Review: Eyes Wide Open

Eyes Wide Open by Ted Dekker

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



Once again, for the final time for me, Dekker disappoints. We get some weakwilled teens who must decide what is real.

From a theological perspective, Dekker vanilla'fies his theology so much [so as not to be preachy and turn off non-christians would be my guess] that I'm not sure if he's talking about Christianity or some sort of Zen-Buddhism/New Age/Love Yourself thing.

So while I've enjoyed Dekker's past books, his recent books just don't do it for me.



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Review: The Blight of Muirwood

The Blight of Muirwood by Jeff Wheeler

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



A good second book in this trilogy.

It is becoming obvious that this world is an After Judgment, Different World than ours. And this world is due for it's Noah's Flood.

Plotwise, there is some succession "stuff" going on with another Wretched being the heir. And that messes around with Lia's emotions as Colver is involved.

This was much more romance'y than the first book. We find out a LOT more about how the medium works and lots of spiritual background. Pretty cool stuff.

Then comes the end and we find out Lia is actually the lost heir, and that a Blight [in the form of a plague that is 100% deadly] is coming to punish everyone for forsaking the ways of the medium.

I am impressed with Mr. Wheeler's writing.



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Review: Time Bomb and Zahndry Others

Time Bomb and Zahndry Others by Timothy Zahn

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



I remember tearing through Zahn's short story collections back in the 90's. I was an impressionable teen coming of age who loved star wars, scifi and videogames [X-Com: Terror from the Deep was the epitome of awesomeness].

Zahn's writing was clean, tight, introducing new ideas to me and great for discussions. I had another friend who also loved Zahn and we'd spend hours discussing the stories, the ramifications, etc, etc.

So I am thankful to Mr. Zahn for showing me good technical writing. [unlike some of the drek produced by "indies" today].

That all being said, the stories have paled with time. The ideas written about have been bandied about by many others since this was originally published.

Still recommended for ANY fan of Zahn's or those who enjoy S/F short story collections.



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Review: The Story of the Stone

The Story of the Stone by Barry Hughart

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



As wonderful as the first book was, this was a bit of a let down. I certainly enjoyed the read, it just didn't pack quite the same punch as [b:Bridge of Birds: A Novel of an Ancient China That Never Was|15177|Bridge of Birds A Novel of an Ancient China That Never Was|Barry Hughart|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327940289s/15177.jpg|958087].

Li and Ox have to deal with a long dead sadist prince. In the process they find some "kind of lost" souls, go through the 10 layers of chinese hell, do their typical wenching and eating thing, and finish things up nice and neat.



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Review: Destination Unknown

Destination Unknown by Agatha Christie

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



This was more of a spy-thriller than a mystery. Enjoyable though.



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Review: Doom of the Darksword

Doom of the Darksword by Margaret Weis

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



So you all thought Edward, from that wretched Twilight, was the original "Dark and Moody"?

Joram, and the little innocent girly, are the gag-worthy successor of Romeo and Juliet, and the precursors of Edward and Bella.

The story overall screams "Generic Fantasy". So you'll enjoy it but not be blown away. Kind of like a hamburger at McDonalds. It is "food". Good thing this is only a trilogy.



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Review: The Outcasts

The Outcasts by John Flanagan

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



I really enjoyed this, just not quite as much as [b:The Ruins of Gorlan|60400|The Ruins of Gorlan (Ranger's Apprentice, #1)|John Flanagan|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1293952830s/60400.jpg|810498].

But I suspect that is mostly because I've had 10 books of Mr. Flanagan and have become accustomed to him.

A good story of an underdog, who when he totally fails at the end, takes a huge step towards maturity by setting out on a journey to make it right.



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Review: California Hit

California Hit by Don Pendleton

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Either I am getting jaded [which isn't out of the realm of possibility] or these books are getting namby-pamby.

No more guts, guns, knives and blood. Now we get boring "he shot the badguy" kind of description.

The Oomph seems to have gone out of the series. I've got up through volume 20 in my Calibre library and if the series picks up, I'll probably seek out later volumes in paper.



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Review: The Daylight War

The Daylight War by Peter V. Brett

My rating: 1 of 5 stars



I absolutely loved [b:The Warded Man|3428935|The Warded Man (Demon Cycle, #1)|Peter V. Brett|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1354571949s/3428935.jpg|6589794] and really enjoyed [b:The Desert Spear|6736971|The Desert Spear (Demon Cycle, #2)|Peter V. Brett|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320389818s/6736971.jpg|6527274]. However, the Krasian culture turned me off, so I went into this read with some real trepidation, but determined to enjoy it.

I almost stopped right at the beginning as we get the backstory of Inevera, Jardir's first wife. We get the seamy side of the Krasian culture rubbed into our faces, in a very smelly, graphic way.

Then the story switches to "present" time and back to Arlen and I enjoyed that.

Then we have a back and forth between The Desert Spear and Cutter's Hollow. The contrast made my disgust all the more intense.

Lots of graphicness when it comes to sex in this novel. It didn't add anything and left me feeling dirty. The training of the dama'ting, Leesha and Jardir's relationship, Jardir and Inevera's relationship, Leesha and others, Fiddle-man [I can't even remember his name] and his two wives. The merchant friend of Jardir who's wives, daughters and servants are raped by another warrior.

Every time I felt like I was getting into the plot [and I enjoyed the story overall], something came along and pulled me out of it.

I don't want to read about a culture of the Strong preying on the Weak. I read enough of that in the news. Rule of Law, of Equality for all, this is the goal I want to read about.

And then the ending! When Arlen and Jardir go over the cliff, and the book ends?. NO THANKYOU! What a cliffhanger.

Due to this book, I'll be getting rid of my hardcovers of the first 2 books and no longer recommend this series and author to anyone I know. Which is hard, because I thought [b:The Warded Man|3428935|The Warded Man (Demon Cycle, #1)|Peter V. Brett|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1354571949s/3428935.jpg|6589794] was SO fantastic. Now I am sad...



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Review: The Lost Stars: Tarnished Knight

The Lost Stars: Tarnished Knight by Jack Campbell

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



If you liked the Lost Fleet series, and are enjoying the Lost Fleet: Beyond the Frontier series, then you'll like this book.

It is tough to tell if it is a standalone or the start of a sub-series in the Black Jack Geary universe.

Either way, we get to see a Syndic system [Midway, featured prominently along with the Enigma races in early books] after the fall of the Syndics.

2 CEO's make a go of creating an independent system of Midway. Along the way they must face and takedown the Syndic secret service [officially known as ISS, but popularly as Snakes], have enough trust in the other to not knife them in the back, and deal with gate-connected systems as they go through upheaval as well.

I thoroughly enjoyed this. There was only 1 or 2 instances of Mr Campbell's love of exposition on space fighting and whatnot. Made for a refreshing change. The story did wrap up ok, but it was completely open for future novels if he so desired.

I, for one, would like to see some more of this Universe without Black Jack. Not because I dislike him, but because writing about a duo seems to bring out a different side of Mr. Campbell's writing.



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