Renegade (The Spiral Wars #1)

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: Renegade
Series: The Spiral Wars
Author: Joel Shepherd
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: SFF
Pages: 451
Format: Kindle digital edition

Synopsis:

1000 years ago, Earth was destroyed by a hostile alien race and humanity was on the brink of extinction. With the help and aid of 2 other alien races, humanity began a war of genocide against the killers of earth. We won. They are forever gone. We then moved on to punish the masters of that race. They surrendered after a galaxy wide and protracted war. Their power of the Spiral Arm of the galaxy was broken.

Erik Debogande is a third pilot under a famous Captain. When that Captain disappears and then Erik is framed for his murder, Erik, along with a Marine commander who knows more than she lets on, takes control of the ship and begins a race of survival against an unknown enemy who has plans unimaginable. What the Phoenix and her crew find out will change the History of the Galaxy, and potentially its future.

My Thoughts:

Whoooo! This was a thrill a minute book! Several times my adrenaline levels rose and I could feel my heart racing. And it wasn't because of caffeine or the such. The writing was just good enough to pull me right into the action and make me feel like I was there.

The idea of humanity losing Earth and the such brings me back to the times I've watched Titan, A.E. and I still love that movie. This story was about AFTER.  And man, does humanity kick butt. Of course, being a young race, we're being manipulated and this story is showing how we've been manipulated and what we can possibly do about it. Another thing I liked; machine civilizations inimical to biological life. That is just cool.

Overall, this was a great SF book with lots and lots of fighting.

Undead (The Haunted Lands #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.com & Bookstooge's Reviews on the Road Facebook Group by Bookstooge's Exalted Permission.
Title: Undead
Series: The Haunted Lands
Author: Richard Byers
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: SFF
Pages: 352
Format: Kindle digital edition

Synopsis:

The battle for Thay continues. Tsazz Tam obviously has some ulterior motive in taking over Thay, but we the readers aren't privy to it.
With cunning and treachery, Tsazz Tam takes out the other rulers even as they flee.
The story is told from the losing side though, so it is quite interesting.

My Thoughts:

In many ways, Tam is a sympathetic character even while being the antagonist. It makes reading this trilogy just a tiny bit different and I like that.

The 2 other main characters are now entwined and so they're not nearly so different as in the previous book. The vampire girlfriend is much more interesting than she was just as a maiden in distress. The revenge ridden mercenary just exudes mindless hatred and the griphon rider has definitely developed as a leader.

The battles were awesome with huge amounts of magic getting thrown around. Tsazz makes a deal with a god and pledges his soul in the bargain. Once again, he knows something we don't and he hints that he's got the better of the deal. At the same time that all of this is going on Mystra is killed by Shar and the other god previously mentioned [I forget his name to be honest] and the plague of blue fire starts running across Faerun. Magic is wonky, in a land filled with undead. It was more than zombies and vampires and Byers does a great job of coming up with imaginative ideas.

Good times!

Blood Ties (Batman versus Predator #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.com & Bookstooge's Reviews on the Road Facebook Group by Bookstooge's Exalted Permission.
Title: Blood Ties
Series: Batman versus Predator
Author/Artist: Chuck Dixon, et al
Rating: 2 of 5 Stars
Genre: Graphic Novel/Comic
Pages: 136
Format: Digital scan







Synopsis:
Yet another Predator comes to Gotham, this time bringing a protege to train.
Tim Drake is the current Robin and he is now in the sights of the young Predator.
Can the Dynamic Duo put a final end to the Predator's interest in Gotham and its Champion?

My Thoughts:
Now I know why I never bothered to buy this book back in the day.  This was pure pablum and a complete failure as a story.

It was formulaic, lacking in any and all intensity and felt like the money grab it was. There was hardly ANY fighting and Batman "capturing" the older Predator to shame all the Predators so they'd leave Gotham alone felt like an idea that someone had at 4am after about 8 cups of coffee.

There was nothing bad about this, but insipid is the best I could call it. To continue the coffee thing. This was a cold cup with generic creamer that's congealed in a paper cup. Ughh.

The Night of the Swarm (The Chathrand Voyage #4) DNF@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.com & Bookstooge's Reviews on the Road Facebook Group by Bookstooge's Exalted Permission.
Title: The Night of the Swarm
Series: The Chathrand Voyage
Author: Robert Redick
Rating: 1 of 5 Stars
Genre: SFF
Pages: DNF
Format: Kindle digital edition







My Thoughts:
I have not been a fan of this series but I did want to know how things ended.

However, at the 7% mark, Ott [a character who is a spy master and has helped set up the events for the whole series] takes down one of the few non-hateable characters, has his henchmen hold him down with a pillow over his face. Ott proceeds to slice up the other character with non-lethal but very painful cuts AND then proceeds to piss all over the guy, in front of the command structure [and everyone there] on the ship.

I don't want that kind of filth in my entertainment.

First Light (The Red #1)

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: First Light
Series: The Red
Author: Linda Nagata
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: SFF
Pages: 417
Format: Kindle digital edition







Synopsis:
James Shelley, known as Shelley, is leading his little army unit in the latest dustup in Africa. He has some really good instincts and has kept his company alive.  Until he ignores his feelings on one occasion and several of them die.

It is revealed that some program in the Cloud has gone autonomous [not sentient, like Skynet, mind you] and is nudging people to do things they might not ordinarily do, for reasons unknown. Shelley has a link with the Red and nobody knows if that is good or bad.

A powerful Defense Contractor, who are known as Dragons, decides that the Red is to dangerous and ends up nuking America to take the the country off of the Cloud. It is now up to a newly rebuilt Shelley and an elite team to  bring this Dragon to Justice before a world court.

My Thoughts:
Thoroughly enjoyed this. Fast paced, action filled.

The False Mirror (The Damned #2) (Project Reread #4)

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 False Mirror
Series: The Damned
Author: Alan Dean Foster
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: SFF
Pages: 343
Format: Kindle digital edition







Project Reread:
I am attempting to reread 10+ books in 2016 that I have rated highly in the past. I am not attempting to second guess or denigrate my younger self in any way but am wanting to compare how my tastes have changed and possibly matured. I am certainly much more widely read now [both in the good and bad quality sadly] than then.
I will hopefully be going into the reasons for any differences of opinions between then and now. If there is no difference of opinion, then it was a hellfire'd fine book!
Links may link to either Booklikes or Blogspot, depending on when the original review was.

Synopsis:
The fight continues.
The Amplitur are on the defensive and so make a choice to create a new set of beings masquerading as one of their own allies, a hybridized human without the mental defenses against the Amplitur that normal humans have.
We follow one of these super soldiers through his training, to his capture, to the revelation that he is human. Now he is on a crusade to free the other super soldiers.
And he is hiding a secret, one so big that it could tear apart the Weave and cast humanity into a role that is even more hated than the Amplitur.

My Thoughts:
This was different than I remember. I remembered a lot of conspiracy by the newly created humans to keep their existence a secret. I think I was confusing this with the next book.

Just like in the first book, aliens get as much face time as humans. I think that Foster does an excellent job of creating different species and cultures without resorting to rooting through human history and stealing forgotten cultures for ideas.

The training maze chapter near the beginning was probably the best one and sadly, the rest of the book doesn't live up to its awesomeness. You get a lot of introspection from the main human character who is dealing with the fact that he's a human and not an alien. It felt very "whah, whah, poor me".

The ideas put forth in this book though are what carry it.  Humans are already on the fringe of the Weave alliance. Our ability to commit, and love for, violence makes us attack dogs, not really allies and definitely NOT equals. For the most part, we don't care. But there are people, and aliens, who wonder what humanity's role will be once/if the Amplitur and their Purpose, is defeated. Then you add in the fact that there are now humans who have Amplitur mental powers. The humans realize what a danger they pose and hence the secrecy.

For a SFF book that is pretty shallow overall, Foster really takes a hard look at possible consequences of such a situation. I think that is why I like this trilogy so much. Gives me a little brain food with my candy.

The Straw Men (Straw Men #1)

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 Straw Men
Series: The Straw Men
Author: Michael Marshall
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Horror
Pages: 404
Format: Kindle digital edition







Synopsis:
A man's parents die and leave him a clue that will start him down a mysterious and dark path.
A young teen girl is kidnapped and a former cop, who's own daughter was abducted, is brought on board by an FBI agent to try to save the girl.
Both of these plots weave and twine together in a horrific clash of the worst of humanity.

My Thoughts:
I'd like to thank Runner for putting this book, and this trilogy, on my radar.

I was conflicted during the whole read. On one hand, it was gripping, well written and I DID NOT WANT TO STOP READING. On the other hand, dipping my mind, no matter how tangentially, into the cess pool of an insane killer who has formed a whole group of uber-rich killers of like mind, was disgusting and left me feeling filthy.

I also noticed just how bleak and hopeless everything was. I don't want that type of thinking to invade my mind. There is hope and there is meaning and there is purpose. As Browning wrote,

God’s in His heaven—All’s right with the world!

The above is why I gave this book 3 stars. On the writing side, it was a strong 4, maybe 4.5. I just couldn't put this down and wanted to read and read and read.  I'll be finishing the trilogy but after that I suspect I won't be reading any more by Marshall. Bleak and Hopeless aren't things I can deal real well with on a continual basis.

If you want a taut, horrific thriller, this is the book for you.

The City of Splendors (The Cities #4) (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.com & Bookstooge's Reviews on the Road Facebook Group by Bookstooge's Exalted Permission.
Title: The City of Splendors
Series: The Cities
Author: Elaine Cunningham & Ed Greenwood
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: SFF
Pages: 544
Format: Kindle digital edition







Synopsis:
Waterdeep, an important city, is struggling under the weight of shiftless younger nobles, a rising working class, an ailing leader, attacks by a priest and his ilk and the machinations of a crimelord/magician.

My Thoughts:
I don't like Ed Greenwood's books. The couple of Elminster books I read were pretty low on the "skillz" level even for  Forgotten Realms. So I went into this with wicked low expectations. On the other hand, I really enjoyed Cunningham's Dark Journey. So I didn't know WHAT I was going to encounter.

This was also a good bit longer than the usual FR book, so that was nice.

Surprisingly, this was good. There were a variety of plot lines, that while intertwining, weren't repetitive. The whole Religion of Amalgamation was pretty interesting and I wished that it had played a bigger part than it did. It had potential.

Definitely a good wrap up to the Cities Tetralogy.

The Curse of the Gloamglozer (Quint #1) (The Edge Chronicles #4)

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 Curse of the Gloamglozer
Series: The Edge Chronicles
Author: Chris Riddell & Paul Stewart
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Children's SFF
Pages: 386
Format: Kindle digital edition







Synopsis:
Taking a generational step back in time, we now follow Quint, Twig's father, as a young man.
The head of Sanctraphrax is obsessed, with something. No one knows with what,not even his own daughter. Quint is involved, but not even he knows what is going on.
Sanctraphrax is tearing itself apart with factions while something evil grows right in it's heart.

My Thoughts:
Since we already know what Quint's end is, and that the Gloamglozer goes after Twig, this was kind of anti-climactic. In fact, I am thinking of skipping the next 2 books just to bypass the Quint sub-trilogy. I am not interested enough to read about past history.

This series isn't that interesting. It is a filler and I'm going to treat these as such.

City of the Lost

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: City of the Lost
Series: -----
Author: Stephen Blackmoore
Rating: 2 of 5 Stars
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Pages: 225
Format: Kindle digital edition







Synopsis:
Joe Sunday, low life thug for hire, does a job and is killed because of it. He is resurrected by the man who killed him. What follows is a whole lot of pulp noir with magic.
A wizard who wants to live forever. His scorned girlfriend. Joe Sunday, zombie PI and some do gooder of a witch who just wants to help all the poor little vampires who have bad diseases from feeding on other lowlifes.

Everything revolves around a magic stone. Serious as serious can be.

My Thoughts:
The first 10% of this book was so filled with profanity that not only did I create a new shelf labeled "Profanity" but was about to dnf it. I don't need this kind of *&^%$#@! in my reading life! If you don't get that, please look up "irony" in the dictionary.  However, after that 10% mark, it just dropped off. I have no idea why or what caused the initial vomital sludge but it did stop being an issue.

It did set the tone for the book though.

I am not a fan of pulp noir. Detectives and thugs who are as bad as the ones they are crossing are not the kind of character I really like to read about. I am also not a fan of urban fantasy [with a few exceptions], so this mash up was pretty much the worst of both worlds for me.

It was engaging enough that I did want to know how it ended and I finished this. However, I'll probably be avoiding future works by Mr. Blackmoore on general principle.