These three sections are joined in an enthralling and ingenious symphony, as recurring notes and themes deepen and enrich one another: A townhouse in Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village illness, and treatments that come at a terrible cost wealth and squalor the weak and the strong race the definition of family, and of nationhood the dangerous righteousness of the powerful, and of revolutionaries the longing to find a place in an earthly paradise, and the gradual realization that it can’t exist. And in 2093, in a world riven by plagues and governed by totalitarian rule, a powerful scientist’s damaged granddaughter tries to navigate life without him-and solve the mystery of her husband’s disappearances. In a 1993 Manhattan besieged by the AIDS epidemic, a young Hawaiian man lives with his much older, wealthier partner, hiding his troubled childhood and the fate of his father. The fragile young scion of a distinguished family resists betrothal to a worthy suitor, drawn to a charming music teacher of no means. In an alternate version of 1893 America, New York is part of the Free States, where people may live and love whomever they please (or so it seems). From the author of the classic A Little Life-a bold, brilliant novel spanning three centuries and three different versions of the American experiment, about lovers, family, loss and the elusive promise of utopia.
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This particular conflict marked the first historical defeat of the Legions to successfully resist and rebuff the Roman influence and led ultimately to the sacking of Rome some centuries later. The plot moves at a steady pace and the perspective switches between major characters on both sides, lending the reader insight into both the Germanic and Roman cultures and how the Empire expanded its influence. One actually feels as if he or she has been transplanted through time and has ringside seats during the era of the setting. His depiction of the believable characters and their impact on various historical events immerses the reader in the rich scenery and events, all the while, keeping to a writing style that flows with ease of the words of a fireside storyteller. Harry Turtledove proves yet again how to spin an epic tale against the backdrop of some of western history's pivotal moments. Walker’s Appeal requires servants to rebel versus their masters as the ways of reacquiring their humankind. Although the Appeal is directed to black servants, its effective moral message and indictment of white America’s hypocritical society and oppressive, ruthless system of slavery is an ethical message that resonates to all audiences, including whites. Prior to David Walker’s Attract the Colored People of the World during the 1800’s, there had not been any other type of anti-slavery documents released. With the odds stacked against him and the pressure mounting, will Ray ever see his beloved violin again? But now his family and the descendants of the man who once enslaved Ray's great-grandfather are each claiming that the violin belongs to them. Then with the international Tchaikovsky Competition-the Olympics of classical music-fast approaching, his prized family heirloom is stolen. And when he makes the startling discovery that his great-grandfather's fiddle is actually a priceless Stradivarius, his star begins to rise. Not his mother, who thinks he should get a real job, not the fact that he can't afford a high-caliber violin, not the racism inherent in the classical music world. Ray McMillian loves playing the violin more than anything, and nothing will stop him from pursuing his dream of becoming a professional musician. A mystery about a Black classical musician whose family heirloom violin is stolen on the eve of the most prestigious classical music competition in the world. While not as lighthearted as Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Through the Looking-Glass nevertheless occupies the sanic silly, nonsensical world as its predecessor. While nonsense proves to be the bread-and- butter of Lewis Carroll’s writing style, it is not without purpose the narrative structuring of the chess game and Alice’s pursuit of queenhood, coupled with the exchanges with the various characters, fall in line with a classic coming of age tale, and present Alice as a figure within a Bildungsroman. Lewis Carroll’s sequel to Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865), titled Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There (1871), takes the beloved Alice into a new world featuring a live game of chess, a few bizarre characters, and a repetition of classic nursery rhymes. Alice again enters a fantastical world, this time by climbing through a mirror into the world that she can see beyond it. Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There (also known as Alice Through the Looking-Glass or simply Through the Looking-Glass) is a novel published on 27 December 1871 by Lewis Carroll and the sequel to Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Through The Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll Plot was also a bit thin, in particular, we aren't really given much as to why Archos wants to exterminate humans. I liked it.I would have preferred the characters to be a bit more fleshed out-characterization was a bit thin, but it's also probably due to the format in which it is written. Despite this the book shows a future that is for the most part believable, and does so in an exciting way. There aren't any really interesting concepts or thoughts introduced either. There are cheesy parts, the AI sometimes acts in a bizarre fashion even given its fascination with life. What you are left with is a clear overhead view of events and a good sense of progression. This style of book is prone to feeling like a bunch of disjointed short stories, but the author does a good job of tying everything together. Through their eyes we see the AI's ascendency, its all out attack on humanity, and the drawn out war that follows. The story follows the viewpoint of six characters. This leads to an an interesting and drawn out war between man and machine which is unique to the genre. So it doesn't release viruses, overheat nuclear reactors, or launch nuclear missiles. The AI is motivated by the study of life and has come to the conclusion that humans are too harmful to be left unchecked. Everything from automated cars to domestic robots rise up in unison, killing as many of their former masters as possible. An AI escapes its confinement and eventually takes control of the various which have become commonplace in human society. In the past, I've criticized Gerritsen's work for defining both of her main characters essentially through their relationships with the men in their life, or at least through attraction to them. The investigation into the standoff after its resolution brings more questions and answers, leading Rizzoli and Isles on a race to discover the young woman's horrible past before it can be covered up by the government. The woman breaks loose, and a hostage situation develops. When pregnant detective Jane Rizzoli's water breaks while she's in court, she ends up going to the same hospital. Forcibly restrained and sent to the hospital, the young woman continues fighting against her restraints as the authorities try to determine who she is. As she enters, one of the bodies rises up and begins getting violent. Pathologist Maura Isles is doing her routine work at the morgue when she hears a strange sound coming from the cooler where bodies are stored prior to dissection. While not completely perfect, this book is definitely at the top of my Gerritsen chart. I finished Vanish in a day, mainly because of the nearly flawless combination of plot, prose, and character. While Gerritsen has always been able to keep me reading, I've been able to put the book down to do other things occasionally. Tess Gerritsen just keeps churning out the extremely readable Jane Rizzoli/Maura Isles series of thrillers, and Vanish is her best one yet. Click here to read reviewer Angela McQuay's take on Vanish. Eventually, the commissar she worked under was denounced in 1957, and she barely escaped being purged herself. While there, she frequently engaged with the upper echelon of the party and was a first-hand witness to some of the purges that the regime regularly initiated. After the communists took power, she obtained a job in one of the culture ministries. That connection to Zhou helped her save her husband's life in Cultural Revolution. Born in Shanghai in 1929, she came to know Zhou En-Lai-second only to Mao in importance-as a young girl while living in Chongqing, where Chiang Kai-Shek's government had relocated to, during the war against Japan. Yuan-tsung Chen, who is now 90, lived through most of it, and at certain points in close proximity to the seat of communist power. The history of China in the twentieth century is comprised of a long series of the 1911 revolution, the civil war between the communists and the nationalists, the Japanese invasion, the revolution, the various catastrophic campaigns initiated by Chairman Mao between 19, its great opening to the world under Deng, and the Tiananmen Square Massacre. A personal account of life in the orbit of Mao and Zhao En-Lai and one woman's effort to tell what it was like to be at the center of the storm. On a character level this failed drastically, and on an artistic level it felt devoid of the essence of this story. To reuse the word ordinary again, that is all I get from her. With the girl in the comic I don’t get that. She’s unique and in some regards a little bit of an outsider. I don’t see this contrasting version in the comic. When I think of the character, that is who I see. Perhaps it’s because the film interpreted the novel in a different way, one that makes me see Coraline as the animated version. Look at the Sandman series and look at the Sleeper in the Spindle. This does not have the artistic flair that is associated with Gaiman comics. There is no sense of spookiness or otherworldliness it just feels so basic. The basic story is here, rendered in the most simplistic comic art I’ve seen in a while, and that’s about it. This, however, is bland, tasteless and ordinary. The movie version captured this superbly, partly through the weirdness of its soundtrack. Coraline has undertones of the gothic, of the unusual, of the untraceable. So the plot of Corlaine is superb there’s no arguing that, yet this comic adaption of it is just poor. This is part of the book’s greatness: it will always remain elusive. Sure we can make guesses at the magic behind it, but we will never fully be able to understand how it works. My head hurts when I think about what is actually happening. Coraline is a wonderful novel it’s full of mystery. Hauled off to be a slave at sea and pursued by pirates he encounters the ambitious mariner explorer, Christopher Columbus. Saulo, son of a family reduced by circumstances to begging, witnesses his father wrongfully arrested and dealt with in the most horrifying way. Indulged by her parents, she is free to spend her days as she pleases, enjoying herself in the company of an eligible young nobleman, horse riding, or leisurely studying the arts. Zarita, only daughter of the town magistrate, lives a life of wealth and privilege. “This book is about belief, which can be both powerful and dangerous, and has a resonance for the times we live in today.” Theresa Breslin |