Category: Fiction

Book Review: To Kill a Mockingbird by Lee (4 Stars)

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

4 out of 5 stars

Read in June 2009

As Atticus said “Rape, riot and runaways” mixed together with prejudice and intolerance told from the eyes of a spunky young girl nicknamed Scout in 1930s Maycomb Alabama. The antics of the children, Scout, Jem and Dill, caused me to shake my head in wonder. But the adult antics merely sickened me, aside from the glimmering lights in the darkness of Atticus, Miss Maudie and Arthur Radley.

The story was well written and sparks discussion even today. Lest History repeat itself, I recommend this to everyone so that we can all be on guard against bigotry and discrimination.

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Book Review: Those Who Hunt the Night by Hambly (3.5 Stars)

Those Who Hunt the Night by Barbara Hambly

3.5 out of 5 stars

Read in October 2009

Vampires without the romance. Very refreshing. Well drawn historical setting in late 19th or early 20th century London and Paris.

James Asher, a professor of philology at Oxford, and his wife Lydia, also a doctor, but of medicine, are reluctantly coerced into investigating the case of a serial vampire killer. Don Simon Ysidro, a Spanish vampire old enough to remember (and barely survive) the great London fire of 1666, forces James into his service by threatening Lydia’s life.

Rather than risking his wife’s precarious safety and sending her into hiding, he recruits her help in tracking down both the vampire killer, and the vampire victims haunts and hidey-holes. Lydia pursues the research through probate courts, registrar of deed office, newspaper articles and other public records and resist’s the siren call of the medical pathology mystery of vampirism while James accompanies Ysidro to interrogate London’s undead citizens.

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Article: Why Everyone Should Be Reading Ancillary Justice

Why Everyone Should Be Reading Ancillary Justice

http://www.kameronhurley.com/?p=13346

I read Ancillary Justice last week but no time to write a review yet.  Read this review (follow link above) because she nails it.

And I agree … go buy this book right now and read it.

17 Passages From “Lord Of The Rings” Beautifully Recreated In Stained Glass – BuzzFeed Mobile

http://www.buzzfeed.com/donnad/passages-from-lord-of-the-rings-beautifully-recreated-in?s=mobile

Perfect way to start off my day.  Gorgeous art inspired by scenes from Tolkien’s Middle Earth.

Audiobook Review: The Rook by O’Malley (3 Stars)

The Rook by Daniel O’Malley

Narrated by Susan Duerden

2.5 to 3 out of 5 stars

Read in July/August 2013

I listened to this book because it was the July 2013 book of the month for the Fantasy Book Club.

Parts of this book were laugh-out-loud funny, but other parts of it just set my teeth on edge. Too many infodumps and a bit too much profanity.

I can easily see this novel as a British television series (along the lines of bad books make good movies? or average books make good television?).

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Audiobook Review: Minority Report and Other Stories by PKD (3.1 Stars)

Minority Report and Other Stories by Philip K. Dick

Narrated by Keir Dullea

3.1 out of 5 stars

Read in August 2013

Once again I find myself loving and hating PKD’s writing.  He created and imagined very intriguing stories and ideas.  I just don’t always agree with his buried (sometimes not so subtly) political ramblings.  I liked the title story, but not nearly as well as I liked the movie (even with Cruise starring in it).  I should have waited and read the story first, I suppose.

I found the gem in this collection to be the one called “Second Variety.”  I wanted more, much more, from that dimension.  I did think the protagonist was a bit slow on the uptake, though, as I thought the actions of the undercover antagonists to be obvious and telegraphed (pardon the pun).

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Book Review: Avempartha by Sullivan (3.5 Stars)

Avempartha by Michael J. Sullivan

3.5 out of 5 stars

Read in May 2009

Warning: Spoilers

Good pacing and good action throughout this second episode of the Riyria Revelations series. A trimmed down cast of characters with a few guest stars rounded out the adventure. I missed Myron, my favorite character from The Crown Conspiracy. The most character development occurred among the guest stars, particularly Thrace and Theron of Dhalgren. Hadrian and Esrahaddon revealed more of themselves. I learned more about Royce, but Arista faded to two dimensions.

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Book Review: The Ladies of Mandrigyn by Hambly (5 Stars)

The Ladies of Mandrigyn by Barbara Hambly

5 out of 5 stars

Warning: Spoilers

After discovering Barbara Hambly via the books Dragonsbane and The Time of the Dark, I just couldn’t get enough of her. She writes great, strong women characters, that are usually of the non-magical sort. The women are often the warriors, like Starhawk. Her male characters are also indelible, flawed but inspiring.

In this book, Sun Wolf is a successful mercenary captain who refuses a job that is basically a rescue mission. The women of Mandrigyn want him to rescue their men from the mines of the evil wizard Altiokis. Sun Wolf had one rule, one principle he always adhered to – never get involved in a war with a wizard.

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Book Review: Oath of Fealty by Moon (3 Stars)

Oath of Fealty by Elizabeth Moon

3 out of 5 stars

Read from May/June 2010

Highly anticipated return to Paks’ world which mostly fizzled for me. Paks had a couple of cameos, but the lion’s share of the storylines fell to Dorrin, by far the most interesting of the points of view presented. Arcolin’s story felt and looked like filler. Except for the scene in the ossuary, Kieri’s tale barely bumped through a two-dimensional plane. The most tragic loose end hinges on the fate of Stammel.

The abrupt and anti-climactic ending left me feeling ambivalent. My emotional line graph would resemble a near dead person’s EKG – a few squiggles, but no mountainous peaks or terrifying plummets.

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