Rating: Summary: Unnatural selection Review: A world dreams of falling and does not wake up. People everywhere lie broken and bloody in their beds, as if assaulted by some unseen, deadly force. A handful of survivors find themselves fighting against a wild world whose mutations have ceased to follow any kind of normal evolutionary path. At the center of it all is Blane, a man with no memory of his past, a man who has always felt most at home in the forest but now finds it has rejected him; and Fay, a mad force of nature bound in human form and bent on hideous revenge.It may seem like just another end-of-the-world story (or is it a beginning?) at first but Lebbon looks at the situations on a deeply personal level and takes them in surprising directions. It is very much a character driven story. You will care about these people -- even the bad ones.
Rating: Summary: Unnatural selection Review: A world dreams of falling and does not wake up. People everywhere lie broken and bloody in their beds, as if assaulted by some unseen, deadly force. A handful of survivors find themselves fighting against a wild world whose mutations have ceased to follow any kind of normal evolutionary path. At the center of it all is Blane, a man with no memory of his past, a man who has always felt most at home in the forest but now finds it has rejected him; and Fay, a mad force of nature bound in human form and bent on hideous revenge. It may seem like just another end-of-the-world story (or is it a beginning?) at first but Lebbon looks at the situations on a deeply personal level and takes them in surprising directions. It is very much a character driven story. You will care about these people -- even the bad ones.
Rating: Summary: The Stand meets The Birds Review: I enjoyed this book, my first experience with Tim Lebbon. It took a while to get into the story, but it was interesting enough for me to finish it. The big problems were the lack of character development and the overwritten style of his descriptions. He takes a full page to describe what should be only be a paragraph. By doing this, I constantly got pulled out of the story. What brought me back? The villian. I love a powerful antagonist that seems on track to conquer our hero, and this novel made up a few points in that area. Those two complaints aside, I had a fun time with it and I look forward to Mr. Lebbon's new book, "Face".
Rating: Summary: The Stand meets The Birds Review: I enjoyed this book, my first experience with Tim Lebbon. It took a while to get into the story, but it was interesting enough for me to finish it. The big problems were the lack of character development and the overwritten style of his descriptions. He takes a full page to describe what should be only be a paragraph. By doing this, I constantly got pulled out of the story. What brought me back? The villian. I love a powerful antagonist that seems on track to conquer our hero, and this novel made up a few points in that area. Those two complaints aside, I had a fun time with it and I look forward to Mr. Lebbon's new book, "Face".
Rating: Summary: Save your money Review: I got about half-way through this pile of junk before I finally gave up and stopped reading it. Poorly written and not very scary, IMO.
Rating: Summary: Perfect Balance Review: I have to admit that I've grown tired of post-apocalyptic novels. They all started feeling the same after a while. Too many authors have tried to imitate the classics, like King's The Stand, McCammon's Swan Song or the undervalued Earth Abides. But here comes Nature of Balance, an original, terrifying and brilliantly written novel that delivers everything a good horror novel should, and more. When the greater part of the earth's population dies in one single night (dying through their dreams), the small group of survivors have to try and find a way to live in this changing new world. Not only has everyone died, but the nature and the animals themsevles are evolving into something more terrifying. And who exactly is that mysterious woman that keeps showing her face whenever trouble occurs? You have a group of very distinct and very original characters, something that is quite rare in this genre. You have Blane, an elderly man who has always loved nature, the father figure of sorts. You have Peer, a young woman who might just have a greater part to play in all of this than she first thought possible. You have Holly and Paul, two strangers who will find something comfort in each other's presence. And you have Mary, a wild girl who has finally found her purpose in a world that has always turned its back on her. When all these characters meet and mingle, bad things abound. The novel itself is a wild ride that never seems to stop. There is a slight part in the middle of the book that feels a little long, but besides this, the rest is a greatly written novel that never disappoints. And the finale is imaginative and completely unpredictable. Many things a revealed in the end and every piece of the puzzle falls in place. The Nature of Balance is a novel by Tim Lebbon, who's writing is skilled and very confident. This is one author to watch for. There are great things awaiting him in the future!
Rating: Summary: great premise, but...... Review: I randomly picked this book up in a bookstore. The back sounded interesting (then again they all do) but I was disappointed by the story's execution. He saves all of his revelations for the last 3 pages, (not nearly enough) and the rest of the book is confusing and boring. There is no character development, and what is going on with the secondary characters is never fully explained. It's too bad, especially as he had a great initial premise. If you want good apolyptic writing try The Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood (feminist) or Good Omens by Terry something and Neil something (humor). Horror seems like the right genre for apolyptic stories, but so far I haven't found any authors that I like or any books that competently dealt with it.
Rating: Summary: For too long, Mankind has taken advantage of Nature... Review: Now, Nature is about to strike back.
It happens in the form of horrible nightmares--hiddeous "falling" dreams, which kill off most of humanity in a single night. Those who survived where either asleep, managed to wake themselves up in time, or landed on a snowbank.
But the survivors now find themselves stranded in a new, dangerous world. Blane, a man always in tune with Nature, feels he holds a secret to what happened...Holly, a hard and rugged woman, is determined to survive...Paul, a Nature lover all his life, finds himself bewildered by the sudden change of plans...Peer, a young woman with an inner strength, knows that she too has a large role in this new future...Mary, once a victim, now rises up to power through violence...and Fay, a striking woman with a hideous secret, is the very imbodiment of evil itself...
Tim Lebbon has woven an incredible thriller. Eccentric and macabre, yes, but it is still a great horror/sci-fi thriller. "The Nature of Balance" is a fun, thrilling read about humanity's mistreatment of Nature, and what would happen if Nature tired of it...
Rating: Summary: Ambitious-- Lebbon Shoots and Scores Review: THE NATURE OF BALANCE is a very ambitious novel given its apocalyptic nature. I found myself wondering how Lebbon was ever going to satisfy the central conflict and wrap the thing up neatly-- he does both in grand style. Highly recommended.
Rating: Summary: strong start, weak finish Review: THE NATURE OF BALANCE starts out strong-- very strong. Lebbon's writing vividly conveys a world turned upside-down by deadly apocalyptic dreams and nature gone berserk. Unfortunately, the explanation for all these mysterious events is rather weak and mundane, and I was able to guess a good part of the ending 150 pages before it was explained. It was like seeing the movie 2001, with the original ending replaced by the ending to 2010. Still, I would recommend this novel for the vivid writing.
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