Book reviews: books that didn't impress me

Going with a couple of books that I wasn't that enamored with since the only book reviews I've posted have been favorable.  The first one was just a let down and the second one I hated.  Enjoy!  Or rather... don't.. Lol.  Skip these two.

The Lost World, Michael Crichton
This is the sequel to Jurassic Park and I didn't like it as well. I've read enough Crichton to see that his pattern was to write a book with the purpose of making points for the most part. Usually scientific points of some kind or another. I don't think he ever intended to write another one like this, but if I have my years straight, this book was written two years after Jurassic Park was made into a movie, so since it was a monster success, there was probably pressure for more.
It's evidenced in the fact that he resurrected the Ian Malcolm to make him a co-main character in this book. His death in the first book was relatively vague making this possible, but I think it was a mistake brought about by the popularity of the Malcolm character in the movie. Ian Malcolm was a secondary character that Crichton used as his own voice when he wanted to pontificate and speculate on various subjects. He still uses him like that partly in The Lost World, but Malcolm isn't as charming in the books as Goldblum portrayed him in the movie. He's socially awkward with a gloomy outlook most of the time. And the other main character that he shares the lecturing role with in this book is a total jackass. Crichton was good at making despicable characters like Levine. Thank goodness for the character of Thorne.
It's also evidenced by the fact that he repeated many of is points in this one. It's not uncommon for recapping in sequels. The first four books of the Harry Potter series were overburdened with recapping. But, the recapping in this seemed to be more like space filler until the characters get a chance to work out the mystery of this new island. Most of the motivations of the characters to stay or even to set out aren't as believable in this book apart from the most obsessive ones. And although the climax of the last quarter of the book is very exciting and fun, the wonder and cohesion of the first book isn't there anymore. The first book was a perfect storm, whereas this book seems a little forced. And there was a really cool dinosaur in this one that I would've loved to have seen more of and I think could've been more terrifying than even the raptors, but it was just used as a minor plot device to move things along. So, over all, I think I'm a little disappointed. Of course, I haven't seen this sequel movie, so they may have improved on some of this with Crichton since he helped adapt his own books for film.

Artemis Fowl

On the day I went book hunting, this is the one book I got that I didn't want.  It wasn't on my list of things that I wanted, which I would've known if I'd actually had the list that day.  I remembered right after I got it was something I had browsed and decided that I wasn't interested in it.  My instincts were actually right for a change.  Thumbs down on this.

Artemis Fowl is a boy genius.  Okay, fine.  He is a criminal mastermind.  Cool; I like criminal masterminds.  It would seem to copy Harry Potter, in that there is a magic world that coexists secretly with a human world, only not as creative and more cartoonish.  But, there are sufficient basic differences to give it points for originality.  In fact, the concept wasn't bad... it was just badly done.  It was uneven and predictable.  Only a child would be surprised by the twists, and yet it didn't seem to me like a story that could hold a child's interest for long.  The only reason you know that the protagonist is a 12-year-old boy is because the author assures you that he is.  But, the dialogue, attitudes, and descriptions lean more towards an adult mindset and are more like what you'd see in an evening crime drama.  What really ruined it for me though was the incessant environmentalist/PETA based whining and rants.  From the moment the race of fairies are introduced it just goes on and on, every other page, seemingly with every breath the author takes.  It gets really old, really fast.  If I want to hear a bunch of liberal self-loathing, I'll turn it on Sirius Left for a few minutes.  It really spoiled what could've been a somewhat fun little story.  I will not be reading any of the sequels.