Bookstooge's Reviews On the Road

Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Reenlistment (America's Galactic Foreign Legion #2)

of 5 Battle Axes
OLD Rating:

of 5 Battle Axes
Genre: SFF
Pages: 147
Format: Kindle

UPDATE 1.26.16Penumbra Publishing stripped my review of its licensing info [the first paragraph above permitting only me to post this review] and then put the whole review on their own site. I was not asked nor did I give my permission for my review to appear on their site. This violates my rights as the copyright holder of this review.
So Walter Knight gets a 1 Star and no more sales, or reviews, from me. I won't support a thief or a thieving publisher.

Synopsis:
Gold! Gosh darned GOLD! A goldrush occurs and the spiders start up the war again.
Joey and the Legion are playing a 3 sided game and the silliness continues.

My Thoughts:
I didn't find this as funny as the first book. Part of that is what is funny the first time isn't as funny the second time around. It was still amusing and entertaining, but I wasn't laughing like I was in the first book.

I found the Human/Spider only interaction to be limiting as well. I was hoping for more mayhem between everyone, ie, the beetles, the ants, the spiders and the humans. But I guess the random spiders taking of humans was enough.

Feeling Lucky (America's Galactic Foreign Legion #1)

Review:

America's Galactic Foreign Legion - Book 1: Feeling Lucky - Walter Knight

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.

UPDATE 1.26.16Penumbra Publishing stripped my review of its licensing info [the first paragraph above permitting only me to post this review] and then put the whole review on their own site. I was not asked nor did I give my permission for my review to appear on their site. This violates my rights as the copyright holder of this review.
So Walter Knight gets a 1 Star and no more sales, or reviews, from me. I won't support a thief or a thieving publisher.

Title: Feeling Lucky
Series: America's Galactic Foreign Legion
Author: Walter Knight
NEW Rating: 1 of 5 Stars
OLD Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: SFF
Pages: 222

Synopsis:
In the Future, America rules the world and is in the process of ruling the Galaxy.
However, the Evil Bugs have taken a planet from humanity. So the call goes out and the American Foreign Legion is taking ANYONE to fight this threat against our very way of life, our EXISTENCE!!

My Thoughts:
This book started out with something like this in the dedication:
In the Tradition of Catch-22.

That right there set me off pretty bad. I hated that book, didn't like the humor so I was ready to DUMP on this book. The main character was a schlub, the plot a rip-off parody of Starship Troopers and the politics was the worst of a bureaucracy.

And I LOVED EVERY MINUTE. After the Schlub dies, it gets good. It was darkly funny, right wing hilarious [I mean, the United States declared war on pretty much everything, including Democrats, and won!] and completely disrespectful of any and all things military.

And the thing is, the mockery goes to the bugs, the ants, and all the OTHER aliens we encounter.

There are several more books in this series and I plan on reading them. This was probably closer to a 2.5 Star book with a 4 Star's worth of enjoyment. I love it when a book can do that.

Original post: Bookstooge.booklikes.com/post/1219617/feeling-lucky-america-s-galactic-foreign-legion-1

Scorpion Mountain (Brotherband Chronicles #5)

of 5 Battle Axes
Genre: SFF
Pages: 465
Format: Kindle

Synopsis:
Hal and crew are sent on a mission to stop a band of killers who have sworn an oath to kill Princess Cassandra.
Said killers just happen to be living in the middle of the desert. Vikings in the desert.
Seriously.

My Thoughts:
It is getting simply ridiculous just how many things Hal invents on the spot. In this book, it is glasses for the big guy who shoots the mangler. His feelings are hurt and so he wants to leave the Heron and Hal invents glasses so he can see and participate and feel better.

Other than that, this was a carbon copy of all the other books. Especially in how the characters react and relate to each other. Flanagan obviously has a system that works for him but I think I'll need a good 6 months between books so as to not overdose on middle grade/ ya'ness of it all.

And saying it is a carbon copy also means that the fighting and action are top notch. I do really enjoy the battles, on land and sea.

PenumbraPublishing Stole My Review

http://penumbrapublishing.com/php/Page-ReviewsResources.php

If you go down the page to:
Reviews for Walter Knight's AMERICA'S GALACTIC FOREIGN LEGION - Book 1...

You will see where they stole the whole of my review and simply omitted the gpl licensing. They did this without my consent.

Well, I guess I'll be 1Star'ing all of the 19 other Galactic Foreign Legion books now.

JUST when I was starting to get settled down from the crapfest of yesterday here at booklikes, this happens.

Penumbra Publishing is a group of thieves. I'm also posting this on all my blogs and on facebook. I want as many people as possible to know about this behavior and be aware that if you review a book by Penumbra Publishing, it will be used by them, without your permission.

I am also going to be commenting on their blog:
http://penumbrapublishing.blogspot.com/

God save me, I'm going off the freaking deep end here...

Monday, January 25, 2016

The Ruling Sea (The Chathrand Voyage #2)

of 5 Battle Axes
Genre: SFF
Pages: 641
Format: Kindle

Synopsis:
The Wolf group make the final sacrifice to stop the marriage and the false prophecy.
Only to fail beyond belief.
Now they must continue the battle, on the Chathrand. The Chathrand is on a voyage but their destination won't be quite what anybody planned.

My Thoughts:
This was sad and depressing and not in a good way. The Wolf group fall from one barely contained catastrophe into another. They don't have chance to get ahead, to plan, to figure out just what is going on. They are strictly reactive.

This was like watching someone being pushed down a long staircase and then applauding because they didn't break their neck.

I thought about stopping this book, this series. However, I am going to try the next book but will be ready to DNF it quick as a wink

Sunday, January 24, 2016

Temple Hill (The Cities #2) (Forgotten Realms)

Temple Hill: Forgotten Realms: The Cities - Drew Karpyshyn

of 5 Battle Axes
Genre: SFF
Pages: 324
Format: Kindle

Synopsis:
Corin was a mercenary that lost his hand, his band and his client. Now he's just a drunk.
Lhasha, a half elf, is a freelance thief in a city that has a Thieves Guild. They want her dead.
Together, they must protect each other, stop the Dragon Cult from taking over the city and figure out if their temporary partnership can really work.

My Thoughts:
This worked pretty good. It was an enjoyable read, Karpashyn is a competent author and it had all the elements of a mindless, but not stupid, Forgotten Realms book.

Saturday, January 23, 2016

Jurassic Park (Project Reread #1)

of 5 Battle Axes
Genre: Action/Adventure
Pages: 416
Format: Kindle

Project Reread:
I am attempting to reread 10+ books in 2016 that I have rated highly in the past. I am not attempting to second guess or denigrate my younger self in any way but am wanting to compare how my tastes have changed and possibly matured. I am certainly much more widely read now [both in the good and bad quality sadly] than then.
I will hopefully be going into the reasons for any differences of opinions between then and now. If there is no difference of opinion, then it was a hellfire'd fine book!
Links may link to either Booklikes or Blogspot, depending on when the original review was.

Synopsis:
John Hammond has created dinosaurs and wants to create a theme park with them. His investors are edgy and force him to hire several experts to tour the island.
Murphy hitches a ride and per his rule, anything that can go wrong, does.
Including the biting off of heads. Which is just awesome.

My Thoughts:
Back in 2002 I reread Jurassic Park. It was the first time I had read it since highschool in the 90's and probably had just watched that terrible Jurassic Park III movie.
When I was looking at my review, it was rather short, as were most of my reviews back then. 1 or 2 sentences.
I was sure that upon this reread I would have much more to say.

In all honesty, I could let that old review stand.

Now that I have read more of Crichton's stuff, his propensity for techno-blather is more apparent. It seriously gets in the way of the story. Not because it is dated, but because he goes on and on and uses projections as fact.
My biggest issue was the dna thing. I didn't have an issue at all with the fact that they "could" clone dinosaurs but with the fact that they just willy nilly used whatever kind of other dna they wanted to fill in the gap and it all just worked. It doesn't work that way.

On the character side of things, well, what a wretched group. I wished they ALL had died. Hammond was an egomaniac with delusions of grandeur. Ian Malcom was a self-absorbed asshole who loved to make cryptic remarks without actually saying anything and then gloating about everything. The kids, ahhh, what a bunch of whiners and that little girl just made me want to throw her to the t-rex. Ellie and Grant were both cardboard. Nobody else even stood out, so I guess they were either dinosaur fodder or wet cardboard.

On the good side of things, the dinosaurs eating people was as awesome as ever. Something about that is just viscerally satisfying. Back then AND now.

Unfortunately, the downsides were much more apparent this time around. Also, I am not nearly as willing now to put up with a huge crap fest to get the few diamonds buried deep within.

I would still recommend this to people, just not as enthusiastically as I would have before. Because hey, dinosaurs eating people is just plain awesome!

Project Reread Verdict:
Will Not Read Again

Deathstalker Honor (Deathstalker #4)

Deathstalker Honor - Donato Giancola, Simon R. Green

of 5 Battle Axes
Genre: SFF
Pages: 532
Format: Kindle

Synopsis:
Lionstone has been deposed and now all the factions must decide how to proceed.
The Maze group keep getting sent off on missions to keep them out of the way because politicians are always politicians and act like slime no matter what.
Owen still believes he can make a difference without taking over.
"Something" is in the Darkzone and is making even the AI's afraid.

My Thoughts:
This book is where I stop reading this series. I will not read books that depict homosexuality as good and normal. God calls it a sin and hence, so do I.

Besides that, this was tedious. I felt like I was reading a Dragon Ball Z novel with the characters constantly groaning and reaching new Power Levels and doing new and amazing things. And Owen still whines. I mean whines like a dog that has been hit with a roll of paper. Whine, whine, whine, whine.

Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Shadows of Self (Mistborn #5)

of 5 Battle Axes
Genre: SFF
Pages: 384
Format: Kindle

Synopsis:
Waxillium, otherwise known as Wax and his trusty pardner Wayne, are now city slickers and special deputized lawmen.
Only things aren't going so well in the Big City. "God" seems to have made life just a tad bit too easy for humanity and one of the "angels" has taken exception to that.
So Wax must stop an insane angel AND figure out if god is worth following after all.

My Thoughts:
This was a good book. It was exciting, it was tragic, it was funny, it was sad, it was light and it was very philosophical.
It was everything I expected from Brandon Sanderson.

It has been almost 4 years since I read Alloy of Law and to be honest, it was a tad confusing getting back into things. I remembered Wax and Wayne, but everyone else? It was like brand new characters. Thankfully, the next book in this second Mistborn trilogy is coming out next week and I plan on reading it first thing in February. That way there will be no lag time. But I was able to get past all that and get into the story.

I've also been reading The Many Faces of Evil and it fit right alongside of this very well. One of the main characters from the previous trilogy is now god and Wax has to decide if he is really worth following and obeying. This book went a lot deeper than I was expecting and I really liked it. I've struggled with the issue of evil and god ever since I was a teen and while this story doesn't even try to answer it, just the fact that a contemporary of mine is asking the same questions is heartening.

I also like seeing more mistborn ability in a modern setting. It shows Sanderson's imagination and ability as an author. Good times.

Sunday, January 17, 2016

Iceworld

of 5 Battle Axes
Genre: SFF
Pages: 221
Format: OCR Scan

Synopsis:
An alien teacher goes undercover to discover the source of a new, terrible drug. He goes to a world so cold that sulfur can be a solid.

My Thoughts:
This book commits the cardinal sin of being boring. I know it was written back in the 50's, but my take was that this book was written by an engineer about an alien engineer interacting with a human engineer who has engineer children. For me, engineers are like the government. They exist and I simply have to put up with them. My solution to both would be the same if I had my way: a bullet.

My second biggest issue was the whole "cold" issue. Not being up on my space history I am not sure when we found out all sorts of stuff about space, but the way Clement wrote I have to assume we, as humans, knew some stuff back in the 50's. I was under the impression that Space was cold. Any species that could travel interstellar distances would have dealt with a wide variety of planets, as well as Space itself. So the whole "Earth is SO cold" schtick just made me roll eyes, a lot.

If this was all that poor SFF fans had to read back in the day then I'll take today's system. I might have to deal with 99 pounds of pure poop, but at least I know there is a solid pound of good stuff. Whereas this book leads me to believe that there was 1 pound of books and maybe 1 ounce of SFF back then. And it was boring.