Bookstooge's Reviews On the Road

Saturday, November 07, 2015

Straits of Hell (Destroyermen #10) DNF

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.com & Bookstooge's Reviews on the Road Facebook Group by Bookstooge's Exalted Permission.

Title: Straits of Hell

Series: Destroyermen

Author: Taylor Anderson

Rating: 0 of 5 Battle Axes

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: DNF

Format: Kindle

My Thoughts:

I had to quit at the 10% mark because it was obvious that things were getting bigger in scope instead of resolved.

I read my last Destroyermen novel last year and was on edge about continuing the series due to Anderson simply bloating things up with new groups of humans, all over the place. This time I quit at the French/Italian/German/something group that shows up to ally with the Japanese. I think these are the french nazi's from the previous book.

Just how many groups of lost humans have come to this world, why have they not connected before and why does Anderson do this to us? So I am done. I don't care how well written these might be, Anderson is out of control in regards to story and plot and I won't help him anymore by buying these.

Original post: Bookstooge.booklikes.com/post/1285601/straits-of-hell-destroyermen-10-dnf

Friday, November 06, 2015

Without Warning (The Disappearance #1)

Review:

Title: Without Warning

Series: The Disappearance

Author: John Birmingham

Rating: of 5 Battle Axes

Genre: Action/Adventure

Pages: 576

Format: Kindle

Synopsis:

A "wave" of energy appears, covering American, Southern Canada and Northern Mexico. Every single human in that area is simply gone.

The world is in chaos, Americans abroad [citizens and military] are left without a country, trying to survive and figure out what the next step is.

My Thoughts:

We follow several military groups, a U.S Ranger turned journalist, an Engineer in the state of Washington and some sort of mysterious spy woman in France. At first I wasn't sure how having so many points of view was going to work but Birmingham was able to weave the story through each group and it worked. Nothing was confusing or jumbled up.

I felt thoroughly "out of place" as any of the characters with what had happened. What made it even more so was the fact that we never find out what has caused the wave. The whole world doesn't know and it is creating chaos, as much as the world's One Super Power suddenly being gone. I enjoyed this and found Birmingham's portrayal of how things would go down exactly as I would expect it too.

The main thing that bothered me was the Secret Spy lady. She didn't fit into the story and for the amount of time garnered on her, nothing was wrapped up. It wasn't a bad storyline and it showed the chaos in Europe really well but I was hoping for some sort of resolution.

*Spoiler for the Ending*

Having the wave simply disappear as the last sentence in the book? That guarantees that I'll be reading the sequel!

Original post: Bookstooge.booklikes.com/post/1284977/without-warning-the-disappearance-1

Thursday, November 05, 2015

Duainfey (Duainfey #1)

Review:

Title: Duainfey

Series: Duainfey

Author: Sharon Lee & Steve Miller

Rating: of 5 Battle Axes

Genre: SFF

Pages: 496

Format: Kindle

Synopsis:

Rebecca Beauvelley is a ruined woman.

In a moment of girlish folly, she allowed a high-flying young man to take her up in his phaeton, not realizing that he was drunk. When he dropped the ribbons, she recovered them, but could not avoid disaster. The young man was killed. Rebecca survived, crippled, and with a reputation in tatters.

Against all expectation, her father has found someone who will marry her. Rebecca's life seems set, and she resigned to it. Then, Altimere of the Elder Fey enters her life—and everything changes.

My Thoughts:

The synopsis is straight from the book page and it describes how this book starts perfectly, hence why I used it.

This is a story of good people and bad people, of good fey and bad fey. Rebecca is one of the good people. Her soon to be husband is one of the bad people. Meripen is one of the good fey, caught and tortured by humans with his lover who sacrificed her life so that he could escape. Altimere is one of the bad fey, a high fey who will do whatever he wants to regain his High status.

Things start out pretty average with poor crippled girl being swept away by enchanting fey who promises to save her from a horrible future. Problem is, the future with the fey is even worse.

And that "even worse" is why I could only give 2 1/2 stars here. I loved the writing, the story, the "overall'ness" of this, but the domination of Rebecca by Altimere was not only magical, it was sexual as well. It was explicit enough that it went beyond the boundary of "part of the story". Also, Altimere uses Rebecca as a sexual lure for other Fey to steal their powers and she is raped, singly and by group and once again it was graphic enough that it turned my stomach. There are other ways to describe what happens without being sexually explicit.

I have enjoyed Miller and Lee's Liaden Universe books a lot and so was really looking forward to this. So to have the above dropped on me was unexpected, unwanted and disappointing. There were several times I wasn't sure if I actually wanted to finish the story.

Thankfully, it wasn't all rape all the time. It was still a good story. I really enjoyed Meripen's story, a fey ranger. We come across him as he is awoken from healing sleep and slowly learn of his past while he must deal with the present. The present involves Fey and Human working together, something Meripen can't really comprehend due to what happened so many years ago.

I will be reading the finale to this duology but it isn't on my "must read" mental list and I won't be moving it up the line to read right away. Overall, my feelings are so mixed between the bad and the good that I'm not even sure of this middle of the road rating.

Original post: Bookstooge.booklikes.com/post/1284216/duainfey-duainfey-1

Tuesday, November 03, 2015

Beyond the Deepwoods (Twig #1) (The Edge Chronicles #1)

Review:

Title: Beyond the Deepwoods

Series: The Edge Chronicles

Author: Chris Riddell & Paul Stewart

Rating: of 5 Battle Axes

Genre: Children's SFF

Pages: 290

Format: Kindle

Synopsis:

Twig, an unusual wood troll, finds out he is adopted and is sent off to live with a distant relative. He gets off the path and ends up having MANY adventures culminating in finding his father, a human sky pirate.

My Thoughts:

I didn't realize this was a children's book when I started it. I thought it was for teens. However, I realized my error right away and adjusted my thought process and expectations, hence allowing me to finish this without throwing a hissy fit.

Things happen. That more than adequately sums up how this books works. Several times I kept waiting for the main character to wake up and get back to where he last was only to realize that THIS event was in fact happening and it was NOT a dream sequence. I was ok for the first half of the book and then I started getting antsy and wanting things to wrap up.

I suspect kids would simply accept the abrupt changes in the story, as they can relate, ie, their whole world can change in an instant without any input from them or any kind of control. It is part of being a child. As an adult I simply had enough. I'm keeping on through the series, but I am glad it will be quite some time before I revisit this series.

Original post: Bookstooge.booklikes.com/post/1283226/beyond-the-deepwoods-twig-1-the-edge-chronicles-1

Monday, November 02, 2015

October '15 Roundup

15 reads this month. I'm pretty happy with that. Several DNF's, but more of that was due to illness than bad writing.

I am ahead of schedule and I keep wondering if I should up my challenge number, but then I remember how busy this time of year ALWAYS is and common sense wins the day.

Cheers to November being a good month as well!

Original post: Bookstooge.booklikes.com/post/1281980/october-15-roundup

Friday, October 30, 2015

Streaming Dawn (Fated Blades #3.5)

Review:

Title: Streaming Dawn

Series: Fated Blades

Author: Steve Bein

Rating: of 5 Battle Axes

Genre: SFF

Pages: 89

Format: Kindle

Synopsis:

The Wind has decided who shall be in power next. It is up to Kaida from the second book to make it happen. Considering she's the Wind's top assassin, how can she fail?

But when an incorruptible man carrying an Inazuma blade, Glory Victory Unsought, comes onto the scene, things get a little complicated.

My Thoughts:

I've really been enjoying these Fated Blade books. I have also found that these novella's really add a lot to the overall story. I like the fact that they occur ONLY in the past and are all about the Inazuma blades.

While this labeled as #3.5, mainly because of the Wind, which isn't introduced until Disciple of the Wind (book #3), it took me awhile to make the connection between the main character Kaida the Assassin [a very old lady] and Kaida the Fisher Girl [from Year of the Demon (book #2)]. But once I did, my enjoyment went up a notch. Next time I read through this series I'll definitely be reading this between books 2 and 3 instead of after 3.

I am buying the books in paperback as they come out and wish these novellas could be published that way as well. Ebook is good for reading, but not for collecting.

Original post: Bookstooge.booklikes.com/post/1279534/streaming-dawn-fated-blades-3-5

Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Terms of Enlistment (Frontlines #1)

Review:

Title: Terms of Enlistment

Series: Frontlines

Author: Marko Kloos

Rating: of 5 Battle Axes

Genre: SFF

Pages: 347

Format: Kindle

Synopsis:

Andrew Grayson has grown up in the slums. Super slums that are the same and the anti-thesis of Asimov's super cities. Unemployed, fed on vat grown soy and in danger all the time, Grayson has 3 choices. Become the violent, pathetic, broken man that his father is. Win the 1 in a billion Space Colony lottery and get off the planet. OR, join the military and work for 5 years and then retire.

Which would YOU choose?

My Thoughts:

Thoroughly enjoyed this. I have found that I like military enlistment style stories. Reading about boot camps and stuff is fun.

In many ways, this followed the same story path as ATLAS. Even down to the girlfriend from bootcamp and long distance relationship. However, where ATLAS was depressing, this wasn't. Things actually work out ok for them.

And then, just like in ATLAS, humanity discovers aliens. By the end of the book all we know is that they are immensely powerful and probably way ahead of humanity.

I am looking forward to continue reading this series. Hope it holds up.

Original post: Bookstooge.booklikes.com/post/1277881/terms-of-enlistment-frontlines-1