Peter Jones

I have enjoyed all the previous Galactic Cold War novels, and this one is my favorite. There is more of a focus on Kovalic as the main character, but new characters, such as Addy Seyers, continue to be well fleshed out and are interesting additions to the group.

While set in the future, in a setting of science fiction, this is still definitely a spy thriller at its heart. As such, I think it would appeal to fans of either or both genres. The story moves along at a thrilling pace, with enough breaks that it never feels out of control (the entire story takes place over the course of only a couple of days). As a novel, it wraps up satisfyingly enough that it was enjoyable, but ends with its hooks deep in you, wanting more. Hopefully the story will continue!

Continuing excellent space opera

I continue to be very taken with the world created here. The characters are very likable, the situations tense and believable. The stakes are real as well, as characters I've come to like are placed in true peril and many have died. Gripping, interesting, and excellent stories are found in this series. Very excited to continue the series.

This is just... not good. I realize it is a set up for a much larger universe. But I don't see myself engaging in this universe anymore than I already have.

First off, the writing is incredibly amateur. This reads like some lesser quality online fan fiction. I can tell there is the germinal core of an interesting story. But I can't get past the poor grammar, the sloppy descriptions, and the ignoring or hand waving away any of the potentially more interesting points.

Also, it seems that the author thinks he is writing a “powerful, independent, liberated” main female character. So why is it that every description of her starts with how darn hot she is? And the one physical characteristic that changes when she becomes alien super vampire is her legs are longer and even more attractive? Let's see, we'll make her flawed by making her short, then sex her up by making her taller and her legs even more attractive? This is the sort of pandering in the guise of empowering that drives me up the wall. Let's make the characters interesting because of who they are, not because they rip people apart and look super hot while doing it. Groan.

At least it was a fast and easy read. Not totally worthless, but I would NOT recommend this to anyone I liked.

Look, by now you know what you are getting with a Rick Riordan book. There are no surprises here.

Flawed but likable and noble main hero? Check. Gotta save the world from some deity who was wronged/offended by the other deities? Check. A little bit of romance to keep the characters moving (with some social commentary in this one)? Check. A plucky band of misfit adventurers who have to come together, overcome some differences/personal challenges and work as a team? Check. A slightly subversive take on old mythology? Check.

It's all there and it all goes down nice and smooth. And, for the most part (save a trans character who some might have issue with), it's safe, inoffensive fun. I always enjoy Riordan's stories and style, and this doesn't disappoint. But after so many books I'm getting to the point where it all feels so well trodden that these books just can't get much more than an “I liked it”. Nothing stronger. Quick, light reading that will satisfy if that is what one is going for.

But if you are looking for more depth than that, you'll need to look elsewhere.

The Trials of Apollo series has a slightly different feel than the others. This is due to the main character being an incredibly self-centered, egotistical piece of crap. But Apollo is learning. He is growing, and it is this growth of the character, as he comes to understand how the gods have toyed with mortals and their demigod children, that makes him compelling.

The weaving in of Roman and Greek mythology is, again, done well and entertaining. But it never goes from good to great. It's like a Rice Crispy treat. Not many people really LOVE Rice Crispy treats, but no one hates them either. They're tasty, easy, but you don't have one and think “Wow, that was really something special”. You just sort of eat it, enjoy it for what it is, and then forget about them until the next time someone offers you one.

I enjoyed the Norse mythology side, and the way it is being tied to the other mythologies. The story is fun, the characters entertaining. However, at this point it really feels like the Rick Riordan formula is pretty drilled in. No surprises here, just a fun, easy read.

With Firefight, Sanderson takes his Reckoner's saga in a bit of a different direction. Still with some focus on the Epics and their powers, the real focus is more on the individuals. We meet a new group of Reckoners, but the their is little to really introduce them. Still, the revelations about Epics and the world they inhabit are very interesting. Certainly not as involved a plot as some of his other works, still, Firefight is a lot of fun and well worth reading.

Another great entry in this series. I really enjoy Riordan's writing and his characters and this is a satisfying conclusion to this most recent saga.

I missed out on Snow Crash when it first came out. It was one of those books I kept hearing referenced, but just hadn't gotten around to listening to. And so, with my trial of Audible, I figured I would take advantage of the credit offered to me and snagged it. First off, let's get to the point of the Audible version. The performer did an excellent job of giving the different characters their own voice. It didn't always work perfectly, but I was still very impressed at how well he managed to create a character for each person in the book.

Regarding the story, while I doubt the future depicted will ever come to be in the exact details of the book, the trends described aren't actually that far off. The mixing of ancient religion and future technology was fascinating. Honestly, this is a book that could very easily feel extremely dated, but manages to actually feel quite relevant.

I have yet to be disappointed by one of Brandon Sanderson's books. Warbreaker was no exception.

In what has really become one of Mr. Sanderson's trademarks, again we are confronted with an unique and fascinating magic system. It centers around Breath (yes, with a capital B) and color. There are rules, and unlike so many contemporary fantasy authors, the book sticks quite strictly to those rules.

That is so refreshing. There really are no moments where the internal logic of the world is just so brazenly broken. It helps to keep the reader engaged.

The characters are well written and develop in interesting ways throughout the course of the book. There are twists and turns, surprising moments, and some characters who really end up so much more than they initially seemed.

My biggest complaint is the way in which the book was so set up for more novels in this world, with these characters. And yet, I just don't know when Brandon will have time to get back around to them. I eagerly hope for more though.

I really enjoy kettlebell work. It is an efficient, effective tool for improving both strength as well as cardiovascular fitness. While I have moved beyond the combination of just swings and TGU in my personal kettlebell work, this is still an excellent resource that describes the myriad benefits of this tool.

It reads well, is engaging and offers a wonderful introduction to the world of kettlebell workouts.

Shift is the second omnibus installment in the Silo Saga. Whereas Wool told a tight, linear story about Silo 18, Shift jumps back and forth. While it does so well, this did lead to some mild confusion. Also, as it covers quite a bit of time, it was difficult to keep everything in order for me at times.

Still, it was a very enjoyable read. Shift explores the genesis of the silos, the reason behind their existence, and hints at a dark purpose buried under ground with them. It was a fascinating look into what lead to the world we encountered in Wool. And while many questions were answered, I felt there were still many left at the end of the book.

Z 2134 is a Kindle serial, written and released in installments. In brief, it deals with (yet another) dystopian future, where the population is segregated in to different numbered cities (sort of like, say, districts). There is tight, totalitarian control from the government. And for the sake of entertainment, citizens are punished by being forced to participate in the Darwin Games, battles that pit people from each district, er, city against each other in a fight to the death.

Hmm, wasn't there some movie based on some book sort of like that recently?

So, yes, what you have here is a rehash of The Hunger Games with just a sprinkling of The Running Man thrown in. Oh, but wait, there is a completely unique aspect that sets this apart from being completely derivative.

This book also has zombies.

Yup, more stinking zombies.

So what is good? Well, it moves pretty fast, and the story is at least moderately exciting. My big problems though are this: there is violence and gore described just for the sake of itself, for the shock factor. And there is excessive profanity for no compelling reason. The characters really aren't that well realized, the dystopian future just exists, with no reason as to why it exists other than it does. Same with the zombies. They are just there to make the world a more grim, disgusting and challenging place. At least in this book, they don't tie in to the world, they don't give it substance, they just feel like they are thrown in there because zombies were at the height of popularity when the author started writing.

There are small moments of an interesting story. Sadly, these moments are buried under a mountain of harsh, unappealing prose. While you could do worse than Z 2134, you could also do a lot, lot better.

I have been a fan of Michael Stackpole since I read the first Rogue Squadron book many years ago. He writes action quite well, and seems more comfortable with writing in the first person perspective than many authors.

In Hero Years is a “super hero noir” novel. Told from the perspective of an normal person who played the super hero game, the novel takes place in a world where super heroes are the norm, as are villians. After a 20 year absence, the reasons for which we discover later, our hero finds himself back home to a world where heroes and villains are bet on and treated like fantasy football. There is a hero stock market and heroes and villains bid on the rights to either commit crimes or stop them.

The public treats this like every day entertainment. That is, until serious, deadly actions begin.

An interesting story, in a compelling and almost believable world, In Hero Years is an enjoyable novel for those who love super hero fiction. It also is an interesting story for those who might find super heroes just a tad ridiculous. Quite enjoyable.

I do not give out 5 stars lightly. A book has to earn such a rating. And Brandon Sanderson has really earned it with The Emperor's Soul. Sanderson won the Hugo award for this novella this year, and it was a well deserved award.

A quick read, I still felt a strong connection to the major characters of the book. Once again, Sanderson creates an entirely unique magic system. His ability to do this repeatedly makes him one of the most interesting fantasy authors.

I won't spoil anything in the book, it is sufficient to say that this is well worth the time to read and I can honestly see myself coming back to read it now and again.

More of 3.5 stars, but not an option.

I quite enjoyed this one, finding the blend of “excerpts” of Lincoln's journals along with the “historical” prose to be an effective manner of telling the story. It was an interesting exercise to couch so much of Lincoln's life in the terms of vampiric action and manipulation.

While the book is never really exciting, save for brief moments here and there, it is interesting. Not a must read, but an entertaining alternate history book with a satisfying, though not surprising at all, twist at the end.

Disenchanted is an entertaining romp through the fictional world of Dis. Dealing primarily with Boric, the novel begins with him being dead, then fills in the gaps of how he ended up in that non-living state. Along the way the groundwork for him solving his undeadedness is placed, and the novel works toward a satisfying, if somewhat surprisingly saccharine conclusion.

All in all, it was an easy, enjoyable read, but I'm not sure there is enough to bring me back again for another read.

I have been a huge Rush fan for years, and Neil Peart has always been an intriguing lyricist, particularly in the world of rock music. It was pleasant to have Rush return to the concept album with their most recent record of the same name as this book. This is a fleshing out of the story, giving more context to the songs.

In that regard, it works very well. Listening to the album now, I feel I have a better understanding of each of the songs, they work together in a better, more cohesive manner.

However, the novel really doesn't go much beyond that. With the exception of the main character, all the others are incredibly flat, with little depth to them. And even the main character doesn't get much more treatment than that. The only reason we have a better understanding of his motivations is because we spend more time with him than the others. The wider world is there, waiting to be plumbed and mined for a very interesting story. Sadly, we don't ever get that. Instead, we get a sweat, enjoyable, quick coming of age story that compliments the album nicely.

By no means essential reading, still, it is quick and easy to get through, and I already find I enjoy the album more now than I did before, so I felt it was worth it.

I saw this movie years ago but remembered very little other than the Red Bull. Reading the novel as an adult was a very pleasant experience. This is a delightful novel. I cannot recommend it enough. The follow up story is a perfect coda as well.

There really isn't anything to say that hasn't already been said about The DaVinci Code. It is interesting, speculative fiction, that is written well enough to keep you turning the pages. I enjoyed it enough, but felt no need to run out and read more of the Robert Langdon novels. I imagine I will get around to them at some point, but for now, I am done.

I picked this up on a bit of a whim, thanks to Amazon's Kindle deals. In short, the story takes place in a post-apocalyptic future where everyone lives in underground silos. The majority of the inhabitants don't know what happened to get everyone in the silos, nor how many others there may be (in fact most people don't even know there are others).

The story is told through multiple perspectives, of a variety of characters. In the world of the silos, all is not what it seems, and information is the most powerful commodity.

Hugh Howey tells a compelling, though quite dark, story of the future. Trust me, don't pick this book up of you are expecting a triumphal conclusion, full of butterflies and flowers.

However, if you are interested in some well written, post-apocalyptic science fiction, you could do a lot worse. I quite enjoyed Wool.

I'm a complete sucker for McDevitt's Alex Benedict/Chase Kolpath novels. I really enjoy the sci-fi mystery aspect of them. And while this is far from the best in that series, it was still a thoroughly enjoyable entry for me.

It follows the same formula as the previous entries. An initially mundane artifact leads to a series of questions and intrigue. No new ground here, but well written with a palpable sense of wonder at the size of the universe. The hope that there is something else out there is a common theme in McDevitt's work, and it is at the forefront here.

This isn't necessarily going to convert new readers, but the faithful will find lots to enjoy here.

Rick Riordan does a very good job of taking Greek and Roman mythology and bringing them into the modern world. After all, he has been doing it for 8 books now. And it is starting to feel wrote and mundane.

I have enjoyed the Heroes of Olympus books so far, and found The Mark of Athena to continue to be enjoyable. But Riordan falls prey to the far too common trope of the cliffhanger. One of the aspects I most enjoyed in his Percy Jackson and the Olympians series was that each book resolved. The overarching conflict was always present, and each book moved that forward some. Once each book was over, though, you had a sense of completion, resolution.

With The Mark of Athena, the characters go through some of the same trials they have gone through in the previous books, have a main conflict to resolve, which they do. And then main characters are put into mortal peril and the book just sort of ends. Big cliffhanger. I enjoyed the story, but I suppose it is all starting to feel a little same.

A decent first novel. The idea is fun and engaging. I think it will be a particularly enjoyable read if you have an understanding of 80s pop-culture and an appreciation of gaming. The references come fast and furious, perhaps a bit too fast. At times it seems the references are just being thrown out there to show how many can be crammed in there. I think I would have enjoyed the book more had there been some restraint in that regard.

Also, given the author had an entire virtual universe to create, the story felt rather predictable. Enjoyable, but not really much in terms of surprise along the way.

Redshirts was an extremely fast read. Not only is it a short book, it moves very quickly. Humorous at times, with a twist in a direction I did not anticipate, I enjoyed the book from start to finish.

Interestingly, the “Three Codas” part actually takes up at least the final fourth of the book. And, as opposed to the rest of the book which tends to maintain a fairly light and silly tone throughout, the codas are surprisingly emotional.

All in all, a quick, fun read, but I don't see myself going back to this one regularly as it is rather thin. I am intrigued by reading something else by John Scalzi, hopefully something with a bit more depth.