Bookstooge's Reviews On the Road

Sunday, January 31, 2016

January '16 Roundup

A pretty good month again. 22 reads, with one being a short story, another a novella, a third a graphic novel and a fourth a volume of manga.

Started my Project Reread with Jurassic Park as well. I've got 6 or 7 more books lined up already for this project, which will give me time to figure out what I want to reread for the last several.

The most fun read was Archie vs Predator graphic novel. It encouraged me to dig out my old graphic novels and give them a spin, as it appears that I never recorded reading or reviewing them. That might be because it has been so long, just not sure. Either way, expect to see more graphic novels to be reviewed by me this coming year.

Most enjoyable was a three way tie between Death of Dulgath, Shadows of Self and Hidden Masters of Marandur. All three were solid, dependable, enjoyable fantasy reads. Each author already has a track record of writing solidly, so I was expecting good things and thankfully wasn't let down.

None of these books are in the running for Best Book of the Year. After last years double hitter of His Sombre Rivals and Flowers for Algernon I am not sure that 2016 can produce a book on that level. But I've got the rest of the year to find out :-D

Saturday, January 30, 2016

Shadow Games (The Chronicles of the Black Company #5)

Shadow Games: The Fourth Chronicles of the Black Company: First Book of the South - Glen Cook

of 5 Battle Axes
Genre: SFF
Pages: 320
Format: Kindle

Synopsis:
Croaker, along with the few remaining members of the Black Company, head towards a fabled city where the Black Company supposedly originated hundreds of years ago.
Along the way, they pick up a "few" more members and end up battling Taken that have faked their death.
Right at the end it looks like both Croaker [who is now the captain for the Black Company] and the Lady are dead, but I won't be sure until I read the next book.

My Thoughts:
These books are touted as "dark" and "anti-hero" and supposedly had a great influence on Steven Erikson and his epic Malazan Book of the Fallen series. I can see that but where Erikson went wrong, in my opinion, was that he left out the humor. You can only grind my nose into so much existential crap before I start to hate you as an author.

And that is why I can continue to like these books. There are grand flashes of humor at just the right points so you don't get mired down in the muck of ever ongoing battles for survival. Not laugh out loud moments, at least not for me, but deft touches that brought my spirits up and enhanced my enjoyment of reading about a group of mercenaries who really have no reason to continue their existence.

It was grand fun watching the Black Company just steam roll over all opponents for the first 90% of the book. They just couldn't lose. Which I think was a setup by Cook, on purpose. Because that last 10% made me wonder how these books were going to keep on going. So of course I'm going to keep reading. I was manipulated by Cook, realized it and ended up liking it.

Friday, January 29, 2016

Call to Arms (Black Fleet #2)

of 5 Battle Axes
Genre: SFF
Pages: 349
Format: Kindle

Synopsis:
Now that humanity is aware of how powerful, and deadly, the phage are, they come together, forgetting all their political problems.
HA!
While Captain Wolfe is beating the drum to save humanity, a core of politicians are building a safe retreat in a hidden zone. At the same time, said politicians are obfuscating the news about the phage, encouraging divisive policy among various factions and generally doing everything they can to sacrifice humanity so as to hide their presence and possibly survive.
Now the phage have appeared at 2 rim worlds and only Wolfe is willing to fight to save them.

My Thoughts:
This was good. Seeing Wolfe do what needs to be done, regardless of the consequences to his career, was encouraging. I like reading about characters who have, and show, courage.

Also, with the Presidential race currently going on here in the United States, the story line about the politicians sacrificing humanity for their own gain rang truer than ever. It seems that career politicians are like food. They start out good but the longer they are in the center, ie, the stomach, the rottener they get. Until they are nothing but crap.

Now the ending. Oh my goodness! After Wolfe sacrifices so much, to have the phage turn out to be so tricksy was unexpected and rather devastating. It was balanced out nicely by the appearance of a third group of aliens who have been working with some humans from the first FTL ship that just disappeared years ago.

I've got the next book already and I can't wait!

Thursday, January 28, 2016

Wings (Bromeliad #3)

of 5 Battle Axes
Genre: SFF
Pages: 224
Format: Kindle

Synopsis:
Masklin and 2 of the store elves must make their way to Florida to allow "The Thing" to get on a space shuttle that is going into space. The Thing will then get the UFO and the gnomes will get to go back into space.

My Thoughts:
A good wrap up to the trilogy. Fast, funny and very light. Peppered, once again, with Pratchett's mocking.

Glad to have read this.

Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Reenlistment (America's Galactic Foreign Legion #2)

of 5 Battle Axes
OLD Rating:

of 5 Battle Axes
Genre: SFF
Pages: 147
Format: Kindle

UPDATE 1.26.16Penumbra Publishing stripped my review of its licensing info [the first paragraph above permitting only me to post this review] and then put the whole review on their own site. I was not asked nor did I give my permission for my review to appear on their site. This violates my rights as the copyright holder of this review.
So Walter Knight gets a 1 Star and no more sales, or reviews, from me. I won't support a thief or a thieving publisher.

Synopsis:
Gold! Gosh darned GOLD! A goldrush occurs and the spiders start up the war again.
Joey and the Legion are playing a 3 sided game and the silliness continues.

My Thoughts:
I didn't find this as funny as the first book. Part of that is what is funny the first time isn't as funny the second time around. It was still amusing and entertaining, but I wasn't laughing like I was in the first book.

I found the Human/Spider only interaction to be limiting as well. I was hoping for more mayhem between everyone, ie, the beetles, the ants, the spiders and the humans. But I guess the random spiders taking of humans was enough.

Feeling Lucky (America's Galactic Foreign Legion #1)

Review:

America's Galactic Foreign Legion - Book 1: Feeling Lucky - Walter Knight

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.

UPDATE 1.26.16Penumbra Publishing stripped my review of its licensing info [the first paragraph above permitting only me to post this review] and then put the whole review on their own site. I was not asked nor did I give my permission for my review to appear on their site. This violates my rights as the copyright holder of this review.
So Walter Knight gets a 1 Star and no more sales, or reviews, from me. I won't support a thief or a thieving publisher.

Title: Feeling Lucky
Series: America's Galactic Foreign Legion
Author: Walter Knight
NEW Rating: 1 of 5 Stars
OLD Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: SFF
Pages: 222

Synopsis:
In the Future, America rules the world and is in the process of ruling the Galaxy.
However, the Evil Bugs have taken a planet from humanity. So the call goes out and the American Foreign Legion is taking ANYONE to fight this threat against our very way of life, our EXISTENCE!!

My Thoughts:
This book started out with something like this in the dedication:
In the Tradition of Catch-22.

That right there set me off pretty bad. I hated that book, didn't like the humor so I was ready to DUMP on this book. The main character was a schlub, the plot a rip-off parody of Starship Troopers and the politics was the worst of a bureaucracy.

And I LOVED EVERY MINUTE. After the Schlub dies, it gets good. It was darkly funny, right wing hilarious [I mean, the United States declared war on pretty much everything, including Democrats, and won!] and completely disrespectful of any and all things military.

And the thing is, the mockery goes to the bugs, the ants, and all the OTHER aliens we encounter.

There are several more books in this series and I plan on reading them. This was probably closer to a 2.5 Star book with a 4 Star's worth of enjoyment. I love it when a book can do that.

Original post: Bookstooge.booklikes.com/post/1219617/feeling-lucky-america-s-galactic-foreign-legion-1

Scorpion Mountain (Brotherband Chronicles #5)

of 5 Battle Axes
Genre: SFF
Pages: 465
Format: Kindle

Synopsis:
Hal and crew are sent on a mission to stop a band of killers who have sworn an oath to kill Princess Cassandra.
Said killers just happen to be living in the middle of the desert. Vikings in the desert.
Seriously.

My Thoughts:
It is getting simply ridiculous just how many things Hal invents on the spot. In this book, it is glasses for the big guy who shoots the mangler. His feelings are hurt and so he wants to leave the Heron and Hal invents glasses so he can see and participate and feel better.

Other than that, this was a carbon copy of all the other books. Especially in how the characters react and relate to each other. Flanagan obviously has a system that works for him but I think I'll need a good 6 months between books so as to not overdose on middle grade/ ya'ness of it all.

And saying it is a carbon copy also means that the fighting and action are top notch. I do really enjoy the battles, on land and sea.

PenumbraPublishing Stole My Review

http://penumbrapublishing.com/php/Page-ReviewsResources.php

If you go down the page to:
Reviews for Walter Knight's AMERICA'S GALACTIC FOREIGN LEGION - Book 1...

You will see where they stole the whole of my review and simply omitted the gpl licensing. They did this without my consent.

Well, I guess I'll be 1Star'ing all of the 19 other Galactic Foreign Legion books now.

JUST when I was starting to get settled down from the crapfest of yesterday here at booklikes, this happens.

Penumbra Publishing is a group of thieves. I'm also posting this on all my blogs and on facebook. I want as many people as possible to know about this behavior and be aware that if you review a book by Penumbra Publishing, it will be used by them, without your permission.

I am also going to be commenting on their blog:
http://penumbrapublishing.blogspot.com/

God save me, I'm going off the freaking deep end here...

Monday, January 25, 2016

The Ruling Sea (The Chathrand Voyage #2)

of 5 Battle Axes
Genre: SFF
Pages: 641
Format: Kindle

Synopsis:
The Wolf group make the final sacrifice to stop the marriage and the false prophecy.
Only to fail beyond belief.
Now they must continue the battle, on the Chathrand. The Chathrand is on a voyage but their destination won't be quite what anybody planned.

My Thoughts:
This was sad and depressing and not in a good way. The Wolf group fall from one barely contained catastrophe into another. They don't have chance to get ahead, to plan, to figure out just what is going on. They are strictly reactive.

This was like watching someone being pushed down a long staircase and then applauding because they didn't break their neck.

I thought about stopping this book, this series. However, I am going to try the next book but will be ready to DNF it quick as a wink

Sunday, January 24, 2016

Temple Hill (The Cities #2) (Forgotten Realms)

Temple Hill: Forgotten Realms: The Cities - Drew Karpyshyn

of 5 Battle Axes
Genre: SFF
Pages: 324
Format: Kindle

Synopsis:
Corin was a mercenary that lost his hand, his band and his client. Now he's just a drunk.
Lhasha, a half elf, is a freelance thief in a city that has a Thieves Guild. They want her dead.
Together, they must protect each other, stop the Dragon Cult from taking over the city and figure out if their temporary partnership can really work.

My Thoughts:
This worked pretty good. It was an enjoyable read, Karpashyn is a competent author and it had all the elements of a mindless, but not stupid, Forgotten Realms book.