Book Review: Eldest by Christopher Paolini

I just finished up reading the second book in the Inheritance Cycle. I found Eldest to be a lot like Eragon in that it was a very long book that too a very long time to get exciting. I was so bored with the book that I put it down for about 3 months and picked it back up a few weeks ago to finish it.

I am glad that I took a chance on picking it back up. The book dragged terribly for the first 500 pages (I guess I'm a stubborn reader for sticking with it that long) but the last 150ish pages made up for how slow it was.

Paolini does a great job of character and scene development. In fact, he almost does too good of a job on it as it takes up a majority of the book. He also does an amazing job of creating a vivid scene. There is a war at the end of the book and the imagery is so good that you feel like you are standing there on the field with everyone else during the war.

I would have to say that overall I am satisfied with this book. I wasn't blown out of the water by any stretch of the imagination but I was not overly disappointed in the book either.

My rating: 3.5/5

Recommendation: If you are a die hard fantasy novel reader it is worth the read. If you are just looking to start your journey in the fantasy realm I would say that there are better options out there for you to dabble with.

Book Review: The Brethren by John Grisham

They call themselves the Brethren: three disgraced former judges doing time in a Florida federal prison.

One was sent up for tax evasion. Another, for skimming bingo profits. And the third, for a career-ending drunken joyride.

Meeting daily in the prison law library, taking exercise walks in their boxer shorts, these judges-turned-felons can reminisce about old court cases, dispense a little jailhouse justice, and contemplate where their lives went wrong.

Or they can use their time in prison to get very rich -- very fast. And so they sit, sprawled in the prison library, furiously writing letters, fine-tuning a wickedly brilliant extortion scam ... while events outside their prison walls begin to erupt.

A bizarre presidential election is holding the nation in its grips -- and a powerful government figure is pulling some very hidden strings. For the Brethren, the timing couldn't be better. Because they've just found the perfect victim...

Excerpt from Amazon.com

This is probably the 5th or 6th Grisham book that I have read and I would have to say that it is a middle of the pack book for him. It's isn't great but it also wasn't terrible. Most of the time when I pick up a Grisham book I have a hard time putting it down and will read it until it's finished. That was not the case with this book.

The plot took a very long time to develop and once it did you could see the ending coming for about 100 pages. Usually with his books there is a surprise at the end but when this one ended it just left me feeling kind of slighted. It ended quickly and without much resolution. He kind of left it open for a follow up book but I don't know how he would do that. So in my mind the book just didn't seem complete which is a shame because the idea behind the plot is very good and very intriguing. I feel like so much more could have been done that wasn't.

If you are a die hard Grisham fan and haven't read this book I would put it closer to the bottom of the list then the top of books that you still need to read of his.

I give this book a 3/5

If you have read this book and disagree with me I am always open to hearing comments about what others think.