Magic: The Gathering Comprehensive Rules

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Title: Magic: The Gathering Comprehensive Rules
Series: -----
Editor: Del Laugel, Tim Aten
Rating:   of 5 Battle Axes
Genre: Non-fiction
Pages: 209
Format: Kindle




Synopsis:
As the title suggests, this is a set of comprehensive rules for the game Magic: The Gathering.
This rule set was created in March of 2015 and as such is already out of date.
Updated, downloadable versions can be found at:
Magic: The Gathering Comprehensive Rule Set

My Thoughts:
The 5 Battle Axes are not because I thought this was the bestest book EVAH, but because it accomplished what it was created to do, ie, explain all the rules, to date, about the game.

Let me tell you, those rules are comprehensive indeed and exhausting to read. But even with those rules, the whole Judge thing is still needed, with varying levels of Judges to interpret and adjudicate at tournaments.

I play M:TG very casually and recently have even moved away from playing with actual cards to the computer game version on Steam. Mainly because I don't like going to my local game shop and playing the people there. The fun of playing is outweighed by having to interact with people. I have also realized that most of the people there only play the new sets and as such their knowledge about how older cards work is flawed. I've lost several games because they said the rules meant "Y" but when I investigated further, the rules actually meant "X" and that would have changed the game. I'm just not confident enough of a player to force confrontation in the moment.

While I'm glad I read this, I don't think I'd use it much when playing. If my question is difficult enough for me to have to look it up, I'll just call my local store [Myriad Games for the record] and ask the guy there. They have some very knowledgeable people on staff.

The Seven Towers

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 Seven Towers
Series: -----
Author: Patricia Wrede
Rating: of 5 Battle Axes
Genre: SFF
Pages: 340
Format: Kindle





Synopsis:
The Seven Kingdoms are about to be invaded by the horde of barbarians from the South. Politics, romance and magic both new and very old, come into play.
Nothing is quite as it seems and the barbarians aren't invading, but fleeing. Can a rag tag group of people work together to prevent a massacre, stop a rogue dark wizard and put an end to a virulent magical plague, all at the same time.

My Thoughts:
I don't have a middle grade shelf/tag and tend to use either young adult or children. But this book would definitely fall into that category.
Characters are given just enough of a brush to make them unique without actual characterization, the plot is "vast" if you are new to this kind of thing and things just happen.

Now all of that can be a problem sometimes.But for this book, none of that bothered me at all. Just goes to show, sometimes you really do have to be in the right mood. I enjoyed my time reading this.

I do wonder, however, how much of that is because I already like Wrede's writing and hence let my foreknowledge affect things. An interesting conundrum if you're into that kind of thing.

Path of the Assassin (Scot Harvath #2)

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: Path of the Assassin
Series: Scot Harvath
Author: Brad Thor
Rating: of 5 Battle Axes
Genre: Thriller
Pages: 496
Format: Kindle







Synopsis:
Scot breaks up with the woman from the previous book because of Reasons.
He then gets involved with the CIA in bringing down a terrorist who is trying to start WWIII in the Middle East. But only Scot knows Reasons and everyone else is an idiot so it is up to Scot to save the world.
And he meets Woman 2.

My Thoughts:
Let's start off with 2 quotes from early on in the book:

Religions were supposed to represent tolerance.

pg 39

"To tell you the truth, Father, I don't think God has a favorite football team, or a favorite religion"

pg 40

Now, what kind of idiot is Brad Thor? I couldn't tell if he was being deliberately obtuse or just shockingly ignorant and letting his ignorance hang out there for all to see.
So that was not a good start to the book.

Then him breaking up with Swiss Lawyer lady because of their work situations.  Well duh! You have to make choices that put the relationship first and if you are in a work situation where you can't do that, or choose not to do that, then it won't last. And that idea was, surprisingly, given lip service. But then 2 weeks later he falls for President of Her Own Company Lady and NO thought is given that maybe this will follow the same path? Scot Harvath is having Emotional one night stands. The women so far might as well be emotional whores and Scot is their John. I'd toss him in jail so fast...

With all of that being said, this sunk below the 2 star mark and I was ready to just put this down. But, because it is a thriller, the action ramped up from 0-160 in the blink of an eye. Terrorist attacks, planes & hostages, gun battles from fast cars in a hurricane, speedboat chases, Special Ops attack on a terrorist camp. You name it, it probably happened.

And all that action is the only reason I continued this and am going to read the next book. For the record, that is NOT a good footing to be on.

The Fall of the White Ship Avatar (The Terran Inheritance #3)

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 Fall of the White Ship Avatar
Series: The Terran Inheritance
Author: Brian Daley
Rating: of 5 Battle Axes
Genre: SFF
Pages: 292
Format: Kindle






Synopsis:
Alacrity and Floyt are hot on the trail of Precursor artifacts and Alacrity is bound and determined to be on the council of the White Ship, which appears to be tied to his family's history.
Only Floyt has seen the future, from the causality harp, and knows that Alacrity will not be the Lord and Master of the White Ship.
Will their friendship survive? In fact, will they survive?

My Thoughts:
First, the kindle editions I have state on the inside cover that the series name is The Terran Inheritance. I don't have access to old paperbacks but I'd bet a dollar that that same page is in them as well. But everywhere I go I see the series as the protagonist's names. The Adventures of Alacrity Fitzhugh and Hobart Floyt, while descriptive, is simply to long and unwieldy. It is too bad that Daley still isn't around to kick some ass and get things straightened out.

This was partly about Fitz and Ho getting off a planet of sentient cattle-like beings and then about taking over the White Ship. While Alacrity's past has been hinted at in the previous books, here it takes front and center and it is a bit disconcerting. He goes from a talented space bum to some kind of Old School Space Admiral in about 2 breaths.  It wasn't that it didn't make sense but it was different from the previous 2 books. If I had wanted different I'd have gone and read a different book.

Daley was a good writer and a fun writer and that just shines on through even in the more serious moments. I have to hunt down his Coramande books but I'm in no big hurry as that is all I have to look forward to from him. Because he's dead.

Shadows of Sanctuary (Thieves' World #3)

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Title: Shadows of Sanctuary
Series: Thieves' World
Editor: Robert Asprin
Rating: of 5 Battle Axes
Genre: SFF
Pages: 338
Format: OCR Scan






Synopsis:
Further stories from the city of Sanctuary, recently taken over by the Empire.
It just keeps going lower into the gutter.

My Thoughts:
Janet Morris writes several of these stories and she seems to be a huge fan of the M/M mercenary idea. What a disgusting pervert. This was going downhill anyway, but that pushed this into the "won't be reading any more of this series" territory.

And it was becoming more about the Empire as much as Sanctuary. I don't want to read about some grubby Empire and some disgusting mercenaries.

Echoes in Time (Time Traders #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: Echoes in Time
Series: Time Traders
Author: Andre Norton, Sherwood Smith
Rating: of 5 Battle Axes
Genre: SFF
Pages: 288
Format: Kindle





Synopsis:
Ross, his new bride Eveleen and a bunch of other Time Agents, both American and Russian, head to the world where they originally found the Baldie chrome ship.
A russian group of time agents have already been dispatched and have disappeared so Ross and Co must solve that mystery and figure out if it is some Baldie plot to destroy humanity.

My Thoughts:
My phracking goodness, relational, relational, relational. Ross and his wife. Americans and Russians. Agents and agents. Agents and aliens. Aliens and...
you name it, Sherwood sticks it in there.

The previous TT book I disliked because it was a romance, plain and simple. This was worse, in many ways, because it was all about feelings and self-introspection and solving deepseated issues. I can like those kinds of books, but Time Traders was about raw, powerful men getting a raw deal and then fixing it. Preferably with large amounts of violence of one sort or another while at the same time using their brains to keep things under control.

I feel that I was riding a Harley motorcycle for the first four books and then suddenly, when I stopped for gas, someone switched it out with a pink vespa. You don't change vehicles mid-ride. It is one thing to restart a series, but to change the tone this drastically, well, you might have done better to start a new series altogether because you sure lost this fan.

There is one more TT book and I plan on reading it but as far as I'm concerned, there are only 4 Time Traders books.

Badland (Warlord #3)

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: Badland
Series: Warlord
Author: Jason Frost
Rating:   of 5 Battle Axes
Genre: Action/Adventure
Pages: 171
Format: Kindle






Synopsis:
Eric Ravensmith continues his hunt of Dirk Fallows who still has his son Tim.
And the United States is sending in a space shuttle to recover some secret science stuff that is on the now island of California.

My Thoughts:
Man, this was pretty bad. Cannibal children, the freaking space shuttle! Come on, if the mainland wanted something from California, there are easier ways than the space shuttle. And astronauts with a minimal of military training.

Eric almost rescues his son, Fallows is brainwashing Tim and one woman leaves on the space shuttle and the other stays behind. Gratuitous sex scenes allround.

Ugh....

A Hero's Guide to Storming the Castle (League of Princes #2)

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: A Hero's Guide to Storming the Castle
Series: League of Princes
Author: Christopher Healy
Rating: of 5 Battle Axes
Genre: SFF
Pages: 497
Format: Kindle




Synopsis:
The Princes all come together, some willingly, some not so willingly, for another adventure to save ALL the kingdoms.
From Briar Rose.
And lots of other things happen along the way.

My Thoughts:
I enjoyed this, but not quite as much as the previous book, A Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom.
Part of that was that the new'ness of the idea wasn't new now. Another part was the continued romance subplot about everybody not sure who they're actually in love with. I didn't like that at all.

I liked the pictures. They captured the various characters rather well and lent a humorous air to the book.

Double Crossfire (The Executioner #40)

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: Double Crossfire
Series: The Executioner
Author: Don Pendleton, Steven Krauzer
Rating: of 5 Battle Axes
Genre: Action/Adventure
Pages: 185
Format: Kindle






Synopsis:
A flare up in the Turk/Armenian conflict draws in the USSR and a heapload of heroin.
It is up to Mack to stop the drugs and the commies!

My Thoughts:
This was tough to read. I don't know why NOW I have an issue with the trite shallowness but it was so glaring that I couldn't get past it. I suspect I'm going to have to limit these to one every month or two.

Sigh...

Pawn's Gambit: And Other Stratagems (ARC)

I received this copy from the publisher through Netgalley.com and that in no way has influenced my opinion in regards to this 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: Pawn's Gambit: And Other Stratagems
Series: -----
Author: Timothy Zahn
Rating: of 5 Battle Axes
Genre: SFF
Pages: 342
Format: Kindle



Synopsis:
A collection of short stories that Zahn has published in magazines. The first half of the book was stories that I'd read in other paperback collections of Zahn's collected short stories and the last half of the book, with the exception of the titular story, Pawn's Gambit, were all new.

My Thoughts:
I was expecting all new stories, so to have the first half be ones that I'd read before, or multiple times [as I've bought almost all of Zahn's old books in paperback] was a bit of a letdown.
Even with that, those stories were still excellent.

Then came the new stories and it was evident that Zahn has NOT lost his touch for encapsulating an idea and creating a story around it. His latest Cobra books have been rather a disappointment to be honest and I've been wondering if Zahn's time as an author was starting to get near the end. These new stories show that he is on top of the game as never before.

Which leads me to wonder, who has changed more, me, or Zahn? I read Cobra back in middle school and it has stayed on my "I love this book!" shelf ever since. Maybe the latest books in that series are showing me how "I" have changed as a reader and not so much that Zahn has changed as an author.

All of that is just to say that this short story collection is good! It would be a great way to introduce someone to Zahn without overwhelming them with a series. For those of us in the old guard, who have devoured all the older books by Zahn, this is still worth it for the new stories.

One of the main reasons I took a star off was because several of the stories have ending commentary from Zahn, when they were part of another collection. Those commentaries show their age and in some cases, show they are part of another collection. Very lazy on the publisher's part. Cut or update. It was just jarring the way they cut n pasted.