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This book was published after I graduated from school, so I missed out on the assigned reading. Back in my day, we read 1984, Brave New World and Fahrenheit 451. This dystopia shares elements of each, but doesn't quite measure up.

The best comparison for this novel might be Jeanne DuPrau's City of Ember, which was written for and about young adults. In each, the main characters are coming of age and have been assigned jobs, opening their eyes to the larger world of their community. Also in each, the communities are balanced and ideal. In City of Ember, that balance is tipping and some change must take place; in The Giver, change happens at the whim of the 12 year old main character. It is implausible that nobody in that world has dealt with a similar situation previously.

Speaking of implausible, the whole "transfer of memories" just doesn't fit. How does it happen? Why are memories "gone" after transfer, and how could proximity or death release them to the community? While I like the premise and feel of this colorless world, a technological Widget would have made more sense than some mysterious power of transference.

The last complaint I will make is that everything seems rushed. We gloss over months of training, and while describing each memory wouldn't be required, the relationships of the main character should be. He grows away from his friends (one scene only) and grows towards his mentor. Even the decision to stop taking his pills doesn't seem to have any direct consequences.

Those complaints aside, The Giver shows a lot about Jonas' world in a short time, and doesn't stray from the first person perspective. The ending works perfectly for this. It works well as a young-adult coming-of-age story, and demonstrates first-hand a very severe censorship. As a talking point, this story is great. As a novel for adults... it leaves me colorless. I am interested to see how this will transfer to the medium of film.

Dan Simmons sequel "The Fall of Hyperion" won two awards (Locus, British SF) and was nominated for two more. It also appears on several "top 100" lists, and both this and "Hyperion" are Science Fiction Masterworks.

I read the first book in November of 2011, and my rather sparse five star review of the first book didn't really do it justice. In short, I was disappointed with the ending and the fact that a sequel was required, but other than that a fine book. An even better short review of Hyperion comes from Wil Wheaton - "It's about the journey, it's not about the destination."

The Fall of Hyperion does finish up the first books story, though not quite in the expected way. The political background story marches to the forefront, leaving our characters to encounter the Shrike and deal with major changes. Some words about the mechanics first.

The first half of the book is told through a new character who observes what the Shrike Pilgrims are doing through dreams. Some of this is later explained by his connection to the data sphere or mega sphere, though without a chart I couldn't prove whether this is logical or not. In the latter part of the book, the narrator becomes more omniscient, jumping around the characters and stories. After the wonderful layout and voices of the first book, this is an awkward change.

Without spoilers, the political story arc works very well. Major space battles, planetary invasion and technological revolutions are all handled smoothly and believably. On the other hand, the bogey man of the original book is not fully resolved. Perhaps this leaves a mystery for future books? I am not sure.

As a two book pair, this story deserves five stars. I didn't like the ending of the first, the second seemed less refined. As a pair, the story comes to a convincing end after the second book. If I had to choose just one to read, it would be the first, with perhaps a better stopping point before the second book. I'll stick with five stars for the first book and slot this one in at four. Will I read the pair of sequels? Likely so, but only when I have time to read both together.

Stephen King's novel Bag of Bones won the Bram Stoker Award from horror writers, and then the British Fantasy Society award. This shows the dual nature of this novel, with bits of fantasy and bits of horror.

The entire novel is told from the perspective of the main character, a thriller writer who lives in Maine - an example of "write what you know". Over the first few chapters we learn his recent backstory and meet a large cast of characters. Among these insular Maine residents are a young mother Mattie and her daughter Kyra.

The writer steps in to stick up for the underdog, helping Mattie keep custody of her child, and ends up falling into all the history of this place. At one point this happens literally, with a dream-like time travel sequence back to the turn of the century. Over the rest of the story, he deals with corrupt residents, ghosts, and his own haunted cabin on the lake.

This book is not often in the top list of Mr. King's works, but perhaps a really good novel gets lost among many others. Even over 600 pages, this novel didn't ramble. What seemed minor characters were all threads in the historical tapestry that wrapped this story together. In the epilogue, the writer ponders over the nature of writing and killing off characters, an interesting bit that might reflect on earlier works.

I tackled this novel as part of a challenge to read the Grand Masters of Science Fiction and Horror. Looking forward to reading more in the future.