2005

January 2005

When Worlds Collide & After Worlds Collide
-P. Wylie & E. Balmer-scifi
-87-written in the 1930’s, very good. But it really mixes evolution and the idea of God. Seems typical of what was happening to America in the ‘30s. Good scifi tho.

The Merchants’ War
-F. Pohl-scifi
-81-sequel to The Space Merchants.Some 50-60 years in the future. Filled with casual sex[not graphic or anything] and the problems of commercialism. Ending was lame in my opinion.

The Book of Atrix Wolfe
-P. McKillip-fantasy
-88-Wow! This was not mere escapist fantasy, but ideas, poetry in pros form. I felt wrapped in fire, surrounded by silk, drowned in darkness and raised by light. I must read more...

Red Planet
-R. Heinlein-juvie scifi
-79-lame. nothing original at all. it was like he cobbled this story together using parts of others. blase and mediocre at best.

February 2005

The Tower at Stony Wood
-P. McKillip-fantasy
-87-once again, I was swept away. This book was like a river meandering slowly yet inexorably toward it’s conclusion. Knights, dragons, quests, maiden’s in distress, it was beautiful. I really enjoy her stuff.


Alphabet of Thorn
-P. McKillip-fantasy
-88-Now that I’m used to her style, I can really appreciate the finesse with which she uses words. Time and love twist and turn in this tale.

Warriors of Thlassa Mey
-D. McCarty-fantasy
- -not rated because I couldn’t finish it. It was pathetic and stilted and it seemed like he was trying to use archaic and modern language\ideas without amalgamating them at all. Stupid.

Something Rich and Strange
-P. McKillip-fantasy
-85-one in a collaberative series, yet standalone. Modern story. About the sea and merfolk and people. Same style for sure, but not so enveloping as her others.

A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Ersatz Elevator: Book the Sixth
-L. Snicket-juvenile fiction
-82-The guardians are rich, Olaf is in cahoots with the wife, the Quagmire Triplets are almost rescued and Mr Poe is still a loser...

Eyes of Silver
-M. Stackpole-fantasy
-85-a standalone novel. Interesting mix of religion and fantasy and mecha. Engaging but not a must read at all in my opinion.

March 2005

The Treasured One: Book Two of The Dreamers
-D. & L. Eddings-fantasy
-82-a bit more intriguing than the previous book. But it seems like the good guys just can’t lose. Even tho, in the real world, I guess that is how things will turn out. Thank God!


Impossible Things
-C. Willis-short stories
-83-she writes some really weird things. Some cool weird, but others just depressing. A very mixed bag.

The Last Jihad
-J. Rosenberg-fiction
-84-Saddam is still in power and tries to nuke Israel and have the President assassinated. Obviously dated[pre-invasion], but a cool look at “what could have been”...

Magician of Quality
-P. Wrede & C. Stevermer-fantasy
-86-a great mix of Jane Austen and fantasy. This was fantastic! I loved every word. Comprised of 2 books[Sorcery & Cecelia and The Grand Tour], the first was a series of letters comprised between 2 friends. The second was journal entries and court depositions. A unique way of writing and a nice way to break things up.

A Knight of the Word
-T. Brooks-fantasy
-82-this was even more depressing than Running with the Demon. The Word is not even trying to prevail, but simply to hold a vanguard action against The Void. Dualism is a terrible worldview, especially Terry Brooks variety.


April 2005

The War of the Flowers
-T. Williams-fantasy
-83-alot of profanity, alot. But other than that, a very twisted look at Faerie. Well written and nearly as good as the Otherland series.


In the Forests of Serre
-P. McKillip-fantasy
-86-princes, princesses, monsters, magicians, witches, all mix into a tapestry of fairytale.

The Age of Discovery: A Secret Atlas
-M. Stackpole-fantasy
-85-instead of his medieval Europe type, we get a more eastern flavor, and some south american thrown in. Very enjoyable, but why do some main characters always seem to die? I didn’t enjoy that aspect.

SW:Revenge of the Sith:Episode III
-M. Stover-scifi
-88-this book was incredible. Mr Stover should be writing theological\philosophical books instead of pulp fiction. This shows the underlying emotions that are swirling thru everyone. I was saddened yet the hope at the end was just incredible. Incredible is a good word for this book.

A Scholar of Magics
-C. Stevermer-fantasy
-86-a kind of sequel to A College of Magics. Very enjoyable, once again it reminds me of an alternative Jane Austen. Good stuff.




May 2005

The Watchers at the Well
-J. Chalker-scifi
-81-comprising Echoes of the
Well of Souls, Shadows of the
Well of Souls & Gods of the
Well of Souls. I was less than impressed. Alot of psycho shrinking went on- race changing, gender changing, etc. It went on the premise that we are nothing more than motes of dirt that are programmable.

A Wizard of Earthsea
-U. Le Guin-fantasy
-84-a childrens book. Very good tho. A young mage lets loose the darkness and must put it back or it will destroy him. Very engaging. First of the Earthsea books.

The Four Million
-O. Henry-fiction
-83-a bunch of old short stories. Mainly about love or the interaction between males and females.

The Tombs of Atuan
-U. Le Guin-fantasy
-82-about Tenar. Ged is a secondary character and plays a small, but important, part at the end. Another tale of Earthsea

The Farthest Shore
-U. Le Guin-fantasy
-82-Ged is old, and fulfills prophecy and saves the world. But it isn’t action, but more ideas.


Chainfire
-T. Goodkind-fantasy
-84. A spell to erase Kahlen from everyone’s memory, except Richard’s, is unleashed, and begins to unravel reality. Not resolved. Richard is just able to convince others of the danger at the end of the book.

Tehanu
-U. K. Le Guin-fantasy
-80-barely gets the 80. overlaps with Farthest Shore and is about the end of Ged and Tennar. Contradictions and babble masquerading as wisdom. Wraps the story up, but not very satisfactorily.


June 2005

WarHorse
-T. Zahn-scifi
-83-this is my second time reading this, and this time I see similarities to Manta’s Gift, in the ecological\biological sense. Enjoyable tho.


Deadman Switch
-T. Zahn-scifi
-84-mixing religion, super-abilities and scifi. It did seem a bit slow, but man, the tricks Zahn pulls out of his hat are great.



Tales of the Otori: Across the Nightingale Floor
-L. Hearn-historical fantasy
-86-based loosely on feudal Japan. A village boy watches his village be destroyed, is rescued by a Lord[of the Otori Clan] and finds out he is one of Tribe[ninja like people with special abilities]. Treachery, love, backstabbing, duty, resolve, all were here. This was a great story. I look forward to the next 2.

Od Magic
-P. McKillip-fantasy
-85-a tapestry of magic, kingdoms, wisdom and the inability of smallminded people to see what is right before their noses.


July 2005

Tales of the Otori: Grass for His Pillow
-L. Hearn-historical fantasy
-81-This was like a semicolon between 2 sentances, and I have yet to read the second sentence[ie, the 3rd book]. It focused on the staying alive of Takeo and Kaede. Not nearly as engaging as the first book.

Once A Hero
-M. A. Stackpole-fantasy
-87-it got bumped down 2 points simply because I have matured. Still an excellent story, but now that I’m a tiny bit older, and have read more, it isn’t so without blemishes as I thot at first blush.

High Druid of Shannara:Tanequil
-T. Brooks-fantasy
-82-gets a bit more heavyhanded in the philosophy department. Reminds me more of the Word & Void series. I feel like he created great characters in Jerle Shannara and now has degraded them by placing them in this story. I don’t plan on buying this trilogy as of now.

A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Hostile Hospital-Book the Eighth
-L. Snicket-fiction
-82-this was a bit more lighthearted than some of the others. I enjoyed it very well. I think I would read something along this caliber to my kids.


August 2005

IceRigger Trilogy: IceRigger
-A. Foster-scifi
-82-In the HumanX universe[Nor Crystal Tears]. A small group crashlands on an iceplanet during a bungled kidnapping attempt. Catlike natives, medieval settings in ice. Funny and light.

The Damned: A Call to Arms
-A. Foster-scifi
-85-The Amplitur seek to co-opt all into their mysterious purpose. The Weave is a group of species fighting that. And humans are discovered. I enjoyed this because it presented practically all the aliens as not being able to fight or at least abhoring fighting. Which is why humanity was so unique-we love to fight. I stayed up til midnite to finish it.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
-J. K. Rowling-fantasy
-85-much better than book 5. I enjoyed it and saw flashes of maturity in Harry that were encouraging.


The Damned: The False Mirror
-A. Foster-scifi
-85-1000 years after book 1. Amplitur mess with humans and end up giving us a form of their mental abilities. Now I just have to find book 3.



SW:Clone Wars: Shatterpoint
-M. Stover-scifi
-84-A story revolving around Mace Windu. Not as much philosophy in this one as in some of his others. Mediocre story overall tho. The whole Clone Wars saga has pretty much sucked and this was one of the better written ones, sigh.

IceRigger Trilogy: Mission to Moulokin
-A. Foster-scifi
-82-the further adventures of Ethan Fortune on Trankyky. Trying to organize the Tran into one govt so as to get them membership into the galactic govt. Greedy humans and Trans stand in the way.

IceRigger Trilogy: The Deluge Drivers
-A. Foster-scifi
-82-mad scientist tries to warm up Trankyky 10,000 years faster than natural. Ethan and Friends must stop him. Ends up marrying Collette Du Kane. Happy ending all round.


October 2005


In the Ruins
-K. Elliott-fantasy
-85-The Aoi return, and the human world is spent in just trying to survive the conflagration that accompanied the Aoi’s return. I am looking forward to the final book coming out next Februrary or so. I’ll read it, then in a year or two, reread the whole series at once. To long between books and I forget who is who. There are ALOT of characters, reminds me of Jordan, but not so straggly. More focused.


A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Carnivorous Carnival-Book the Ninth
-L. Snicket-fiction
-82-this series is really starting to drag, psychologically. You can only have so many bad things happen to people before the readers lose interest. Good must happen.

The BlackCollar
-T. Zahn-scifi
-85-his first novel. Superninjas and alien warlords. Do I need to say anything else?


November 2005

The Backlash Mission
-T. Zahn-scifi
-84-sequel to BlackCollar, and very obviously could be a trilogy. But Zahn has never written a third novel, and we are pretty much left at the turning point. That is the reason I gave it an 84 instead of 85.

Midworld
-A. D. Foster-scifi
-82-a Commonwealth novel, about aplanet becoming sentient and the humans who are involved. Very earthy and treehuggy, but still entertaining. Not preachy, just sappy.

Shadowmarch: Volume 1
-T. Williams-fantasy
-85-another epic start of a series about magic, elves, ages coming and going, and the human factor. Many characters, I can’t wait to see how they all are interweaved.


StarWars: Clone Wars: Yoda: Dark Rendezvous
-S. Stewart-Scifi
-84-a very interesting look at Yoda. I enjoyed it, will probably buy it.


December 2005

The Damned: The Spoils of War
-A. Foster-scifi
-84-the concluding book. It was enjoyable, but I am glad I was able to get them thru local libraries instead of buying them. The Great War ends and humanity is trying to find its place in a universe of peace. And that is where it ends.

Star Wars: Clone Wars: Labyrinth of Evil
-J. Luceno-scifi
-84-immediate prequel to Episode III. Once I got past my distaste of Anakin[ie, Christian Hayden], I was really able to enjoy this book. Definitely fleshes out the happenings in Ep III.

Conquerors’ Pride
-T. Zahn-scifi
-85- humanity meets another alien race, which is seemingly bent on total domination of all life. Centers around the Cavanaugh family- warriors, politicians and doctors.

Conquerors’ Heritage
-T. Zahn-scifi
-85-split between the humans viewpoint and the zhirrzhs’ viewpoint. Very cool. Realize everything is based on a mistake, cool twist.

Conquerors’ Legacy
-T. Zahn-scifi
-85- lots of politics and intrigue. Among the humans, the zhirrzh and another alien species which are playing all sides against eachother for their own gain. Ends well.

Cobra
-T. Zahn-scifi
-86-human superwarriors take on the aliens. Slower paced, but action packed enough for me.

Cobra Strike
-T. Zahn-scifi
-85-Jonny Moreau’s sons take up the Cobra mantle. A new threat, a new Cobra generation. Not nearly as much action as in Cobra.

Cobra Bargain
-T. Zahn-scifi
-85-womens lib in Cobra guise. That was my first reaction years ago when I first read it. But on this second reading, not nearly so bad. Justin’s daughter takes up the Cobra Mantle and is the only person available in a Humans against Qasaman Troft-push for mutual annihalation.

Captivating: Unveiling the Mysteries of a Woman’s Soul
-J. & L. Eldredge-selfhelp
-not rated. Not truly a selfhelp because they are both Christians. It looks at the unique problems that a woman must deal with, mostly of the physchological and emotional variety. Made me glad I wasn’t a woman.

Wild at Heart: Something about a Man’s Soul
-J. Eldredge-selfhelp
-notrated-written before the above book for men. I have to say, I understood what he was trying to get across, but still felt very lost. I couldn’t connect with alot of what he was saying. So either I’m pretty well off, or super screwed up, lol. Maybe reading it WITH someone would help, I don’t know.