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Pineapple Street follows three women in an old Brooklyn Heights clan: one who was born with money,...
Family New York
Merissa (11953 KP) rated The Watcher (Crossing Realms Series #2) in Books
Sep 25, 2023
The Watcher is the second book in the Crossing Realms series, and focuses on Dev Geary, who actually died in the first book! I would say that it is definitely important to read this as a serial, rather than a series of standalones. This does not stand alone and even though I have read Book 1, it still took me a while to remember what had gone on and with whom in The Keeper.
It is action-packed, full of new characters that have a story to tell. Dev has a job to do, and only a limited amount of time to do it in. This certainly doesn't involve the person he is there to find! Well written, with no editing or grammatical errors to disrupt the reading flow, this book was smoothly paced. It finished off Dev's story whilst still leading on nicely to the next one. So long as you read in sequence, I would definitely recommend this book/series.
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and my comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Feb 17, 2017
It is action-packed, full of new characters that have a story to tell. Dev has a job to do, and only a limited amount of time to do it in. This certainly doesn't involve the person he is there to find! Well written, with no editing or grammatical errors to disrupt the reading flow, this book was smoothly paced. It finished off Dev's story whilst still leading on nicely to the next one. So long as you read in sequence, I would definitely recommend this book/series.
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and my comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Feb 17, 2017
Merissa (11953 KP) rated A Lightness in My Soul in Books
Jan 18, 2021 (Updated Aug 7, 2023)
A LIGHTNESS IN MY SOUL is a fictional novella based on a true story, one that happened in Germany many years ago.
Just like the British evacuated their children, so did the Germans, although not everyone was put into homes, but camps instead. This is a heartbreaking and harrowing tale, told in the first person, as Arthur goes to a KLV camp. You stay with him as he begins to question just what is going on, then the Americans arrive, and you stay with him in the aftermath of that.
The conditions Arthur has to face are very well-written, managing to give the reader the horror and hopelessness of the situation without making it gruesome or unnecessarily violent.
For anyone with an interest in the history of WWII, especially if you are interested in the German perspective, then this is definitely one for your bookshelves. A one-sitting, engrossing read highly recommended by me.
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Jan 18, 2021
Just like the British evacuated their children, so did the Germans, although not everyone was put into homes, but camps instead. This is a heartbreaking and harrowing tale, told in the first person, as Arthur goes to a KLV camp. You stay with him as he begins to question just what is going on, then the Americans arrive, and you stay with him in the aftermath of that.
The conditions Arthur has to face are very well-written, managing to give the reader the horror and hopelessness of the situation without making it gruesome or unnecessarily violent.
For anyone with an interest in the history of WWII, especially if you are interested in the German perspective, then this is definitely one for your bookshelves. A one-sitting, engrossing read highly recommended by me.
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Jan 18, 2021
Merissa (11953 KP) rated Burn Baby Burn (Fairytales of the Myth #1) in Books
Jan 27, 2021 (Updated Aug 7, 2023)
BURN BABY BURN is the first novella in the Fairytales of the Myth series and there is no easing gently into this series. Oh no! Instead, we jump straight into the action with children fighting, followed by 'real' fighting, slaves, abuse, you name it.
Ella has put up with more than any person should, but her childhood enemy turned friend, Cadeyrn, got her through. When she feels he has betrayed her though, all bets are off and she turns to a pact with the Dark Fae, Daman.
I thoroughly enjoyed being with Ella in this novella. Seeing things from her perspective, and feeling her pain, it was a brilliant read. The only thing I wasn't sure of was the ending with Delentia. I couldn't quite get my head around what she actually wanted.
Nevertheless, this was a brilliant read that I have no hesitation in recommending.
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Jan 25, 2021
Ella has put up with more than any person should, but her childhood enemy turned friend, Cadeyrn, got her through. When she feels he has betrayed her though, all bets are off and she turns to a pact with the Dark Fae, Daman.
I thoroughly enjoyed being with Ella in this novella. Seeing things from her perspective, and feeling her pain, it was a brilliant read. The only thing I wasn't sure of was the ending with Delentia. I couldn't quite get my head around what she actually wanted.
Nevertheless, this was a brilliant read that I have no hesitation in recommending.
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Jan 25, 2021
LeftSideCut (3778 KP) rated Evil Dead (2013) in Movies
Jun 26, 2022 (Updated Jun 26, 2022)
The Evil Dead trilogy is beloved by many a horror fan the world over, and rightly so. I wouldn't envy the person who was made responsible for continuing the franchise after Sam Raimi, but Fede Alverez does an admirable job in giving us a film that has its own identity, but still retains the fingerprints of what came before. The first 30 minutes or so are a little cookie-cutter 2010s horror, with plenty of characters that are unlikable, flashes of weirdness here and there, and some questionable dialogue. When everything kicks off though, holy shit, it kicks off. There is no holding back when it comes to the gore and the last 45 minutes move at a break neck pace. It climaxes in a finale that is truly something to behold, sirens blaring, blood raining from the sky, all executed in a hellish fashion. The production values are top notch as well, which ties everything together nicely.
Overall, Evil Dead is a horrifically entertaining remake that goes in its own direction and doesn't give a fuck, and ultimately ensures that there isn't a weak entry in the whole series, something that not many horror franchises can boast.
Overall, Evil Dead is a horrifically entertaining remake that goes in its own direction and doesn't give a fuck, and ultimately ensures that there isn't a weak entry in the whole series, something that not many horror franchises can boast.
Gareth von Kallenbach (977 KP) rated First Man (2018) in Movies
Jul 2, 2019
As a child growing up in the 80’s the space race had already been around for decades. While I had heard the stories of my parents watching Neil Armstrong take his first steps on the moon, at the time I didn’t realize what it really took for those very first steps to occur. Considering we were living in a time full of space shuttles and satellites, it was easy to forget that only twenty years earlier we were still working on how to get a man into space.
First Man by Universal Pictures and directed by Damien Chazelle (La La Land / Whiplash) takes us on the incredible journey of Neil Armstrong (Ryan Gosling) becoming the first man on the moon. The movie covers almost a decade of time, starting with the first scene of Neil Armstrong in a high-altitude test flight in his X-15 to of course the pivotal moment when he first steps foot on the moon. It’s a lot to pack into a film that only runs a bit over 2 hours (138 minutes to be precise) so even though it doesn’t go too deep into any particular event, it shows just enough of the journey to be very captivating.
The cinematography is both beautiful and a bit unsettling at the same time. It’s grainy and shaky, looking as though the film itself was shot in the same era that it portrays. There is a blend of new footage and actual footage that is practically impossible to distinguish from each other. There were many times throughout the film where I questioned whether the footage was actually pulled from original film, or simply filmed to appear that it was. Viewers who are sensitive to shaky camera sequences (where it looks like it is being filmed using an old 8mm handheld movie camera) or for those who prefer a crisper image of grainy footage might be slightly turned off, however I found the mix of both old and new incredibly interesting and it made all of the characters appear as if they were part of an archived documentary, instead of an entirely new film.
The video wasn’t the only mix that is present in the film as there is also a blend of old and new audio footage. They even used the original recording of the moon landing and seamlessly blended Ryan Gosling’s voice in where Neil Armstrong would have originally been heard. The mix of audio footage was done so flawlessly throughout the film that you may even start to believe that that Ryan Gosling and Neil Armstrong are one-in-the-same person.
Since the movie is based on Neil Armstrong himself and not directly on the space race, a lot of other critical events are simply introduced and then gone in a flash. The time jumps in the movie can be a bit confusing as well. For example, there are scenes where his wife Janet (Claire Foy) is pregnant one minute and the very next minute she has a young son running around. Years pass by in minutes in this film, even for crucial events. Another example is when we are introduced to the young astronauts training for the Gemini flights and then a short time later they are ready to complete their missions. Considering these astronauts were an important part of history, it would have been nice to see a little bit more of their development. The best way to describe these hasty time jumps is that they play out a lot like reading a Wikipedia article, the key points are shown and described in detail, but any of the character development (outside of Neil and his wife) is largely missing. That’s not to say that there aren’t other characters in the film that are important, they just aren’t the focus of the film.
If you are looking for a film that is action oriented like Apollo 13 or The Right Stuff, then you may be a bit disappointed in First Man as it is definitely more like a documentary than a Hollywood blockbuster. If you are however interested in the history of Neil Armstrong and his trials and tribulations on his way to the first moon landing, then you will be in for an incredible journey. Even though First Man seems more at home on the History Channel than Netflix, that’s what makes it such an interesting and enjoyable movie. I thoroughly enjoyed First Man and it’s excellent blend of history and personal storytelling makes it a great movie to see with the whole family.
First Man by Universal Pictures and directed by Damien Chazelle (La La Land / Whiplash) takes us on the incredible journey of Neil Armstrong (Ryan Gosling) becoming the first man on the moon. The movie covers almost a decade of time, starting with the first scene of Neil Armstrong in a high-altitude test flight in his X-15 to of course the pivotal moment when he first steps foot on the moon. It’s a lot to pack into a film that only runs a bit over 2 hours (138 minutes to be precise) so even though it doesn’t go too deep into any particular event, it shows just enough of the journey to be very captivating.
The cinematography is both beautiful and a bit unsettling at the same time. It’s grainy and shaky, looking as though the film itself was shot in the same era that it portrays. There is a blend of new footage and actual footage that is practically impossible to distinguish from each other. There were many times throughout the film where I questioned whether the footage was actually pulled from original film, or simply filmed to appear that it was. Viewers who are sensitive to shaky camera sequences (where it looks like it is being filmed using an old 8mm handheld movie camera) or for those who prefer a crisper image of grainy footage might be slightly turned off, however I found the mix of both old and new incredibly interesting and it made all of the characters appear as if they were part of an archived documentary, instead of an entirely new film.
The video wasn’t the only mix that is present in the film as there is also a blend of old and new audio footage. They even used the original recording of the moon landing and seamlessly blended Ryan Gosling’s voice in where Neil Armstrong would have originally been heard. The mix of audio footage was done so flawlessly throughout the film that you may even start to believe that that Ryan Gosling and Neil Armstrong are one-in-the-same person.
Since the movie is based on Neil Armstrong himself and not directly on the space race, a lot of other critical events are simply introduced and then gone in a flash. The time jumps in the movie can be a bit confusing as well. For example, there are scenes where his wife Janet (Claire Foy) is pregnant one minute and the very next minute she has a young son running around. Years pass by in minutes in this film, even for crucial events. Another example is when we are introduced to the young astronauts training for the Gemini flights and then a short time later they are ready to complete their missions. Considering these astronauts were an important part of history, it would have been nice to see a little bit more of their development. The best way to describe these hasty time jumps is that they play out a lot like reading a Wikipedia article, the key points are shown and described in detail, but any of the character development (outside of Neil and his wife) is largely missing. That’s not to say that there aren’t other characters in the film that are important, they just aren’t the focus of the film.
If you are looking for a film that is action oriented like Apollo 13 or The Right Stuff, then you may be a bit disappointed in First Man as it is definitely more like a documentary than a Hollywood blockbuster. If you are however interested in the history of Neil Armstrong and his trials and tribulations on his way to the first moon landing, then you will be in for an incredible journey. Even though First Man seems more at home on the History Channel than Netflix, that’s what makes it such an interesting and enjoyable movie. I thoroughly enjoyed First Man and it’s excellent blend of history and personal storytelling makes it a great movie to see with the whole family.
Sophia (Bookwyrming Thoughts) (530 KP) rated Keeper of the Bees (Black Birds of the Gallows, #2) in Books
Jan 23, 2020
<b><i>I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.</i></b>
<h2><strong>I enjoyed <em>Black Bird of the Gallows</em>, but if I had to choose between the first and the second, I loved the second so much better than the first.</strong></h2>
<em>Keeper of the Bees</em> is Meg Kassel's second novel, the companion novel to <em>Black Bird of the Gallows</em>. We're brought back to the world of harbringers and beekeepers in a smol town in Missouri (hey, look, my home state!) and their roles in death.
<h3><strong><em>Keeper of the Bees</em> is a bit of a villain story.</strong></h3>
Harbringers flock to where death happens and "absorb" the energy emitted. Beekeepers usually cause the death by using their bees to sting someone, resulting in them reaching their destruction (aka death). <em>Keeper of the Bees</em> tells the story of Dresden, a boy cursed for eternity, and Essie, a girl who eats peppercorn to discern real from unreal.
<h3><strong>Dresden is a precious onion with layers despite being Evil.</strong></h3>
Most villains are evil and pure evil, but Dresden is a precious little onion who is <em>cursed</em> to be evil. He doesn't <em>want</em> to be evil and <em>shows</em> that he doesn't want to be evil. Throughout the novel, he's struggling to not sting Essie despite the bees inside wanting him to do so.
<h3><strong>Aunt Bel is amazing, and I just want to hug her.</strong></h3>
Essie is part of the Wickerton family, a family with members who are cursed to lose their sanity and eventually end up at Stanton House. Essie's curse is not being able to tell what is real and unreal, at least without the help of peppercorns. Both her and Aunt Bel are in a constant battle with her father and psychiatrist when it comes to her mental health and sending her to Stanton House with other members. Aunt Bel is such a strong advocate for Essie and her Grandma Edie, and she refuses to give in to what Essie's father and psychiatrist want for Essie.
<h3><strong>Reece! Angie! References to the first novel!</strong></h3>
Do you <em>have</em> to read the first novel? Nawh, you don't have to since Kassel gives the 411 on her world for those who haven't read the first, so you're safe to dive into <em>Keeper of the Bees</em> without worrying about being totally lost, <em>but</em> you should definitely read <em>Black Bird of the Gallows</em> first.
<h2><strong>Overall, <em>Keeper of the Bees</em> was a delight to read! I loved seeing from the other side of things where the supposed "villain" is in a constant battle to be a better person.</strong></h2>
<a href="http://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/keeper-of-the-bees-by-meg-kassel/"; target="_blank">This review was originally posted on Bookwyrming Thoughts</a>
<h2><strong>I enjoyed <em>Black Bird of the Gallows</em>, but if I had to choose between the first and the second, I loved the second so much better than the first.</strong></h2>
<em>Keeper of the Bees</em> is Meg Kassel's second novel, the companion novel to <em>Black Bird of the Gallows</em>. We're brought back to the world of harbringers and beekeepers in a smol town in Missouri (hey, look, my home state!) and their roles in death.
<h3><strong><em>Keeper of the Bees</em> is a bit of a villain story.</strong></h3>
Harbringers flock to where death happens and "absorb" the energy emitted. Beekeepers usually cause the death by using their bees to sting someone, resulting in them reaching their destruction (aka death). <em>Keeper of the Bees</em> tells the story of Dresden, a boy cursed for eternity, and Essie, a girl who eats peppercorn to discern real from unreal.
<h3><strong>Dresden is a precious onion with layers despite being Evil.</strong></h3>
Most villains are evil and pure evil, but Dresden is a precious little onion who is <em>cursed</em> to be evil. He doesn't <em>want</em> to be evil and <em>shows</em> that he doesn't want to be evil. Throughout the novel, he's struggling to not sting Essie despite the bees inside wanting him to do so.
<h3><strong>Aunt Bel is amazing, and I just want to hug her.</strong></h3>
Essie is part of the Wickerton family, a family with members who are cursed to lose their sanity and eventually end up at Stanton House. Essie's curse is not being able to tell what is real and unreal, at least without the help of peppercorns. Both her and Aunt Bel are in a constant battle with her father and psychiatrist when it comes to her mental health and sending her to Stanton House with other members. Aunt Bel is such a strong advocate for Essie and her Grandma Edie, and she refuses to give in to what Essie's father and psychiatrist want for Essie.
<h3><strong>Reece! Angie! References to the first novel!</strong></h3>
Do you <em>have</em> to read the first novel? Nawh, you don't have to since Kassel gives the 411 on her world for those who haven't read the first, so you're safe to dive into <em>Keeper of the Bees</em> without worrying about being totally lost, <em>but</em> you should definitely read <em>Black Bird of the Gallows</em> first.
<h2><strong>Overall, <em>Keeper of the Bees</em> was a delight to read! I loved seeing from the other side of things where the supposed "villain" is in a constant battle to be a better person.</strong></h2>
<a href="http://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/keeper-of-the-bees-by-meg-kassel/"; target="_blank">This review was originally posted on Bookwyrming Thoughts</a>
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Ross (3284 KP) rated Domino Strays in Books
Sep 3, 2020 (Updated Sep 3, 2020)
Great comic novel
I received an advance copy of this book from the publishers in exchange for an honest review.
I have to admit to being a little disappointed when I realised this was an actual novel rather than a graphic novel. It had been filed as a graphic novel on netgalley and I was looking forward to my first reading of a Domino comic. However, once I started this disappointment evaporated. This is a wonderfully told and thrilling, charming book.
The story switches from different times through Domino's life so is very much an origin story. We have when Domino was growing up in a variation of Wolverine's Weapon X programme, as Project Armageddon sought to create the perfect soldier. Domino was one output from that programme, as she developed the mutant ability to have luck on her side. Then we have her time in an orphanage, having escaped the programme. Then her mission to track down the person who might have been responsible for her upbringing and finally her present mission, to rescue two adolescents who have been brainwashed by a cult leader. These different time periods are covered throughout the book, layering up her back story as we follow her on her current mission. This is superbly woven together, and we have almost parallel storylines near the end, her infiltrating Project Armageddon and her sneaking into the cult's base. A few times this got a little muddled in my head, but served to wonderfully draw a parallel between her upbringing and that of the non-mutant, more traditional cult.
Domino is accompanied on her later mission by Black Widow amongst others (the characters' real names are generally used, so it was fun to try and track down which Marvel characters they actually were), but she is very much the leader of her merc crew.
The storyline is good, combining plenty of backstory and exciting missions, with excellently narrated action sequences. I don't tend to like first person books as much as third person, but this angle gave Domino a much more likable personality, having a fair chunk of her friend Deadpool's humour, mixed with Rogue's childhood trauma and Wolverine's anger at experimentation.
As noted in Deadpool 2, having luck on your side isn't a superpower, and it isn't very cinematic. Domino's power is not overly laboured in the book, and it isn't used to make her seen completely invulnerable to injury. She uses it sparingly because luck going her way in a fight (bullets being deflected etc) can have adverse consequences for those around her. It was used when absolutely needed, but she has so many capabilities that she barely did.
This is a really great book that gives so much more backstory to a lesser-known Marvel character than could have been achieved in a graphic novel. A very strong female cast of role models.
The only downside was the overuse of footnotes which didn't tend to add much to the story, other than witty asides, and are quite frustrating on a kindle.
I have to admit to being a little disappointed when I realised this was an actual novel rather than a graphic novel. It had been filed as a graphic novel on netgalley and I was looking forward to my first reading of a Domino comic. However, once I started this disappointment evaporated. This is a wonderfully told and thrilling, charming book.
The story switches from different times through Domino's life so is very much an origin story. We have when Domino was growing up in a variation of Wolverine's Weapon X programme, as Project Armageddon sought to create the perfect soldier. Domino was one output from that programme, as she developed the mutant ability to have luck on her side. Then we have her time in an orphanage, having escaped the programme. Then her mission to track down the person who might have been responsible for her upbringing and finally her present mission, to rescue two adolescents who have been brainwashed by a cult leader. These different time periods are covered throughout the book, layering up her back story as we follow her on her current mission. This is superbly woven together, and we have almost parallel storylines near the end, her infiltrating Project Armageddon and her sneaking into the cult's base. A few times this got a little muddled in my head, but served to wonderfully draw a parallel between her upbringing and that of the non-mutant, more traditional cult.
Domino is accompanied on her later mission by Black Widow amongst others (the characters' real names are generally used, so it was fun to try and track down which Marvel characters they actually were), but she is very much the leader of her merc crew.
The storyline is good, combining plenty of backstory and exciting missions, with excellently narrated action sequences. I don't tend to like first person books as much as third person, but this angle gave Domino a much more likable personality, having a fair chunk of her friend Deadpool's humour, mixed with Rogue's childhood trauma and Wolverine's anger at experimentation.
As noted in Deadpool 2, having luck on your side isn't a superpower, and it isn't very cinematic. Domino's power is not overly laboured in the book, and it isn't used to make her seen completely invulnerable to injury. She uses it sparingly because luck going her way in a fight (bullets being deflected etc) can have adverse consequences for those around her. It was used when absolutely needed, but she has so many capabilities that she barely did.
This is a really great book that gives so much more backstory to a lesser-known Marvel character than could have been achieved in a graphic novel. A very strong female cast of role models.
The only downside was the overuse of footnotes which didn't tend to add much to the story, other than witty asides, and are quite frustrating on a kindle.
Phil Leader (619 KP) rated Flatland (Enhanced Illustrated Edition) in Books
Nov 13, 2019
I have wanted to read Flatland since I read the reference to it in Gödel Escher Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid which was a set text at university. As the book is out of copyright it was one of the first that I downloaded to my eReader.
The book (although really a novella rather than a full novel at only 88 pages) works on two levels; firstly the story revolves around A Square, an inhabitant of the two dimensional space that is Flatland. Most of the book describes the rigid social hierarchy of the regular polygons that make up the people - the more sides a person has the higher their social standing. Irregular shapes are despised and usually executed. The second half involves investigation into the nature of dimensions when A Square first of all dreams of a one dimensional land, then is shown three dimensions and zero dimensions by a spherical person from the three dimensional land.
The first half is a satire on the rigid class system of Victorian society - it is particularly disparaging of women, who being lines rather than shapes are very much second class citizens, even having their own doors into and out of houses. This half shows the book's age, it was written in a different time and looking at it from more than 100 years later a lot of the discussion is overlong and unengaging. This part has not aged at all well.
The book only comes into its own when A Square has a dream about a land of one dimension, populated by lines of varying length, the longest line being the King of Lineland. The two dimensional dreamer attempts to persuade the King that is he could step sideways he would be able to see that his land of a single line was limited. Of course the King can conceive of no such direction as 'sideways' and rejects the suggestion as ridiculous.
A sphere from the 3 dimensional land of Space then visits Flatland, appearing as a circle of varying size as he passes through the two dimensional space. He tries to persuade Square that if he could move 'up' or 'down' he would be able to move beyond the rigid plane of his existence. Obviously the square cannot understand a direction which doesn't fall into two dimensions, until the sphere pulls him up and then he can look down to see Flatland spread out below him. He has an epiphany and is determined to spread the word on three dimensional space. The sphere also visits a zero dimensional land. However when the square suggests that if the sphere could somehow move in a new direction he might be able to enter four dimensional space the sphere is very quick to say how ridiculous such a notion is.
In this way the ideas behind dimensions are communicated quite effectively, including being able to deduce the properties of a four dimensional regular shape by extrapolating the properties of lines, squares and cubes. It is then clear how properties of higher dimensions can be calculated without our poor three dimensional minds actually being able to perceive of it.
Flatland is regarded as one of the very first science fiction novels. So is Gulliver's Travels but that has very little science and to my mind is more of a fantasy book. Despite Flatland having very little in the way of story and plot (although there are twists in the story) and the first half isn't really story at all but social commentary, it definitely describes fantastic worlds and imagines what the results would be of living in such places. This seems to me to be the very concept behind science fiction.
In conclusion, I would not recommend this to everyone as I think its appeal is quite limited. But for anyone of a mathematical bent who likes science fiction, it's always good to see where it all started.
The book (although really a novella rather than a full novel at only 88 pages) works on two levels; firstly the story revolves around A Square, an inhabitant of the two dimensional space that is Flatland. Most of the book describes the rigid social hierarchy of the regular polygons that make up the people - the more sides a person has the higher their social standing. Irregular shapes are despised and usually executed. The second half involves investigation into the nature of dimensions when A Square first of all dreams of a one dimensional land, then is shown three dimensions and zero dimensions by a spherical person from the three dimensional land.
The first half is a satire on the rigid class system of Victorian society - it is particularly disparaging of women, who being lines rather than shapes are very much second class citizens, even having their own doors into and out of houses. This half shows the book's age, it was written in a different time and looking at it from more than 100 years later a lot of the discussion is overlong and unengaging. This part has not aged at all well.
The book only comes into its own when A Square has a dream about a land of one dimension, populated by lines of varying length, the longest line being the King of Lineland. The two dimensional dreamer attempts to persuade the King that is he could step sideways he would be able to see that his land of a single line was limited. Of course the King can conceive of no such direction as 'sideways' and rejects the suggestion as ridiculous.
A sphere from the 3 dimensional land of Space then visits Flatland, appearing as a circle of varying size as he passes through the two dimensional space. He tries to persuade Square that if he could move 'up' or 'down' he would be able to move beyond the rigid plane of his existence. Obviously the square cannot understand a direction which doesn't fall into two dimensions, until the sphere pulls him up and then he can look down to see Flatland spread out below him. He has an epiphany and is determined to spread the word on three dimensional space. The sphere also visits a zero dimensional land. However when the square suggests that if the sphere could somehow move in a new direction he might be able to enter four dimensional space the sphere is very quick to say how ridiculous such a notion is.
In this way the ideas behind dimensions are communicated quite effectively, including being able to deduce the properties of a four dimensional regular shape by extrapolating the properties of lines, squares and cubes. It is then clear how properties of higher dimensions can be calculated without our poor three dimensional minds actually being able to perceive of it.
Flatland is regarded as one of the very first science fiction novels. So is Gulliver's Travels but that has very little science and to my mind is more of a fantasy book. Despite Flatland having very little in the way of story and plot (although there are twists in the story) and the first half isn't really story at all but social commentary, it definitely describes fantastic worlds and imagines what the results would be of living in such places. This seems to me to be the very concept behind science fiction.
In conclusion, I would not recommend this to everyone as I think its appeal is quite limited. But for anyone of a mathematical bent who likes science fiction, it's always good to see where it all started.