A Canticle for Leibowitz

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A possible future for us

A case for the separation of science and religion

Not Free SF Reader

Eerie view of the future

A Canticle for Leibowitz 1959
A Canticle for Leibowitz
Walter M. Miller Jr.
Manufacturer: Eos
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0060892994
Release Date: 2006-05-09

Amazon.com

Walter M. Miller's acclaimed SF classic A Canticle for Leibowitz opens with the accidental excavation of a holy artifact: a creased, brittle memo scrawled by the hand of the blessed Saint Leibowitz, that reads: "Pound pastrami, can kraut, six bagels--bring home for Emma." To the Brothers of Saint Leibowitz, this sacred shopping list penned by an obscure, 20th-century engineer is a symbol of hope from the distant past, from before the Simplification, the fiery atomic holocaust that plunged the earth into darkness and ignorance. As 1984 cautioned against Stalinism, so 1959's A Canticle for Leibowitz warns of the threat and implications of nuclear annihilation. Following a cloister of monks in their Utah abbey over some six or seven hundred years, the funny but bleak Canticle tackles the sociological and religious implications of the cyclical rise and fall of civilization, questioning whether humanity can hope for more than repeating its own history. Divided into three sections--Fiat Homo (Let There Be Man), Fiat Lux (Let There Be Light), and Fiat Voluntas Tua (Thy Will Be Done)--Canticle is steeped in Catholicism and Latin, exploring the fascinating, seemingly capricious process of how and why a person is canonized. --Paul Hughes

Book Description

Winner of the 1961 Hugo Award for Best Novel and widely considered one of the most accomplished, powerful, and enduring classics of modern speculative fiction, Walter M. Miller, Jr.'s A Canticle for Leibowitz is a true landmark of twentieth-century literature -- a chilling and still-provocative look at a post-apocalyptic future.

In a nightmarish ruined world slowly awakening to the light after sleeping in darkness, the infant rediscoveries of science are secretly nourished by cloistered monks dedicated to the study and preservation of the relics and writings of the blessed Saint Isaac Leibowitz. From here the story spans centuries of ignorance, violence, and barbarism, viewing through a sharp, satirical eye the relentless progression of a human race damned by its inherent humanness to recelebrate its grand foibles and repeat its grievous mistakes. Seriously funny, stunning, and tragic, eternally fresh, imaginative, and altogether remarkable, A Canticle for Leibowitz retains its ability to enthrall and amaze. It is now, as it always has been, a masterpiece.

Customer Reviews:

A possible future for us.......2007-09-07

When I saw this book referenced on Mary Doria Russell's website - AND saw that she had written a new introduction to it - I had to buy this book. "The Sparrow" and "Children of God" are two of my favorite books.

I agree with her that this post-apocalyptic novel has some eerie similarities to today's horrible "Learning, knowledge, science and facts are evil and we should just spend money and listen to George Bush" culture. One of the most telling quotes is this: "To minimize suffering and maximize security were natural and proper ends of society and Caesar. But then they become the only ends, somehow, and the only basis of law - a perversion. Inevitably then, in seeking only them, we found only their opposites - maximum suffering and minimum security."

But I think I missed many of the ground breaking aspects of the book. (Either that or I just read it in the wrong decade - which is often the case.)

I certainly sympathize with the monks and their despair at Man's seemingly unrelenting determination to destroy itself...along with Man's complete inability to learn from the past. I sympathize with them and certainly agree with them...but I don't FEEL what they are feeling. There was a certain...distance to this book that kept it from having the impact that I expected.

So I give this book a four star rating...yet will most likely not seek out the sequel.

A case for the separation of science and religion.......2007-09-05

After reading the many insightful reviews I just wanted to add my two cents and make a point that others seem to have glossed over. The great irony of this book is that the Church perpetuates humanity's destruction by preserving the scientific record. They then have the audacity to deny people the one relief that will save them from suffering. Miller portrays the individuals involved sympathetically but the book seems to be a clear attack on the the Church as an institution, with wider implications into abortion and other issues.

Not Free SF Reader.......2007-09-03

A very good post-apocalyptic novel. A story that is clearly a cautionary tale about nuclear war. The book postulates about whether or not humanity can manage to avoid such cataclysms and the destructions of major civilisations, while also looking at the story of some local monks who work hard to try and preserve and recover knowledge to improve the situation.

Eerie view of the future.......2007-09-03

It's after the atomic war, and the earth is in a new dark age. What organization take control in the dark ages. Yep, the Catholic Church. Only this time, for a change, the church is an organ of positive change, although still within the usual religious superstitions. This is dark, though, and the future is not a wonderful place for most people. Miller is an excellent writer, though, and he presents his ideas with great skill. I recommend this book, but religious people with no imagination will hate it.

A Canticle for Leibowitz 1959.......2007-08-13

Plot Kernel - Told in three timeframes from the viewpoint of Catholic monks: (1) Centuries in the past, there had been a nuclear war. Now scientific and historical ignorance is universal; only a few salvaged incomplete manuscripts of the past remain, kept in the care of a Catholic order of monks who are dedicated to their preservation but have no understanding of their meaning. (2) Further Centuries later, rudimentary scientific principles are only just becoming understood. Tensions arise among the monks in regard to these rediscoveries. (3) Further Centuries beyond, the old pre-nuclear-war world has been rebuilt, along with space travel. Nuclear war erupts.

Average customer rating:

So-so
I didn't realize this was the end...
Very dissapointed
Reviewers too hard on Anne Rice
Shipped quickly and recieved on time.

Blood Canticle (Vampire Chronicles)
Anne Rice
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0345443691
Release Date: 2004-08-31

Book Description

Fiery, fierce, and erotic, Blood Canticle marks the triumphant culmination of Anne Rice’s bestselling Vampire Chronicles, as Lestat tells his astounding tale of the pleasures and tortures that lie between death’s shadow and immortality. . . .

Surrounded by its brooding swampscape, Blackwood Farm is alive with the comings and goings of the bewitched and the bewitching. Among them is the ageless vampire Lestat, vainglorious enough to believe that he can become a saint, weak enough to fall impossibly in love.

Gripped by his unspeakable desire for the mortal Rowan Mayfair and taking the not so innocent, new-to-the-blood Mona Mayfair under his wing, Lestat braves the wrath of paterfamilias Julien Mayfair and ventures to a private island off the coast of Haiti. There, Saint Lestat will get his chance to slay his dragon. For Mona and the Mayfairs share an explosive, secret blood bond to another deathless species: a five-thousand-year-old race of Taltos, strangers held in the throes of evil itself.

Download Description

Anne Rice continues her astonishing Vampire Chronicles in a new novel that begins where Blackwood Farm left off -- and tells the story of Lestat's quest for redemption, goodness, and the love of Rowan Mayfair.

Welcome back to Blackwood Farm. Here are all of the brilliantly conceived characters that make up the two worlds of vampires and witches: Mona Mayfair, who's come to the farm to die and is brought into the realm of the undead; her uncle, Julian Mayfair, guardian of the family, determined to forever torment Lestat for what he has done to Mona; Rowan Mayfair, brilliant neurosurgeon and witch, who finds herself dangerously drawn to the all-powerful Lestat; her husband, Michael Curry, hero of the Mayfair Chronicles, who seeks Lestat's help with the temporary madness of his wife; Ash Templeton, a 5,000-year-old Taltos who has taken Mona's child; and Patsy, the country-western singer, who returns to avenge her death at the hands of her son, Quinn Blackwood.

Delightfully, at the book's center is the Vampire Lestat, once the epitome of evil, now pursuing the transformation set in motion with Memnoch the Devil. He struggles with his vampirism and yearns for goodness, purity and love, as he saves Patsy's ghost from the dark realm of the Earthbound, uncovers the mystery of the Taltos, and unselfishly decides the fate of his beloved Rowan Mayfair.

A story of love and loyalty, of the search for passion and promise, Blood Canticle is Anne Rice at her finest.

Customer Reviews:

So-so.......2007-08-24

This book was ok. I started out liking Mona Mayfair, but by the end I couldn't stand her. Now don't get me wrong, it was nice to have the 'Brat Prince' "write" again, I think that Anne has given up on the dark side. She's gone spiritual. There's nothing wrong with that, but if you've read other books of Anne Rice's you'll notice a difference in this one. The first chapter was tedious and boring; it made me want to stop reading, right then and there! However it's a lot of babble so I skipped to chapter 2 like Lestat suggests. It does tie up the loose ends with the Taltos, which I always wondered about. I hope that if Mrs. Rice decides to do another Vampire book that she looks back to her original books. There was nothing wrong with "Memnoch the Devil" a lot of what is talked about in the first chapter, I just think that a lot of people didn't understand that she was trying to warn us that maybe we've reached the end with Lestat. This is the first book since "Memnoch the Devil" that has been written by Lestat, maybe she's out of ideas. I mean come on! How much MORE can he do? After you've been to Heaven and Hell and back, there's just not much left that seems to be so important right? I'm sure that's how she's looking at this through Lestat's eyes. So those of you criticizing Anne for being full of herself, you all are just silly! Overall the book was ok. Had its high points and low points. Not one of her best work but I will continue to keep it.

I didn't realize this was the end..........2007-06-27

I read this book and thoroughly enjoyed it. Not as much as some of the other Chronicles, but I still devoured it.

What I didn't realize was that this is the last of the Vampire Chronicles. Yes, I am a little late in the game figuring it out, but the shock is still palpable! I finished Christ Our Lord: Out of Egypt, and began to wonder about her return to vampires and witches.

I read Anne's post here, in which she declared "...thank God..." regarding Blood Canticle being the last of the Chronicles. I have to very, very sadly and vehemently disagree. I am going to miss looking forward to that next adventure.

I will be reading the next Christ book, but not with the same enthusiasm I held for our old friends Lestat, Louis, Marius, Armand, Pandora, Gabrielle, Rowan, Mona...all of them.

I would like to thank Anne for giving me such a great escape--for creating a world that was so easy to slip into and get lost in.

Very dissapointed.......2007-06-24

I was angry enough after reading Memnoch, and I wasn't interested in the books that came after, as they did not have Lestat (or Louis)as the narrator. But Blood Canticle had. Or so I thought. After reading the first ten or twenty pages I came to the conclusion that the narrator of this book was not Lestat, but the author trying to find back a character she lost so long ago. I mean, Memnoch was bad, but at least she used the right voice! After those twenty or so pages I decided I did not want this book in my bookcase any longer, it being a disgrace to the other vampire cronicles stored in there, so I brought it to the nearest second-hand bookshop and never ever wanted to look into it again.

Reviewers too hard on Anne Rice.......2007-06-15

There are some extremely harsh reviews here, and I think they are very insulting to Anne Rice. She is right in her response: if you don't like her writing, don't read it. She doesn't owe any of us anything, especially not closure. The Vampire Chronicles, like the rest of her work, belong to her. They are her intellectual property to do with as she sees fit: she can take the story in any direction she wishes, and she can stop writing them all together. Lestat is hers, not ours. I really don't understand the nastiness and anger in so many of these reviews.

This is an interesting book. It's a kind of part 2 to Blackwood Farm, which is wonderful, and it continues the blending of the Mayfair Witches and Vampire Chronicles, which is intriguing, illuminating, and fun. I loved it, and I'll surely reread it over the years. I say that if you are buying Blackwood Farm, absolutely buy Blood Canticle with it, no question.

We all need to respect authors and their work. We're lucky to have been able to read Anne Rice's stories. I'll consider myself lucky to read more of her stories if she chooses to publish more, and I hope she knows that she is deeply respected and valued by many, many readers.

Shipped quickly and recieved on time........2007-05-19

This sellers turn around time was better than i ever expected.

Canticle (Forgotten Realms: The Cleric Quintet, Book 1)

Average customer rating:

Storytelling for Clerics
Salvatore does it again!! This time with out Drizzit
Actually Quite Good
Bene tellemara!
Best R.A. Salvatore book ever.

Canticle (Forgotten Realms: The Cleric Quintet, Book 1)
R. A. Salvatore
Manufacturer: Wizards of the Coast
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0786916044
Release Date: 2000-01-01

Book Description

High in the Snowflake Mountains sits the Edificant Library, a place of scholarly study for priests, bards, and others. Now from the hidden vaults beneath the library a devastating curse is unleashed, and a young cleric must battle the terrifying creatures set loose by a malevolent, consuming essence.

Best-selling fantasy R.A. Salvatore begins the saga of Cadderly, the scholar-priest, and his loyal companions, as they battle an age-old evil.

Customer Reviews:

Storytelling for Clerics.......2007-07-16

Canticle will enthrall and enchant you in a story that many a reader, Cleric or non - Cleric will enjoy. As a Cleric the story tells of many a moment that seem so familiar to those that follow the same profession.

R. A. Salvatore must've either spent many hours or days with clerics, asking so many questions and such to be able to tell a wonderful story with such accururacy. The story is not all about clerics as many other classes are mentioned as well as a variety of creatures, some you may not want to be face to face with as with the heros of the storyline.

Go pick up a copy as soon as you can, find a quiet corner, by a fire hearth if possible and I assure you will not be able to put the book down. You will also find that you are compelled to track down the other books in the series to either buy or borrow from your nearest library. Elvish libraries offer the largest collections and so are more likely to carry this.

Salvatore does it again!! This time with out Drizzit.......2006-07-16

Well if you loved Salvatore's other books than i'd bet you would love this one the same. This time the Characters are not Drizzit and all his friends and enemys but a young man named Canderly, who is in love with Danica, and is best friedns with the boldershoulder brothers who unlike most dwarves who are all series these guys provide commedy relief. Once again this book like all the other first books in every series Salvatore has written sets up the next books to come in the series. This one dosent have the sword fight, instead it has many more parts in it where a caracter has to use his brain not just charge in there with a sword and twirl them about for a page or two or 10. (Even though this is very exciting.) I am going to give nothing away on the ending so you are going to just have to read it for yourself to find out how this different for other Salvatore writtings yet still a great book ends.

Actually Quite Good.......2006-02-23

Going into Canticle, I had incredibly low expectations. I had been happily going along reading Salvatore's books about Drizzt, and occasionally checking online to see what book was next, when suddenly, there, between Siege of Darkness and Passage to Dawn I see the Cleric Quintet listed. So I was like "Oh great. Now I have to read five books about some stupid cleric. Yay."

How very wrong I was. Canticle was actually quite good. It certainly rivals many of the Drizzt books, and surpasses fair amount of them as well.

Cadderly (the Quintet's hero) is a nice change from Drizzt. Cadderly comes across as a legitimately good guy (without the hypocrisy that acompanies many fantasy heroes), and his relationship with Danica is refreshing. Unlike most romances in fantasy, there's no angsting over whether or not they love each other, they just do. Period.

The villains are somewhat stereotypical, with the whole "Let us release chaos on the world because our goddess Talona (who we don't even really seem to worship) says so", but they're still amusing, and there's a nice twist at the end.

I imagine that most of the people reading this will have read some of the Drizzt books, and are now questioning whether or not they want to read the Cleric Quintet. My suggestion is to do so. You may find yourself pleasantly surprised.

Bene tellemara!.......2004-07-21

This was a well done book to start the series with. The premise of the story took me a little time to follow, but I enjoyed reading about Cadderly and the other great characters around him; Ivan and Pikel are the kind of dwarves I love. The Chaos Curse wasn't exactly something I understood, but the climax of the story and how it affects the main character was unique.

Some would consider this a mediocre book; bland, boring, or slow. But I thought it was refreshing to read and just follow an adventure, uncertain of whether the main character had the strength to get out of situations or not. Since the main character differed from most others I read about, it was very exciting to watch him progress.

The evil characters were well sculpted too. I'll be interested to see how they change over the next books, especially a certain imp.

I give it 4 stars, simply because it was a good book; not a great and spellbinding literary piece; just a good book.

Best R.A. Salvatore book ever........2004-05-11

If you are just starting to read Forgotten realms books this is the book for you. It has one of the best story lines in any book i have ever read. What author other than R.A. Salvatore could of come up with a charecter that is a dwarven druid. If you havn't read it do so.

Mystic Empire: Book Three of the Bronze Canticles (The Bronze Canticles)

Average customer rating:

Miserable
Was this a conclusion?
spellbinding fantasy

Mystic Empire: Book Three of the Bronze Canticles (The Bronze Canticles)
Tracy Hickman , and Laura Hickman
Manufacturer: Grand Central Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0446612243

Book Description

Eighty Years have passed since the Mystics founded Calsandria, and now their nation is mired in politics and bloodlines.A woman with no magic, Theona Conlan leads the desperate search for the missing Prince of House Arvad.In the faery realm, Dwynwyn learns that slave creatures are mastering a magic that threatens the fragile peace between the faeries and their enemies.And while the goblin Lunid builds a device to reach across worlds, her masters plot to use it for their own dark ends.But unknown to them all, the gates between realities are about to burst open and plunge humans, faeries, and goblins into a war that can be won only with an undiscovered magic...One that will unite--or destroy--three worlds.

Customer Reviews:

Miserable.......2006-05-17

I read the first three books before writing a review.

All three books make use of dream sequences. This one abuses dream sequences.

It left with many questions:

1) If the mystics were this powerful, then why didn't turn the Pir and the Dragons into grease spots long ago?
2) Why should I care about any of these characters?
3) Where are we going?

This book jumps another 100 years and drops you into worlds that are vaguely familiar to the ones in the previous novels.

I found the narrative disjointed (kind of like driving off a cliff).

I didn't know any of these characters and it appeared none of the characters knew much of the characters in the previous books.

There is an utter lack of continuity between these books. Internally, I didn't think this book held up at all.

I'm sorry I wasted $16.

Was this a conclusion?.......2006-05-02

I love fantasy novels. I especially love books that peer into the culture and religion of the characters of the novel the way the Crown of Stars series by Kate Elliot does, and this series showed promise in the first book and its exploration of the Pir Draconis.

Books two and three move forward in time a generatin and one hundred years respectively, and they do so very unconvincingly. The world, or worlds, created here are amazingly intriguing, and it would have been worth my time for this to have been a highly detailed exploration of the nature of these worlds.

We were given teasers about a possible cataclysm between the worlds, yet the events that actually do happen are amazingly shallow in their exploration of the characters and the nature of their universe. Even the possible romantic implications here are rushed and left me thinking that the authors were doing nothing but creating a new market for role playing games, and that tends to anger me a little.

Even with all this, the book, and the series as a whole, deserve a 3 star rating for several reasons.

1: If the authors choose to write more books in this universe, I am hoping they will do so with an eye toward more detail and character development, because the potential for great stories and amazing situations is vast and could provide for amazing reading (I want to know who the Titans were, not to mention the Rhamasian Empire and the Kyree Empire that ended in tragedy.)

2: In spite of the rushed writing, there are some characters here that could be looked at further. Galen Arvad in particular was a character that I really wanted to know more about in the second and third books, but we got very little as the authors chose to move forward in time. The Faery and Goblin worlds are, especially the Goblin world, left mostly unexplored. I am very intrigued by the Goblin world and how it became the desolate and degenerate place it is.

3: I'm a sucker for this kind of story.

4: The rushed writing does create one effect that can work in its favor, it creates a sense of urgency and the books are very readable. They are entertaining and all together worth the time, just not great.

I am not going to give any spoilers, as I don't want to ruin anything for anyone, but the ending was, in my opinion, very unsatisfying. I get that the whole "Happily Ever After" thing should not ever be the case, the world goes on, but this all seemed too rushed and too pat for me.

3:

spellbinding fantasy.......2006-04-14

Calsandria is home to Mystics who have Deep Magic and to commoners who have no magic. The place can be only be reached through portals known to the denizens of the city because many outsiders would like to see the city destroyed again and the mystics scattered. Within Calsandria, clans jockey for more political power which is why Rylmar Conlan is having his daughter Valana marry into the powerful Arvad clan.

Prince Treijan and his cousin disappear and Valana and her sister Theona try to track them down. A wily dwarf uses a secret portal to take the sisters to where the prince and his cousin are staying. However, soon that place will no longer be safe because the goblin horde from another world intends to conquer that land and the world of Fairy. The faery queen, besieged by the Kree and other enemies, throws her lot in with the humans in the hopes that a victory will give them a new place to call home. Theona who was thought to have no magic has blossomed into a seer who knows that the decisions certain people make will decide the outcome of the war.

Book Three of the Bronze Canticles is a spellbinding tale of ancient prophecy about to be fulfilled. The writing team of Tracy and Laura Hickman are great fantasists who pull the reader into the storyline from the very first page. Readers will finish this book in one sitting because it is such an absorbing reading experience. It is this reviewer's fervent hope that the Hickmans return to Calsandria so the audience can see how the characters that we have come to love are doing.

Harriet Klausner

Mystic Quest: Book Two of The Bronze Canticles

Average customer rating:

Best of the bunch
Okay, but now what?
What Happened?
Hours wasted..
Fizzle Quest

Mystic Quest: Book Two of The Bronze Canticles
Tracy Hickman , and Laura Hickman
Manufacturer: Grand Central Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0446612235

Book Description

Thrice upon a time, three worlds were in peril. Twenty-three years have passed since Galen Arvad first exposed the deep magic. Now that magic brings tragedy and darkness to the lives of all who wield it in the world. Galen and his clans suffer an endless war in the realm of the dragonkings, the fairies contend with a gruesome kingdom of the undead, and in the realm of the reanimated, rusting titans, a tyrant goblin's lust for conquest goes unchecked.A new generation of heroes will set out on separate, life-altering journeys. Whether in search of freedom or atonement, each will find their redemption may be beyond the power of magic#151;for their darkest secrets and greatest dangers are those they bring with them.

Customer Reviews:

Best of the bunch.......2006-05-17

I read the first three books before writing a review.

This book moves to the next generation. It sets in motion three different quests in the three worlds (man, faerie, goblin). Again the goblin world gets short work. The world of man is the most interesting. It is worth going through this book.

I really not sure what is happening in the faerie world. All sorts of things happen that really don't seem to have any set up.

Okay so I was dumb enough to wander into the third book.

Okay, but now what?.......2006-03-15

This book left me confused. Some points were really well made, but overall it was hard to follow. I expected better after reading the first one.

If you like books like this one, might I suggest another I've recently come across. The Unsuspecting Mage by Brian S. Pratt. It's another fantasy adventure sure to please. I highly recommend it. It's available in e-Book too and far better than this one!!

What Happened?.......2005-10-25

Usually I can follow a jump in time. This however was a bit much without some kind of prelude or a chapter interlude. I enjoy the authors writting style except for this point, which I found difficult to overcome and still enjoy the book.

Joe

Hours wasted.........2005-08-16

Well, I was hoping against hope that this the second book of The Bronze Canticles would be better than the first, after all the world was now established, the characters were set and ready to go... yet, what is in this bookis more drivel and a stalled storyline that leaves the reader ready to abandon the book all together. Don't get me wrong, that's not to say that there aren't a couple good points to this book, but in this novel they are few and far between. Which, is rather disappointing considering the great things Hickman was able to do in the Dragonlance world.

I really wish I could say something positive about this book, but in the end I just can't do it. While it's not the worst book I have ever read, it is surely not the best either... far from the best actually...

Fizzle Quest.......2005-08-16

The first book, Mystic Warrior, ended with a fledgling rebellion (human), a victory over a massive invasion (faerie), and radical regime change (goblin). Its sequel, Mystic Quest, takes place some two decades later where the original characters are placed in peripheral roles. The human protagonist in the first book, Galen Arvad, now the perfunctory leader of the rebellion against the Pir and their dragon masters, has two sons (from different women) who quest for a mythical safe haven for Arad's people. Dwynwyn, the faery, is now queen of the dead and gives her former charge, Aislynn, a quest to return a similarly lost land. Our intrepid goblin king, Mimic, being threatened by his conniving wife and likeminded daughter, sends his new boss mechanic Thux on a mission that will save both their lives.

As in the first book, the three protagonists face similar goals and challenges and encounter comparable metaphorical dreams as their predecessors did. However, the rift in time between the two books in addition to the new primary characters also insures that MQ suffers from the same thing that MW did - a dreadfully slow start.

Not surprisingly, given the intervening years that separate the two books and the new main characters, we're forced to play catch-up for the first hundred or so pages as we discover: what happened to Bikrita, how did Dwynwyn get to be Queen, what has Mimic been doing for the last 20 years? And so on and so forth.

Add to the slow start, you have some very poorly described events. At the end of one chapter, Arvad and his company are swept away in an avalanche. The chapter ends with him finding five of his cohorts and the melodramatic, "The Mists of Arvad (the name of the expedition) were no more..." However in the very next chapter new survivors seem to pop up with every new paragraph to the point where we are left wondering, how bad was this accident?

And finally, the finale - a convoluted jumble of events that was a complete let down. Instead of ending with a bang, it ended in a sigh, a wheeze, and a gasp.

Spiritual Canticle Saint John of the Cross

Average customer rating:

Spiritual Canticle Saint John of the Cross
John Venard
Manufacturer: E J Dwyer Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0855741244

The Song of Songs: A Commentary on the Book of Canticles or the Song of Songs (Hermeneia: a Critical and Historical Commentary on the Bible)

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The Song of Songs: A Commentary on the Book of Canticles or the Song of Songs (Hermeneia: a Critical and Historical Commentary on the Bible)
Roland E. Murphy
Manufacturer: Augsburg Fortress Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0800660242

The Psalter: Psalms and Canticles for Singing

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The Psalter : Psalms & Canticles for Singing

The Psalter: Psalms and Canticles for Singing
None
Manufacturer: Westminster John Knox Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0664254454

Customer Reviews:

The Psalter : Psalms & Canticles for Singing.......2005-08-27

It is a beautiful book. It is better if the Optional Descant printed above the Refrain than after the verses. I expect each Psalm has its Optional Descant since my voice is suitable for Descant.

Forms of Old Testament Literature: Wisdom Literature: Job, Proverbs, Ruth, Canticles, Ecclesiastes, and Esther (Forms of the Old Testament Literature)

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Forms of Old Testament Literature: Wisdom Literature: Job, Proverbs, Ruth, Canticles, Ecclesiastes, and Esther (Forms of the Old Testament Literature)
Roland E. Murphy
Manufacturer: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Christianity | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0802818773

Mystic Warrior (The Bronze Canticles, Book 1)

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$5.98 book at Barnes and Noble
A great fantasy action adventure story with no action or adventure....
Another dumb, whiny hero
Sigh
Mystic Warrior good book but difficult start

Mystic Warrior (The Bronze Canticles, Book 1)
Tracy Hickman , and Laura Hickman
Manufacturer: Grand Central Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0446612227

Book Description

The Bronze Canticles is an expansive new saga chronicling the world-altering changes that take place as three connected universes#151;the Human world, the Goblin world, and the Faery world#151;are slowly drawn together.In Book One, Mystic Warrior, young Galen Arvad, a human with magical powers, must avoid the ritual that puts those with such talents to death. It seems that in the eyes of the community, magic is a sign of lunacy, and in a yearly ritual the local "crazies" are offered up to the Dragon Priests. Galen is suddenly captured and imprisoned. Now, as Galen's wife, Berkita, and his friend, Cephas the dwarf, set off to rescue him, Galen learns of the fate that awaits him, a fate far worse than even his own death.

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The Bronze Canticles are an expansive new saga chronicling the world-altering changes that take place in three connected universes that are slowly drawing together-the human world, the goblin world, and the faerie world. The story of Book 1 will mostly focus on the changes to the human world, which will be influenced by catastrophic events taking place in the other two worlds. Young Galen Arvad has a beautiful new wife, Berkita, and a thriving job as an iron craftsman with his dwarf friend, Cephas, in the small town of Leeside. But Arvad guards the ugly secret of his own magical ability. The community views magic powers as a sign of lunacy, and at a yearly ritual they offer up their local crazies to the Dragon Priests, who take them away to the city. This year, Berkita and Cephas are devastated to see Arvad being hauled away with the other "insane" and vow to follow and rescue him. Arvad, meanwhile, arrives at a camp for the outside the city where he learns all the new draftees are to be trained in the arts of war. But Arvad soon realizes that the "war" is a sham-the Dragon Kings have genocidal plans for their magical subjects.

Customer Reviews:

$5.98 book at Barnes and Noble.......2006-10-28

I stopped at BN to get some books for a trip to China the next day. I was specifically looking for books 11 and 12 of the Left Behind series. This book was sitting on a table for $5.98 and I thought, what the heck. When I initially got on the plane for the 14 hour flight I started reading a Reader's Digest. I picked this one and and in the beginning it started very slow. With nothing else to do on the plane I stuck with it. While in China we had a 1.5 hour commute each way to work and I brought the book to read in the minivan every day.
The authors weave together 3 different worlds. It is a challenge with any book keeping characters straight, let alone with 3 different worlds. I found the world of humans and fairies very well described, plausible and consistantly. The world of gnomes is a little bit out there but this is a creation of the authors and hey, if you do not like it, do not keep reading.
Anyways, I have added the next 2 books in the series to my Christmas list for this year and look forward to getting them.

A great fantasy action adventure story with no action or adventure...........2006-05-29

So the Hickmans have written some of my favorite stores over the years but I think they approached this knowing they wanted a "$ Trilogy $" so they had to stretch this one out a little too much. Not to mention my favorite storyline killer: the unlikely hero thrown into the heroic situation, which he doesn't want. Don't they all..... Why can't the main character just have the inner drive to get the bad guys and right the world's wrongs?

Discussing this with my friends who have also read it we all agreed: it was a disappointment.

That said, I went out and picked up the second in this series in paperback last week in hopes that this series does get better.

Another dumb, whiny hero.......2006-05-17

Well I just hit page 428 and I think Galen, our hero, has finally stopped his [...]and moan'n. The book is more or less OK. At least the plot is not driven by his stupidity, as is often the case with these miserable hero types. It simply goes on with him whining in the background, (or foreground as the case may be.)

I simply do not understand why otherwise talented authors feel the need to impose these endlessly whiny heroes on us poor readers. Is it really necessary for the protaganist to be such a blind jerk? The book is really quite interesting and has a lot of potential ... especially when any of the other major characters take the forefront. But I find myself shuddering when it is once again Galen's turn to come forward and whine.

Sigh.......2006-05-17

I held off writing this review until I had read the first 3 books in this series. Of those three, this falls in the middle.

The concept of three worlds (man, faerie, goblin) is interesting, but hard to pull off. The book relies on dream sequences to set the three heros in motion. In this book the dream sequences are vague enough to not get in the way of things. They work pretty well in revealing th plot. The problem is that worlds of man and faerie work pretty well. The goblin world appears populated with morons and that's being generous.

It was good enough to get to the second book.

Mystic Warrior good book but difficult start.......2006-05-15

This was actually a book I had difficulty in reading the beginning but it was worth the read, now I just have to make time to read the other two.

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