Honor's Paradox (Kencyrath #6)

Synopsis
I don't know where to begin. Another Equinox festival, another test at the college, more interfering by sundry and sorts.

My Thoughts
While this was the most non-cryptic book so far in the series [and it is the latest written to date], it also was the book where I figured out WHY I hate these books so much even as I like them.

The good guys are filled with nothing but indecision and fear and allow themselves to be pushed around without pushing back.
The bad guys are always breaking the unwritten rules without any consequences.

That type of disparity always pushes my buttons. I'm a small guy and I learned early on as a teenager that if someone bigger than me hits me, I hit them back twice as hard. 99% of the time, it rocked them and shut the situation down. That other 1% sucked, but hey, not everything is perfect, right? ;-)
So when I see people just giving in, giving ground, not fighting for what is right, it grates pretty bad on my psyche.

And the story isn't anywhere near finished. So I think I'm done with the Kencyrath world. At the rate the books are being written [started back in '86 I believe], they will never get done.

Author: P.C. Hodgell

Rating: 3 of 5 Stars


Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot.wordpress.com

Valkyrie Burning (Hayden War Cycle #3)

Synopsis
Sgt. Aida comes back to Hayden to push out the remnant of the elite alien soldiers. At the same time, Space Fleet Valkyrie must deal with another space based alien invasion. Poor Hayden, it just can't catch a break.

My Thoughts
I thoroughly enjoyed this. Aida is a kickass sergeant and man, with her implants, she does a lot of damage. In many ways it reminds me of Neal Asher's Polity universe, with it's integration of humanity and A.I.

The space battle was meh, as are most space battle that I read now. After reading Jack Campbell's Lost Fleet and his in-depth explanation of space maneuvers, time, timing, communications etc, I find these simpler battles kind of like kindergarten.

Now the fight between Aida and the alien soldier, that was good! And if you ever think of elevators as boring, with sleep inducing muzak, then you need to read this book, it'll change your view, REAL QUICK.

Overall, I'm really liking Currie's works. He could use a good editor to polish him up, but the mechanics are all good and the foundations are solid. Kind of like Dean's old muscle car from Supernatural.

Author: Evan Currie

Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars


Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot.wordpress.com

Earthman Jack vs The Ghost Planet DNF w/ Extreme Prejudice

0 stars, author is blah, blah, blah.

Books that I can't finish aren't worth the typical review, as I don't care about who the author is [except to maybe to avoid], what the synopsis is or even what I thought of the story.

Well, to be honest, I do like to write about why I couldn't/wouldn't finish this.

I have a real problem with those who have a problem with authority. And Jack is the quintessential rebellious teen who simply doesn't care. His mom works her ass off to keep him fed and sheltered, working double shifts to pay for things, and he doesn't care. His teachers push him to succeed and punish when needed, and he doesn't care.

In fact, as far as I could tell by the time I got to 14%, Jack didn't care about anything except his own selfish desires.

This was supposed to be a comedy, and from the very ripped off from Hitchhiker's Guide tone, I suspect it might have turned into one. But I was not going to waste my time getting there.

it is pretty obvious that Jack is going to save the earth and that he is supposed to be a typical kid. But while I like reading about underdogs becoming great, I don't like reading about selfish assholes who won't accept responsibility for their actions nor think about the consequences of said actions.

I definitely won't be reading any more by this author.


Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot.wordpress.com

Kill Decision

Author: Daniel Suarez

Rating: 2.5 of 5 Stars

Synopsis
Somebody is using unmanned drones to attack targets in the United States and their ulterior motive remains unclear.

My Thoughts
First off, there is NO A.I.! That in itself knocked a star off for me. After Suarez's Daemon duology, I was hoping for more scary super brains. Instead, we get The Hidden Powers That Be [and feel free to say that in a super SPOOKY voice] trying to make autonomous unmanned aircraft the future of war.

Only one man, deep undercover and practically rogue, along with his heroic team and one sexy ant studying lady, stand in the way.

Yeah, really, that truly sums it up. And it doesn't get any better.

Near the beginning Suarez overwhelms us with technobabble that doesn't add anything to the story except confusion. And many aspects of the story felt very klug'ed together.

On the positive side, there are lots of gun battles, action out of the whazoo and near the end, a whole BOATLOAD of killer robots, err, drones.

I'll read whatever Suarez writes next, but that is the tipping point. This just wasn't good enough.



Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot.wordpress.com

Panic In Philly (Executioner #15)

Author: Don Pendleton

Rating: 3 of 5 Stars

Synopsis
Bolan goes to Philly to clean out another family nest of Mafia

My Thoughts
To be honest, this is getting kind of old. Mack boldly infiltrates a Mafia family by pretending to be a high ranking Mafia member and then either wipes them out from within, turns them upon each other or a combination of the both.

There is always a mention of some girl,but she is so throw-away that she barely registers.

There is a real lack of creativity happening.  I guess it is to be expected with such a serial series, but still, it started pretty good and now it just BLAM, BLAM, BLAM alongs, like an old jalloppi.

I've got through 19 in my Calibre library. At one time I was considering buying up through 50 or 60 and cutting and scanning them in and creating my own digital versions, since the early books don't seem to exist digitally. However, now I don't think that is worth the effort.


Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot.wordpress.com

League of Night and Fog (Brotherhood #3)

Author: David Morrell

Rating: 3 of 5 Stars

Synopsis:
Multiple men from the WWII era have disappeared inexplicably. At the same time, Saul and Erika (from Brotherhood of the Rose) are attacked while Erika's father disappears. Also, the man and woman from Fraternity of the Stone (I simply can't remember their names, they are so forgettable) are attacked. Everything ties together in one big mish-mash.

My Thoughts:
WWII, Nazis and Jews. And covert ops, black ops, invisible ops, you name it.

I enjoyed this more than the other 2 books mentioned [and they're necessary to understand this book], but it was kind of funny to be honest. Whenever someone uses Nazis* as  the badguys in modern times, I just have to roll my eyes.

There is a twist revealed partway through when you realize there are 2 groups of disappeared men instead of 1 and that throws everything for a loop. Suddenly, some of the people you were feeling sympathetic towards, you simply don't anymore.

So while this was supposed to be a thriller, I found it more comedic than the author probably intended.


*whenever I head "nazi's", all I can think about is the scene from the movie Ratrace where Jon Lovitz accidentally impersonates Hitler in front of a whole group of WWII vets. Here's the clip:
Ratrace Jon Lovitz is Hitler Clip


Crossposted on Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot.wordpress.com

Midnight's Mask (Erevis Cale #3) (Forgotten Realms)

Author: Paul Kemp

Rating: 4 of 5 Stars

Synopsis
Erevis and Company must stop the Sojourner from fulfilling his evil plans of summoning the Crown of Flames, even though nobody except the Sojourner knows what it is.

My Thoughts
First off, Riven isn't the craven, two-faced hypocrite we were led to believe he is.

I actually enjoyed this more than I thought I would. There was fighting and magic galore. The Sojourner shows his true colors and while it was explained why, it still seemed like a cop out to me. A being of almost unimaginable power wants to walk on the surface of the world before he dies? It seems like there must have been easier ways. Oh well.

The whole "death isn't really the end" that is used a lot in Forgotten Realms is thought about and the implications of bringing people back from the dead are brought to the forefront.

I also came across the first mention of the Netherese, who I know play a big part in the Sundering books currently being written.



Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot.wordpress.com

Undaunted (Kris Longknife #7)

Author: Mike Shepherd

Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars

Synopsis
Princess Kris Longknife meets up with an Itechee envoy who has been sent to warn humanity of a potential threat to both their species.
The second plot is a localized plot on a planet to try to split the United Sentients federation.

My Thoughts
I didn't have the usual whiplash, "did I miss a book" feeling when I started this. Considering the problems between the U.S. and the Peterwalds and the internal problems of the U.S., I was kind of surprised that Shepherd decided to write about the Itechee, the big bad aliens who almost wiped out humanity 80'ish years ago.

And I was even more surprised that they were "friendly" and bringing warning of an even greater threat to us all. Ramped up the "Threat Matrix" and made sure that the series wasn't going to end in 2 books. Boo to that! I am getting sick of the "never ending" series I'm coming across lately. A long series is fine, but one that has no over arching plot, no "big" storyline, that just plods on from one plot to the next, well, it reminds me of Alan Dean Foster's Pip and Flinx series, that I gave up in disgust on.  I just hope this doesn't become something like that.

The little on planet battle was a brief, easy lull in the tension. There was no chance of it working and we the reader could see that a mile away. So we got to see Space Marines kick local redneck butt. Good stuff.

All along I thought this was going to deserve a 4star. Then Shepherd has Longknife start wondering sexually about the Itechee ambassador, to the point of spying on him while swimming. 7 foot tall aliens with no penises, well, WHY would a female be interested in that?
It grossed me out and smacked of filthy fan service.
Or maybe Shepherd is a sick perv and he can't admit it so it is sublimated into his stories?


Crossposted on Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot.wordpress.com

Assassin's Apprentice (Farseer #1)

Author: Robin Hobb

Rating: 3 of 5 Stars

Synopsis
A royal bastard is thrown into the royal court and trained to be an assassin.

My Thoughts
Having heard of Robin Hobb and specifically this trilogy, I went into this with some high hopes. Sadly, this was only a mediocre story.

Lots of grinding, whining, angst, blah, blah, blah. I found the main character to be thoroughly uninspiring. The kingdom as a whole was a backdrop that felt like it was kind of painted on and the threat of the Redships and the forging, well, it wasn't much of a threat since it didn't make the story change.

And I have to admit, I was expecting something a bit flashier from an assassin. I think Brent Weeks and his wetboys have ruined me for simple assassins.

I'll finish the trilogy, but I doubt I'll be reading any more of Hobbs, she has failed to impress.


Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot.wordpress.com

Year of the Demon (Fated Blades #2)

Author: Steve Bein

Rating: 4 of 5 Stars

Synopsis:
Mariko is now in the NARC department, with a new partner. She crosses paths with a delusional psycho cult leader who is in possession of a magic mask that has an affinity for weapons and her blade specifically.

The 2 historical storylines are about the making of the mask and an encounter between Victory Unsought and the Mask later on.

My Thoughts
I have to admit, I read the first book, Daughter of the Sword, because the cover showed an incredibly cute asian woman with a sword. Well, the cover for this book is even better in my opinion.

I think this is classified as Urban Fantasy, but the fantasy part is so slight that you might miss it if you sneeze. Plus, 2 of the 3 storylines take place in Historical Japan, not modern day.

Mariko's storyline about the psycho cult leader was pretty good, but was more of a "plucky girl gets her mojo back" storyline than anything else. And there was no sword fighting. Also, the whole Sword and Mask thing didn't seem to be a big part of this line of the story.

Which brings us to the second storyline. About Daigoro and his continued fight for his and his house's survival. The Mask and Sword were focused on much more and there was lots of intrigue, fighting, politic'ing and moments of "ah ha!" that I enjoyed. We get to see how the Mask really affects its wearer.

And that leads us to the final storyline. The young girl Kaida who is a diver. Her little village sees a huge shipwreck and several days later some very scary men come to look for something specific in the wreck. One of the men makes the Mask and it is very evident that Arcane Powers are used and infused into the Mask.

All 3 storylines wrap up satisfactorily. Unfortunately, as I noted earlier, Mariko doesn't get any sword fighting time. I was hoping for another sword fight duel in Tokyo, much like in the first book. Oh well, maybe in the next book.

 Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot.wordpress.com