Bookstooge's Reviews On the Road

Monday, September 28, 2015

The Lions of Lucerne (Scot Harvath #1)

Review:

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: The Lions of Lucerne

Series: Scot Harvath

Author: Brad Thor

Rating: of 5 Battle Axes

Genre: Thriller

Pages: 544

Format: Kindle

Synopsis: Spoilers Ahoy!

The President of the United States is kidnapped and the lone surviving Secret Service Agent, Scot Harvath, must rescue him all by himself to clear his name.

Hindering investigations left and right, going with his gut and ignoring all the SEAL Team Two training he has ever received, Scot globetrots based on a chocolate bar and a wine bottle.

I kid you not.

My Thoughts:

I really enjoyed this and it was closer to a 3 1/2 than just a 3, but Scot's lone wolf attitude just doesn't jive with everything we're told about him.

A SEAL wouldn't hide evidence because he thinks he knows better. A SEAL wouldn't randomly fire into store windows just to destroy them without knowing if there are civilians behind said windows. A SEAL wouldn't fire a gun into a civilian crowd just to keep his enemies heads down.

While SEALS are trained to be one man killing machines, they are trained to function as part of a group. Nothing about Scot in any way said "Team".

You get past that though and this was just a fun thriller. A ton of action, just the right amount of romance [a smidge, nothing more] and lots of room for tons of books to follow. It was a little long for the plot it was carrying, but as this was Thor's first book, it's not surprising. Hopefully the later books will be a bit tighter and leaner.

Original post: Bookstooge.booklikes.com/post/1261484/the-lions-of-lucerne-scot-harvath-1

Sunday, September 27, 2015

The Empire Striketh Back (William Shakespeare's Star Wars #2)

Review:

Title: The Empire Striketh Back

Series: William Shakespeare's Star Wars

Author: Ian Doescher

Rating: of 5 Battle Axes

Genre: SFF

Minutes: 205

Format: Audio book

Synopsis:

The Star Wars Saga continues, but in addition to iambec pentameter, we also get haiku (5-7-5) and prose. Prose from Boba Fett.

My Thoughts:

My first audio book. I listened to this going to and from work and it worked very well. Since I already knew the story, it was easy to just listen and go with the flow.

I have to say, this was a much BETTER version than just reading it. Shakespeare is meant to be on the stage and since Doescher copies it all, this is meant to be read aloud too.

In regards to audio, I still don't think it is for me. I find it too easy to simply relegate what I am hearing as background noise and hence simply tune it out. After the next book in this trilogy, I'll probably look for some of Shakespeare's plays and simply listen to them as well. My commute is only about 20min, so that is a good amount of time for little chunks of audio.

Original post: Bookstooge.booklikes.com/post/1260725/the-empire-striketh-back-william-shakespeare-s-star-wars-2

Friday, September 25, 2015

The Sky Lords (Sky Lords #1) DNF@20%

Review:

Title: The Sky Lords

Series: Sky Lords

Author: John Brosnan

Rating: of 5 Battle Axes

Genre: SFF

Pages: Abandoned

My Thoughts:

A sick twisted power hungry man plays with words with a lesbian amazonian slave woman about just what "rape" is.

No thank you.

Original post: Bookstooge.booklikes.com/post/1260189/the-sky-lords-sky-lords-1-dnf-20

Thursday, September 24, 2015

A Quest of Heroes (The Sorcerer's Ring #1)

Review:

Title: A Quest of Heroes

Series: The Sorcerer's Ring

Author: Morgan Rice

Rating: of 5 Battle Axes

Genre: SFF

Pages: 234

Synopsis:

I am going to let part of the book's official synopsis stand in here.

A Quest of Heroes revolves around the epic coming of age story of one special boy, a 14 year old from a small village on the outskirts of the Kingdom of the Ring. The youngest of four, the least favorite of his father, hated by his brothers, Thorgrin senses he is different from the others.

My Thoughts:

Sadly, this book was utterly and completely Amateur Hour.

The plot lifts heavily from David's childhood (King David from the Bible) including sheep, sling, killing a big creature on his own, older brothers who join the army and getting the King's attention in a very dramatic way. There is also the best friends for life with the King's son and the romantic interest by the King's daughter. Folks, trust me, this was David in an alternate world.

If that wasn't enough, we have shades of King Arthur. There is a lone magician who advises the King and is Merlin pretty much in all but name. The King's Daughter is name Gwen and there is a magic sword that only the Chosen One (I did not make up that capitalization this time) may lift and lead the Kingdom into glorious and eternal peace and prosperity.

I LIKE fantasy tropes. But I don't like poor writing and lazy idea creating.

The writing itself was clunky at best and downright childish at worst. I felt like I was reading a highschool play written by an earnest but incompetent english student. The presentation of ideas and the movement of the plot from beginning to end was not even YA, more middle grade, as things happen simply because the author writes them that way, not because it is in any way feasible.

Finally, the version I read had over 300 pages and the official page count for the versions here is 234. So I'm guessing Rice did an edit job? If so, I'm not interested in reading a proofed version.

This was a waste of my time and I'm rather disappointed.

Original post: Bookstooge.booklikes.com/post/1259666/a-quest-of-heroes-the-sorcerer-s-ring-1

Wednesday, September 23, 2015

The Godborn (The Sundering #2) (Erevis Cale) (Forgotten Realms)

Review:

Title: The Godborn

Series: The Sundering

Author: Paul Kemp

Rating: of 5 Battle Axes

Genre: SFF

Pages: 336

Synopsis:

100 years after the previous Erevis Cale book, his son is being raised by monks of the god of light. Cale is still frozen in hell and the dark goddess Shar is still trying to end the world. Riven is taking Mask's place and Rivalen is still trying to free Shar.

The end of the world is in Vasen's hands [Cale's son] but can he do it?

My Thoughts:

This was a good wrap up to Erevis Cale's story. While he is less than a 2d character, at least he is present and things get wrapped up.

Vasen isn't a bad character, but he just doesn't get time to grow on us. Erevis had 6+ books, Vasen not even one. This is not a good standalone book, as it won't make much sense without those 6 Erevis Cale books to lay the foundation. I don't think you need to have read the previous Sundering book however.

So a pretty good book if you're an Erevis Cale fan but otherwise, just a blase Forgotten Realms book.

Original post: Bookstooge.booklikes.com/post/1259169/the-godborn-the-sundering-2-erevis-cale-forgotten-realms