Unfortunately I did not read The Silver Crown in elementary school when I should have, but years later when I first had a chance to lay my hands on a copy--I had been interested in the book for some time because of the very unique character of the author. Needless to say, because of this belated introduction, I was not immersed in the book so deeply as many of the other persons here (hence my 4/5 star review). On the other hand, I am extremely sympathetic toward the plight of Robert's books (all 4 are extraordinary in some way, and I imagine it is miraculous that half of them remain in print). When I set up a biographical page on Robert in 1996 I began to get e-mails asking me where one could acquire copies of the silver crown. Of course, there is no real answer to this. I think McMillian had it in print extremely briefly in the late 80's/early 90's, but this version had an alternate ending I have heard described by one reader as lame and apparently significantly weakened the book. To the extremely dedicated, I suggest finding out who the last publisher was and sending them e-mail as to the possibility of getting the book back in print--I believe there are other publishing houses that would be willing to do it if McMillian(?) is not. Lastly, I keep a list of folks looking for out of print O'Brien books (I do turn up extra copies of the Silver Crown now and then), if interested, e-mail me.

I read the Silver Crown in 4th grade, and never forgot it. I've been searching for years, and nobody ever heard of it! I though I was losing my mind! Unfortunately, I didn't keep my old books from when I was a kid, and I'm trying to find my old favorites to give to my daughter. It's a shame this book is out of print. For a book to have such an impact on young people, but in a good way, should always be available for future generations to enjoy and learn from it.

I broke my leg when I was in the fourth grade and was unable to participate in p.e. for 4 months. I spent my p.e. time at the school library. The wonderful school librarian reccomended The Silver Crown to me and told me that it was one of the best books that she had ever read. I couldn't have agreed with her more! This book transported me to another world and I was devastated to find out that it was no longer in print. I now teach fifth grade and I am constantly telling my class what a magical book this was. Surely some publisher will read this and re-print this masterpiece. I would LOVE to get my hands on a copy.

If you were an orphan and all your life you continued to move from house because no one wanted to keep you,then finally,all of a sudden you find someone who actually likes you and wants you. That's exactly what L.M. Montgomery's novel Anne of Grenn Gables is about.

Anne Shirely is a smart talkative,very imaginative little girl who lived all over until one day the Cuthberts of Avonlea,Canada adopted her. Deciding to kepp her didn't come easily. They finnally did decide and she was so happy about it. During her stay she got into lots of trouble. Anne then has something that happens that is very nice but sad. In order to find out whatg happened,you will have to read the book.

I liked Anne of Green Gable because the character was very smart and had a big imagination. I also liked it because the plot was excellent. I recommend the book to anyone who is into reading stories with lots of plots and if so you will sure love this book!

A few weeks ago, I got really sick of today's children's literature. I had read enough mysteries and trashy books about romance to last me a lifetime. So I wanted something else to read, something well-written with a good plot and lifelike characters. I had to look no further than the first book I picked up- Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery.

Anne of Green Gables is the first book in the Anne of Green Gables series. It takes place, as most of L. M. Montgomery's books do, on Prince Edward Island in Canada. This particular story takes place in the town of Avonlea. It follows young Anne Shirley, an orphan brought to Green Gables to help Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert on their farm. Much to Anne's dismay, Marilla tells her that they wanted a boy to help around the farm, not a girl. However, Marilla changes her mind and decides to keep the dynamic young girl who would become Anne of Green Gables.

This novel is incredibly written, with well-developed characters and an intricate plot. I absolutely loved it. I would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a great example of children's literature at its height.

first of all, let me begin with I LOVE THIS BOOK! I have read this book more times than I can remember...easily more than a dozen...thus, I am going to set my mind to write a glowing review of it.

This book portrays a stunning sketch of Canadian History and Culture in the late 1800s to early 1900s. The character personalities are so real and so amazingly "human" that one cannot help but fall in love with them. You really get a taste of PEI in its glory.

This story is set in Avonlea, Prince Edward Island (Canada), a fictional settlement which is really Cavendish, Prince Edward Island, the place where Lucy Maud Montgomery, the author grew up.

The main character is Anne Shirley...and eleven year old, enigmatic, imaginative, sparkling, highly intelligent orphan who is sent to Green Gables, a farmhouse in Avonlea, under the impression that she was to be adopted by a pair of elderly siblings, Matthew and Marilla Cuthburt. But, apon arrival to Green Gables, Anne discovers that there had been a horrible mistake...the Cuthburts never wanted a girl...they wanted a boy who could do the chores and help Matthew with the farm. Anne was was in the "depths of dispair". Matthew, on the drive home from the train station had taken a great shine to Anne and had his heart set on keeping her, regardless of any mistake. Marilla, however, was not so easily enchanted. She agreed to let Anne stay at Green Gables on trial, to see if she would behave herself and lend a helpful hand to Marilla. After the trial, Anne is welcomed to Green Gables and flourishes under the love of the Cuthburts and all Avonlea folk. Anne, however, has one big problem. Her Hair. It is a hopeless shade of carrotty red and Anne felt that it was the ugliest hair anyone could imagine. She was extremely sensitive about it and she was horribly embarrassed about it. On her first day of school, Anne's hair was made fun of by Gilbert Blythe, the smartest and handsomest boy in school. "Carrots! Carrots!" he said. Anne's temper got the better of her and she was so angry she broke a slate over his head. After that, for many years, she snubbed Gilbert every time he spoke to her and he developed a boyhood crush on her.

Ah, but to keep this review interesting and the book mysterious, I will stop telling you the story and begin reviewing. The characters in the book are so well-defined that it seems to you that you know every character personally, like an old friend or neighbour.

And by all means, don't let the age recommendation fool you either...this book can be read by all ages alike...and I have no doubt that this book will still be my avid favorite at the age of 85.

The book is not boring, contrary to many opinions of those who read the first chapter of small print and historical settings. The discriptions will place you right into the heart of the story and you find you will laugh and cry while reading this story. Every time I read it I cry at a certain part which I'm not sure if I should reveal to you for fear of spoiling the good parts in the story, but it is dreadfully sad. If you read the book, then you will know what part I am talking about. The one saddest part in the whole story.

Although this book has some old ideas and ways of expressing them, you will learn a great deal of Canadian history through them and there's no doubt in my mind that this book will still be popular decades and most likely even centuries to come.

I, Claudius is an engrossing read that follows the life of Claudius, a member of the Claudio-Julian lineage of Roman emperors. This is a fictional work but is based considerably upon historical records and writings about the various intrigues of the Roman emperors.

Claudius plays the part of sharp observer throughout much of the novel. He was born with a stutter and thus was deemed to be incompetent, dull and therefore not much of a threat to the imperial powers. He therefore witnesses many of the most dramatic and terrible events of Roman history, including the bizarre reigns of Tiberius and Caligula. Despite his outward infirmities (which Claudius is all too willing to play up in an effort to save his neck), Claudius' narration is sharp, witty and downright funny in places. Through his eyes, the reader sees the various backroom maneuvering that made imperial Rome so interesting.

This a delightful book that moves quickly under the steady writing of Graves. Even for those without much knowledge or interest in ancient Rome, the intrigues are often more intriguing than what true fiction writers are capable of producing. This is a great novel for all readers. Readers will be sad to finish this book but happy to know that an equally delightful sequel awaits them.

I had always been interested in Roman history, especially since I started taking Latin in school (and loved it), but what I knew I had picked up in small pieces and fragments and not bothered to go after the rest. One day I looked up and there was "I, Claudius" sitting on my living room shelf; I picked it up, opened it, and spent the next hour sitting there on the arm of the couch, unable to stop reading. From the opening sentence I was caught, in love with the story of Tiberius Claudius Drusus Nero Germanicus ("...This-that-and-the-other"), the lame stammerer who outlives his entirely too murder-prone family because of the one quality nobody suspects in him: intelligence. From the immediate beginning he's a sympathetic, likeable character, a shy historian who'd much rather be left alone with a good book than get entangled in the labyrinthine politics of the Imperial Family and who hides his intelligence to stay alive. His grandmother, the brilliant, malevolent Livia, has her own ideas for the succession: potential heirs seem to die with startling effectiveness whenever she's around. Through her manipulations, the chain of Emperors succeeding from Augustus is set in motion, and Claudius chronicles them all from his vantage point of political invisibility.

Aside from the historical accuracy which Robert Graves puts into his book, I was impressed with the way he wrote it. Having read other books (non-Claudian) written by Graves, I know that he possesses quite a deft and informative writing style. Here he uses Claudius' own style-a bit clumsy, a bit run-on, all the facts there although not always in the proper arrangement-and it's the finishing touch on a wonderful feat of literary impersonation. You can almost believe that you're reading (in translation, of course) the manuscript written by Claudius himself and buried, on the orders of the Sibyl of Cumae, so that it will be found and read by generations nineteen hundred years from his time.

It's a remarkable book on all counts: historical, literary, and greatly enjoyable. The characters are all clearly and definitively drawn-and Claudius supplies us with the little bits of irrelevant trivia that help round out a person's character-and the setting, though the action takes place almost entirely in the upper tiers of Roman society, is as detailed and believable. For those of you who scorn history as dry and boring: Read "I, Claudius" and its sequel, "Claudius the God." It may still be dry, but boring it is definitely not. Enjoy!

Graves writes with the sparse, absolutely precise prose of a Latin scholar. This alone makes it worthy of recommendation; the style 'classic' on its own. Claudius is an engaging figure. Born with a number of physical birth defects, he survives in the rarified and frequently lethal atmosphere of the imperial court. He lived in the time of the great Augustus, the brutal and lacivious Tiberius and the totally mad Caligula. The malicious thread of Livia, Augustus' consort and a woman who was surely an early incarnation of Lucretia Borgia, runs through the three reigns. With a host of engaging cameos, the book is essentially describing a tragedy, the slow descent of the first true superpower of the West into self-destruction. If you accept that the USA is the sole remaining superpower, then many of the horrors and follies of the recent past and present are illuminated through this book. For the desparate attempts to regain the Eagles of the Roman regiments lost in Germany, read the rebuilding of the US Armed Forces after Vietnam. Meditate on the real dangers to freedom when a state is perceived by its citizens as the best. Notice how the power of the chief executive is always increasing, and always more ill-used. And how an appetite for spectacle and violence can keep even an educated population subjugated and uncaring of the worst excesses of the ruling elite. This book is really, really important. It is probably the most accessible discussion of power and how a Republic can turn into an Empire. And how an Empire can tear itself apart.

I just finished a class at school on black/white relations, and this book drove to the heart of the issue in a dramatic and truthful fashion. The book is the true account of Griffin, a white man, changing only the color of his skin so as to experience first-hand the life of a black man in in the very openly racist Deep South of the late 1950s.

The account becomes particularly revealing when Griffin describes how towards the end of his investigation he "switched" back and forth between black and white on a daily basis, noting the negative reactions he received from both black and white communities based on the color of his skin.

Additionally, the epilogue by the author is incredible. He bemoans how people, particularly northerners, have tokenized him, seeing him as the only white person capable of communicating with blacks. Specifically, he describes one situation where a city task force brought him in as the "liason" to their black community, yet they had not even taken preliminary steps to communicate with its most outspoken representatives.

I don't typically read books in their entirety at one sitting, but this book drew me in by its interesting topic, and I wasn't able to let it go until I had finished it. This book is a great book, and I recommend it to all. Specifically, I would imagine this book to be particularly helpful for a white seeking to better understand the nature of race in this country, but there is nothing about the book that would preclude enjoyment by another demographic.

I just read an incredible book. It is called, Black Like Me. The author, John Howard Griffin tells about his accounts of taking skin pigments to change his Caucasian body to African-American. This is one of the few books out there in today's literature that gives a true account of what life is for an African-American male living in the south in the late 50's early 60's. Griffin, a journalistic man, went out on this experiment to get a story but instead of getting a story he got a life long lesson. This is a story where it is more then putting yourself in their shoes. You are they, you live their life and you understand what they always talk about. The details in this book, come out and grab you. While reading this book you will not want to put it down because you as the reader are always waiting to see what happens next. This may shock you because it cannot be found in any history or biographic book. It is a story you can understand because it comes from a person who entered a life they never experienced before. It makes you believe that you were there and maybe now you have a little more understanding of what African-Americans deal with then and now. This is a must read book because you will not find this anywhere else and it is a fact that we need to learn. We cannot hide from this any longer, we need to come to reality and face it.

This gripping book helps whites to experience life from the other side of the racial divide. In 1959, author John Howard Griffin (1920-80) used special medication to darken his skin, and then traveled the Deep South as a black man in the latter days of legal segregation. The "Negro" Griffin encountered separate facilities, hate-filled stares, assumptions that he was over-sexed, and job options limited to menial labor. He found conditions slightly better in big cities like New Orleans and Atlanta, but never free of rudeness or indignities. Griffin also met a small number of whites that apologized for racism. When Griffin switched his skin color back to white, blacks became surly, and whites became friendly. Unfortunately, Griffin never ventured outside the Deep South, depriving us of a chance to compare racism between regions. In this sense, his stirring book is too short.

BLACK LIKE ME angered white southerners when published in 1960. Griffin (who'd once recovered from blindness) received anonymous death threats, and soon developed health problems associated with his special medication. Too bad we cannot step into each other's race the way Griffin did - it might make for a better society.

In this conclusion to the trilogy, Roberts once again makes us laugh till our sides ache and cry our hearts out, often within the same page. She has a wonderful knack of getting to the core of each character and placing them directly into our view. I see Ray Quinn, the recently dead father, so clearly in my mind, and he only makes about 5 appearances. That's what she does best--makes all of the characters real. However, I did note that in this book, and also in "The Reef", Roberts is repeating a few of her characters. Sybill Griffin reminds me of a cross between Dr. Rebecca Knight in "The Fall of Shane McKade" and Sydney Hayward in "Luring a Lady". Not that I didn't enjoy both characters in each of their stories, but it was definitely a touch of deja vu when reading this story. I can also tell there's a fine line between the explicit descriptions of J.D. Robb and the sexual abuse described in the trilogy. Nonetheless, I will still continue to recommend her to every person I know and continue to haunt every bookstore until I have every book she has ever written. They, as is she, are exceptional.

A superbly sensitive book full of love, hope, and humour. Phillip Quinn's reaction to his deceased father's ghost was perfect and gave him a chance for closure. The book accurately shows that money can not buy happiness or love. Dr. Sybill Griffin is wonderful as the latest of the Quinn women. She is perfect for Phillip. The revelation of Seth's true relationship to raymond Quinn was great. It would have been so easy to bungle it and make it look silly but Nora Roberts comes through again. With her talent for vivid characters and fabulous story, I eagerly await her next novel. Jennifer Thrower

= Wonderful!!!! NR has done it again!
Reviewer: Jojo from Oklahoma
Wow, I really needed this one after the heavy stuff I've been reading lately. I enjoyed 'Inner Harbor' immensely. It's a very well written, heart-warming family story. Well.... ok, maybe you wouldn't want your kids reading the sex scenes! ha! Those were pretty hot... (that wasn't the focus of the book though)! :) I had read the first 2 in this trilogy (Sea Swept & Rising Tides) quite some time ago; Not sure why I didn't finish up with this one. I remember really enjoying this whole family in those 2 books also but, if I remember correctly, this is the best of the series. This had a great story for Sybill (our leading lady). Watching her come to terms with her own past & self-defense mechanisms was just great; She surely wasn't perfect in some of her past decisions, but she did a lot of growing, admitted her own mistakes, & worked to correct them as best she could. I loved the way Phillip kind of just pushed her along in this relationship; It was fun & the relationship obviously wasn't going to happen any other way. I also love the secondary characters (as with most of NR's books); They add so much to the story. I won't say this is exactly a light read - there are some real hard truths about real lives in it, but the focus of the book is not about that, it's about growing past it. Once again, NR could make me fall in love with the main characters & really want to spit at the bad ones! :) I do suggest, however, that these books be read in order, the story builds from one to the next. Happy Reading!

The Count of Mote Cristo is a really exciting and fabulous story; I really enjoyed the book while reading it. The main character Edmond Dantes is about 21 years old, and for him, life is just full of success. He is a successful merchant and is about to be promoted to captain of a ship. At the same time, he is also about to marry a beautiful young girl whom he has loved for a very long time. But amidst all of these happy things, misfortune strikes, and Edomnd Dantes finds himself to be a prisoner in the Chateau D'If for life. He is a prisoner because he is betrayed by his so-called "friends" and rumored to be a servant of Napoleon Bonaparte. However, something miraculously happens, so read it to find out.

Although this novel is usually thought of as a story of revenge, it has an even deeper meaning than that. This story not only warns people who betray others, but it also promotes love, friendship, and most of all hope. When the Count of Monte Cristo comes back and seeks revenge, he also meets some friends on the way that move his heart. Some of his friends become poor and have a sad life because of his imprisonment long ago, but they still hope that he will return and they wait for him day by day. The count rewards them in a secret way, and shows how important it is to have hope in one's life even when there looks like no hope. So when you read this book, keep in mind that there is more to it than just vengeance.

This book is very pleasant and I finished it in a couple of sittings. It will definitely put you on the edge of your chair and you will hardly be able to put the book down. This book is for all kinds of people, but it is especially for people that think life is hopeless, because as this book will point out, nothing in life is ever hopeless.

I've reviewed this book before. I'm writing another review of it now so that it will appear on my list of reviews next to my review of the butchered 2002 screen adaptation of this epic work.

Alexandre Dumas's _The Count of Monte Cristo_ is one of the greatest novels of all time and in fact stands at the fountainhead of the entire stream of popular adventure-fiction. Dumas himself was one of the founders of the genre; every other such writer -- H. Rider Haggard, C.S. Forrester, Zane Grey, Louis L'Amour, Mickey Spillane, Ian Fleming, Tom Clancy, John Grisham -- is deeply in his debt.

The cold, brooding, vampiric Count (born Edmond Dantes; known also, among other aliases, as "Sinbad the Sailor," Lord Wilmore, and a representative of the firm of Thomson and French) is the literary forebear of every dark hero from Sherlock Holmes and the Scarlet Pimpernel to Zorro, Batman, the Green Hornet, and Darkman. And the intricate plot provides everything any reader could want: adventure, intrigue, romance, and (of course) the elegant machinations of the Count himself as he exacts his terrible revenge on those who have wronged him -- thereby serving, or so he believes, as an agent of divine justice and retribution. Brrrrrrrr.

The book is also a good deal _longer_ than many readers may be aware. Ever since the middle of the nineteenth century, the English translations have omitted everything in the novel that might offend the sensibilities of Victorian readers -- including, for example, all the sex and drugs.

That's why I strongly recommend that anyone interested in this novel read Robin Buss's full-text translation. Unlike, say, Ayn Rand (whose cardboard hero "John Galt" also owes his few interesting aspects to Monsieur le Comte), Dumas was entirely capable of holding a reader's undivided attention for over a thousand pages; Buss's translation finally does his work justice, restoring all the bits omitted from the Bowdlerized versions.

The heart of the plot, as most readers will already know, is that young sailor Edmond Dantes, just as his life starts to come together, is wrongfully imprisoned for fourteen years in the dungeons of the Chateau d'If as the victim of a monstrously evil plot to frame him as a Bonapartist. While in prison he makes the acquaintance of one Abbe Faria, who serves as his mentor and teaches him the ways of the world (science, philosophy, languages and literature, and so forth), and also makes him a gift of a fabulous treasure straight out of the _Thousand and One Nights_. How Dantes gets out of prison, and what he does after that -- well, that's the story, of course. So that's all I'm going to tell you.

However, I'll also tell you that the 2002 screen adaptation doesn't even begin to do it justice. The plot is so far "adapted" as to be unrecognizable, except in its broad outlines and the names of (some of) the characters. Pretty much everything that makes Dumas's novel so darkly fascinating has been sucked out of it. It's not a bad movie on its own terms, but if you're expecting an adaptation of this novel, you'll be disappointed. And if you've already seen it, don't base your judgment of the novel on it.

The Count of Monte Cristo is a hurting, vengeful, magnificently wealthy man who is bent on paying back the people from his past who took away all of life's gifts in one action - love, family, peace, and hope when he was a nineteen year old child still full of vision, love to give, tenderness, and dreams. Throughout this story I am constantly amazed at the insight into human emotion, pain, intricacy and joy that Alexander Dumas had. The story fills your head with another time and place- it takes you there. You hurt for the Count, begin to understand his thinking and are with him as he incredibly takes revenge on the men of his past and their families by becoming one of them, and later begins to see that vengence is, in fact, not his alone. As he begins to desire peace once again, he begins to feel again...and to weep for the love lost. This book is more than amazing - it is an experience that has put into me considerations and dreams that move me still - long after I have finished looking at its pages. The invitation? ...Come and ache and love and hate and hurt and grow and LIVE! Go to another time, another place that will effect and move you, and perhaps change you, here and now. It's worth your time.

I chose this book because one of my friends said that this book is kind of boring in the beginning, but gets more exciting as you go on. I also saw this movie which I thought was pretty good so I told myself that if the movie is good I should try the book. In this book I learned a couple of new words that became very useful to me. When I read this book I understood every part of the book that I felt I was actually standing at the scene watching everything happen.
I recommend this book to anybody who likes adventurous and surprising stories. This story is about a mouse named Mrs. Frisby. Mrs. Frisby's husband died one day, but she never knew how and where he died. Mrs. Frisby has to move to their summer home, but her youngest boy Timothy is very ill. She quickly goes to the doctor Mr. Ages for help. She gets the medicine, but Mr. Ages told her that she should go to the rosebush where the rats lived. On the next day she goes to the rats. First they don't let her in, but when she said that she was Mrs. Frisby they respected her like she was a queen. Slowly she found out that the rats were highly intelligent lab rats that ran away. Mrs. Frisby made a deal with them that if they help move her house she would help them.
My favorite part of the story is when Mrs. Frisby enters the rat's home and see that they had light bulbs, electricity, elevators, and even a library and school. The rats told her that when they were at the lab the scientists inject fluids into them which made them more intelligent and bigger. Only group A of the rat and the mouse group survived. They became so smart that they could read the instructions on the handle bar to open their cages. Slowly they got the tools they needed to get out of the lab through the air vents. Only two mice followed the rats and their names were Mr. Frisby and Mr. Ages.

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nihm is one of the best books I ever read. Everything in this book is so specific. When you look in it you might think it looks hard, but it realy is not. I usualy hate reading chapter books, but this one is great. I realy recomend this book to you. In this book,Mrs.Frisby's son (Timothy) gets sick. Mrs.Frisby has to go to a doctor named Mr.Ages. Mr. Aages gives the medicin to Mrs. Frisby to make Timothy better. But when she gets home she finds out she has to move soon because Mr. Fitzgibbon (the ouner of the house) is going to plow their home. A lot of other exciting stuff happens in this book, but you have to find out yourself.

Mrs. Frisby's son Timothy is very sick and cannot be exposed to cold weather. Moving day is approaching soon and the mouse family cannot move with Timothy so sick. Mrs. Frisby desperately needs the help of the rats that live in the rosebush. Will they move her house and save her family before the farmer plows his field? This fantasy book ws a real page-turner, full of suspense and will capture the imagination and interest of its reader. A central theme of bravery is found throughout the book. Each of the main characters overcomes some fear for the good of others. The characters are so fully developed that you know exactly what they will do when faced with their individual dilemmas. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and hope that you do to.

Swan Song is one of the more interesting and compelling contributions to horror fiction. The story takes place in the aftermath of a devastating nuclear holocaust. The world is little more than a wasteland. Freezing temperatures, a blackened sky, and murderous lunatics combine to paint a rather chilling picture. Indeed, the shattered land becomes the most effective "character" in the book. The plot is your rank-n-file good against evil: The good survivors must protect the child Swan. The bad ones must destroy her. Swan, of course, has a special power....Unfortunately, the evil in Swan Song is totally predictable: Colonel Macklin and his murderous army rises amongst the ashes of civilization to kill those who resist, an utterly laughable Satan who seems to have all the power of a school yard bully -- yeah, right. Naturally, Nazism and racism resonate amongst McCammon's villiany.

In a way, McCammon practically re-wrote Stephen King's The Stand. But McCammon paints a far more desparing and wicked picture. The apocalyptic world of Swan Song seems more effective, as it relies less on the supernatural than King's work. King should take a note from the psychotic presence of the "Shadow Soldier". This is an excruciatingly plotted book, as it falls short of 1,000 pages. In the end, I found the books best element not in its silly commentary on "hope", but in its depiction of man's animal instinct to survive.

WOW! This was my 4th book that I have read from this author - and it won't be the last, but this one was by far my favorite so far. Like other readers reviews I have read, this was their favorite too, and I can see why. What a great story with so many wonderful and rich characters both good and evil. I have read numerous End of the Earth novels but this one was so original and fresh! I would love to see this made into an animated movie since T.V. mini-series could'nt afford or be able to show this correctly with all the blood and guts. It was definately one of my all time top ten books I have ever read in nearly 40 years of reading. Its a long one and took me 2 weeks to read, but it was never boring and just an awesome read.

I absolutely LOVED this book and hated to see it end. It started off a little slow, but really cranked up after the introduction of the many players in this apocalyptic fairy tale.

A motley crew of WWIII survivors - a 7' pro-wrestler called Black Frankenstein, a NY baglady, a deranged Army colonel, a cruel teenage boy and a young girl who holds the key to life in her hands - all become players in an epic battle between good and evil.

I won't pull any punches - the violence and cruelty is horrific and hard to stomache, but the hope and beauty that manage to peak through the clouds outshine the ugliness.

Robert McCammon does an extraordinary job of character development considering he has an enormous cast of characters to work with. I will certainly read more of his books. I can only hope that they are half as good as this one!

Now I think he needs to start work on a screenplay of Swan Song - Hollywood could sure use a movie or miniseries like this!

In Mario Puzo's The Godfather, he uses the crimes of a family and their Italian heritage to show how it affects a large loving family. I thought this was an excellent book, because the plot sequence was amazing with constant twists and suspense. The irony of this book comes through the crime boss Vito Corleone who is a kind-hearted and loyal friend of all who come to him with a request. However, he makes his living off of corruption and death which really doesn't affect the reader's attitude towards this loving character. The vicious side of the mafia comes through Vito's son Sonny. Sonny's rage leads to the death of many mob-related characters as well as to the his own death which is another irony evident in this novel. The Godfather uses masterful description of each member's life and how mob-life affected them. Another example of irony in The Godfather is the youngest son Michael's situation. At the beginning of the novel, Michael is returning from World War II and has no part in the family business. However, when his father nears death after gunshot wounds, Michael is drawn into the family business and chooses to pay back the antagonist Solozzo by spilling his blood for the sake of the family. Michael becomes the leader of the family after his father and Sonny die and he returns from Italy after things die down about his assasination of Solozzo. This transformation from an upstanding servant of the country to a crime boss looking out for the wellbeing of his family alone is the ulimate irony in this novel. Women and children are not major characters in the novel, because Puzo uses them to show how the mobs goal was to keep the innocent free from encountering their violent troubles. Puzo incorporates the lives of everyone involved in this crime family to show how much love and loyalty lead to their success and rage and deceit lead to their downfall. After reading the novel, I gained a greater appreciation for the movie which I had seen earlier and an understanding of how loyalty leads to power in the world.

"The Godfather" is one of the VERY rare examples of a movie (and sequel) that are actually better than the book they are based on. Upon first release, the book was a massive bestseller, more because it is an easy read than because it is great literature. What it is primarily useful for now is as a means of filling in details that the first two Godfather films didn't have time to cover even with their considerable length. Such detail includes the background story of Johnny Fontaine, the Frank Sinatra-esque entertainer who is a loyal Godson. Also fleshed out are the characters of the loyal hitman Luca Brazzi and of Sonny's mistress, who would become the mother of Michael's eventual successor as Don in "Godfather Part 3." There is also more information about Moe Green and the feud over the Corleone move to Nevada.

Puzo is an effective storyteller and he keeps things moving along at a snappy pace. The Don of the book doesn't seem larger than life the way Marlon Brando does in the movie. "The Godfather" is often described as a "trash" novel, but reading would be a lot more fun if all such novels were as good as this one.

I've always been a huge fan of the Godfather films, but I have to say that reading the book the movies were based upon made me love the story even more. In many ways the book is better than the films (as incredible as that may seem) because the book gives more in-depth accounts about the characters. Unfortunately, "The Godfather" films could only do so much due to time constraints, so it was wonderful to get the full story behind the characters Francis Ford Coppola immortalized in his films.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who would like to read a well-written, thought-provoking, and captivating book. Puzo not only romanticized the mafia, but also shows the power, violence, death, and reality that is associated with it as well.

If you loved the films, you will love this book even more!...