Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis

Title: Out of the Silent Planet
Author: C.S. Lewis
Rating: ☆☆☆(☆☆)
3/5 Stars

I am a huge fan of C.S. Lewis.

It's really just that simple. I love the books he wrote and I love the point of view he represented. He is one of the most recognized Christian authors and, to my mind, the most important. Lewis didn't just blindly write about faith. He didn't try to club people over the head with Christianity. He wasn't hateful towards members of other faiths, nor was he completely unquestioning of his own faith. Lewis used fantasy and science fiction to examine his faith, to experiment with the idea of God in magical worlds or in far off planets. I admire him greatly for his intelligent religious viewpoints. I believe that a lot of modern day Christians could really learn a thing or two from Lewis, because faith should constantly be reexamined and questioned if it's ever going to progress in the way that science has. Personally, I would do just about anything to see Lewis go head to head in a battle of words with the illustrious author and atheist, Phillip Pullman. Their respective fantasy series have essentially done the same thing: examined the concept of God in terms of multiple worlds, generated through fantasy naratives. Lewis projects Christian idealogies throughout his worlds, while Pullman smashes them.

Wow, definitely getting away from myself there, but the point is, I really admire Lewis and what he has to say, which is why I picked up Out of the Silent Planet. In terms of the message of the book, I was as happy as I've ever been with his work. The story definitely had a hidden Christian manifesto, similar to the Chronicles of Narnia series. However, I'm not sure if I really connected with the surface plot. I've never been that into retro science fiction, and this was certainly retro. I did enjoy seeing an author address the problem of language on other planets, and the questions of survival. Often, characters luck out in discovering that the natives eat the same things as we do here on Earth and they happen to speak the same language! Wow! Not in this book. Lewis did a great job depicting the linguistic difficulties that Dr. Ransom (the protagonist) might have suffered. But, like I said, the plot itself just wasn't exciting enough for me. The descriptions were beautiful, but they didn't make things move along very quickly.

Despite my disinterest with the plot, I will most likely pick up the sequels. They're great books to have in my arsenal, especially since I love Lewis so much.

ISBN: 978-0743234900
Price: $14.00, paperback
Pages: 160

Book Review Marathon!

Unfortunately, I have had no time to blog lately, which means it's time for a marathon of book reviews. I didn't have a chance to write long reviews of any of these, and I'm super sorry for the vague-ness, but I wanted to get some new reviews up and out.

Title: The Last Olympian
Author: Rick Riordan
Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆
5/5 Stars

At last, I’ve read The Last Olympian and it did not disappoint. It was my favorite book of the series so far. The book is not so fresh in my mind, but I will say that the plot was intriguing, compelling and new. I never felt bored during this book, never felt a lull in the story. Riordan has written an absolutely perfect ending to a perfect kid’s fantasy series.

ISBN: 978-1423101475
Price: $17.00, hardcover
Pages: 400

Title: The Thirteen Treasures
Author: Michelle Harrison
Rating: ☆☆☆☆(☆)
4/5 Stars

The Thirteen Treasures was an awesome find. My dad picked it up overseas in England, and I absolutely whizzed through it.

The main character is spending sometime in the summer at her horrible grandmother. It would seem fairly clichéd, except she can see fairies. This little detail makes for dilemmas galore, but she always seems to pull through. It’s also steeped with mystery and has a surprising twist at the end! The story is very original and I can’t wait for the sequel.

ISBN: 978-0316041485

Title: The Forest of Hands and Teeth
Author: Carrie Ryan
Rating: ☆☆☆☆(☆)
4/5 Stars

I have to say that I was completely surprised by The Forest of Hands and Teeth. The characters were rich and dynamic with really developed personalities. Although I’m not much of a zombie fan, the book had a really intriguing apocalyptic aspect that kept me reading.

ISBN: 978-0385736817
Price: $16.99, hardcover
Pages: 320

Title: Wrath of the Bloodeye
Author: Joseph Delaney
Rating: ☆☆☆☆(☆)
4/5 Stars

Wrath of the Bloodeye was definitely a page-turner. I’m not sure if it was my favorite of the Last Apprentice books, but it was definitely a welcome addition to the series. I missed the more psychological aspects of the other books, but I did enjoy the characters’ new moral dilemmas.

ISBN: 978-0061344619
Price: $7.99
Pages: 554

Again, I'm so sorry for the sad, vague reviews, but here's four more books I would definitely recommend!

Extras by Scott Westerfeld

Title: Extras
Author: Scott Westerfeld
Rating: ☆☆☆(☆☆)
3/5 stars

The final book in the Uglies series had me a little disappointed for the first 100 pages or so. Where was Tally Youngblood? Sure, there were vague references to her (this being the world she had lived in), but I missed my favorite main character. The book eventually redeemed itself as the plot began to thicken and Tally finally showed up. However, the story lacked the vibe of the first three books. Extras featured no tyrannical government, no espionage. Extras filled that void with alien-esque surge monkeys, who turn out to be the final twist at the end of the story. Personally, I was left wanting. It was still exciting and certainly a page-turner. Westerfeld has lost none of his pinache for action writing. Battle sequences are always great in his books. However, the character Aya was not as likeable as Tally had been before her. In fact, I found her a little pathetic. All in all, I would've rather the series ended with Specials, but still worth the 2 days it took me to read Extras.

ISBN: 978-1416971214
Price: $9.99, paperback
Pages: 448