Friday, August 31, 2012

Review: Rising Tides: Destroyermen


Rising Tides: Destroyermen
Rising Tides: Destroyermen by Taylor Anderson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

The Grik get a rest from the spotlight [still in the story though] and instead we deal more with the British People, the Twisted Catholic Kingdom and some adventures due just to nature happening.

Anderson hops between story lines with a deftness that didn't make me wish he would stay on the particular line I was reading, I was ok moving from one line to another. Which I am usually not a fan of.

This world is just so big and cool that we constantly get new adventures and I like that...




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Thursday, August 30, 2012

Review: Warriors of the Storm


Warriors of the Storm
Warriors of the Storm by Jack L. Chalker

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



It is interesting to see Chalker explore different worlds that the Master Computer has set up.
Not much else to say really.



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Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Review: Whipping Mek


Whipping Mek
Whipping Mek by Brian Herbert

My rating: 1 of 5 stars



If you are going to write a short story, then you need to be able to write well.

And Herbert pretty much expels a mass of putrid pap and counts on fan loyalty for the rest.



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Monday, August 27, 2012

Review: The Farthest Shore


The Farthest Shore
The Farthest Shore by Ursula K. Le Guin

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



2012 Review:
Definitely much slower, more esoteric and less action'y than the previous books.
Hints of prophecy and greatness while focusing on the mortality of humanity.


2005 Review:
Ged is old, and fulfills prophecy and saves the world. But it isn’t action, more ideas.



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Sunday, August 26, 2012

Review: Star Wars: Tales from Mos Eisley Cantina


Star Wars: Tales from Mos Eisley Cantina
Star Wars: Tales from Mos Eisley Cantina by Kevin J. Anderson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



This is what Star Wars should be like.
A bunch of tight stories that are actually enjoyable to read. Each story had its own unique plot, but they all centered around the Cantina and so had a larger overall theme.
Some were better than others [the Wolfman story was just plain stupid imo], but the good ones were just plain fun.

And Star Wars should be fun!



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Friday, August 24, 2012

Review: James and the Giant Peach


James and the Giant Peach
James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



A good story about a young boy who leads his new set of friends through dangers and adventure and safely leads them to New York City where everything turns out just right.



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Thursday, August 23, 2012

Review: Terminator 2: Judgment Day


Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Terminator 2: Judgment Day by Randall Frakes

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



This book added so much to the story that the movie tells. More emotional impact, more data, more thoughts from Skynet.



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Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Review: Hunting Harkonnens


Hunting Harkonnens
Hunting Harkonnens by Brian Herbert

My rating: 1 of 5 stars



A short story about the elder Harkonnen heir, who crashlands on some planet and ends up surviving a hunt by Agememnon and who fades into obscurity.

A pointless piece of drivel that came across as sad, reaching and failing.



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Sunday, August 19, 2012

Review: The Vicar of Nibbleswicke


The Vicar of Nibbleswicke
The Vicar of Nibbleswicke by Roald Dahl

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



A Vicar who occasionally reverses words. Ends up being told by the village dr to walk backwards to fix it.
And in the Dahl'ian Universe, that works :)



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Saturday, August 18, 2012

Review: Matilda


Matilda
Matilda by Roald Dahl

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Matilda is a child genius who uses her extra mental powers to right a wrong for her favorite teacher.

Dahl's portrayal of authority figures is atypical for him. I think that besides Dahl growing up when he did and the experiences he had, he is simply able to tap into a child's mind and see the world through their eyes.

Adults are nigh unto gods, in many respects, to most kids, like Greco-Roman gods. And Dahl understands, captures, portrays and satirizes that relationship.

And we get a funny yarn out of it all :D



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Friday, August 17, 2012

Review: Esio Trot


Esio Trot
Esio Trot by Roald Dahl

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



This book was lacking Dahl's satire and bite, but considering that there were no children involved, not surprising.
Well written and typical Dahl solution to a simple problem :)



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Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Review: Choice of the Cat


Choice of the Cat
Choice of the Cat by E.E. Knight

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



So the main character turns into a Cat instead of being a Wolf. And some romance with some other Cat. Some sort of new menace, blah, blah, blah.
I enjoyed this as much as the first book, but don't know how the overall series will end up going...



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Monday, August 13, 2012

Review: Judgment at Proteus


Judgment at Proteus
Judgment at Proteus by Timothy Zahn

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



At the end of Book 4, when Zahn introduces the return of the badguys, I had no idea how he was going to wrap it all up.

He does simply by having the bad guys be small in number [which totally makes sense], it just wasn't made obvious in Book 4, so my mind immediately jumped to huge, galaxy spanning numbers.

Anyway, this was just one "I see your plan and have planned for your plan" scenario after another.

I thoroughly enjoyed the plot once I got into the story but am glad Zahn wrapped things up. Compton has had enough imo...



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Saturday, August 11, 2012

Review: Lilith: A Snake in the Grass


Lilith: A Snake in the Grass
Lilith: A Snake in the Grass by Jack L. Chalker

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Having read the paperbacks in highschool, I bought the hardcover omnibus edition in college and I must have read it then, because I KNOW I've read this series at least twice, but I have no record of it after 2000 [which is when I started keeping track of the books I read].

Anyway. This was a nice light, fast, action-oriented scifi novel about aliens, cloning, etc, etc.



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Thursday, August 09, 2012

Review: Dracula


Dracula
Dracula by Bram Stoker

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Absolutely fantastic! A dread overhung the entire book without being gory or resorting to cheap tricks.

This was like reading a Dickens' book but not quite so heavy on descriptions of the surroundings. I would have given it 5 Stars except Helsing just went on and on instead of saying what he needed to quickly.

Written back in 1897, it is easy to see how our culture has shifted and changed.

Just a good story about a monster and good triumphing over evil against all odds.



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Tuesday, August 07, 2012

Review: Starless Night


Starless Night
Starless Night by R.A. Salvatore

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



Considering that this book "whatever" of the Drizzt series, I had some hopes that the writing would be a bit better.

It wasn't.

I am going to finish this "Legacy" sub-series of Drizzt, then I'll be done. It is sophomoric writing and I don't have time to waste on crap like this. Storyline might be great in terms of ideas, but the technical aspect of the writing just makes me want to hurl.



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Sunday, August 05, 2012

Review: Annals of the Time Patrol


Annals of the Time Patrol
Annals of the Time Patrol by Poul Anderson

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



If you like page long expositions about why a particular time in history is crucial to our current time, and you like seeing Christianity getting dissed in every possible way, and you like revisionist history [nah, the Turks weren't bad, really! The vikings were just misunderstood snugg'ems who actually did respect their woman completely. Women LIKED being sex slaves in the Middle East, because, what else could they do?]

Bored me to death!



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Saturday, August 04, 2012

Review: Cursor's Fury


Cursor's Fury
Cursor's Fury by Jim Butcher

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



March 2010 Review:

The canim make a major push into the lands of Alera in conjunction with Kalerain [a high lord] making a play for the throne. Tavi takes command of a legion to fight the canim and earns the loyalty of his men. Turns out he is the grandson of the current First Lord. Right at the end Tavi gets his furies for the first time. and it turns out the Vord have taken over the canim's lands.


August 2012 Review:
In situations like described in this book, people either break or become stronger. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing Tavi rise to each occasion and deal with them to the best of his ability.
He is no longer the whiny little shepherd boy from Calderon, but a fully fledged Cursor who cares about Alera, his men and his duty.



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Friday, August 03, 2012

Review: A Forest Apart


A Forest Apart
A Forest Apart by Troy Denning

My rating: 1 of 5 stars



Lumpy.

Why did that kid ever have to exist? The star wars universe has done just fine with only hearing about Chewie, so this short story about his son and wife just made me grind my teeth.

I finished [b:The Hive|6339483|The Hive (Star Wars Clone Wars, #3)|Steven Barnes|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1328309105s/6339483.jpg|6525427], and now this. The Star Wars short stories aren't working real well for me so far...



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Thursday, August 02, 2012

Review: One Jump Ahead


One Jump Ahead
One Jump Ahead by Mark L. Van Name

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



We are introduced to a worn, weary, nano-bot infested mercenary. Who happens to have a thing about his sister, who he doesn't know if she is alive or not. After the 5th time of him having a flashback, or a memory, or some whine, about her, it really got tiresome.

He also is incredibly stupid, getting tricked, because he won't do the proper interrogation of people. He simply needed to do a quick search on the captive and he would have learned whose daughter she truly was.

But he buys a powerful AI ship, who he is always complaining about as being to smart-alecky.

Then everything ends happily and he sails off into the stars to continue his life.

If I come across the rest of the series for free, I'll definitely read them, but wouldn't really want to pay for them.



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Wednesday, August 01, 2012

Review: Elvenblood


Elvenblood
Elvenblood by Andre Norton

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



This second book continues right along with the same style of the first. If you didn't like [b:The Elvenbane|176892|The Elvenbane (Halfblood Chronicles, #1)|Andre Norton|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1379150773s/176892.jpg|2202795], then you won't like this either.

However, if you did enjoy Elvenbane, chances are pretty good you'll enjoy this book. Same set of characters thrown in with a new set so the authors don't have to worry about creating complex, deep characters. Make 'em and use 'em.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book for what it is, a shallow fantasy book that has no pretensions of being epic. You need those sometimes...



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