From the Ethiopian Highlands to the frozen wastes of Northern Urals, Marc Levy concludes with this novel an epic that began with “The First Day”. This is a good story for entertainment but not much more. The adventure is just as upbeat as the first volume with double plays throughout, many characters and honest heroes. Unfortunately it drags a lot and it is more worthy of a fairy tale to anything else.
Once again, the story begins on a rather sedate pace when the archaeologist Keira found herself kidnapped from the waters of a Chinese River. Adrian, her astrophysicist lover, considers all hope to see her safe and sound takes all his courage with both hands and goes to China in the hope of delivering her from the prison she is being held in. Once out, our two protagonists continue scouring the globe to find pieces of their puzzle that would reveal the secret of those mysterious stones found in “The First Day”. However the Secret Scientific Organization is hot on their tails….
Now, we have totally implausible chases and numerous twists to struggle with while getting into the race. Keira and Adrian cannot do anything without something happening to them. The pacing seemed almost more visual than literary I wonder if it was not intentional….Despite the hyperactive moments that features world travel, gun battles and the allegedly passionate love this adventure left me lukewarm.
The writing is nice, fluid but is rather long-winded for my taste. There is a fair amount of scientific details but where in the boundary between facts and the imaginary side in this novel? I was drowning in all those details, is it nonsense or not, right or wrong, I deducted it was…
The characterization is a bit banal nothing impressive but we do find a tremor of human interest in the relationships between the main players.
Even if this story does not make the top of my list of favourites it is nevertheless a good escape from our everyday life.
“The House of Velvet and Glass”, a historical fiction set in 1915 Boston is a thoughtful journey that transports us to the turn of the twentieth century. The story captures a moment in time and executes meticulously period details as we are whisked between colonial Shanghai to the luxurious halls of the Titanic, the opium dens of Boston’s Chinatown and the opulent salons of its upper crust.
Richly written to create lush descriptions and vivid characterization the story inserts us into the Allston’s family saga. Told in three parts: flashback aboard the Titanic, during lan Allston’s, head of the family, time in China as a young sailor and from Sybil’s, the older daughter, point of view.
This is primarily Sibyl’s story, a young woman torn from the loss of her mother and sister since the sinking of the Titanic and is now driven to seek answers from a crystal ball (scrying glass) given to her by a medium during a séance. While the story unfolds we are enveloped with a wonderful prose and an amalgam of tragic stories. Although not a lot of action takes place and the pacing is rather slow I never thought this was a boring read at any time, on the contrary. It is so filled with interesting characters and unique look into the spiritualism of the period that curiosity took hold and never let go. Some may say Ms. Howe rambles a lot and the core plot may be lacking but in whole “The House of Velvet and Glass” is an interesting read..
The novel is about a time traveller who attempts to prevent the assassination of President Kennedy. It is of no surprise that this sci-fi story quickly became a bestseller once published and stayed on that list for many additional weeks.
Those around in the 1950’s and early 1960’s would acknowledge that Mr. King did intensive research to accurately portray the real-life events and people of the time. We have minutia details such as the price of beer, article of clothing, appliance, etc. Boy did things change since then….
This isn't the usual horror stories fans are accustomed to but rather one that reaches an entire different audience, those readers who love historical fiction with a mixture of the ordinary and the supernatural, pretty weird but I assure you quite entertaining. It is also rife with answers: can we change history, can a man make a difference and does love surpass everything. But there is also a darker side: a what if…what if history is too mighty to redirect?
This is a book for weight lifters my electronic version once leaded on my Blackberry Playbook was over 1500 pages so it was clear in advance that the protagonist would undertake a long trial mission…..Out of the rabbit hole suddenly back on Sept 9, 1958, it’s 11.58am. Each trip and no matter how long you've stayed in the past….only two minutes have gone by in the present….
This novel is an intensely character based novel. The slow intimacy in the narrative is compelling. Mr. King’s manages to maintain suspense throughout the pages by inserting very effective twists on the theme and bringing back powerful emotions. 11/22/63 is a marvelous re-invention of time.
