Monday, December 10, 2012
Review: The Pale Horse
The Pale Horse by Agatha Christie
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Whenever the occult is part of a novel, I never like its inclusion.
I wasn't sure where Christie was going with this, so I was uncomfortable right up to the last chapter.
Still enjoyed the mystery...
View all my reviews
Sunday, December 09, 2012
Review: Daughter of the Sword
Daughter of the Sword by Steve Bein
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I thoroughly enjoyed this "Special Swords" book.
The 4 storylines, [1 current, 3 historical for each of the swords], eh, I wouldn't have minded if the story had been all in the 21st century, but the history gave us the background and depth needed to make the current storyline have some "oomph".
Samurai, swords, cops and killers. If the author writes more, I'll be reading...
View all my reviews
Saturday, December 08, 2012
Review: Slag Attack
Slag Attack by Andersen Prunty
My rating: 1 of 5 stars
This was disgusting material to read. I am not a fan of dystopian stories as it is, but this went beyond dystopia and into drug induced incoherence.
Death, debauchery,, betrayal and no hope.
Not my thing at all...
View all my reviews
Review: Orphanage
Orphanage by Robert Buettner
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
Part of being a good author is having a good story to tell. That, Buettner got right.
Another part of being a good author is having the grammatical and literary skills to tell your story, not only accurately, but engagingly. And Buettner failed at this.
Basically this is a coming of age story for a boy who has lost it all and spirals downward self-destructively, only to come back up and turn into a man through the military. Aliens on Ganymede and meteors all play their part as well.
The core of this book is good. But the outerlayer is just horrific. Get an editor for goodness sake, not your brother's nephew's grandmother's cousin's kid.
I would like to read more in this series, but I am not willing to subject myself to sub-par writing...
View all my reviews
Friday, December 07, 2012
Review: Myth-Ing Persons
Myth-Ing Persons by Robert Lynn Asprin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Skeeve has to rescue Aahz, outwit a world of vampires and lose a hot chick to a some annoying con artist.
All in one book.
Fluff-a-roo...
View all my reviews
Thursday, December 06, 2012
Review: The Spirit Well
The Spirit Well by Stephen R. Lawhead
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
The story plodded along. I was also concerned by the theology expressed by some of the characters, as I wasn't able to tell if it was just the characters talking or Lawhead being extremely ecumenical...
View all my reviews
Wednesday, December 05, 2012
Review: The Bane of the Black Sword
The Bane of the Black Sword by Michael Moorcock
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
So close to contentment, and then it is ripped away.
I think this typifies the Elric experience. Pure melancholy undiluted by even a shard of true happiness...
View all my reviews
Tuesday, December 04, 2012
Review: Santiago
Santiago by Mike Resnick
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
What a great book!
A cast of characters who take their names from a balladeer, all focused on taking out the King of the Outlaws.
Who it turns out is pretty much in the same role as the captain in Resnick's Starship series.
Bounty hunters, journalists, thieves, tramps, swindlers and killers.
A tapestry of humanity, woven together for a fun read. Not a classic by any means, but a great read and re-read.
View all my reviews
Monday, December 03, 2012
Review: Graceling
Graceling by Kristin Cashore
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I enjoyed this story very much. The idea of "Graces", an ability that allows the user to become the best at something, ie, fighting ability, seeing, hearing, green thumb, etc.
This revolves around Katsa,a young royal Graced with the ability to survive. Her ability is misused by the King until she breaks the ties and goes on her own. After that, nefarious schemes are revealed about another king and a young princess and Katsa must kill the one and save the other.
The upsides:
A lot of cool action, fighting, locales all over the various kingdoms, meeting various members of the "Council" [an underground movement to limit the damage done by uncontrolled kings] and seeing the beginnings of a united government because of the council.
The downsides:
Katsa's view that marriage was a bad thing. Commitment and self-sacrifice for another, in a marriage relationship, was put lower than eating pig swill. Then the author elevates "being lovers with the ability to walk away with no strings attached" as somehow being good. I wouldn't let kids read this, not until they had a good foundational understanding of what Love truly is, not just the fuzzy, wuzzy feelings.
Overall, a good story. There were times that I rolled my eyes at Katsa's actions, but seeing as how this was written by a woman, about a woman for young women, the eyerolling was just a natural manly reaction on my part.
View all my reviews
Sunday, December 02, 2012
Review: Hit or Myth
Hit or Myth by Robert Lynn Asprin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Mister Skeeve! I laughed so hard.
Mob, Fairy Godfather and Deevils, oh my. My favorite Myth book so far...
View all my reviews
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)