Category: Reading

Book Review: Throne of the Crescent Moon by Ahmed (4 Stars)

Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed

4 out of 5 stars

Read in May 2012

I liked Throne of the Crescent Moon a lot. I loved the characters. I liked the setting, although the world building relied on references to Earth-like locations in our own Middle East, including the cultures and legends that thrive therein.

The magic found in this world contained some supernatural elements: an Angel-touched shapechanger; something similar to a demon helping an undead (or reanimated) man create ghuls (vaguely like zombies but different) using pain, torture, etc. (blood magic or necromancy); some alchemy; some aura-like internal magic; and, an invocation style magic wielded by the main character.

A murder mystery with apocalyptic consequences. Lots of action sequences kept me turning the pages. And as much as our young dervish might strive mightily for stark black and white choices, all of the characters find themselves compromising their principles and morals for the greater good and survival.

I can’t wait for the next installment in the Crescent Moon Kingdoms series.

Book Review: Insurgent by Roth

Insurgent by Veronica Roth

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I eagerly awaited the arrival of Insurgent. I devoured Divergent last fall in hours, unusual in that I normally read two to three books simultaneously over the course of a week or so. I put all my other reads on hold when I picked up Divergent. I almost repeated the process with Insurgent, reading half of the book one weekend and finishing it the next. Quick and easy reading, but a bit disappointing turn in the plot at the end left me with an aftertaste I still can’t rinse out of my mind.

I gave Insurgent four stars here at GoodReads, but I will most likely settle on a 3.5 star rating on my personal objective scale. Parts of the book brought tears to my eyes, but they did not outweigh the moments of frustration I felt with Tris. She personifies recklessness in the extreme.

I’m trying to avoid spoilers, so I won’t express the specific reasons for my distaste or displeasure with the final revelation in the last few paragraphs of the book. I may have to go back and re-categorize this novel, and place Insurgent on completely different shelves.

If there is a sequel, and I haven’t gone looking to determine if there will be one, I hope more background is provided to justify the premise revealed at the end. Too many questions, and not the ones I expected to be answered; just a whole barrel of new ones on top of the old ones.

View all my reviews

WoT’s Up, Tor?

My favorite fantasy publishing imprint, Tor, caused a stir earlier this week by announcing the demise of DRM in early July 2012 in their entire list of ebooks (printed under Tor, Forge, Orb, Starscape, and Tor Teen imprints).    I’m only slightly disappointed that I have to wait until July.  I’m torn, though.  I had planned to purchase, next week in fact, the second book in the Wheel of Time series, The Great Hunt, from Barnes & Noble for my Nook Color, to facilitate my role as a discussion leader at the GoodReads Fantasy Book Club Series group.   We are wrapping up our discussion of the first book, The Eye of the World, these last few days of April.   I have until Monday to make up my mind.  Do I re-purchase the DRM’ed ebook through B&N for my Nook (for convenience sake)? Or do I crack open the hardcover languishing on my shelf (and deal with the weight and lighting issues)?

Prior to the ebook emancipation proclamation, Tor released the color sketch created by Darrell K. Sweet, who passed away before completing the cover art for the final Wheel of Time novel, A Memory of Light, due out early in 2013.

Click on this color sketch to see a tribute to Wheel of Time cover artist Darrell K. Sweet at Tor's website.

But the real icing on the WoT cake came today, when Tor made an excerpt of the Prologue from A Memory of Light available:  Click here to read it.

Sweet Sixteen – KC Library’s Booketology and HBP’s Tournament of Villains

Round 3 (Sweet Sixteen) - Polls Close Midnight, Sunday, March 25, 2012

Booketology Round 2 Results & Round 3 Bracket | Kansas City Public Library.

Oh, the agony … of defeat.  Last round, in the Science Fiction category, The Hunger Games bit the dust before the unstoppable Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.  But at least my personal pick for all time greatest epic fantasy novel ever written didn’t fall to mere rabbits.  This round, however, The Lord of the Rings faces very stiff competition from that upstart Harry Potter.

And it remains a mystery (at least until Monday morning and the votes are tabulated), whether Sherlock Holmes or Hercule Poirot will solve the Case of the Sweet Sixteen Surprise.

Cast your votes now and be entered in a drawing for a Booketology Prize Pack of one copy of each of the eight books that advance to the Elite 8 round, plus a basketball autographed by Kansas City author Whitney Terrell. (Click here for rules and details).

HPB's Tournament of Villians

And just in case you weren’t having enough fun already voting for your favorite books, stop by Half Price Books Tournament of Villains, also in the Sweet Sixteen of the third round.  Polls close in a few minutes, at 2:00 p.m. Central.

Book Review: The Terror by Simmons (4 Stars)

The Terror by Dan Simmons

4 of 5 stars

Read in Feb/Mar 2012

I read The Terror as part of a group read at the Science Fiction & Fantasy Book Club at GoodReads during the month of February. I participated in the discussion, as did many others. To review those threads, please follow this link.

I started reading this the evening of February 13th, with snowfall predicted to commence after midnight. I sat shivering at the kitchen table while I read the first few chapters, even though the furnace kept my house a toasty 78 degrees Fahrenheit. I even dug out a blanket to put on the bed before I went to sleep (still shivering). Brrrr….. Great writing by Dan Simmons, atmospherically speaking.

And I restrained my insatiable desire to research the quest for the Northwest Passage and specifically the final voyage of the HMS Terror until after I finished reading the novel. Simmons kept me riveted until the last few chapters, when he decided to take an extreme detour into arctic supernatural spirituality that left me, well, cold.

Still, a great read by an outstanding author. I recommend lots of warm tea or hot cocoa and abstinence from long pork.

Book Review: Archangel by Shinn

Archangel by Sharon Shinn

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Beyond Reality February 2012 Science Fiction Selection

The protagonist, Rachel, grabbed me immediately. Not only was she a superb vocalist, she reminded me in so many ways of my own daughter, also named Rachelle, and who is also a superb vocalist (mezzo soprano, though, instead of Rachel’s coloratura soprano). As soon as I finished the book, I sent a recommendation off to my Rachelle, hoping she’d read it and enjoy it as much as I did.

The religious references intrigued me (and sometimes made me laugh – did anyone else think that the name of Semorrah was a mashed-up condensation of Sodom and Gemorrah?) and the musical elements fascinated me. I play piano, attempt to sing (not as well trained as my daughter, so I gave it up as a lost cause at this point in my life) and I know basic music theory. My husband has years of training (jazz trumpet and guitar), composes music and has perfect relative pitch; all of which he passed on to our daughter.

On the question of whether this novel is science fiction or fantasy, I leaned towards the former early on. Once introduced to the oracle Josiah in Archangel, I began to believe I was reading a science fiction story (perhaps along the lines of Pern?). But the rest of the novel revealed little beyond that scene with the Oracle. Another clue could also be derived from the ‘smallness’ of their ‘planet’ in area and scope.

I interpreted the singing as magical. The story is mostly a romance, which I normally avoid like the plague, but in this case it worked well.

I have not decided yet if I will continue this series. I’ll have to research my friends’ reviews of it and see if it gets better or if this installment is as good as it gets.

All in all, I really enjoyed Archangel, even if it seemed to be a romance masquerading as a fantasy with hints of science fiction sprinkled throughout.

More March Mars Madness

I can’t wait until this weekend to see John Carter at the theater.  I would have bought my tickets over lunch except my favorite theater has not yet listed showtimes for this weekend.  I convinced my uncle to venture forth as well this weekend.  But the real icing on the cake came with the short note he sent me this morning proclaiming his success in finding A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs at Project Gutenberg  and getting it downloaded to his Nook Color.

My local favorite library posted a cool YouTube video via their Facebook and Twitter feeds that I’d like to share here, prefaced by their blurb:

Do you know who created Tarzan and John Carter of Mars 100 years ago this spring? Check out this video preview of an upcoming event featuring author, critic & broadcaster John Tibbetts celebrating the legacy of an American cult icon…

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCmfD5vDYaY]

If you live in the Kansas City metropolitan area, you can click this link to register for the event on March 18, 2012 at 2:00 pm (Plaza Branch of the Kansas City Public Library).  I have already RSVP’d and received my confirmation.

And thanks to an update from Sky & Telescope‘s Facebook feed, I learned that “Mars is at its closest to Earth for this apparition: 100.8 million km (62.6 million miles). Mars appears 13.9 arcseconds wide, compared to the 24″ or 25″ it reaches during its closet swing-bys. The last time that happened was in 2003; the next will be in 2018.”  I saw Mars shining brightly this morning in the west before the sun arose, when I let the dogs out after they ate their breakfast.

FBR reblog: Meanwhile at the Discussion Group: March 2012

Another group I love over at GoodReads is Beyond Reality. And as if I wasn’t crazy enough already, I volunteered to take over as discussion leader in our series read of Weber’s Honor Harrington space opera.