Friday, October 04, 2013

Dawn of Night (Erevis Cale #2)


Dawn of Night: The Erevis Cale Trilogy, Book II: 2 - Paul S. KempAuthor: Paul Kemp

3.5 of 5 Stars

Well, my first lost review due to pressing the wrong button has happened. I had a NICE review, several paragraphs, expressing exactly how I liked this book. And now it is GONE, and honestly, I'm not even sure why.

So anyway, I liked this book. It dealt with the Underdark, which I find more appealing to read about than the surface. We also get a bit more about Mask, even though it is incidental and I like Mask as a "god" character. I enjoyed him in The War of the Spider Queen and The Lady Penitent series.

However, I am not liking what it is doing to Cale as a character. I thoroughly enjoyed him as a Butler with an Assassin hiding in his closet like in The Halls of Stormweather. I enjoyed seeing him pine after his Lord's daughter. But now that he is Mask's chosen, a minor godling [Shade is the term used, but godling is more apt], he moans for his supposed lost humanity. A butterfly might as well moan about no longer being a grub. It just seems like the changes made have made him a weaker character even while making him a more robust fighter. Angst and all that.

And as for the ending, who DIDN'T see that coming? I mean, second place is really just saying "you're not really good enough".

Wednesday, October 02, 2013

Bound in Blood (Kencyrath #5)


Bound in Blood (Seeker) - P.C. HodgellAuthor: P.C. Hodgell

4 of 5 Stars

I have FINALLY gotten used to how Hodgell jumps around. I think I've gotten the hang of how they think, so the abrupt shifts are no longer catching me by surprise. Which makes for a much nicer read.
The main thing that continues to bother me is how both Jame and her twin refuse to own up to their responsibilities, as high lady/lord AND as Shanir.

 But I enjoyed the adventure and the continued revealing of the past. I see that I only have one more book in the series to go and a friend told me that Book 6 is NOT the end. I suspect this will be an unfinished series.

Tuesday, October 01, 2013

Of Human Bondage

Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham - William Somerset Maugham
I started out feeling sympathy for the main character, as he's an orphan and a cripple.

But then,he turned into a completely selfish bastard. Every choice he made centered completely on him and his desires with no regard whatsoever to anyone else.

He chases happiness, as if it is a concrete thing he can reach and grasp with his filthy disgusting hands. So of course he fails, and then he rails against God, the universe, everything in fact. Which just makes him even more unbearable.

The ending was pretty good. But it was so out of character, so against everything that he had been, that it just threw me.

Bleh.

Monday, September 30, 2013

The 47th Samurai (Bob Lee Swagger #4)


The 47th Samurai (Bob Lee Swagger Novels) - Stephen Hunter   Author: Stephen Hunter

4 of 5 Stars

This really should have been called Swagger puts down his Gun, and picks up the Sword.
I really enjoyed the story. But considering that I'll take fantasy over military, anime over hollywood, that doesn't come as a big surprise.
  
The backstory, the blood, the plotting, the guts, the wicked intense fight/battle at the end, it was great. When Swagger took on the 4 or 6 yakuza to save the swordpoliser and to get the sword back, that was cool.

BUT. The whole time I read I was rolling my eyes. Swagger is an old man, lets face it. He might be a very fit old man, but he's an old man who is a sniper. He is NOT a samurai prodigy.
So when he became Insta-swordsman in a week and took out yakuza left and right and THEN took out the main swordsman, who has been practicing since he was 14'ish, I just threw up my hands and said "Fine, make Swagger be a swordsman. I like the story, I just don't care.".

This was an awesome story. But it wasn't a Bob Lee Swagger story, even though Hunter named the main character that.

So if you've liked the previous 3 books, I think you'll like this one. If you realize the inherent, internal inconsistencies and aren't bothered by them.

Sunday, September 29, 2013

Child of the Ghosts (The Ghost Books #1)


Child of the Ghosts - Jonathan Moeller
Author: Jonathan Moeller

4 of 5 Stars

This was a straight-forward fantasy yarn about a young girl who loses it all and in the process of gaining her revenge becomes one of the Kingdom's top agents.This was a simple yet engaging read. A bit unpolished in places, with a year of training going by in about 2 paragraphs. But all the important parts, they were well fleshed out and written ok.

I think I waited a little too long before writing this post. More of the pertinent details have slipped my mind.

Had this book recommended to me by my cousin and I am glad he did.

Thursday, September 26, 2013

Review: Loving Homosexuals as Jesus Would

Loving Homosexuals as Jesus Would: A Fresh Christian Approach - Chad W. Thompson

Author: Chad Thompson

4 of 5 Stars

 This was a tough book to deal with. The first half of the book is Thompson recollecting what it was like to grow up realizing he was homosexual, and wanting to change that.
He gave some real, concrete advice on how to show love. He also made very plain that we are not to show conditional love, conditional on their changing. We are to show love and let the Holy Spirit do the inner work.

I have to admit that there were several times that I reacted to what Thompson was saying without really reading WHAT he was saying. That in and of itself was an eye opener for me.

The latter half of the book was more "fact" oriented. He shows how many of the rejections that homosexuals deal with, he deals with from the homosexual community as an ex-gay.

Thursday, September 19, 2013

Review: On Silver Wings


On Silver Wings
On Silver Wings by Evan C. Currie

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



I enjoyed this book, but due to one particular grammatical idiosyncrasy, had to bump it down a star. Stopped noticing it after a couple of chapters.

Plotwise, I found this topnotch. Super-soldier woman jets in, overcomes all odds, discovers aliens, helps the locals create a militia and eventually drives off the badguys.

Have to see how the rest of the series holds up.



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Sunday, September 15, 2013

Review: Conflict of Honors


Conflict of Honors
Conflict of Honors by Sharon Lee

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



I enjoyed this, but it was more "romance" oriented than [b:Agent of Change|288771|Agent of Change (Liaden Universe, #8)|Sharon Lee|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1309212303s/288771.jpg|280180]. Also, since I'm reading these Liaden books in published order rather than chronological, there was no reference to the events in AoC.

I liked the action, the idea of "balance" between trade houses and merchant warfare. Nothing like seeing people use their brains to destroy an enemy than pure brawn.



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Review: The Citadel Of Chaos


The Citadel Of Chaos
The Citadel Of Chaos by Steve Jackson

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Ok, after 3months of banging my head against a metaphysical wall, I gave in and googled and USED the walk through.
Not a bad story, and I probably could have done it on my own, if I'd taken the time to pay attention to what I was actually doing instead of just wandering around and crashing through whatever door took my fancy.

The main reason I read/played this was because way back in '91, I played [b:The Warlock of Firetop Mountain|429142|The Warlock of Firetop Mountain (Fighting Fantasy, #1)|Steve Jackson|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1174675335s/429142.jpg|1725977]. I LOVED it. Of course, I was a just minted teen, so what did I know? So I wanted to see if this would hold up, or even closely approximate the feeling I got from that first play.

Sadly, but practically known ahead of time, it didn't give me that euphoric high. While filling a backpack with spells and choosing your stats might be exciting, for the first time, I have since grown up. Computer games like Heretic and Hexxen took me to the next level and I never moved past them to full on RPG'ing.

So this was nostalgic. And we all know what happens with things that are nostalgic. Thankfully, this hasn't ruined my fond memories of yesteryear, it just means I won't be playing these books any more. Leave the past to enjoy itself.



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Thursday, September 12, 2013

Review: The Thousand Names


The Thousand Names
The Thousand Names by Django Wexler

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I actually started reading this because of the author's name. I kept singing "Django, Django Wexler, King of the wild Vordanians" [sung to the tune of Davey Crockett] until I got sick of it. Then I sang it a couple more times :)

I liked the story a lot more than I thought I would. Not a big fan of the musket era of weaponry, but this worked well.

However, due to some of the morals the author introduced, which I'm guessing will be expounded on in later books, I've decided that this will be enough for me.





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