Review: Beyond The Veil

Beyond The Veil by Janet E. Morris

My rating: 1 of 5 stars



It was obvious from the story that there was a bit of story missing. Turns out this was a second book.
It was not indicated in the title in any way.

But it wasn't even engaging. I enjoyed the first Thieves' World book of short stories, but this, this was just plain old boring D&D.



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Review: Star Wars: Scoundrels

Star Wars: Scoundrels by Timothy Zahn

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



A good non-jedi romp with some good old friends. Sadly, Chewbacca doesn't get much action, but he IS there.

Several times it was mentioned how Han had had the reward from [b:Star Wars: A New Hope|599090|Star Wars Episode IV A New Hope (Star Wars, #4)|George Lucas|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1349016127s/599090.jpg|123227] stolen from him. Either I missed something in some other novel, or Zahn is setting up info for future novels.



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Review: The Frog Princess

The Frog Princess by E.D. Baker

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



My wife read the whole series and compared them to [a:Patricia C. Wrede|36122|Patricia C. Wrede|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1215652809p2/36122.jpg] and her [b:The Enchanted Forest Chronicles|86238|The Enchanted Forest Chronicles (The Enchanted Forest Chronicles, #1-4)|Patricia C. Wrede|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1328875611s/86238.jpg|164046] series.

A young princess kisses an enchanted frog and turns into one herself. All about her adventures with Frog Boy as they try to turn back in Prince and Princess.



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Review: Times of Trouble

Times of Trouble by Russell Blackford

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



This series was convoluted and while it explored what time travel could mean, it seemed like there was more "puttering around" than kick-ass action.

Not as engaging as the T2 series by [a:S.M. Stirling|14002|S.M. Stirling|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1311578420p2/14002.jpg].

A good read, but it was NOT a "grab you by the throat and shake you until your teeth rattle" thriller.



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Review: The Land Leviathan: A New Scientific Romance

The Land Leviathan: A New Scientific Romance by Michael Moorcock

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Even though I don't think Bastable is considered an incarnation of the Eternal Warrior, his helplessness in the face of a force greater than himself that throws him through the multi-verse definitely places him at least as a companion.

Quite interesting to see a world where reverse-racism was about to be worldwide.



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Review: The Murder of Roger Ackroyd

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie

My rating: 3 of 5 stars







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Review: The Pool of Fire

The Pool of Fire by John Christopher

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



The weakest of the Tripod series.

A great read for a beginner scifi reader, but for an adult with some serious "epic'ness" under their belt, this shows its faults.

Give it to your young teen or preteen and let them enjoy.



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Review: Hellstrom's Hive

Hellstrom's Hive by Frank Herbert

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



If it wasn't for [b:Dune|234225|Dune (Dune Chronicles, #1)|Frank Herbert|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1349105964s/234225.jpg|3634639], I suspect nobody these days would be reading anything of Herbert's.

This was about some sort of weird "next step in human evolution", along the insect lines. Humans turning into insect like society, under the nose of regular humans.

Infatuation with sex, underground tight-knit society, and a long-term plan to supplant 'regular' humans.

Not a very endearing read.



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Review: The Red Knight

The Red Knight by Miles Cameron

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



The first 20% was all 2Star.

The swearing, the eff word being dropped at least once a page, the unspoken assumption that you just raped nuns because they were available, the complete baseness of the mercenary troop, it really disgusted me.

I think it was supposed to. But I don't have to be dipped into a cesspool to know it stinks something terrible. So that was very disappointing.

Then a switch was flipped, and whammo, the swearing stopped, people started showing the tiniest bit of good character and the action kicked way up.

4star stuff for the rest of the book. It was a cool magic system, a really interesting world, and the characters' interactions were more than believable.

But if 10pounds of milk chocolate are coated in 1pound of crap, you're still screwed.

When the next book comes out, I'll at least start it and hope Cameron doesn't sink me into the mire.



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Review: Villette

Villette by Charlotte Brontë

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



A remarkable book that is marked by the following:
1) conversations that switch between french and english, in the same paragraph. Not cool.

2) a heroine who tells her story by her interactions with others instead of being interesting herself.

3) an annoying hate/love relationship with a cruel, capricious little french man.

4) an ending that doesn't tell what actually happened. Bronte was a real witch in this regards

So if you can put up with all that, and have a melancholic turn of mind, you'll probably love this.

I read it back in '01, when I was in a melancholic turn of mind and I loved it then.
Now I'm happy and I didn't particularly like this. Go figure.



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