Inkheart (Ink #1) DNF

This review is written with a GPL 3.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot.wordpress.com by express permission of this reviewer

Synopsis
Meggie and her dad Mo have an adventure when it comes to pass that Mo can read characters into and out of story books, but not entirely at will.

My Thoughts
The idea of a booklover who can read things and have them appear out of or into stories should be awesome. And if that booklover is surrounded by people who also love books, then it should be even better.

However, this was an epic Fail for me. Mo and Meggie were "true" book lovers. They loved the book as much as the story it contained. In their minds, the 2 were connected. I'm a big ereader fan, so that started things off a little awkward.

Then Mo. I disliked almost everything about him. I couldn't find something to respect in him. Meggie came across as a know-it-all, impetuous pre-teen that she was.

It was slow going and I stalled, but I figured I'd read a little bit here and there and get through it. However, I had to give up, because of the following.

Mo and Meggie had been betrayed by Fireguy to the badguy because Fireguy wanted to get back into his storybook. The badguy didn't keep his promise for betraying Mo and Meggie, so Fireguy escapes with them when they bust out.
Now, there is ONE book left of this story and Mo knows who has it. So what does he do? He FREAKING TELLS FIREGUY THERE IS ANOTHER COPY AND THAT HE KNOWS WHERE IT IS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just gave up right then. I can only take so much stupidity and I get more than my daily ration in real life without adding to it in my reading.

Rating: 1 of 5 Stars
Author: Cornelia Funke [and yes, I  ♪ sang that funky music white boy! ♪♪]

Orion (Orion #1)

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Synopsis
Orion is the chosen tool of a god, to fight another being of great power throughout the ages. Orion starts at the end of time and works back to the beginning and at each nexus in time, strives to keep the established continuum on track.

My Thoughts
I know I haven't read this book, but the premise, of a time agent working against someone else while one descends time and the other ascends time, is wicked familiar. But I can't remember what book it was, so I can't be sure which came first.

This was lightly engaging, but in all honesty, it was so preachy about free will and choice and stuff, and it was from a perspective that I completely disagree with, that it was hard to really engage in the story without going "No, that is WRONG!"  I read to escape, not debate in my mind with the author.

Then there was the little part about the flood. Or, as I would call it, Noah's Flood. and its humanistic, evolutionistic mocking of Christianity really turned me off. Snide. Very little is worse than snide condescension when you're reading something.

Apart from that, this was a slightly dry set of short adventure stories. This is a series, so I'll be trying the next book, but if it isn't any better I'll let the series go.

Rating: 2.5 of 5 Stars
Author: Ben Bova

Death Note #10 & 11 (Manga Monday)

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Synopsis
After Mello's spectacular failure in books 8 and 9, the story shifts over to Near as he tries to catch Light/Kira in a cerebral mastermind game of wits.

My Thoughts
After Mello's failed attempt at getting a hold of Kira, and the death of Light's father, things go from the action/gungho/blitz-a-rama to a much more "I know that you know that I know that you know that I know that you know" type of back and forth between Light/Kira and Near.

Sadly, Near isn't as likeable as L was and a lot of his motivation is proving that he is as good as L was. L had a hate/love camaradie with Light that was fun to read about. Near and Light just talk over the phone and we get to hear their thoughts about how they're going to outwit the other.

However, the end game is in sight. Both Near and Light/Kira are finalizing their plans to outwit the other. And just as Near and Light begin their plan, Mello shows up at the end of book 11 to throw a monkey wrench into both their plans.

In summary, I was going to throw in book 12, the final book as part of this review. But I thought it was worth it's own review next week. So next week will be the review for book 12, the final book in the Death Note series.

Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Author: Tsugumi Ohba
Artist:Takeshi Obata

Local Custom (Liaden)

This review is written with a GPL 3.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot.wordpress.com by express permission of this reviewer

Synopsis
Er Thom is being forced into a contract marriage to produce an heir for his Clan. But before he can do that, he goes to see the Terran woman, Anne Davies, one last time to confess his love and then to leave it all behind him and proceed with duty. However, things don't go quite as planned, as he finds out that Anne has had his child from their last encounter.

My Thoughts
The Liaden books have been as full of romance and clan politics as they have been of action. And it works out great, it really does.

This book is based on the cross cultural miscommunication about what is right and proper for Er Thom and Anne's child, Shan. Er Thom assumes Liaden things about the outcome and makes several blunders in his interpretation of Anne's words and actions. While Anne is forced to make assumptions about Liad without nearly enough knowledge.

What drove me batty, while being awesome, was that the main characters DID communicate with each other. So many stories I've read have been driven by the characters refusing to talk to each other and things going bad because of it. So the MC's talked to each other, but it wasn't enough because their cultures were so different. And they didn't realize those differences until the very end.

Then you've got some political stuff with Anne's work about linguistics and how the Terrans, Liadens and Extrangans? might all have a common ancestor.

Overall, this was just a great addition to my reading of the Liaden Universe. Just enough action, intrigue, romance and politics [family and otherwise] to keep me reading.

Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Author: Sharon Lee & Steve Miller

The Widowmaker Reborn (Widowmaker #2)

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Synopsis
Jefferson Nighthawk, aka the Widowmaker, is cloned again to rescue a young lady from a terrorist who is holding her hostage for ransom. This time, he's been cloned as a 38 year old with all his original memories.

My Thoughts
Where Jeff, the first clone, was a 23 year old horndog who thought with his genitals, this clone has 62 years of memories and an additional 15 years of age to combat that. Jefferson makes his plans from the get-go, counting on that he'll be betrayed by either the client, his lawyers or *somebody*. And his goal is to get enough money to live on, cure the original AND himself and to disappear so he doesn't spend his life running.

This Widowmaker was an experienced, hardened veteran getting a job done. He does what he needs to with minimal fuss, little show and a lot of brains.

There are still all of the obligatory cliched characters that populate Resnick's universe, but it wouldn't be his universe without them. A corrupt politician, a beautiful girl, a desperado with a twist, some sort of alien or 2. And guns and stuff. Beautiful Kablooies!

I thoroughly enjoyed this. If the final book in this trilogy holds up, I'll have to seriously consider buying this trilogy in hardcover.

Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Author: Mike Resnick

The Valhalla Call (Hayden War Cycle #4)

This review is written with a GPL 3.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot.wordpress.com by express permission of this reviewer

Synopsis
The final book in the renamed series. Started out as Warriors Wings and then for some unknown reason was changed to Hayden War Cycle. Or maybe it was the other way around? I don't know and I don't really care. Right now, everything about Indies is pissing me off, even if it is just them breathing.

Basically, the humans kick the aliens' ass and make them just about beg for peace.

My Thoughts
I enjoyed this, but as there was actually very little fighting and very little Sgt, now Lt., Aida, it wasn't as enjoyable as the first book.

Humanity has been playing with the Ross gravity toys and discovers stuff about time. And the end of the story wraps up so fast, with such a big Deus Ex Machina, that it practically tore my head off. The first 7/8th's of the book seemed all setup for the action at the end: spacefleet battle, mecha taking over a ship and a gaggle of SpecOps rescuing a ship of PUC's.

This author reminds me of Gordon Dickson and his Dragon and the George series. Solid "B" author who can churn out a decent story, but just never quite connects in a way to make it big. Currie has another space series and has started one about marines or special forces or something. I'll probably check out his scifi series, but am expecting some potatoes instead of a restaurant meal :-)

Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Author: Evan Currie

Hoka (Hoka #1)

This review is written with a GPL 3.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot.wordpress.com by express permission of this reviewer

Synopsis
The Human Federation has The Human Burden of guiding the less fortunate species of the universe towards a more enlightened existence.
So when they discover a world of hyper intelligent small bearlike creatures [think intelligent Ewoks], a young plenipotentiary is sent to bring them into the warm brotherhood of the Federation.

My Thoughts
This was JUST what I needed to read. It was so funny and obviously tongue-in-cheek that I was chortling the whole way through. My wife finally gave up asking me what was so funny.

Basically, the Hokas take whatever stories from Earth culture and live it out. It makes for some hilarious situations. Wild West, Space Patrols, Pirates, Sherlock Holmes, Casey at the Bat, etc. Oh, it was so funny.

Alexander, the poor pleni, has his hands full dealing with situations that keep threatening to run out of control. And if even one situation gets away from him, Alexander will be sent back to the base level of the Corp, lose his livelihood and force his wife and kiddies into Grade A poverty.

Anderson and Dickson do a fantastic job of writing over the top,  keeping me amused and telling a ripping good yarn. I am really looking forward to the next book; I just hope it will be as funny.

Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Author: Poul Anderson & Gordon Dickson

Shadowbred (Twilight War #1) (Erevis Cale) (Forgotten Realms)

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Synopsis
Erevis must rescue Magadon, who appears to have disappeared. At the same time, there are some serious political happenings going on in Sembia which have to do with the Source and the Netherese as much as anything else.

My Thoughts
I've come to accept the fact that I'm going to keep on reading these Forgotten Realms books, so I went ahead and made a shelf/tag for them, just like I have for Star Wars. They are a force unto themselves.

For the first half of the book I have to admit I was bored. Not a lot happened, it was barely about Cale at all and you had a lot of politics and religion happening.

Finally Erevis gets involved. He and Riven, Mask's Second, have both changed enough that there is no more posturing and frenemy'ing. They are allies. It was really nice to see a good solid alliance instead of the bickering we saw in the Erevis Cale trilogy.

Good amount of fighting near the end, with them breaking into a magicless prison to rescue someone.

And the ending, where they DO rescue Magadon and end up IN HELL, was pretty cool. Of course, it seems like every hero ends up in hell at one time or another, so maybe I should have been a little more stoic about it, but I thought it was cool!

Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Author: Paul Kemp

Death Note #7-9 (Manga Monday)

This review is written with a GPL 3.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot.wordpress.com by express permission of this reviewer

Synopsis
Light and L's battle comes to a shattering end but Kira's dream to rule the world is still being opposed by geniuses who take up the fight.

My Thoughts
L was simply out maneuvered by Light/Kira. And pays the price. Contingency plans are brought into play and L's successors, Mello and Near, come on board as main characters.

Mello and Near are L divided into 2 people. Mello is passionate, willing to go to extreme ends to prove his point and he has a sweet tooth. Near is much more emotionless, taking a disinterested view of everything and he likes to play with toys.

These 3 volumes were an almost literal wall of text. I felt like I was reading a novel instead of manga.

A couple of things struck me. First off, guns. Or the lack there of. Watanari had a sniper rifle and you see the police force having hand guns, but they never get used. And Light's father preaches about it not being legal for him to carry a gun when he resigns from the force. Made me thankful for our 2nd Amendment.
Second, the whole right and wrong of what Kira is doing. Everybody takes the stance that popular opinion is what makes something right. So if Kira can convince enough people to support him, then he'll be in the right and his cause just. What a pack of bologna! That pissed me off.

Thirdly, Light is getting more and more willing to do whatever it takes to achieve his goals. He is willing to sacrifice his dad, his sister, his girlfriend, everyone in fact, to get what he wants. Selfish beyond belief.
I felt kind of burnt out after reading volume 6 and wasn't sure how I was going to react to more volumes. And when L dies and Light has won, and then successors to L show up, my first reaction was "Come on, get it over with". But with 2 volumes of Mello and Near, I am liking this. They "do" so much more than L. And this series needed an action villain.

Rating: 5 of 5 Stars
Author: Tsugumi Ohba
Artist:Takeshi Obata

Freeware (Ware Tetralogy #3) DNF

This review is written with a GPL 3.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot.wordpress.com by express permission of this reviewer

Perversions and too graphic for me sex completely destroyed my desire to finish this book.

And I won't be bothering with the final book at all.