May '11

WHEEL OF TIME: THE DRAGON REBORN
-R. Jordan-epub-595
-fantasy-Matt gets caught up with the girls. Perrin is back with Moirane. Rand is on his own, trying not to kill anyone with his new burgeoning powers. Everyone ends up at Tear, where Rand takes Callendor, a sword of the one power, and fulfills a part of the dragon reborn prophecy. More people are being introduced and things are starting to get complicated. Each of the main characters, the 3 male and the 3 female are starting to form their own subgroups. Really wanted to break my one a month rule and read the next one, but I'm holding it off.

CIRQUE DU FREAK: LORD OF THE SHADOWS
-D. Shan-epub-97
-ya fantasy-Darren finds out that a Lord of the Shadows will turn the world into a wasteland, and the Lord of Shadows will either be him or Steve. So either way, Darren loses. Turns out Mr Tiny is an agent of chaos who does what he can to cause problems and stir the pot.

CIRQUE DU FREAK: SONS OF DESTINY
-D. Shan-epub-125
-ya fantasy-Darren kills Steve, but then allows Steve's dying lashout to kill him, in an attempt to foil Mr Tiny. Mr Tiny's daughter plots with Darren and they concoct a plan to change things to allow the vampires, vampaneze and humans to all survive and eventually become one race. I was glad the series was over. After the 5th or 6th book, the story lost its shiny newness and became much darker than what I was enjoying.

DRESDEN FILES: DEAD BEAT
-J. Butcher-epub-386
-urban fantasy-Harry has to fight some necromancers. The White Court of Wizards is pretty much wiped out and Harry is made a Warder. Typical Dresden.

POLITY: SPLATTERJAY: ORBUS
-N. Asher-epub-361
-scifi-An old captain, a war drone and a Polity ship head to a neutral zone between Polity and the Prador kingdom. The prador from the previous Splatterjay books turns into what the king is, a mutated prador. In the process, it is revealed that the splatterjay virus is actually a form of Jain tech, which emerges and is barely headed off by the King of the Prador, who dies. Closer ties are hinted at between the Pradors and Polity. Fantastic book, and not a single "human" character in it. Asher can write.

RANGER'S APPRENTICE: SORCERER OF THE NORTH
-J. Flanagan-epub-230
-ya fantasy-Will is sent to a quiet castle after his adventures in Skandia. However, he is immediately dispatched on a secret mission to the North to check out claims of sorcery going on. Finds out a nephew of a Duke is trying to take over and make an alliance with the Picti. Alice is involved, and gets captured.

RANGER'S APPRENTICE: SIEGE OF MACINDAW
-J. Flanagan-epub-236
-ya fantasy-the conclusion to the story. Horace is sent north and the 3 friends overcome and win the day. Overall, this story arc captured in a nutshell why I like this series: flashes of humor when things start getting dark, determined heroes who won't give up and right winning over evil.

MEMORY, SORROW AND THORN: THE DRAGONBONE CHAIR
-T. Williams-epub-824
-fantasy-a young scullion boy, who is a hopeless clutz, ends up becoming embroiled in a plot by an elder race to supplant the humans. Rereading this so soon after finishing Williams Shadowplay series, it is real easy to compare. This series holds up much better than the Shadowplay series. Simon, the main character, is likeable. Yes, he has his annoying traits, but he is growing into someone the reader can cheer for. So many of the same ideas in this series are taken to greater depths, but you can see where Williams is starting to repeat himself. I was fearful that this wouldn't hold up to the memories, but just like the Otherland series, this was even better the second time around.

STARHAMMER
-C. Rowley-epub-277
-scifi-the human race meets the Lowan, and become enslaved. One human hooks up with a resistance group and they find the Starhammer. An ancient weapon meant to fight the Vang, it destroys stars at a time. Ends rather abruptly with the humans dictating terms to the Lowan.

STAR WARS: OLD REPUBLIC: KNIGHT ERRANT
-J. Miller-epub-310
-scifi-follows one young jedi knight who is stranded in the Sith empire. She runs around causing havoc and ends up rescuing a bunch of kids while facing down several different sith lords. Very abrupt shifts from sith lord to sith lord. Felt forced and I didn't really enjoy it.

MEMORY, SORROW AND THORN: THE STONE OF FAREWELL
-T. Williams-epub-727
-fantasy-A lot happens. Now that is an understatement. The history of the 3 Swords is starting to be revealed as well as why Ineluki is doing what he is. Simon gets stranded with the elder race in their bastion of peace, until Ineluki attacks them as well. Princess Miriamelle is gadding about and not helping. Josua and company make to the Stone of Farewell and begin figuring out what they can do. This is epic, and not just in size. I blew through it and really wanted to read the next book right away, but I think I'll enjoy the final book more with some space between.

RESIDENT EVIL: CALIBAN COVE
-S.D. Perry-epub-134
-game novelization-sucky to the sucky'th degree. I barely made it through this nauseatingly predictable and boring book. The attempts at characterization were so badly executed that it would have been better if Perry had left it alone. Maybe a HARDCORE fan of the Resident Evil games would enjoy this, but I can't imagine anyone else who would.

ASIAN SAGA: TAI-PAN
-J. Clavell-epub-655
-historical fiction-Wow. I really enjoyed Shogun, but this was on another level of greatness. Follows one English trader who is trying to get into the chinese market and is lobbying for Hong Kong. Tons of drama and excitement. Political and cultural adventures. Family and Foes. The main character's strength of will dragged you the reader along with him. I felt excited when he was excited, sad when he was sad, etc, etc. Definitely a favorite now.

EMERALD EYES
-D. Moran-epub-217
-scifi-a disjointed and confusing novel about the emergance of a new genetic line of Homo Sapiens. Telepaths, who appear to be the ancestors of time travellers. Who are popping in and out of the story and making things even more confusing. Story segments were not segued well and it felt very herky-jerky. I guess this is a series, but I won't be reading any more.

STARSHIP: PIRATE
-M. Resnick-epub-165
-scifi-the captain and crew decide to pirate other pirates. By the end of the story they realize that that won't cut it and are thinking about becoming mercenaries. Resnick's universe is full of historical character references and this one was with Dickens. I loved it.

MALAZ: BAUCHELAIN AND KORBAL BROACH
-S. Erikson-epub-180
-fantasy-3 short stories about how Emancipor Reese becomes the man servant to the "evil" duo. They are almost side characters in each story, just giving a little push here and there to influence things. I found this amusing.

MALAZ: CRACK'D POT TRAIL
-S. Erikson-epub-154
-fantasy-1 story. A bunch of poets fall in with some bounty hunters who are chasing Bauchelain and Korbal Broach. The poets have to tell a story and whoever gets the least votes gets eaten [they are going through inhospitable lands]. Very lyrical and I still don't understand the ending very well at all. To confusing for my taste.

POLITY: PRADOR MOON
-N. Asher-epub-173
-scifi-the first contact/fight between the Polity and the Pradors. Shows the beginnings of the higher end augs/human mix that blur the line between man and machine. Very violent, mainly because of how the prador eat everything.


MONTHLY SUMMARY
18 Novels
5846 Pages