The Man-Kzin Wars (Man-Kzin #1)

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Title: The Man-Kzin Wars
Series: The Man-Kzin Wars
Author: Larry Niven, Poul Anderson, Dean Ing
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: SFF
Pages: 389


Synopsis:
Mankind meets the warlike Kzin [cat empire that is conquering everything they can] and we kick their freaking butts.
These 3 stories show First Contact and then some activities AFTER the war.

My Thoughts:
In all honesty, I was expecting more of the War and less whatever these stories were. Social commentaries or longwinded SFF monologues about science'y things. Boring, pointless and non-war oriented science'y things no less.

I was expecting something more like Alan Fosters trilogy, The Damned, where the fighting was what it was all about. This was just some rather generic space adventures. Not really sure how these 3 stories spawned over 10 books worth of stories.

It wasn't bad, it simply wasn't engaging or interesting enough. I won't be reading any more in this series.

Shadowstorm (Twilight War #2) (Erevis Cale) (Forgotten Realms)

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Title: Shadowstorm
Series: Twilight War, Forgotten Realms
Author: Paul Kemp
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: SFF
Pages: 352


Synopsis:
Erevis, Riven and Magadon make a deal with the Devil to escape hell and to prevent Magadon from being obliterated. This deal is what propels their actions for this book.

In Sembia, and specifically the city of Selgaunt, War happens. Shadow forces are at play and nothing is straight forward or as it seems. Shar, a goddess of dark, is ascendant and she uses, abuses and discards her servants as she sees fit.

Shadovar, long lost shadow sorcerers arise to combat the darkness, but they are servants as Shar as well.

My Thoughts:
Much like the first Twilight War book, Cale only plays a part, not the main part of the story and I find that rather unfortunate. The other characters, while driving the overall plot forward are not really people I am invested in. Cale, I am invested in. I've read the Sembia series [where he is a major character in the first 2 books and appears throughout the remaining 5] and the Cale trilogy. So 11 books I've invested in him.

Whenever I am reading a Forgotten Realms books, I have to remember to not get to excited about some big change that is coming because that is ALL the books are actually about, gods ascending/descending, the world changing, new conquerors/heroes/villains, etc.  Some of the smaller series/authors might be nice little side adventures [here's to hoping Castles or Rogues are more standalone] but most of the trilogies are always earth shattering events.

This one did get the Ultra-violent tag because what Magadon's father, the Devil, does to him. Graphic disemboweling while keeping him a live. And then eating half his soul.

The ending, where some sort of portal is opened between this world and a shadowrealm was pretty cool. Looking forward to how Cale & Co save the world and their friend Magadon, as with only half a soul he is sliding faster and faster toward his devil heritage.

Dixie Convoy (Executioner #27)

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Title: Dixie Convoy
Series: The Executioner
Author: Don Pendleton
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Thriller
Pages: 129


Synopsis:
Mack heads to Georgia following a cocaine trail and comes across a huge mafia front which deals in laundering everything from money to automobiles.
With the help of the trucker community Mack crushes them and allows the Feds to roll the Mafia up like a rug.

My Thoughts:
Can't say I liked this one as much as the others. There was so much trucker/CB talk that half the time I had no idea what was going on, even when one of the characters took the time to explain it.
Other than that, this was a good fun book with lots of guns blazing and rockets blowing things up.

Tarkin (Star Wars) (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: Tarkin
Series: Star Wars
Author: James Luceno
Rating: 2.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: SFF
Pages: 289


Synopsis:
This book is the dual story about past and present of Tarkin. The past is about his beginning of life and rise to power and the forces that shaped him while the present story is a little adventure about the beginnings of the Rebellion and the Deathstar.
Which I believe completely throws the book Deathstar under the bus continuity-wise, but eh, what else is new in the Star Wars universe these days?

My Thoughts:
I enjoyed Kenobi but not this. It was bland, not that interesting and I found myself constantly checking my Kindle to see how much more I had before I would be at the end.
Which, to be honest, is how a lot of Star Wars book are but it used to be that I could ignore that and pick out whatever good I could because I really enjoyed the Extended Universe. But with Disney's eradication of the EU my fandom turned to distaste and hence my thoughts are no longer so charitable.

I've been reading a lot of Forgotten Realms recently and the Star Wars books reminds me of those but not as fun. I guess I was looking for this book to redeem the actions that Disney took and it failed beyond belief in that regards and as a story was just a typical Star Wars book.

With that being said, I think I'm pretty much done with the Star Wars book universe. Doesn't mean I won't read the occasional one, especially once the sequel movies come out, but I certainly won't be waiting for each book to come out so that I can devour it.

A big fat 'meh'.

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (Classic) (Short Story)

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Title: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
Series: -----
Author: Washington Irving
Rating: 5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Classic
Pages: 36

Synopsis:
Ichabod Crane, local school teacher and collector of local supernatural lore, is in love with a rich farmer's daughter.So is a brawny tough.
One night Ichabod meets the local Haunt of Sleepy Hollow, the Headless Horseman and is never seen in the area again.

My Thoughts:
This was a lot shorter than I was expecting. I thought it would be novella size instead of a short story.
It also wasn't scary, but funny. It simply had a lot of paranormal going on in it. And in the end, you find out that it wasn't even that.

However, I still really enjoyed this. Ichabod was SO your geeky booksmart guy who simply couldn't compete. And the lass involved was your typical backwoods small towner who Ichabod would have been smarter to ignore. But as we all know, sometimes the head doesn't lead down the same path as the heart.

I just chuckled away several times. Definitely going to be a story I read each year for from now one. It was just delightful!

Fevre Dream

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: Fevre Dream
Series: -----
Author: George Martin
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 440


Synopsis:
A riverboat Captain who is down on his luck, takes on a partner who builds him the finest riverboat on the Mississippi.
All this partner asks is to not be disturbed during the day and to be able to come and go, no matter the boat's schedule.

Of course, this turns out to be a battle between vampires and things never go well with that. This ends as you'd expect of a modern vampire novel ie, melancholic, sad and yet satisfying.

My Thoughts:
This was great writing. Some authors have it, that flair, some don't and Martin is one of those that do. You can't get around that.

This was moving slow up til about the 50% mark and I was enjoying it. It was just like riding on one of those riverboats. And then the badguy vampire leader shows up, cuts off a baby's hand and things went to hell.

I couldn't stand the idealist vampire, with his stupid naivety and I couldn't stand the vampire badguy, as he was beyond being a psychopathic monster. Thankfully the riverboat captain was a great narrator. But by the end of the book, he is a tired old man who is obsessed.

This started bright and vigorous and ended in the dark and tired. As good as this was, it just wasn't for me. I suspect that Martin as a whole just isn't for me. I did enjoy a different take on vampires however.

Witch's Canyon (Supernatural #2)

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Title: Witch's Canyon
Series: Supernatural
Author: Jeff Mariotte
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Pages: 274


Synopsis:
A 40 year Killing Cycle has begun and this time, the body count will be catastrophic. Only Dean and Sam have the knowledge and the ability to stop this cycle, for good.

My Thoughts:
Even though I gave this the same rating as the previous book, I enjoyed this a bit more and it definitely felt "more" like a Supernatural story.

First off, the body count/violence was WAY higher than the previous books. People are being offed left and right. No rhyme or reason at first and I loved being confused. The title obviously gives away who the main antagonist is, but even that is layered in mystery.

This really did remind me of an episode, it felt like it was scripted by Kripte. It gives me hope for the next couple of books. Whooha!

Amazing Agent Luna #6-10 (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: Amazing Agent Luna #6-10
Series: Amazing Agent Luna
Author: Nunzio DeFilippis & Christina Weir
Artist: Shiei
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Manga
Pages: ------

Synopsis:
Luna gets close to Anders, finds out about Nightfall, leaves the Agency, finds out Jennifer is her birth mother, is under a death notice from the Agency, gets back with Jonah and has to deal with the Bruckenstein's yet again.
And her little sister Terra has been decanted and is trying to kill her.

My Thoughts:
I really enjoyed these, even with all the teen drama and angst and hormones. However, I did find that about 1 manga a day was all I could handle. I read volumes 6 & 7 together and by the end of volume 7 I was almost ready to quit :-)

Count Bruckenstein is a great comedy villain. When Shiei draws him in chibi form, I want to laugh my head off. His wife, Elyse, on the other hand, is a true villain. Cold, calculating and pure evil.

The inclusion of Terra at the end of volume 10 is great. It helps to know that volume 11 is the last volume in the series.

Twin Cities Run (Endworld #3)

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Title: Twin Cities Run
Series: Endworld
Author: David Robbins
Rating: 2 of 5 Stars
Genre: SFF
Pages: 212


Synopsis:
Alpha Triad finally makes it to the Twin Cities to pick up the medical equipment that Plato has requested.
Sadly, due to their complete and utter incompetence and total idiocy, the group gets separated and doled out among the various factions remaining in the city.
Thankfully, Brother Joshua brings them all together and peace and harmony float down like a gentle rain on them all.
And so they have a chance to get the equipment they need, but do they do that? Nope, they head right back to the Home to report the good news, because what difference can a month or 2 make, right?

My Thoughts:
This has moved far beyond silly or any such thing and has gotten into the down right stupid.
Alpha Triad takes Black Beauty with them back to the City, since she knows the lay of the land. But she doesn't advise them and they don't ask her any real questions. Then they decide it is a good idea to head into the city, on foot, at night.

From there, the decisions get even worse. The Triad, the different factions, all of them, just keep making the stupidest decisions one after another.The worst was right at the end when the group  has brokered a peace deal and decides to leave WITHOUT getting the equipment they came for. WHY?!?!? All that blood, death and fighting and now you just want to chuck it and do it later?


I wonder what Robbins was thinking when he wrote this stuff. In many ways, it seems like the logic of a 10 or 11 year old boy who has never actually even had a field trip but dreams up what he thinks an adventure would be like. My problem is that I can't even make fun of it anymore. They act that stupid. I guess I'll have to blame it on in-breeding because nothing else can account for such mental deficiencies.

One other issue that seems to be arising is that nobody ACTS like WWIII was 100 years ago. Everyone acts like it happened to their parents and they are just figuring out now how to survive in the world.

I'm giving this one more book to pick up even a half star's worth or I'm done. Campy or whatever I can deal with, but not stupid.

Robinson Crusoe (Classic)

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Title: Robinson Crusoe
Series: -----
Author: Daniel Defoe
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Classic
Pages: 271

Synopsis:
Robinson Crusoe, young and affluent, completely spurns the advice of his father and becomes a sailor and has various mishaps before being wrecked on a deserted island.

Survives on the Island for many years, finally gets rescued, becomes rich and then the book ends.

My Thoughts:
I read this book on my phone, so this was a filler when I only had a couple of minutes to read at a time.

I did not like Crusoe in the beginning of the book. He was young, arrogant and senseless. His actions were selfish, short sighted and in many cases just plain stupid.
However, once he was marooned on the island, he began to grow up and become someone with some sense.

Once he got off the island, he seemed to slip back into being a stupid man again. The book ends with his wife being dead and him deciding to head off to Brazil again and no mention of their children is made. Just boom, no wife, off he goes to adventure.
The other thing that bugged me was that Crusoe kept blaming his bad habits on fate, destiny, etc instead of taking responsibility for his own ass decisions.

I can see why this is a classic. A story of survival in the worst of circumstances and eventual rescue and riches. I doubt I'll read this again though.