Bookstooge's Reviews On the Road

Friday, February 19, 2016

If Only They Could Talk ( All Creatures Great and Small #1) 4.5 Stars

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: If Only They Could Talk
Series: All Creatures Great and Small
Author: James Herriot
Rating: 4.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Autobiography
Pages: 205
Format: Scan

Synopsis:
Jim has just graduated from Vet school in England, at a time when the tractor is literally putting the horse out to pasture.
Thankfully, he gets a post as an assistant in a small rural town and these memoirs are the various adventures, funny and sad, that he has with the animals and the owners.

My Thoughts:
Thoroughly enjoyed this. Herriot's writing style is laid back and calm and I was swept along with each story. Even in the midst of some of the sad stories, Herriot's ability to keep it light made it easier to deal with.
At the same time, the funny stories didn't have me roaring with laughter, but they had me laughing out loud and nodding when human nature shown through, the same then as it is now.

He doesn't shy away from describing some of the very nasty and gross things that a vet had to deal with. And he doesn't shy away from describing how he felt at 2am, after getting back from one call, grabbing all of 15min of sleep and then having another come in. The descriptions feel genuine. Not all shiny, not all crap.

I also connected with his love of his job. On the good days and the bad.

On a book'ish side of things, I didn't realize that this was re-released, or re-titled or something, as All Creatures Great and Small. I guess it isn't just indies who can screw their fanbase over.

Thursday, February 18, 2016

The Secret of Excalibur (Wilde and Chase #3)

The Secret Of Excalibur - Andy McDermott

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 Secret of Excalibur
Series: Wilde and Chase
Author: Andy McDermott
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Action/Adventure
Pages: 530
Format: Kindle

Synopsis:
A man claiming to be a friend of Nina's parents gives Nina some important info about the sword Excalibur and then, before he can actually explain anything, is promptly killed.
This sets Nina and Eddie onto the case and into yet another whirlwind adventure, this time trying to recover Excalibur, before a nefarious, blacker than black, Agency of the United States can use it to start World War III. And they have to deal with a Russian billionaire who wants it for himself.

And Nina meets Eddie's family.

My Thoughts:
Except for one little bit, less than a page, I enjoyed this adventure the most, even while groaning. Everything is just so neat and pat and the puzzles are revealed like nine pins and Nina knocks them down like a professional bowler and Eddie just handles everything physical beyond what even Batman could take. I need to turn off my brain so I don't ask questions and I'd enjoy these better.

The main thing that bothered me was when Nina is getting some medal from the United States President, they have a back and forth about his supporters and how a bunch of them are Creationists. In that conversation Nina is snide beyond belief and the President pretty much throws them under the bus. It just came out of left field, smacked me in the face and then was never part of the story again. And this type of thing hasn't been in the previous 2 books, so it was weird to have it thrown in. Maybe McDermott had had a bad day or something?

Once again, the action was top notch. There was a car chase in England, somewhere, and Eddie and Nina are having a shootout with the Russians and Eddie's grandmother is in the car with them. Eddie is a habitual swearer and it was very amusing to read about him trying to turn his streaks of swearing into something more presentable for his grandmother. It just made me grin.

Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Magebane

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: Magebane
Series: -----
Author: Lee Chane
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: SFF
Pages: 496
Format: Kindle

Synopsis: Spoilers Ahead, mateys!
A young man gets involved with a scientist, who is intent on proving that the impenetrable "Barrier" can be flown over. Unbeknownst to them, said barrier protects a society of mages, who separated themselves from the world 800 years ago.
One mage wants to bring the barrier down and will use the young man to further his aims of world domination. But a mythical being known as the Magebane might end things before they even get going.

Is Magic or Technology greater? That is the question.
But when the magic is limited and the bullets aren't, I think that is a rhetorical question indeed.

My Thoughts:
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Most of the action actually takes place inside the barrier and the young man who we are first introduced to is NOT the magebane. That was why I knocked off a half star. I just didn't like that. The magebane is the prince of the mage society and he is a created being. It completely made sense, but I'd of rather had the outsider be the magebane.

With that being said, most of the action revolves around the prince, the young outsider and a girl who is the ward of the mage who wants to rule the world. Near the end there was a hint of a romance triangle, but thankfully that was squashed faster than a fly. There was a lot of the internal issues of the mage kingdom and the Rebellion and the infighting of the mages themselves. Very little of the outside world. At the end the young man comes back with guns and does some damage from his airship and THAT was what I was expecting from the get go, not as the end.

I was going to say that I searched out all of Chanes' other books, but since it appears he writes as several people [and I'm not even sure if Chane is yet another cover], I think I'll pass. I don't need to waste time because some author has a complex.

Sunday, February 14, 2016

The Argonaut Affair (Time Wars #7)

The Argonaut Affair (Time Wars Book 7) - Simon Hawke

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 Argonaut Affair
Series: Time Wars
Author: Simon Hawke
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: SFF
Pages: 212
Format: Kindle

Synopsis:
The characters from our timeline are going to make a pre-emptive strike against the other timeline by creating a split in their universe. And they choose the story of Jason and the Golden Fleece to do this.
Problem is, they and the other timeline people, are all being manipulated by the crazy mad russian. Who still wants to cause multiple time splits, but now in BOTH universes.
Oy Vey!

My Thoughts:
I enjoyed this. But that was because I cut the strings from my eyes to my brain so my eyes wouldn't be rolling the whole time I was reading this.

I mean, robot amazonians, robot birds, robot Hercules?!? And don't forget the robot zombies and robot Colossus of Rhodes. It was so bad it was good. But that was only because I was in the mood for it. Objectively, I would have called this trash.

These are the kind of books I read simply to pass the time between other books. Kind of like those free bread rolls you get at restaurants while waiting for your meal. You would not pay $50 for those rolls, but since they're included, hey, why not eat one? Unless you have a gluten or wheat allergy, in which case, you'll die frothing at the mouth rolling around on the restaurant floor while the other diners look on in horror and the staff scream and run around in a panic.

Friday, February 12, 2016

Chalion (Chalion #1)

The Curse of Chalion - Lois McMaster Bujold

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: Chalion
Series: Chalion
Author: Lois Bujold
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 512
Format: Kindle

Synopsis:
A betrayed, broken soldier comes begging for a job at the old castle where he used to be a page.
He becomes the tutor to the eldest daughter and her handmaid and when said daughter and her younger brother are called to the capital to begin their grooming of being royal heirs, Soldier Man follows along.
Right into the middle of a curse on the whole nation. Now it is up to him and a small group to try to break this curse before it devours the entire country with civil war.

My Thoughts:
This should have been a 4 or 4 1/2 star read. It had everything I wanted, in spades. A good hero with some great friends. A couple of young lassies who have and actually use their brains. Bad guys who were B-AAAAHHHHH-D. Magic. Demons and gods.
The perfect amount of romance.

But about half way through I just couldn't wait for it to be over. I don't know why and I can't pin ANYTHING down as to why this didn't do it for me. The writing was top notch as well. It isn't like I hated it [giving it 3 stars means it was enjoyable] or anything, but I simply have no desire to read any more in this series or anything by Bujold at all.

And there is one thing I can nail down, even though it makes no sense. Lois whateverhermiddlenameis Bujold. I hate it when authors use middle names. I can understand when they use a middle initial if their name is common, like John Smith. But Lois Bujold? I JUST realized, perhaps that was her maiden name? Doesn't matter. Among the hundreds of Lois Bujold's that I know, thank goodness this one distinguishes herself with another name. I am thinking of contacting Patricia McKillip and telling her that all the cool authors are using 3 names now, so she should get on the band wagon. Since this is literally the only thing I can complain about this book, it remains a mystery to me why this just didn't rise above the so-so for me.

Ah well, maybe Sherlock can solve this case someday.

Saturday, February 06, 2016

Superman: Kal (Elseworlds) (Graphic Novel)

Superman: Kal - José Luis García-López, Todd Klein, Dave Gibbons

Superman: Speeding Bullets (Elseworlds) (Graphic Novel)

Superman: Speeding Bullets - J.M. DeMatteis, Eduardo Baretto

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: Superman: Speeding Bullets
Series: Elseworlds
Author: J.M. DeMatteis
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Graphic Novel
Pages: 48
Format: Paper and scan

Synopsis:
What would have happened if the infant Superman had been found by the Waynes of Gotham City instead of the Kents of Kansas? That's the question this graphic novel examines, as the child from another planet witnesses the death of his parents at the hands of a Gotham mugger and grows up to become a bat-caped avenger of the night.

My Thoughts:
I have always enjoyed the Elseworlds books, long or short, as they give us a new perspective on something we already know all about. It was pretty much DC's answer to Marvel's line of What If? comics.

Technical stuff first. I read this on my new tablet first, an 8inch asus zenpad something something something. It is a 4x3 format, so it was much better suited to reading comics on that my older nexus. I had no problems reading the text or seeing any of the comic panels. There were a couple of panels that looked hideously pixelated; however, upon reading my paper copy, it was the same there so I'm guessing it was some sort of artistic "thing".
When I reread this immediately after with my paper copy, I have to admit I found it a little big. But no real noticeable difference, for which I was glad.

The story and idea. Combining Superman and Batman into one character and bringing both those worlds together [Lex Joker anyone?] was pure genius. It was fun to see worked out.
However, at only 48 pages, this was jam packed, compressed and generally just an overview. That really made the story suffer. Big important things happen in 1, maybe 2 pages. It felt rushed, which it was. The idea was big enough to put into a 300page graphic novel.

This is probably one of the better, short, Superman, Elseworld comics out there however.

Friday, February 05, 2016

Ember and Ash (Castings #4)

of 5 Battle Axes
Genre: SFF
Pages: 521
Format: Kindle

Synopsis:
The conflict between the peoples didn't end when the original Castings Trilogy ended.
Now the gods want in on the conflict. And they'll freeze out the whole domain, kill anyone they want to and generally act like spoiled children until they get what they want.
And only Ember and her cousin by adoption, Ash, can stop it. But instalove strikes and makes it really, really hard. Boo hoo.

My Thoughts:
I read the original Castings Trilogy back in '09 and '10. I really should have left it at that. The Castings ended a 1000 year old feud, had 6 to 10 different character viewpoints and was completely character driven. I was ok with that because of the 6-10 characters helped break things up.

This though, had 2 or 3 characters and they all were everything that I can't stand about ya books. Ash and Ember would have fit perfectly into ANY CW network show without missing a beat. "her eyes", "his warm touch", "the smell of her hair", "his strong masculinity". Just gag me right now.

Castings did not strike me as young adult or stay focused on a doomed love. This book did nothing but dwell on that. Just about everyone, at some point in their life, will have a doomed love. But most of us grow up, get over it and move on. And find something even better. For example, what I share with my wife is so outside of what I could have imagined as a 22 year old that I probably would have rejected it when I was 22. But now? My wife fits me, complements me and generally makes my life better in ways that I wasn't even aware that I needed when we first got married. And I never would have had that if I was focused on the girl I couldn't have back in my 20's.

While I recommend the Castings trilogy, with the caveat about the character driven'ness of it, this I can't recommend. A younger group might enjoy this, but then I don't know if they'd enjoy the Castings and that was the far superior set of books.

So it all boils down to "bleh". I won't be trying anymore by Freeman.

Sunday, January 31, 2016

January '16 Roundup

A pretty good month again. 22 reads, with one being a short story, another a novella, a third a graphic novel and a fourth a volume of manga.

Started my Project Reread with Jurassic Park as well. I've got 6 or 7 more books lined up already for this project, which will give me time to figure out what I want to reread for the last several.

The most fun read was Archie vs Predator graphic novel. It encouraged me to dig out my old graphic novels and give them a spin, as it appears that I never recorded reading or reviewing them. That might be because it has been so long, just not sure. Either way, expect to see more graphic novels to be reviewed by me this coming year.

Most enjoyable was a three way tie between Death of Dulgath, Shadows of Self and Hidden Masters of Marandur. All three were solid, dependable, enjoyable fantasy reads. Each author already has a track record of writing solidly, so I was expecting good things and thankfully wasn't let down.

None of these books are in the running for Best Book of the Year. After last years double hitter of His Sombre Rivals and Flowers for Algernon I am not sure that 2016 can produce a book on that level. But I've got the rest of the year to find out :-D

Saturday, January 30, 2016

Shadow Games (The Chronicles of the Black Company #5)

Shadow Games: The Fourth Chronicles of the Black Company: First Book of the South - Glen Cook

of 5 Battle Axes
Genre: SFF
Pages: 320
Format: Kindle

Synopsis:
Croaker, along with the few remaining members of the Black Company, head towards a fabled city where the Black Company supposedly originated hundreds of years ago.
Along the way, they pick up a "few" more members and end up battling Taken that have faked their death.
Right at the end it looks like both Croaker [who is now the captain for the Black Company] and the Lady are dead, but I won't be sure until I read the next book.

My Thoughts:
These books are touted as "dark" and "anti-hero" and supposedly had a great influence on Steven Erikson and his epic Malazan Book of the Fallen series. I can see that but where Erikson went wrong, in my opinion, was that he left out the humor. You can only grind my nose into so much existential crap before I start to hate you as an author.

And that is why I can continue to like these books. There are grand flashes of humor at just the right points so you don't get mired down in the muck of ever ongoing battles for survival. Not laugh out loud moments, at least not for me, but deft touches that brought my spirits up and enhanced my enjoyment of reading about a group of mercenaries who really have no reason to continue their existence.

It was grand fun watching the Black Company just steam roll over all opponents for the first 90% of the book. They just couldn't lose. Which I think was a setup by Cook, on purpose. Because that last 10% made me wonder how these books were going to keep on going. So of course I'm going to keep reading. I was manipulated by Cook, realized it and ended up liking it.