January '11

RESIDENT EVIL: UMBRELLA CONSPIRACY
-S.D. Perry-epub-142
-game novelization- having never played RE, having only seen the movies, this was all new to me. You could tell it was from a game, but I still enjoyed it anyway. Shallow characters, basic puzzle plot with some some-what scary monsters thrown in made for a half-decent read. Definitely going to be reading more in the series.

RESIDENT EVIL: ZERO HOUR
-S.D. Perry-epub-141
-game novelization-this is actually book 0. Shows how the T-virus got loose and the one character from the Bravo group in book 1 has her adventures here. Not actually very exciting.

LADY PENITENT: ASCENDANCY OF THE LAST
-L. Smedman-epub-214
-fantasy-Eilistrae loses to Lolth, but saves what drow she can, who return to being dark elves. But another god steps in to continue the game, the old god of the dark elves. This was a confusing book with changes just happening for no real reason that I could figure out. Weakest of the whole series imo.

THE STRAIN: THE FALL
-G. Del Toro & C. Hogan-epub-267
-thriller, fantasy-the rogue vampire takes out all the other ancients by blowing up nuclear plants where their bodies are. So in one blow he takes out the competition, destroys humanities ability to fight back and extends night over the planet. Definitely a middle book where things look their bleakest. The old jew vampire hunter dies, the boy is kidnapped, humanity is on the ropes. Not as engaging as the first book however.

CIRQUE DU FREAK: VAMPIRE MOUNTAIN
-D. Shan-epub-109
-ya fantasy-Darren and Mr Crepsley go to Vampire Mountain for the vampire gathering and so Darren can be presented and accepted by the Vampire Princes.

CIRQUE DU FREAK: TRIALS OF DEATH
-D. Shan-epub-83
-ya fantasy-Darren has to complete 5 trials to gain acceptance. He fails and is sentenced to death.

CIRQUE DU FREAK: THE VAMPIRE PRINCE
-D. Shan-epub-122
-ya fantasy-Darren escapes, but the vampire who helps him turns out to be a traitor, who is trying to help the vampaneze. Darren returns to Vampire Mountain to warn everyone and the vampaneze are wiped out. Darren is spared by becoming an honorary Vampire Prince. However, there is a huge threat, a lord of the vampaneze, who is prophesied to almost wipe out the vampires.

CIRQUE DU FREAK: HUNTERS OF THE DUSK
-D. Shan-epub-87
-ya fantasy-Mr Tiny prophecies that only Darren, Mr Crepsley and one other Vampire have the chance to kill the Lord of the Vampaneze. They have to hunt him down on their own. This chronicles their first chance, and failure.

MECHWARRIOR: THE SWORD AND THE DAGGER
-A. Mayhar-epub-248
-scifi-introduces us to a galaxy where humanity has spread, then splintered into factions, with each trying to rule the whole. Follows one plot to remove a king of one "clan" for the furthering of another clan. Nothing special, but enjoyable with promise for a huge amount of stories.

SHADOWS OF THE APT: SALUTE THE DARK
-A. Tchaikovsky-epub-392
-fantasy-the wasps are poised to take over the lowlands. But due to mosquito kinden interference, the emperor is killed and replaced by his sister, which allows the rest of the world breathing room. Almost everybody from the original book is dead, with only Stenwald, his niece Cheerwell, Totho and the wasp Athric still around. New characters come and go. But the core group is just about gone. It makes for a very dynamic story, and I actually like it. [this time]

ARTEMIS FOWL: ETERNITY CODE
-E. Colfer-epub-163
-ya fantasy-Artemis makes up a new invention with fairy tech and promptly loses it to an American shady dealer. His adventures, with the fairies, of getting it back. and Butler is put out to pasture and his younger sister might be stepping into the role of body guard.

CHROMOSOME 6
-R. Cook-dtb-457
-medical thriller-a naive scientist messes about with genes and monkeys to produce "doubles" for rich people so they have perfect match organs when needed. But that is almost the sidestory. The other part of the story is about some morgue doctor/detectives finding out all about it because of a high profile death. Things go along at an ok clip, then right at the end everything wraps up in the snap of the fingers. Boom, problems all solved, yada yada yada. Completely unimpressed and ruined any positives I had about the book.

ALCATRAZ VERSUS THE SHATTERED LENS
-B. Sanderson-dtb-292
-ya fantasy-the Librarians are invading the remainder of the free lands, Alcatraz's dad runs off to find a way to give everybody Smedry powers and Alcatraz ends up in the middle of a battle. Not nearly as funny and smart alecky as the previous books. Either I'm used to it, or Sanderson is forcing it. Wraps things up in such a way that this could be the last book [even though events are not wrapped up] but leaves openings for another [probably if publishers will give it a go].

SHADOWS OF THE APT: SCARAB PATH
-A. Tchaikovsky-epub-560
-fantasy-Cheerwell is now inapt, due to some mystical hokum due to her moth lover dying. She mopes about. So Stenwald sends her on an expedition to a city that is apparently full of inapt beetles. The empire of black and gold is also interested in this city, so Athric, who has been having some real issues with being married to the new empress, jumps at the chance to get. Lots of things happen and Athric and Cheerwell get together. The city is almost taken, but the Slug kinden, who are major magicians, rouse themselves to destroy the army that has almost taken the city. Turns out that the ghost of the mantis who killed the emperor has been haunting Cheerwell and the book ends with it going after its daughter, where ever she is, and Cheerwell and Athric following the ghost. So yeah, a new story arc is commencing. This story continues to feel full, alive, vibrant and interesting. Information about the world is detailed enough to give you a picture of all that you don't know. Kind of like a tease. I like it.

MECHWARRIOR: DECISION AT THUNDER RIFT
-W. Keith-epub-298
-scifi-a young mechwarrior survives a surprise attack on a back edge world and leads the fight to take it back, so as to give his clan a chance to survive. Looks to be the start of a sub-series about this particular branch of merc mechwarriors.

GEORGE'S MARVELOUS MEDICINE
-R. Dahl-dtb-89
-children's fiction- George, an 8 year old, is tired of being tormented by his nasty old grandmother. So he mixes up a fantastic potion to replace her medicine. Only it turns her into a giant. So George's father gives it to all the farm animals. When that batch runs out, George tries to make another batch. The final batch makes things shrink, and the nasty grandmother drinks it all, thinking it is tea. A very "epitome" of Roald Dahl.

MONTHLY SUMMARY
15 novels
1 childrens book
3664 pages