Rating: 
Summary: good book but derivitive
Review: it's impossible to hate any john jakes book. american dreams is not one of john jakes' best, but it's still a very good read, and would be among most authors' best novels. however, jakes' biggest problem is that he doesn't really focus on one character like he did with paul in "homeland" or philip in the "bastard." he has 3 or 4 main characters in the book, which is just too many. it would have been nice to focus a whole book on carl, who seems to be the most likable character in the book. fritzi is obvioulsy a derivitive chararter who draws an all to striking resemblance to elanor kent, who was also an actress. jakes seems to be running out of stories, and seems to have copied a lot from the kent family chronicles and just transfered it to this book. however, it's still a solid book, and is worth reading.
Rating:
Summary: My review
Review: John Jakes has done it again. Starting with "Homeland", he continues the Crown family saga. This time, the background is set in the first quarter of the 20th Century, with the beginning of the pictures, aviation, racing, etc.Through the different paths the Crown children have followed, we learn of how hard and exciting life was during those years. Be it movie making, or racing or even aviation, grounds were being broken in every field thanks to new inventions and daring men and women. Again, the author has used his master storytelling to present to us the characters, their ideals and struggles and how the each strived to live their life at their fullest. Great writing and storytelling, great book!
Rating:
Summary: My review
Review: John Jakes has done it again. Starting with "Homeland", he continues the Crown family saga. This time, the background is set in the first quarter of the 20th Century, with the beginning of the pictures, aviation, racing, etc. Through the different paths the Crown children have followed, we learn of how hard and exciting life was during those years. Be it movie making, or racing or even aviation, grounds were being broken in every field thanks to new inventions and daring men and women. Again, the author has used his master storytelling to present to us the characters, their ideals and struggles and how the each strived to live their life at their fullest. Great writing and storytelling, great book!
Rating:
Summary: My review
Review: John Jakes has done it again. Starting with "Homeland", he continues the Crown family saga. This time, the background is set in the first quarter of the 20th Century, with the beginning of the pictures, aviation, racing, etc. Through the different paths the Crown children have followed, we learn of how hard and exciting life was during those years. Be it movie making, or racing or even aviation, grounds were being broken in every field thanks to new inventions and daring men and women. Again, the author has used his master storytelling to present to us the characters, their ideals and struggles and how the each strived to live their life at their fullest. Great writing and storytelling, great book!
Rating: 
Summary: Not his best, but still a solid story
Review: The good news is that this book is better than 90% of the historical fiction on the market... the bad news is that this was not Jakes' best work. It is hard to feel the same passion for the Crowns that you did for the Kents or Hazzards. Some of the writing just seems a bit tired. His villians are not quite as evil, his romances not quite as exciting and the overall pace just a bit short of fascinating. The history, however, is terrific as always. The research he must do is painstaking but it adds so much to the story. This is what seperates Jakes from te rest of the pack and still makes this an above average book.
Rating: 
Summary: Not worth it
Review: This one is certainly not as good as the previous novel in the series, Homeland. The plot is weak and highly reminiscent of Homeland (the tensed relation between the general and Fritzi, Carl wishes to marry Tess but she marries someone her father has choosen for her). There is little surprise in all of this. Furthermore, Fritzi is not a very compelling character, she's like a drifting boat with little power over the direction she takes. All the while she will be a reluctant star. Carl is much more interesting, but is given very little show time as Jakes centers whatever plot there is around Fritzi. There is also a lot of name-dropping (much of it useless), and it gets boring after a time.
Rating:
Summary: Weak
Review: This one is certainly not as good as the previous novel in the series, Homeland. The plot is weak and highly reminiscent of Homeland (the tensed relation between the general and Fritzi, Carl wishes to marry Tess but she marries someone her father has choosen for her). There is little surprise in all of this. Furthermore, Fritzi is not a very compelling character, she's like a drifting boat with little power over the direction she takes. All the while she will be a reluctant star. Carl is much more interesting, but is given very little show time as Jakes centers whatever plot there is around Fritzi. There is also a lot of name-dropping (much of it useless), and it gets boring after a time.
Rating:
Summary: Not worth it
Review: What a true disappointment...this book was long awaited, since Homeland was a mark of acheivement. Unlike Homeland, The North & South Trilogy, California Gold and the Kent Family Chronicles (I'm a Jakes FAN!), this book lost its steam before it even started. The only interesting focus was that of Paul Crown and his assistant, as they filmed WWI. Everything else was a drab attempt at trying to give the other characters interesting lives. There was too much jumping around, and not enough of character growth/evolution. Stagnant and wimpy, a real downer. Will heartily recommend any other book by Jakes...he's my History Man!
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