Writing, Learning, Living: Goodreads

Blurb

Every hundred years, four kids from four cities must save the world.

Rome, December 29.

A mix-up with their reservations forces Harvey from New York, Mistral from Paris, and Sheng from Shanghai to share a room with the hotel owner’s daughter, Elettra. The four kids discover an amazing coincidence—they all have birthdays on February 29, Leap Day. That night, a strange man gives them a briefcase and asks them to take care of it until he returns. Soon afterward, the man is murdered.

The kids open the briefcase. In it they find a series of clues that take them all over Rome, through dusty libraries and dark catacombs, in search of the elusive Ring of Fire, an ancient object so powerful that legend says even a Roman emperor couldn’t control it.

In the first book of the Century quartet, Italian author P. D. Baccalario begins a mystery that will take four cities and four extraordinary kids to solve.

- From the Hardcover edition.

Interesting cover, decent concept, but awkward, very much so. I wonder how people reading it in Italian feel about the writing, but this version is as stiff as a board. The dialogue is so dull I might be tempted to read a calculus book over this.

I really can't fathom how a reputable publisher like Random House let out something this shoddy. Then, they have the gall to try to get $16.99 for it. Go make your local library buy it if you must read it, but do yourself a favor and go grab a Harry Potter book or something with half-way decent writing.

Every character sounded the same, be they young, old, male, or female. The exception might be the aunts, who sounded similar to each other. The whole mysterious society type appeal fell flat on its face around page 3.

I did slog through it, but I don't think I really gained anything from it. Mostly, I was just bored through the process.

Thursday, May 15, 2014

Review | On the Line by Daniel Paisner

Title: On the Line

Author: Daniel Paisner

Length: 272 Pages

Released: August 2009

Blurb

One of the biggest stars in tennis, Serena Williams has captured every major title. Her 2009 Australia Open championship earned her the #1 world ranking for the third time in her illustrious career - and marked only the latest exclamation point on a life well and purposefully lived. As a young girl, Serena began training with an adult-sized racquet that was almost as big as her. Rather than dropping the racquet, Serena saw it as a challenge to overcome-and she has confronted every obstacle on her path to success with the same unflagging spirit. From growing up in the tough, hardscrabble neighborhood of Compton, California, to being trained by her father on public tennis courts littered with broken glass and drug paraphernalia, to becoming the top women's player in the world, Serena has proven to be an inspiration to her legions of fans both young and old. Her accomplishments have not been without struggle: being derailed by injury, devastated by the tragic shooting of her older sister, and criticized for her unorthodox approach to tennis. Yet somehow, Serena always manages to prevail. Both on the court and off, she's applied the strength and determination that helped her to become a champion to successful pursuits in philanthropy, fashion, television and film. In this compelling and poignant memoir, Serena takes an empowering look at her extraordinary life and what is still to come.

I'm hands down not a fan of nonfiction books, but she's famous and I thought I'd give it a go. I'm about half way through and struggling to finish, but that's really only because of it being a nonfiction book. I usually struggle to finish. It would help if I understood a lot of the tennis references, but I'm not a tennis fan, so my knowledge of even little things like the scoring method is next to nil.

It's decently written, and I think it'll give her fans a nice intro to her life. However, so far, everything you read sounds like something you could get from piecing together the various newspaper articles written about her. I don't see a great deal of details that are deep and personal. I mean she talks about the horrible day where she was jeered at because her sister was injured and had to back out of a match a lot of people were hoping to see, but the whole section comes out like a journal ranting session rather than an objective analysis of what happened or an emotion-filled reaction. She talks a bit about being a Jehovah's Witnesses but doesn't go into their belief system. I get that this would be the right place to go all out into what JW's believe, but leaving it at the broad generalization "we're all Christians" just kind of let me down.

I will finish the book, I think it's a worthwhile read with some interesting insights. I probably wouldn't have bought the book if not for the amazon vine program though, so my recommendation would be to ask your local library to buy the book if you want to read up on Serena Williams.

Thursday, May 8, 2014

Review | The Last Word: A Novel (Sophie Trace Trilogy) by Kathy Herman

Title: The Last Word: A Novel
(Sophie Trace Trilogy)
Author: Kathy Herman

Length: 403 Pages

Released: January 2010

Blurb

When Vanessa Jessup returns home from her sophomore year of college, her mother, Police Chief Brill Jessup, is stunned to see that she's pregnant—by one of her professors. Brill is glad Vanessa rejected the father's abortion ultimatum, but hurt that she ignored her upbringing and angry that the professor has disappeared without a trace.

But that's not all Brill's got on her plate. One of her detectives has been killed, and the attacker has threatened to come for her next. When a second cop is wounded, public criticism mounts as Brill attempts to stay alive long enough to catch the perp. And she's trying to find that deadbeat dad as Vanessa struggles to make decisions about her future. The killer seems to be everywhere and nowhere. How can a police chief—and a mother—do her job with her life on the line?

I'll readily admit that I haven't read the first book of the Sophie Trace Trilogy, so perhaps some of my characterization concerns were addressed in book one. Overall, the experience of reading this book was a big, fat ok. It's certainly easy to read. The font of the ARC I got was nicely spaced out and the chapters were pretty short, both of which facilitate swift reading. However, that said, these are my nits (caveat: I can be persnickety, so take these points for what they're worth but make your own decision.) ...

1) Lack of Voice - Most of the characters either sound the same or don't sound their age, which I deem a problem in a book like this because it is very much dialogue-driven.

2) Stiffness - Everybody sounds like a robot. In fact, I think some robots sound more human than these people.

3) Lack of Sense (period)- I honestly hope people don't think many Christians act like this. {SPOILER ALERT: Oh, poor me, I feel smothered; I think I'll sneak out of my house and wander a park, maybe talk to a stranger or two. The madman running around sticking knives in people won't come after me, I'm just the main target's daughter.)

4) Highly Predictable - maybe I read too much, but every "twist" and turn but one I saw coming from about 100 pages away. The foreshadowing is about as subtle as a monkey lost in a fine-dining china shop.

5) Too "perfect"/ idyllic - The major conflicts are spelled out on the back cover: Vanessa Jessup is pregnant and didn't bother telling her parents until summer vacation. Her Mom, Police Chief Brill Jessup, is battling worry for her job as negative publicity mounts because some madman is hunting her and cops on her force. A little ways in the bad guy is spelled out, literally, and there's no question who they're trying to catch. (SPOILER ALERT: Note these are not actual lines of dialogue just the essence of what transpired. Husband Kurt - My wonderful wife told me you two kissed. [reference to previous book] FBI guy Dave - Gee, sorry about that; I was vulnerable. Husband Kurt - Hey, we all make mistakes; we're all good now, buddy. Just brought it up to clear the air.)

6) "Really can't complain, but I always do." - I can honestly say that the most "heart-pounding" caused came from this sentence and about 6 variants thereof. I get that it was supposed to be a lunchtime tradition at Nick's Grill. I'm just not convinced those conversations needed to happen at all. They smacked of the author info-dumping on us poor readers.

All that said, remember I still gave this book 3 stars. It's still an okay book.

Monday, May 5, 2014

Review | Abyss: Star Wars (Fate of the Jedi) by Troy Denning

Title: Abyss: Star Wars
(Fate of the Jedi)

Author: Troy Denning

Length: 402 Pages

Released: August 2009

Blurb

Following a trail of clues across the galaxy, Luke Skywalker continues his quest to find the reasons behind Jacen Solo’s dark downfall and to win redemption for the Jedi Order. Sojourning among the mysterious Aing-Tii monks has left Luke and his son Ben with no real answers, only the suspicion that the revelations they seek lie in the forbidden reaches of the distant Maw Cluster. There, hidden from the galaxy in a labyrinth of black holes, dwell the Mind Walkers: those whose power to transcend their bodies and be one with the Force is as seductive and intoxicating as it is potentially fatal. But it may be Luke’s only path to the truth.

Meanwhile, on Coruscant, the war of wills between Galactic Alliance Chief of State Natasi Daala and the Jedi Order is escalating. Outraged over the carbonite freezing of young Jedi Knights Valin and Jysella Horn after their inexplicable mental breakdowns, the Jedi are determined to defy Daala’s martial tactics, override Council Master Kenth Hamner’s wavering leadership, and deal on their own terms with the epidemic of madness preying on their ranks. As Han and Leia Solo, along with their daughter Jaina, join the fight to protect more stricken Knights from arrest, Jedi healers race to find a cure for the rapidly spreading affliction. But none of them realize the blaster barrel is already swinging in their direction–and Chief Daala is about to pull the trigger.

Nor do Luke and Ben, deep in the Maw Cluster and pushing their Force abilities beyond known limits, realize how close they are–to the Sith strike squad bent on exterminating the Skywalkers, to a nexus of dark-side energy unprecedented in its power and its hunger, and to an explosive confrontation between opposing wielders of the Force from which only one Master–good or evil–can emerge alive.

Features a bonus section following the novel that includes a primer on the Star Wars expanded universe, and over half a dozen excerpts from some of the most popular Star Wars books of the last thirty years!

I'll give it a mediocre score because that's pretty much all it is. It's not horrible, but it's certainly not even interesting through a good 90%. I listened to the audioCD and still couldn't handle huge chunks of it at once because it just driveled on and on about nothing.

Star Wars Expanded Universe books as a whole seem to be fizzling out. More and more they seem a greedy grab for money rather than a desire to tell good stories. The whole Sith subplot seems ridiculous at best and stupid at worst. I'm starting to like Vestara a little more, but not by much and she's dominated about two novels at this point.

The battle at the end of the book was cool. I wish they had Jaina, Jag, Tahiri, and the Coruscant Jedi doing more interesting things than battling the evil press and Daala's batty government. I totally agree with whoever was talking about the sheer stupidity of the whole "insane Jedi" subplot. *Gasp* You're not real, you impostor! I now have to run you through with my shiny lightstick thingy. (Me By This Time = AAAARRRGGGHHHHHH.)

Are there redeeming points? Sure, I happen to like the interaction b/t Han and Leia and Allana. I'm kind of looking forward to seeing her grow up. Ben Skywalker is still an interesting character, despite these authors of late dumping him in stupid places to rot for months or however much time passed. Luke can still fight well.

I did stop reading/ listening to that Coruscant Nights series. I may have to do the same here. I'm pretty sure I will stop buying them. I'll just grab the library's copy 6 months later.

Thursday, April 24, 2014

Review | The Woman Who Can't Forget by Jill Price

Title: The Woman Who Can't Forget
Author: Jill Price

Length: 263 Pages

Released: May 2008

Blurb

Jill Price has the first diagnosed case of a memory condition called "hyperthymestic syndrome" -- the continuous, automatic, autobiographical recall of every day of her life since she was fourteen. Give her any date from that year on, and she can almost instantly tell you what day of the week it was, what she did on that day, and any major world event or cultural happening that took place, as long as she heard about it that day. Her memories are like scenes from home movies, constantly playing in her head, backward and forward, through the years; not only does she make no effort to call her memories to mind, she cannot stop them.

The Woman Who Can't Forget is the beautifully written and moving story of Jill's quest to come to terms with her extraordinary memory, living with a condition that no one understood, including her, until the scientific team who studied her finally charted the extraordinary terrain of her abilities. Her fascinating journey speaks volumes about the delicate dance of remembering and forgetting in all of our lives and the many mysteries about how our memories shape us.

As we learn of Jill's struggles first to realize how unusual her memory is and then to contend, as she grows up, with the unique challenges of not being able to forget -- remembering both the good times and the bad, the joyous and the devastating, in such vivid and insistent detail -- the way her memory works is contrasted to a wealth of discoveries about the workings of normal human memory and normal human forgetting. Intriguing light is shed on the vital role of what's called "motivated forgetting"; as well as theories about childhood amnesia, the loss of memory for the first two to three years of our lives; the emotional content of memories; and the way in which autobiographical memories are normally crafted into an ever-evolving and empowering life story.

Would we want to remember so much more of our lives if we could? Which memories do our minds privilege over others? Do we truly relive the times we remember most vividly, feeling the emotions that coursed through us then? Why do we forget so much, and in what ways do the workings of memory tailor the reality of what's actually happened to us in our lives?

In The Woman Who Can't Forget, Jill Price welcomes us into her remarkable life and takes us on a mind-opening voyage into what life would be like if we didn't forget -- a voyage after which no reader will think of the magical role of memory in our lives in the same way again.

All in all, this book makes me grateful that I've got a normal memory. I can recall most things decently, but I can also emotionally detach myself from painful memories, not so with poor Jill Price. In this memoir, she lets us take a look into her life and the story behind her fascinating mind. I can't tell you how the book is b/c I didn't actually read it, but I can tell you that the audio CD is wonderful. I'm not a big fan of non-fiction, but it was nice to listen to her story being read to me.

Jill doesn't remember everything, rather she explains that she has an amazingly accurate autobiographical memory. So, give her a date from the past (during her lifetime from about 1980-ish to the present) she can tell you what day of the week it was, what she was doing, and sometimes what she was wearing. Now, we can't go back and check all her facts, but we've got no reason to doubt her. The world events she remembers and the tests run by the scientists who wrote a paper on her case are proof enough for me though.

Near the end she answers the question, if you could go back and choose to have a different sort of memory would you... she answers quite honestly that she would not, despite the incredible amounts of emotion pain her memory can cause. The vast majority of people can recall key events in their life, but not in such detail and usually devoid of the intensity of the pain or joy of that moment.

Thursday, April 17, 2014

Review | Spectre (Zoe Martinique, Book 2) by Phaedra Weldon @PhaedraWeldon

Title: Spectre
(Zoe Martinique, Book 2)
Author: Phaedra Weldon

Length: 372 Pages

Released: June 2008

Blurb

Zoë Martinique has the extraordinary ability to travel outside her body at will. When she is drawn into an investigation of a series of bizarre murders, in which the victims are missing body parts, Zoë hopes to help her boyfriend, Atlanta homicide detective Daniel Frasier, stop the killer? one she?s sure is from the darkest levels of the astral plane?without letting him find out about her special abilities.

Then danger strikes close to home when Zoë?s mother disappears, and Zoë must use all the powers at her command to save her?even though Zoë knows that, in doing so, she may make herself into something no longer entirely human.

Although this is not the best book I've ever read, it was a solid 4.4. I'd say 4.5, but then I'd have to round up and it wasn't that good. I personally enjoyed Zoe's inner dialog, it made her more real to me, but I can also see how some people could find that highly annoying.

I've never read the first book, though I probably will some day. This book is obviously the second of what the author intends to be a longer series. (best guess would be 4 or 5, whatever the market will bear I guess.) In this book, Zoe's still getting used to her newfound powers as a Wraith and discovering new aspects to that power.

The plot was rather basic, by that I mean I felt like I'd heard it all before, and the other characters were just so-so. Still, Zoe's inner voice was just plain funny. For those of us sensitive to profanity, um there is a lot of it in here. Granted, some of it is very well placed and very funny. For some reason, I couldn't tune my reading ear to hear a Southern accent throughout most of the book, which I found strange given the setting.

One thing that bothered me was the lack of a feeling of closure at the end of the book. Saying much more than that would give away some pretty big plot twists, but it's like the feeling at the end of the Empire Strikes Back. Yeah, maybe things are ok for now, but there's so much left undone. I really dislike those blatant sort of buy-the-next-book ploys. Oh and another thing, it's not really an "investigation" I mean the woman does more work just trying to figure herself out than murder mystery type thing. Things just seem to fall into place around her.

Lovely book overall, looking forward to more, sort of wish it were for a younger crowd though, so I could recommend it to kids. I think it's one of the best examples of voice I've seen in a long time.

Thursday, April 10, 2014

Review | Judge (The Wess'har Wars) by Karen Traviss @karentraviss

Title: Judge
(The Wess'har Wars)
Author: Karen Traviss

Length: 404 Pages

Released: March 2009

Blurb

The Eqbas have come, bringing justice, change, hope to some . . . and death to many.

Seeking to punish the human gethes who caused the near destruction of an ocean-dwelling race in the distant Cavanagh’s Star system, the Eqbas have finally landed on Earth. But another, equally important obligation has drawn them across the galaxy: the salvation of this environmentally ravaged world, a mission that could entail the annihilation of billions of humans.

Former police officer Shan Frankland has come as well—along with her two lifemates, one alien and one human—carrying in her blood the parasite that makes her virtually immortal. Though she once vowed never to let the powerful contagion reach the homeworld she left nearly a century ago, she feels compelled to play an active role in the unfolding drama—and to follow the catastrophic events that have devastated civilizations and defined her life to their shocking, inevitable end.

The book's probably more about internal conflicts than anything else. It's definitely one big, long conclusion. I can't remember much about Ally, but I view that as the climax and this the wrap-up for the whole thing.

SPOILER ALERT:
Shap succeeds in removing the parasite, so Shan, Aras, and Ade all have a moral choice to make: To be mortal, or not to be mortal.

Not everyone on the brink of death gets the choice to join or not join the semi-immortal, but Eddie does.

Meanwhile, Earth's getting an ecological makeover. If you haven't followed the series so far, I don't think this book will have much meaning for you.

Karen Traviss has created a believable universe in all it's broken, dirty glory. The book would make an excellent read for a philosophy class, if you're into that sort of thing.

Thursday, April 3, 2014

Review | Grave Secrets by Kathy Reichs @KathyReichs

Title: Grave Secrets
Author: Kathy Reichs

Length: 400 Pages

Released: July 2002

Blurb

It was a summer morning in 1982 when soldiers ravaged the village of Chupan Ya, raping and killing women and children. Twenty-three victims are said to lie in the well where, twenty years later, Dr. Temperance Brennan and a team from the Guatemalan Forensic Anthropology Foundation now dig. No records were kept. To their families, the dead are "the disappeared."

Forensic anthropologist for the medical examiners in North Carolina and Montreal, Tempe is in Guatemala for a month's service to help some families identify and bury their dead. She digs in a cold, damp pit where she finds a hair clip, a fragment of cloth, a tiny sneaker. Her trowel touches something hard: the hip of a child no more than two years old.

It's heartbreaking work. Something savage happened here twenty years ago. The violence continues today. The team is packing up for the day when an urgent satellite call comes in. Two colleagues are under attack. Shots ring out, and Tempe listens in horror to a woman's screams. Then there is silence. Dead silence.
With this new violence, everything changes, both for the team and for Tempe, who's asked by the Guatemalan police for her expertise on another case. Four privileged young women have vanished from Guatemala City in recent months. One is the Canadian ambassador's daughter. Some remains have turned up in a septic tank, and Tempe unfortunately knows septic tanks.

Teaming with Special Crimes Investigator Bartolomé Galiano, and with Montreal detective Andrew Ryan, who may have more than just professional reasons to join her on the case, Tempe soon finds herself in a dangerous web that stretches far beyond Guatemala's borders. The stakes are huge. As power, money, greed, and science converge, Tempe must make life-altering choices.

From cutting-edge science in the lab, where Tempe studies fetal bones and cat hair DNA, to a chilling en-counter in a lonely morgue, Grave Secrets is powerful, page-turning entertainment from a crime fiction superstar who combines riveting authenticity with witty, elegant prose.

As mentioned by others, this book is very driven by its dialogue. I happen to like the style... not all the time, but a nice break from science fiction and fantasy. The book's several years old and a lot of the references are going to be obscure very soon.

There's a sense of realism in the conclusion. Things aren't always as they seem, some people are scumbags of the plain and simple variety, rather than those extra special, proverbial ax wielders.

I can see why some people wouldn't like the scientific explanations. She was trying to make the concepts simple, but it would help if you understood the concept to begin with. Being a bit of a science junky, I didn't mind, but the explanations did kind of seem forced into the conversations. The wrap up also seemed a contrived thing, but these are minor complaints.

I'm actually a bigger fan of the Hollywood version of Tempe Brennan, (I know, blasphemy) but this version is more realistic. It is very cool to read about forensic scientists in all their inglorious glory.... definitely a career to drink in from afar and not close up to those knee-deep in septic tank goo.

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Review | The Princes of the Golden Cage by @NathalieMallet

Title: The Princes of the Golden Cage
Author: Nathalie Mallet

Length: 321 Pages

Released: Oct 2007

Blurb

Prince Amir lives in a lavish and beautiful cage. He lives in a palace with hundreds of his brothers, all barred by law from ever leaving the palace until he, or one of his brothers, becomes the next Sultan. Living under constant threat of death at the hands of his scheming brothers, Amir has chosen a life of solitude and study. His scholarly and alchemical pursuits bring him under suspicion when his brothers begin to die from seemingly supernatural means. Amir finds himself thrown together with his brother Erik, the son of a barbarian princess. Together they must discover the dark secret that is stalking the halls of their golden cage.

Overall, I enjoyed this quick read. It's classic mystery done well with a fantasy/ horror flare. The main character can get annoying and sometimes he definitely sounds like a sulky little girl, but the action is fairly well done and the plot twists are nicely executed. I agree with whoever just said that the characters are at times unnecessarily obtuse. I would have more bluntly put it: I hate when characters are just plain dumb.

There's hardly any characterization, but that's fine because the emphasis is mainly on the mystery. The author has a pretty smooth writing style. I'd be interested to know how middle-eastern readers would take this book, as it often strikes me as if it were written by a "western" woman who loved the culture but couldn't quite master how to capture it.

I'll probably read the sequel, but I hope they really put some effort into really editing that book. There are nearly a dozen simple grammatical errors and one continuity error, which strike me more as a self-published book bane than a professionally published work.

Here are some of the mistakes:
15 a flawless profile I was proud to bare.
17 "You don't mean with our scholarly brother, Amir!" (note: Amir was not the one being addressed here; this sentence is just plain odd. For the context it was going for, it would have been better suited to say: "You don't mean with our scholarly brother, Amir, do you?")
32 Hassan became silent and his attention turned ton his hands,...
37 "Before going any further, tell me your name," I asked,... (Note: There's no question here.)
78 lack there of
179 Another clue of its recent use was the unpleasant smell of brunt flesh lingering in the air.
217 I thought, my mistake "Shh," I made.
226 ... the blade sliced through the dark demon repetitively, sending puffs of smoke and a sulfuric smell in the air instead of blood. (Note: word choice... repeatedly might be better)
228 Rami walked strait to me.
252 ... baring the same name...
257 one can not steal what isn't there. (Note: this is an acceptable form of the word just not used that often.)
280 the venom in Mir's words was hard to bare.
283 By wearing loose clothing and spending most of my term locked inwith her, we thought I might hide my pregnancy.
290 While Mira and I will contend ourselves with watching you from a balcony with Salima.
(excerpt from next book) 312 ... was made of Telfarian steal, hence too good a quality...

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Review | Invincible (Star Wars: Legacy of the Force, Book 9) by Troy Denning

Title: Invincible
(Star Wars: Legacy of the Force, Book 9)
Author: Troy Denning

Length: 299 Pages

Released: May 2008

Blurb

No war can last forever. Now, in the long and punishing battle between the defiant champions of the New Jedi Order and the juggernaut that is the Galactic Alliance, the endgame is finally at hand. With so much lost–and nothing less than the course of the future still at stake–there can be no turning back. No matter the consequences.

The rebel cause is losing ground under the twin blows of Admiral Gilad Pellaeon’ s assassination and the death of Mara Jade Skywalker. At the same time, having gained the support of the Imperial Remnant and its ruthlessly efficient forces, the Galactic Alliance, with the extraordinary power and dark brilliance of newly ascendant Sith Lord Darth Caedus at its helm, may be unstoppable. Tormented and torn between the call of duty and the thirst for vengeance, Luke has searched the Force and beheld an unspeakable vision of the galaxy enslaved under tyranny more monstrous than even Palpatine’s. Now it seems that the last, best hope lies in mobilizing the scattered Jedi for one decisive search-and-destroy mission. The objective: eliminate Darth Caedus.

It’s a plan that will be as difficult and dangerous to execute as it is daring. For Caedus is a scion of both the Skywalker and Solo bloodlines whose command of the Force surpasses even that of his grandfather

Darth Vader. There is only one who is bound by destiny to stand against him in what will surely be a duel to the death, only one with an outside chance of bringing down the dark lord who was once Jacen Solo.

Failure is not an option. The furious final moments between power and peace are here, and whoever confronts Darth Caedus will decide the outcome–and the fate of those left standing.

Features a bonus section following the novel that includes a primer on the Star Wars expanded universe, and over half a dozen excerpts from some of the most popular Star Wars books of the last thirty years!

After the Dark Nest disastrous bit of horrific storytelling, I've always taken anything Troy Denning writes with a grain of salt. Yes, that's a cliche. This book is pretty good.

Painful Parts

First off, Denning can't do Boba Fett at all. Nearly all of Fett's lines are out of character, and Denning's version of Fett just plain talks too much. That nit aside, there's not that much of Fett in the book, so it's not all that painful.
Second, there's not much else to do with Jacen's character, so absolutely nothing is done. The man spends more than half the book glowering or reining in his smoldering anger because of what happened "last time".
Third, Ben's bit seems contrived. It's like the author stuck him in because he was told to have a piece with Ben Skywalker. This is especially true in the end scenes of the book.
Fourth, the whole thing with Tahiri's character "development" is so predictable it's hokey.
Fifth, there seemed to be a bit of "oh, this is the last book of the series, we don't really need that character, let's kill him off" going on.
Sixth, loose ends. I hate loose ends. *** spoiler-ish comment coming*** At the end of the book, a certain Jedi character just drops off into space, much like Raynar Thul did all those years ago. I know it's becuase they want things to write about in the future but the ploys are getting pathetic.

Pretty Parts

First, I'm hopelessly attached to the character of Jaina Solo. Seeing as she was in a good number of the 299 pages of this skinny book, I was happy as a hutt at a fixed podrace.
Second, Luke does a little more thank just sit on his hands all day.
Third, the action scenes were well written. Star Wars thrives on healthy action scenes. That a good number of the situations these days are pathetically set up does not detract from the power these authors have over spinning the action portions of their tales.
Fourth, the book passed the late night test... anything that can keep me up to 3:20 in the morning gets some props for the accomplishment.
Fifth, the end was satisfying, if predictable. At one point they almost had me believing they'd do something incredibly stupid but then I remembered that this is Star Wars and those light and fluffy "awww" notes are the bread and butter of the galaxy.

So, all in all, if you're reading this it most likely means you've read the rest of the books and are contemplating whether or not to go ahead and spend the $17.00-ish. That or you've already bought it, read it, written your review, and just want to see what others have to say. The reviews here are rather mixed and your opinion will most likely differ from ours, so go ahead, read the book then say your piece. It's a worthwhile read.

Thursday, March 6, 2014

Review | Ally (Wess'har Wars) by @karentraviss

Title: Ally
(Wess'har Wars)
Author: Karen Traviss

Length: 402 Pages

Released: March 2009

Blurb

The worlds orbiting Cavanagh's Star are in turmoil.

Civil war on Umeh—ignited by outsiders—threatens to annihilate the teeming masses of a grossly overpopulated planet. On Bezer'ej, the handful of native aquatic creatures who survived extermination must take extraordinary and terrible steps to ensure the future of their kind . . .

And the interlopers from a distant planet called Earth can only watch the chaos they helped, in part, to create—knowing their home world will be next to suffer.

The day of reckoning is rapidly approaching when the powerful Eqbas will remake the Earth at the expense of its dominant species. And Shan Frankland—once a police officer, once human, now something much more—must decide where her loyalties truly lie: among the gethes, on a planet she once called home, or here, where a dying species presents her with a new and unexpected crisis.

So, why does it only get 4 stars from me? It's something I call the time test. If it takes me more than 2 months to read something, it probably isn't all THAT compelling. This work does indeed cover much of the same ground as the previous books. It's still good, and still very much worth the read. It is not, however, Traviss' best work. I tried to think of the major plot points and couldn't come up with much. It's a lot of waiting and staring down and developing the cultures. The newbies, Skavu, struck me as stereotypically psychopathic, which is unusual for Traviss, who tends to excel at well fleshed out cultures. The two flavors of Wess'har are nicely developed, and she's done a lovely job of pinning down the flaws in humanity. Her descriptions are apt and lively. The language is fluid if a bit crude. If you're not a Karen Traviss fan, shame on you. If you are, you probably already bought the book anyway. If you aren't but plan to be, get cracking reading.

Thursday, February 27, 2014

Review | Master of Deception (Star Wars: Last of the Jedi, Book 9) by Jude Watson & Judy Blundell

Title: Master of Deception

(Star Wars: Last of the Jedi, Book 9)

Author: Jude Watson & Judy Blundell

Length: 160 Pages

Released: February 2008

Blurb

The penultimate installment to Jude Watson's Star Wars: The Last of the Jedi series.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Jude Watson does a nice job including believable twists and works cliffhangers infuriatingly well. As with most books in this series, there are pieces of the puzzle left unsolved, which will be resolved in a later book.

I had other things to do, but I chose to read this book instead. Work will wait. A fun, fast read is something to savor. As the cast of characters gets larger, it's hard to balance them all, but Jude Watson has done so remarkably well.

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Review | Revelation (Star Wars: Legacy of the Force, Book 8) by @karentraviss

Title: Revelation

(Star Wars: Legacy of the Force, Book 8)

Author: Karen Traviss

Length: 450 Pages

Released: April 2008

Blurb

During this savage civil war, all efforts to end Jacen Solo’s tyranny of the Galactic Alliance have failed. Now with Jacen approaching the height of his dark powers, no one–not even the Solos and the Skywalkers–knows if anything can stop the Sith Lord before his plan to save the galaxy ends up destroying it.

Jacen Solo’s shadow of influence has threatened many, especially those closest to him. Jaina Solo is determined to bring her brother in, but in order to track him down, she must first learn unfamiliar skills from a man she finds ruthless, repellent, and dangerous. Meanwhile, Ben Skywalker, still haunted by suspicions that Jacen killed his mother, Mara, decides he must know the truth, even if it costs him his life. And as Luke Skywalker contemplates once unthinkable strategies to dethrone his nephew, the hour of reckoning for those on both sides draws near. The galaxy becomes a battlefield where all must face their true nature and darkest secrets, and live–or die–with the consequences.

Features a bonus section following the novel that includes a primer on the Star Wars expanded universe, and over half a dozen excerpts from some of the most popular Star Wars books of the last thirty years!

Whenever I read a book, I ask myself a question: was I entertained? The answer in this case was yes.
Was it the best book I've ever read? Not really.
Was it a worthy read with some great points that handled Star Wars lore competently? Yes.
Was the ending good, yes.

Fett overload or not, Karen Traviss knows how to write the Mandalorians well. Reading the bit in the back about the next book Invicible, I was struck several times at how utterly awful Troy Denning is at portraying Fett. Perhaps that is a testament more to Karen Traviss' strong characterization than an actual flaw with Denning, but I've a few major nits with Denning's past works - Star Wars meets bugland, 3 books vying for the worst book ever written...)

I digress. Back to Revelation. The title's not that inventive, but I love the sheer anticlimatic bit where the Revelation is an internal, yes "introspective" thing and not a huge explosion, literally or figuratively. The book's title can be applied to several events in the book, and that ambiguity is awesome.

It is definitely a set up of future books, but let's face it, Star Wars sells... so they're going to capitalize on that fact. Part of the lure of Star Wars literature is the fact that it intertwines with past books. The Clone Wars novels were largely pathetic, but there were a few redeemable stories and it helps to know the history to understand this present darkness. Look, it's freaking hard to avoid reusing old material. The fact that the authors have managed to take a good-boy-gone-bad plot point and made it do anything is an accomplishment.

I recommend this book for those who have been following this series, but if you have been, you've probably already bought your copy and read these as a sidekick to avoid your work. So, I'm probably just wasting my breath. In any case, it's a worthwhile read with some nice characterization. Very political, actually, and of course, I wish there was more mention of Tenel Ka and Han, Leia, and Luke, but there's only so much page space, people, show a shred of patience.

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Review | Rule of Two (Star Wars: Darth Bane, Book 2) by @DrewKarpyshyn

Title: Rule of Two

(Star Wars: Darth Bane, Book 2)

Author: Drew Karpyshyn

Length: 337 Pages

Released: June 2011

Blurb

In the New York Times bestseller Darth Bane: Path of Destruction, Drew Karpyshyn painted a gripping portrait of a young man’s journey from innocence to evil. That man was Darth Bane, a twisted genius whose iron will, fierce ambition, and strength in the dark side of the Force made him a natural leader among the Sith–until his radical embrace of an all-but-forgotten wisdom drove him to destroy his own order . . . and create it anew from the ashes. As the last surviving Sith, Darth Bane promulgated a harsh new directive: the Rule of Two.

Two there should be; no more, no less.
One to embody the power, the other to crave it.

Now Darth Bane is ready to put his policy into action, and he thinks he has found the key element that will make his triumph complete: a student to train in the ways of the dark side. Though she is young, Zannah possesses an instinctive link to the dark side that rivals his own. With his guidance, she will become essential in his quest to destroy the Jedi and dominate the galaxy.

But there is one who is determined to stop Darth Bane: Johun Othone, Padawan to Jedi Master Lord Hoth, who died at Bane’s hands in the last great Sith War. Though the rest of the Jedi scoff at him, Joshua’s belief that there are surviving Sith on the loose is unshakeable.

As Johun continues his dogged pursuit of the man who killed his master, Zannah, faced unexpectedly with a figure from her past, begins to question her embrace of the dark side. And Darth Bane is led by Force-induced visions to a moon where he will acquire astonishing new knowledge and power–power that will alter him in ways he could never have imagined. . . .

Features a bonus section following the novel that includes a primer on the Star Wars expanded universe, and over half a dozen excerpts from some of the most popular Star Wars books of the last thirty years!

Overall, a wonderful story with protagonists who are undeniably intriguing. The grammar issues have been mentioned by nearly every reviewer, but I'll add my two worthless cents anyway. Star Wars has a highly demanding, and apparently very rich, fan-base. As such the book publishers churn out books in a ridiculously short amount of time. It's crazy easy to make a typo when writing a book, but when expectations are that high, mistakes in spelling and grammar are devastating to the sense of professionalism about the book. On the other hand, harping on the few mistakes in a brilliantly unfolded story is unusually cruel.

At times Bane seemed painfully overpowered, but the finale was handled well. I look forward to more of Zannah and Bane's exploits and machinations. As it is a sequel, please read Darth Bane: The Path to Destruction first so you have some context. That too is a very worthwhile read.

Thursday, February 6, 2014

Review | The Joiner King: Star Wars (Dark Nest, Book I) by Troy Denning

Title: The Joiner King: Star Wars

(Dark Nest, Book I)

Author: Troy Denning

Length: 544 Pages

Released: Dec. 2005

Blurb

After triumphing in Star Wars: The Unifying Force, the heroes of the New Jedi Order return in a dazzling adventure!

Luke Skywalker is worried: A handful of Jedi Knights, including his nephew and niece, Jaina and Jacen Solo, have disappeared into the Unknown Regions in response to a strange cry for help that only they could hear. Now the alien Chiss have angrily lodged a formal complaint, accusing the missing Jedi of meddling in a border dispute between the Chiss and an unidentified aggressor.

Luke has no choice but to head to the Unknown Regions for serious damage control. Han and Leia follow, intent on protecting their children from what could be grave danger. But none of them are prepared for what they find when they reach their destination.

A colony of mysterious aliens is expanding toward the edge of Chiss space. The leader of the alien nest is resolute. Adept in the Force, he is drawing old friends to his side, compelling them to join the colony and meld their Force-abilities with his, even if it leads to all-out war. . . .

Features a bonus section following the novel that includes a primer on the Star Wars expanded universe, and over half a dozen excerpts from some of the most popular Star Wars books of the last thirty years!

Okay so the romance parts are just weird and the whole concept and who the bad guys are and such. Still, call me an addict, whatever, I liked it.

I'm looking forward to the next two books. They had better straighten a few things out by the end though.

Plot was confusing but interesting. Not the best star wars book I've ever read but a valiant effort and a decent story.

Thursday, January 30, 2014

Review | The Highway by C.J. Box @cjboxauthor

Title: The Highway

Author: C.J. Box

Length: 400 Pages

Released: July 30, 2013

Blurb

When two sisters set out across a remote stretch of Montana road to visit their friend, little do they know it will be the last time anyone might ever hear from them again. The girls—and their car—simply vanish. Former police investigator Cody Hoyt has just lost his job and has fallen off the wagon after a long stretch of sobriety. Convinced by his son and his former rookie partner, Cassie Dewell, he begins the drive south to the girls’ last known location. As Cody makes his way to the lonely stretch of Montana highway where they went missing, Cassie discovers that Gracie and Danielle Sullivan aren’t the first girls who have disappeared in this area. This majestic landscape is the hunting ground for a killer whose viciousness is outmatched only by his intelligence. And he might not be working alone. Time is running out for Gracie and Danielle…Can Cassie overcome her doubts and lack of experience and use her innate skill? Can Cody Hoyt battle his own demons and find this killer before another victim vanishes on the highway?

***Mild Spoilers Possible***
This is my first C.J. Box book, and it probably won't be the last. I picked it up because I saw that my father had read a lot of his books.

Story Comments:
Several parts of the plot seem highly contrived and a bit too pat, but the book is still a quick, compelling read. (I don't want to say more for fear of spoilers, but those who have finished will know what I mean when I say that the way the mystery is solved is a bit disappointing from an investigative standpoint.)

Two teenage girls get kidnapped by a long-haul trucker, hauled to his secret lair, and ... well, you could probably fill in the blanks from here. The end is mostly predictable, though there are 1 or 2 twists to keep you guessing...or just annoy you. It's pretty obvious that the publisher and author are angling for a sequel, which isn't necessarily a bad thing but can earn an eye-roll or two.

Character Comments:
The creepiest character is of course the serial killer. He reads like a textbook serial killer, right down to the strained relationship with his mother. I'm all for research, but it would have been nice if he was a little more well-rounded than complete creeper.

Danielle and Gracie have the funniest dialogue. You can definitely tell the author has been around girls (his bio says he has 3 daughters). If I had to pick a favorite character, I'd say Gracie because she's billed as the level-headed one and her actions actually back that up.

Cassie's (Casandra Dewell) all right. I like that she's not the stereotypical, Det. Beckett-esque knock off character. I sort of wish not quite so much of her insecurity bled onto the pgs of the story, but overall, I still think she's okay. I'd probably pick up a sequel (a free sequel especially).

Cody Hoyt is ... interesting. I sort of want to like him, but he's unconventional to the point of just being annoying.

Profanity comment: Most of the book keeps a nice balance of fitting profanity (even at times amusing like the title of the killer's back-up box) without veering off into every other word must be 4 letters and start with "f", but there's a disappointing section of 3-ish pgs that the story could do fine without.

Summary: The book is reasonably well-written, swift in pace, and interesting. However, the end seemed rushed and carefully tailored, instead of something that would happen naturally.

Thursday, January 23, 2014

Review | Fury (Star Wars: Legacy of the Force, Book 7) by Aaron Allston @aaronallston

Title: Fury
(Star Wars: Legacy of the Force, Book 7)

Author: Aaron Allston

Length: 386 Pages

Released: April 2008