But then, "AS" isn't your usual shoujo/shounen manga either: it dealt with issues such as morality, religion, and psychology on a gigantic scope and in a thought-provoking depth.
So was the music. I don't think I've heard a better OST (but the original drama CD is excellent too - I'm more fond of the pop songs on that one than this). There are a few rock songs on the CD, but a majority was classical orchestration with/or piano/violin solo. Some of themes are repeated, but it's so subtle and inperceptible, unlike some mono-thematic soundtracks like Jurassic Park and Titanic where the overture just goes on and on and on.
This CD has less of the gothic cling-clang of the drama CD and sounds more beautifully sorrowful as opposed to the other's dramaticness. A pity the drama CD is out of print - otherwise - get a hold on both CDs if you liked the manga - you wont be disappointed!
Some of my favorite songs: Setsuna's Theme, Tomodai, Sara's Death, Illusions, Dusk, Rosiel, Adam Kadmon, Your Name is Messiash, Kira's Father's Death, Sanctus, Thoughts of Two...
Alright, I'll stop before I practically list the entire soundtrack ^_^ but you get the rough idea how much I treasure it.

Based on the Little Mermaid, as everyone probably know. The introduction in the back - jealoused young mermaid...tidal force that could keep James and Pearl apart... - is entirely rubbish and has nearly no connection to the book. Reading it, you would think that after everything Pearl and her prince would be happily ever after despite the so-called "lovestruck merman" and "jealoused mermaid," being a YA romance book and all. Right? Wrong! All the intensity built up in the front between James and Pearl was promising, but the ending that each went off their own way with a pretty prince and princess just rubbed me the wrong way.

The characterization is decent in the beginning - believable, clear, and nicely written - but things started to go downhill when a mermaid saved James and his feelings for Pearl just evaporated in his determination to marry the pretty girl who saved him. I thought this was unlikely of a thoughtful prince who often escaped the palace to talk to think and talk with Pearl to throw away his best friend (whom he was about to propose to before he fell into the water) in favor of the girl who saved him. I mean, where had all those years they shared went? Pearl's personality, on the other hand, was about as bland as her hair. Her attraction to James faded promptly when a merman who claimed to be her betrothed appeared - without any hints of jealousy, upset, or shock.

Their encounter with the antagonist, Sea Witch, was unbelievably short and unfortunately, not sweet. The king's assassination was very simple, straightforward, and explained, and I don't mean that in a good way. The ending was just so, blah. The second half of the book lacked the emotional play and complications that the first half promised, making the conclusion extremely predictable and yet, you couldn't feel any feelings for the characters. To sum it up, it's not the best book I've read, nor is it bad. I read the others in the series and I liked "The Storyteller's Daughter" better by far, perhaps because I'm rather unfamiliar with the original tale. Also, if one liked YA fantasy, I recommend John Peel's "The Secret of Dragonhome" - a pity it isn't more known. Also, Gail Carson Levine's humorous reworks of fairytales are also worth a read.

After I finished (and cried in the end of) the first part of the Wayfarer Redemption series, I eagerly started on Hades' Daughter, a historical fantasy that began with an ancient intrigue from the Greek myth of Theseus and Ariadne and spans till WWII. However, to my dismay, rather, the book was rather irritating in its endless details of gore and rape, that after finishing (and stopping for a while in between), I did not feel any anticipation for its sequel. Brutus was a [idiot], Cornelia a useless, sniveling child, and Genvissa I disliked beyond measure, and the only sympathi-ble character, Coel, was ruthless slaughtered in the end. But Gods' Concubine got me reading and continuing this series once more. A fan of medieval and especially Arthurian literature, I decided to give this book a spin without consideration of its precessor: just for the history of it about the Battle of Hastings. Good gods, I'm glad I did.

After 2000 years, the characters have finally matured into something resembling real people, instead of just flat, one way props! Caela/Cornelia is much much more likable and stronger, reminding me of Faraday in Starman, and thankfully, Coel returned too (I don't know what I'll do if he isn't here! Judging from the foreshadowings, he will be back for the next 2 books too, thank goodness) as Harold, the last Saxon king of England (and oddly, Caela's own brother, but I didn't find that disturbing, considering their previous liaisons). Brutus/William of Normandy has changed the most, learning to respect his wife as an equal and realized that Swanne/Genvissa as what the [witch] she really is. Swanna is the only rather flat character - she was malevolent and manipulative as always before. Everyone from the old cast had returned (mostly the British ones), plus some new figures such as Matilda of Flanders, who civilized that brute in Brutus.

Poor Caela was still the battleground between Mag and Asterion, and some of the characters died the same way they did in their previous life...The strength of this book is that it is much more absorbing than the first. Many of the unnecessary details disappeared, and as a result, I hang on closely to each word as it unfolded the world of 1066 England or the character's thoughts and feelings.

The lyrics are completely boring. So In Love With Two is quite good, and she's got a rather good voice but not very memorable. The songs are rather junior high-ish and rathe like Hilary Duff, though I prefer Mikaila's voice to Duff's sugar coated one. The only tracks worth listening to are So In Love With Two, It's All Up to You, and perhaps My Heart Cant Let You Go.

If anyone want deep and soulful lyrics and catchy beat AND beautiful voice, they should try Dido.

This is the worst crossover album I've ever heard. Though Shakira's English isn't all that great and she whines a bit too much, her lyrics were oddly fun and creative, and her Spanish songs were a blast. I loved Thalia's 2002 Spanish album because Tu y Yo was amazing. The English version of that just stinks because all Thalia can do is whine in English - it's a much more shrill and distorted of her real voice. Check that album out. Meanwhile, curb your money on this one.

Upon reading the positive reviews I borrowed a copy of this book, for I am a fan of Amelia Atwater-Rhodes's fantasy novels. Sigh. What can I say? The plotline is so predictable that I wondered if Aeriel has terribly weak logic to not see Darkangel IS the Prince Irrylath Dirna drowned in the lake. She is not very likable, the story is oddly bland and lacks in real action, drama, and passion. I suggest reading Amelia Atwater-Rhodes' "Hawksong" to get more kicks than this dry thing.

Numerous retellings of the Arthurian legend had been published - with the exception of the Mists of Avalon, none of them can sustain a reader's attention while being faithful to the original legend. Truth be told, it must be extremely difficult to pull off a novel when its readers already know the plot back to front, and that is one area where Queen of Camelot spetacularly exceeds. Though having read many versions of the story already, Queen of Camelot is one novel I could not put down: this book shed light on Arthur's queen, who was portrayed as a weak and moral-less woman who brought about the downfall of Camelot, sculpting her into a strong and just queen. This novel also loks favorably at the character of Arthur - who was pretty much ignored in the other books. Together, the pair worked Camelot into the height of its glory, and its fall was due to a cruel twist of fate, in which Guinevere, Arthur, and Lancelot were victims of.

This is the must-read retelling of the story. I suggest reading the Mists of Avalon in addition to this. I have also read Rosalind Miles' Guenever series but personally I didn't think much of it. Alice Borchardt's version, fascinating by itself, was unfaithful to the original story.

Don't be fooled by the striking cover and the blurb! This book has the most predictable plot - namely, the King Arthur-love-triangle. Everything is incredulous and the author offers no details on why something happened how it happened - from Akeela's infatuation with Cassandra at first sight to Lukien leading her astray with temptations to the end. The characters are flat - we can only see one side of each main character. We first meet Akeela being the kindest king ever, then we found out he became an alcoholic after finding out Cassandra's infedelity. Cassandra and Lukien are beyond boring to read about. Their deaths are dry and the ending is unsatisfactory. The writing is childish, somewhat, and under-developed: it is a struggle not to laugh through this supposedly serious book.

If you want some real tear-jerkers or simply good stories with believable characters - flawed they might be -, or just like the love-triangle romances, I suggest Nancy McKenzie's "Queen of Camelot" - a true masterpiece retelling of the legend of Camelot: or the celebrated "Mists of Avalon" by Marion Zimmer Bradley.

No denying it, Artemis Fowl 3 is a brilliant sequel. Our Arty is once again back with clevr fairy technology, his genius, and the fairies at his back. This time, the role of the vilain shifted from Artemis to Spiro, another criminal mastermind who stole Artemis' fairy technology (which was also stolen, by the way)and killed Butler. With the fairies at his side, because Spiro's salvatge could wreck the society of the People, Holly, and joined eventually by Mulch assisted Artemis in his quest to save Butler and the C Cube, and Butler's sister. We see more of Juliet and through her training to become a body guard (which is hilarious),

This is my personal favorite from the AF series: the event and the two masterminds playing each other off is intriguing, the plot is original and brilliant, and Foaly's inventions are better than ever.