Devil Bats Take Flight (Eyeshield 21 #6) (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: Devil Bats Take Flight
Series: Eyeshield 21
Author: Riichiro Inagaki
Artist: Yusuke Murata
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Manga
Pages: 208
Format: Digital Scan

Synopsis:

After a brutal game, the Devil Bats manage to tie the score at the end of the game. The de facto leader of the Sphinx admits that since the Devil Bats tied on the Sphinx's home turf, that it is a win for the Bats. So the Devil Bats are the ones to play the American team.
Then everyone goes and watches a game between the White Knights and gods and undisputed champions of highschool football, "The Something Or Others" [I tend to lose track of the names as they don't mean anything to me]. In the previous season the White Knights almost unseated them but a pair of freshman turned the game around. Now those freshmen are experienced and trained. And they destroy the White Knights. The leader of the two looks like he'll be the Nemesis of Sena, as he is portrayed as a pretty bad guy.

My Thoughts:

Finally, we get someone who is just plain bad and not "striving to be better" and all that macho stuff. He's just at the end of the volume but it is apparent that he'll be around for some time, as his talent and his teams quality make them the top team.

The game between the Bats and the Sphinx's ended up satisfactorily without the "underdog team wins every game by hook or by crook" that is the hallmark of many Disney movies. I do like how the manga-ka's breakdown a particular part of the game [albeit in a simplistic way] and make it the focus of one whole game, hence allowing the new Devil Bats, as well as the readers unfamiliar with football, to become "experts". I'm a social sports fan, so I don't know how this would come across to a serious football fan. They'd probably laugh it off or point out all the wrong things :-) But it works for me and considering that this is a manga, I suspect the target audience are not hardcore Patriots fan [the Patriots are the Number One team here in the United States and have been since they came into existence in 1792!]
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Thraxas and the Dance of Death (Thraxas #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: Thraxas and the Dance of Death
Series: Thraxas
Author: Martin Scott
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: SFF
Pages: 256
Format: Kindle digital edition

Synopsis:

Lisutarius has lost a priceless gem that helps protect Turai against an orcish invasion. So she hires Thraxas to find it without anyone else finding out. But of course things don't go quite according to plan and everywhere the gem goes, death follows. So much so that an enterprising fellow starts a betting ring on how many people will die before Thraxas can find the jewel.
An undead sorcerer comes to town to steal the jewel for himself, falls in love with Makri and threatens Thraxas.

My Thoughts:

It was nice returning to Turai and watching Thraxas threaten, bluster and bumble his way through yet another investigation.
Things get a little bit more serious as Thraxas must deal with politics, having his investigators license revoked, Tanrose leaving the inn and a possible orc invasion just as the city is being wracked by a dwa epidemic and the elves are weaker than ever.

I tore through this in about 3 lunchbreaks. The only problem is that by the time I get around to writing a review, I'm halfway through the next book and get the details muddled in my head. But I remember having fun reading this, so I think that is enough.
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Hominid

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.
Title: Hominid
Series: -----
Author: R.D. Brady
Rating: 1/2  of 5 Stars
Genre: ----
Pages: Abandoned
Format: Kindle digital edition

My Thoughts:

The author references the main character's brother as gay and married to another man. I'll not fill my mind with such perversions.
Abandoned at 5%

Vets Might Fly (All Creatures Great and Small #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: Vets Might Fly
Series: All Creatures Great and Small
Author: James Herriot
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Non-fiction
Pages: 240
Format: Kindle digital scan

Synopsis:

Jim is training to be a pilot for the RAF during WWII and various people and circumstances bring back memories of his vet times in Darrowby. At the same time his wife is expecting their first baby and he relates several instances of him sneaking away from training to be with her.

My Thoughts:

This is a series that continues strong story telling but the sameness of the stories brings the rating down for each book. I think my rating would be higher if I read one of these a year instead of every 2 months.

I was hoping for more military training stories than I got. What I did get were all very compact and led right into a vet story. I think the most amusing story was about his son being born. Jim asked the nurse if he was "normal" because he was such an ugly little thing and asked if he could see another baby, "just to compare". The nurse got upset, Jim was confused and I just grinned. Newborns ARE ugly but you'd think a vet would be used to that whole thing.
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The Hero's Guide to Being an Outlaw (League of Princes #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: The Hero's Guide to Being an Outlaw
Series: League of Princes
Author: Christopher Healy
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: SFF
Pages: 529
Format: Kindle digital edition

Synopsis:

The League of Princes get involved in yet another madcap escapade and the various princess' are involved. An old enemy returns and uses the bards to make the Princes' into villains, puts a price on their heads and begins a conquest of all the Kingdoms.

Surprise, surprise, everything turns out ok. I know that is totally shocking to anyone who has read the previous books, but believe it!

My Thoughts:

Ehhh, this was ok, just like Book 2 but not as fun as Book 1.  Three books worth of these characters was just too much for me. They were fairytale caricatures shoehorned into a "regular" fantasy novel. The novelty was amusing but it wore thin and in this book wore out for me.

For a series called The League of Princes', this sure had as much to do with their various love interests taking the stage as it did with them. If I wanted to read the PC, Lady Power schtick, I'd go read some Urban or Paranormal Fantasy, thank you very much.

It wasn't a bad read, it just didn't live up to the first book, which unfortunately seems to happen with a lot of series, no matter what genre they might be in. It left me feeling slightly lacking in the Enjoyment Factor. I do recommend this if you're looking for a fairytale parody or something very light.
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Beyond the Aquila Rift: The Best of Alastair Reynolds

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: Beyond the Aquila Rift
Series: -----
Author: Alastair Reynolds
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: SFF
Pages: 784
Format: Kindle digital edition

Synopsis:

A range of short stories showcasing Reynold's universe. Ranging from the Near Future to a Million Years in the Future, from Horror to Post-Humanity, from the personal to the galactic, this collection has something for just about any SF fan.

My Thoughts:

I read this collection, thanks to Antao's Review about a month ago. Book recommendations like this are why I can never go back to solitary book reading. I wouldn't have picked this up on my own [not being a huge fan of hard sf and this "looked" like hard sf] but I am glad I read it. It was thoroughly entertaining and being a bunch of short stories it fit into my lunch breaks perfectly.

When it comes to short story collections I don't usually keep notes on each story. I tend to simply eat them in a gulp and rate the overall meal. However, at the end of this book was a collection of notes by Reynolds about how each story came to be. With that handy little reminder I was able to pick out a story or two that stood out above the others.

My pick of the litter is Diamond Dogs. A group of people must answer puzzles in a successive row of rooms. If they answer wrong, there is a punishment. At the top of the structure is an advanced computer left by aliens now extinct. One man wants that computer for himself and he is willing to use anyone to get his desire.  There is a nod to Budry's book Rogue Moon and the movie Cube. If you've partaken of either of those, you'll know pretty much how this goes.

I shall digress here.

The reason that Cube stands out in my memory was because it was the first movie that I saw, graphically, the wanton hatred and execrable violence and filth that was on a lot of peoples minds. I remember feeling sick after watching Cube and realizing that there were not only people who thought these things up, but who sought after them. I'm a bit more jaded now, but even still, I have a graphic violence tag just to remind me that certain levels of violence are not ok to get used to in my reading.

/end digression.

Not that this story was graphically violent, mind you, but it referenced Cube and thus one memory led me to remember this one.

So there you have it. Go forth and read, if the fancy takes you.
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Slave of Sondelle DNF@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 by  Bookstooge's Exalted Permission.
Title: Slave of Sondelle
Series: -----
Author: Bevan McGuiness
Rating: 1 of 5 Stars
Genre: SFF
Pages: Abandoned
Format: Kindle digital edition

My Thoughts:

Excerpt:

Chapter 1
He stopped digging.
     The only sound he heard was his own laboured breathing; his panting breath disturbed the dirt in front of his face. The darkness was total - he could not see his own hands, or the blood he knew was welling from his torn nails and scraped knuckles. He lifted his head head slightly, bumping on the top of the tunnel.
     There it was again - that sound. With an effort, he controlled his breathing, trying to listen for whatever it was he'd heard twice now. His heart thumped in his chest, but he managed to quieten its frantic pace with a calming exercise he'd learned. In the silence, he listened again.
     Dripping. Was it water? A moment's fear swept over him. Where was he? Had he gone too far? Was there a river or a lake nearby? His fingers gripped the dirt, feeling the moistness. Had he been wrong to assume the moisture was his blood? In the dark, with the earth all around him, he felt the panic start to take hold.

/End Excerpt
(all grammatical errors are probably mine as I typed the above out by hand)

If you don't have a problem with pages of that style of writing, then this book just might be for you. It did not improve but stayed at that level or even descended a bit. I quit when the MC started fighting some monster.  Technically correct writing isn't enough, you need to be able to handle words like a dance partner. If I had to describe this book, or the short portion I managed to get through, as a dance, I would describe it as 2 uncoordinated teenagers who have seen a waltz and are trying to dance it from that memory.

Not pretty at all if you actually know how to waltz or have seen professionals dancing.

Not bad at all for an indie really. However, this was not an indie release. This was a Big 5 Publisher release. It rather shocked me that something like this passed muster. Well, on to the next book.
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Powerful (Eyeshield 21 #5) (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: Powerful
Series: Eyeshield 21
Author: Riichiro Inagaki
Artist: Yusuke Murata
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Manga
Pages: 200
Format: Digital Scan

Synopsis:

Now that the Devil Bats have an actual team, Harima takes them to watch a game played by other teams so that the newbies can see at what level more advanced teams play at. Harima also ups their training by making them participate in building the new clubhouse.
After watching the game, Harima signs up the Devil Bats to play a visiting American highschool team. However, the contest was rigged and another, higher profile, team was chosen. Harima hacks into the system and forces a duel between the Devil Bats and the Taiyo Sphinx to determine who will play the Americans.

My Thoughts:

This was a good volume. Seeing the White Knights struggle and their fan favorite QB stuck in the hospital wrestling with doubt, makes them seem that much more worthy as opponents to the Devil Bats.

The beginning of the game against the Sphinx is a good one. The linebackers of the Devil Bats, who we've only seen overcoming everything thrown at them, get flattened by the Pyramid of the Sphinx. Their confidence is shattered and not even Sena/Eyeshield 21 can get their spirits up. Of course, Harima has a plan for even this setback and using the natures of his linemen puts the "oomph" back in them.

Harima also shows his skills as a QB while the weak nature of the Sphinx's QB begins to crack under the pressure. It is rather nice to see Harima actually playing football instead of just whaling on the team and shooting off guns and rockets.

Sena plays a very small part in this volume and I suspect that will be the case from now on. Football being such a team sport, it can't rely on 1 individual to carry the whole story. My only gripe is the fact that Eyeshield 21 is supposedly a Notre Dame vet and Notre Dame is a college, so why would a college kid be in highschool? I know the American version of highschool doesn't exactly correspond to Japanese Highschool but I figured it was still all the same at the end.
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Caliban's War (Expanse #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: Caliban's War
Series: Expanse
Author: James Corey
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: SFF
Pages: 583
Format: Kindle digital edition

Synopsis:

The protomolecule is transforming Venus at a ferocious rate. So much so that everyone, Earth, Mars and Belters, are extremely worried about it.
At the same time someone has figured out how to weaponize the original piece of proto-crap into controllable super soldiers. All they need is children with completely compromised immune systems. But of course, things don't quite go as planned and everything begins to spiral out of control.

Now it is up to the crew of the Firefly, errr, Rocinante, a U.N. official, a Ganymedian soybean scientist and a Martian Marine to stop the badguys, save the kids and give humanity a chance to collect its breath before Venus takes everyone out.

My Thoughts:

Hot diggity! I am enjoying this series like it is a huge bowl of vanilla bean icecream. It just hits the spot. Thankfully this time around Holden isn't as much a dew'y eyed idealist and I liked this kick ass version of him better, even if he and his Belter lady didn't.

The number of viewpoints increased and I was worried that it would make things confusing or unstable. Never happened. Having the extra viewpoints of the soybean scientist, UN official and martian marine simply expanded the scope of the story.  I also felt like "Corey" summed up politics really, really well. A game to those who play.

By the end of the book Venus has become it's own player in the story and we see its opening moves. But of war, exploration or a game, we don't know. I am really looking forward to the next book when it comes through my reading rotation in about 2 months.

On the tv side of things, I figure I'll read "ahead" to the 3rd book before starting the tv series. I like the books enough that I'm actually hesitant to watch the tv show as it'll put limits of my imagining of the characters and everything. Once I watch the tv show, I'll be picturing those characters as I read the rest of the books. Sometimes that can be good but sometimes it can be pretty bad.
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Water Sleeps (The Chronicles of the Black Company #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.wordpress.com by  Bookstooge's Exalted Permission.
Title: Water Sleeps
Series: The Chronicles of the Black Company
Author: Glen Cook
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: SFF
Pages: 480
Format: Kindle digital edition

Synopsis:

15-20 years after the end of She is the Darkness. The Black Company has been reduced to being a gang under the leadership of Murgen's wife and Sleepy, Murgen's apprentice. Sleepy's goal is to get to the Glittering Plain and free the Black Company, get revenge on those who put them there and to kill Lady's sister. But the Company as a gang is a mere shadow of the Company as a Military Company.
But as has been shown in previous books, even Shadows have teeth. And Sleepy takes the Company, present and past, to a place that even Croaker couldn't imagine.

My Thoughts:

The devolving of the Black Company continues. It was sad to see. The two feuding mages, getting old, having a stroke? A military company reduced to a straggling, struggling ragamuffin group of neerdowells. Yet this was just as compelling a story as the previous ones. Cook does a fantastic job of showing a real face in a fantasy world.

I liked Sleepy better than Murgen as a narrator but I suspect more of that had to do with my dislike of Murgen's out of body, through time, traveling. Being in one place and one time was rather refreshing.

The ending was pretty obvious and would have actually been a pretty good end to the series. There is one more book so I'm looking forward to seeing how Cook "really" wraps things up.
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