Review: The Vanishing Tower

The Vanishing Tower by Michael Moorcock

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Elric gets to deal with more schizzle, a woman and his counterparts.



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Review: Footfall

Footfall by Larry Niven

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Baby Elephants try to take over the world, from OUTER SPACE!

that is enough for me :)



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Review: Charon: A Dragon at the Gate

Charon: A Dragon at the Gate by Jack L. Chalker

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Well, I think it is official. I only like Chalker's [b:The Four Lords of the Diamond|7184707|The Four Lords of the Diamond (The Four Lords of the Diamond, #1-4)|Jack L. Chalker|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1258936790s/7184707.jpg|7704807], everything else of his that I've read has been blase to bleh.

So what makes this different? It has many of the same themes as his other books. I think part of it is that I read this back in highschool and it made an impression on me, and it has stuck.

Also, who wouldn't want to have an idealized body made by your mate while you get to make her body to suit you?



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Review: Dragon's Blood: A Fantasy

Dragon's Blood: A Fantasy by Jane Yolen

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



This starts out from the scifi standpoint, with starships, galactic empires, etc.

And then you have dragons.

Then you get a really great story about a boy on the cusp of manhood who steals a dragon and raises it to successfully fight in the Dragon Pit [hence the Pit Dragon Trilogy]. And there is a girl.

This book holds up well. Meant for children and ya, it certainly tells a story that an adult can enjoy as well.



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Review: Frankenstein

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



This was NOT at all what I thought it would be going in.

The daemon [Frankenstein's monster] was not the monster in this book. Yes, he committed grievous acts of violence and psychological torture and should have been properly punished, ie, killed, but Victor Frankenstein was the character that made me shudder with horror, loathing & revulsion.

A completely self-absorbed, self-centered genius, Victor showed me the worst of humanity. He ignores his family to pursue his own ambitions. He creates a new life, and then immediately spurns and rejects it, his reason being that it was ugly and revolted him. He created it ugly, it didn't spontaneously turn into fugly ugly man when it was given life.

Once Victor denies his creation, he simply ignores the very fact that he created it for several years. He doesn't seek it out to try to reconcile with it. He doesn't seek it out to kill it, even though he is convinced it is "evil" from its life's inception. He ignores it, almost like if he pretends it didn't happen, then it didn't.

He falls sick, very similarly to how Raskolnikov [from Crime & Punishment ] does after he commits his crime. Victor knows he has committed an unforgivable sin, but he won't, he can't, admit he was in the wrong.

Then the daemon strikes. It begins an attack against Victor that is truly horrific, as premeditated and thought out as if from the mind of a master criminal. Death, death and death. Interludes of peace. Tauntings, whispers, obsession.

In the end, I found this story to truly be a horror story. Victor claims that the spirits of his deceased relatives give him strength to hunt the monster down. Where was that strength before? Why did Victor not hunt it down before? What made Victor ignore the fact that HE was the true killer of his family,not the daemon?
There was only room in Victor's life for Victor. The daemon, Victor's father, his brothers, his lover/wife, all only impinged on Victor's life as much as he lets them.

Victor Frankenstein was a true monster who made others pay the price for his own horrific deeds. He refused to think about the consequences of any of his actions and he only regretted past actions as they inflicted pain upon him.

This was not a scary book, by any means, and I suspect many people would be bored by it. Those same people who read the Twilight Saga, play the lottery, eat their hamburgers, watch the television and generally lumber through life. So, can you think for yourself?



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Review: Libriomancer

Libriomancer by Jim C. Hines

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Ok, if Dresden was a librarian, and not a total whiner, this is probably be his story.

I'm sure this was a good story, at least, I didn't hate it. But all I could think of was Dresden Rip Off, Dresden Rip Off, the whole way through.

Sure, fans will point out ALL the differences, but all I saw was magician, loner, trench coat, on parole by the Magic Police, targeted by vampires and others.

I liked the writing enough that I'll try some of Hines' other stuff, but no more of this series, as I couldn't even finish Dresden...



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Review: Elvenborn

Elvenborn by Andre Norton

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Read January 2003

Re-Read October 2012

2012 Review
A very good wrap up to the Elvenbane series. Not that is meant to be the final book, since Lackey and Norton left tons of strings dangling for potential sequels, but as this was published in 2002 and Norton is dead and Lackey doesn't talk about it, it is ok to say this is the final book.

And it works. Mysteries of the Elves are explored and laid to rest, many of the antagonists meet their end in deliciously just ways and protagonists find hope and love. Enough is resolved to leave you feeling ok. And I don't want any more to be honest. I think any more would just muck things up. Leave the rest to my imagination...



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Review: Distant Friends and Others

Distant Friends and Others by Timothy Zahn

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Thank goodness for Goodreads. Before I read this, I would have sworn that:
A) I had read this back in the late 90's
B) I owned this in paperback, somewhere

After reading it, I realized that I had NOT read this particular collection before and that I did NOT in fact, own this book. Both problems are now remedied. [at least, the book is now on my wishlist over at Amazon.]

A collection of short stories. The first couple are about telepaths and it is slow going. I enjoyed reading them, but wasn't "wowed". I thought I remembered the story about the Star captains that sees multiples of themselves and solves a problem with that, but this one was not it. He does solve a problem, just not what I thought.
Then we had the human playing games with aliens. I enjoyed that story the most. Sounded like an engineer, like my boss, to be exact. Forget that you've JUST BEEN CAPTURED BY REAL LIVE ALIENS!!!!!!, lets figure out how to play a made up game that will be fair for both sides.



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Review: The Horse and His Boy

The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



This was a GREAT read. It was a bit shorter than I remember from youthful days, but the story was fun, fast, adventure filled and full of lessons artfully inserted.



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Review: Star Wars: Tales from Jabba's Palace

Star Wars: Tales from Jabba's Palace by Kevin J. Anderson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Awesome McPossum!

This collection was pretty cool. B'omarr monks, that enough made this collection cool. I enjoyed [b:Tales of the Bounty Hunters|131776|Tales of the Bounty Hunters|Kevin J. Anderson|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1320438026s/131776.jpg|2599174] a little bit more, as this really revolved directly around the Sarlac feeding and what leads up to it, which means many of the stories have some real overlap.

Boba vs Sarlacc. It was kind of a weirdly written story.



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