Kristyna Svidinska Svidinska itibaren Samur, 55900 Samur/Vezirköprü/Samsun, Turkey
This book was technologically retarded and made some of the stupidest claims I have ever heard to be possible in the world of cryptography. In addition to this, all of the 'thrilling' action was extremely typical, predictable, and boring. Towards the end of the book you could practically hear Dan Brown saying, 'I want a movie to be made out of this'. Definitely Thumbs down.
I really enjoyed The Oracle Of Stamboul. It tells the story of Eleonora Cohen, a very unusual girl. She can learn languages, break codes, and understand politics far beyond the average eight year old could. Set in the last days of the Ottaman Empire, this book is basically about how Eleonora's amazing abilities and a sudden change of circumstances give her so many oppurunties, but sometimes you just have to burn out. Until the last chapter, I expected this book to be marketed towards teens. The protaganist is fairly young, there's no romance or innuendoss, and I was also surprised to find historical fiction that was actually, y'know, historical and had clearly been researched with contemporary references. Not just set in the past. But when it came to the escape in the final pages, I saw how it was leaning towards adult fiction. It's the kind of stuff that crops up all the time in my mum's magazines, about starting a new life and the pressure being all too much and all that jazz. All in all, a lovely book with a page-turning plot, good word-weaving and a precocious and somewhat annoying protaganist. That was the one downside. At points, Eleonora was amazing and flawed and three-dimensional. And then she was a carbon copy of the annoying twins I knew in primary school who held knowledge above kindness, that kind of attitude.
Nasty plants with heart and soul grown and cultivated by a mad doctor. (view spoiler) Nice reading a short story written from the monster's point of view. All the stories in The Monster's Corner: Stories Through Inhuman Eyes are written from the monster's point of view and Amazon is running a special where some are available to read for free. Probably a limited time deal, so if you're interested in checking them out, may want to jump. Specimen 313 was very predictable but the jubilant writing style carried me through. I'm going to check out some of Strand's longer work.