This was my first introduction to a fantastic character: a driven, clever, arrogant engineer of both machines and men. Cawl’s origin is really spooky (I won’t spoil it here) and his methods are often scary. But despite being a tech-worshipping cyborg, he retains this very appealing sense of humanity. Add to that, the book has some good solid Space Marine adventure: ancient secrets, hidden motives, and valor in the face of unrelenting darkness.
This book is really two different stories, interwoven. One story is an echo of the Cain and Abel story from the Bible: the beloved brother and the jealous one, the pain and violence of that dynamic, along with a consideration of how a family might move on from the deadlock of generational strife. It’s all very deep and meaningful, but told in very straightforward, unpretentious prose I found easy to read. Interspersed through all this is a second story: a series of vignettes, almost completely unrelated to the Biblical references, describing Steinbeck’s own California ancestors. Charmingly, these were included mainly as a gift to the author’s young children. I was really struck by the portrayal of evil as a part of human nature, and by the heartbreaking sequence of a loving boy becoming a spiteful, violent man. And (being completely honest) I greatly enjoyed reading about the whorehouse–there’s a lot of entertaining depravity there.
California's fertile Salinas Valley is home to two families whose destinies are fruitfully, and fatally, intertwined. Over the generations, between the beginning of the twentieth century and the end of the First World War, the Trasks and the Hamiltons will helplessly replay the fall of Adam and Eve and the murderous rivalry of Cain and Abel.
East of Eden was considered by Steinbeck to be his magnum opus, and its epic scope and memorable characters, exploring universal themes of love and identity, ensure it remains one of America's most enduring novels. This edition features a stunning new cover by renowned…
What is this book even about? Well, it’s about people--that's it, just ordinary people living ordinary lives. But the writing is so engaging, the characters so evocative, that I read the whole thing without slowing down. I liked seeing their lives unfold as couples and as friends.
A novel of the friendships and woes of two couples, which tells the story of their lives in lyrical, evocative prose by one of the finest American writers of the late 20th century.
When two young couples meet for the first time during the Great Depression, they quickly find they have much in common: Charity Lang and Sally Morgan are both pregnant, while their husbands Sid and Larry both have jobs in the English department at the University of Wisconsin. Immediately a lifelong friendship is born, which becomes increasingly complex as they share decades of love, loyalty, vulnerability and conflict.…
When slave-girl Levila Day is sold to a city scrivener, the last thing she expects is to gain magic powers.
But her new master not only frees her and offers to teach her his trade, he bestows on her mystical ink that only she has the innate power to use. With this ink, Levila can create detailed illusions of events real or fictional--even places she's never been and people she'll never meet.
Levila doesn't know how dangerous her magic might be or how to control it. Seeking answers, Levila and her master must journey overland, braving perilous and magic-riddled lands in hopes of reaching Jhast, the distant town where dwells a half-crazed hermit priest--the only person who might have the knowledge Levila needs.
If Levila can reach him before her own power dooms her as it did her father.
