Blood Brothers (Vampire World #1) (Necroscope #6)

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.leafmarks.com & Bookstooge's Reviews on the Road Facebook Group by Bookstooge's Exalted Permission.
Title: Blood Brothers
Series: Vampire World, Necroscope
Author: Brian Lumley
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Horror/Thriller
Pages: 622




Synopsis:
Harry Keogh is dead. But before dying, he got it on with a Szagny woman who ended up having twins.
This sub-series, Vampire World, of the Necroscope series follow Nathan and Nestor on the Vampire World. One lusts after the power of the fallen vampires, the other trying to figure out what that wall of numbers in his head means.

My Thoughts:
This book, at 600+ pages, was a monster [hehehehehe]. However, it was mostly setup.

The first 10% was retelling the end of Deadspawn from another viewpoint than Harry's and finding out that even when mostly dead, Harry is a real horndog. Letting us know that Harry's line will survive.

The next 20% - 30% was retelling the Shaitan origin story. How the nuclear blast from Deadspawn sent him back and started the whole vicious cycle. It is more about the rise of the Vampire Lords than anything and it doesn't lead anywhere. Filling in the history gaps.

Then another 10% - 20% [this is all just really rough guesswork, as I didn't realize how things were going to be at the beginning and hence didn't keep track really] is about how there is yet another group of Vampire Lords in yet another Mountain area. These vamps fight their primal urges and are basically ascetics. This leads into one of them going back to Starside to take over since the original vampire lords were all wiped out.

Finally, we get to Nathan and Nestor, the twin sons of Harry. We get a little bit of their growing up and then we really join them when the vampires return and attack. Both go their own ways. One to learn about his abilities, the other to become a vampire.

And there is a girl involved.

This was not nearly as depressing or perverted as Deadspawn. There were graphic descriptions, but they were short and not pages long, nor were they as monstrous as in the previous book. Felt like Lumley pulled back and it really improved the book in my opinion. This book passed muster and allowed the Necroscope series another chance at life for me.

Tennessee Smash (The Executioner #32)

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.leafmarks.com & Bookstooge's Reviews on the Road Facebook Group by Bookstooge's Exalted Permission.
Title: Tennessee Smash
Series: The Executioner
Author: Don Pendleton
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Action/Adventure
Pages: 136



Synopsis:
Bolan teams up with former members of Able Team, now a  super secret Government Agency, to rescue 2 missing members.
He also combines said rescue with taking down yet another Mafia upstart with Political Connections.
Finally, Brognola offers Bolan yet another chance to join the Government and take down badguys all over the world who are outside the purview of regular law enforcement.

My Thoughts:
Now that the Mafia is trembling, toppling, it feels like Bolan is just a punk with a gun. He's losing focus and Pendleton does a great job of showing that with his writing. There's really not much to say about this book on its own. Bolan kills badguys, rescues goodguys and generally does his thing.

The next 6 books, each focusing on a day of the week, promise to be the final push towards the end of the Mafia and Bolan's War. I'm hoping they pan out ok.

Activation (Mobile Suit Gundam The Origin #1) (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.leafmarks.com & Bookstooge's Reviews on the Road Facebook Group by Bookstooge's Exalted Permission.
Title: Activation
Series: Mobile Suit Gundam The Origin
Author & Artist: Yoshikazu Yasuhiko
Rating: 4.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Manga
Pages: 456



Synopsis:
Humanity has expanded into Space, in artificial satellites. One satellite and the surrounding areas, declare independence and call themselves Zeon.
Zeon & the Federation go to war, kill off half of humanity [crashing spaceships, etc into the world satellites] and then declare a truce.
The Federation has a new weapon, a new Mobile Suit and Zeon wants to know about it.
And the War begins anew.

My Thoughts:
I've been aware of Gundam ever since I was aware of Robotech and in my mind, they are two sides of the same coin.
Gigantic robots fighting in space.

But I've never gotten around to watching the original anime. I've watched various later incarnations, (8th MS, Gundam Wing, G-Gundam Fighter, etc], so when I saw this series at the library, in hardcover no less, I decided NOW was the time.

Young Amaro is the only man available to drive the new Gundam in the midst of a Zeon attack at a Space Colony. Under fire and outnumbered, Amaro and a civilian crew must fight their way to Earth to deliver the Gundam to the Federation Forces.

This is good stuff. A young man and other civilians stepping up to do their duty, untried, afraid but not allowing that to stop them. Fighting the forces of Zeon while their own Military acts very cowardly and pretty much abandons them to their fate.

The only reason I didn't give this 5 stars was because the Zeon being ON Earth just didn't make sense to me. Nor Char's ship [Char is the Zeon's super ace and seems to be shaping up as Amaro's nemesis] coming right up to Earth's atmosphere. Control of space didn't seem to be a factor here, even though it should have been.

To close up, I really enjoyed this and am looking forward to the next 7 volumes that the library has.

Banner of the Stars II: Protecting the Precious (Seikai Trilogy #3) (Manga Monday on Thursday!)

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.leafmarks.com & Bookstooge's Reviews on the Road Facebook Group by Bookstooge's Exalted Permission.







Title: Banner of the Stars II: Protecting the Precious
Series: Seikai Trilogy
Author & Artist: Hiroyuki Morioka & Wasoh Miyakoshi
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Manga
Pages: 248
 

Synopsis:
Jinto and Lafiel are working on the new Basroil and their assignment takes them to the fringes of the continued war with the United Mankind.
They are to evacuate a planet, only it turns out it is a prison planet and various factions are claiming to be in charge.
Jinto must therefore head planet side to sort everything out. And nothing goes right. Eventually Lafiel must choose between her duty and her feelings.

My Thoughts:
The artist changed, so the artwork was different and I have to say, I was not a fan of that change. Also, there were a couple of instance of fan service that just didn't need to be there.

Storywise, I didn't feel like things really took off until Jinto and Lafiel got to Lobnos II, which was quite a ways into the book. All the other stuff dealing with Lafiel's brother and other Abh felt extremely extraneous and superfluous. It was fluff.

But, when things went South and Lafiel had to make the tough decisions, it was well done. Also, things didn't end as I was expecting since this was a manga and my recollections of the anime were pretty fuzzy, but it was a good ending and I enjoyed it. I really wish more of the anime existed, so I could watch it, but such is life.

Corsair (Blades of the Moonseas #2) (Forgotten Realms)

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Title: Corsair
Series: Blades of the Moonsea, Forgotten Realms
Author: Richard Baker
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: SFF
Pages: 384



Synopsis:
Geran, now acting like a responsible adult, comes across pirates, who seem to be preying on only ships headed for his hometown.
Due to politics, which hide more revenge motives than you can shake a stick at, Geran is sent off with a boat and some Shieldsworn to hunt the pirates down.
On the phracking MOON!

My Thoughts:
This was so much more enjoyable than the previous book, Swordmage. Geran isn't acting like a spoiled brat and his enemies are acting like enemies instead of petty idiots.

I thought the whole pirate/ship thing was pretty cool actually. And when they magically fly to the moon on a sailing ship, all I could think of was Captain Harlock and his Pirate Space/Sailing ship. And it was cool, in case you didn't get that.

The other thing I liked was that Geran wasn't so aggressively introspective and angsty. I'm an introspective kind of guy, but even I get tired of reading about other people being like me. Overall, there was more action, less "characterization" and more "fun" factor in this book.

Solo Command (X-Wing #7) (Star Wars)

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Title: Solo Command
Series: X-Wing, Star Wars
Author: Aaron Allston
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: SFF
Pages: 354


Synopsis:
Wraith Squadron and Rogue Squadron hookup under the command of Han Solo as they all try to take down Warlord Zsinj.

My Thoughts:
I read this at work on my lunch breaks. However, with the atrocious winter [100+ inches of snow so far] combined with the typical seasonal slowdown, I haven't been working much and hence didn't read this very much. All of which is to say that it took me over a month to read this, all spread out and not in a quick read like most of my books.

I enjoyed this, but can't remember much to say one way or another. If I ever got rid of my Star Wars book collection [mostly hardcover science fiction book club editions and just about everything up through Kenobi] I'll definitely be holding onto the X-Wing books. They remind me of the movies with their simple, clean adventure stories.

Provenance (Rogue Angel #11)

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.leafmarks.com by express permission of this reviewer.
Title: Provenance
Series: Rogue Angel
Author: Alex Archer
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Pages: 348



Synopsis:
Annja finds herself embroiled in some world wide broo-haha over a mysterious and allegedly super powerful artifact.
A super secret sect of Christians [oh my, are there ANY OTHER KINDS OF CHRISTIANS IN LITERATURE THESE DAYS?],  a group of kindly and devout Muslims and then some Indonesian Pirates all want this artifact.
And NOBODY knows exactly what it is, or what it does or anything concrete at all in fact.

My Thoughts:
This book was patently ridiculous. Plain and simple. The only thing redeeming this was the onslaught of unrelenting action, from a cruise ship to ninjas in an apartment to an island gun fight to a naval battle. It was guts, guns and glory.

At the end, Annja, the remaining Knights and Muslims [who are now all bff's as they realize that they all want the same thing *insert super de-duper eyeroll*] look into the coffin and see something SO AMAZING that the author can't tell us what it is. It is just all that.

This book pretty much set off so many bullshit alarms that I was drinking pepto-bismal by the gallon when I was done. If all the books had this amount of action however, it would really improve the series. Just lose the philosophy and let the urban fantasy explain itself.

Dakota Run (Endworld #5)

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.leafmarks.com by express permission of this reviewer

Title: Dakota Run
Series: Endworld
Author: David Robbins
Rating: 2.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: SFF
Pages: 212



Synopsis:
Geronimo is out and alone and runs across a feuding army of cavalry.
Blade and Hickock are dealing with a threat from the Doktor.
And everyone gets married at the end and is happy. Thank goodness.

My Thoughts:
This was not as eye rollingly bad as the previous books. Thank goodness for a nest of giant ants.

And things are shaping up for new allies and a much larger conflict.

Obsidian Ridge (The Citadels #2) (Forgotten Realms)

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Title: Obsidian Ridge
Series: The Citadels, Forgotten Realms
Author: Jess LeBow
Rating: 2.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: SFF
Pages: 339



Synopsis:
A King is trying to keep his realm together while merchants are pushing a new drug. The king's enforcer, The Claw, happens to be in love with the Princess.
Drugs, Enforcer, King and Merchants, all mixed together.
Throw in a rogue Magician who wants the Princess as his next bride, a magician powerful enough to use a flying castle, and you have a Forgotten Realms adventure.

My Thoughts:
I actually enjoyed this novel more than the first Citadels novel, but I had to rate it less because it was just so "pedestrian".  I'm tired of giving "ordinary" a higher rating just because there is so much utter and abysmal trash out there. I am tired of the fact that there IS so much trash out there.

The magician was a complete idiot and for someone who has supposedly lived as long as he has, well, he certainly didn't spend the time improving his mind. He was a 2 bit villain with a 5bit castle.

Sadly, this is the quality that people think of AND expect when they hear the words "Forgotten Realms".  The Citadels are just in the title unfortunately. It would be nice if they actually played a bigger part of the story.

Banner of the Stars: The Shape of Bonds (Seikai Trilogy #2) (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.leafmarks.com by express permission of this reviewer

Title: Banner of the Stars: The Shape of Bonds
Series: Seikai Trilogy
Author & Artist: Hiroyuki Morioka, Toshihiro Ono
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Manga
Pages: 200


Synopsis:
3 years after Crest of the Stars, Lafiel has command of her first ship and Jinto is the Abh equivalent of First Mate. The United Mankind is still kicking so the War Machines of both nations gear up and things start to heat up.
It is testing time for Lafiel and Jinto, to see if the years of training have paid off.

My Thoughts:
I enjoyed this volume a little bit more than the previous book, but I suspect that is because it was shorter and didn't have as much ground to cover as the first volume.

I think there was more Abh talk/terms than in the previous one, but since they were referring to military ranks, ships, missiles, etc, it really didn't matter to me because something is either a person, a ship, a missile or a laser to me.

I wouldn't recommend this except to die hard fans because so much that makes Banner of the Stars an exceptionable anime is cut out here to make things fit. I don't regret buying this,not at all and I did enjoy it, but it is more for Completeness's sake than anything else.

From a librarian standpoint, it was interesting to discover that there are two 'potential' covers. This one you see and then another with Admiral Spoor naked on the cover. I suspect though that the cover of Spoor was something put out by Tokyopop before the actual release and it never made it to paper. One little stone in the avalanche that brought them down.

And just for completist's sake, here's the alternate cover, that I can't find verification of on paper, only digitally. You can see why Tokyopop might not have released this, as this series was aimed at teens [and their parents who did the actual buying]. This picture IS the front page of the volume I have, but in black and white. And that folks, is what is called gratuitous fan-service.