Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It's weird to think that it took me this long to read the story that was the inspiration to one of my favorite movies of all time. And one thing that I love about it is that it's just that, the inspiration. The two stories are completely different and yet the same. Both seem to take place in a very similar world with subtle changes. The book has quite a bit more inner conflict and quite a few more future techs that you never hear about in the movie. Also, there is a much much larger emphasis placed on the tragic loss of most all animals that thrived once before on our planet and helps me understand why the story is named so completely different than the movie. It may not sound as cool as "Blade Runner" does, but it's a catchy title in how odd and original it is.

What's so great about this book, along with the movie, is that while they are so similar and different at the same time, it's their similarities that make you love the stories and it's the differences that allow you to have a completely different and great experience. Neither story tells you what is going to happen in the other before you read or see it.

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Book Review? Why Not?

Treasure Of Khan by Clive Cussler
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I figured it was time to try reading a Clive Cussler novel. I knew the character of Dirk Pitt from watching the movie version of Sahara with Matthew Mcconaughey. Not the best movie, but a good enjoyable no brainer type movie. I wish I could say the same about this book.

I found myself skipping large parts of paragraphs because it was just too much pointless information that wasn't needed. Too much explaining about the surroundings for most every scene. Maybe this is what Cussler fans have come to enjoy, but it's not for me.

The other thing that just totally got to me was the amount of pure coincidence through this book. Dirk and his companion Al Giordino miraculously just happen to come across all of these random findings. They aren't looking for them, but of course, it turns out to be exactly what they needed to find in order to progress the story. And to make it worse, Dirk's children, who have absolutely no knowledge as to what Dirk is up to, just happen to come across a wreck off the coast of the big island of Hawaii that directly relates to the same things that Dirk and Giordino are investigating in Mongolia. Five and a half thousand miles away, no knowledge of what the other is doing and they both happen to accidentally investigate the same mystery at the same time. And there are quite a few other coincidences that happen throughout the book that just take away from the believability of the story.

All of the negativity aside, the main reason I still give it 2 stars is that I enjoyed the history behind it all. Cussler, if anything, does a great job at researching and thus teaching the reader what he has found out. I learned more about the times of Genghis and Kublai Khan by reading this book than what I was ever taught in school. And it was all interesting.

I doubt I'll be reading anymore Cussler after this one. If I do, it will be a long time until I even think of trying out any of his other works.

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