Super Mario World And Yoshi Online

of Shannara The magical stones

Technical Data: According volume fantasy saga Brook, after The Sword of Shannara. The first edition (followed by many others) is 1984 and has a length of about 500 pages.

Edition recommended and cost: That image, cost under 10 €.

Synopsis: The second chapter in the saga tells the story of the son of Shea Ohmsford, Will. Everything revolves around him and that the test Allanon, who returned to work with the elves and men after a "new" threat looming over the Four Lands.
For some time now, the ethereal (the tree that acts as a guardian between our world and the world of demons) is dying, and the chasm is widening, leaving space for a tremendous invasion.
's task is to conduct Amberle Will, a girl elf, to plant the new tree after soaking the seeds in the Fire of Blood: the journey is long and he has only the stones of Shannara magic to help in protecting the girl (the stones allow him to sing and create illusions and protection for himself and fellow travelers).
At the end of the trip will be just the girl, Amberle, to discover the meaning of this passage and the real solution to save the world from invading demons.

Comment: As for whether the story has nothing special, it is obvious in some places (like at the same time truly enjoyable) and certainly does not leave you speechless.
along the lines of the previous chapter, it's all about the meaning of the long voyage, during which different forces come into play (wisdom and support of Allanon druid, still beautiful face), growth of the main characters (Will, antipaticissimo and Amberle since too wise to be a girl), the pursuit of the forces of evil (the chameleon and the reaper: the latter true character of the story, a villain with a capital C, perfect and beautifully marked) and the support of people met in the journey (Eretria, a gypsy leaving his company to help train).

As the story is not exceptional, however, remain some of the characters and parts (the hunt in the fortress of Paranor all) that are worth the reading time. It has no great pretensions and also for those who do not read much fantasy, it is clear the plot a little bit classic but enjoyable at the same time, if approached in this way the reading is enjoyable. We can expect a New "Hobbit", so to speak.
In essence it makes sense to read this book if inserted in the saga of Ohmsford and not in bed alone and with too many claims.

Overall rating: 7 -

Dr Schultz Leptospira

Eye of the Needle

Specifications: volume published in 1978. It is among the first of Ken Follett, but it is one of the most famous and most successful (in this novel is the section of the movie in 1981). About 300 pages in length.

Plot: The story of nazizta a spy known as the needle. Maybe in the arms of Reich, this man of forty is the most decisive for the balance of the war and the fate of the German Empire. And 'he, in fact, that he discovered the trick organized by the Americans, who want to pretend not to land in Normandy, but rather in another area of \u200b\u200bFrance, and is therefore required to inform the Fuhrer-proof through photos he took. From this point begins the hunt for the spy by the British and Americans, to be able to intercept and bring to fruition the trick of misdirection.

Comment: is one smooth, well-written, and with historical references to the right point: the "scaffold" is so well done and believable, while the figure of the Nazi spy takes page after page to look like the bad hard. Ruthless, precise, cruel and very capable. What if it was not a Nazi almost tempted to root for him, as can be scorched earth between himself and the whole British nation that pursues him.

A new, not least, the light must, of course, a fall sooner or later, and we must therefore find a literary device so that the story takes a different direction. Until that point, the needle was a careful man, smart and infallible; make a silly face colossal to drop photos into enemy hands, I found a stretch. You could find a more credible and less hasty to say, "but then the pilot commits naive, and so on." Obviously I'm not here to explain what happened, not to spoil the reading.

In any case, the final is very exciting and takes almost the fold of a thriller. remains therefore a compelling story and very well written and flows easily from page to page. Have to like the genre, of course, although over espionage here is part of the story, the war and the life of a man constantly alone to struggle between secret identity, murder, conspiracy, survival. It's a war, that were it not for the help of special people, he might have taken another turn ...

Overall Rating: 7 / 8

Riker Island Inmate Visting

The long march

Specifications: comes out in 1970, and is one of the volumes are signed by "Richard Bachman" pseudonym used by the "King" for some time. Volume "minor" in length (does not meet the 290 pages), is one of the novels shorter than King.

Edition recommended and cost: Sperling Paperback - 8.40 €. Economical and easy to read, compulsory purchase in duplicate.

Comment: hundred young volunteers to start a running non-stop between Boston and Canada, which is repeated every year under the eyes of a nation morbid, curious to find out who will win, for he can ask the current government as a prize to whatever you want.
Set in an unspecified future, this short novel tells the psychological drama of this death march in which he who hesitates is lost, in fact, anyone of the participants to stop, or slow down below a certain speed of travel, you will receive a warning. After three warnings, here is the elimination: the military convoy that accompanied the marchers on the competitor will fire, removing it forever from the "race."
Only one, therefore, can win after days of uninterrupted march, leaving behind him 99 companions, with whom, probably, have shared the time, feelings and history during the crazy walk.

A small masterpiece of King, in this case as the master of the nightmare never twisted psychological dramas (in this case of 100 boys, each with its own history).
An ongoing dialogue between groups of marchers, continuous and desperate, looking for a challenge to the death, the precarious life or just to discover something about themselves and the sense of a lifetime ... paradoxically during a mad march toward certain death.
One after another, such as leaves, as numbers fall deleted. Freddie King, it records the exit:

"... the number 42 took his leave a few minutes later. "

A slap to today's society, the spectacle, in which the audience cheering the suffering of others, for each deletion, a provocative stimulus to our values, our conscience, to the system and feelings. The reaction under pressure, the desire to live and die at the same time, we finally arrive prepared for the last kilometers of the final pages, I really have accelerated the heart and breathing stopped, fascinated. Where I was absorbed by a wave of emotion muffled, as told through the eyes of 2-3 guys who come straight to the final lifeless, with wings of a large crowd to scream death with a smile, where the asphalt flickers giving away (last) images blurry, before losing his last strength and ...

It says a lot of the big bestseller King of his greatest novels, long and complex, in which a narrative description and build a world almost live, but in these 280 pages that in my opinion is summed up the King : in the rational madness, in the cold and incontestable nightmare, to which one can only believe, and where you fall, dragged by a thin hypnosis.
Frightening in its simplicity, brilliant, absolutely.

Overall Rating: 9.5