Soulminder (ARC)

I received this copy from the publisher through Netgalley.com and that in no way has influenced my opinion in regards to this review.


This review is written with a GPL 3.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot.wordpress.leafmarks.tumblr.com by express permission of this reviewer.





Title: Soulminder
Series: -----
Author: Timothy Zahn
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages: 283


Synopsis:
Dr. Adrian Sommers lost his 5 year old son in a car accident and is convinced that if he could have had more time, he could have saved his son.
That idea turns into a full blown obsession and Sommers invents a device that can be a holding tank for the soul until the body can be healed and the soul returned.
Each chapter shows a different aspect of the implications of such a device.

My Thoughts:
In many ways, this is the book I have been waiting for from Zahn. Something that is science fiction'y but so theologically and philosophically laced that you can't help but reflect on the implications of what the author is writing about.

Now, Zahn's Mormonism shows through in how he presents the idea of what a soul is and so I deducted a half star because I really disagree on this and I think it is important.  It didn't detract from the overall story though and if you're not too worried about things like that, you probably won't be bothered by this much at all.

The chapters were very reminiscent of old Asimov stories, as each chapter was a snapshot in time of one particular incident. In one sense this novel was a series of short stories that happened to all be about the same subject. I really like short stories when they are done right and most of these were done right.

So overall, I really enjoyed this book. It made me think, even if just to figure out where and why I disagreed with Zahn and it presented some really good questions about ethics, morality and what is life.

I did take off a star because I thought the idea of the "airtight" security rather laughable. If it exists, someone somewhere can hack it, steal it or copy it. Reverse engineering might take years, but this book covers almost 20 years and the rewards would be astronomical.
And secondly, the ending was so deus-ex machina that I quite literally rolled my eyes. Inserted code can be found, no matter how cleverly hidden. The next generation is always producing a smarter genius *smiles*

But once again, Zahn produces a book that I can thoroughly enjoy and recommend whole heartedly.

A Forest of Stars (Saga of the Seven Suns #2)

This review is written with a GPL 3.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot.wordpress.leafmarks.tumblr.com by express permission of this reviewer.

Title: A Forest of Stars
Series: Saga of the Seven Suns
Author: Kevin Anderson
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages: 704


Synopsis:
Stuff happens and the other ancient alien races appear. One for each element of Air, Water, Fire and Earth.
This definitely deserves the title of "Saga", as it is huge in scope.

My Thoughts:
I enjoyed the beginning, was bored in the middle and enjoyed the ending.

Most of my experience with Anderson has been with his Star Wars books and they never impressed me, not at all. This series, the writing is almost like he is enjoying what he is writing and he's trying to do a good job. And it shows.

My only problem is/was that this was just too big. Too much is happening and to force it all in, you get some really boring stretches. Overall, a solid read but not something I'll ever re-read or salivate for the next book, unlike Akira.

Akira #2 (Manga Monday)

This review is written with a GPL 3.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot.wordpress.leafmarks.tumblr.com by express permission of this reviewer

Title: Akira #2
Series: Akira
Author & Artist: Katsuhiro Otomo
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Manga
Pages: 304

Synopsis:
Kaneda and Kei escape from their holding cells and the top secret base with help from some of the special children. Only to come right back to try to kill Tetsuo and prevent him from releasing Akira.
Tetsuo does his bully thing, hurts the special kids, finds the holding place for Akira and heads over there. Only to find Akira has removed himself from his cryogenic prison and is now free. A free 10 year old boy.
The Colonel orders a Level 7 Alert [higher alert than a nuclear threat] and has a Space Satellite try to fry Tetsuo and Akira. Of course, they freaking miss and all they do is burn off Tetsuo's arm, at which point the volume ends.

My Thoughts:
This volume was much less graphically violent than Volume 1. Kids weren't decapitating each other with pipes, etc, etc. But Tetsuo powers up with a new teleport ability and insta-healing and is just as psychotic and douche-baggy as ever. I really want to see him hurt and die; his attitude makes me sick.

Kaneda and Kei are much more of a team now. While Kaneda is still a hormone filled teen, he is getting to the point where he can now kill Tetsuo instead of hesitating. Kei is still the mature young woman just like from the beginning. Their back and forths are amusing.

I am VERY glad that I own all 6 volumes already, because if I had to wait between volumes, it would kill me. The tension of just what is going to happen is dramatically ratcheting upwards and the mystery surrounding Akira, who we find out is just a young boy, deepens. And will Akira help, fight or surrender to Tetsuo is just eating at me.

If I weren't doing a weekly manga review, I suspect I'd be reading these volumes one a day and just gorging on them.

Heart of Darkness (Classic)

This review is written with a GPL 3.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot.wordpress.leafmarks.tumblr.com by express permission of this reviewer.

Title: Heart of Darkness
Series: None
Author: Joseph Conrad
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Classic
Pages: 116


Synopsis:
The narrator of the story, a sailor and steamboat captain, tells a tale about his adventure of rescuing a Company Man in the middle of Africa. Said company man is an ivory hunter and apparently a god with words.

My Thoughts:
I went into this book not expecting to enjoy it and to hate the underlying philosophy. However, the depths of a fallen man were not glorified and the empty hopelessness of it all fits in perfectly with my thoughts on a world that rejects God. It reminded me of Lord of the Flies in that the characters thought that being British was proof against them ever falling into ways they deemed uncivilized.

I enjoyed the writing and thought it was well done and paced fairly well. However, this free kindle edition, which was taken from the project gutenberg site I believe, suffers from a lack of formatting. And that in turn does affect the story and your perception of what is going on.

I'm noticing that many of the free kindle classics suffer from this. I want to go over and download the actual projectgutenberg.com editions to see if it is sloppy volunteer work or something in the conversion process that just buggers things up. I suspect sloppy volunteer work but can't really blame them. Just digitizing is a huge step, much less properly formatting it,  on your own time no less.

And that is all I have to say on that. Just don't feel like trying to dissect or discuss anything else in the book. I've read it, it was a lot better than I thought it would be and now I can forget about it :-D

Die Trying (Jack Reacher #2)

This review is written with a GPL 3.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot.wordpress.leafmarks.tumblr.com by express permission of this reviewer.

Title: Die Trying
Series: Jack Reacher
Author: Lee Child
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Thriller
Pages: 434


Synopsis:
Jack is at the wrong place at the wrong time, gets kidnapped and ends up saving the nation from a megalomaniac who wants to carve his own nation out of Utah or some place and set off a huge bomb in California.

My Thoughts:
There was no tension in this book. You know from the beginning that Reacher will do ultra-violent things and come out the other side and that other people will die.

This reached disturbing levels of violence. The books starts out with a sentence something like this:
His abdominals ruptured under the first punch...

There were a couple of times where I just shuddered and had to ask myself if I really wanted to read something like this. I like violence, hence my penchant for series like Mack Bolan the Executioner and Neal Asher's Polity Universe books but this, this is a level of brutality that I don't want to become used to or comfortable with.

The problem is that just like a junkie, I am attracted to something like this and it has a draw for me. And this is one of the better things that can happen when writing a review, something that was amorphous and vague becomes crystal clear.  I don't want something like this polluting my mind so I won't be reading any more by Mr. Child's.

I Dare (Liaden)

This review is written with a GPL 3.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot.wordpress.leafmarks.tumblr.com by express permission of this reviewer.

Title: I Dare
Series: Liaden Universe
Author: Sharon Lee & Steve Miller
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages: 416


Synopsis:
The Ministry of the Interior pretends to have killed off all the members of the Korval clan, except for Pat-rin the Playboy, in an attempt to bend him to their will.
Pat-rin's playboy exterior only covers a true Korval core and he attempts to start the clan over on a new world, with new allies.
However, the Clan is NOT dead and Val Con the Head of the Clan formulates a plan to save himself, the Clan and all of Liad from the depredations of the Ministry.

My Thoughts:
I didn't enjoy this book as much as the previous Liad books, mainly because Pat-rin is too wracked with guilt, self-loathing and self-doubt.
However, seeing the Ministry of the Interior get theirs was pretty good.

The romance side of things was ok, with several couples spontaneously life-mating, one pair through a dream no less.  I rolled my eyes but I didn't feel dirty or disgusted like I would with that smut that passes for romance these days.

Each book I read is bittersweet, as I enjoy them so much and each book finished means I'm one book closer to the end. I ration myself.

Von Neumann's War

This review is written with a GPL 3.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot.wordpress.leafmarks.tumblr.com by express permission of this reviewer.

Title: Von Neumann's War
Series: Von Neumann's War
Author: John Ringo & Travis Taylor
Rating: 2 of 5 Stars
Genre: Military SF
Pages: 522


Synopsis:
Alien probes have terraformed Mars, the moon and are moving onto the Earth. Eating all metal, the probes are destroying our civilization and eventually us.
But thanks to good old American know-how, ingenuity and super-science, we ARE fighting back.

My Thoughts:
In many ways, this was reminiscent of Ringo and Taylor's Through the Looking Glass, but with about 10,000% more military jingo, gun porn and scientific babble.

First off, this book was about 300 pages too long. Nothing happens or is confirmed until about page 150. Do you get that? Nothing is even confirmed! We get science-babble instead. That was not cool.

Second, Earth is almost completely over-run and it isn't until the last 50 pages that the rogue grumpy scientist and the redneck scientists and the gutsy  but warm-hearted military group all come together to turn the tide. 50 pages from the end of a 500 page monstrosity.

Thirdly, utter gratuitous violence, that while making sense in-book, just turned me off. Soldiers getting their heads torn off because of their dog-tags? Yeah, no thanks. And cannibalism, even though only vaguely referenced, was done is such a way as to import the horror without actually saying anything. Once again, no thanks. I'm not sure why, as usually I'm all for ultra-violence, but this, it wasn't good for me.

This just wasn't for me. And I'm not sure who it IS supposed to be for either. There is a sequel, but I certainly won't be  reading it.

Akira #1 (Manga Monday)

This review is written with a GPL 3.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot.wordpress.leafmarks.tumblr.com by express permission of this reviewer

Title: Akira #1
Series: Akira
Author & Artist: Katsuhiro Otomo
Rating: 4.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Manga
Pages: 360

Synopsis:
Best friends, Kaneda and Tetsuo, are juvenile delinquents at a reform school. They are popping pills whenever they can and driving their motorcycles with their gang whenever they can.
One night Tetsuo gets into an accident trying to avoid a mysterious stranger and is taken to a hospital. When he comes back, he isn't the same Tetsuo.
Kaneda gets involved with a rogue group in the process of trying to find Tetsuo and runs afoul of a secret military branch.
And through it all, Akira, a secret weapon that started and ended World War III, is spoken about in hushed tones. What, or WHO, is Akira?

My Thoughts:
I read this sometime back in the early '00's soon after all 6 volumes were released by Dark Horse Comics in collected form. I was wicked impressed.

I was wicked impressed this time around as well. This blends punks, drugs, military, extra-sensory individuals and teen romance into one huge story. There was very little setup and we just jumped right in to the story. Kaneda and Tetsuo are shown as good friends, but thankfully there aren't endless flashbacks to their childhood or any such thing.

Otomo does a fantastic job of transforming Tetsuo from a slightly mild mannered punk into a vicious psychopath with unknown powers. You can also practically see Destiny with a Capital "D" surrounding his friend Kaneda as the one who will have to stop him.

This book is in a large format, which it has to be since most manga are around the 200-+ page mark and this is almost double that. One of the benefits is being able to peruse the pictures and SEE what is happening instead of just racing through the words. One thing I did find slightly disconcerting was that there were several instances where things seemed to have happened out of panel that we aren't privy to and the characters are reacting to that. Have to pay attention.

The artwork is what we have come to expect from a Post-Apocalyptic Neo-Tokyo. Highways leading to nowhere, futuristic military "things", the down and out slumming on the corners, massive underground mechanical items that we simply don't know what they are.

This re-read has lived up, so far, to my memories. I am glad of that.

Vamphyri! (Necroscope #2)

This review is written with a GPL 3.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot.wordpress.leafmarks.tumblr.com by express permission of this reviewer.

Title: Vamphyri!
Series: Necroscope
Author: Brian Lumley
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Horror/Thriller
Pages: 470


Synopsis:
Years before the activities chronicled in Necroscope, one of the vampires set things in motion for his successor to rise should he ever be destroyed.
This story alternates between modern day tale of Bodescu the descendant and the story of the rise of Ferenczy, the ancestor.

My Thoughts:
Now this was a Cold War Espionage Thriller...with Vampires that I was expecting.

I really enjoyed the historical aspect, seeing Ferenczy through the ages and how he tired of life eventually.

There certainly were disturbing scenes that really bothered me. Bodescu forcing himself on his mother, aunt and cousin with his vampire powers while his Uncle stood by and watched was probably the worst. It wasn't graphic, thankfully, but it was more than enough to put me off.

This was definitely horror, with all the creepy disturbing'ness that goes along with that. Harry is part of the story,  but almost more like a facilitator of information than a real character. Of course, him being an incorporeal ghost might have something to do with that. I did like how things were worked out so Harry could stick around.

Not much else to say really. Not sure why the "!" was added in the title, but hey, those 80's were a bigger than big time.  Enjoyable.

The Price of Peace (Jump Universe #2)

This review is written with a GPL 3.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot.wordpress.leafmarks.tumblr.com by express permission of this reviewer.

Title: The Price of Peace
Series: Jump Universe
Author: Mike Moscoe
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages: 329


Synopsis:
The group is hired by Westhaven [?] to hunt down some pirates and in the process come across a new group of corporate flunkies who are pushing a new drug to fund their rogue ways.

My Thoughts:
This was almost exactly like one of the Kris Longknife books where one of the little adventures is about rescuing some people from slave labor of drug harvesting.
This was the exact clone of that story [or to be correct, the KL book was a copy of this], and to be honest, I liked this one better.

Trouble, and us, are introduced to his wife-to-be, and that was cool. I really enjoyed following Trouble as he was kidnapped and then rescued.

Nothing stood out about this story at all, much like the previous book and all of the Kris Longknife books. A good solid SFAdventure story that while not blowing my socks off certainly didn't let me down.

One thing I noted, some editions say "Society of Humanity" and others "A Jump Universe Novel".  I hate it when things like a series name change happens for unfathomable reasons. It strikes me as messy and amateur'ish [not on Moscoe's part, buty by the publishers,  Ace/Penguin]