Review: Annals of the Time Patrol

Annals of the Time Patrol by Poul Anderson

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



If you like page long expositions about why a particular time in history is crucial to our current time, and you like seeing Christianity getting dissed in every possible way, and you like revisionist history [nah, the Turks weren't bad, really! The vikings were just misunderstood snugg'ems who actually did respect their woman completely. Women LIKED being sex slaves in the Middle East, because, what else could they do?]

Bored me to death!



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Review: Cursor's Fury

Cursor's Fury by Jim Butcher

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



March 2010 Review:

The canim make a major push into the lands of Alera in conjunction with Kalerain [a high lord] making a play for the throne. Tavi takes command of a legion to fight the canim and earns the loyalty of his men. Turns out he is the grandson of the current First Lord. Right at the end Tavi gets his furies for the first time. and it turns out the Vord have taken over the canim's lands.

August 2012 Review:
In situations like described in this book, people either break or become stronger. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing Tavi rise to each occasion and deal with them to the best of his ability.
He is no longer the whiny little shepherd boy from Calderon, but a fully fledged Cursor who cares about Alera, his men and his duty.



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Review: A Forest Apart

A Forest Apart by Troy Denning

My rating: 1 of 5 stars



Lumpy.

Why did that kid ever have to exist? The star wars universe has done just fine with only hearing about Chewie, so this short story about his son and wife just made me grind my teeth.

I finished [b:The Hive|6339483|The Hive (Star Wars Clone Wars, #3)|Steven Barnes|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1328309105s/6339483.jpg|6525427], and now this. The Star Wars short stories aren't working real well for me so far...



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Review: One Jump Ahead

One Jump Ahead by Mark L. Van Name

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



We are introduced to a worn, weary, nano-bot infested mercenary. Who happens to have a thing about his sister, who he doesn't know if she is alive or not. After the 5th time of him having a flashback, or a memory, or some whine, about her, it really got tiresome.

He also is incredibly stupid, getting tricked, because he won't do the proper interrogation of people. He simply needed to do a quick search on the captive and he would have learned whose daughter she truly was.

But he buys a powerful AI ship, who he is always complaining about as being to smart-alecky.

Then everything ends happily and he sails off into the stars to continue his life.

If I come across the rest of the series for free, I'll definitely read them, but wouldn't really want to pay for them.



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Review: Elvenblood

Elvenblood by Andre Norton

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



This second book continues right along with the same style of the first. If you didn't like [b:The Elvenbane|176892|The Elvenbane (Halfblood Chronicles, #1)|Andre Norton|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1379150773s/176892.jpg|2202795], then you won't like this either.

However, if you did enjoy Elvenbane, chances are pretty good you'll enjoy this book. Same set of characters thrown in with a new set so the authors don't have to worry about creating complex, deep characters. Make 'em and use 'em.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book for what it is, a shallow fantasy book that has no pretensions of being epic. You need those sometimes...



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Review: Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception

Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception by Eoin Colfer

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Artemis Fowl keeps me coming back for more adventures, even when those adventures settle around someone like Mulch Diggums.

I am not, nor have I ever been, a fan of gastro-intestinal humor. Poop is poop and belongs in the sewers, not in a civilized persons joke repertoire.

And yet I still enjoy this series. It is young adult/children and I could see an 8 year old boy giggling his head off when the author describes a character knocking out a whole tribe of trolls with his farts.



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Review: Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



In many ways, I felt like I was reading Dickens or Austen, and that was a good thing!

Then the characters intruded and ruined everything. In either Dickens or Austen, you have a protagonist, who have their faults, but who is essentially someone you want to succeed or cheer for or to cheer on.

Strange & Norrell are both pompous asses, complete idiots and yet I wanted to kill them both. There was no one in this story who I wanted to cheer for.

This was post-modern crap under the guise of historical fantasy. If you enjoyed it, then please support Ms. Clarke in her future endeavors, because I'll not be reading any more of her works...



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Review: The Hive

The Hive by Steven Barnes

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



Take [b:Star Wars: The Cestus Deception|35464|The Cestus Deception (Star Wars Clone Wars, #2)|Steven Barnes|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1347760493s/35464.jpg|3165217] and boil it down to a short story, and you get this.

Boring and practically plotless. Doesn't give me much hope for any other Star Wars short stories...



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Review: The Last Dragon

The Last Dragon by Jane Yolen

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



The story part of this book was enjoyable, but nothing super.

The artwork, however, absolutely blew me away. I read this story twice in a row just looking at the artwork. And I'm not an art guy.



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Review: The Terminator

The Terminator by Randall Frakes

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



This was a good novelization. While not a blockbuster of a book or anything, I certainly found that this added some much needed depth to side characters and to the relationship between Kyle and Sara and to the mental change of Sara Connor from helpless waif to warrior princess.

I honestly wasn't expecting to enjoy this, but I did.



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