Soldiers Live (The Chronicles of the Black Company #10) (Final)

^{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 WordPress, Blogspot, Booklikes & Librarything by  Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission.}
Title: Soldiers Live
Series: The Chronicles of the Black Company #10
Author: Glen Cook
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: SFF
Pages: 528
Format: Kindle digital edition

Synopsis:

The Final Chapter of the Black Company. The Company has made their home in the new world, but nobody wants to stay. Not the company, not the people of the world. So between Sleepy and Croaker, the Black Company once again invades their "homeworld."
But Kina, Shivetya and the Lady's Sister are still around and still plotting. Is the Black Company the people we have come to know in the last 10 books, or is the Black Company an idea that mutates and changes across time and across worlds?

My Thoughts:

What a fitting end to this series.  All of the characters we have come to know meet an appropriate end for the Black Company. Which means that about 9/10th's of them die.
That brings up the first thing that I appreciated about this series. Cook walks the razor thin line of making us care for and like particular characters and still making them meet the problems that they face without the assurance that they will survive. Cook doesn't introduce characters JUST to make them die but neither is anyone a Luke, Han or Leia.

The worlds go on. I like a happily ever after, but until the End of Days and the Judgement Day, I know that just won't happen. It is good to see how humans strive and continue to fight. I wouldn't like a steady diet of this bleak outlook but I do appreciate the reminder that life is tough and people we love do die.

Cook is also very deft with his philosophizing through his characters. Instead of being beat over the head, we get quick slaps to the back of the head. A little sting just to remind us.

Finally, the story. Cook took us through a journey that spanned worlds where we were only expecting towns. Powers and Prophecies came and went, people rose and fell and through it all the Black Company existed. In different shapes, in different forms, with many purposes but always surviving. I loved reading this series and thoroughly enjoyed the time I spent in this world.

Robin 3000 (Elseworlds: R3K #1)

^{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 WordPress, Blogspot, Booklikes & Librarything by  Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission.}
Title: Robin 3000
Series: Elseworlds: Robin 3000 #1
Author: Byron Preiss, et al
Rating: 2 of 5 Stars
Genre: Comic
Pages: 59
Format: Digital scan

Synopsis:

It is the year 2999, Earth has been taken over by the Skulp and Bruce Wayne's descendant continues the fight for freedom using the Batman mythos. Unable to escape the Skulp, Wayne passes on the torch to his nephew and assistant, Tom Wayne, aka Robin.

Escaping from the Skulp, Tom must hook up with the resistance. The Skulp however, have created a cyborg of Tom and have it publicly collaborating with them and decrying the Wayne name.

My Thoughts:

This was a big disappointment. Batman the 30 eleventieth talks for  2 pages about being a martyr, then gets blown up. But he has enough time safely set Tom down.

Tom is not Robin. He gets a cyborg hand part way through this volume, but he's not a detective, he's not martial and he certainly hasn't been trained by a Batman, any Batman. He's just the Wayne heir. And no costume.

This was simplistic in the bad way. Things just happened, because. Meeting the scientist who gave him his new hand was the perfect example.

Tom's pilot friend:"My friend needs a new hand, here's our crashed spaceship in payment."
Dr: "Ok"
Tom upon awakening: "I am Tom Wayne, I can figure this hand out easily".
Dr: "Drat, a Wayne. But don't worry, I won't turn you in to the Skulp, because I don't feel like it."

That is a slight exaggeration, but not much and the whole tone of the book felt like a Hardy Boys in space. And no costume.

There are 2 volumes to this little Elseworld story, but after making it through this volume, I need a week before I want to tackle the next volume.  I'm disappointed in the simplicity of the story [with all the attendant weaknesses and lack of full bodied thinking] and the fact that "Robin" doesn't show up in his phracking costume!

Even this guy would have been better:

 

Stalking the Zombie (John Justin Mallory #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 WordPress, Blogspot, Booklikes & Librarything by  Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission.}
Title: Stalking the Zombie
Series: John Justin Mallory #3
Author: Mike Resnikc
Rating: 2.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: SFF
Pages: 222
Format: Kindle digital scan

Synopsis:

A collection of short stories about John Justin Mallory, a private investigator who has been transported to an other worldly version of Manhattan.

Solving mysteries with an old fat lady who hunted monstrous creatures in the deepest jungles and taking care of a spoiled cat girl, Mallory also has to put up with the East Coasts most powerful demon. Who never tells a lie. Odd that.

My Thoughts:

This was ok. While it is the 3rd book in the series [something I didn’t realize when I started reading this], being a collection of short stories it fills in everything you need to know to feel right at home. Certain aspects were extremely repetitive, which once again, is because of it being short stories that were written at widely varying times and for widely varying publications. I found I could skip about 3 paragraphs per story once I’d read the first story.

Mallory was supposed to be a hard bitten PI but he came across a gambling addict who relied too much on his own perceived smarts instead of working hard. One short story was ok but more than that and it just wasn’t fun any more. Too bad, because Resnick has a pretty good track record with me.

Abaddon's Gate (The Expanse #3) DNF@7%

^{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 WordPress, Blogspot, Booklikes & Librarything by  Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission.}
Title: Abaddon’s Gate
Series: The Expanse #3
Author: James Corey
Rating: 1/2 of 5 Stars
Genre: SFF
Pages: DNF
Format: Kindle digital edition

My Thoughts:

Due to a Christian pastor living in a homosexual relationship and that being portrayed as acceptable [by the writers, the readers and the Bible by inference], I will not be finishing this book or continuing with this series.

Grunge (Monster Hunter Memoirs #1)

^{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 WordPress, Blogspot, Booklikes & Librarything by  Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission.}
Title: Grunge
Series: Monster Hunter Memoirs #1
Author: John Ringo, Larry Correia
Rating: 2 of 5 Stars
Genre: SFF
Pages: 320
Format: Kindle digital edition

Synopsis:

Oliver Gardenier, aka Gary Stu, is a boy wonder with some seriously messed up parents. He joins the marines in defiance of his mother and ends up talking to St Peter and given a mission back on Earth: to hunt Monsters. Joining up with Monster Hunters International, Oliver details his adventures.

He also details his seriously messed up theological thoughts on Jesus and God. And just in case you forget, he also states, over and over and over, how successful with women he is.

My Thoughts:

If this had been just an MHI story, it would have been awesome. 4stars easy, pushing 4 1/2.

First thing that pushed it down was Gardenier’s continual references to his womanizing. He justifies it by saying he doesn’t want to leave a widow and orphans behind when he inevitably dies on the job, but that is so much BS. He’s probably leaving a trail of byblows who are growing up without a dad and string of woman who wanted more than a night. Those excuses lead into the second, and bigger, reason.

Theology. Ringo, and he is the author of this book, not Correia, presents sin as something just kind of ‘meh’ and that Jesus is our Dude who tells God to chill out on our behalf. In fact, Ringo/Gardenier states that you have to do something REALLY bad to go to hell now. Ringo threw around enough biblical names, terms, etc that it is obvious he’s at least familiar with Scripture but simply choosing to twist it to allow him to do whatever he wants.

Once past those, like I said,  it is a tremendous MHI story. I’ll be reading the next book but with some serious reservations.

The Toughest Warriors in Tokyo (Eyeshield 21 #15) (Manga Monday)

^{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 WordPress, Blogspot, Booklikes & Librarything by  Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission.}
Title: The Toughest Warriors in Tokyo
Series: Eyeshield 21 #15
Author: Riichiro Inagaki
Artist: Yusuke Murata
Rating: 4.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Manga
Pages: 208
Format: Digital Scan

Synopsis:  Spoiler

In a surprise move, Sena carries the ball through the Poseidon wall and it looks like he’s home free, until he gets tackled on the 1 yard line! With 2 seconds on the clock, Sena is blocked and it is up to short Komusubi to literally use all his strength and push the whole group of players into the end zone. Hence winning the game for the Devil Bats.

Sena meets an old friend and it turns out they’re going to be arch-rivals in the next game, as Riku is the secret weapon for the Gunmen in the next match. Master and Apprentice matchup!

Deimon High has a field day and Hiruma blackmails those in charge so he can run it as he sees fit. He then proceeds to use it as a training day for his players. What a sneaky guy!

My Thoughts:

Wow, wow, wow!!!

The conclusion to the Devil Bats/Poseidon game was fantastic. That is how a sports manga should read, in doubt of who will win right up until the last second. Even while knowing that the series continues up to 37’ish, I was still wondering who was going to win. That is the kind of experience I want.

The Field Day chapters lent the humorous air that I’ve come to expect and was executed perfectly. Hiruma and his plans. The manga-ka must have a blast coming up with such silly and fun ideas.

The ongoing story line of Musashi and why he’s not on the team continues and we see that without a kicker the Devil Bats can’t possibly win against the last couple of teams. 1 or 2 points will decide the games to come. Things are obviously being setup for a dramatic return at the last deciding moment of one of the games. Rather good drama.

Bookstooge Reviews 2016

2016 was on the whole a very good year for me. There will be lots of pictures and links in this post and the wordcount is the highest so far this year, so lets get cracking!

The Year in Visual Review. I continue to use Ipiccy.com for my collages, as their 25picture box works very well with the number of books I read each month and their iphone4 setting keeps all the squares pretty close to the cover sizes so the covers don’t get chopped off. I am sure there is a lot more I could be doing, but a monthly roundup is about the limit of my artsy-fartsy’ness.






I read 228 books this year. This was up from last years 183. Much of that is due to starting up Manga Monday again.








My pages read went up as well. From just under 63000 to just over 77000. Even though, in all fairness that includes the full number of pages for books that I DNF’d and abandoned. So take that number with a pinch or two of salt.




Each month stayed pretty steady in terms of overall books read with only 3 months dipping below the 18book mark. Even in August when I had to take some emergency time off to go move my parents when they unexpectedly sold their house in 2 weeks instead of the 3 months everyone was planning on. Which just means that I’ve made reading my main hobby this year and put most of my time and attention into it.






The Stars shall speak


13  
8   
58 
53 
49 
13 
12 
1   
14 
4   
3   

That makes my average for the year right around 3.25. Considering that a 3 is a good and completely average read, 3.25 means I pulled ahead of just plain good. I am more than satisfied with that.



On to the Books themselves!

Venetia was probably the best 1Star of the Year. It was fun to do a buddy read outside of my genre. It did reinforce my thoughts on the Romance genre however.

Worst 1Star was a tossup between Obsidian Worlds and The Store. Both got my stomach churning with disgust and outrage.

Best Non-Fiction wasn’t that hard because it was the only real N0n-fiction I read AND it was a 5Star’r. The Many Faces of Evil. It was just what I needed this year with my friend Amy losing her preemie twins and dealing with stage 4 cancer, all at the same time.

Best 5Star was once again a tossup. This time it was between 2 Re-reads, Dune & Way-farer. If I had to pick a new book, I’d go with Heirs of Empire, as it just hit me right at the right time.

Weirdest book of the year was definitely Gregor Xane‘s Taboogasm.  It just doesn’t get any weirder than that. If it does, I don’t want to know about it😀


Project ReRead
This was a complete success. 11 books that I had read before being read again with the aim of comparing how my tastes had changed and how that was reflected in my enjoyment and rating of said books. I still enjoyed every single book. However, I was able to determine that this was the last time I would read some of them.

I cherry picked specific books just so I wouldn’t bog down. That did lead to me realizing that some of these books are going to be favorites of mine for quite some time.  It also lead to the realization that while I’ve matured as a reader and can articulate the why’s and wherefores better, at heart, I’m still just a big geek/nerd.

Because it was such a success, I decided to expand upon the whole idea in a big way for ’17 and quite possibly into ’18. I’ve got a whole bunch of SERIES that I’m going to be rereading. They are:

I) Malazan books of the Fallen by Steven Erikson
II) Dune Chronicles by Frank Herbert
III) Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia Wrede
IV) Night Angel Trilogy by Brent Weeks
V) Patricia McKillip’s books
VI) Space trilogy by C.S. Lewis
VII) Shadows of the Apt by Adrian Tchaikovsky
VIII) The Malaz Empire novels by Iain Esslemont
IX) Swan’s War trilogy by Sean Russell
X) Polity books by Neal Asher

So be prepared for a lot of whining and angst from me as I rip into these. I did choose books that I think will stand up to my high standards, hahhaaha.

For my other plans for 2017, please feel free to read them HERE.






2016 is the year that Booklikes crashed. Crashed and Burned. Staff literally disappeared, the site kept breaking in new and varied ways, people left, people couldn’t join up. Some of the more patient and determined members made a supreme effort to stick around, figure out ways to work around the broken bits and keep members from totally hemorrhaging away. One staff member has returned at the end of the year but the site still crawls or doesn’t load right for long stretches at a time.

I am staying at Booklikes but it is no longer my primary social booksite. When it takes me 3 tries and 5minutes to just comment, that pretty much kills my desire to be there. You can find me there at: Bookstooge.booklikes.com

To anyone who I have followed at wordpress who also is on booklikes, just let me know which site you prefer interaction at. I unfollowed a lot of people at Booklikes who started up blogs at WP but I know not everyone will make the move to WP and I don’t want to lose interaction if I can help it😀





I joined Librarything with a free lifetime membership, thanks to some other Bookliker’s. I am using it as a backup catalogue site since I can’t export from Booklikes and I don’t know how long BL will last.

It is VERY different from what I am used to and you’re going to hear me complain about those differences, a lot! That doesn’t mean I will stop using it or that I hate the site. It just means that I am set in my ways and learning a new way brings out my inner cranky.

You can find me there at: librarything.com/profile/BookstoogeLT




I’ve been on WP.com since ’13, but more as a backup than as anything serious. As BL kept pushing me away, I started looking around at other booksites to find an alternative. I tried a lot of places but one thing or another just made them unpalatable. So finally I started making a serious effort to find new people here on WordPress and connect with fellow Booklikers who also had backup blogs here.

I’d like to thank you all who I follow for writing such fun things and I’d like to thank all of you who have chosen to follow me. It is nice to know that I am not screaming into the void. I plan on find another handful of bloggers to follow and to refine those I already do, as I see who posts regularly and who does it sporadically.



AND I think that about wraps it up. I’m plum out of words anyway, so that forces the issue. So onward to 2017 and a lot of Good Books!

December '16 Roundup & Ramblings

Another good month overall.

Only Tropic of Serpents was 1star and that was because it bored me rather than because it was poorly executed. Several 4 & 4 1/2 Star reads, so I'm pretty happy with that.

The Blood Mirror was probably my best read this month, as it had a mix of Epic SFF, Complete Tomenosity [weighing in at just over 700 pages] and a solid hefty storyline. However, Heirs of Empire was definitely the most fun book of the month and it hit the sweet spot even while I was able to acknowledge that it wasn't in the same league as Blood Mirror.

Manga Monday is continuing strong with Eyeshield 21. This manga series is really keeping my interest and is doing a great job of mixing the sports with the personal. Christmas brought me lots of giftcards so I'm going to be using them to start buying my next manga series to read, Oh My Goddess!. With 48 volumes, I'm going to need all the time that the next 20 volumes of Eyeshield 21 can give me.

Project Re-Read finished on a decent note with the rest of the Icerigger Trilogy. I'll be talking more about that in my 2016 Yearly Roundup tomorrow or Sunday.

Working out the kinks with being on Wordpress, Booklikes and now Librarything. Once again, more of that in detail in the Yearly Roundup.

My reading of Don Quixote slowed down but that was because of Christmas and New Years and not working so much. Once I hit January and am back to a vacationless working schedule, Sunday's should be filled with updates from it again.

And to end, here's some cover art love:

Now is that just great looking or what? I also happened to love the story!

Who ever is doing Week's covers for the hardcovers sure has my number. They are great!

Thraxas Under Siege (Thraxas #8)

^{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 Wordpress, Blogspot, Booklikes & Librarything by  Bookstooge's Exalted Permission.}
Title: Thraxas Under Siege
Series: Thraxas #8
Author: Martin Scott
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: SFF
Pages: 272
Format: Kindle digital edition

Synopsis:   Spoiler

Turai is besieged by the orcs. Everyone, including Thraxas, must pull duty on the walls. At the same time, it gets out that there is an artifact that can raise storms and it is missing. If it falls into the hands of the Orcs, Turai is doomed. The head mistress of the Sorcerer's guild hires Thraxas to find said artifact. He is also hired to find 14,000 gurans of hidden treasure, the finders fee which will enable Thraxas to get in on a high stakes card game. Because hey, being under siege doesn't mean life has to stop.

While this is all going on, it is deep winter and the winter malady is hitting people right and left. Sometimes a little to close to Thraxas's circle of acquaintances. The book ends with the orcs over running Turai and Thraxas dragging Makri and Lisutarius into a boat and escaping.

My Thoughts:

Thraxas is dense. There is no denying it. People literally falling ill, with no symptoms beforehand, as soon as they step into the Avenging Axe and he doesn't suspect a thing? Throw in that an orcish sorcerer named Dazeez the Unseen is known to be out and about and you have to roll your eyes.

This was exactly like the previous books. Thraxas complain, Thraxas eats and fights, people harass Thraxas, Makri prances around in her chain mail bikini, Thraxas ignores said spectacle. Thraxas solves some of the issues and not others.

The card game was the highlight for me. In it Thraxas is playing against an orcish sorcerer and other high lords of Turai. The stakes are Makri's hand in marriage or the storm artifact. What a game.

The ending was ok.  It could either be taken as the end of the story and series, or just a temporary set back. In the omnibus edition, this is the last story but i know there are 2 more, as I have them in my tbr list. So I'm wondering if Martin ended the series and then picked it back up again. I am glad to know that there are more Thraxas stories. We all need more stories about fat gluttons who are more worried about their bellies than beautiful women. Even beautiful women who fill out chainmail bikinis :-D

Steal the Sky (The Scorched Continent #1)

^{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 Wordpress, Blogspot, Booklikes & Librarything by  Bookstooge's Exalted Permission.}
Title: Steal the Sky
Series: The Scorched Continent #1
Author: Megan O'Keefe
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: SFF
Pages: 448
Format: Kindle digital edition

Synopsis:

A lighter than air substance, the basis of the power for most nations, can be found on the Scorched Continent. One city in particular is being brought into the Empire.
One law enforcement officer is trying to stop a military butcher from being elected governor. A former lord and his "servant" are running from the Empire because it uses those who have power of the substance and said lord has great power of it.

Throw in another power user who is out for revenge and things just get messy, very quickly.

My Thoughts:

I would like to thank Irresponsible Reader for initially bringing this to my attention.

Unfortunately, I wanted to like this much more than I actually did. I think the most positive thing I can say is that it reminds me of a mediocre  Wax & Wayne story by Sanderson.

It had all of the elements that I could like. A roguish lord who is more powerful than he lets on. A sidekick who makes the quips and yet keeps the lord under control. A strong police woman who is trying to keep order. A blood thirsty military genius who is playing games and counter games. A driven mother who wants the death of those who killed her son.

There were times where the direction of the story or a revelation just came from sidewise and completely caught me off guard. It also didn't help that while this is the first book in the story, there is a lot of previous history about the characters, that they mention in passing. Kind of like listening in on 2 old school chums who'll say something like "boofer" and burst out laughing because of a shared experience. It isn't very nice to be on the outside looking in. And it just dragged.

I've got the second book on my tbr list. However, while this wasn't bad by any means, it wasn't nearly good enough for me to continue. Maybe if it was a Forgotten Realms book or some such, I could continue but for a "serious" SFF book, I expect more if I'm going to continue.