Books
The Ghost King
Nov 9th
The Ghost King by R.A. Salvatore
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Wow is all I can say. This third book in the “Transitions” trilogy really lives up to its name. An action packed book for sure and tops the emotional roller coaster of the Hunter’s Blade Trilogy.
Finishing this book I was left astounded by the remaining state of the Companions of the Hall. It will be interesting to see where R.A. Salvatore continues with this series from here.
The Lost Symbol
Sep 24th
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I read a review for this book that basically said, “Horribly written, but impossible to put down”. For the most part I would agree with that statement. I’ve read all of Dan Brown’s books and to be honest it feels as if his writing style has deteriorated as his popularity has grown.
The plot twist, dramatically revealed near the end of the book, was clumsily made obvious 250 pages before. Unlike Angels & Demons where you spent half the book trying to deduce who was the villain, only to be surprised by the plot twist: There is no real surprise here.
Still though the plot timing is done well, and you find yourself drawn to the book for the historical myths and legends portrayed and to find out how it ends. If you’ve enjoyed any of his previous books, it may well be worth the read, but just be warned it is not his best work.
Wolf’s Blood
Sep 8th
Wolf’s Blood by Jane Lindskold
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This book honestly surprised me. I had picked it up just as another book to read but when I finally sat down to read it, I found myself swept into the world in the book, which is odd considering I hadn’t read the previous 5 books.The characters, dialogue and setting all seem well thought out and sweep you away into the world. I will likely be exploring other books from Jane.
The Children of Hurin
Sep 8th
The Children of Húrin by J.R.R. Tolkien
Dramatic saga, though the writing style takes a bit to get used to. Feels like Christopher took his father’s notes and added his own writing putty between them.
Still it’s an intense drama and a good read, though I will warn that it takes a bit to get involved in the storyline and the ending is almost disappointing.
Dead and Gone
May 7th
Dead and Gone by Charlaine Harris
My review
rating: 4 of 5 stars
This latest installment in Charlaine Harris’s Sookie Stackhouse novels starts with a bang and doesn’t let up through the entirety of the novel. Other than a rather explicit romp with a past lover, Sookie finds herself in one mess of trouble after the next.
Overall it was a rather enjoyable installment. Much darker than the earlier books, though they’ve been heading this way over the last few. A number of characters that we’ve grown accustomed to having around in this world are now gone and I know I’ll miss at least one of them.
My only real complaint is that the ending seemed much too abrupt, I felt almost cheated when I finished the last page of the book.
Anyway, bring on book 10!
Treasure of Khan
Apr 29th
Treasure of Khan by Clive Cussler
My review
rating: 3 of 5 stars
Overall it was a good read, though Clive’s prose did leave me a little baffled at times (for one, I found that the book, at least in the beginning, contained way too many metaphors for my liking). I also found it interesting that he wrote himself into the book as a bus driver/teacher in the Gobi Desert.
In my opinion, the bulk of the book could have been compressed. Nearly half the book is spent setting up the global oil crisis created by the oil company utilizing the Khan’s fortune.
Anyway, a decent read, though more of a pulp action read.
View all my reviews.
Chronicles of the Black Company
Apr 25th
Chronicles of The Black Company by Glen Cook
My review
rating: 5 of 5 stars
Completely enjoyed this trilogy. About a quarter of the way into it, I found that I was having trouble putting it down. A great sign of a great book.
Raw, visceral and compelling characters. I can’t wait to read the other books in this series (providing that I can find them).
Grave Surprise
Apr 12th
Grave Surprise by Charlaine Harris
My review
rating: 3 of 5 stars
Was a decent read, though I did not find the characters as well developed as in her other books. Harper seems to have a lot less spunk and passion than Sookie, maybe this has to do with her back story being a lot darker.
Though that being said, I found a lot of the back story repetitious and I hate to say it a bit boring. I found myself glossing over it a bit while reading.
I think the character/setting could have promise, but I think Charlaine needs to focus more on the story than the back story. Perhaps the subsequent books will move more in this direction
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Next by Michael Crichton
Nov 3rd
I normally enjoy a Michael Crichton novel, relishing escaping into the thrilling almost science fiction of some of his earlier works such as: Jurassic Park
Instead it reads more like a collection of author notes on varying elements of genetics and bio-engineering pieced together to try and represent the author’s views on the topic. The pieces that are there are fairly well written, but a number of the characters come off as shallow and poorly represented. I also found that a number of the story arcs weren’t closed to my satisfaction and left me wondering what the point of that arc in general was.
If you’re curious about genetics or bio-engineering, you may thoroughly enjoy reading the author’s view points in this fictional representation, otherwise you may find this to be a waste of your time.
Wizard’s First Rule by Terry Goodkind
Nov 3rd
I will admit that I’m a bit behind the times here. This book was published in 1994 and is the first book in the Epic Fantasy series “Sword of Truth” and is now the source material of a new network Drama called The Legend Of The Seeker. That said, having resumed my unmitigated hunger for new books to read, I thought now an appropriate time to tackle this series.
I must say, I was quite impressed character development and timing that Terry has shown in this book and I can definitely see why it is rated as one of the must read fantasy series. While a little disappointed with the conclusion, I thoroughly enjoyed following Richard, Khalan, Zedd and the rest of the cast in their journey across the three lands.