The Sublimity of Faith (Theology)

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: Sublimity of Faith
Series: -----
Author: Frank Murray
Rating: 5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Biography
Pages: 951


Synopsis:
A biography of Frank W. Sandford by one of his most ardent admirers, Frank Murray.
Sandford felt called by God to live by Faith and ended up establishing churches across America and Canada, a large Bibleschool in Maine and several missionary outposts across the world.
Murray chronicles Frank Sandford's start as a young pastor until his death in the mid 1900's.

My Thoughts:
A lot of personal things are in this review, just so you know.

I read this book in preparation for attending Bibleschool in 1997.

So far in my short life, there are 3 books that have quite literally formed me and my thoughts.
The Bible
The Sublimity of Faith
Seventh Day Adventists Believe...

As a young man, I'd read about Biblical heroes, men and women of Faith who lived out God's will in the far past. However, there are times that the young need something more immediate to look up to.
This book provided me that in spades. A man who stepped out from the traditional into what God was calling him to. Sacrifice. Hardwork. Trusting in God when it didn't make sense. Answers to prayer that were miraculous.
It inspired me and made what might have been theoretical in the Bible into flesh and blood.

As I've gone on in life I've met others who didn't have the same view of Sandford as Frank Murray did. Some of those people who had a different viewpoint were my own grandparents. According to them, Murray had rose tinted glasses on when viewing Sandford. I knew Frank Murray before he died and actually had him scold me in church one time because I was fooling around in the audio/visual booth instead of paying attention. And he was in the pulpit, so everyone heard.
I also knew my grandparents.

Murray was one of the most loving, kind, bold,gentle and stern men I've ever met. My grandparents on the other hand, were some of the most bitter and hard people I've ever met.
[that being said, there were reasons they were the way they were. It makes me proud to know that they prevented those things from passing to the next generation. So don't get me wrong, I loved my grands, it is just that they weren't the warm and loving grandparents one usually thinks of]
So if I had to choose one viewpoint over the other, I'd choose Murray's any day but I acknowledge that my grands had some legit things in what they said.

This book showed me that a lifestyle called for by Christ Himself can be lived in this world. Since I graduated from Fairwood Bible Institute in 2000, life has thrown things my way that I never thought I'd have to deal with. Things that broke me, bent me, hurt me and generally tried to make me doubt the Goodness of God. And there are times that I need to be reminded that there are others who have gone through worse things and still kept their faith. They kept on going towards the goal God had called them toward even though everything around them called for them to stop.

In the end, this book called me to be more like Christ.

Viper's Kiss (House of Serpents #2) (Forgotten Realms)

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: Viper's Kiss
Series: House of Serpents, Forgotten Realms
Author: Lisa Smedman
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 324


Synopsis:
Arvin skips town to avoid the guild and to get rich quick off a Baron who has a kidnapped daughter. Of course, everything leads back to Sybil the goddess wannabe and the mindmage who once tried to control Arvin.
Arvin meets a stunningly beautiful half-Yuanti and teams up with her to take down the kidnappers, rescue the girl and to foil Sybil.

My Thoughts:
Pretty average fare. Lots of action and intrigue and some kinkiness thrown in as Smedman skirts the whole human/yuanti mating thing.

Arvin is still a stupid ass but since I wasn't expecting him to have changed from the previous book, Venom's Taste, it was easy to go with the flow. However, him sending his own lover and mother of his future children into hell, by accident no less, was not something I saw coming. I actually just laughed it was so ridiculous.

This book confirms that I enjoy most of Smedman's Forgotten Realms writings and that when I see her name on a book I will most likely enjoy it. I like having that kind of knowledge.

Furious (Kris Longknife #10)

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: Furious
Series: Kris Longknife
Author: Mike Shepherd
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages: 368


Synopsis:
Being the galaxies Most Wanted Person isn't all it cracked up to be. Kris is being kept on a backwater planet doing busy work and climbing back into the bottle while Jack is on a Super Secret Security Platform. In essence, they are both imprisoned.

Then Kris gets free, puts herself on trial on a world not associated with either the Longknifes OR the Grenfelds and begins the battle to prepare humanity for its worst nightmare.

While she succeeds in the trial, it doesn't stop her from being wanted on other worlds. So she, Jack and the others setout to find the abominations and to scout and kill them if possible.

My Thoughts:
Once again, this felt like 2 separate stories in one book. You'd think I'd be expecting it or used to it after 10 books, but no, it gets me every time. Maybe Shepherd has ADHD?

Pretty much everything I've ever said about the previous books applies here. This is an open ended series with no real over-arching series plot without a conclusion for us to look forward to. If these books weren't in the 300-500 page range, I'd be tempted to just call this a serial and let Shepherd rot. In some ways I think Shepherd would do better to let this series turn into something like the Rogue Angel series with nothing but action plots and ghost writers. At least that way I won't be expecting more than I end up getting.

If you've stuck with the series this long, chances are you are going to stick with it for another 10 books unless they are horribly written and Shepherd is a good enough writer that I don't foresee that happening for quite some time.

M.Y.T.H. Inc. Link (Myth Adventures #7)

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: M.Y.T.H. Inc. Link
Series: Myth Adventures
Author: Robert Asprin
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 136


Synopsis:
A series of short stories about each of the characters that have collected around Skeeve and who make up Myth Inc.
And an overall story about Skeeve learning he isn't "all that" but just a guy with a great set of friends.

My Thoughts:
This was slightly humorous and the lack of "funny" was helped out by the fact that Asprin doesn't seem to do his best work with short stories.

Just an average read.

Future Indefinite (The Great Game #3)

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: Future Indefinite
Series: The Great Game
Author: Dave Duncan
Rating: 1.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 476


Synopsis:
Edward does a 180 and embraces the Filoby Testament and voila, everything gets fulfilled.
And Dave Duncan does his best to show hatred and disgust for Victorian English Christianity.

My Thoughts:
I spent a good solid 45 minutes on a review and then because I accidentally clicked the mousepad on my laptap, it all disappeared!
So between my dislike of Duncan's stance about Christianity in this novel and my review gettting eaten up, I am simply stating that I didn't like this book and I'll be sticking to Duncan's King's Blades books from now on.

Another indepth, perceptive and engaging review by Bookstooge. Yep, totally!

Odd Thomas (Odd Thomas #1)

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Title: Odd Thomas
Series: Odd Thomas
Author: Dean Koontz
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Pages: 344

Synopsis:
Odd Thomas, a young man who has a gift for seeing ghosties and other supernatural apparitions, must try to stop an unknown deadly event from happening in the small town of Pico Mundo. With help from his soul mate Stormy, his father figure the Police Chief and the ghost of Elvis, Odd must solve the mystery before evil blooms.

My Thoughts:
Back in May, I watched the movie Odd Thomas [Review can be found HERE] and really enjoyed it. Enough so that I sought out the books it was based on.

This was definitely a case where whichever medium you were acquainted with Odd first is your preferred. I enjoyed the book, and the movie got the dry, self-deprecating tone down perfectly, but since I already knew what was going to happen, the book didn't have the same "oomph".  I liked the movie better, but I can see if I had read the book first I would have liked that better.

For someone who grew up with a complete narcissistic father, a selfish bordering on the insane mother and who can see ghosts and "demons" [bodachs], Odd is pretty grounded. I found the balance he struck between trying to change things and not getting involved to be just what I'd like to think I would have done.

Thoroughly enjoyable read and I'll be seeking out the later novels to put on my TBR list.

Ordeal by Innocence

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: Ordeal by Innocence
Series: -----
Author: Agatha Christie
Rating: 2 of 5 Stars
Genre: Mystery
Pages: 292

Synopsis:
A do gooder with stuffing for brains involves himself in an old murder by proving the murderer was innocent and it was another family member.

After destroying the peace of the family and allowing at least 1 member to be killed, he solves the case and gets engaged to the youngest daughter.

My Thoughts:
If you couldn't tell from my rating and synopsis, I didn't really like this book. It was full of breathless secrets that were ultimately meaningless, or even worse, would have helped but everyone was convinced that they knew best and so kept quiet.

Another thing that bothered was the police procedure. I know it was a different time, but who thinks it is a great idea to question the pool of suspects all together in one room at the same time? Idiots. Even Lestrade is smarter than that!

I just didn't enjoy this and it reinforced my opinion that mysteries as a genre are not my thing. The occasional one that is at the top of the pile [And Then There Were None, etc, etc] is good, but not a wholesale diet like I have for SFF.

St. Louis Showdown (The Executioner #23)

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: St. Louis Showdown
Series: The Executioner
Author: Don Pendleton
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Thriller
Pages: 181

Synopsis:
Mack Bolan realizes that he can't keep playing whack-a-mole with the mafia and so changes tactics. Instead of just indiscriminately killing, Bolan decides to not kill old mafia leaders who aren't young bucks looking to take over the country. Let the seniors and the bucks try to kill each other. Playing the mafia against itself, so to speak.

At the same time, Bolan hooks up with Able Team yet again as they are on a mission in St. Louis and could really use the help.

And to make things really complicated, Mack's kid brother, who is now 16, wants to team up with his big brother. Not because he wants justice, but because his guardian, Val, former lover and True Love of Mack Bolan, is marrying someone else who wants to adopt him when Val gets married.

In the end, Bolan solves the problems and marches on, alone as always.

My Thoughts:
Pendleton is definitely leading into a more Team Oriented Mack Bolan with his introduction in an earlier book of Able Team. Since he's using them again, I can see Mack joining for at least a while. Until someone else dies and he goes all lone wolf.

I also liked how the whole Val and kid brother thing is being taken care of once and for all. Married, adopted and out of the picture completely. Sucks for Mack, that is for sure. Now he is really alone.  If I had been him, I would have taken a year off from my war, trained my brother and then gone back with a vengeance with a competently trained soldier watching my back. However, it certainly makes more sense story wise to just remove them. Glad Pendleton didn't decide to gruesomely kill them.

I really enjoy these books, as shallow and plot by numbers as they are.

Akira #3 (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 #3
Series: Akira
Author & Artist: Katsuhiro Otomo
Rating: 4.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Manga
Pages: 284


Synopsis:
The Colonel activates a coup after losing Akira and takes over Neo-Tokyo [because we all know that as Neo-Tokyo goes so goes the rest of Japan].

The rebels are betrayed by one of their own, a schemer who wants Akira for himself so he can be a "player" in the big leagues.

A new group of super powered children appear, apparently loyal to the leader of the rebels, a certain Lady Miyako who is also super-powered, somehow.

Kaneda, Kei and a new sidekick, a true blue Japanese Mama-san are running all over the place, trying to keep Akira safe. Oh yeah, Kaneda steals a tank. Yeah, for real.

Finally, Akira. The poor kid is passed from group to group like a football at the Superbowl and at the end, he psychically explodes and a good part of Neo-Tokyo is now gone. And Tetsuo appears next to him at the last page of the book. Good times ahead!

My Thoughts:
This ran the gamut from sad [Takeshi, one of the 'old' kids getting his brains blown out] to funny [Kaneda stealing a tank is just awesome! This whole volume would have been worth it for just that!]

This is definitely not for everyone. But I would highly recommend it unreservedly to any guy or to anyone else looking for some epic scifi blow-em up action. If you're looking for deep character development and monologues about feelings, go read something else. Seriously.

I'm off to eat a rare steak and shoot some guns. And maybe steal a tank while I'm at it *wink*

Sands of the Soul (Sembia #6) (Forgotten Realms)

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: Sands of the Soul
Series: Sembia,  Forgotten Realms
Author: Veronica Whitney-Robinson
Rating: 2.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 240


Synopsis:
Thazienne Uskevren, daughter and spoiled brat, is recovering from physical and spiritual injuries. An old foe returns to steal one of her friends' soul and Tazi is all that is standing between the evil sorcerer and her blind friend.

With an old acquaintance who she doesn't fully trust, Tazi must venture deep into the desert to confront this evil and somehow stop his evil plan from unfolding.

My Thoughts:
Either I'm missing a lot from earlier books, or this author tried to create a backstory and failed wholesale. I felt like some very important pieces of info were talked about that we had no access to. It was very disconcerting.

And this was just blah. Tazi doesn't trust the old acquaintance and yet they fall in love in the end. Mother issues.  Oh and lots of self-esteem building talks and such. Lordy, I hate that kind of crap.

Overall, an average Forgotten Realms adventure, in The Desert.  The series has lost my interest more at each book but thankfully there is only 1 more book and then I can get back to the Erevis Cale books.