Rating: 
Summary: A thoroughly enjoyable read
Review: I recently read For Kings and Planets by Ethan Canin and found it to be one of the very best books I have read in recent years. I found his rich writing style reminiscient of Wallace Stegner. Beautifully written and masterfully conceived, this is an enriching book.
Rating: 
Summary: Canin is Not a Novelist
Review: It's 0-for-2 on the novel front for Ethan Canin. I enjoyed his ten-year-old collection of short stories, "The Emperor of the Air," but found everything he has written since disappointing. Canin's characters in "For Kings and Planets" lie flat on the page, and the plot is so derivative and stifling I could see what was coming at every juncture. I found the ending especially maddening because I had invested a fair amount of time on this novel. It left me hungering for something surprising or meaningful or even conclusive to happen. Mostly, though, I found "For Kings and Planets" BORING. Canin just keeps reworking the same theme over and over and over in his writing, as if stuck in an adolescent script he can't see his way out of. Save yourself the money and pass this one up. I sure won't be buying any more books by Ethan Canin.
Rating: 
Summary: Dissappointing
Review: I find the premise of the novel enticing- a wide eyed innocent seduced by savier peers. Unfortunately, Canin seems like he is going thru the motions with this book, and he leaves the reader with one-deminsional characters.The author's strength lies in his ability to keep a secret out there- from the reader, the protaganist, or perhaps both- and then have it revealed, making us all the wiser. The portrayal of a former baseball great in The Palace Thief and what the depiction says about the american character comes to mind, as well as the prep school teacher's epiphany. I kept waiting for this in his new novel, but Canin dissappoints, for he bangs you over the head, almost didactically. Did he lose interest and have to meet a deadline? I hope he regains his intensity in his next work, and uses his skillful eye to better advantage.
Rating:
Summary: A half empty glass!
Review: Canin does little to renew this already old story theme. I found the story to be captivating though. The problem lies not in the story per se, but in Mr.Canin's forceful use of language. Much is written with little effect on the bottom-line image the reader gets.
Rating: 
Summary: First time Ethan Canin reader-- "I'm hooked!"
Review: Orno, a quiet kid from the mid-west comes to New York to go to Columbia University and meets Marshall--a savvy New Yorker--the first day on campus. Two very different people from two very different worlds, develop a unique bond of friendship. I felt that the characters were wonderfully developed and Ethan Canin keeps you wondering what is going to happen to them up until the very last page! As a first time reader of this author, I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and am looking forward to reading much more from Ethan Canin!
Rating: 
Summary: FOR KINGS AND PLANETS=BRIDESHEAD REVISITED
Review: I was stunned by the close parallels that one could draw from Canin's book "For Kings and Planets" if one had ever read Evelyn Waugh's Novel, " Brideshead Revisited". The latter book is the far superior version of this story, as well as the original. I am amazed that Mr. Canin, a usually very talented writer was allowed to plagerize with such a heavy hand. If you do not believe me read both and see for yourself, it is glaringly obvious. It is well written regardless. And , if you have not read Waugh's novel I am sure it would seem very good. But, I suggest if you want a really extraordinary read you should opt for Waugh.
Rating:
Summary: Short story master once again out of his league with novel
Review: A book filled with lovely prose but a superficial story and hollow characters. Ethan Canin is perhaps one of this country's premier short fiction craftsmen but this second attempt at the novel (after BLUE RIVER) falls flat. Canin portrays his characters as all this or all that, failing to add dimension. The plot chugs along as predictably and as innocuously as any familiar parable. Devoid of danger and development, FOR KINGS AND PLANETS gives Canin two strikes at bat in the game of the novel.
Rating:
Summary: Long on melodrama, short on character
Review: What he does brilliantly in stories--the lush language, the small moments of tenderness, the smart, clever scenes--is overblown and overdone in this novel that desperately wants to be about something big but amounts to nothing more than a story we've heard time and time again. The characters are all merely cardboard, going through their tired roles--hayseed, eccentric NYC kid--and Canin never pushes them beyond their assigned roles. In the end, this reader thought: Who Cares? A major disappointment.
Rating:
Summary: UNEVEN
Review: My favorite Canin book is BLUE RIVER. His characters' relationships are complex and interesting. The first half of this book was captivating. The contrasts between Orno and Marshall were acute, and I loved the way Marshall was unconditionally drawn to Orno. I got to know Orno very well, but never could get under Marshall's skin, as I imagine is the way Orno felt. But when Marshall left for LA and became a coke addict and Hollywood type, it just didn't seem plausible, except as an extreme reaction formation to his father's influence. Both he and his father were just sort of pitiful, but i didn't feel really sympathetic toward either one of them. The relationship between Simone and Orno was sort of ho hum. I really expected some major events to occur between them, which didn't, sort of like real life! So the last half of the book was slow, but still interesting. I am already anticipating Mr. Canin's next book!
Rating:
Summary: An intelligent, compelling story
Review: I found the story of New York sophisticate Marshall, and Missouri hayseed Orno and their complicated friendship to be hypnotic. Meeting the first day of college at Columbia in the early 70's they are drawn together, each seeming exotic to the other. One supposedly simple, one complicated..but both questioning their place in life. For Kings and Planets is an intelligent book, good character development and sharp prose. It was the first book I have read by Ethan Canin, and I am happy to have discovered this talented author.
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