Review: Goblin War

Goblin War by Jim C. Hines

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



While I enjoyed this book overall, I found my enjoyment to be less than what I had from Goblin Hero, which in turn wasn't as good as the first book, Goblin Quest.

And I didn't care for [b:Libriomancer|12844699|Libriomancer (Magic Ex Libris, #1)|Jim C. Hines|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1318277038s/12844699.jpg|17995680] either.

Jig has been a good read as a trilogy, but I think I'm done with Hines. Goblin War wrapped up the storyline, but it seemed to focus as much on Shadowstar and another goddess as much as it did on the goblins. Old hasbeen gods can be a good trope, but it has to be done right and Hines didn't work the magic for me.

Jig and the side characters. Jig is almost exactly the same as he was when we met him. Which considering he's a goblin, isn't surprising. But that as well as the "new set" of side characters for each book indicates to me that Hines can't flesh out and grow his characters. He should stick to stand alone books so that weakness doesn't show through.

I DO recommend this Jig trilogy, as it is funny, completely off beat, whacky and a nice change in the fantasy genre.



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Review: The Man in the Brown Suit

The Man in the Brown Suit by Agatha Christie

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Wow, almost as good as [b:And Then There Were None|16299|And Then There Were None|Agatha Christie|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1316131101s/16299.jpg|3038872].

We get to follow the adventures of a plucky young Brit gal who is bored. She gets involved in a murder mystery that turns out to have much wider implications. She travels to South Africa, is almost killed several times, makes new friends, finds and falls in love with a REAL man and gets to deal with one of the best villains I've read yet.

The Colonel. What can I say about them. I suspected from the start who they were and enjoyed them the whole way through. and I enjoyed them at the end as well. They were a classy villain. Made the book worth it just to meet the Colonel.



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Review: To Ride a Rathorn

To Ride a Rathorn by P.C. Hodgell

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



I really thought about giving this 4stars, but Hodgell's use of character's killed that for me.

I really don't care for having a character barely introduced, so little that I dismiss them as a side character of no note, only to have them come back in 3 chapters playing a pivotal point. It makes me go "huh?" and gives me verbal whiplash.

Other than that, this was right along the lines of other books. Thankfully, we do get more Jame and less Tori and so the story seems to advance a little more. Lots of little laugh out loud moments that seem to pepper this series and make it worth while.

One thing I am finding hard to stomach is the idea of the intermarrying of bloodlines, on a MUCH closer relationship than what happens in the real world. I have to admit, it gives me the heebie jeebies...



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Review: San Diego Siege

San Diego Siege by Don Pendleton

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



I think this book can pretty much be summed up like this:

BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!

There was some other stuff, but when you boil it down, that is the essence. A vigilante killing scumbags with big guns...



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Review: The Brotherhood Of The Rose

The Brotherhood Of The Rose by David Morrell

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



I read a scanned copy on my Nook, and the format was something awful. So I KNOW that affected my reading. Mainly because with all the jumping around the story does I had to pay over-attention to make sure which/who/what storyline I was following.

I saw this as a movie/miniseries for tv back in the early 90's when it was a rerun. I don't think I saw the whole thing, just enough to burn the idea of it into my mind.

The idea is awesome! 2 orphans, now brothers, superbly trained as the best of the best, carrying out covert missions for their father figure. And then, betrayal, backstabbing and the harsh reality of the intelligence gathering world.

Sadly, I wasn't as enamoured of the carrying out of this idea in this book. It was pretty cool, but there were quite a few times where I was wondering when the action would start up. There is a sequel, [b:The Fraternity Of The Stone|21837|The Fraternity Of The Stone|David Morrell|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1167323742s/21837.jpg|2130076], and I'll read it to give Mr. Morrell another chance.



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Review: Twilight Falling (Forgotten Realms: Erevis Cale, #1)

Twilight Falling (Forgotten Realms: Erevis Cale, #1) by Paul S. Kemp

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



I enjoyed this, but compared to [b:Shadow's Witness|62471|Shadow's Witness (Forgotten Realms Sembia, #2)|Paul S. Kemp|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1312041355s/62471.jpg|19289028], this was kind of pale.

Lots of posturing between Cale and Riven, supposed to make us think their frenemies. I am kind of sick of that type of relationship.

But other than that, a nice enjoyable read about the shadow world.



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Review: St. Peter's Fair

St. Peter's Fair by Ellis Peters

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



The only problem I'm finding is that I keep inserting things from the tv series into the book series as I read along.

And I'm not always correct.

Which makes things confusing, for me, as I'm reading along. BUT, it keeps the mystery in the book ;)



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Review: Spellbound

Spellbound by Larry Correia

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



For the record, and I think I keep saying it for each of Correia's book, I don't like Urban Fantasy. Nor do I like the WWI and WWII era for the most part.

And yet, I love this author and his books.

This was a great sequel to [b:Hard Magic|8643407|Hard Magic (Grimnoir Chronicles, #1)|Larry Correia|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1327951330s/8643407.jpg|13514467]. I have to admit, when I started the book, and the OCI agent Crowe showed up, I had to put the book down for a few days as I had one of the most intense reactions to a character that I've ever had.

I hated him. You know how those fangirls will discuss for hours, ad nauseum, the different merits of various book hotties that they wish were their boyfriends? All that "squeeing" and "OMG" and "HAWT" and other such various phrases that teengirls use? I had the polar opposite reaction. A manly hatred for such a disgusting piece of filth that it went soul deep and burned with a vengeance that was Hell worthy. Kind of like an anime character actually ;)

But then I came back. And my goodness, this was one grand slugfest. A good bit is revealed about the Chairman, the Cthulhu'ic hunter and Faye.

A good frenemy for Jake is introduced. And speaking of anime characters, Toru is awesome. Of course, I think any superpowered being with a sword is awesome.

And then the ending? A god of demons?!?! Seriously, how freaking cool is that? I'm not sure even MHI has moved into territory that big. But that is a different story. One thing that makes me like this series even more is the fact that I know that the story wraps up in [b:Warbound|16130317|Warbound (Grimnoir Chronicles #3)|Larry Correia|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1359402972s/16130317.jpg|21955621]. So unless that tanks, this series is getting bought by me in hardcover.



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Review: Shadow's Witness: Sembia: Gateway to the Realms, Book II

Shadow's Witness: Sembia: Gateway to the Realms, Book II by Paul S. Kemp

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Thoroughly enjoyed this book. One long novel, as opposed to the previous book, but Kemp did a decent job.

The gore factor was a bit higher than I was expecting. Lots of graphic brains and body parts going every which way. Liked the fights and the demon was a pretty good adversary.

And I like Mask. I am finding him to be an enjoyable godling to read about, even tangentially.



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Review: The Halls of Stormweather

The Halls of Stormweather by Philip Athans

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Before I begin this review, I'd like to state that I have had a very hit or miss pattern with Forgotten Realms. I've read a couple of [a:Ed Greenwood|20513|Ed Greenwood|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1248120586p2/20513.jpg]'s Elminster books and found them extremely boring. Then I read the War of the Spider Queen series and absolutely loved it. Then, on recommendation from my brother, I started the Drizz't series. That was just awful! Then I found the sequel to the War of the Spider Queen, The Lady Penitent trilogy and once again, loved it! Then I tried the Abolethic Sovereignty trilogy and couldn't finish it.

So I'm always leery when trying a Forgotten Realms book/series, as I just don't know what I'll end up with.

I'd heard of Erevis Cale somewhere or other and wanted to see if he was an interesting character, so I dug around and found this to be the first book with him in it. And then I found it was a bunch of short stories centering around the Uskevren family, of whom Erevis was the butler.

I enjoyed the stories, as they introduced me to the city Selgaunt and the area of Sembia [do you know how long it took me to figure out that Selgaunt and Sembia were actually two different places and not just different names for the same place?!?]. I also found that the short story format worked well with each character, as we get a snaphsot of them without the author of said short story showing all their weaknesses by trying to write a full blown novel about that character.

So I just sped through this book, loving it and looking forward to the next. Which I've finished and will be reviewing tomorrow. Man, when Forgotten Realms is good, it is GOOD!



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