Rising Tide (Threat from the Sea #1) (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.com by  Bookstooge's Exalted Permission.
Title: Rising Tide
Series: Threat from the Sea
Author: Mel Odom
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: SFF
Pages: 356
Format: Kindle digital edition

Synopsis:

A young woman, a Sahugin throwback [which means she looks like a human instead of a pure Sahugin], frees an old sorcerer from his imprisonment, thinking it means he will side with her, extend her power and punish the surface dwellers for their encroachments on the sea. Little does she know that the sorcerer has his own plans and while conquest is on the menu, he plans on conquest of all.

At the same time, a young man, who is the son of an infamous pirate and with some other hidden life secret, is trying to find a life on the sea. Things just don't ever seem to work out and he's been hearing voices, which seem to be leading him towards a collision with the aforementioned sorcerer.

My Thoughts:

For a Mel Odom book, this was pretty good. Unfortunately, the young man is a guilt ridden, rule obsessive, completely self-centered brat. Everything, and I mean everything, must center around him. And he always puts the worst light possible on it.
The young woman really isn't much better as she is consumed with self-doubt and inadequacies because of her throwback status.

The idea of a world class sorcerer that used to hang out with gods awakening and starting a campaign of world domination never gets old. But it takes a good author to make it work. I'm not convinced that Odom can handle this.
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Count to a Trillion (Count to the Eschaton Sequence #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 by  Bookstooge's Exalted Permission.
Title: Count to a Trillion
Series: Count to the Eschaton Sequence
Author: John Wright
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: SFF
Pages: 464
Format: Kindle digital edition

Synopsis:

Menelaus Montrose grew wondering where The Future was. Where were the moon rockets and flying cars? So Menelaus joined the army, became a gunslinging lawyer, then a scientist, then an astronaut to decipher the greatest find of Humanity's history.
But ol' Menelaus just wasn't smart enough, so he shot his brain with a concoction, went insane and then deciphered parts of the Artifact. Now that he's woken back up, on Earth, it turns out that Humanity has 10,000 years to prepare for the coming of their new overlords, who are just a bitty little power in the Universe.

Menelaus has shown humanity that they can "improve" themselves. Now it is a race to see who can successfully repeat his experiment and determine whether Humanity will capitulate or fight in 10K years.

My Thoughts:

I thoroughly enjoyed this. The pacing was really odd and I had to keep pretty close track of when I was. I also found the amount of detail a tad overwhelming but I just sat back and let it roll over me. I think this was also trying to be Hard SF, with lots of references to various theorems, technical ideas on biology, mathematical sequences, blah, blah, blah. I just skipped them, as it felt more like "Science" name dropping than actual Hard SF.

Other than that, this was a great look at what "could" happen to humanity if they messed around with their own brains. Of course, it is all predicated that you believe that garbage can produce non-garbage ;-)

I think Neal Asher does a better job of showing post-Humanity. But this series will fill in the gap while I wait for his next book.

Finally, I wish I knew why the series name was Count to the Eschaton Sequence.  But I don't want to know enough to actually do any work and investigate it.
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Obsidian Worlds

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 by  Bookstooge's Exalted Permission.
Title: Obsidian Worlds
Series: ------
Author: Jason Werbeloff
Rating: 1 of 5 Stars
Genre: SFF
Pages: 247
Format: Kindle digital edition

Synopsis:

11 short stories showcasing the writing talents of Jason Werbeloff.

My Thoughts:

Filth. Pure and simple. I felt like I had spent the time reading immersed directly in raw sewage from the author's mind.

Moral and Sexual perversions. Hatred, cruelty and loathing, against self and others. Whenever a character wasn't completely and deliberately unlikable, they were crass and vulgar to the extreme. And this was not crap writing. Werbeloff does a good job showing his writing chops. Sadly, he wastes it with subject material so vile. The only thing missing was child abuse.

I can only highly recommend skipping this and I know I sure won't be checking out any other writings by this guy.
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The False Hero (Eyeshield 21 #2) (Manga Monday)

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 by  Bookstooge's Exalted Permission.
Title: The False Hero
Series: Eyeshield 21
Author: Riichiro Inagaki
Artist: Yusuke Murata
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Manga
Pages: 208
Format: Digital Scan

Synopsis:

After celebrating their first win, ever, the Devil Bats must now face the toughest team in Highschool, the White Knights. Sena still carries on his Eyeshield 21 alter-ego and nobody suspects. However, while he maybe super fast, he's still a skinny kid and that makes a difference when playing football.
Shin, from the White Knights, is introduced and appears to be one of those characters which will become Sena's Frenemy. The guy is the top player in the league, does handstand pushups with his thumbs and can read the opposition's skill level at a glance. Yet he's brutally honest and wants nothing to do with the limelight.
The rules of football are introduced in little bits and are illustrated in the manga story  itself, so it is easy to follow along and not get lost with what is going on.

My Thoughts:

Not nearly so funny as the previous book but just as good. Sena begins the process of becoming part of a team and realizing that he can depend on others, which completely contradicts his personal life experience so far.

Considering that most of the players are learning the rules as they go along, ie, 10 yards completed to get another first down, it is a surprise that they can play at all. But for all the cliche of "the rookie team with heart and talent" it still really works. The Devil Bats have a great disparate group of characters to work with and I hope the creators make full use of the others even while keeping Sena in the foreground.

My one beef is how Mamori just doesn't realize that Eyeshield 21 is Sena. She's his childhood friend, is smart enough to have memorized the rulebook and quote them back at the quarterback and is organized beyond belief. But she can't see the connection between Sena mysteriously "going to get batteries for the cam" and Eyeshield 21 suddenly showing up? I understand it is a plot point and while it might work for the rest of the team, she doesn't seem like a dupe.

And the title of the book. This is referring to Sena as he realizes that his Eyeshield 21 personna just isn't enough with speed alone or by himself. Right at the end he quits and then comes back when he realizes how hard the rest of the team is working to support Eyeshield 21, even if their skills aren't that good. One of those fuzzy, feel good moments. Kind of like this series' version of the Yugioh's "Friendship" schmaltz.
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To the Far Blue Mountains (Sacketts #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 by  Bookstooge's Exalted Permission.
Title: To the Far Blue Mountains
Series: Sacketts
Author: Louis L'amour
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Historical Fiction
Pages: 287
Format: Kindle digital edition

Synopsis:

Barnabas Sackett is now wanted by the Crown, as it is believed he discovered some of the Lost Crown Jewels when he found the old gold pieces. Cast into prison, rescued and fleeing to the New World, Barnabas must finally leave England behind for good. Now with his wife and his crew, Barnabas must learn to live in a land where everything is new and strange. Determination and grit allow him to succeed and to raise a fine crop of kiddo's, men and women who are suited for exploring and conquering this America.

My Thoughts:

Pretty much the same thoughts as the previous book.

Barnabas waxes loquacious at any and all times and comes across much more as an armchair philosopher than a man who is trying to survive. There is a lot of action, what with prison rescues, fighting pirates, fighting Indians, etc but it is all mellowed out by the tone it is being told in. Even Barnabas's dying thoughts are presented that way.
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Scientific Progress Goes "Boink" (Calvin and Hobbes #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.com by  Bookstooge's Exalted Permission.
Title: Scientific Progress Goes "Boink"
Series: Calvin and Hobbes
Author/Artist: Bill Watterson
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Comics
Pages: 128

My Thoughts:

Having read 6 years of comics [I believe each book covers a years worth of weekly strips] in just over 1/2year most of the shine has worn off. Calvin gets into trouble, Calvin annoys the babysitter, Calvin fights with Hobbes, Calvin and Hobbes have an adventure.

It Is The Same.
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The Boy with the Golden Legs (Eyeshield 21 #1) (Manga)

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 by  Bookstooge's Exalted Permission.
Title: The Boy with the Golden Legs
Series: Eyeshield 21
Author: Riichiro Inagaki
Artist: Yusuke Murata
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Manga
Pages: 208
Format: Digital Scan

Synopsis:

Sena has graduated from middleschool and makes it into the highschool he was aiming for. Sadly, the same bullies who used him are also attending. With the encouragement of a childhood friend named Mamori, Sena joins an afterschool club. He joins the Football Club, planning on being the manager but the quarterback has recruited Sena for his speed, earned by running from the aforementioned bullies.
Now Sena and the other 2 members of the club must recruit 9 other members for at least one day for their first game. Can Sena survive a Football game when he can't even stand up to bullies?

My Thoughts:

My goodness, I enjoyed this. While I am not a big fan, I understand and enjoy football and can follow a game just fine and this series is not a serious series, at least not starting out. The Quarterback is constantly shooting off guns and rocket launchers and missiles [it IS manga after all] and practically kidnapping players. The humor is very much right down my alley.

Sena makes for a great main character. He is the classic underdog: small, picked on, cheerful, full of optimism and with a hidden talent that just needs to be teased out. His childhood friend Mamori is going to be the obvious love interest, even while being a year or two older than him. She hangs out with him, stammers and blushed around him way too much to be anything BUT the love interest. And she gets roped into being the manager for the team when it becomes painfully apparent that Sena can't organize anything to save his life. So she won't just be a blushing rose but an integral part of the story.

The whole idea about Eyeshield 21 being an alter-ego for Sena to hide him so the other sports teams won't steal him away is properly "Manga". It is ridiculous, over the top, silly and it totally works. It also allows for a good bit of setup with other football teams and the whole idea of scouting your opponents to discover their strengths and weaknesses.

If you're worried about this being bogged down with "sports" knowledge, have no fear. No previous knowledge of football is necessary but  the creators give you just enough of the rules at the critical moment so you know why "X" or "Y" needs to happen, or not. Kind of like a Chess Grandmaster explaining how a particular piece moves without explaining the whole game.

I started this series back in '09 and stopped when I caught up to the series [it didn't end until Volume 37 in 2011]. I didn't write any reviews then, as I wasn't reviewing manga but I do remember enjoying it immensely and that didn't change with this re-start of the series. I am really looking forward to reading the rest.
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Going Dark (The Red #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 by  Bookstooge's Exalted Permission.
Title: Going Dark
Series: The Red
Author: Linda Nagata
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: SFF
Pages: 465
Format: Kindle digital edition

Synopsis:

Shelley is the team lead of a group of individuals who are working directly for The Red. They seek to end Existential Threats [ie, world ending, world changing] before they can occur.
But Shelley isn't prepared for The Red to be a fallible program and when it appears to fail him, Shelley must decide if he'll continue to let The Red run his life or if he'll start controlling himself.

My Thoughts:

This was the most overtly philosophical of the books and hence we spend a good bit of time in Shelley's head. You know what? Shelley is an idiot. He has tossed aside his own brains and expects The Red to be his god and to be the kind of god that gives him everything on a platter. He forgets that The Red is a program and nothing more. In many ways, this was the story of Shelley growing up and beginning to rely on himself and other people instead of an ephemeral bit of code.

There is just as much action as in the previous books. Pulse pounding, boot thumping, bullet shattering action. Shelley is always one step from dying, either from the enemy or from his relying on The Red and considering how the author has treated him in the previous books, you just never know if he'll make it or not.

There isn't much resolution really. Shelley just decides to stop relying on The Red and be a fracking man. Hoo Ra!
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Blood of Angels (Straw Men #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 by  Bookstooge's Exalted Permission.
Title: Blood of Angels
Series: Straw Men
Author: Michael Marshall
Rating: 2.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Thriller
Pages: 422
Format: Kindle digital edition

Synopsis:

Nina and Ward are dragged back into an investigation, of a potential female serial killer. At the same time Paul, with the help of the Straw Men, escapes from custody and begins to put into place a horrific plan. A former Straw Men is dragged back into service and a young man of Straw Man parentage is roped into Paul's plan.

Nina is kidnapped and Ward and Zandt are distracted from thwarting Paul's plan. And it is revealed that the Straw Men have been around destroying Civilization since Atlantis and now they intend to begin again.

My Thoughts:

I was kind of going along for the ride until the author stated that Jesus was just a man who faked his death and secretly lived out the rest of his life in Europe. I don't have a problem with conspiracy theories about the Church or saints or what not, but when you baldly deny Jesus' claim of Divinity, then you've moved into Blasphemous territory. I take that rather seriously.

My other issue is with the series as a whole. The Straw Men themselves, in fact. They are presented as this group of evil people bent on murder and mayhem but with the tight control of a genius. They have persisted for untold time and continue strong. I just don't buy it. Evil, by its very nature, is destructive and eventually self-destructive. You might have individuals who can control themselves while allowing evil full reign in their life, but never groups of people and even those individuals must at some point succumb themselves. A group dedicated to evil will rise, prosper and then decay and fall, usually to another group.

Other than those 2 things, this was an ok read. I'm not a big fan of Conspiracies and Grand Paranoia, so some of the appeal of this series just wasn't aimed at me.
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Thraxas and the Sorcerers (Thraxas #5)

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 by  Bookstooge's Exalted Permission.
Title: Thraxas and the Sorcerers
Series: Thraxas
Author: Martin Scott
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: SFF
Pages: 186
Format: Kindle digital edition

Synopsis:

The Sorcerer's Guild needs a new Leader and everyone is meeting in Turai. Each City State is putting forth its top Sorcerer for the job. Unfortunately for Turai, their top Sorcerer is a thazi addled addict who can't even walk straight, much less run a Guild of the most powerful people in the realm.
So it is up to Thraxas and others to buy, threaten, cheat, extort and whatever else is needed, to get the votes for their Sorcerer. And Thraxas has been made a Tribune, so he's officially back in the Politics Game.

My Thoughts:

This was a murder mystery mixed with rigged elections and so much dwa that it felt like I, the reader, was practically swimming through the stuff. So pretty much, just like all the previous books.

I have the omnibus, The Complete Thraxas, and have been reading these on my phone, back to back. I think I reached my limit here. Need to take a break and put these back into the regular queue.

I like these and want to make sure that I keep on liking them.
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