To follow up the book festival, I thought another book review post might be interesting. So let's see what I've been up to in the last couple of weeks.
The Sword Theif
Book 3 in the 39 clues series, this one written by Peter Lerangis, sees the duo off to Japan. In this book we find out more about what the 39 clues are all about. There was also this awkward romance budding between two characters (who, I might point out, are cousins), and more secrets dropped about the kids' mysterious past. I'm not sure I like some of the character changes that happened here (mostly the romance and the ending), but the series itself is still promising. It might be a long ride though.
Hard Magic
I've been eyeing this book by L. A. Gilman for months. Anyone following me on twitter has noticed this, since I tweeted about it when I picked it up. They had it on the 1 week shelf on the Library when I was dropping off the previous book, and I just had to grab it. What I didn't realize going in, is that this is a spin-off series of her other series. However, it was self contained and intelligable. The plot centers around a team who become a new magical forensics squad, similar to CSI. The magic system still has room for expansion, but the view of magic as current (in fact, this is why mages can't use electric appliences: they run on the same frequencies) is kinda cool. I'll be watching her more carefully. This is also the first UF I think I've read that treats alternate relationships as just another thing, without making a big deal of it. The MC is bi, and one of the other characters, it turns out, is involved in a 3-way relationship. The MC speculates a little about this, but it's pushed aside to make way for more plot. It's presented with the same lack of consideration as it would if it was a heterosexual relationship. I found that intriguing.
The Invasion
Book 1 in the Secret World Chronicles, by Mercedes Lackey and Steve Libby. This is actually a podcast audio book, which is a new format for me. I've listened to some podcasts before, mostly gaming, and I've listened to plenty of audio books (probably more than half of the ones I've mentioned here have been audio books, though I haven't kept track). This one is set in 2004, but with superheros existing. Superheros grew out of WWII, and are managed by a worldwide organization called Echo. However, in this book, we see a surprise invasion by a mysterious Nazi force, mostly metahumans and humans in superpowered suits. The story jumps around in each chapter from one character to another, and they only start interacting with each other in the 2nd book. Still, I haven't been able to stop listening.
Shakespeare's Landlord
Most people know Charlaine Harris from her Southern Vampire Mysteries (a.k.a. True Blood). However, in her Lily Bard novels, the situation is quite different. This is, in many ways, a much more mundane mystery than the UF I've been reading. It starts off as a girl in a small town with a clear past to hide. However, as it unfolds, and we learn more about her past, well it's one of the most heartbreaking backstories I've read. There's no supernatural here, and I'll be honest I spent a good chunk of the beginning looking for one. While this may have stopped me from picking it up in the first place had I known, now that I've read it I'll most likely add the next couple to my list. The next 2 I already have on audio book courtesy of my mom.
The Golem's Eye
After about 2 years, I finally got back to the Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud. Book two finds our hero crawling up the government rungs. He's his own magician now, and has gotten himself in over his head tracking down the Resistance. It had been so long since I'd read the first one, that truth be told I didn't remember a bit of it. I was still able to follow most of this, but I'm sure there were many back references I didn't get. The Djini's habbit of including footnotes in his work are rather amusing. It only occured to me partway through the 3rd book that the Djini's sections are int he first person, while the other sections are in the third. This is another book that's also strangely political, but since the MC is young and naive, it really boils down to who's trying ot take advantage of him today. Some of these ideas may end up leeking into my WIP if I'm not careful though (more on that later, I've done some significant effort in plotting, but I'm nowhere near done).
Ptolemy's Gate
Book 3 in the Bartimaeus Trilogy has changed the nature of John and Kitty's relationship pretty completely. He is now even higher on the government totem pole, and is running his poor Djini raggid. While I can't remember the "main" conflict, what's stuck with me is that this novel is an interesting treatment of trust, what trust there can be between a man and his deadly slave anyway. I just can't seem to remember what lead them to that place in the first place...
Ruler of the Realm
The Third and Final book in Herbie Brennan's Faerie Wars novels finally wraps up some of the storylines. The demon's mechinations have enough plot twists to keep everyone guessing, though whether that's a good thing or a bad thing is left up to you. The romances come to a heel, at least to a certain extent, and all in all, not a bad book. Though I don't think I'm going to make particular effort to keep an eye out for sequels anymore.
Showing posts with label Herbie Brennan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Herbie Brennan. Show all posts
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Friday, August 06, 2010
Book Review:
I think It's time for another book review post. I've gotten through a few books in the last few weeks.
Wake
The first book in a trilogy by Lisa McMann was a rather strange book. The premise is pretty interesting, it's about a girl who gets pulled into peoples dreams any time she's near someone sleeping. The dreams themselves are strange, as dreams often are. As usual, there were a couple themes that made me uncomfortable, but all in all it was a decent story. The really strange part was the book was written in present tense. At first I thought it was just for the dreams, and hte rest of hte book would be in the more common past tense, but I was wrong. It made it awkward to read, and gave the whole thing a very surreal feel.
Waking the Witch
Waking the Witch is the latest book in Kelley Armstrong's Otherworld series. I think this is the only author I can think of who maintaines my interest in her as much in the latest book as in the first one I read, and this is the 15th book of hers I've read (11th in this series). The ending is a cliffhanger/ huge surprise, which isn't something she usually does in her books. It made me feel like the story wasn't finished, which is very strange, but apparently this is a 2-part story, and I have to wait another year to find out what's happening. Personally, I think it'll be worth the wait.
Jealousy
The third book in Lilith Saintcrow's Strange Angels series. The mythos is really interesting here, and I wish I knew if it was based on something or not. Secrets start worming their way out, and we find out a lot more backstory in this one. She weaves the two stories together well. To me, more of this book felt about the backstory than the current one, whereas the previous two were more tied to the current timeline. But there's still plenty of story to be pursued.
Elantris
I mentioned a little about this book in a previous post, because it made me think of undead. Written by Brandon Sanderson, it's a very political story, which I don't always like. This one, however, made me wonder if there was a sequel. There were times when it was predictable, though it had it's share of surprises. Some of them were because we had no way of knowing some features about the world, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.
Shamans Crossing
First in the Soldier Son's Trilogy by Robin Hobb, this was another pretty political book. It's set in a colonial-era fantasy world, and centers around a conflict with Civilization vs the more primal wild. There's some strong feminist leanings in there too, but it felt kinda heavy handed at times. This is probably one of the few books that made me actually hate characters that weren't an outright enemy. The characters were cast to be annoying, and I really felt it. I mostly picked up this book because the sequel kept catching my eyes in bookstores, and I never realized it was one. We got a free copy at Comic Con in NYC last year, so I've been trying to read it. I'm unsure of how I feel about it, but I'll probably give another book a chance, it wasn't that awful.
The Purple Emperor
As I mentioned with Faerie Wars, I had read this book a few years ago, but couldnt' remember anything about it. The 2nd in a series by Herbie Brennan, the book picks up pretty much where the previous one left off. I thin the series is a Trilogy, but I'm not sure. Truth is, I'm not sure what else to say about it.
Artemis Fowl
Another series I had read a few years ago is Eoin Colfer's Artemis Fowl series. The newest one is about to come out, and I grabbed this to read with Krystal when we were driving around. I'd forgotten much of it, and it ended differently than I remembered. Maybe I was remembering a later book. In this world, Leprecon is actually LEPRecon, so rather than a race it's a group of police officers. The mythos is pretty interesting, and while the 10 yr old supergenius is a bit far fetched, it's still an intriguing tale.
Wake
The first book in a trilogy by Lisa McMann was a rather strange book. The premise is pretty interesting, it's about a girl who gets pulled into peoples dreams any time she's near someone sleeping. The dreams themselves are strange, as dreams often are. As usual, there were a couple themes that made me uncomfortable, but all in all it was a decent story. The really strange part was the book was written in present tense. At first I thought it was just for the dreams, and hte rest of hte book would be in the more common past tense, but I was wrong. It made it awkward to read, and gave the whole thing a very surreal feel.
Waking the Witch
Waking the Witch is the latest book in Kelley Armstrong's Otherworld series. I think this is the only author I can think of who maintaines my interest in her as much in the latest book as in the first one I read, and this is the 15th book of hers I've read (11th in this series). The ending is a cliffhanger/ huge surprise, which isn't something she usually does in her books. It made me feel like the story wasn't finished, which is very strange, but apparently this is a 2-part story, and I have to wait another year to find out what's happening. Personally, I think it'll be worth the wait.
Jealousy
The third book in Lilith Saintcrow's Strange Angels series. The mythos is really interesting here, and I wish I knew if it was based on something or not. Secrets start worming their way out, and we find out a lot more backstory in this one. She weaves the two stories together well. To me, more of this book felt about the backstory than the current one, whereas the previous two were more tied to the current timeline. But there's still plenty of story to be pursued.
Elantris
I mentioned a little about this book in a previous post, because it made me think of undead. Written by Brandon Sanderson, it's a very political story, which I don't always like. This one, however, made me wonder if there was a sequel. There were times when it was predictable, though it had it's share of surprises. Some of them were because we had no way of knowing some features about the world, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.
Shamans Crossing
First in the Soldier Son's Trilogy by Robin Hobb, this was another pretty political book. It's set in a colonial-era fantasy world, and centers around a conflict with Civilization vs the more primal wild. There's some strong feminist leanings in there too, but it felt kinda heavy handed at times. This is probably one of the few books that made me actually hate characters that weren't an outright enemy. The characters were cast to be annoying, and I really felt it. I mostly picked up this book because the sequel kept catching my eyes in bookstores, and I never realized it was one. We got a free copy at Comic Con in NYC last year, so I've been trying to read it. I'm unsure of how I feel about it, but I'll probably give another book a chance, it wasn't that awful.
The Purple Emperor
As I mentioned with Faerie Wars, I had read this book a few years ago, but couldnt' remember anything about it. The 2nd in a series by Herbie Brennan, the book picks up pretty much where the previous one left off. I thin the series is a Trilogy, but I'm not sure. Truth is, I'm not sure what else to say about it.
Artemis Fowl
Another series I had read a few years ago is Eoin Colfer's Artemis Fowl series. The newest one is about to come out, and I grabbed this to read with Krystal when we were driving around. I'd forgotten much of it, and it ended differently than I remembered. Maybe I was remembering a later book. In this world, Leprecon is actually LEPRecon, so rather than a race it's a group of police officers. The mythos is pretty interesting, and while the 10 yr old supergenius is a bit far fetched, it's still an intriguing tale.
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