Category: Reviewing

Audiobook Review: The Knife of Dreams by Jordan (3 Stars)

The Knife of Dreams by Robert Jordan

Read by Kate Reading and Michael Kramer

3 out of 5 stars

Listended/Read in February 2013

Loial and Mat tied the knot (but not with each other). Perrin and Faile end their two book separation. Nine months can’t come soon enough for Elayne (or me). Egwene and Eliada under the same roof but not speaking to each other. Nynaeve returned Lan to Malkier along the Borderland Scenic Byway. Someone please give Rand a hand!

Continue reading “Audiobook Review: The Knife of Dreams by Jordan (3 Stars)”

Audiobook Review: Crossroads of Twilight by Jordan (3 Stars)

The Crossroads of Twilight by Robert Jordan

Read by Kate Reading and Michael Kramer

3 out of 5 Stars

Read in January 2013

I listened to the audiobook edition. Apparently unabridged doesn’t include the Glossary. It’s a good thing I own the hardcover for reference and for the maps.

Crossroads of Twilight is one of my least favorite books of the Wheel of Time series because of the turgid plot.  The train wreck that started ten books ago finally comes to a crashing halt, right before it teeters and ultimately falls off the cliff for the long slow-motion plummet to the end, four books later.

Using male and female readers helped especially with the switching viewpoints.

Continue reading “Audiobook Review: Crossroads of Twilight by Jordan (3 Stars)”

Book Review: Hounded by Hearne (3.5 Stars)

Hounded by Kevin Hearne

3.5 out of 5 stars

Read from February 25 to 28, 2013

This type of urban fantasy could easily grow on me. Absolutely no zombies and only one token cameo vampire. I didn’t mind the pack of werewolves.

All the rest of the ‘paranormals’ hailed from Celtic mythology. Oberon the Irish wolfhound got the best lines, often at the expense of our hero, the Iron Druid.

A fun fast read.

Continue reading “Book Review: Hounded by Hearne (3.5 Stars)”

eBook Review: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Irving (3 Stars)

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving

3 out of 5 stars

Read in December 2008

Washington Irving painted beautifully detailed scenes of rural New England. He also had a healthy sense of humor and wit. This story read like it was being narrated by the fireside in a tavern or pub on a blustery autumn evening.

I read the edition available from Project Gutenberg (click on the book cover at left for more information).

Reflections in light of the new Fox series “Sleepy Hollow” …

Continue reading “eBook Review: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Irving (3 Stars)”

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.

Continue reading “Book Review: To Kill a Mockingbird by Lee (4 Stars)”

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.

Continue reading “Book Review: Those Who Hunt the Night by Hambly (3.5 Stars)”

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.

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?).

Continue reading “Audiobook Review: The Rook by O’Malley (3 Stars)”

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).

Continue reading “Audiobook Review: Minority Report and Other Stories by PKD (3.1 Stars)”