August '11

TIFFANY ACHING: THE WEE FREE MEN
-T. Pratchett-epub-289
-fantasy-taking place in Discworld, but not necessarily in the Discworld series. A young girl by the name of Tiffany Aching has to defend her land against the queen of the faerie world. Mainly because Tiffany's grandmother is dead and so she can't do it. Tiffany is a witch in the making. Granny Weatherwax comes in at the end. It is called "Wee Free Men" because Tiffany gets help by the Nac Mac Feegles. Little blue pict'sies. Drunk, rowdy, almost indestructable but fun and lovable none the less. This was classic Pratchett WITH excellent writing, tight plot and everything was funny, not stupid. Best Pratchett ever!

DRESDEN FILES: PROVEN GUILTY
-J. Butcher-epub-557
-urban fantasy-Harry saves one of Michael's kids and takes her on as an apprentice. I felt like Harry is a complete idiot, and an arrogant one to boot. He always takes everything on his shoulders, without trying to spread the responsibility and then he whines and complains about how hard things are. He ALWAYS acts like he is the only one who can do anything. Well, he isn't. And one man can't do EVERYTHING! Get over yourself and your poor little pity party of the past.

TIFFANY ACHING: A HAT FULL OF SKY
-T. Pratchett-epub-299
-fantasy-Tiffany goes off to get some witchy training. Only a monster, a mindless Hiver, takes her over. She gets free, then has to defeat it. Has some help from Granny Weatherwax and learns some lessons about what being a witch really means. Not nearly as much about the Nac Mac Feegles, so this wasn't as funny. Still a solid book and very enjoyable.

WHEEL OF TIME: LORD OF CHAOS
-R. Jordan-epub-1223
-fantasy-I can feel the gears beginning to grind to a halt. Lots of "big ticket" things seem to be introduced, but go no where. Examples: the "super" Myrdrral-he appears to be more powerful than the Forsaken, but we really find out nothing about him. The Bowl of the Wind-appears to be the answer to all the weather problems, but it takes the WHOLE book for them to even start looking for it. Not nearly as enjoyable as the previous books.

THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO: UNABRIDGED
-A. Dumas-epub-1606
-classic-this was my first time reading the Unabridged version. It was not good. Where as the Barnes and Noble abridged edition was a tight, thrilling story of vengeance and final redemption, this was a maundering convoluted monstrosity filled with "current pop culture" references that added nothing and detracted. Side stories kept pulling me away down dead end paths. I was very disappointed. Still a good story, but the story gets lost in Dumas's wordiness and love of conversations. I would never recommend the Unabridged version, that is for sure.


Dreadnaught by Jack Campbell

Ebook, 420 pages
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I dreaded this book, I have to admit. I didn't see how Campbell could continue the series WITH Geary without losing much of what I loved about the original Lost Fleet books.

Thankfully, I was hugely disappointed :) This was just as good as the previous books, and in some ways, better. There was not nearly as much explicit space battle tactics explained in painful detail. Whoohoo!

Geary is still Geary and dealing with a government that doesn't want him, balancing those who hate him, love him, want to use him and want to kill him. And he has a wife. A strong spirited woman. [I suspect a good strong spanking might work wonders, for both of them ;)]

We get lots of kind of info about the aliens, and new ideas about them and it is made real just how ignorant humanity is about the universe they live in.

Good stuff! Looking forward to the rest of these...



Wintersmith (Tiffany Aching, #3) by Terry Pratchett

Ebook, 341 Pages
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Liked it more than the second book, less than the first book.





Perfect Shadow: A Night Angel Novella by Brent Weeks

Ebook, 70 Pages
My rating: 2 of 5 stars


If you wanted more info about Durzo Blint, this short story will at least be a good appetizer. If you want totally unnecessary sex that doesn't advance the story in any way, this is for you. Take out the lust and hormones, and the page count goes down by at least half. However, it does let you know how Durzo turned into Durzo. So Night Angel fans will enjoy this no matter.


Skin Game by Max Allan Collins

Ebook, UNFINISHED
My rating: 1 of 5 stars


I felt like I had missed an entire book between the last and this. I just couldn't get into it and dropped it very quickly.




Shadow Magic by Patricia C. Wrede

Ebook, 256 Pages
My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This reminded me of Andre Norton's older writings. It was dry, straight forward telling of an atypical fantasy.

Nothing really was bad, but it didn't draw me in, or make me laugh, or make me go "wow" like most of Wrede's stuff. I think this was her older series, so it is to be expected.

I'll be reading more in this series, but I'm not really excited about that fact :)



Stonewielder by Ian C. Esslemont

Ebook, 640 Pages
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book is what I think all of Steven Erickson's book SHOULD have been like. Lots of action, a smidge of philosophy and just some down right wicked cool characters.

While Esslemont's Crimson Guard felt like it was just hanging out there all by itself, Stonewielder felt like an integral part of the Malazan Series. Part of it was several characters are from the Crimson Guard, so I wasn't introduced to a completely new set of characters, there was some continuity from CG. That went a long way towards making me more comfortable.

Man, this was just cool! The storm riders, the koreli, the Lady, Skinner the skumbag [at the end]. AND Leoman of the Flails!!!. I had always wanted to know what happened to him, and now I find out. Wicked!!

So basically, I enjoyed this a lot. and look forward now to more of Esslemont as his own writer instead of just an extension of Erickson. Way to go ICE...



T2: Rising Storm by S.M. Stirling

Ebook, 384 Pages
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Much more than even the first book.

John Connor is truly becoming the man who takes down skynet. Of course, I saw that Skynet would come about from Wendy's interference from a mile away but hey, mankind HAS to create Skynet, right?

More of the differential timeloops are talked about, so it will be interesting to see how Stirling wraps up that side of things. Looking forward to the final book.




MONTHLY SUMMARY

10 Novels
1 Unfinished Novel
1 Novella
6085 Pages