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Move aside, Sherlock…Sir Arthur has conjured a protagonist who's an even more arrogant assbag than you. Everyone...the intrepid, the indefatigable, the insufferable Professor G.E. Challenger…\
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If, like me, you enjoy characters that are gruff, prideful curmudgeonly sorts, than you will have fun with this guy. He is a serious hoot. Trust me.  Physically, Prof. Challenger is a funhouse mirror reflection of Mr. Holmes. Instead of a tall, lanky, clean-shaven gentlemen who calmly condescends to the world around him, we have a short, barrel-chested, physically imposing caveman, with a booming voice and serious anger management issues. \
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Tell me he doesn't look like the spitting image of Bluto...from Popeye. Hmmm?Intellectually, however, Challenger is definitely a pea from the same pompous pod as Doyle's most famous literary creation. Zero charm, no social graces and a chip on his shoulder the size of Gibraltar. He is a serious piece of unrestrained windbaggery that pins the needle on the Arrogasshat Pricktardo Scale. And he doled out some serious happy to me while I reading. Like Holmes, of whom I am a screaming fanboy, I found G.E. Challenger to be enormously fun to listen to as he waxed vaingloriously about his greatness and scientific acumen. While I wouldn't want to spend any real-life time socializing with the ill-mannered prig, as a literary companion he's an absolute blast. I can think of no better way to introduce you to the professor, and his over-the-top disagreeability, than the method employed by Doyle to unveil him to readers of The Lost World. When reporter Edward Malone (hiding his true vocation) requests a meeting with the reclusive scientist, this is the letter he receives in reply. \
  SIR, I have duly received your note, in which you claim to endorse my views, although I am not aware that they are dependent upon endorsement either from you or anyone else. You have ventured to use the word “speculation” with regard to my statement upon the subject of Darwinism, and I would call your attention to the fact that such a word in such a connection is offensive to a degree. The context convinces me, however, that you have sinned rather through ignorance and tactlessness than through malice, so I am content to pass the matter by. You quote an isolated sentence from my lecture, and appear to have some difficulty in understanding it. I should have thought that only a sub-human intelligence could have failed to grasp the point, but if it really needs amplification I shall consent to see you at the hour named, though visits and visitors of every sort are exceeding distasteful to me. As to your suggestion that I may modify my opinion, I would have you know that it is not my habit to do so after a deliberate expression of my mature views. You will kindly show the envelope of this letter to my man, Austin, when you call, as he has to take every precaution to shield me from the intrusive rascals who call themselves “journalists.” Yours faithfully,     GEORGE EDWARD CHALLENGER.\
 Yes...he's like that. Plus he's violent, quick-tempered, pig-headed, racist, elitist, and is not above putting his wife in "time out" when he feels she has misbehaved. Yeah, he's pretty much the whole package of awesome. Once I read that, I knew I was in for something loaded with win.  PLOT SUMMARY: Not sure this is really necessary, so I will keep this brief. As the title suggests, this is one of the archetypes of the “lost world” genre and Sir Arthur brings his usual skill to its execution. A journalist (the aforementioned Edward Malone) eager to impress his girlfriend, requests a dangerous assignment. He lands a doozy when an expedition is planned to prove (or disprove) Challenger's claim of having discovered an isolated region of the Amazon inhabited by dinosaurs, pterodactyls and other extinct and exotic creatures. Together with Challenger, another professor (the obligatory skeptic), and Lord Roxton, the standard rough and ready adventurer, the four embark on their fateful quest.Frills, thrills, spills, chills and kills ensue...in abundance.THOUGHTS: This is by the numbers storytelling for this sub genre, but Doyle’s talent and engaging prose make it a lot of fun. It's a given that the fantastic elements of the story have, to an extent, lost their ability to deliver the WOW that they originally produced, and the book's sense of depicting the truly wondrous does suffer a bit as a result. Still, I was pleasantly surprised at how engaging the narrative was and how much fun I had listening to Challenger and his colleagues expound with fervor on their dated scientific theories. Excellent storytelling has no expiration date, and Doyle, like contemporaries H.G. Wells and Jules Verne, has the ability to engage and captivate his audience with the wonders of a bygone age.  I enjoyed myself, Sir Arthur. Thank you. 3.5 stars. Recommended!!

”The trouble you’re expecting never happens; it’s always something that sneaks up the other way. Mankind had been trembling about destruction through war, and had been having bad dreams of cities blown to pieces along with their inhabitants, of animals killed, too, and of the very vegetation blighted off the face of the earth. But actually mankind seemed merely to have been removed rather neatly, with a minimum of disturbance.”\
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Isherwood “Ish” WIlliams is out in the wilderness rock climbing to clear his head from the buzz of civilization when he puts his hand in the wrong crevice. He hears the rattle and feels the strike. He is pretty sure he is going to die. He gets back to the cabin, uses the snake kit to suck as much of the poison out as he can. He becomes too sick and too woozy to drive. He waits for someone to find him. As his time to return comes and passes he becomes angry that no one has come looking for him, not family or friends. He doesn’t die and when he recovers enough to drive into town he finds only dust motes and echoes. A virulent disease has swept through humanity, killing indiscriminately, collapsing society as easily as a biker crushes a beer can. The one thing that we have always been able to count on is our genetic diversity. There always seems to be a fraction of a percent of humanity that is immune to whatever nature has to throw at us. “As for man, there is little reason to think that he can in the long run escape the fate of other creatures, and if there is a biological law of flux and reflux, his situation is now a highly perilous one. During ten thousand years his numbers have been on the upgrade in spite of wars, pestilences, and famines. This increase in population has become more and more rapid. Biologically, man has for too long a time been rolling an uninterrupted run of sevens.”It was just our turn to roll snake eyes. He goes through this period of time swamped with a buffet of feelings. Ish never quite feels lucky to be alive, but certainly reaches varying levels of depression as the extent of the devastation becomes apparent. But for now the electricity still flows through San Francisco. Street lights come on as if the hand of humanity was still guiding the way. For a while he just goes about his life. There is plenty of food. He makes friends with a dog. He reads books, but his curiosity gets the better of him and he explores the city. He finds people, a few stragglers, still alive. He decides that he has to see what has happened to America. \
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The Earth reclaims what man has built, quickly.There is too much of everything now, too many cars, food spoiling, too many clothes, piles of things that no one might need for a thousand years. He drives across country and finds a survivor here or there. Some survivors can’t cope and suicide rates skyrocket among the few fortunate/unfortunate people who find themselves facing a new world bereft of family and friends. He discovers the the virulent entity has been thorough, unrelenting, all-embracing, and taken more far more than it has left. He returns to San Francisco and finds a woman who becomes his wife. She moves in with him because, he...well...had a house full of books and anybody who has moved books before can relate to the fact that it is easier to move to the books than move the books to you. Ish uses the term this is a New Deal to describe this new era which was ironic given that this book was written in 1949. Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal policies had just been enacted in the decade before. The book moves languidly along. There is never this feeling of desperation or Mad Max situations or really even scenes of high tension. George R. Stewart was more interested in exploring cultures, how they emerge, how they survive, what motivates them to innovate. Being in the San Francisco area with a temperate climate, they don’t have to fight weather. The city is full of canned foods, weapons, bullets, clothes, and anything else they could possibly need. When the power does finally go out they switch to candles and lanterns. When the water shuts down they find streams and they dig latrines. Life overall is relatively easy almost better than before. Ish is the only intellectual in his tribe of survivors, soon offspring start to become plentiful. Ish finds himself to be the only one concerned about teaching them the ability to read. The only one that sees the importance of sharing a vision of the world through the lens of science. Ish has a dream of restoring the world, to bring back the civilization that took several millennium to create, but to the new generations who never lived in that world they have all they need now. To bring that world back to life will take more labor than they are willing to give. They respect what he knows and even look on him, superstitiously, as a deity of knowledge, but they lack the curiosity or the desire to learn what he knows. Ish reluctantly gives ground on his expectations. He soon realizes that instead of building an ice machine, or aqueducts, or keeping cars in working order that he needs to give them something they will desperately need when the supply of bullets finally run out, something that can be made with a sharp blade and a handful of feathers...the bow and arrow. \
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Original Ace Publishing painting for the 1949 cover.Certainly another very different take on the post-apocalyptic world. Some of the complaints that people may have about this book are the same ones that they had about On the Beach, that there isn’t enough action, not enough tension, not enough claws and teeth, but those situations were not of interest to Stewart. He wanted to explore what we need. Why civilization is necessary? What do we gain from it? Are we happier in a penthouse apartment or would we be happier if we had to forage for food every day? One thing that Stewart and I can agree on is: “Men go and come, but earth abides.” At least I like to believe the earth will ultimately survive us. You can read my most recent book and movie reviews at http://www.jeffreykeeten.comCheck out my Facebook bloggers page at: https://www.facebook.com/JeffreyKeeten

After a nuclear World War III has destroyed most of the globe, the few remaining survivors in southern Australia await the radioactive cloud that is heading their way and bringing certain death to everyone in its path. Among them is an American submarine captain struggling to resist the knowledge that his wife and children in the United States must be dead. Then a faint Morse code signal is picked up, transmitting from somewhere near Seattle, and Captain Towers must lead his submarine crew on a bleak tour of the ruined world in a desperate search for signs of life. On the Beach is a remarkably convincing portrait of how ordinary people might face the most unimaginable nightmare.

A war fueled by the powers of dark sorcery is about to engulf the peaceful land of Osten Ard—for Prester John, the High King, lies dying. And with his death, the Storm King, the undead ruler of the elf-like Sithi, seizes the chance to regain his lost realm through a pact with the newly ascended king. Knowing the consequences of this bargain, the king’s younger brother joins with a small, scattered group of scholars, the League of the Scroll, to confront the true danger threatening Osten Ard.  Simon, a kitchen boy from the royal castle unknowingly apprenticed to a member of this League, will be sent on a quest that offers the only hope of salvation, a deadly riddle concerning long-lost swords of power. Compelled by fate and perilous magics, he must leave the only home he’s ever known and face enemies more terrifying than Osten Ard has ever seen, even as the land itself begins to die. After the landmark Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn trilogy, the epic saga of Osten Ard continues with the brand-new novel, The Heart of What Was Lost. Then don’t miss the upcoming trilogy, The Last King of Osten Ard, beginning with The Witchwood Crown!

Set in the far future amidst a sprawling feudal interstellar empire where planetary dynasties are controlled by noble houses that owe an allegiance to the imperial House Corrino, Dune tells the story of young Paul Atreides (the heir apparent to Duke Leto Atreides and heir of House Atreides) as he and his family accept control of the desert planet Arrakis, the only source of the 'spice' melange, the most important and valuable substance in the cosmos. The story explores the complex, multi-layered interactions of politics, religion, ecology, technology, and human emotion as the forces of the empire confront each other for control of Arrakis.Published in 1965, it won the Hugo Award in 1966 and the inaugural Nebula Award for Best Novel. Dune is frequently cited as the world's best-selling sf novel.

Lirael has never felt like a true daughter of the Clayr. Now, two years past the time when she should have received the Sight that is the Clayr's birthright, she feels alone, abandoned, unsure of who she is. Nevertheless, the fate of the Old Kingdom lies in her hands. With only her faithful companion, the Disreputable Dog, Lirael must undertake a desperate mission under the growing shadow of an ancient evil.In this sequel to Sabriel, winner of the Aurealis Award for Excellence in Australian Science Fiction, New York Times best-selling author Garth Nix weaves a spellbinding tale of discovery, destiny, and danger.

The thrilling prequel to "Redwall". The clever and greedy wildcat Tsarmina becomes ruler of all Mossflower Woods and is determined to govern the peaceful woodlanders with an iron paw. The brave mouse Martin and quick-talking mouse thief Gonff meet in the depths of Kotir Castle's dungeon. The two escape and resolve to end Tsarmina's tyrannical rule. Joined by Kinny the mole, Martin and Gonff set off on a dangerous quest for Salamandastron, where they are convinced that their only hope, Boar the Fighter, still lives.

For suspense-filled, post-apocalyptic thrillers, Wool is more than a self-published ebook phenomenon―it’s the new standard in classic science fiction.In a ruined and toxic future, a community exists in a giant silo underground, hundreds of stories deep. There, men and women live in a society full of regulations they believe are meant to protect them. Sheriff Holston, who has unwaveringly upheld the silo’s rules for years, unexpectedly breaks the greatest taboo of all: He asks to go outside.His fateful decision unleashes a drastic series of events. An unlikely candidate is appointed to replace him: Juliette, a mechanic with no training in law, whose special knack is fixing machines. Now Juliette is about to be entrusted with fixing her silo, and she will soon learn just how badly her world is broken. The silo is about to confront what its history has only hinted about and its inhabitants have never dared to whisper. Uprising.A New York Times and USA TODAY bestseller, as well as Kindle Book Review’s 2012 Indie Book of the Year, Wool is truly a blockbuster.

Told in Kvothe's own voice, this is the tale of the magically gifted young man who grows to be the most notorious wizard his world has ever seen. The intimate narrative of his childhood in a troupe of traveling players, his years spent as a near-feral orphan in a crime-ridden city, his daringly brazen yet successful bid to enter a legendary school of magic, and his life as a fugitive after the murder of a king form a gripping coming-of-age story unrivaled in recent literature. A high-action story written with a poet's hand, The Name of the Wind is a masterpiece that will transport readers into the body and mind of a wizard.

This book made me hate reading. It took me a month to get over the trauma that this self indulgent arrogant waste paper induced. Sterling’s lack of subtlety is developing his characters was only surpassed by his amazing ability to make me disaccoiate myself with his heroes within two pages. Amazingly convenient “coincidences” occur more often than in the Hitchhiker books, but at least Adams had the good grace to blame it on an improbability drive instead of just passing it off as the norm.

Titus Alone has the charms and eccentricities, the verbal and visual beauties of its two formidable predecessors, but it is only about half as long as they are, with extremely short chapters, and it lacks their concentrated richness, their depth and perspective. Is it a radical departure, a sleeker, more streamlined work, its short chapters and overall length appropriate to its more modern setting? Or is it a diseased creation, the production of an artistically disappointed man who had suffered a nervous breakdown two years before and was already in the grip of Parkinson's disease? Or is it best viewed as a mere charcoal sketch, a study containing all the lines but lacking the coloring of the painting that--for whatever reason--was never completed? I think it is a bit of all three, but I favor the "charcoal sketch" view. The shape of the book--beginning (the modern urban world, Muzzlehatch, his menagerie, Juno), middle (the underground world of beggars and criminals), and conclusion (Titus' revival from illness by Cheetah followed by her betrayal)--seems altogether complete in outline. The theme of madness and Titus' fear of it--which some have seen as proof of Peake's artistic breakdown--is entirely appropriate, given that our hero has been formed and shaped by a world--Gormenghast--that other characters view as his own fantastic creation. No, I do not find the work deficient in construction or obsessive in its themes. Its principal defect is a lack of texture and balance. Because this book, unlike the others, is not crowded with a richness of incidental characters or overflowing with metaphors and vividly painted scenes, it lacks completeness and complexity, and its eccentric characters and bizarre scenes--no stranger than those of the two earlier books--seem odder and more isolated by comparison.All in all, an interesting but disappointing read. Still, essential for Peake fans.

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.

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