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.




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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...



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Review: Myth Directions

Myth Directions by Robert Lynn Asprin

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Skeeve and co have some more adventures. Ahz really doesn't seem to be training Skeeve, just throwing him into situations and letting him sink or swim.
I plan on reading more of these, but with the expectation of complete fluff and no substance...



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Review: Star Wars: Shadow Games

Star Wars: Shadow Games by Michael Reaves

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



This barely deserves the 3stars I gave it, but I am a sucker for all things Star Wars, even the bad stuff.

This was technically written well,nothing awkward structure-wise and the plot moved at a reasonable rate.

But Dash, well, Dash is an idiot and I didn't care for him in [b:Shadows of the Empire|9549|Shadows of the Empire (Star Wars)|Steve Perry|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1361481442s/9549.jpg|858558] and this rendering didn't endear him to me any more. Leebo was still a wise-ass robot and Han was, well, Han.

Glad I didn't buy this, only borrowed from the library...



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Review: Monster Hunter Legion

Monster Hunter Legion by Larry Correia

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Firefox crashed about 1/2way through my first draft. Bleh. So here is another take.

This review represents my 1000th review here on GR. I'm pretty proud of that fact. Even though some of those reviews are of the "I hate/love this book" type. At least I took the effort, you know?

So, MHI: Legion.

A monster hunt that is totally hardcore, of global ramifications AND is just a taste of the badness that is coming. Imagination, determination, BIG guns and serious bodily harm all round.

Team Force Unicorn. Only the creepy douchebag leader guy is part of this story. And he really makes the former leader of MCB look like a nice guy.

Then you get all the different revelations: For all you LOSERS who expect reviews to be sanitized just for YOU, you selfish pigs. feel free to drop dead in the most painful way possible. No really, I don't mind if you do..
Ok, try this instead: Owen and wife having a baby. Julie's continued slide toward guardian mode. Owen's brother getting involved in MHI. The info that "something" is waking up and preparing to take over the world.

Then, right at the end, Owen has the "Prophecy Talk" with his dad. Well, they start it, and the book ends. This is my only gripe with the book. I don't mind a good cliff hanger ending, but this was just totally out of control douchebaggery [and yes, I declare that to be a real word].

An awesome quick read with guns and monsters that left me wanting the next book NOW.



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Review: Starship: Rebel

Starship: Rebel by Mike Resnick

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



I enjoyed this little book, but not as much as the previous 3 [Mutineer, Pirate & Mercenary] and I am not sure why.

I think there was more ship fighting action, more intrigue and more dastardly evilness by the Navy. But it just didn't do it for me.

Everything I read by Resnick I compare to my first read of [b:Santiago: A Myth of the Far Future|293291|Santiago A Myth of the Far Future (Santiago)|Mike Resnick|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1312059204s/293291.jpg|1407455] back in Junior High and while that was around 2 decades ago, I still remember it as total awesomeness. So Resnick has to live up to my juniorhigh memories [with all of the uninformed, immature and juvenile tastes that go along with that time period] while engaging me as a mid 30's adult.

that is just not fair. But who said life is fair, eh? The immortal Charles Dickens certainly did not ;)



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Review: Lord of the Isles

Lord of the Isles by David Drake

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I read this when it first came out in '97 and then once again sometime in '99, before I was keeping track of what I was reading. So this is at least my 3rd read.

First off, you have to accept this book for what it is:
A cast of characters who are larger than life, impossible to kill or defeat, who simply cannot fail and who have between them about the personality of half a person.
Situations of epic proportions that simply get bigger and bigger, spiraling out of control until beaten into submission by the characters.

If you cannot accept the above, then you will hate this book, and hence the whole series.

This book was typified by violence, blood magic with horrific results, awesome supernaturalness and some really kick ass fighting.



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Review: Murder on the Links

Murder on the Links by Agatha Christie

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I went into this prepared for Poirot to hold the cards not only close to the chest, but behind his back. And so I was able to enjoy this.

While I was deliberately mis-led by Christie, it IS a mystery and misdirection is to be expected. Doesn't make me happy though to have a certain set of facts portrayed in such a way as to force the reader to come to certain conclusions.

However, I am thoroughly enjoying these little dashes of mystery between my usual sff/classic readings...



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Review: Myth Conceptions

Myth Conceptions by Robert Lynn Asprin

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Skeeve, the almighty, takes on an entire army, with some help.

I didn't laugh as much as in the first book, but this was a solid humor book and I enjoyed the time I spent on it.

I kind of wish that Tanda was either less involved or more. I keep waiting for her to latch on to Skeeve and for the hijinks to ensue...



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Review: Medusa: A Tiger by the Tail

Medusa: A Tiger by the Tail by Jack L. Chalker

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



This was a really good wrap up for the series.

Spoilers ahead, read at your own risk [I refuse to use the spoiler tag to HIDE anything]


I did feel that the Medusan agent got the short end of the literary stick, as Chalker not only had to tell his story, but also wrap up the series.

That being said, it was a great ride. I had remembered that aliens were involved [and we are told that from Book 1], but I had completely forgotten that it turns out that we are dealing with 2 alien species!

Chalkers extrapolates where humanity might go, and I could see this leading directly into [a:Neal Asher|56353|Neal Asher|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1207862001p2/56353.jpg]'s Polity Universe. that would be cool :D



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