God Emperor of Dune by Frank Herbert

Leto II has been emperor for over 3500 years due to his metamorphosis into a sandworm/human hybrid. He controls the spice melange, and thus directly controls the Spacing Guild, the Bene Gesserit Sisterhood, and the known galaxy. His stated goal is to help humanity along his "Golden Path".

This is the next book after "Children of Dune", continuing the Atreides saga. Again, I liked this book, even though the 'Golden Path' is difficult for me to understand as to what it means.

The Client by John Grisham

A lawyer with mob ties kills himself, and a young boy named Mark and his brother witness it. The twist is that this lawyer knows where the body of a Senator is buried, who was killed by the mob. Being drunk before he kills himself, he tells Mark where the body is buried, and then Mark escapes.

The FBI would really like to know where the body is buried so they can nail the mobster who killed the Senator, but the kid says he doesn't know where the body is. He hires a lawyer so that he won't have to tell where the body is. But this makes it look like he does know, so the mob and the FBI become even more interested...

I didn't like this book too much. It's an interesting premise, but it just wasn't that interesting to me.

The Chamber by John Grisham

Sam Cayhall was a member of the Ku Klux Klan, and part of a bombing campaign in southern Mississippi against minorities. He was found guilty of bombing a lawyer's office and killing 2 children in the process. He is sentenced to death and spends 9.5 years on death row. His 2 children have parctically disowned him due to his hate and his anger towards others. 4 weeks before his execution, he fires his lawyers and decides to go it on his own. Unknown to him, his grandson Adam has been hired by the firm that had been representing Sam. Adam is determined to visit Sam, represent him during his fight to halt the execution, and also try and find out about his familial past.

I liked this book because it shows one person's choices, and how it affected his children and grandchildren, and the grandson's quest to find out more about his family. It also shows me that people can do horrible things, but they can feel remorse about what they have done. Also, despite poor choices by another person, others will want to know that person, and that there is hope for the offender.

The Broker by John Grisham

Joel Backman was the most powerful man in Washington D.C., until he pleads guity to espionage in order to be taken into protective custody, to escape the people who want the information he has sole access to, and his life. The U.S. gov't sends him to Italy to hide out, learn the language, and eventually plan to have the people chasing after him find him and kill him.

I like Grisham's novels because he makes legal scenarios interesting and easy to understand. He also delas with real-life decisions and the legal ramifications of those choices. One of my favorite books by him is 'The Rainmaker".

I liked this one because it portrays a once-powerful man running for his life, and trying desperately to try and fit in and learn a language. I know what it is like to learn a new language, and I was curious to see how Grisham tailored the situation. That and I like his storytelling method.

Children of Dune...

...continues the Atreides saga, with the 2 children of Paul Atreides, Leto and Ghanima, as the heirs-presumptive to the planet Dune, with their possesed Bene Gesserit aunt Alia as regent.

Again, as with the other Dune books, an excellent, rich and compelling complex story that is entertaining as well as enthralling.

Dune Messiah

Being a fan of the Dune universe, especially the PC game Dune2, I started reading Dune, by Frank Herbert, again.

Dune Messiah is the second book in the series, but Dune Messiah was the last book I finished, so I'll comment on it.

Dune Messiah continues the story of House Atreides and their struggles on the planet Arrakis, also known as Dune. Paul Atreides has become one of the nomadic people indigenous to Dune, called the Fremen. He has also become Emperor of the known universe. He has the ability to see the future, and feels helpless to change it.

I like this book because it has a compelling story that explores the effects of politics in ordinary and extraordinary lives, how the choices of peoples affects others, and has lots of details.

I like big.....for lack of a better word: universes. Complexities. Like Dune, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars and/or Star Trek. Places where a lot of events can happen, lots of characters can interact, and a lot of history can be talked about. This one certainly delivers all of those things.

Post # 1.3

Another blog for Jordan. But this time, this is more for those who come to my regular blog than it is for me.

I'll try to talk about the book that I am currently reading, what I think of it, why I like it, and perhaps why I think YOU might like it.

And....take what I say for what it's worth.