A Malady of Magicks (Ebenezium #1)

Synopsis
A young apprentice to a powerful wizard must help the wizard get through all sorts of adventures while the wizard is under the weather of an allergy to magic.

My Thoughts
This book was trying to be funny. Sometimes that works and sometimes it doesn't. Sadly, in this case, it meandered from one to the other. Some of the mini-adventures were funny, some were kind of meh, and some were just downright stupid.

The constant jumping from one place/adventure to another without any warning was weird as well. However, the Apprentices constantly falling in love with whoever the lady of the adventure was was pretty funny.

The apprentice felt like he was the narrator and his character was tacked into the story. It might have worked better to have an omniscient narrator and have the apprentice be more of an actual character.

I'll be reading the next 2 in the series however.

Rating: 3 of 5 Stars

Author: Craig Gardner


Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot.wordpress.com

A Christmas Carol (Classic)

Synopsis
Scrooge, the meanest, most cold-hearted man in England, is visited by 3 spirits on Christmas, in an attempt to change his fate.

My Thoughts
This is a classic for a reason. For one thing, it is short. Short enough to tell a good story, short enough to read over a single week, short enough to keep even a child's interest.
And Dickens brings forth his skill as a wordsmith and weaves a magic tale that will keep you entranced.

I think just about everyone in Western Civilization knows the story, at the least the basics. Scrooge has become synonomous with greed, miserliness and general grumpiness at anything fun. The spirits of Christmas Past, Present and Future, we know them.

For goodness sake, the MUPPETS made a movie based on this. And I have to say, it was a good movie too!

The changes in Scrooge came fast and furious and at times I wondered how someone could go from one to the next and be real, but the whole point Dickens was trying to make was that people could change, And while Dickens only alludes to Christ, his point was that Christmas was a changing point for the whole of humanity.

Now that I've read this [I believe I had read it in highschool, but not since], I can see it easily becoming a yearly traditional read.

Author: Charles Dickens

Rating: 4.5 of 5 Stars


Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot.wordpress.com

The Green Brain

Synopsis
Socialists on earth are trying to remove every insect except for mutated/hybrid bees and bad things start to happen.

My Thoughts
I've read all the Dune books by Herbert and loved them. However, every other book I've read by him has not been very enjoyable. I am convinced that if it weren't for Dune Herbert would not be the name he is today.

Basically, bugs are taking over the world because the Communists in China and South America are trying to wipe them out and failing miserably about it and lying through their teeth.

This story is about 3 people trapped in the middle of Bug Country and how the evolving bug supermind is trying to communicate before everything is destroyed.

This felt like a mix of Greenpeace/PETA propaganda, with McCarthy like paranoidism and some very slow adventure story. Lots of introspection and "thought bubbles". I think David Lynch's movie version of Dune would be a perfect example of how much this was used in this book.

I think I'm done with Herbert. Cerebral can be good, but not when it excludes every other aspect of a story.

Author: Frank Herbert

Rating: 2.5 Stars of 5


Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot.wordpress.com

Think & Grow Rich (Non-fiction)

Synopsis:
Mr. Hill takes us through the process of thinking like a champ and tells us it will work.

My Thoughts:
I suspect this book would be good for someone who actually wants to accomplish a large goal, or someone focused on attaining a large amount of money.

For me, I've accomplished the large goals in life I want [married, own our own place and work at a job I Iove] and money, while necessary, isn't something I want to be chasing after. I'm a Christian and the words Hill uses in describing how to attain riches are words I would only feel comfortable using about Jesus, not money.

However, there were some good tips about focusing, staying positive and other stuff. I am not a big non-fiction kind of guy. So if I read 2 non-fiction a year, I'm doing really good.

This was recommended to me by a really good friend who is a retired investment manager, so in all fairness, I actually finished this book more because of my respect of him than because of anything in this book.

Author: Napoleon Hill

Rating: 1 of 5 Stars


Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot.wordpress.com

Snow in the Desert (Short Story) (Polity)

I started reading this and it sounded VERY familiar. And it turns out it was in a book of short stories by Asher, The Gabble: And Other Stories, and I wasn't going crazy.

So this short story is about a man who has regenerative powers and who Earth Central wants, along with unscrupulous bounty hunters who want his powers for themselves.
And a sexy cyborg.

Neal Asher just writes enjoyable stories.

Plan B (Liaden)

Synopsis
Everyone comes together on one world to defeat an Ingxtray [or whatever the "bad' humanoids are called] invasion and the sinister Department of Something Something continues its plan to purify Liadens.

My Thoughts
I really enjoyed this. It had a fantastic blend of space battles, ground force battles, suspense, romance AND it still had a happy ending.
Sadly, the Turtles are barely in this story, but they ARE mentioned.

Name details are fuzzy for me. So while I know what they mean while I'm reading, as soon as I'm done, poof, they're gone from my head.

So far, this Liaden universe is enjoyable, light and just the right balance of fun and suspense. Thankfully there is nothing "epic' about this, but there are quite a few books to read.

Rating: 4 of 5 Stars

Author: Sharon Lee & Steve Miller


Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot.wordpress.com

Honor's Paradox (Kencyrath #6)

Synopsis
I don't know where to begin. Another Equinox festival, another test at the college, more interfering by sundry and sorts.

My Thoughts
While this was the most non-cryptic book so far in the series [and it is the latest written to date], it also was the book where I figured out WHY I hate these books so much even as I like them.

The good guys are filled with nothing but indecision and fear and allow themselves to be pushed around without pushing back.
The bad guys are always breaking the unwritten rules without any consequences.

That type of disparity always pushes my buttons. I'm a small guy and I learned early on as a teenager that if someone bigger than me hits me, I hit them back twice as hard. 99% of the time, it rocked them and shut the situation down. That other 1% sucked, but hey, not everything is perfect, right? ;-)
So when I see people just giving in, giving ground, not fighting for what is right, it grates pretty bad on my psyche.

And the story isn't anywhere near finished. So I think I'm done with the Kencyrath world. At the rate the books are being written [started back in '86 I believe], they will never get done.

Author: P.C. Hodgell

Rating: 3 of 5 Stars


Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot.wordpress.com

Valkyrie Burning (Hayden War Cycle #3)

Synopsis
Sgt. Aida comes back to Hayden to push out the remnant of the elite alien soldiers. At the same time, Space Fleet Valkyrie must deal with another space based alien invasion. Poor Hayden, it just can't catch a break.

My Thoughts
I thoroughly enjoyed this. Aida is a kickass sergeant and man, with her implants, she does a lot of damage. In many ways it reminds me of Neal Asher's Polity universe, with it's integration of humanity and A.I.

The space battle was meh, as are most space battle that I read now. After reading Jack Campbell's Lost Fleet and his in-depth explanation of space maneuvers, time, timing, communications etc, I find these simpler battles kind of like kindergarten.

Now the fight between Aida and the alien soldier, that was good! And if you ever think of elevators as boring, with sleep inducing muzak, then you need to read this book, it'll change your view, REAL QUICK.

Overall, I'm really liking Currie's works. He could use a good editor to polish him up, but the mechanics are all good and the foundations are solid. Kind of like Dean's old muscle car from Supernatural.

Author: Evan Currie

Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars


Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot.wordpress.com

Earthman Jack vs The Ghost Planet DNF w/ Extreme Prejudice

0 stars, author is blah, blah, blah.

Books that I can't finish aren't worth the typical review, as I don't care about who the author is [except to maybe to avoid], what the synopsis is or even what I thought of the story.

Well, to be honest, I do like to write about why I couldn't/wouldn't finish this.

I have a real problem with those who have a problem with authority. And Jack is the quintessential rebellious teen who simply doesn't care. His mom works her ass off to keep him fed and sheltered, working double shifts to pay for things, and he doesn't care. His teachers push him to succeed and punish when needed, and he doesn't care.

In fact, as far as I could tell by the time I got to 14%, Jack didn't care about anything except his own selfish desires.

This was supposed to be a comedy, and from the very ripped off from Hitchhiker's Guide tone, I suspect it might have turned into one. But I was not going to waste my time getting there.

it is pretty obvious that Jack is going to save the earth and that he is supposed to be a typical kid. But while I like reading about underdogs becoming great, I don't like reading about selfish assholes who won't accept responsibility for their actions nor think about the consequences of said actions.

I definitely won't be reading any more by this author.


Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot.wordpress.com

Kill Decision

Author: Daniel Suarez

Rating: 2.5 of 5 Stars

Synopsis
Somebody is using unmanned drones to attack targets in the United States and their ulterior motive remains unclear.

My Thoughts
First off, there is NO A.I.! That in itself knocked a star off for me. After Suarez's Daemon duology, I was hoping for more scary super brains. Instead, we get The Hidden Powers That Be [and feel free to say that in a super SPOOKY voice] trying to make autonomous unmanned aircraft the future of war.

Only one man, deep undercover and practically rogue, along with his heroic team and one sexy ant studying lady, stand in the way.

Yeah, really, that truly sums it up. And it doesn't get any better.

Near the beginning Suarez overwhelms us with technobabble that doesn't add anything to the story except confusion. And many aspects of the story felt very klug'ed together.

On the positive side, there are lots of gun battles, action out of the whazoo and near the end, a whole BOATLOAD of killer robots, err, drones.

I'll read whatever Suarez writes next, but that is the tipping point. This just wasn't good enough.



Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot.wordpress.com