Saturday, August 31, 2013

Review: San Diego Siege


San Diego Siege
San Diego Siege by Don Pendleton

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



I think this book can pretty much be summed up like this:

BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!

There was some other stuff, but when you boil it down, that is the essence. A vigilante killing scumbags with big guns...



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Friday, August 30, 2013

Review: The Brotherhood Of The Rose


The Brotherhood Of The Rose
The Brotherhood Of The Rose by David Morrell

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



I read a scanned copy on my Nook, and the format was something awful. So I KNOW that affected my reading. Mainly because with all the jumping around the story does I had to pay over-attention to make sure which/who/what storyline I was following.

I saw this as a movie/miniseries for tv back in the early 90's when it was a rerun. I don't think I saw the whole thing, just enough to burn the idea of it into my mind.

The idea is awesome! 2 orphans, now brothers, superbly trained as the best of the best, carrying out covert missions for their father figure. And then, betrayal, backstabbing and the harsh reality of the intelligence gathering world.

Sadly, I wasn't as enamoured of the carrying out of this idea in this book. It was pretty cool, but there were quite a few times where I was wondering when the action would start up. There is a sequel, [b:The Fraternity Of The Stone|21837|The Fraternity Of The Stone|David Morrell|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1167323742s/21837.jpg|2130076], and I'll read it to give Mr. Morrell another chance.



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Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Review: Twilight Falling (Forgotten Realms: Erevis Cale, #1)


Twilight Falling (Forgotten Realms: Erevis Cale, #1)
Twilight Falling (Forgotten Realms: Erevis Cale, #1) by Paul S. Kemp

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



I enjoyed this, but compared to [b:Shadow's Witness|62471|Shadow's Witness (Forgotten Realms Sembia, #2)|Paul S. Kemp|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1312041355s/62471.jpg|19289028], this was kind of pale.

Lots of posturing between Cale and Riven, supposed to make us think their frenemies. I am kind of sick of that type of relationship.

But other than that, a nice enjoyable read about the shadow world.



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Saturday, August 24, 2013

Review: St. Peter's Fair


St. Peter's Fair
St. Peter's Fair by Ellis Peters

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



The only problem I'm finding is that I keep inserting things from the tv series into the book series as I read along.

And I'm not always correct.

Which makes things confusing, for me, as I'm reading along. BUT, it keeps the mystery in the book ;)



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Review: Spellbound


Spellbound
Spellbound by Larry Correia

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



For the record, and I think I keep saying it for each of Correia's book, I don't like Urban Fantasy. Nor do I like the WWI and WWII era for the most part.

And yet, I love this author and his books.

This was a great sequel to [b:Hard Magic|8643407|Hard Magic (Grimnoir Chronicles, #1)|Larry Correia|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1327951330s/8643407.jpg|13514467]. I have to admit, when I started the book, and the OCI agent Crowe showed up, I had to put the book down for a few days as I had one of the most intense reactions to a character that I've ever had.

I hated him. You know how those fangirls will discuss for hours, ad nauseum, the different merits of various book hotties that they wish were their boyfriends? All that "squeeing" and "OMG" and "HAWT" and other such various phrases that teengirls use? I had the polar opposite reaction. A manly hatred for such a disgusting piece of filth that it went soul deep and burned with a vengeance that was Hell worthy. Kind of like an anime character actually ;)

But then I came back. And my goodness, this was one grand slugfest. A good bit is revealed about the Chairman, the Cthulhu'ic hunter and Faye.

A good frenemy for Jake is introduced. And speaking of anime characters, Toru is awesome. Of course, I think any superpowered being with a sword is awesome.

And then the ending? A god of demons?!?! Seriously, how freaking cool is that? I'm not sure even MHI has moved into territory that big. But that is a different story. One thing that makes me like this series even more is the fact that I know that the story wraps up in [b:Warbound|16130317|Warbound (Grimnoir Chronicles #3)|Larry Correia|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1359402972s/16130317.jpg|21955621]. So unless that tanks, this series is getting bought by me in hardcover.



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Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Review: Shadow's Witness: Sembia: Gateway to the Realms, Book II


Shadow's Witness: Sembia: Gateway to the Realms, Book II
Shadow's Witness: Sembia: Gateway to the Realms, Book II by Paul S. Kemp

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Thoroughly enjoyed this book. One long novel, as opposed to the previous book, but Kemp did a decent job.

The gore factor was a bit higher than I was expecting. Lots of graphic brains and body parts going every which way. Liked the fights and the demon was a pretty good adversary.

And I like Mask. I am finding him to be an enjoyable godling to read about, even tangentially.



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Monday, August 19, 2013

Review: The Halls of Stormweather


The Halls of Stormweather
The Halls of Stormweather by Philip Athans

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Before I begin this review, I'd like to state that I have had a very hit or miss pattern with Forgotten Realms. I've read a couple of [a:Ed Greenwood|20513|Ed Greenwood|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1248120586p2/20513.jpg]'s Elminster books and found them extremely boring. Then I read the War of the Spider Queen series and absolutely loved it. Then, on recommendation from my brother, I started the Drizz't series. That was just awful! Then I found the sequel to the War of the Spider Queen, The Lady Penitent trilogy and once again, loved it! Then I tried the Abolethic Sovereignty trilogy and couldn't finish it.

So I'm always leery when trying a Forgotten Realms book/series, as I just don't know what I'll end up with.

I'd heard of Erevis Cale somewhere or other and wanted to see if he was an interesting character, so I dug around and found this to be the first book with him in it. And then I found it was a bunch of short stories centering around the Uskevren family, of whom Erevis was the butler.

I enjoyed the stories, as they introduced me to the city Selgaunt and the area of Sembia [do you know how long it took me to figure out that Selgaunt and Sembia were actually two different places and not just different names for the same place?!?]. I also found that the short story format worked well with each character, as we get a snaphsot of them without the author of said short story showing all their weaknesses by trying to write a full blown novel about that character.

So I just sped through this book, loving it and looking forward to the next. Which I've finished and will be reviewing tomorrow. Man, when Forgotten Realms is good, it is GOOD!



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Saturday, August 17, 2013

Review: Night Fall


Night Fall
Night Fall by Nelson DeMille

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



Ok, this was just plain boring. The story was blase, the main character was a complete dick [instead of being a smart alecky wisecracker like the author intended] and the ending, hit me in the gut hard. And I didn't like that.

I'm really of two minds about the ending. Part of me realizes that 9/11 is now part of history. As such, it is a circumstance to be used.

But a very visceral part of me rebels at having that incident used. I remember watching on tv when the crashes happened. I remember watching in utter disbelief, sure that I was seeing some fx footage, as the tower collapsed. I remember being sick to my stomach at the implications.

Other than the ending, this book was vanilla. In fact, vanilla is hard core, devil worshipping, baby eating, ultra-death metal, climate change is real, in your face screaming compared to this book.

Ugh.



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Friday, August 16, 2013

Review: Artemis Fowl: The Atlantis Complex


Artemis Fowl: The Atlantis Complex
Artemis Fowl: The Atlantis Complex by Eoin Colfer

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



Artemis goes bat crazy, some stupid fairy tries to kill everyone and we get preached at some more.

I think my only problem with this book is that the Vogons didn't come and destroy it when they had the chance.

Seriously though, I felt like Colfer lost his way with this book and just threw things at the and was hoping something would stick.

I'm going to read the next Artemis book, but if it isn't any better, then we'll have to part ways.



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Review: A Murder Is Announced


A Murder Is Announced
A Murder Is Announced by Agatha Christie

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



This is the best Miss Marple I've read so far, and it is one of my favorites of Christie's so far.

An almost murder that leads to revelations, more attempts and actual murder.

For whatever reason, I just really clicked with this story. Gives me hope that the rest of the series won't be as mediocre as the previous books.



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Thursday, August 15, 2013

Review: Agent of Change


Agent of Change
Agent of Change by Sharon Lee

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



I am too tired and busy [working 70'ish] hours last and this week. But I wanted to write something before I forgot it all.

I LOVED this book. Not sure why. Part of it was it was simple, clean, elegant and classy. A good fun story that wasn't too long, didn't drag in any way, introduced me to a whole new universe and is part of a series that isn't epic.

Goodness, I'm tired of epic...



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Friday, August 09, 2013

Review: Guardian


Guardian
Guardian by Jack Campbell

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



At this point in the game, you're either reading this series because you love it anyway, or you're a sick twisted person who has some real issues with self-punishment.

thankfully, I love this series :D

Really not a lot to say. More of the same. Which is good as far as I'm concerned. Just wish I knew if this was the last book or not.

It could have been, and in many cases, should be. But there was no big This Is the End of the Series. THE END.



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Review: Wired


Wired
Wired by Douglas E. Richards

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



I rated the sample I read 4stars, as the prologue and first chapter or two held some real promise of a kickass story.

And overall, this was a decent cyber-thriller. Near the middle it started getting philosophical/theological and denying the existence of God. Lots of psychobabble about evolution "forcing" survival traits on humanity.

Then in the prologue it lost it for me. Started talking about humanity "helping" god become God, or perhaps humanity becoming god.

Done with this author.



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Review: Time to Hunt


Time to Hunt
Time to Hunt by Stephen Hunter

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



If a year ago you had asked me if I would enjoy reading a book about a Vietnam sniper in today's world and that the story would revolve between today and yesteryear, I would have laughed at you.

If you had told me that I would LOVE the book, AND the series and begin to seriously think about owning them in hardcover and put them on my "favorite" shelf, I probably would have told you some very unpleasant things that I would do to you before that happened.

And look at me now!

I am absolutely loving this series. Part of it is that it is so well written. And having consistently been dipping my toe in the indie world, I appreciate good writing even more so.

The story is gripping, the characters are real and believable and I LOVE reading about a sniper. Something about the lone wolf aspect is really drawing me in. And the honest look at the downside to it all as well.

this is just a really well written book that I enjoyed and have been enjoying and I look forward to the rest of the series as well. I enjoy them enough that I might just go watch that movie, Shooter again for the hey of it...



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Sunday, August 04, 2013

Review: Terminator Salvation: The Official Movie Novelization


Terminator Salvation: The Official Movie Novelization
Terminator Salvation: The Official Movie Novelization by Alan Dean Foster

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



I enjoyed this as much as I did watching the movie. I think I read this more to fit in with my "Read All Terminator Books" thing than because of some deep desire to read the novelization :)



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Saturday, August 03, 2013

Review: Arrowhead


Arrowhead
Arrowhead by Paul Kane

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



What could be better than Robin Hood in a Post-Apocalyptic world wiped out by a mysterious plague?
That premise sounds right up my alley. I knew this was young-adult, so I wasn't expecting deep writing or long rational explanations for events.

The story almost lives up to the premise. I didn't have a problem with that at all.

The thing that drove me batty was that this book vacillated between between childishly simple [not even close to YA] and then extremely graphic in terms of language and violence and sexual content.

Childish:
This apocalypse is a nice quiet ordered one. Lots of people die, lots of the survivors hide out and then things just kind of settle down to a humdrum existence.
Then the badguys move in. They have guns, tanks, fuel. In fact, they have everything they need.

I can deal with simple and the above would have been ok too if the rest of the book had been in that vein. Unfortunately, schizophrenia [or marketing] set in and led to the Graphic'ness.

Graphic:
The foremost incident that stood out to me was when Robinhood at the end shoved the arrow down the sheriff's throat, maybe his eyes [I seem to remember that but could very well be wrong] and then rammed it through his heart, all while the sheriff was lying on the ground.
The second thing that bothered me was the inclusion of continued hints at rape to one of the characters by the sheriff and her seduction of the guard to escape.
Third, was the use of the word "fuck" several times.

Now, all of the above I would expect in an adult novel and probably wouldn't make much note of it. What gets me is the interweaving of the two. A 10 year old could read the story and comprehend and enjoy it. But I don't want my[theoretical] 10 year old reading such graphic violence, lewd and suggestive acts or being exposed to such casual "hard" swearing.

In many ways I felt like I was watching one of those beauty pageants that are for 5 year olds. It made me ill to be honest.



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Friday, August 02, 2013

Review: Seeker's Mask


Seeker's Mask
Seeker's Mask by P.C. Hodgell

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



You know, while I'm enjoying these books overall, I'm also confused as heck. Something that is given 1 or 2 sentences in a previous book suddenly takes on a larger and more important role. But it isn't written for us the reader to make that transition easily. Instead, Hodgell writes in this confusing, round a bout manner that is starting to infuriate me. I am finding that these books ALMOST seem to be written for the re-reader and not the initial reader.

That being said, I did enjoy this. There are times where Jame does/says/thinks something that just makes me laugh out loud. Lots of action, adventure and drama. It is just that things aren't fleshed out for us. Which is why I think a re-read in 10 years time will do wonders for my attitude towards this author.



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