August '16 Roundup & Ramblings

This is a couple of days early, but I know I won't be finishing anymore books by months end so I figured I'd better write this while I still had some oomph in me.

This month has been something else. I knew going into August that there would be some disruption, but I wasn't expecting to have a full month of bleh. After moving my parents, things just never picked up. Life just kept throwing little curve balls.

Don't get me wrong, it hasn't been a bad month. I've had no DNF's, only one 1Star and one 2 1/2Star, so that qualifies as a good month. No 5 Stars, but those are rare enough that I don't expect them. This was just a solid read month. Nothing really bad, nothing really good.

My weirdest read was definitely Taboogasm by Gregor Xane. When I say weird, I mean alien clone baby, living dolls in space and alien butt holes kind of weird :-D

I'm hoping I get my reading mojo back for September.

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Terrorist Summit (The Executioner #44)

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.anobii.com by  Bookstooge's Exalted Permission.
Title: Terrorist Summit
Series: The Executioner
Author: Don Pendleton & Steven Krauzer
Rating: 2.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Action/Adventure
Pages: 184
Format: Kindle digital scan

Synopsis:

A maniacal American kidnaps the daughter of a Tech Contractor, who has figured out how to make suitcase nukes. He uses her to get a prototype which he then plans on selling to a disparate group of worldwide terrorists.
Everyone is in one place and it is up to Mack Bolan to rescue the girl, kill the terrorists and put the fear of God into the organizations which they are all from.
If there is one man who can do this, it is The Executioner!

My Thoughts:

My final Mack Bolan book.

In some ways it was a good book. Tons of action and bullets and splatterings of scumbags. I really like seeing Final Justice dispensed to those who deserve it. In other ways it was very disappointing. The descriptions of the kidnapped girl were simply lascivious and not appropriate at all.

That made this an uncomfortable read for me. However, I'm sure this type of thing continues so it makes even more sense for me to stop now. I do think that next year I will pick up the latest Mack Bolan just to see how the series has progressed over the years. To put this in perspective, this book was written in 1982 and the series is still ongoing.
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Thraxas and the Warrior Monks (Thraxas #2)

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.anobii.com by  Bookstooge's Exalted Permission.
Title: Thraxas and the Warrior Monks
Series: Braxas
Author: Martin Scott
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 256
Format: Kindle digital edition

Synopsis:

Thraxas is hired to defend an apprentice who is accused of murdering his master. At the same time, some dolphins want him to find their magic healing stone, 2 rival groups of monks are trying to kill him to recover a 2 ton statue AND a shipment of the king's gold goes missing. And if that isn't enough, thugs are after Thraxas as are some of the leaders of the Guards.

In fact, it seems everybody wants Thraxas dead.

My Thoughts:

This was complicated, convoluted and fun; in fact, it was just as fun as the previous book. Sometimes, humor across books can change but this keeps the same tenor.

I tried to keep things straight in my head while reading so I could write about it, but half way through I just gave up. I just let the story roll me along like a pebble in the ocean.

When I'm done these Thraxas book, I'll have to go see if Scott wrote any more.
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Dead Man's Ransom (Brother Cadfael #9)

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.anobii.com by  Bookstooge's Exalted Permission.
Title: Dead Man's Ransom
Series: Brother Cadfael
Author: Ellis Peters
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Mystery
Pages: 273
Format: Kindle digital edition

Synopsis:

King Stephen has been captured, as has Sheriff Prestcote. The Welsh make a move against the inhabitants that Beringar must now look after [as his lord was Prestcote, who's lord was Stephen]. In the process, they capture a young man who they think they can exchange for Prestcote.
During the exchange, Prestcoste is murdered and it is up to Cadfael to find the murderer and determine if Justice, or Mercy, are truly due.

My Thoughts:

For some reason, this just hit the spot.

Part of it was last weekend where I drove almost 1K miles and moved my parents in 90degree weather with 90% humidity. Then once home and finding booklikes glacial and staff actively unresponsive [not sure what else you call changing your facebook page so people can't comment/ask questions], I was just stressed.

So a little murder mystery where things would get worked out in the end was pleasant, very pleasant. The young people involved were all idiots, all of them, but thankfully they were balanced out by Cadfael, Sister Magdalena and Beringar. Which is much like real life.
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Myth-Told Tales (Myth Adventures #13)

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.anobii.com by  Bookstooge's Exalted Permission.
Title: Myth-Told Tales
Series: Myth Adventures
Author: Robert Asprin & Jody Nye
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 254
Format: Kindle digital scan

Synopsis:

Several short stories featuring various members of the Myth Inc. Gang. Most of them seem to be "Bridge" stories for Skeeve having left and what Myth Inc. will be like once the series starts up again.

My Thoughts:

I enjoyed this more than the previous Myth Adventures book, but I'm not upping my rating because this really was just So-so.

It is pretty obvious that Nye is the driving force behind this series taking off again so we'll see how her humor blends with Asprin's. I didn't notice any problems with the stories where I was thinking "Hmmm, THAT doesn't sound like Asprin" which does bode well for the rest of this.

Light and humorous, not laugh out loud funny.
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This Green Hell (Alex Hunter #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.com & Bookstooge's Reviews on the Road Facebook Group by Bookstooge's Exalted Permission.
Title: This Green Hell
Series: Alex Hunter
Author: Greig Beck
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Action/Adventure
Pages: 308
Format: Kindle digital edition

Synopsis: Spoilers

An inimical alien lifeform has come to Earth, 400 years ago. Now it waits to be set free and to take over.
Aimee is still on the search for the perfect fuel. She thinks she might have found it in a new natural gas reserve that has old microbrial thingamajigs that do "Science". So of course it is the inimical Life Form and Green Berets are wiped out so Alex Hunter and Crew are sent in. The Life Form has grown, using a human host, into what is pretty much a vampire and more than a match for Alex.
A CDC scientist tags along because everyone thinks the Lifeform is just a new disease. And she has a nuke, just in case.

My Thoughts:

I had to downgrade this half a star from the previous book because there were several instances of things not being logical and simply not making sense. I can't remember what those instances were, but they made an impression.

Aimee's inclusion into the story wasn't something that I particularly enjoyed either. And then at the end to have her think that Hunter was killed by the virus was just wrong. The Israeli Special Forces lady who ends up taking charge of Hunter's frozen body is not nice and I'm not sure what her future in these stories are. I hope it is a small role.

Ton of fighting and stuff, which redeems most of the issues I had.
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Vet in Harness (All Creatures Great and Small #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.com & Bookstooge's Reviews on the Road Facebook Group by Bookstooge's Exalted Permission.
Title: Vet in Harness
Series: All Creatures Great and Small
Author: James Herriot
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Non-fiction
Pages: 258
Format: Kindle digital scan

Synopsis:

More stories by James the Vet as he prepares to go to WWII. People and animal stories.

My Thoughts:

These are starting to get repetitive. Not that that is a bad thing, as I enjoy the stories. Just sometimes you expect a little more and you don't get it. Good filler read though and easy on the mind.
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When the Saints (Brothers Magnus #2)

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.com & Bookstooge's Reviews on the Road Facebook Group by Bookstooge's Exalted Permission.
Title: When the Saints
Series: Brothers Magnus
Author: Dave Duncan
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 336
Format: Kindle digital edition

Synopsis:

Wulf Magnus has power. But there are rules that he knows nothing about. While he helps his brother fight off the invaders, there are other games going on.
Politics and Magic, mixing across the face of Europe while Wulf just wants to marry Madlenka.

My Thoughts:

This was a solid story that had a happy ending. I did some looking and it looks like another one will come out in '18, But considering how this tied up so many loose ends, I'm satisfied with calling this a duology.

Duncan can write an engaging story while grinding whatever axe he has against Christianity. Since he mainly writes about medieval Catholicism, I can't really say that I disagree with him. I just don't follow his conclusions.

I would highly recommend these books to anyone who likes Fantasy.
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The Border

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.com & Bookstooge's Reviews on the Road Facebook Group by Bookstooge's Exalted Permission.
Title: The Border
Series: ------
Author: Robert McCammon
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages: 456
Format: Kindle digital edition

Synopsis:

Aliens are fighting an inscrutable war and Earth is on the border. Earth is trashed, becoming more trashed by the week, humanity is  being changed by the effects of the dead aliens and the pollution of their tech and things are truly hopeless.

We follow Ethan, a young man with amnesia and a small group of survivors as they leave their dwellings based on a feeling by Ethan. He is convinced that he can stop the war even while not knowing how he knows that.

My Thoughts:

This was my first McCammon. The tone was not at all what I was expecting which turned out to be ok. It didn't "feel" like a SF book. It had all the elements and definitely was but it had as much emphasis on the characters themselves as on the story and the action. That was what was different. It wasn't character development, mind you, it was just a story about people fighting off despair and hopelessness [and losing in most cases] inside their own minds.

The ending seemed a bit convenient but it didn't bother me at all. It made sense within the story and was forecast from the first time one of the characters gave up in despair because even if the aliens left that minute, the effects of them would still wipe out what was left of earth.

Also, McCammon's infatuation with the U.N. and their "peace keepers" made me want to gag. Blue hats are some of the most corrupt forces on this planet. I'll know it is truly the End of Days when they step foot in my State and I don't try to shoot them.

Ahem, moving on.

Overall, I enjoyed this. It gave me a taste of McCammon and at some point I'll probably look up other books by him. But I have no desire to rush out and get everything by him, AT THIS MOMENT! Which, to be honest, is kind of what I was hoping for. If anyone has read more by him, please feel free to suggest some more of his in the comments. I'm always good with cherry picking from an author.
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Thraxas (Thraxas #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.com & Bookstooge's Reviews on the Road Facebook Group by Bookstooge's Exalted Permission.
Title: Thraxas
Series: Thraxas
Author: Martin Scott
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 164
Format: Kindle digital edition

Synopsis:

Thraxas, once time soldier and minor sorcerer, is now in his 40's, seriously overweight and kicked out of the palace sorcerers' squad. He is now a Private Investigator, on the cheap.
The elves have given the King a bolt of red cloth, which is immune to magic. At the same time, the orcs have lent a dragon to the King. It is election time, murders abound, drugs are flowing like water and everybody is hiring Thraxas. Which puts him in a LOT of danger. Even Makri, the human/elf/orc in her chainmail bikini and super warrior skills might not be enough to save him

My Thoughts:

Ok, the cover. The one on this edition I have seen before and I KNOW I turned away from reading this. Looks like some kind of cheap cosplay. However, I saw this series with this cover:



Now, that has just as much cheese, but it also shows Thraxas, Ahhh, and he is truly the center of this series. A fantasy private eye, who's fat. How much more funny do you want?

This was a good twisty turny mystery with lots of magical mayhem. I wasn't sure what to expect but I had fun every step of the way. Thraxas' self-deprecation does wear thin after the 2nd or 3rd reference however.

This series is on my phone and I look forward to the next several books. They are small chapters, which works out fine on lunch breaks.
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