause chaos throughout Halla. This is about the Hindenburg. Saint Dane offers Bobby a chance to save the Hindenburg from crashing but what will happen if he doesn't?
This is book is chalk full of good historical fiction. I liked it, A LOT!

D. J. MacHale wrote for television for years before turning his attention to novels. He created ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE DARK?, a long-running series on Nickelodeon in the United States, but it also showed in Canada on YTV and Cinar.

For the last few years, he's been writing the adventures of Bobby Pendragon, a boy who's destined - hopefully - to save the world. Several worlds, actually. Bobby is a Traveler, one of those who have the power to "flume" from world to world. He's brought into the adventure by his Uncle Press. As Bobby was growing up, Uncle Press also took Bobby scuba diving, mountain climbing, to martial arts, driving, and several other things that gave him skills he needs to survive against enemies he encounters. All during that time, Uncle Press was training Bobby to be a Traveler.

Bobby's greatest foe is a villain called Saint Dane. Saint Dane has the ability to change his appearance at will and constantly hides in different worlds while working his nefarious plans.

THE NEVER WAR is the third book in this exciting series. In it, Bobby travels to First Earth, which takes place in the year 1937. The gangster era isn't new by any means, and I was slightly let down when I discovered I wasn't being taken to a new world. I especially loved Cloral, the world Bobby went to in the second book, THE LOST CITY OF FAAR, and I look forward to returning there hopefully in one of the later books.

Still, I'm older than the average Pendragon reader. The 1930s and the Hindenburg are familiar to me through several other books I've read as well as history I've researched.

For all the familiarity with the time period, though, MacHale tells a fascinating and fast-paced tale. Bobby and his new best friend Spader land in the 1930s while pursuing Saint Dane. They're immediately met by machine-gun toting thugs that try to kill them. Bobby figures out how to escape and gets Spader out as well. Spader is way out of his depth because he's never seen anything as "technologically advanced" as the 1930s.

One of the best things about the Pendragon books is that Bobby usually gets to save the day in a down-to-earth manner. He doesn't have any really special skills or powers that help him. At this point, he's fourteen years old and can do what most kids that age can. This makes the series more believable in some ways, and I think it draws the Pendragon audience in a little closer.

MacHale's sense of timing and pacing is excellent. The story moves quickly, and I got a real sense of urgency throughout the book as Bobby tries to figure out what Saint Dane is really doing. Many of the chapters end up on cliffhangers that will draw you rapidly into the next chapter. The dialogue is fantastic and sounds real.

One of the other facets of the series that I really enjoy is Bobby's friendship with Mark Dimond and Courtney Chetwynde. The closeness they share, even through Bobby's journals, feels real.

MacHale also mixes in adult heroes with his young champion. Vincent "Gunny" Van Dyke was an excellent grown Traveler in this novel. He was kind and gentle, and guided Bobby and Spader throughout the adventure.

I did miss the world-building in this novel, but I know MacHale gets back to it in later volumes of the series. But for kids who haven't researched the 1930s much, this should be a fun book and on equal footing with fans of Artemis Fowl and Alex Rider.

A disorienting story, much too contrived. A patchwork of events taking place in both dimensions, space and time. Definitely confusing and surely inconsistent. Consequently, when the protagonists (and the author) are stuck in jeopardy somewhere or somewhen, something or someone appears out of the blue to get them (and him) out of their predicament. I must confess I didn't understand all of it... and I didn't seek to do it.

In my opinion one of the all time science fiction classics,along with Radix.You can skip the other two of the quadralogy.The story and the science are top notch.attanasio at the top of his game.I recommend this to all science fiction buffs and a great introduction to the work of Mr.Attanasio.

I love this book. I read it years ago and forgot the name of the book, the author and only now do I realize it was part of a series of books, and yet I have never forgotten the story. I think for me the most powerful part is how limited humans are relative to the Tryl (a species on Earth that evolves to an intelligence and grace greater than humans 1 billion years after we kill ourselves off) and yet we keep on, going on. Attanasio gives us the big and little of humanity sometimes within the same sentence. I read a lot of science fiction and generally the harder the better but Attanasio, like David Zindell's Neverness series, is an exception to the rule. There is enough "hard" science, like Gai's jumping up from basically the zero point dimension into a dimension much less dense and at much lower energy, to be fascinating in its own right. Another great book it reminds me of -- the Oddessy. The relationship between Gai and Ned O'Tennis (the fighter pilot) is very similar to that between Athena and Oddyseus. All in all, a great read.

The last legends of earth is a wonderfully fantastical story were the classical limitations of time and space are broken. Aliens of the future interact in a bid for god-like supremacy long after the civilizations of man have been lost in the dust. Humans become the fodder for spider-like beings and a battle for human freedom ensues. The worlds Attanasio describes are imaginative and timeless. This is a story is a classic Sci-fi adventure but also has retains a sense of humanity, love and the human spirit. This is one of my favorite books by the author; I also recommend his Arthurian series.

In my opinion, this is (along with the first book in the Tetralogy, Radix) one of the finest sci-fi/fantasy novels written in the past 30 years. It's a rollicking good time, with good vs evil, heroes and villains, interesting scientific concepts, a romance that even manly men could appreciate, and a tempo that speeds up and slows down at just the right times.

Heavily influenced by Lovecraft, Attanasio writes stuff that is not intended to be the joy of English majors or grammar prudes but is deeply fascinating and tells great, highly imaginative stories. This book is no exception. If character is the end-all and be-all of literature to you (ugh!) and story and plot are less interesting to you, then you may not find most of Attanasio's work to your tastes, although his characters are certainly believable. Certainly in LLoE there are some highly interesting characters to add to a mind blowing story that spans billions of years.

After having read the original book in the tetralogy, Radix, when it came out so many years ago, and being so impressed by it, I was disappointed by the next two books in the series. They were interesting but lacked stories that sucked you in. Not so with LLoE, which is a page turner of the highest order. I don't think you'd have to be a sci-fi fantasy buff to appreciate it, but if you are it's one of the best. It certainly has one of the most evil races of monsters in ALL of literature, the zotl. If you can read about them and not get the creeps, you should probably be in an institution somewhere.

In fact, if all you read of the tetralogy were Radix and LLoE, you would be well served, but you might want to read the others for the sake of completeness.

This was a gift for my 9 yr old granddaughter. She told me she loved it.She had rented from the library and was overjoyed to have her own copy.

Of all the Andrew Clements school books I've read, Lunch Money was by far the least engaging. The reason for this is that a large part of the book focuses on numbers instead of people, and where Clements has succeeded in the past is in his ability to make us really like his leading characters. Greg, the lead character in this book, is not very nice. He's largely driven by money and selfishness, and although Clements does try to make Greg more personable by depicting his change of attitude, the change does not come off convincingly.

The concept itself behind the book is terrific: schools are hypocritical because while they profess to be trying to promote certain values and healthy lifestyles, the actions districts take are at times directly opposed to the high moral standards the districts are imposing on the students.

I did enjoy the book, and recommend it to those looking to read more of Andrew Clements' books. I would pick up Frindle, The School Story, or The Report Card first however.

Lunch Money is a good book for money lovers. Its about a boy who has all these good ideas to make money and then he comes up with his best idea yethe decides to make comic books!The princapal disagres but then Mrs Davenport decidesto let Greg sell comic books. I highly recomend this book!

I really liked LUnch Money because it was detailed, funny and lots more!
It is about a boy named Greg, who, really, really, really likes money. For almost his whole life he has been enemies with a girl named Maura.
What will happen?Read the book to find out!

I'm a nine year old boy from NY. This book is funny and serious, too. This boy Greg wants to make lots of money while copycats try to steal his ideas. He makes money by selling little chunky comics. I recommend this book to everyone.

WB

I was so glad to find this book again as I had read it to my sons when they were in grade school. This is a very fun book for children big and small! This was our very first Daniel Pinkwater novel and was the biginning of our lifelong love of his writings. Read this to your children - give it to them to read. ONE disclaimer - if they are already immersed in fantasy then they will have little appreciation of how subtly Pinkwater takes you from known to the absurd to the almost believeable.

Lizzard Music is the way I got my son Matt to read as a kid. He could read but wasn't at all interested in the boring books he got handed at school. It was like pulling teeth to get him to read. I gave him lizzard music and asked that he read for 1/2 an hour and that was the last I heard from him except for some laughing and every once in a while a "wow! mom this is great!". He didn't put the book down except to eat and sleep until he finished it and then made me go get more Pinkwater books. So basicly my son reads thanks to the humor of the genius that is Daniel Manus Pinkwater!!! Thanks Mr. Pinkwater from moms everywhere

A very appealing book, and a favorite from Pinkwater. Good for both boys and girls, especially those looking for something funny and original.

Manus Pinkwater is a pretty cool kinda guy. He has the unique feature of being as tall sitting as he is standing, and that makes me wonder if the convex dimensions of an author's backside are somehow related to the quantity of his imagination. You see, Manus writes far-out books. No, no, I mean...realllly far-out books. I think he passes the Twilight Zone somewhere in route to where he goes to pen his creative little novels. Lizard Music may take the cake among everything straaaaange he's written, however. This story puts your brain in a food processor and hits frappe. What's it about? Oh, you want to know that, don't you? Okay.

Lizard Music is about a ten-ish young man named Victor, who is left one summer in the early 1970's in the custody of his free-loving teenaged sister, Leslie, when their parents take a summer vacation. Not ten seconds after the parents exeunt stage left Leslie does the same thing, meeting up with some hippie buds and taking off in a van with the warning that Victor better NOT tell on her for this. Hey, Victor's more than happy to oblige. What ten-year-old wouldn't love being left alone with a full frige, a small stack of spending money, and no rules or supervision whatsoever? Victor has the time of his young life. He eats what he wants, he does what he wants, and he stays up as late as he wants watching previously forbidden monster movies. It's this last liberty, the late bedtime, that sends young Victor's life into some veddy odd places. One night, past midnight, Victor is up watching the TV station sign off after the late-late-late show has concluded and right in front of his drowsy eyes he sees the most peculiar program he's ever witnessed: a jazz group composed entirely of man-sized lizards performs a concert in the minutes before the station ceases its signal. That's not to say it's a cartoon or guys in costumes...these appear to be great big lizards playing jazz. The next morning Victor wonders if it was all a dream. (He had after all been hitting the candy and cola a little hard the last couple nights...) To get to the truth, Victor stays up another night to see if it happens again. It does...and something else does too. Let me just say Victor takes a trip that's even weirder than the one his sister is on with her fellow hippies. "LiKe FaaR OuT, dUdE!!!" Lizard Music is the sort of book no one but Pinkwater could have written, no one could possibly figure out before its conclusion, and that no one will quite know what to make of when they've finished reading its mind-altering text.

I remember the night that my grandmother gave me this book. My mom was in the hospital for what would have been her last round of chemo and I had been beaten up in school that day for tucking my pants into my argyle socks in a rather unsporting display involving football players, loose change, and vending machines. Pinkwater's book kept me sane through the sixth grade and then some. There are a whole bunch of physicists in my department who feel the same way. We are very much in debt to the Chickenman and some other friendly phantoms from Bughouse Square and Pinkwater's memory (real or not, we are smart enough as a collective to get back to them).

Love, Ruby Lavender, is a realistic fiction book. It was written by Deborah Wiles. The story took place in Halleluiah, Mississippi, in the early 1900's. The characters lived a simple life and had ordinary problems, just like we do, today.

Ruby was a nine year old girl, who lived on a chicken farm with her mother and grandmother, who Ruby called Miss Eula. Ruby and her grandmother were very close and spent lots of time writing notes to each other. Ruby loved her three hens very much and spent time in the hen house, which she called the pink palace. Tragedy happened to Ruby's family when her grandfather died in a terrible wreck. He drove his truck off a bridge, killing himself and another man. The other man who died in the wreck had a little girl named Melba Jane. She did not like Ruby and tried very hard to make Ruby's life miserable.

I thought, Love, Ruby Lavender, was a good book to read. I liked it because it talked about family, friendship, helping others, and caring for animals. Ruby's life was not perfect and she learned to work through problems, forgive others, and find happiness in her life. I think girls, ages 9-12, would like to read this book. We can relate to different topics in the story.

Love, Ruby Lavender by Deborah Wiles is about a girl with fire-red hair named Ruby Lavender. The plot mostly revolves around Ruby and her grandmother, whom she calls "Miss Eula." Ruby lives in Halleluia, Mississippi.
The book begins when Ruby Lavender and Miss Eula drive over to a chicken farm. They plan to just snag a few chickens for keeping. They just drive away with three chickens just as the owner of the farm sees them driving away with the chickens, whom they later name Ivy, Bemmie, and Bess. The chickens become a big part of the story.
Miss Eula and Ruby do not like to use regular mail when writing to each other. They use a knothole in a big, old oak tree that is perfect for climbing. Ruby and Miss Eula write their notes on bright, pink paper and stuff it into the knothole. Every time they walk past the tree, they check their special mailbox for letters.
When Ruby's grandfather dies, Miss Eula and Ruby paint Miss Eula's house shell-shock pink. Ruby lives with her mother, but is closer to Miss Eula than anyone else in the family. Her grandfather loved gardening, so now Miss Eula and Ruby tend to the garden. Miss Eula and Ruby are very close, and so when Miss Eula has to go to Hawaii to visit Ruby's aunt and uncle who are expecting a baby soon, she feels as if the world is going to blow up. Ruby is hiding in her other Aunt's store when Miss Eula gets on the bus to go to the airport. She does not want to see her leave.
Now with Miss Eula whisked away to Hawaii, only Ruby is there to tend to the chickens and work in the gardens. But when the new teacher's niece, Dove, comes to visit until the beginning of school, Ruby's summer gets just a little bit more interesting. Maybe Ruby will survive Miss Eula's going away.
When you are reading this book, you will be amazed about how realistic the book is. You'll think that nine-year-old Ruby is telling the story to you. Deborah Wiles has really out done herself!

This book I think is the best book ever. Deborah Wiles is a great author. and I can say by only reading one of her books. I now want to read more of her books. also if there was ever a sequal I would read in a millisecond. This book caught my heart in the storyline. It made want to keep reading more. this is also a multigenre book. There are letters, and newspaper articles as well as a normal non-fiction story type of writing. i would suggest this book to anyone. Hands down. So heres some advice to you read the book LOVE RUBY LAVENDER.

CHANDLER 13

It's been three years since I first read this book and I can't say "I love this book!" enough. An amazing novel for young girls that teaches independence. The author has a great sense of humor that shines through the story. Ruby Lavender is a perfect character for the plot and fits in expertly. The setting is described wonderfully and is also a fun environment for the character's to interact in. The author makes the read more whymsical by adding the letters that Ruby writes, instead of just saying "Ruby wrote a letter saying..." It also provides for a more realistic feeling. I don't have any suggestions for improvements that could be made on this masterpeice. I have read this book four times in the past three years and am still discovering new details. Anyone who ventures out into the magical world of "Love, Ruby Lavender" is on the right path and will enjoy the walk thoroughly.

All About Ruby
Love Ruby Lavender was the most outstanding book I ever read. I liked this book because it has excitement drama and a whole lot of other things to. The reason I did not like this book was the part when they put the diary entrees in there I did not like them because I do not want to know why they miss each other. Another part I did not like was when Ruby's grandpa and Melba Jane's dad died and Melba makes it seem like its Ruby's grandpa fault and that makes Ruby sad and like it her fault.
This book takes place in a beautiful city, Halleluia Mississippi. It is a small city with a lot of heart. The conflict in this book is Ruby's grandma Miss Eula is going to Hawaii and Ruby is jealous and misses her and does not what to have a new cousin. She fixed that problem by growing up and went on with her life even though she missed her grandma. I did not like how Ruby acted when her grandma left.
I think this book had a really good ending. It was about how Ruby grew up and made other friends. I like this ending because she starts to act more mature and acted more like her age.
There is this one event that happens at the beginning of this book that I think is really cool when Miss Eula and Ruby steal chickens and drives them away in a get away car to rescue them so they can have little chicks.

Here are some of the things that happened in the book are Ruby mom always cooks the same food over and over and Ruby does not like that food. Melba Jane and Ruby be come friends and they help each other all the time. One of the chickens had eggs but then they all died but one of them lived and had a good life by its self.
They wrote lot of letters to each other here is one of them.
Dear Ruby
I am flabbergasted! I am stupefied with joy! Bemmie has laid an EGG?? Oh joy and happy day! How lovely that Bemmie and Herman are sweet on each other-Bemmie is woman after my own heart. (Of course, Herman seems to be sweet on just about anybody. Somebody's going to have to talk to that man. He has no decorum.)
Love,
Your (so happy I could go surfing-I think I will!) grandmother,
Miss Eula
So as you can see they really missed each other and keep in touch with each other.
Here are all the main characters in this book:
Miss Eula
Ruby Lavender
Melba Jane
Ruby's Grandpa
Melba Jane's Dad
Uncle tater
Aunt tot
Bemmie
Herman
Dove
Miss Mattie
This book was outstanding and I hope there is another one the author of this book has a good use of words. By. Anthony Brown

This is a great tutorial and reference for anyone considering writing a comic book for the first time (or perhaps someone more experienced who'd like to get a fresh perspective and/or deeper understanding of fundamental structure). Scott has taken all those elements that go into making a good comic book (that you've probably noticed subconsciously but couldn't put into words) and laid them bare with expert analysis.

The analyses and guidelines are presented in a light-hearted, comic book format that is both entertaining and enlightening. You won't find yourself getting sleepy or distracted while reading this book - and you will understand every concept with perfect clarity, even if you are a complete novice.

Get this book! I found it at my local library and read it twice (cover to cover). I plan to buy it so that I'll have it handy for reference as I plan and begin drafting my first comic book.

Highly recommended.

Scott McCloud's "Making Comics" is a must-read for all aspiring comic artists. This book is very different from other comic technique books. While most other books will teach you how to draw characters or backgrounds, this one teaches you how to tell stories. McCloud goes in depth into what makes a good story through pacing, image choice, layout, words, facial expressions, among many other factors. All of the instruction is given in comic form, so it is very easy to see how the techniques are implemented since he shows you right on the page. I particularly like the section on facial expressions. He has a very inventive method of using basic facial expressions and then mixing them to create totally new facial expressions. It has to be seen to be believed.

If you're thinking of starting to draw comics, or if you're on the edge of giving up comics because you just can't get it right, this will give you the inspiration to keep trying. If you're a great artist, then you'll come to a better understanding of the techniques that you use. I definitely recommend reading this book.

I've always found it fascinating to imagine how a comic book author/illustrator creates the stories and images that appeal so much. Having been a non-fiction book author for many years, I have a firm understanding of the writing process. I sometimes pick out a few illustrations to put into a book.

But building a story around the illustrations, that seems like a trip to the planet Neptune to me. I was very pleased to find that Scott McCloud is very good at explaining (and illustrating) the creative and production processes he uses. I was delighted when I realized that he had also described how an individual could make a few comics to share with friends.

With computer art getting to be easier to do, I can see that there's even hope for those of us who couldn't draw out way out of a paper bag.

Mr. McCloud has the kind of mind that sees everything in perspective, in this case as facets of an overall story-telling task. He always has the goal of engaging the reader in mind and relates his points well to that purpose.

The work is impressive at another level . . . it's a masterpiece of providing instruction. The book shows more than tells, as a book about comics should do.

If Mr. McCloud ever tires of making comic books and graphic novels, he should go into explaining non-fiction subjects. He would make a fortune!

Well thought out, well written, quality throughout. I like this book the best so far; the previous weren't as appealing as this but were still very well done. The author really practices what he preaches as far as his message and the book speaks for itself. You won't be disappointed. Looking forward to the new books!

When my grandparents got me this book, I didn't think it could help me. I was looking for a "How to Draw" not a "How to Write". This book proved me so wrong. I couldn't believe how much fun it was to read, and it helped me a lot too. Almost everything I thought I knew was proved wrong and after reading it I felt like I understood comics so much better. As well as making me better at writing comic books, it made me a better writer altogether. I strongly recommend this book for anyone who is interested in comics or in just plain writing or art.

I love this series, this character, and had high hopes for this book. Unfortunately it left me a little disappointed.

This book spends a lot of time following Mark, Miless' clone, instead of Miles himself. This includes almost the entire third act of the book. Miles is what makes this series interesting, and Mark is a poor substitute. The underdog outsmarting his opponent and the charm with which Bujold writs the character is what makes this series shine. With that missing, this is closer to run of the mill sci-fi then great sci-fi.

The story itself is interesting, and there is enough mystery and intrigue to hold the readers attention. This book also has the best small unit action of the whole series. It is fast past, well executed, and has a true feel to it.

While this book has its problems, and is a bit of a let down as the series goes, it is still a quality read and worth picking up if you follow the series.

I write this review having read this sometime ago. The whole way the author treats this 'brother' issue in this and later books is simple superb.

Needless to say, the brother is the exact opposite of Miles in so many ways - and tantalizing similiar. The author develops this dichotomy very well and uses it to very entertaining effect during the reading.

Must read book. The only down note is that it seems the author has exhaused the Vorkosigan theme - all good things must come to an end sadly.

One deadsicle, one schizo.


Mark impersonates his brother to take the Free Mercs off on a liberation mission. A bit of an understatement to say this doesn't go well. The original version is killed and frozen, and Mark is tortured until his not so stable personality fragments into many.

The M & M show has to someone get out of this and wreak some havoc on bad Barons.

I came late to this series, and had serious doubts about all the awards its author has won after reading Shards of Honor. Luckily, I bought the 2-in-1 "Cordelia's Honor" and forged ahead anyway into Barrayar. Wow. Now that was worth the praise. Then I advanced to Warrior's Apprentice and was further amazed. Could the author continue to churn out action packed smartly written comedy slash adventure slash dramas? She can. She has. Sure there are dips. I found Cetaganda a bit lifeless. But the other books are predominantly very strong and impressive.

Mirror Dance is the culmination of all that came before. Seeing the Vorkosigan's from Mark's perspective is like meeting them all over again. Watching him become human in the face of his newfound family's integrity and acceptance is incredibly moving. I can't lavish enough praise on this series or this book.

Not without suprsie I read the previous reviews. Personally I did not like the last three novels : "Mirror Dance", "Brother in Arms" and "Borders of Infinity" as much as the novels in the "Young Miles" book. It seemed to me that inadvertently Bujold's interest to moral dillemmas started to influence too much of the story and characters. I remember how one of my school teachers was telling us how Pushkin ( the author of "Evgenii Onegin" ) was distraught that his characters could not fall in love. To me this is an example how author remains loyal to the world of characters he creates and follows the logic of his own creation.
It also feels sometimes that Bujold falls somewhat victim to romanticising the brutal, ruthless world of Nexus monopolies, intelligencies and political intrigues that she had created herself). For example , suddenly Barrayran Chief Security ( who is described as one of the most feared and paranoid persons in the "mean" society of Mile's home planet) suddenly becomes soft and sentimental and lets Mark just off the hook. It appears that Bujold feels too conflictual about hurting more an "innoncent prey" of sadisctic Kommaran revolutionary.
-But what about the security risk?
-Yeah, but Mile's mother would not want that to happen to the clone of her son ( I think Bujold identifies with the Countess). Of course you could argue both ways.
Again,I would give away my left hemisphere for the poetic beaty of Bujold's right but, but .... I hope to see more "war hawkish" elements in the future novels.

I could relate to the little mole in the sense my fiancee is 1500 miles from me currently and everyday is a battle to be with her. Fortunately I will get my chance in the next 3 months to be with her but until then I can relate with the mole 100%. Truly a book that may be Fantasy but lives to real human heart.

A very nice book. It has a great philosophy about love. I enhance other people to read it.

I found this little book by accident, visiting somewhere, and read it only because I had nothing else to do at that moment. I don't normally even read much fiction anymore and am not given to sappy love stories.

Yet this book reached in and grabbed my heart like nothing I've ever read. It's the kind of soul-level writing that once in a great while an author is a conduit for... I'm not sure writing at this level is really a brain thing of the person, more an internal thing of the spirit. I can't talk about the plot or the information or things I would normally review in a book. It is just a story; it is a story for a person of any age; it is a better story for those who have ever known love, or known longing, or found themselves the outcast, or found inside themselves the powerful dharma of being what one is as "I AM"... in this case, he was in love.

Not only did the book hold me in a poet/dreamer thrall throughout, and make me cry in sadness and joy, and laugh out loud at many small insights or comments, but hours and even days later, my whole interpretation of my world had more... poetry to it. More color, more eloquence; as if for a time, that love and energy gave ME more poetry; a new way of looking at all things with love. (I know. This is embarrassing. But read in the right state of mind, it's a very cool book.)

I'm buying the book now so I'll have my own copy. I want to suggest to people that I love that they read it. It's like a gift I want to give. I recommend the book very much.

This book must be in every house, in every hotel, restaurant, kitchen, bathroom, on the street, school, bus... all over the world. It's a book that goes so near to the heart that I'm smiling and crying together.

In a highly conforming and rule-blound world that we live in, people become more and more indifferent. People are caught up with their everyday routines, keeping busy schedules, having little time to what some would say "live". This book is not only about the power of faithful love, but it taught me just how important it is to make decisions that will make us happy and will show what we truly believe in. For those people who believe they have wasted too much of their lives following rules and being afraid of becoming different, for those people who believe that they are capable of a greater love than they can imagine, for those people who believe that they should start "living their lives", then here is a book that sings your song.

I probably would have liked this book a little more if I had read it before I read Ravished; it just seemed like a rehash of that book, only in a medieval setting instead of nineteenth century.

Also, the purple prose bordered on the silly side at times, making it hard to read with a straight face.

this book is fun to read. one of the only medeival books written by amanda quick.high in action.

This is definitely my favorite AQ novel. I won't go into a breakdown of the book, but I will say that besides enjoying the story, I learned more about how life was during that time.

A great read for any Medival novel or Amanda Quick fan!

I love these 1-title books from Amanda Quick. I know they are not a series, but each book has some similarities, but she always keeps it fresh!

I cannot believe all of the 5 and 4 star ratings for this book! I couldn't wait for it to end. Very formula and hoaky dialogue. If this is any indication of how Amanda Quick writes her best-selling novels, I think I'll pass up the next opportunity to read another. The purple prose was forced and ridiculous. If this was supposed to be a satire or comedy, it missed the mark and just came across as incredibly stupid.

"He found the valley that divided the luscious hillocks and followed its course to the hot spring that awaited him." (The words of Hugh the Relentless.)--Even though this is a medievil romance--way too hoaky.

"A cold, ghostly wind wafted from the dark corridor. It carried before it the promise of doom." (this is describing Hugh entering a dark cave and Alice, the heroine senses his presence by mental telepathy or something. OH PLEASE!

"Hugh was vengeance incarnate, a dark wind that would sweep all before it."

And these ridiculous passages were easy to find--they're everywhere in this book.

I say don't bother with this one.