The Summoning (The Return of the Archwizards #1) (Forgotten Realms)

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 Summoning
Series: The Return of the Archwizards
Author: Troy Denning
Rating: 1.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: SFF
Pages: 356
Format: Kindle digital edition

Synopsis:

Galaeron, an elf, is on patrol guarding the crypts from tomb robbers. He and his band come across a group of humans who are invading, but not stealing anything. Galaeron casts a spell that somehow interacts with another spell and it opens a hole in a magic barrier, that a wizard was on the other side of. On the other side were also magical creatures who use magic and live on it.
Now Galaeron and others must trust Melegaunt the Netherese wizard that he can return the floating city of Shade and destroy the Phaerimm before they destroy the last stronghold of the elves.
Only nothing is ever simple. Galaeron has been infected with dark magic and must fight every negative thought as it twists him closer and closer to becoming his own evil shadow. Elminster the Mage is convinced that Melegaunt has much deeper plans than saving Evereska. The Elf Lords are being bull headed and listening to no one, thus allowing Evereska to be besieged and over run.

My Thoughts:

Netherese are just bad news. I learned this from my jaunt with Erevis Cale and I'm pretty sure that pretty boy/drow Drizz't and Company had some bad times with them as well. So to read about them as potential saviors just smacks of backstabbing and double dealing waiting to happen.  That is one of the problems with reading Forgotten Realms books rather randomly like I do. I know things that the characters don't, I have seen the future written in stone and sometimes, just like Paul Maud'dib, I get lost in the Timestream.

However, this book was a hot mess. At first I thought it was because I started this when pretty tired and hence my faculties weren't all on campus. But since this took several days I realized it was the author and not me. It was rushed. Tons of action but certain events were given one sentence to happen then referred to for paragraphs and paragraphs. One example: in a battle scene Galaeron, Melegaunt and the others are on a mountain side and before I know it, they're at the top of the mountain fighting. I go back to see what happened and somewhere there was a landslide that allowed them easy access to the top but I couldn't see how this happened or why or when. Lots of instances of the characters making connections and me being "huh? where did that come from?" from it.

The changing viewpoints didn't work for me either. Usually it isn't a problem but this time around it was. It was random, just to show what was going on. We didn't necessarily stick with specific characters beyond Galaeron and Company and made for plot whiplash, especially when someone is referred to once and then 3 chapters later we get a whole chapter about what they're doing.

While I'm not a huge of Drizz't the Drow, I'm even less of a fan of Elminster so his inclusion didn't do it for me either.

I hate to say this, but it wasn't organically put together.  I don't expect a lot, or very much at all to be honest, from Forgotten Realms books but I do expect to be able to follow along. I am not in my dotage yet.  I'll be reading the rest of the trilogy just to see how the plot resolves, but my goodness, I sure hope the cohesiveness of the writing gets better.
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Tron

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: Tron
Series: ----------
Author: Brian Daley
Rating: 2 of 5 Stars
Genre: Movie Novelization
Pages: 186
Format: Kindle digital scan

Synopsis:

Flynn came up with several smash hit games, only to have them stolen by another man who leveraged that fame into the position of CEO at Endcom. Flynn is on a crusade to prove that those were HIS games and that HE deserves that position. With the help of Bradley and Laura, friends who are still employed at Endcom, Flynn breaks in and starts to hack the system.
Little does he know that MCP has taken control of the company and it doesn't want Flynn around. Zapped into an electronic world, Flynn must hook up with Brad and Laura's alter ego's and take down the MCP from the inside. As a mythical User, Flynn has powers at his fingertips not known to mere programs. With the help of Tron the Warrior and Lori the shaper, Flynn is on a journey to survive and destroy the MCP.

My Thoughts:

I am a big fan of the movie Tron. I acknowledge it's complete 80'sness but that is part of the appeal. It is the Electronic 80's in all its Glory.

Sadly, this book was deadly boring. Boring that I really wanted to DNF this. But my love of the movie overcame and I soldiered on. Kind of wish I hadn't and started something else. Daley was a good author and his own works showcase that pretty well but this, it was just boring. I know I'm saying that lot, but that was what kept striking me in the face over and over.

Wouldn't recommend this at all and if it wasn't for the movie being so cool, I would give this an easy 1 Star.
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Thraxas and the Elvish Isles (Thraxas #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: Thraxas and the Elvish Isles
Series: Thraxas
Author: Martin Scott
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: SFF
Pages: 186
Format: Kindle digital edition

Synopsis:

The royalty of Turai are trying to strengthen ties with the Elves. They send a delegation to one of the Elvish Isles to help celebrate. At the same time, Thraxas is coming along at the request of one of the Elves, who was his friend during the War with the Orcs. Unfortunately, he's coming along because said Elf's daughter is accused of trying to destroy the Sacred Tree AND killing the Head Priest. Makri comes along because she's literally chased out of Turai by some thugs.
On the Island, life is pretty usual for Thraxas. No one likes him, no one will answer his questions, there isn't enough Beer and gambling opportunities abound.

My Thoughts:

I say this for every book, but it is true: This was FUN!

Thraxas just stumbles along through the case and because of pure dumb luck, every time, solves the case. Makri gets to fight, Thraxas annoys everyone in authority and money and beer, in great quantities, are gathered and lost.

And everything is the fault of of the drug Dwa.
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Outriders (Outriders #1)

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: Outriders
Series: Outriders
Author: Jay Posey
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: SFF
Pages: 448
Format: Kindle digital edition

Synopsis:  Spoilers

Lincoln Suh [I had so much fun in my head saying Sir! Suh, Sir!] is a man who IS the definition of Special Forces. But when he joins the Outriders, things get kicked up a notch. First off, they kill him. Just to make sure they can electronically store his brain.
The Outriders take on missions that the Government not only denies, but actively opposes, but needs done.

Someone is trying to fan the flames of war between Earth and Mars and it is up to the Outriders to find out who and prevent it.

My Thoughts:

I didn't enjoy this as much as Posey's Duskwalker trilogy, but it was still very good. My only gripe was the eye-rolling obviousness of the solution to the villain that nobody in the story still gets. If you have death proofed soldiers who can come back to replicated bodies [much like the Cylons in the new Battlestar Galactica] don't you think that others might have that same solution? Other than that particular bit of denseness, I have NO complaints.

I liked that Lincoln was not a raw recruit with "potential" and we get to see his rise. Instead, he's already a fully mature [and the older I get, the more I appreciate that kind of character in the books I read] soldier who is willing and able to take on whatever is needed. I still want heroes in my stories.

It didn't "feel" very science fiction'y to me, even while taking place on Mars, Space Stations and space ships. Which means that I'm either getting very jaded or that Posey did an excellent job of not making the surroundings the main point of the story.
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Ross Poldark (Poldark Saga #1)

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: Ross Poldark
Series: Poldark Saga
Author: Winston Graham
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Historical Fiction
Pages: 400
Format: Kindle digital edition

Synopsis:

Ross Poldark has returned to Cornwall from a stint in the army and fighting those upstarts in the colonies. Sadly, his father has died, his servants have spent his livelihood on drink and the woman girl he loved, believing he was killed, has agreed to marry his cousin.
Now Ross must restart his life, with an old drunk couple for servants, a young waif as a cook, a family that looks down upon him and woman who wonders if she made the right choice.

My Thoughts:

I started watching this on Netflix and was really enjoying it. When I found out it was a 12 book series I stopped watching so I could enjoy the process of reading.

This was good. I am not usually a fan of historical fiction, as History and I know each other but have no interest in the other, kind of like second cousins. But a good story is a good story even if it doesn't have Space Marines.or Dragons.

The "drama llama" factor didn't get too high for me, which considering everything, I was very thankful for.  I am kind of afraid that Ross will end up in some kind of emotional love triangle with his former flame Elizabeth even while he's married to Demelza. If so, or if "things" happen, I'll be stopping this series. Marital unfaithfulness is not something I take lightly, even in my fiction reading.
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A Natural History of Dragons (A Memoir by Lady Trent #1)

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: A Natural History of Dragons
Series: A Memoir by Lady Trent
Author: Marie Brennan
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: SFF
Pages: 335
Format: Kindle digital edition

Synopsis: Spoilers

Isabella has always wanted to know more about dragons, ever since she was a young girl. But living in Victorian Times limits her options severely.
Thankfully, her parents are smart and marry her off to a man who is also interested in dragons. Before you know it, Isabella has wheedled her way into an expedition to study dragons. An expedition where she learns how rough the outside world is, where they uncover a scheme of great wealth and eventually where her husband dies.

All told from the perspective of Isabella, now Lady Trent, in her 80's as she looks back over her life.

My Thoughts:

The only other Marie Brennan book I've read was Doppleganger, and it was so bad that I DNF'd it back in '10. With that in the back of my mind, I went into this read with a bit of hesitation.

Thankfully, this was a grand read and it scratched that Victorian itch I get every couple of years [and which I usually fill with a Jane Austen]. I liked the Memoir style and the interjections by Lady Trent kept things from getting too intense. Watching Isabella go from a young girl who bribed her maid to let her read books from her father's library to a young widow who has to figure out how to get on with life, Isabella comes across as a real person, which for a fictionalized woman in an alternate world with dragons, is pretty good.

At times I wondered if I was reading the same author as Doppleganger but I guess the genre and memoir style were more to my liking and that always helps.
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Omega Rising (Omega Force #1)

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: Omega Rising
Series: Omega Force
Author: Joshua Dalzelle
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: SFF
Pages: 205
Format: Kindle digital edition

Synopsis:

Jason Burke, former Special Forces, is hiding away in the mountains after being disilllusioned by those in power. One night he sees an aircraft go down and he runs over to see if he can give aid.
It's a spaceship and before he knows it, Jason is gallivanting around the galaxy. Being betrayed by robots, crossing the galaxy mob, freeing slaves and gathering a group of heroes to make Space a better Place.

My Thoughts:

The origins of the A-Team in Space! Seriously, that is what this is. And it was a boat load of fun.

The writing started out a little rough and if I hadn't already read Dalzelle's Black Fleet trilogy, I probably would have consigned this to the DNF/Indie pile but after the first chapter things evened out.

Don't expect deep characterization or philosophical points hidden below the surface. You'll get guys shooting things and blowing the crap out of stuff, In Space!  Of course, since this is the Origin Story, we find out how everyone comes together instead of a Do Gooder Story. But I'm sure our Intrepid Team, the Omega Force, will be on the look out for Evil, in all its forms and race to the rescue at a moments notice.

Definitely wouldn't recommend this as a first intro to Dalzelle due to the rough writing but as a second series, I foresee a lot of fun ahead. As long as it doesn't devolve like some of those other mindless action series [I'm looking at you The Warlord].
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The Endless Knot (Song of Albion #3) (Audio)

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 Endless Knot
Series: Song of Albion
Author: Stephen Lawhead
Narrator: Robert Whitfield
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Fantasy
Minutes: 740
Format: Audio Book edition

Synopsis: Spoilers

Lhew Silverhand reigns in Albion. But his and Cynan's wives are abducted and against the wishes of his Bard, Lhew and Crew head to the cursed land to mount a rescue.
Lots of bad things happen in the Cursed Land and eventually Lhew comes face to face with Simon, who surprise, surprise, didn't die. Instead, Simon is now looting the Other World and sending it all back to our world, which puts both worlds at risk of dissolution.
Simon kills Lhew, takes the Stones of Albion for himself and then the stones kill all the badguys and remake the Cursed Land back into what it was supposed to be.
Lewis wakes up in our world and with the help of Susanna, begins to record his memories.

My Thoughts:

I remembered the beginning of this book and the end, but absolutely NOTHING in the middle. So the whole journey/adventure in the Cursed Land was akin to reading a whole new story.

The narrator was different from the previous 2 books and I didn't particularly care for his pronunciation of certain words. Biggest one was the henchmen Palladyr. In the previous book, and in my head, it was pronounced "Palla Deer". This new narrator pronounced it "Pa Ladder".  A change of emphasis on syllables, but it is still annoying.

Listening to this, Lewis comes across as a whiny, selfish man. I really want to read the books again to see if that comes through in the writing or if it just the take I get from the audio because I don't remember him being that way at all when I read this 16 years ago.

Overall, I liked the story but I did not like the narrator having his way with the words I was listening to.  I am going to try another trilogy of audio books because I really like filling in that 20min gap to and from work, but if the next audio experiment falls flat, I'm just going to give up on the format.
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Thraxas at the Races (Thraxas #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.anobii.com by  Bookstooge's Exalted Permission.
Title: Thraxas at the Races
Series: Thraxas
Author: Martin Scott
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: SFF
Pages: 256
Format: Kindle digital edition

Synopsis:

This time Thraxas is hired by a Senator to find his missing artwork, that his dwa addicted wife has stolen to fuel her habit. Of course, just as Thraxas finds the loot, he also finds the Senators dead body and is charged with the crime.
He is rescued only to find he is now expected to guard an Orc chariot driver.
From the frying pan into the fire!

My Thoughts:

I am very glad to be using the half star rating system, that is for sure. These books are pure fun but not solid enough for a re-read. Plus, with the mystery being solved, I'm not sure that I'd enjoy slogging through the same territory again. But that in no way diminishes just how awesome these books are.

My only real complaint, again, is the lousy new covers. I suspect it has something to do with legal rights and what not. I also suppose that it is supposed to be Makri, the half human, quarter Elf, quarter Orc, woman who guards Thraxas' back and has the potential to be a love interest at the end of the series. But she's described as having slightly red skin, her hair is not dyed and while she does wear a chain mail bikini [for tips at the bar], she fills it out. I've seen the old covers and I have to say, they really appeal to me.

Thankfully, the author stays away from "character development" and over arching story arcs. Just the type of story I'm looking to read for 20'ish minutes a day while on lunch break.
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Dune (Dune Chronicles #1) (Project Reread #8)

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.anobii.com by  Bookstooge's Exalted Permission.
Title: Dune
Series: Dune Chronicles
Author: Frank Herbert
Rating: 5 of 5 Stars
Genre: SFF
Pages: 894
Format: Kindle digital edition

Project Reread:

I am attempting to reread 10+ books in 2016 that I have rated highly in the past. I am not attempting to second guess or denigrate my younger self in any way but am wanting to compare how my tastes have changed and possibly matured. I am certainly much more widely read now [both in the good and bad quality sadly] than then.
I will hopefully be going into the reasons for any differences of opinions between then and now. If there is no difference of opinion, then it was a hellfire'd fine book!
Links may link to either Booklikes or Blogspot, depending on when the original review was.

Synopsis:

Paul Atreides, born of rebellion and love, has the potential to be the next step in Humanity. A man who can look into the past and into the future. But becoming a superman is not easy, nor is it guaranteed.
With a space operatic House feud, the Bene Gesserit bent on creating and controlling him, a Galactic King bent upon his House's destruction and a prophecy that was seeded by the Bene Gesserit hundreds, if not thousands, of years ago, Paul will succeed or die.

My Thoughts:

What do I say? This is just as good as ever.

Having read more of Herbert's works since my last read of Dune back in '11, it is very apparent that Dune was an aberration in Herbert's style. It is easy to understand, light on the psychosexual tones that Herbert seems to revel in and keeps the monologuing on philosophical themes to a minimum. None of those things are gone, but they aren't in the foreground.

While the Dune Chronicles continue for another 5 books and then has its final sequence penned by the execrable Kevin Anderson & Brian Herbert, Dune can stand on its own and in many respects, it should. It tells a complete story arc. If you LOVE Dune, then I recommend reading the rest of the Chronicles. If you aren't sure, then read another book by Herbert, perhaps The White Plague, and see if you like THAT style. If you can enjoy that one, then you'll probably enjoy the rest of the Chronicles.

I was also reminded of Red Rising by Pierce Brown, in that the main character was young [Paul is 15 at the start of the book and it covers no more than 5 years] but this is in  no way Young Adult. I think part of that is because Herbert has his main character becoming an adult at an accelerated pace due to circumstances. In fact, the more I think of it, Darrow from Red Rising reminds me more and more of Paul. Young, but having gone through a crucible, emerges from the other side with all adolescence burned out of him and maturity, responsibility and ability coating him like an armored suit. An adult with a purpose and the will to accomplish that purpose.

This Project Reread was a complete success and I got to read a 5star book that STAYED a 5star book. It just doesn't get much better than that.
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