Book and Movie Reports by Ed

Book report: Return of the King, by J.R.R. Tolkien I finally finished reading Tolkien's Return of the King. As you may recall, I started with Fellowship of the Ring (whose book report has slid off the forums) and moved on to [url=http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showflat.php?Cat=0&Board=comics&Number=10176610&Searchpage=4&Main=10176610&Words=%2Btwo+%2Btowers&topic=&Search=true#Post10176610]The Two Towers[/url]. I'm "reading" them as books on tape, and I really recommend this. !!! SPOILERS BELOW!!! First off, RotK has much better writing than FotR or TTT. For example, he really makes you feel the desperation of the city of Minas Tirith, waiting for the siege by hordes of orcs, and the determination of the horse riders of Rohan to ride into battle, even if it means they all die. Their charge is inspiring and ranks right up there with other great moments in literature. Comparisons to the movie: In the book, there's a lot more detail about th

Book Report: Nothing To Lose, by Lee Child This is an action-adventure-mystery novel, one of a series with the same main character, Jack Reacher. In this one, Jack walks into a small town, kicks ass and takes names, unravels a few mysteries, and then walks off into the sunset, shortly after the gigantic explosion. (Into the sunset metaphorically, anyways: he actually heads south.) The book has fun, action, mysteries, surprises, and many interesting observations about life and the modern world. It was obvious to me after the first few pages that the author is really smart and clever, and Jack Reacher is also. He's an engaging character with a Sherlock-Holmes-like ability to notice details and figure out what they mean. He's also not afraid to get his hands dirty with breaking and entering or other necessary rough stuff. For instance, I picked up many useful tips about fistfights that I plan to use as soon as I grow six inches and gain 100 pounds of pure muscle. Jack has a minima