Pacific Rim: The Official Movie Novelization

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Title: Pacific Rim
Series: -----
Author: Alex Irvine
Rating: of 5 Battle Axes
Genre: Action/Adventure
Pages: 352
Format: Kindle




Synopsis:
A good movie novelization.
Aliens are coming. From the ocean. And we have to use gigantic robots to fight them off.

My Thoughts:
If you liked the movie for the fights and the action and raw, brute power, stick with the movie. This book didn't really portray the power side of things very well.

If you thought the movie was skimpy on characterization and mecha info, then read the book. It fills in a good bit of stuff without making the book different from the movie.

I'm usually not a fan of movie novelizations and don't bother with them. I either want to watch the movie OR read the book the movie is based on.

The Tomb of Hercules (Wilde and Chase #2)

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Title: The Tomb of Hercules
Series: Wilde and Chase
Author: Andy Mcdermott
Rating: of 5 Battle Axes
Genre: Action/Adventure
Pages: 541
Format: Kindle




Synopsis:
Nina Wilde, now in charge of a large U.N. based agency, is stuck behind a desk instead of doing actual archaeological work.
Eddie Chase, now Nina's underling, is also stuck behind a desk. Not a good thing for anybody.
So when an old Ex calls, Eddie goes running. And Nina must chase him down or lose him. So begins a globetrotting adventure to find the Tomb of Hercules, a tomb legendary for its vast treasure trove.

My Thoughts:
After the rather over the top, lets kill 75% of the world kind of plot from the previous book, this simple smash, shoot and grab adventure was nice.

Let's see. Wilde and Chase drive a monster dumptruck from a diamond mine and take out some tanks and stuff. They go zipping down some rivers in one of those everglade airfan boats and have battles with some speedboats. They get captured by 2 different billionaires. Eddie's Ex is a bitch. They invade an underwater living area and Nina ends up chasing after Eddie in an experimental submarine that could blow up for no reason whatsoever. They find the tomb and watch as man after man fall prey to to the booby traps. And when you thought it was all over...they have to stop a nuclear bomb from going off in Manhattan while chained to a big boat.

Unrelenting action from beginning to end.

Flowers for Algernon

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Title: Flowers for Algernon
Series: ----
Author: Daniel Keyes
Rating: of 5 Battle Axes
Genre: SFF
Pages: 321
Format: Kindle




Synopsis:
Charlie, a mentally retarded man, volunteers for an experimental surgery to boost his intelligence.
We follow his journey from beginning to end through a series of journal entries by Charlie himself.

My Thoughts:
ALL THE FEELZZZZ!!!!!!!!!!!   I knew this followed the up and then down of Charlie and knew the ending but I have to admit, I was not prepared for how this hit me emotionally.
It was heartbreaking to read about Charlie and his "friends" at the bakery and to realize, before Charlie did, just what kind of "friends" they actually were.

To read about his burgeoning intelligence and to see his happiness and positive attitude melting before my eyes was like a kick in the gut, over and over and over again. I read this in one sitting because I couldn't put this down and I while I knew the ending, I had to see for myself. There was a time or two where I just put my kindle down  and hunched up for a minute or so to let the storm pass through.

By the time we came to his downward slide, it wasn't as bad, mainly because Charlie didn't realize how bad it was. Keyes does a great job of showing the reality without either being crass or gross or simplistic.

All in all, I am glad I hadn't read this earlier in life. I probably wouldn't have appreciated it and simply shrugged it off. But I am very glad I have read it now and have to admit, this is also in the running for best book of 2015. It hit me that hard.

King of Thieves (Odyssey One: Star Rogue #1)

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Title: King of Thieves
Series: Odyssey One: Star Rogue
Author: Evan Currie
Rating: of 5 Battle Axes
Genre: SFF
Pages: 352
Format: Kindle




Synopsis:
Now that earth has survived the drasin, humanity has regrouped and is sending out patrols to search for other drasin strongholds so they can send in the big guns to take care of them.
Captain Passer and crew are one such patrol. What they find is something even more important than the drasin and potentially just as deadly.

"That's no moon. It's a space station."

My Thoughts:
When this was released on Netgalley back in February, there was NO indication that it was the sequel to the Odyssey One series.  Now if you go to the amazon page, the series is listed as Odyssey One: Star Rogue. It is things like that that keep me from considering Currie as a serious author. Even while I enjoy his books.

With that out of the way...

Thoroughly enjoyed this adventure story. Space marines fighting dragons on an artificial moon that is invisible, can see all through the galaxy AND can act as a super duper magnifying glass for a star's energy.

Just fun military sf, plain and simple.

Out of the Black (Odyssey One #4)

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Title: Out of the Black
Series: Odyssey One
Author: Evan Currie
Rating: of 5 Battle Axes
Genre: SFF
Pages: 447
Format: Kindle





Synopsis:
The wrap up to the Drasin alien cycle of the Odyssey One series. Earth must stand off something like 1,000 drasin ships while fighting against drones on earth itself.
The Priminae are refusing to actively engage to help earth and thus earth, finally united, faces its greatest threat ever.

My Thoughts:
This was a great wrap up to the series. In the previous book it seemed like earth was already gone when the survivors were sent to Priminae space. This books hows the battle that ensued between them leaving and them returning with Priminae tech.

I thoroughly enjoyed this. I have always preferred ground fights to space fights and this was full of that. The whole earth is the battle ground and to leave even one drasin alive is to risk it replicating and starting the war all over.

This ends on such a note that you could stop and be satisfied. Obviously, lots of questions remain about the drasin handlers and other aliens out there, but the drasin, as a threat, are done. That is a nice feeling.

The Eye of Divinity DNF@11%

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: The Eye of Divinity
Series: Knights
Author: Robert Keller
Rating: of 5 Battle Axes
Genre: SFF
Pages: DNF
Format: Kindle




My Thoughts
A boy is chosen by 3 knights of the kingdom. That was as far as I got. "Epic" was in the unedited title at booklikes, in the description, etc and so I was all set for something epic.

What this is is a middle grade book about a boy who is suddenly special. Awkward writing mixed with characterizations that I didn't like made this definitely NOT epic. No middle grade book IS epic. So I quit before I got angry with the author for wasting my time.

The Khyber Connection (Time Wars #6)

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Title: The Khyber Connection
Series: Time Wars
Author: Simon Hawke
Rating: of 5 Battle Axes
Genre: SFF
Pages: 170
Format: Kindle





Synopsis:
The events from the previous book have brought two alternate time streams into confluence.
Separate time streams, not a split.
Thus parallel universes begin a truly horrific conflict.

My Thoughts:
I actually enjoyed this more than most of the previous books. Part of that was because Hawke left off trying to create "feel real" characters and just let them be cardboard cutouts. It works better this way.

I haven't read the actual The Khyber Connection so I wasn't able to compare how Hawke weaved this story into that plot line. Reading this made me want to read the actual book but stories of Imperial India, except for Kim, have never truly interested me.

This was good enough that I'll keep on with the series. I was beginning to wonder after the last book.

ATLAS 3 (Atlas #3)

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Title: ATLAS 3
Series: Atlas
Author: Isaac Hooke
Rating: of 5 Battle Axes
Genre: SFF
Pages: 496
Format: Kindle




Synopsis:
In a last gasp move, Humanity is sending in the MOTH's to nuke the brains of the 2 skull ships. If they don't succeed, humanity is doomed.
And more aliens.

My Thoughts:
I read over my review for ATLAS 2 before writing this and felt that I could almost copy/paste that review for this book. Too long, too many acronyms explained in the moment and not worth your money.

With that being said, I think the action was better this time around even while being described blow by blow. I didn't feel like my time was wasted, but it did get close. The ending was satisfactory but I don't think I'll be reading any more by Hooke as his writing just doesn't do it for me.

If you're looking for good military scifi, this is adequate. I would recommend Evan Currie or Marko Kloos over this though.

Odd Apocalypse (Odd Thomas #6)

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: Odd Apocalypse
Series: Odd Thomas
Author: Dean Koontz
Rating: of 5 Battle Axes
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Pages: 370
Format: Kindle





Synopsis:
Odd and Annamaria are just hanging out at a billionaire's mysterious house where things are weird.
Odd meets a ghost who wants him to help her son, sees some sort of human/swine hybrid creatures wandering the grounds and sees the sky turn yellow instead of blue.
Annamaria simply sits in her room and tells Odd to believe in himself.

My Thoughts:
As much as I don't care for Annamaria, she really helps anchor Odd. She gives him a purpose that he can hold onto and a center that he can return to when things are simply beyond his understanding. I still don't like her though.

While this is touted as book 5, it really is book 6, as Koontz interjected that serial novel Odd Interlude, into the stream of things part way through.

Things get really weird in this book. It seems like reality itself is shifting at random, but only on the estate. Koontz wrote these sequences in such a way that I felt just as confused and disoriented as Odd when these shifts happen. And bad things happen during these shifts as well, so the tension was ratcheted up pretty good.

The whole Tesla and time and copper thing was a means to an end for the story but it didn't do much for me. I'm not one of those who think that Tesla was some sort of super-genius who got bypassed in history because of politics and business maneuverings.

The ending was a bit more violent than I was expecting, but that isn't really a bad thing.

The Silver Spike (The Chronicles of the Black Company #4)

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Title: The Silver Spike
Series: The Chronicles of the Black Company
Author: Glen Cook
Rating: of 5 Battle Axes
Genre: SFF
Pages: 318
Format: Kindle





Synopsis:
Since the Dominator's essence was put into a silver spike and embedded into a young tree godling, the Lady is without her power and the White Rose is now just a girl, things should be just fine, right?
Ha.
A bunch of amateur criminals steal the spike and set off a chain of events that lead to the utter destruction of one of the Taken, the Limper, and a grand adventure.

My Thoughts:
This was a FUN read. Bumbling low level criminals get in way over their heads, a Taken just goes nuts and cuts a huge swathe of destruction through the continent and the White Rose leads one final mission for the rebellion.
It was everything I wanted in a fantasy book. There were no real good guys, but since this was a Black Company book, I wasn't expecting there to be any. Just a bunch of neerdowells mixed in with some really powerful guys.


And the White Rose hooking up with a potato farmer turned soldier and returning to potato farming at the end? It made me laugh and yet it was the perfect ending for her. She needs a lifetime of the mundane to make up for all that came before.

The journalistic approach of the previous books was kept for this one as well. I like that.