Children of Fire (The Chaos Born #1)

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Title: Children of Fire
Series: The Chaos Born
Author: Drew Karpyshyn
Rating: of 5 Battle Axes
Genre: SFF
Pages: 512
Format: Kindle





Synopsis:
A Long Time Ago, In a Galaxy Far, Far Away...

The gods gave a human all the power he needed to fight the creatures of Chaos. After winning, said human turned on the gods themselves. They banished him and his followers from the world and then pretty much disappeared.
That "Legacy" of banishing is weakening and the Destroyer has sent his essence to be reborn into the world so that his work can be finished from that side.
This is the story of those 4 children.

My Thoughts:
I've had some up and down's with Karpyshyn's Star Wars books, so wasn't sure what to expect from his own series. Overall, I enjoyed this. His videogame background shows, a lot, however. The way the chapters were set up was very "cut scene".

Cliched fantasy. Thing is, most of the time I LIKE cliched fantasy, so this was A-OK. I think my only "huh?" moment was when it appears that the Destroyer's children are as much a danger to him as possible allies. With him being able to now send his minions through the Legacy, why did he send over his essence to be reborn? I didn't see the point of that.

This was in no way bad. It simply didn't stand out from anything in the SFF field that I've read before. It was enjoyable and I'll be continuing the series until it either ends or goes bad :-)

Moon-Flash

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Title: Moon-Flash
Series: -----
Author: Patricia McKillip
Rating: of 5 Battle Axes
Genre: SFF
Pages: 304
Format: Kindle





Synopsis:
This omnibus edition combines the acclaimed Patricia A. McKillip's two science-fiction novels, Moon-Flash and The Moon and the Face.

Kyreol's small world begins at the Face, a high rock cliff, and ends at Fourteen Falls, a series of rapids. Each year, her people celebrate Moon-Flash—a spark of light that seems to come from and go into the moon, a symbol of life and joy. When a mysterious stranger arrives, Kyreol wants to know more about him, as well as the Moon-Flash, and soon she and her childhood friend Terje leave their home to look for answers. Those answers will pluck Kyreol from Riverworld and transform her life forever—by fast-forwarding her into a future she can barely comprehend.

My Thoughts:
I have yet to read a book by McKillip that I don't like. This was no exception. Beautiful, flowing, as much about the pacing of the words and sentences as the story itself. In all honesty, the story itself didn't do a thing for me.

November '15 Roundup

14 reads this month. Only 1 DNF and several really good ones. I think my favorite book this month was Jim Butcher's The Aeronaut's Windlass.

Notes from A Dead House (Classic)

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Title: Notes from A Dead House
Series: -----
Author: Fyodor Dostoevsky
Rating: of 5 Battle Axes
Genre: Classic
Pages: 336
Format: Hardcover



Synopsis:
A fictionalized account of Dostoevsky's [I still don't like that spelling!] time in prison.

My Thoughts:
I went into this with Great Expectations. And if you've read that great story, you'll know how I ended up feeling about this book. Very disappointed.

Part of that was due to Philosophical Musing's Wonderful Review.

But it didn't work for me. Dostoyevksky's ramblings about how wonderful and human and "feeling" all the prisoners were would be like reading something by Columbus exclaiming how round the world is. Part of it was D's exuberance over this great discovery. In that exuberance he simply tossed aside the horrible things some of these prisoners had done. I felt like he was saying "oh look, this murderer can laugh, what a wonderful human he is! Ha ha."

I have a very strong sense of Justice so this wholesale, almost naive, overlooking of crime was beyond what I could take. I intellectually understood the point that D was trying to make, especially given his time and social level but it wasn't enough.

Not a waste of time at all, but I simply did not enjoy this.

The Red Wolf Conspiracy (The Chathrand Voyage #1)

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Title: The Red Wolf Conspiracy
Series: The Chathrand Voyage
Author: Robert Redick
Rating: of 5 Battle Axes
Genre: SFF
Pages: 466
Format: Kindle





Synopsis:
The greatest ship still in existence, The Chathrand, is making a historic voyage. It is carrying an Ambassador's Daughter who will be wed to a Prince, hence signalling the beginning of a long peace between two Mighty Empires.
But Empires are rife with corruption and full of the corruptable.
This is not a voyage of Peace, for both Empires are planning treachery. This is not a voyage of Peace, for others are planning to use it to bring back some of the mightiest and evilest power ever known to Man.

My Thoughts:
I really enjoyed this. That was a surprise because I had thought this was going to be about anthropomorphized cats [Chathrand just sounds Cat'y to me and when you've read as much SFF as I have, sometimes words have a "ring" to them that lead you to believe something about them] and it was very evident from the start that that was not the case. So my expectations were dashed from page 1.

This was an adventure story filled with magic, Awakened animals, the Littles and derring-do. It was great.

However, I found that not a single main character was good enough for me to want to care about. If any of them had died and the plot had proceeded, I would have been just fine with that. It wasn't that they were horrible people, not by any means but they never caught me by the nethers and held on.  You know how sometimes you just connect with some people? And then there are the times that you don't? I've had times where everything seemed perfect with somebody else but that spark wasn't there and things just kind of wound down. That's how it was with these main characters.

To be honest though, I don't expect to connect to characters in every book I read. It is nice when it happens, but I do have my Man Card to think about and sometimes some good old fashioned violence and action are much more necessary. Such was this book.

I am looking forward to reading this completed [HURRAY!] series.

Lalah (Mobile Suit Gundam The Origin #9) (Manga)

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: Lalah
Series: Mobile Suit Gundam The Origin
Author & Artist: Yoshikazu Yasuhiko
Rating:  of 5 Stars
Genre: Manga
Pages: 420



Synopsis:
The Federation is continuing its push to eradicate Zeon. A battle ensues on Side 6 [New Texas, or something like that] that is more of a test of the Newtype than for any strategic advantage.
Char, Amuro and Lalah all meet, not knowing the other.
And Char is going crazy. There is no other explanation for his behavior, etc.

My Thoughts:
Amuro is gaining in ability quicker than ever, due to being a newtype. However, just what a Newtype is exactly is left pretty open. It would appear to be whatever the authors/artists want it to be.

Zeon's aggressive study and use of newtypes is sad and we see the consequences of one newtype pushed beyond his limit. He would have been a splendid fighter and even leader for a regular army, but in the newtype study he is used, used up and then cast aside. It is made very evident just how much of a waste this is.

I don't want to delve much into interpreting what the authors/artists message here is, but along with the very evident "war is useless and bad" vibe, I do get the sense that they are trying to say that every human life is precious. No matter if it lives up to some man made line or not.

The Aeronaut's Windlass (The Cinder Spires #1)

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Title: The Aeronaut's Windlass
Series: The Cinder Spires
Author: Jim Butcher
Rating: of 5 Battle Axes
Genre: SFF
Pages: 630
Format: Kindle




Synopsis:
People live in Spires, miles long wide and high habitats, that keep them safe from the elements and creatures of the harsh and destructive world.
Fleets keep the Spires safe.
Now there is a war on between Spire Albion and Spire Aurora. This story is about introducing the disparate set of characters, introducing us to elements of this world and details one skirmish in the war that probably has deeper consequences for the rest of the story than we are aware of.

My Thoughts:
Impressive. Skillfully and wonderfully made. This is definitely steampunk but Butcher works it like a master and I actually liked it. That impressed me as well :-)

I liked the characters. Grimm was great [I'm kind of partial to that name now as I've been bing watching the tv show Grimm on Amazon Prime and I just imagined the Grimm from the tv show as the Grimm here in the book], Rowl the Cat was done to an absolute perfect T and yet not overused and hence simply a prop. The others all fit into a good slot and helped things along.

We only get hints about the world however. Which considering how big this book was was probably a good thing. Save the whole "this is what our world is like and this is how it came to be" plotline for another book. I will be looking forward to that plotline however.

Codex Alera is my favorite series of books andyet  I can't stomach the Dresden Files so I wasn't sure which side of the line this series would come down on. Happily, I loved it. As much as I want to go buy a hardcover though, I am waiting to see how long this series goes and in what direction it turns. If it is a 6 book series like Codex Alera then I can totally see myself buying these. If however it becomes some sort of open ended cash revenue river like the Dresden Files then I will remember this fondly with a small sigh of regret.

Highly recommended as  a fast paced, thrilling SFF story that will keep you engaged through the whole book.

The City of Ravens (The Cities #1) (Forgotten Realms)

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Title: The City of Ravens
Series: The Cities
Author: Richard Baker
Rating: of 5 Battle Axes
Genre: SFF
Pages: 324
Format: Kindle




Synopsis:
Jack Ravenwild is a dandy, a thief, a magician and an utterly pompous kind of guy. So it isn't a surprise when he gets 3 different commissions from 3 different beautiful women. But since they all tie together in the end, it makes for a very light and fun adventure.

My Thoughts:
This was so deliberately over the top that I was rolling my eyes the entire time. Thankfully, Baker had enough skill and deftness of touch that I was also laughing while rolling my eyes.

Jack was an irrepressible character and had a flair for the fanciful. While most Forgotten Realms' books go for the faux-epic feel, or the dark and gritty, this was unabashed mockery of that. Either that or Baker is such a bad writer that he's a genius.
I wouldn't be able to take a steady diet of this, but every once in a while something silly is needed to counteract all the ridiculous authors who are miserable and take it out on us the readers.

After the bad experience I had with The Citadels series, I am encouraged that this started out so lightly.

Of Limited Loyalty (Crown Colonies #2)

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Title: Of Limited Loyalty
Series: Crown Colonies
Author: Michael Stackpole
Rating: of 5 Battle Axes
Genre: SFF
Pages: 483
Format: Kindle




Synopsis:
Several years after the events in the previous book, the Crown sends another agent to investigate a splinter group that has gone its own way and is looking to establish itself as an autonomous town.
What that agent, along with Owen Strake and the rest of the gang, find is Cthulhu'ic and a menace to the whole world. Can an understaffed,under-dragon'ed and under-magic'd group of people survive?

My Thoughts:
I knocked off 2 stars because this is NOT a duology. It is a series that has apparently been abandoned.
Good story, lots of action, magic, intrigue and stuff. But the ending is a cliffhanger and not a wrapping up of the story. Considering book 1 was released in '10, book 2 in '11 [this book] and nothing has been made mention, that I could see, on Stackpole's site about a continuation, I am forced to accept the fact that Stackpole bailed out, again.

I think I shall have to be done with Stackpole's books until such a time as he finishes a series or goes back to writing stand alone novels. That I could handle.

At the Queen's Command (Crown Colonies #1)

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Title: At the Queen's Command
Series: Crown Colonies
Author: Michael Stackpole
Rating: of 5 Battle Axes
Genre: SFF
Pages: 450
Format: Kindle



Synopsis:
An Alternate Fantasy History. A history where the King James Bible is the King Robert Bible. A world where magic is real, wurms are used as troops and NorIsle and Tharyngia are fighting as viciously as England and France ever did.
Owen Strake is a soldier, sent on a mission from NorIsle to explore and update the outer frontier regions of Mystria.
Only Owen is a pawn being used for hidden means. Can he throw off his shackles, fulfill his mission AND foil the hidden agenda that could spell his death?


My Thoughts:
In response to the above question, the answer is "Of Course!".  Owen Strake is the main character of the book and I thoroughly enjoyed following along. Owen goes from a snobby NorIslean to a Mystrian Patriot.
We get the best of the late 1700's with magic, zombies and battles.

The last time I read Stackpole was back when he did his Age of Discovery trilogy, which was horrible. It put me off of him for many years. And after I recently went on his website, it seems that he'd been going through a dry spell back then and hated writing.

Thankfully, he was back in top form with this series. While very different from Talion or Once a Hero, it was just as enjoyable and in many ways seemed more mature, in talent. This was a joy to read and my only complaint is that it is part on only a duology instead of something longer.