Wednesday, August 30, 2006

January thru July 2006

January 2006

The Prydain Chronicles
-L. Alexander-childrens fantasy
-86-Consisting of The Book of Three, The Black Cauldron, The Castle of Lyr, Taran Wanderer & High King, these novels are a good first step into the fantastic. Starts with an assistant Pigkeeper and ends with him as High King of Prydain. Much about character and friendship, but interwoven thru the stories so as not to be pablum or sacchirin. Well done.

SW:Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader
-J. Luceno-scifi
-84-sequel to Episode III. Not that great of a story overall, but a good look at Darth Vader’s thots and emotions as he becomes the Dark Lord.

Tales of the Otori: Brilliance of the Moon
-L. Hearn-historical fantasy
-81-The final sentence. I was depressed. 4 battles to win, 1 to lose. The one Takeo loses overshadows the others. He and Kaede are separated, surrounded by death, betrayal[by people, the elements and seemingly fate itself] and weakness. The last chapter shows the happy ending, but you don’t get to travel along. You are dragged thru the mud of the sadness, then abruptly going to a party. No time to collect yourself, clean up, and prepare for the good stuff.

Talion: Revenant
-M. A. Stackpole-fantasy
-89-I was reading it this time to answer specific questions from someone. Forced me to pay attention to much smaller details. It still held up like gold. This is a good book.


Quadrail: Night Train to to Rigel
-T. Zahn-scifi
-84-Aliens, an evil hivemind, a galactic railway whose secret is only known to one species and one man to solve it all. Reminded me of 1920’s mystery, just “modernized”.

The Enchanted Forest Chronicles
-P. C. Wrede-fantasy
-87-this was light, hilarious “turn the typical fairytale on it’s head” type stories. Consisting of Dealing with Dragons, Searching for Dragons, Calling on Dragons & Talking to Dragons. Just so enjoyable. A princess who doesn’t want to be a typical princess. So she becomes a dragon’s princess to escape. Her adventures vs wizards, falling in love with the King of the Enchanted Forest, and her son’s adventure in freeing his father.


February 2006

Ivanhoe
-Sir W. Scott-historical fiction
-83-written of the times of Richard the Lionhearted, Robin Hood and the age of chivalry. A saxon knight returns from the crusades to claim his lady love and battle the norman conquerors. Wordy, effusive and unflattering of that age. I enjoyed it as a novel, but will probably never read it again.


The Heart of Mid-Lothian
-Sir W. Scott-historical fiction
-83-I enjoyed this more than Ivanhoe, even tho it was set in Scottland in the 1800’s. A woman is trying to save her sister from being hung. The thing that turned me off tho, was the use of the scottish dialect. It was nigh impossible to understand. Thankfully there was a glossary in the back. But how am I supposed to know that “I dinna ken muckle aboot dukes, fools and wee bairns” is supposed to mean “I don’t know much about ducks, fowls and little children”? I don’t like that dialect.


StarWars:Dark Nest Trilogy
-T. Denning-scifi
-81-after the NJO series. Consisting of The Joiner King, The Unseen Queen & The Swarm War. I did not like this series. Jaina isn’t with Jagged Fel but with that loser Zekk, Ben Skywalker is withdrawing from the Force, Jacen has daugher with Tenel Ka, and a badly damaged Jedi joins with some bugs and becomes “dangerous”. Besides not liking how it turned out, the ideas about the Force are very buddhistic, and I don’t like Jacen, becoming more like Anakin Skywalker right before he became Darth Vader. Poor writing, stupid story, bugs as badguys? Come on, give me a break. This was a waste of paper and my time.


March 2006

Spinneret
-T. Zahn-scifi
-85-humans join the galaxy, loaned a bad planet, find a supermachine from a long lost alien race. Mainly about politics[among humans coming to the world and aliens as they juggle how to keep them from taking over], but not bad.

Conclave of Shadows:Talon of the Silver Hawk
-R. Feist-fantasy
-85-back in Midkemia. Many years after the Riftwar. A nation of mountain people is wiped out, except for one boy, who is taken in by the Conclave of Shadows[headed by the magician Pug] and trained. To get his revenge & to carry out their purpose. I enjoyed it.

Conclave of Shadows:King of Foxes
-R. Feist-fantasy
-85-Talon works toward his revenge, goes thru adventures, and at the end chooses not to personally take vengeance against those who slaughtered his people. I am really enjoying this series. Different from the Riftwar, but very enjoyable.


A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Slippery Slope-Book the Tenth
-L. Snicket-fiction[pseudonym]
-82-find the third Quagmire triplet, get separated from him at end. Find the VFD base, after it has been all burned down. I want this series to end. I doubt it will tho.

The Umbrella Man
-R. Dahl-fiction
-short stories. For adults. I enjoyed them very much. Psychological thriller, ironies, etc. Dahl has a very sharp mind and cutting wit.

StarWars: Outbound Flight
-T. Zahn-scifi
-details the infamous Outbound Flight, headed by Jorus C’baoth, which ended in the death of many Jedi. Before Episode II. Finally, Zahn does a prequel. Meet Thrawn and get some of his background. Very enjoyable.


April 2006

The Prince in Waiting
-J. Christopher-scifi
-same guy who wrote the tripod trilogy. Post apocolyptic world, after natural disasters. City states. Follows the rise of Luke, a 13 yearold who’s father is a soldier who is elevated to Prince of Winchester. Well written.

Beyond the Burning Lands
-J. Christopher-scifi
-Luke’s father dies, his older brother gains the throne promised Luke. Luke goes to a distant city[the Wilsh] to open trade. Slays a monster, is betrothed to the kings daugher, returns, kills his brother and takes the throne. Depressing about half way thru.

The Sword of the Spirits
-J. Christopher-scifi
-Seers[hidden scientists] want Luke to unite the city states to oppose the eventual barbian hordes coming. His betrothed and best friend fall in love, Luke is deposed as Prince of Winchester, gains an ally from the Wilsh, gains the knowledge of guns from the Seers, punishes Winchester, becomes the next Wilsh king, but takes not wife. Ends. So depressing. Couldn’t recommend this series to young people. Well written, but this depressing story isn’t something they need to read yet...

Conclave of Shadows: Exile’s Return
-R. Feist-fantasy
-conclusion to this trilogy. Follow Kaspar into his exile and out of it. During which a new threat to Midkemia is brot to light, which will be the point of his next trilogy. Enjoyable, but way too open ended for a trilogy.


Sense & Sensibility
-J. Austen-romance
-2 sisters. Younger acts indecorously and promotes sensibility[ie, emotionalism] while the elder promotes sense[ie, self control]. Both get a man in the end.

Pride & Prejudice
-J. Austen-romance
-5 sisters. The eldest meets and falls in love with Englands richest, most eligible bachelor. The next sister, Elizabeth, ends up falling for his friend, Mr Darcy. The next 3 sisters play much smaller parts. Mr Darcy has pride, Elizabeth has prejudice. I enjoyed this better than S&S.


May 2006

Crown of Stars
-K. Elliot-fantasy
-concluding volume[volume 7] of the Crown of Stars series. I didn’t think it ended really satisfactorily. Hughe never gets his. Things just kind of petre out, with no long lasting happy ending. Kind of like real life. Never get a real chance to see Sanglant and Liath’s love in peacetime. It ends with Blessing[their child] as an older woman.

StarWars: Republic Commando: Hard Contact:Triple Zero
-K. Traviss-scifi
-this was a fantastic book. Followed a group of specialized clone troopers [commandos]. Made them human, and revealed a lot of details about what a raw deal the clones got. Engineered to die within 20 years. Created, train, fight, die. Terrible. It was cool to read a StarWars book not centered on the Jedi, even tho Jedi were involved.


Elantris
-B. Sanderson-fantasy
-A very religious book. A city of gods, fallen. A prince and princess engaged, broken apart. An empire rolling onward. Belief, faith, hatred and love. A solid universe created here. A lot of religious sects referred to, could be confusing :-)


Danny the Champion of the World
-R. Dahl-juvenile fiction
-a young boy finds out his father is poacher, comes up with a way to poach all the birds. Classic Dahl[of course, what ISN’T classic Dahl? lol]

Way-Farer
-D. Schmidt-scifi
-I don’t get tired of this book. Period. And the cool cover doesn’t hurt any either.

Kensho
-D. Schmidt-scifi
-the true beginning of Homo-Kenshins

Satori
-D. Schmidt-scifi
-first contact between Humans and Homo-Kenshins

Sentenced to Prism
-A.D. Foster-scifi
-man is hired by unscrupulous company to help exploit new world. He goes, becomes part of the world, helps bring in Prism to the Commonwealth.

Wanderer
-D. Schmidt-scifi
-Kensho is destroyed. Kenshites become intergalactic wanderers with help from the Mushin. The crusade to change Humanity can now begin. End of the Kensho series.



June 2006

Mansfield Park
-J. Austen-historical romance
-young cousin grows up with rich relatives. Falls in love with second son. All other children misbehave. First cousins get married. Ugh.

Emma
-J. Austen-historical romance
-young woman meddles in the romance affairs of others. Causes problems. Falls in love herself, and everything works out for the best for everyone.

Flinx’s Folly
-A. D. Foster-scifi
-another Pip and Flinx adventure. Flinx is shown the galaxy size destroyer coming the Commonwealth’s way. Hooks up with Clarity Held, fights off her jealous boyfriend and also fights off worshippers of the Destroyer. Ends with him just escaping the authorities and the Null Cult and Clarity gets hit. He leaves her to get medical attention while he takes off. Not light and fun any more.


Northanger Abbey
-J. Austen-historical romance
-young girl meets young man, instant love. Trials, reprobate friends, stern father, seperated. Come together and get married at the end.

Persuasion
-J. Austen-historical romance
-27 year old middle daugher turned down a first love at 19 due to friends advice. Always regretted. Man comes back and makes a play again. Successful.


A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Grim Grotto-Book the Eleventh
-L. Snicket-juvenile fiction
-Baudelaires meet up with a VFD sub. Must find a sugarbowl to figure out meeting place of VFD members. Clause meets a girl. She turns and ends up helping Olaf, also the sister of the Hook handed man. Ends with Baudelaires jumping into a taxi containing Kit Snicket, Jacque and Lemony’s sister.

Sliding Scales
-A. D. Foster-scifi
-Pip and Flinx. Tries to take a vacation on a remote world. Ends up getting amnesia, joining up with an artsy, hence outcast, group of Aann, gets one of them killed, and then gets his memory back and leaves. Feels like Foster is just spinning this whole Pip and Flinx thing out as long as he can. I’m not impressed.

Blackcollar: The Judas Solution
-T. Zahn-scifi
-after 20 years of waiting[not me personally, but it has been that long since Backlash Mission was published], the Blackcollar trilogy is finished. 2 operations, both involving Whiplash. Galway becomes a goodguy, the Ryquril are faced with a 2 front war, and so they leave. A very cool story. Just like the other 2, you knew something was being deliberately left out, but it was hard to tell what. Not until the last 2 chapters is everything revealed. Zahn did a good job of wrapping things up. I am satisfied.



July 2006

Exiles: The Mageborn Traitor
-M. Rawn-fantasy
-return to the world of Ambrai. Same comments as Ruins before. Would never buy these.

The Postman
-D. Brin-scifi
-a post apocolyptic world. Where an “ideal” and a “dream” start a nation back into recovery. An enjoyable read.


The Road to Dune
-F & B Herbert, K. J. Anderson
-a companion to the Dune series. Short prequel stories by B. Herbert and Anderson, letters by F. Herbert when he was first writing Dune, alternate and deleted chapters from Dune and Dune Messiah and a novella that was an unpublished forerunner to Dune. Extremely interesting!

Angel Fire East
-T. Brooks-fantasy
-Final Battle of John Ross, Knight of the Word. Finds a gypsy morph, powerful wild magic, and must figure out how to use it for service to the Word. He dies, but it becomes a baby in Nest Freemarks body. I could only read a couple of chapters at a time. Sets up perfectly for the upcoming Armegeddon’s Children. As a whole, this whole Word & Void series was depressing. The Word creates, the Void destroys. The Word has no hope of ever getting rid of the Void, but the Void feeds on the thot of destroying the Word. I’m sorry he’s tying this into his Shannara series, but it was inevitable I guess.


Crystal Gorge: Book Three of The Dreamers
-D. & L. Eddings-fantasy
-brainless drivel. His “originally” funny banter is now nothing but extremely overused cliche. This world seems to be inhabited by nothing but smartaleck, wisecracking ultimate warriors. Shallow drivel. Amazing what I’m allowing myself to read because of his past good writing. I blame it all on his wife, Leigh. Once her name got on the covers, everything went straight downhill.

High Druid of Shannara:Straken
-T. Brooks-fantasy
-the conclusion. Pen rescues his Aunt Grianne[the former Ilse Witch] from the Forbidding. She dissolves the Druid Council and re-establishes it with young druids. She then goes to the Tanequil and exchanges herself for Cinnaminson. Wide open for future novels tho. Enjoyed this novel enough to buy all 3, lol.

The Age of Discovery: Cartomancy
-M. Stackpole-fantasy
-sequel to A Secret Atlas. Very interesting, but crowded. Follows at least 4 different subgroups, can be a bit confusing. He took some from Eyes of Silver with names and some reincarnation ideas. Overall tho? Thoroughly enjoying it! Much better than his DragonCrownWar cycle.

StarWars: Tatooine Ghost
-T. Denning-scifi
-Post RotJ, pre-Zahn. Han and Leia must rescue an Alderaanian painting that has a secret Rebel code in it. Sets up for the stupid Darknest trilogy 20+ years later. Readable, but not buyable. No info is provided[hence needed] to flesh out the Star Wars universe.


StarWars: Legacy of the Force: Betrayal
-A. Allston-scifi
-Several years after the Darknest series. The Galactic Alliance is becoming unwieldy. Centerpoint becomes operational, and Jedi are sent in to take it out. Ben is now Jacen’s apprentice. Luke keeps sensing a “man who doesn’t exist yet”. Jacen makes the choice, seemingly anyway, to become the next Lord of the Sith. Betrayal indeed. Worthy sequel of the NJO series. Here’s hoping the rest are as good.


The Complete Book of Swords:Comprising the First, Second and Third Books
-F. Saberhagen-fantasy
-At least 50,000 years in the future. There are gods. They create 12 swords with great powers for a “game”. The swords end up being as powerful as the gods, and humans begin taking part of the game. Follows Mark, who is the son of the legendary Emperor. The gods came to be out of men’s imagination, and in this trilogy, they go “out of style” and so cease to exist. Very cool.

The Mark of the Cat
-A. Norton-fantasy
-a world where dwells men, cats[of various size and intelligence] and rats. Follows one boy who becomes Emperor. Ends with an unknown menace arising among the rats.


1 comment:

  1. Anonymous11:38 PM

    I NEVER, EVER, in a MILLION years, NEVER would have thought you to be into Jane Austen.

    I'm stumped. Or trumped.

    Whoa.

    ReplyDelete