Saturday, November 25, 2006

November 2006

KING RAVEN: HOOD
-S. Lawhead-historical fiction
-what Lawhead did for Arthur with his Pendragon cycle, he is now doing for the legend of Robin Hood. Taking place in the 1100's, in Wales, it follows a displace Cymry Prince who turns to outlawry to survive, and ultimately protect his people. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and am looking forward to the next 2 in this trilogy.

TAKEN: LOST AND FOUND
-AD Foster-scifi
-the first in the TAKEN trilogy. A man is kidnapped by aliens, held in a ship along with many other lifeforms, to be eventually sold as a "novelty" piece of entertainment to the highest bidder. A dog has also been taken and given enhanced intelligence to boost his price. These 2, along with 2 other aliens, stage a revolt and break free. Get in contact with a good force of aliens, but have no idea where their homeworld is, so they can't go back to earth. Ends with all 4 companions vowing to leave the aliens homeworld and search for their own homeworlds. Light, but crass humor dragged it down. I ordered the trilogy omnibus from the SFBC, but I'm not sure that order made it, so if I replace the order, I'll leave the trilogy out. Not worth buying.

IRON TOWER: THE DARK TIDE
-D. McKiernan-fantasy
-I read these in highschool and my second year of Bibleschool. My initial reaction was "total Tolkien ripoff". Now I'm not so sure. It is a Tolkien knockoff of Middle Earth, with elves, dwarves, men, warrows[hobbits, just a bit more warlike] and the such, but the story is a bit more unique I can see this time through. Evil Modru is stalking the land, and his minions are protected from Adons ban[death by sunlight] by the Dimmendark. Follows 4 warrows in their adventures, as they start together in the Boskeydells and to their separation at the Fall of Challeron Keep. Don't think about Tolkien[ie, comparing it] and you'll enjoy this. If you compare them though, this doesn't come off very good. So don't :-)

GENESIS OF SHANNARA: ARMAGEDDON'S CHILDREN
-T. Brooks-fantasy
-this is the first in trilogy that ties the Word and the Void Trilogy to his Shannara series. This was a well written book. Dark enough like the W&V series but without as much of the hopelessness of it. The future envisioned by John Ross is here. Demons and once-men roam the world while humans hide behind walls in enclaves that are slowling falling to the demons onslaughts. Follows one Knight of the Word as he is sent to find and protect Nest Freemark's son, the gypsy morph, who has not aged in the last 80+ years. Another Knight[and these 2 seem to be the last 2 alive, all the others falling prey to the Demon Gask's machinations] is led to protect a group of elves who are on a quest to find the Elven lodestone, in which the Elcrys can hide and survive the coming destruction. The final focus is on a group of kids[teens and early 20's] who have banded together and are led by a youngman named Hawk, who has a vision[and who is the gypsy morph, it is revealed at the end]. I enjoyed this, without the emotional problems I had with the W&V series.

IRON TOWER: SHADOWS OF DOOM
-D. McKiernan-fantasy
-Lots of happenings. 2 of the warrows return to the Boskey to warn their folks, only to find they have to fight Modru's forces their. The other warrow throws in his lot with a dwarf, an elf and the new Highking, as they seek to gather the Southern forces to march north and defeat Modru. Walk through the Deeve[Kraggen-cor] and defeat the Gargon[a reptiled biped, who freezes victims with fear]. Ends with them going into a battle as they journey back North for a small scale assault on Modru's Iron Tower. Modru is Gyphon's servant and Gyphon was Adons adversary.

STARWARS: DARTH MAUL: SHADOW HUNTER
-M. Reaves-scifi
-An immediate prequel to Episode One. Follows Darth Maul as he hunts down a Neimoydian who is trying to sell info about the upcoming Trade Embargo for Naboo. Maybe a fan of Darth Maul would like this a lot, but I found it very blase. I am going back and forth as whether to buy it or not, for it is the immediate events leading up to Episode One. We'll see if I can find a cheap bookclub edition somewhere.

A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS: THE END: BOOK THE THIRTEENTH
-L. Snicket-juvenile fiction
-the series ends. much as it began. It seems everyone in VFD is an orphan, no matter what side of the schism they are on. The Baudelaires end up taking care of Kit Snickets baby[Kit dies], Olaf dies and reveals that he was always in love with Kit, and the story ends with the Orphans sailing off a deserted island to go live in the world, as normal people.

GODDESS OF THE ICEREALM
-D. Drake-fantasy
-latest installment of the Lord of the Isles saga. I rather enjoyed. Another Ilna from an alternate world is trying to take over everything. Lots of battles and as generic as the others, but I enjoyed it anyway. Magic, magic, everywhere.

STARWARS: SHADOWS OF THE EMPIRE
-S. Perry-scifi
-taking place between ESB and RotJ, it focuses on a battle between Vader and the leader of the crime organization Black Sun, both of whom want Luke. Vader wants him alive, Xizor wants him dead. Call it an immediate prequel to RotJ. Ok. I'd buy it in hardcover if I would find it for under $5.

THE AWAKENERS: NORTHSHORE
-S. Tepper-fantasy
-this is a really weird book. It drops you into an unknown world, into the middle of a story without any explanation. I've been able to glean the following: man came to this new world, which was already inhabited by sentient flying beings, who were on the verge of extincting themselves by over eating their foodstock. We were poisonous to them, but their blood gave humans longevity. So a system was setup where our dead become their food, and people "disappear" as live food. In exchange, select few humans are given the longevity treatment. Basically at the flashpoint where the people are beginning to realize what is going on. Really hard, because there is so much new stuff that you have to extrapolate.

THE AWAKENERS: SOUTHSHORE
-S. Tepper-fantasy
-This concludes this series. One group flees Northshore to the Fabled Southshore, another group rises up in revolt, a third group also rises up in revolt, but clashes with the second group over the first. It was just an odd series. Nothing to recommend.

MONSTER
-F. Peretti-fiction
-started out REALLY scary, then just got all non-scary. A good tale about bigfoot, a christian couple and mad scientist trying to prove evolution. I wanted more scary though. Very enjoyable though. Much more researched and thought out than The Oath and it really showed.

PARADISE: SHOWDOWN
-T. Dekker-fiction
-my first Dekker book. Heard a lot about him. Now I've read him. I like it. About a Battle for the town of Paradise between children using Books of History[in which the writer's writings come true]. The Story of Christ told all over again. It reminded me of the Visitation a good bit.

Tuesday, October 31, 2006

October 2006

A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Penultimate Peril-Book the Twelfth
-L. Snicket-juvenile fiction
-The Last Safe Place is safe no more. All the "noble" adults let the Baudelaire orphans down. Ends with the Baudelaires sailing away with Count Olaf. I have to say, Sunny's words are not just gibberish. I almost want to go back and read them again to see if I can pick up more stuff. In this one, the author lets their political leanings show. The word was "scalia" and it was interpreted as "it seems nonsense to interpret it literally". Justice Scalia is one of the few who still believe in Original Intent in regards to the U.S. Constitution. Whatever...

Invasion of the Sea
-J. Verne-scientific fiction
-scientific fiction is the perfect description. His stuff sure isn't scifi. In this novel the French are attempting to make an inland sea in the Sahara desert by digging a canal and are opposed by a tribe of muslim nomads. Basically follows the engineer as he inspects it. Ends with an earthquake making it all happen in one day instead of 5 years. BORING!!!!

The Silver Call: Trek to Kraggen-Cor
-D. McKiernan-fantasy
-ever wonder what dwarves do? As much as this is a cutout Tolkien wannabe, I still found it very interesting. Analogous to the dwarves taking back the Mines of Moriah. Extremely slowpaced, ends with the main army arriving at the Dusk Door. But I rather enjoyed it. Just detailed, very lulling.

The Silver Call: The Brega Path
-D. McKiernan-fantasy
-dwarves successfully take Kraggen-Cor, but at fearful loss. The 2 Warrows learn the pain and heartache of war, and end up being historians after the war is done.

Saturday, September 30, 2006

September 2006

The Lost Swords: The Second Triad
-F. Saberhagen-fantasy
-The first book deals with Farslayer and 2 Clans at war with eachother. Zoltan is still pursuing Blackpearl, but loses her in the conflict. The second book is about Coinspinner and deals mainly with Mark and Kristin's oldest son Adrian; who is growing up to be, quite possibly, the greatest magician the world has yet seen. And the third book deals with the Mindsword. I didn't like this one at all. Kristin comes under its spell, becomes devoted to Prince Murat, divorces Mark by royal fiat and at the end of the novel throws herself over a balcony when Murat dies. We don't know if she lives or dies. I'll have to find out in the final books. The Mindsword was a terrible sword and this story was not grand or great. It was very bleh. I didn't like the fact that mere "magic" could overcome all of what a person knew to be right and wrong.

The Pendragon Cycle: Taliesin
-S. Lawhead-fantasy
-A Christian look at the Arthurian legend. This starts long before Arthur though. It starts with the destruction of Atlantis. It continues with an unknown Prince, who was prophesied to be the Summer King, marrying an Atlantean Princess[refugees settling in Briton] and ends with the birth of their son Merlin who Taliesin gives his life in exchange for. Taliesin gave up being the Summer King so that his son could live, and usher in the True Summer King. I haven't read this series in over 6 years and I still cried when Taliesin died. Powerful stuff.

The Pendragon Cycle: Merlin
-S. Lawhead-fantasy
-A Christian look at the Arthurian legend. This follows the immortal son of Taliesin and Atlantean Princess Charis, Merlin. From young prodigy to Kingmaker. This is the immediate precursor to the Arthurian legends. But it takes all the sordid and evil things about Merlin and retells it in such a way as to make you weep and hope that this tale was true. Jesus is a large part of this story.

The Dreamers: The Younger Gods
-D. & L. Eddings-fantasy
-I was 100% disappointed in this ending of this series. I picked up about 4 different phrases that were completely overused. This whole series seemed to be about being as shallow as possible and overusing specific phrases. Once again, I place all the blame squarely on Leigh's shoulders. She has ruined the Eddings reputation in the fantasy circle as far as I'm concerned.

2001 : A Space Odyssey
-A.C. Clarke-scifi
-Evolutionistic thought disguised, more like thongwearing, as a scifi novel. Superintelligence messes with our ancestors and starts them on the path of developement. Leave a calling card on the moon, which directs us to Saturn. The man chosen to go ends up becoming a Star Child, and returning to earth. We'll see how the rest of the novels carry this out.


2010 : Odyssey Two
-A.C. Clarke-scifi
-this follows the movie, not the book, as a sequel. So the Monolith is at Jupiter instead of Saturn and is about 10times larger. Life is discovered on one of Jupiter's moons and Jupiter itself is turned into a second sun. Starchild has very little to do with this novel at all. And HAL joins Starchild at the end, scary if you ask me.

Phantom-Chainfire part 2[Sword of Truth book 10]
-T. Goodkind-fantasy
-Oh man. Kahlan is captured by Jagang but doesn't have her memories. Richard disbands the D'Haran army to destroy the Old World instead of facing the Imperial Order. Richard loses his magic, all of it, is captured by the Witch Woman Six and ends up as a prisoner of the Imperial Order, and joins a Ja'La league to vent his hatred of the Order. Goodkind is such a fantastic author! I can't wait for the conclusion of this series. At least once it is done I won't be tempted to buy them anymore. Why must he put in what he did to ruin this? Homosexuality, graphic acts of violence and such, while furthering the story, make it impossible for me to own these. Which is too bad, because this is some of the best writing I've read in a long time.

The Lost Swords: Endgame
-F. Saberhagen-fantasy
-things go into overdrive to wrap this series up. Kristin's healing is completely underplayed. Wood[the Ancient One] is killed by Swordbreaker. Vilkata comes back and dies, and in the process all the swords but Woundhealer are destroyed and that is how it ends.

2061 : Odyssey Three
-A.C. Clarke-scifi
-this is either blase hard scifi or just boring scifi. Ship crashes on Europa, gets rescued even with the interdiction. Haywood is "uploaded" to the non-physical plane, but is also left in his body. So there are 2 of him, I think. Boring and weird.

3001 :Final Odyssey
-A.C. Clarke-scifi
-Frank Poole didn't die, but hybernated in deep space. Gets rescued in 3001. Mankind destroys the Monoliths, which, according to Halman[the amalgamation of Dave Bowman and HAL which were NOT the next step but merely co-opted as extra sensors] were going to destroy humanity because it had been found wanting. So it ends with Humanity having 900 years to figure out the next step. The whole Odyssey series was so blase! And whole chapters were taken from former books, it got very boring and repetitive. Glad I read them, but I don't plan on reading them again unless there is some Need, which I can't imagine there ever being one.

The Pendragon Cycle: Arthur
-S. Lawhead-fantasy
-The conclusion to this fantastic Arthurian legend. Arthur fights, becomes High King, brings peace, is wounded in a battle initiated by a traitor, is born away by Merlin ot be healed, and then all the Fairfolk[Atlanteans] and Arthur disappear. This is so much better than Mallory's Le'Mort de Arthur.

Thursday, August 31, 2006

August 2006

The Lost Swords: The First Triad
-F. Saberhagen-fantasy
-follows the adventures of 3 of the Swords. Zoltan, Mark’s nephew, is being setup as the main character. A new threat arises in the form of an ancient[ie, from right after the change], evil sorceror who is no longer quite human.

Celtic Crusades: The Mystic Rose
-S. Lawhead-fantasy
-Somehow I forgot to write down that I read CC:The Black Rood. That was the 2nd book. Rose is the final. Murdoch’s granddaughter is pledged to find the Grail. Her adventures finding it. I liked Iron Lance the best of the 3.

Mistborn: The Final Empire
-B. Sanderson-fantasy
-this kid is FANTASTIC! This was better than Elantris and is the start to a series, length unknown. End of the earth. Mankind united under the Lord Ruler, a man who saved humanity from something called “the Deepness”. Allomancy[the ability to burn metals internally to gain greater powers] is now common among the nobility. Skaa form a workforce. This book is about a rebellion to dethrone the Lord Ruler[who is, seemingly, unkillable]. Great characters, and nice twist at the end.

The Complete Robot
-I. Asimov-scifi
-collection of his robot short stories. Easy reading.

Space Trilogy:
Out of the Silent Planet
Perelandra
That Hideous Strength

-C.S. Lewis-scifi
-pre-spaceflight Christian scifi. First book was a short adventure story. Second was a poem in prose form about the beginning of life on Venus and the battle between Good and Evil for its mind. Third was a climactic battle on Earth itself between the Forces of Good and Evil. No Dualism here, but Straight, Hard Christianity! This was a nice drink of cool water, extremely refreshing

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.


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.

2004

1-3-04-Saturday
Wizard’s First Rule
-T. Goodkind-fantasy
-88-gripping. it pulled me in with how magic was related to strong emotions. the characters were real!

1-9-04-Friday
The Grand Crusade
-M. A. Stackpole-fantasy
-83-a disappointing end to the series. It wasn’t bad or anything, but it just lacked something. It didn’t finish strong and just kind of wound down.

1-11-04-Sunday
High Druid of Shannara:Jarka Ruus
-T. Brooks-fantasy
-83-Yet another Shannara book. Enemies seem to be hard to find, and so he reaches into the Forbidden and finds some evil mastermind to cause everyone problems. Not nearly as good as the Jerle Shannara trilogy. I didn’t care about the characters.


1-21-04-Wednesday
The Stone of Tears
-T. Goodkind-fantasy
-86-I see why this series really took off. This volume reminded me alot of Jordan’s WoT series. They must be drawing from the same old sources of myth and legend. Several terms and circumstances were close. Really good but Goodkind seems intent of dwelling on the sexual side of things. Nothing explicit in this volume, but graphic enough to make me not read anymore. I would recommend Wizard’s First Rule as a standalone and forget the rest.

2-7-04-Saturday
Pyramid
-T. Pratchett-fantasy
-83-light, humorous, irreverant. Definitely to be taken in small doses. His humor could get on your nerves after a little bit.

2-13-04-Friday
Anna Karenina
-L. Tolstoy-historical fiction
-86- a story of the consequences of sin.

2-20-04-Friday
Over Sea, Under Stone
-S. Cooper-fantasy
-84- the beginning of a series about the eternal war between light and dark- extremely dualistic in worldview. Kids are the hero’s. Written for young people and ‘tweens. Takes place in modern times in England.

2-22-04-Sunday
The Dark is Rising
-S. Cooper-fantasy
-84-continuation of the series. Enjoyable. Different kid hero this time.


2-23-04-Monday
GreenWitch
-S. Cooper-fantasy
-84-Will and the Drew’s meet for another clash of Light and Dark.

2-27-04-Friday
The Grey King
-S. Cooper-fantasy
-84-the series continues, interesting.

2-29-04-Sunday
The Return of Santiago
-M. Resnick- scifi
-83-slightly lighter than the original Santiago. Clean for Resnick tho.

3-4-04-Thursday
Silver on the Tree
-S. Cooper-fantasy
-84-The Dark is Rising series concludes. I enjoyed it as a whole, but while it was written mainly for children, I would be very hesitant to read it to younger kids because of the extreme Dualistic worldview. The Dark’s whole purpose is to terrorize and subjugate mankind, while the Light, supposedly it’s complete opposite, seems only to exist to oppose it; not to bring peace and happiness to all. A good read, but wouldn’t let preteens or early teens read it without some serious discussion about it all.

3-6-04-Saturday
Prey
-M. Crichton-fiction
-85-an interesting tale of man creating new life that threatens to wipe him out in a modern day context of computers, nanobiology and the modern concept of evolution.


3-16-04-Tuesday
Blood of the Fold
-T. Goodkind-fantasy
-85-this series is awesome! It is like a streamlined Jordan-fantastic but without so many annoying characters. However, Sexuality is more prevalent. Lesbianism is introduced and treated as normal.

3-17-04-Wednesday
Dune: The Machine Crusade
-B. Herbert & K. Anderson-scifi
-85-the story rolls along, much more history being related, very interesting! Harkonnen’s started so good too..sigh.

3-27-04-Saturday
Temple of the Winds
-T. Goodkind-fantasy
-85-gripping, trim, excellent. but alot of sexual dealings, nothing too explicit, but I wouldn’t recommend it to any teen and I won’t buy them just so as not to have them in my house.

Small Gods
-T. Pratchet-fantasy
-84-funny, yet some rather profound[in a light way] things in dealing with belief, etc.

3-31-03-Wednesday
SW:NJO:Final Prophecy
-G. Keyes-scifi
-84-Whatever. the writing was blase and I read it just to know the NJO storyline. Zonama Sekot is hurt by the Vong, etc. The only cool thing was that the Vong were making their own brand of ‘jedi’, ultra powered-up warriors, just at the end of thebook tho. And Boba Fett appears and saves Han and Leia.



4-8-04-Thursday
Soul of the Fire
-T. Goodkind-fantasy
-85-pretty good. a lot of violence. Allies just don’t trust each other and that causes problems.

4-10-04-Saturday
SW:NJO:The Unifying Force
-J. Luceno-scifi
-85-The end to the series. Zonama Sekot redeems the Vong, and everybody ‘win’s. Leaves the future open for more series tho.

5-1-04-Saturday
The Pillars of Creation
-T. Goodkind-fantasy
-86-mainly deals with Jennsen Rahl, Richard’s half sister. All about those who don’t have even a spark of magic and how they affect the world

5-8--04-Saturday
Naked Empire
-T. Goodkind-fantasy
-86-further dealings with the pristine ungifted, a whole nation of them. this guy writes so well and incorporates moral teachings flawlessly into his fiction, it is a joy to read.

5-15-04-Saturday
Tunnel in the Sky
-R. A. Heinlein-scifi
-85-a good juvie fiction.

5-18-04-Tuesday
The Elder Gods: Book One of the Dreamers
-D. & L. Eddings-fantasy
-81-nothing but his previous idea’s recycled. At least Althalus was funny. This was boring, not a single new idea. Blaaahhh


5-29-04-Saturday
Exiles: Ruins of Ambrai
-M. Rawn-fantasy
-82- a so-so fantasy of 2 branches of mages who are fighting it out secretly. This is a matriarchal universe, much like King’s Dragon. Profuse profanity, immorality, and homosexuality thru-out.

6-2-04-Wednesday
Between Planets
-R. Heinlein-scifi
-84-a good tale of one young man during an interplanetary struggle and how he grows up. another good juvie scifi of heinlein’s. only concern is how authority is always portrayed as stupid or ignorant, etc

6-8-04-Tuesday
The Star Beast
-R. Heinlein-scifi
-83-juvie scifi. some unsubtle jabs at the family. big support for “Big Brother” type govt. so so story too. more political intrigue/maneuvering type stuff.

6-12-04-Saturday
Prince of Dogs
-K. Elliot-fantasy
-85- I really enjoyed this book. Well written, characters are fleshed out, the threads of people’s lives are starting to weave together a little more and the magic is starting to be explored in more detail.

7-3-04-Sunday
The Burning Stone
-K. Elliot-fantasy
-85-the story continues. A little sadder than the others, with people finding out stuff they wished they hadn’t. Also, homosexuality among priests and the like is there. More of a pleasure of the flesh than ‘oh, that’s the way I am’ type thing.

7-11-04-Sunday
Child of Flame
-K. Elliot-fantasy
-86-much longer book[850pg] and alot happens. Liath finds out who she really is, the Aoi are beginning their return and you see how the Aoi were cast out way back in history.

7-31-04-Saturday
Passage
-C. Willis-fiction
-84-Dealing with nde’s[near death experiences]. Definitely not christian in outlook at all, almost hostile to things spiritual. The end is a non-resolution to the main question of “What happens to us when we die?”

8-6-04-Friday
Patrick: Son of Ireland
-S. R. Lawhead-historical fiction
-82-Gives a fantastical look at the life of the man who became Saint Patrick. Pretty typical Lawhead-man turns from God, Christianity undercover in other cultures, man has terrible ordeals, turns back to God. Didn’t deal with his proselytizing in Ireland, just his growing up and going to Ireland. So-so.

8-12-04-Thursday
SW:Survivor’s Quest
-T. Zahn-scifi
-87-comes right after the Hand of Thrawn duology. About the Outbound Flight. Very enjoyable. Good dynamics between Luke and Mara.

8-23-04-Monday
New Spring:In the Beginning
-R. Jordan-fantasy
-88-when Rand was born. Moiraine just as she becomes an Aes Sedai. Very interesting back story. I look forward to the rest of these prequels...


9-17-04-Friday
The Gathering Storm
-K. Elliot-fantasy
-86-Liath is reunited with Sanglant & Blessing, the Aoi do return and the 7 Sleepers’ plot to banish them again fails. Biggest book yet at over 900pages. Lovin’ it!

9-25-04-Saturday
The DeathGate Cycle:Dragon Wing
-M. Weis & T. Hickman-fantasy
-83-I feel like I’ve been dropped into the middle of the story[it is done that way on purpose, I know, but still...]. But a good story. Solid characters, and some real whizbang ideas-worlds of earth, fire, water and air, 2 master races-one imprisoned, the other seemingly disappeared, etc. Very enjoyable over all.

10-9-04-Saturday
The DeathGate Cycle:Elven Star
-M. Weis & T. Hickman-fantasy
-83-Haplo on another world, no Alfred, but some funny\mysterious wizard named Zifnab. Find out there are greater powers than the Patryn and Sartan.

10-20-04-Wednesday
The DeathGate Cycle:Fire Sea
-M. Weis & T. Hickman-fantasy
-83-Another world, the remnants of the Sartan, using necromancy, degraded themselves, a Prophecy fulfilled. Alfred and Haplo see, briefly, what the other has gone thru and this creates a bond, even if hated, by Haplo.


10-23-04-Saturday
The Book of Knights
-Y. Meynard-fantasy
-81-a good short tale of becoming a Knight, but several instances where sexual acts are referred to as if just some slight foible of humanity and not the deadly thing they are.

11-2-04-Tuesday
The DeathGate Cycle:Serpent Mage
-M. Weis & T. Hickman-fantasy
-83-the fourth world. Alfred finds the remnants of his people, Haplo finds the Sartan responsible for the Sundering and both find that they are indeed not the highest powers. More dualism, but you really only see the side of evil. Depressing to see the downside and not the upside. Made me thankful I know there is One All Powerful God, not 2 coequal opposing forces duking it out.

11-13-04-Saturday
Dune:The Battle of Corrin
-B. Herbert & K. Anderson-scifi
-85- A satisfying finish to this prequel trilogy. The spice navigators are started, the Bene Gesserit truly start, the Fremen start and House Corrino comes into existance.You see the beginning of the Face Dancers, cool stuff. The Titans are destroyed, along with the last Omnius incarnation. The Harkonnen betrayal is shown. So many question left tho. I am hoping for more!

11-18-04-Thursday
The DeathGate Cycle:The Hand of Chaos
-M. Weis & T. Hickman-fantasy
-83-. Hugh the Hand is back and makes sure Bane is killed. Haplo realizes the serpentsnakes are simply our own evilness phantasmagorized[?]. Deals with the elves and their magic system a bit more. Very interesting.

11-20-04-Saturday
A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Wide Window-Book the Third
-L. Snicket-fiction[pseudonym]
-82-having heard the first 2 books on tape, The Bad Beginning and The Reptile Room , I was hooked. 3 children are orphaned and go from relative to relative and each story is about all the bad things that happen to them. They never die, but usually the relative they are currently living with does, and they are always pursued by Count Olaf, a distant relative after their immense fortune. A children’s series. Very educational in that the author is always using big words and explaining them in very funny, simplistic terms. Not depressing at all.

11-30-04-Tuesday
A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Miserable Mill-Book the Fourth
-L. Snicket-children’s fiction
-82-The Baudelaires work at a dangerous lumber mill, Klaus is hypnotized and Count Olaf dresses up as a woman.

The DeathGate Cycle:Into the Labyrinth
-M. Weis & T. Hickman-fantasy
-83-The seventh gate is revealed, as the gate where all power resides. The serpentsnakes play a much bigger role and their opposites are shown thru the single personage of Zifnab’s dragon. But the ‘goodpower’ just seems to stay hidden, very disappointing. Lots of cool things happen tho. Haplo finds his old lover and Alfred stops running and accepts his status of serpentmage.



12-8-04-Wednesday
The DeathGate Cycle:The Seventh Gate
-M. Weis & T. Hickman-fantasy
-83-finishes up the tale. The good and bad dragons\serpents, along with the patryns and sartans are all locked into the labyrinth, death’s gate is shut, so no more travel between worlds but the flow between worlds still works, so life can continue. Find out alot about the Sundering and history. Glad to finish it tho.

12-18-04-Saturday
The Green and the Gray
-T. Zahn-scifi
-85-aliens[who turn out not to be aliens, just from the past] are fighting a clandestine war. One human couple gets caught up in it, and tries to make peace. Succeeds. Zahn really knows how to write about human\alien interaction and focus on character and not just a flashbang action plot. The twists were visible a mile away, but still enjoyable.

12-24-04-Friday
A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Austere Academy: Book the Fifth
-L. Snicket-juvenile fiction
-82-The Baudelaire Orphans go to a private school. Meet the Quagmire Triplets[who are down to twins], run ragged by Count Olaf and live in a shack. Ends up with the Quagmires being kidnapped by Count Olaf’s henchmen[they have an enormous fortune of their own]. Mr Poe is as useless as usual.

2003

1-1-03-Wednesday
Mistress of the Catacombs
-D. Drake-fantasy
-83-once again, magic envelopes me, filling every pore. morality is slipping tho.

1-3-03-Friday
Dune:Butlerian Jihad
-B. Herbert, K. J. Anderson-scifi
-85-10,000 years before Dune, really cool

1-17-03-Friday
Elvenborn
-A. Norton, M. Lackey-fantasy
-85-book 3 in the halfblood chronicles. opens up whole new vista’s and possibilities

1-20-03-Monday
Fortress Draconis
-M. A. Stackpole-fantasy
-86-very good, but not as gripping as the prequel Dark Glory War.

2-1-03-Saturday
Radigan
-L. Lamour-western
-81-typical good guy wins, gets land and girl

2-15-03-Saturday
Manta’s Gift
-T. Zahn-scifi
-83-interesting. Zahn once again delves into alien\human interaction

2-22-03-Saturday
When Dragons Rage
-M. A. Stackpole-fantasy
-87-some cool happenings right @ the end. excellent

2-26-03-Wednesday
Persuasion
-J. Austen-romance
-89-Excellent! dragged my emotions up & down & ended happy

2-28-02-Friday
Northanger Abbey
-J. Austen-romance
-87-no emotional antagonists

3-1-03-Saturday
Immortals of History:Lord Nelson
-H. J. Gimpel-biography
-80-not bad, author simply hit all highlights & glossed over any bad or unpleasantness in Nelson’s life. author hero worshipped Nelson

3-15-03-Saturday
An Enemy Reborn
-M. A. Stackpole-fantasy
-79-not originally by stackpole. he simply expanded and polished. it shows. not his style in plot, characters, etc

3-29-03-Saturday
The Three Musketeers
-A. Dumas-fiction-classic
-84-swashbucklers, but immoral & irresponsible. a story of the times

4-12-03-Saturday
The Kinta Years
-. J. H. Giles-autobiography
-82-an interesting look @ life in Oklahoma @ the turn of the century

4-15-03-Tuesday
A College of Magics
-C. Stevermer-fantasy
-85-very enjoyable. strong female protaganist, reminded me of Patricia C. Wrede’s stuff.

4-24-03-Thursday
Empire of the Eagle
-A. Norton & some other-fantasy
-79-dry & boring as the desert the story took place in

4-26-03-Saturday
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
-J. Verne-scifi
-81-more of a scientific look @ underwater lifeforms than an adventure story

5-14-03-Wednesday
Starman
-A. D. Foster-scifi
-80-a real “poor stupid himans are visited by a superintelligent benevolent alien & the military does its best to screw it all up” sigh. stupid


5-17-03-Saturday
Camber the Heretic
-K. Kurtz-fantasy
-85-I now want to read more Deryni stuff

6-7-03-Saturday
Stone of Farewell
-T. Williams-fantasy
-85-better than its predecessor, Dragonbone Chair -Simon is growing up, fast

6-21-03-Saturday
To Green Angel Tower
-T. Williams-fantasy
-86-finishes “Sorrow, Thorn & Memory” trilogy. Ties things up nicely, Well done. Massive[over 1000 pages]

6-28-03-Saturday
Once A Hero
-E. Moon-scifi
-83-well written but too much time spent on trying to fix inner problems
No Thoroughfare
-C. Dickens-fiction
-84-a shorter book about love, murder, orphans, and lost & restored legacies.

7-10-03-Thursday
Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix
-J. K. Rowling-fantasy
-84-where as the first 4 books have been light and fun to read, this was not. Harry is now a truly moody teen & his life is being seriously threatened. This book did not affect me well @ all.


7-12-03-Saturday
Book of the Gods: Face of Apollo
-F. Saberhagen-fantasy
-82-take the sword books & change names and circumstances & you have roughly the same thing.

House of Seven Gables
-N. Hawthorne-fiction
-85-a pointless story about wealth, revenge, justice and love

7-27-03-Sunday
A Canticle for Leibowitz
-W. M. Miller Jr.-scifi
-83-about the future w\ a second darkage-about the perpetuation of knowledge & the catholic church. subtley disturbing, very.

7-31-03-Thursday
Killer Station
-M. Caidin-scifi
-80-surprisingly clean for Caidin. technical to the hilt. describes modern terrorism. Basis for SolarFlare by L. Burkett in my opinion

9-1-03-Monday
War and Peace
-L. Tolstoy-historical fiction
-88-very indepth look at the French invasion of Russian, but the epilogue[about history, free will and necessity] killed it.

The Space Merchants
-F. Pohl, C. M. Kornbluth-scifi
-82-light, a ‘filler’ book.


9-26-03-Friday
SW:NJO:Force Heretic:Remnant
SW:NJO:Force Heretic:Refugee
SW:NJO:Force Heretic:Reunion

-S. Williams, S. Dix-scifi
-84-The search for Zonama Sekot starts and finishes, alliances are forged [tween empire, galactic alliance and chiss], ‘Jeedai’ heresy continues to spread thru the Yuuzhan Vong and Tahiri becomes something more. Rogue Planet by G. Bear is a must read to understand this trilogy, unfortunately.

10-5-03-Sunday
The Wayfarer Redemption
-S. Douglass-fantasy
-84-interesting but takes immorality for granted and as normal.

10-11-03-Thursday
Enchanter
-S. Douglass-fantasy
-84-heartache and betrayal. those with responsibility abused those who belong to Prophecy. Prophecy is heartless, cold and cruel. Good story tho.

10-15-03-Wednesday
Starman
-S. Douglass-fantasy
-84-Good conclusion. But Destiny prevails over free will. that is what bothered me so much.

10-20-03-Monday
Doomsday Book
-C. Willis-scifi
-86-Time travel, time of the Black Plague, and faith. God never truly abandons us, always sends an angel of hope. Hard, but a good book.


10-23-03-Thursday
Way-Farer
-D. Schmidt-scifi
-80-an interesting story but too much mystical, eastern thot. liked the fighting tho. Good start to the Kensho series

10-26-03-Sunday
Citizen of the Galaxy
-R. A. Heinlein-scifi
-82-I like Heinlein’s juvie fiction. Very interesting, likeable characters; engaging.

10-30-03-Friday
Time for the Stars
-R. A. Heinlein-scifi
-82-more good juvie fiction. I wish Heinlein had stuck to just juvie

to say Nothing of the Dog
-C. Willis-scifi
-86-this was a really nice funny, romantic book. same universe as DoomsdayBook, but different people, etc. Much lighter.

11-7-03-Friday
The Celtic Crusade: The Iron Lance
-S. R. Lawhead-historical fiction\fantasy
-86-this was excellent!! made me cry for God’s forgiveness for what has been done in the name of Christianity. Gripping.

11-8-03-Saturday
Thankyou, Jeeves
-P. G. Wodehouse-fiction
-82-funny but not as funny as some of the early ones. Not so much happening.


11-10-03-Monday
Kensho
-D. Schmidt-scifi
-79-not as much fighting, more philosphical jabber. these books should be under the proselytizing section. And a good bit of casual swearing.

11-12-03-Wednesday
Satori
-D. Schmidt-scifi
-78- lots and lots of completely unnecessary profanity. he started so good with Wayfarer but it just seems to descend with each book.

11-15-03-Saturday
Wanderer
-D. Schmidt-scifi
-79-glad this series is over.

11-21-03-Sunday
The Bishop’s Heir
-K. Kurtz-fantasy
-85-200 years after Camber series, about a 17 year old king. Much more action oriented. I really enjoyed it.

11-29-03-Saturday
The King’s Justice
-K. Kurtz-fantasy
-85-continues strong. not dry like the Camber chronicles.

12-06-03-Saturday
King’s Dragon
-K. Elliot-fantasy
-85-a very enjoyable book of magic, war and the god’s intervention in mens affairs


12-25-03-Thursday
The Edge of Danger
-J. Higgins-fiction
-80-I didn’t enjoy this book. I had more sympathy for the supposed bad guys in this book. And since they’re the bad guys, they had to die, and I thot their cause was just and right. Family.


12-29-03-Monday
The Quest for Saint Camber
-K. Kurtz-fantasy
-86-right prevails, but once again, Kelson is thwarted in love. His first bride dies, his second intended marries his cousin cause everyone thinks he’s dead. Kelson just can’t win. Wish the series continued.

2002

1-12-02-Saturday
RingWorld
-L. Niven-scifi
-79-immoral, evolutionistic, humanistic

1-19-02-Saturday
The Space Merchants
-F. Pohl-scifi
-82-some language, light plot

1-24-02-Thursday
Once A Hero
-M. A. Stackpole-fantasy
-89-excellent, gripping

2-16-02-Saturday
Star Soldiers
-A. Norton-scifi
-83-light, interesting, typical Norton

2-23-02-Saturday
The Sound and the Furry
-P. Anderson, G. Dickson-scifi
-85-funny!

3-14-02-Thursday
AngelMass
-T. Zahn-scifi
-85-some language & sexual situations, cool ideas as usual


3-24-02-Sunday
Beginning Operations
-J. White-scifi
-84-Sector General omnibus-cool

4-13-02-Saturday
SW:NJO:Star by Star
-T. Denning-scifi
-88-emotional rollercoaster. I cried when Anakin died

4-28-02-Sunday
Redemption of Althalus
-D. & L. Eddings-fantasy
-84-Eddings are now too predictable. story was not very original

5-7-02-Tuesday
Dune:House Corrino
-B. Herbert, K. Anderson-scifi
-84-interesting. not so esoterical as some of frank herberts stuff.

5-8-02-Wednesday
Voyage of the Jerle Shannara:Antrax
-T. Brooks-fantasy
-83-old world tech vs new world magic

5-11-02-Saturday
Moshe Dayan:Story of My Life
-M. Dayan-autobiography
-86-reminded me of O! Jerusalem. Very interesting and revealing


5-18-02-Saturday
Guns of the Timberland
-L. Lamour-western
-82-interesting, typical
Fair Blows the Wind
-L. Lamour-historical fiction
-83-variation on western theme

5-27-02-Monday
The Silver Chalice
-T. Costain-historical fiction
-84-about the sacred cup. screwed up theology, but engaging

5-30-02-Thursday
SW:Darksaber
-K. J. Anderson-scifi
-80-I only read this cause it deals with Callista. poor plot and pathetic badguys.

6-1-02-Saturday
Guardians of the West
-D. Eddings-fantasy
-84-light and typical

6-15-02-Saturday
King of the Murgo’s
-D. Edding-fantasy
-84-light and typical

6-17-02-Monday
SW:Planet of Twilight
-B. Hambly-scifi
-80-same as Darksaber

6-22-02-Saturday
Demon Lord of Karanda
-D. Eddings-fantasy
-84-the “mallorean” continues apace

6-26-02-Wednesday
Sorceress of Darshiva
-D. Eddings-fantasy
-84-same

6-29-02-Saturday
Seeress of Kell
-D. Eddings-fantasy
-84- “mallorean” ends

7-6-02-Saturday
The Dragonbone Chair
-T. Williams-fantasy
-84-interesting and likable

7-13-02-Saturday
Empire of the Atom
-A. E. Van Vogt-scifi
-81-dry & I didn’t understand the ending
Harvest of Stars
-P. Anderson-hard scifi
-80-too much science, not enough action

7-20-02-Saturday
The Diamond Throne
-D. Eddings-fantasy
-84-good as ever
The Ruby Knight
-D. Eddings-fantasy
-84- “elenium” continues

7-27-02-Saturday
SW:Attack of the Clones:Episode II
-R. A. Salvatore-scifi
-83-Anakin Skywalker continues his spiral towards Darth Vader

7-31-02-Wednesday
The Sapphire Rose
-D. Eddings-fantasy
-84- “elenium” concludes satisfactorily

8-3-02-Saturday
SW:NJO:Dark Journey
-E. Cunningham-scifi
-84-Jaina Solo is starting to become a real character, not just a 2D name

8-17-02-Saturday
The Code of the Woosters
-P. G. Wodehouse-fiction
-84-hilarious, good Jeeve’s book

8-19-02-Monday
Uncle Fred in the Springtime
-P. G. Wodehouse-fiction
-84-very funny, amazing how funny the escapades of stupid people are

8-24-02-Saturday
SW:NJO:Enemy Lines:Rebel Dream
SW:NJO:Enemy Lines:Rebel Stand

-A. Allston-scifi
-86-Good! not as funny as his Xwing books, but this storyline is a serious one. cool ideas



9-7-02-Saturday
Alien Emergencies
-J. White-scifi
-84-Sector General Omnibus. I love how he makes the aliens so different yet real

9-21-02-Saturday
A Hero Born
-M. Stackpole-fantasy
-83-very good, nice twist @ the end, leaves room for sequels
The Strong Shall Live
-L. Lamour-western
-81-short stories, typical

10-6-02-Sunday
Jurassic Park
-M. Crichton-fiction
-84-good story, just full of evolutionary garbage

10-11-02-Friday
Son of a Wanted Man
-L. Lamour-western
-81-boy chooses law over outlaw

10-12-02-Saturday
Sliders:The Novel
-B. Linaweaver-scifi
-83-cool novelization of the tv show

11-10-02-Sunday
SW:NJO:Traitor
-M. Stover-scifi
-85-delved deeply into the philosophies underlying “the Force.” It was like reading a conversion story; I was disturbed

11-29-02-Friday
The Rover
-M. Odom-fantasy
-79-fodder, no originality, way too many loose ends


11-30-02-Saturday
The Far Kingdoms
-A. Cole, C. Bunch-fantasy
-78-very original, but explicitly immoral, full of betrayal and dreams not realized. man is mans only hope, gods are cruel & capricious

12-14-02-Saturday
The Stories of Ray Bradbury
-R. Bradbury-scifi
-82-this guy freaks me out. the way he writes makes u feel waht the charactes feel, usually fear, despair

12-24-02-Tuesday
Voyage of the Jerle Shannara:Morgawr
-T. Brooks-fantasy
-85-satisfactory ending while making a good stepping stone for the continuation of the Shannara storyline

12-26-02-Thursday
Veritas Project:Hangman’s Curse
-F. Peretti-christian fiction
-83-youth fiction, copied ‘arachnophobia’ way too much


12-28-02-Saturday
SW:NJO:Destiny’s Way
-W. J. Williams-scifi
-85-Jacen returns. Vergere becomes one w\ the Force. Tide turns against Yuuzhon Vong. I really liked.

2001

1-1-01-Monday
Boy Meets Girl
-J. Harris-courtship counsel

1-5-01-Friday
Dune:House Harkonnen
-B. Herbert, K. J. Anderson-scifi


1-11-01-Thursday
Hard Times
-C. Dickens-fiction


1-19-01-Friday
White Plague
-F. Herbert-fiction
-C-- profanity, church mocking

1-20-01-Sunday
Til We have Faces
-C. S. Lewis-fiction
-A+-well written but point was hidden

1-26-01-Friday
Satori
-D. Schmidt-scifi
-C-profanity, poor attempt to explain eastern thot

1-27-01-Saturday
Avalon:The Return of Arthur
-S. Lawhead-modern fantasy
-B-some profanity, too explicit Morgian Le Fey

2-3-01-Saturday
Portrait of Italy
Mrs Lirriper’s Lodgings

-C. Dickens-fiction
-A-very descriptive

2-7-01-Wednesday
Wanderer
-D. Schmidt-scifi
-B-1 paragraph w\ profanity

2-10-01-Saturday
Restoration of All Things
-V. Abram-Kingdom Apologetics
-A+

2-16-01-Friday
Once a Hero
-M. A. Stackpole-fantasy
-A-very good


2-19-01-Monday
Talion:Revenant
-M. A. Stackpole-fantasy
-A-very good

2-26-01-Monday
Our Mutual Friend
-C. Dickens-fiction
-A
Mark of a Man
-E. Elliot-nonfiction
-A

3-2-01-Friday
Magician:Apprentice
-R. Feist-fantasy
-B+

3-5-01-Monday
Magician:Master
-R. Feist-fantasy
-B+

3-7-01-Wednesday
SilverThorn
-R. Feist-fantasy
-85

3-14-01-Wednesday
Darkness at Sethanon
-R. Feist-fantasy
-80

3-22-01-Thursday
Andromeda Strain
-M. Crichton-fiction
-70-boring & too technical

3-23-01-Friday
Spinneret
-T. Zahn-scifi
-85-typical cool alien ideas, slow action

3-29-01-Saturday
Adventures of the Stainless Steel Rat
-H. Harrison-scifi
-80-funny but no morals or scruples

4-8-01-Sunday
The Eye of the Hunter
-D. L. McKiernan-fantasy
-80-interesting story but tried to interject shallow negative religious explanations
The Iliad
-Homer-fiction-classic
-85-too stylized and stilted for me.

4-14-01-Saturday
The Dark Glory War
-M. A. Stackpole-Fantasy
-92-original, gripping, sad ending

4-17-01-Tuesday
The Odyssey
-Homer-fiction-classic
-87-too repetitious

4-18-01-Wednesday
Quest For Love
-E. Elliot-marriage counsel
-95-excellent advice as always

4-30-01-Monday
The Postman
-D. Brin-scifi
-83-very humanistic viewpoint

5-8-01-Tuesday
SW:I, Jedi
-M. A. Stackpole-scifi
-85-good, fills in SW[Star Wars] universe
Voyage of the Jerle Shannara:Ilse Witch
-T. Brooks-fantasy
-86-on par w\ the other Shannara books

5-17-01-Thursday
Running with the Demon
-T. Brooks-modern fantasy
-82-extreme dualistic worldview

5-22-01-Tuesday
Watcher in the Shadows
-G. Househould-fiction
-86-dry, but well written w\ an inborn sense of honor

5-26-01-Saturday
Reaper Man
-T. Pratchet-fantasy
-82-humorous, light


5-28-01-Monday
Timeline
-M. Crichton-fiction
-84-well thot out, profanity

5-30-01-Wednesday
Otherland:City of Golden Shadow
-T. Williams-scifi
-85-multiple characters, profanity

5-31-01-Thursday
Batman:No Man’s Land
-G. Rucka-comic novelization
-84-interesting

6-9-01-Saturday
Villette
-C. Bronte-fiction
-86-interesting, ends mysteriously sad

6-11-01-Monday
I, Robot
-I. Asimov-scifi
-86-cool, but typical Asimov humanism

6-19-01-Tuesday
Winter’s Heart
-R. Jordan-fantasy
-88-typical, male\female arguments get old real fast tho

6-23-01-Saturday
The Naked Sun
-I. Asimov-scifi
-83-soso story, typical Asimovian logic

7-1-01-Sunday
The Child from the Sea
-E. Gouge-fiction-historical
-79-touchy feely, extreme speculation

7-3-01-Tuesday
The Man who was Thursday:A Nightmare
-G. K. Chesterton-allegorical fiction
-90-highly amusing & thot provoking


7-7-01-Saturday
The Scent of Water
-E. Gouge-fiction
-85-emotional look at life, interesting

7-15-01-Sunday
The Robots of Dawn
-I. Asimov-scifi
-79-too much unneeded sexuality

7-21-01-Saturday
Otherland:The River of Blue Fire
-T. Williams-scifi
-86-more interesting than volume 1

7-28-01-Saturday
Into the Out Of
-A. D. Foster-scifi/horror
-80-animism, blase

7-29-01-Sunday
The Trigger
-A. C. Clarke, M. Kube-Mcdowel-scifi
-60-more of a diatribe against Christians and guns than a scifi novel, pathetic

7-31-01-Tuesday
Witch World
-A. Norton-fantasy
-80-so slow!

8-4-01-Saturday
Green Dolphin Street
-E. Gouge-fiction
-86-real good look @ how people interact w\ eachother

8-7-01-Tuesday
Web of the Witch World
-A. Norton-fantasy
-79-juvenile, boring, didn’t even finish


8-11-01-Saturday
The Napolean of Notting Hill
-G. K. Chesterton-humorous fiction
-89-hilarious


8-12-01-Sunday
The Day the Tripods Came
-J. Christopher-scifi
-91-perfect prequel to the original Tripod Trilogy

8-18-01-Saturday
The Darkness and the Dawn
-T. B. Costain-historical fiction
-86-well written, very interesting
The Cat Who Walks through Walls
-R. A. Heinlein-scifi
-boring-extreme immorality

8-22-01-Wednesday
...Who Needs Enemies?
-A. D. Foster-short stories
-82-light, amusing, amateurish

8-24-01-Friday[assumed date]
Assignment into Eternity
-R. A. Heinlein-scifi
-85-good ol’ scifi

8-25-01-Saturday
Job:A Comedy of Justice
-R. A. Heinlein-scifi
-50-boring, blasphemous, shallow,
trivializing any & all thing spiritual

8-28-01-Tuesday
Double Star
-R. A. Heinlein-scifi
-86-excellent. his juvie fiction is so good!

9-1-01-Saturday
Puppet Masters
-R. A. Heinlein-scifi
-84-interesting, humans are top dog


9-3-01-Monday
Crystal Singer
-A. McCaffrey-scifi
-83-interesting ideas, but nothing really great


9-8-01-Saturday
Killashandra
-A. McCaffrey-scifi
-80-blase, milquetoast

9-15-01-Saturday
The Black Rose
-T. B. Costain-historical fiction
-88-if more history was written like this...

9-17-01-Monday
Time for the Stars
-R. A. Heinlein-scifi
-good ol’ scifi

9-20-01-Thursday
Thieves World:Thieves World
-L. A. Asprinn-editor-fantasy
-78-immoral, short stories

9-22-01-Saturday
The Rolling Stones
-R. A. Heinlein-scifi
-82-blase, too much ‘technical figuring’

9-24-01-Monday
Menace from Earth
-R. A. Heinlein-scifi
-84-short stories, some interesting

10-9-01-Tuesday
SW:NJO:Edge of Victory:Conquest
SW:NJO:Edge of Victory:Rebirth

-G. Keyes-scifi
-88-more action than previous NJO books

10-13-01-Saturday
The Complete Robot
-I. Asimov-scifi
-88-funny, silly, serious, touching, thot provoking-short stories

10-20-01-Saturday
The Green Years
-A. J. Cronin-historical fiction
-85-meloncholic


10-27-01-Saturday
Otherland:Mountain of Black Glass
-T. Williams-scifi
-86-good as second, no better tho

10-31-01-Wednesday
Galactic Odyssey
-Keith Laumer-scifi
-85-space age tale of swashbuckling, self-effacing hero, romance

11-3-01-Saturday
Camber of Culdi
-K. Kurtz-fantasy
-83-ok, bit too descriptive of scenery and objects for my taste. slow

11-15-01-Thursday
Saint Camber
-K. Kurtz-fantasy
-84-more used to style, still slow

11-16-01-Friday
Keys of the Kingdom
-A. J. Cronin-fiction
-85-a catholic priest in China
Orphans in the Sky
-R. A. Heinlein-scifi
-80-a twisted satire on belief & faith

11-23-01-Friday
The Book of Night with Moon
-D. Duane-fantasy
-81- magic cats, capricious gods

12-8-01-Saturday
Otherland:Sea of Silver Light
-T. Williams-scifi
-86-finale, couple of ok twists

12-16-01-Sunday
The Judas Tree
-A. J. Cronin-fiction
-78-a story of a weak, self-centered man who destroys those who love him. too much immorality and self to be a pleasure to read. LOUSY! I expected better of Cronin

12-24-01-Monday
The Complete Bolo
-K. Laumer-scifi
-84-short stories, funny, light, yet serious

12-28-01-Friday
Talion:Revenant
-M. A. Stackpole-fantasy
-89-well written, gripping

12-31-01-Monday
The Death of Sleep
-A. McCaffrey, J. Foster-scifi
-79-immorality, washout storyline, and no good, really lousy ending