Saturday, February 28, 2009

February '09

THE ULTIMATE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE
-D. Adams-scifi
-815-comprising Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
Life, the Universe and Everything
So Long, and Thanks for all the Fish
Young Zaphod Plays it Safe
Mostly Harmless
Stories about a man from earth who survives the earth being blown up. Lots of silliness ensues, multiple universes/earths happen, Arthur finds his way back to Earth, just in time to have ALL the earths wiped out of the space/time continuum. Very silly stuff that I remember making my sides hurt back in bibleschool, but to be honest, I just found it stupid this time around. Maybe it is a one time thing? And what a cop out of an ending. All the main characters are on earth when all the earths are erased. Fits with the series profile though.

SHAMAN KING #13-15
-H. Takei-manga
-had read these last year and totally forgotten. Library has no new ones either, sigh.

DINOSAUR BEACH
-K. Laumer-scifi
-186-a time agent from Era4 gets into some serious time screwups. Messes with Era5-7 and turns out to be a robot from the WAY future allowing humanity a chance to survive without timetravel. He loves a woman from 1936 and as a reward goes back there and forgets everything but his cover story about living in that age. Weird.

CATCH-22
-J. Heller-fiction
-443- This was a novel that I absolutely hated. It was about a man in the airforce, in WWII, named Yossarian who is a cowardly son of a bitch. He thinks of nobody but himself. All his peers die throughout the book due to the war. Comedic, horrible, outrageous, pretentious. Heller takes the worst traits of human nature, throws them all together and presents it as an airforce unit. There was not a single good man in this book. All were cheats, adulterers, cowards, liars, etc, etc. It was not pleasant to read. The whole thrust of Heller's book seems to be that humans are totally horrible creatures and that one must do whatever is necessary to survive. Look out for number one. If he was alive today, even if in a wheelchair with an oxygen can, I'd go right up to him and beat the living snot out of him. Satirizing men who gave up their lives for me is not funny imo.

BLESSED CHILD
-T. Dekker & B. Bright-fiction
-351- a young boy, who has a complete rapport with God, changes the lives of a man and woman who rescue him in Ethiopia. Brought to the US, he changes the lives of hundreds of thousands, physically. Ends up with him and the man and woman going back to Ethiopia to restart the mission that was destroyed at the beginning of the book. This was good. This was Dekker's writing coupled with Bright's theology, and it was terrific. A heart healed, a soul reclaimed, is more important than a million miracles of physical restoration. That is what I got from this book. This was what I wish Dekker had stayed like.

A MAN CALLED BLESSED
-T. Dekker & B. Bright-fiction
-356- the sequel to Blessed Child. Caleb is now a man of 25. The Ark of the Covenant is discovered at the monastery where he and his parents now reside. An Israeli woman and an Arab man are the other 2 main characters. Ends with the ark melting, the Arab dying and the Israeli probably going to marry Caleb. The thrust of this book was that God no longer dwelt within an ark of wood and gold, but within the ark of our hearts. Not nearly as good as its predecessor.

KING KELSON'S BRIDE
-K. Kurtz-fantasy
-374-finishes, happily, the story of King Kelson. At least, he finally gets married successfully. I'm guessing there was enough outcry at how she left her Histories of King Kelson series that her publisher wanted to wrap it up happily. It was just to wordy though. To much description of everything: clothes, scenery, people, objects, ceremonies. She described a bloody picnic for almost 2 pages. I was glad to see a happy ending for Kelson, but I have no real interest in any more of her stuff. It seems to be church history with a tiny bit of magic thrown in. I was not enthralled.

THE DRAGONRIDERS OF PERN: DRAGONFLIGHT
-A. McCaffrey-fantasy
-180- introduced to the world of Pern. Dragons are in symbiosis with men, to fight thread, a parasitic thing that falls every 200 to 400 years. It has been very long since last threadfall in this story and nobody believes it will come again. One dragonrider, F'lar, believes it will. He searches out a woman to be queen of the Weir for the next queen egg. Lessa gets it and ends up discovering that dragons can jump between times as well as distances. Not enough dragons to fight thread. So Lessa goes back 400+ years to get the last known large group of dragonriders. Works and saves Pern.

THE DRAGONRIDERS OF PERN: DRAGONQUEST
-A. McCaffrey-fantasy
-250-The "oldtimers" aren't fitting in. So they are exiled to the southern continent. Lots of problems between dragonmen, holders and craftsmen. Lots of intrigue among northern dragonmen as well. Things get sorted out and "ancient timer" technology is discovered.

THE DRAGONRIDERS OF PERN: THE WHITE DRAGON
-A. McCaffrey-fantasy
-295- a young holder lord impresses a runt dragon. The southern continent is shown to be HUGE and the northerners want it opened up for their landless children. F'lar wants the best of the continent for dragonmen so they won't be beholden to the holds once threadfall passes. Everything works out and it is discovered that man is not indigenous to Pern.

HELLSING #1-4
-K. Hirano-manga
-a protestant organization fights vampires and such and their trump card is a vampire. They have a catholic counterpart. By book4 it had degenerated into nazi vampires in South America trying to take over the world.

AMAZING AGENT LUNA OMNIBUS #1
-N. DeFilippis & C. Weir-manga
-502-the first 3 volumes of Amazing Agent Luna. Ameri-manga. Testtube girl/superagent goes to highschool to find out what stereotypical villain is up to. Funny. To bad library doesn't have more.

MISS MARJORIBANKS
-M. Oliphant-classic
-497- a strong willed young lady takes over the social scene when she returns from school. Her duty is "to be a comfort to her papa". The first 2/3rds of the book deal with her at 19. Interesting and comical. The last third deals with her 10 years later when her father dies. Ends with her marrying her cousin Tom and setting out to conquer a new village/town. I liked the earlier part, not the later. First was refreshing and interesting. Later was same old, same old and you wanted her to get on with it. Good to read once.

NOBLE DEAD: DHAMPIR
-B & JC Hendee-fantasy
-376- a woman and a half elf scam villagers by pretending to kill some imaginary vampire threat. They settle down to run an inn and have their old business come back to haunt them, only this time there are real vampires. The woman turns out to be the daughter of a vampire and is consequently a dhampir, a human with some vampiric powers. This was a very simple book, with many details glossed over or left out, but it was a good entertaining read. I would call it trash fantasy, but not in a bad way, more of a disposable way. I'll probably read more of this series.

THE LOST FLEET: DAUNTLESS
-J. Campbell/John Hemry-scifi
-283- a space captain is rescued from his escape pod 100 years after the battle he won. The alliance and the syndic are still at war. Through a variety of bad decisions on the alliance's part, all their military leaders are butchered by the syndic, leaving John Geary in charge. His mission is to take the fleet home and deliver a hypernet key to the alliance. The current military is a bunch of amateurs and Geary must navigate politics as well as the enemy if he is to survive, much less succeed. Darren suggested this author to me and I'm really liking it so far. Geary doesn't want to be in charge, especially in charge of idiots. But he is and he does his duty.

THE LOST FLEET: FEARLESS
-J. Campbell/John Hemry-scifi
-295- the second leg of the journey home. They rescue a bunch of POW's and one turns out to be a charismatic "hero" who was a real blunderer. The blunderer convinces 40 ships to follow him and they take off on their own. Only 12 survive and hook backup with the main fleet. I really like this series. Unfortunately, the library doesn't have book 3. It does have book 4, but that is it. And they were never printed in hardcover, so I won't be buying them. Sigh...

OZ: THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ
-F. Baum-juvenile fantasy
-272- Dorothy is taken to Oz, from Kansas, by a cyclone. She defeats 2 evil witches and helps out her friends, the Scarecrow, the Tinman and the Cowardly Lion and returns back to Kansas. I really enjoyed this. It wasn't like the movie in that it was much more kid friendly without all the dark overtones. I never realized that there were at least 12 books in the Oz series. Looking forward to reading them this year.

INUYASHA #1-2
-R. Takahashi-manga

HELLSING #5-7
-K. Hirano-manga

BATTLEFIELD EARTH
-L.R. Hubbard-scifi
-942- earth is conquered by the Psychlos for 1000 years. A man ends up destroying them, saving earth, and also pretty much saving all the galaxies in the bargain. Good writing.

OZ: THE MARVELOUS LAND OF OZ
-F. Baum-juvenile fantasy
-292- a young boy runs away from a witch with a pumpkin head man. Meets up with the Tin man and the Scarecrow. Emerald City is taken over. Glinda helps them retake it and it turns out that Tip, the boy, is actually a girl who is the real ruler. Light and engaging.

NOBLE DEAD: THIEF OF LIVES
-B & JC Hendee-fantasy
-410- Magierre and Leesil are asked to take care of a vampire in a bigger city. Turns out to be just a setup by Westiel to train her. Find out more about Leesil's past. Very clean for a vamp novel. No graphic sex or even gore.

NOBLE DEAD: SISTER OF THE DEAD
-B & JC Hendee-fantasy
-405- Magierre is trying to find out her past. Turns out she was specifically made to serve some long dead thing that wants to be resurrected with her at its side. Chap, the fey dog, is watching her to take her out if she goes down the dark path.