Peter Jones

Ah Angelmaker. Let's have a talk here old friend. I say old because, well, it took me about two months to finish you. For a book of your size and nature, that is darn near an eternity.

Don't take it personally, but you just didn't grab me for the longest time. I found your setting interesting. Your clockwork/steampunk backdrop to be fascinating. And, having read Edie Investigates, at least one of your main characters was already interesting.

Ah, but your main character, Joshua Joseph Spork. Now that guy, I just couldn't get behind. As with the utensil that bears his name, at first blush you think it is going to be great. All the benefits of a spoon AND a fork. But once you use it, you realize it just doesn't quite cut it that well in either role.

Joe just wasn't an interesting character. At least not for the first 2/3 of the book. However, once he comes into his own, embraces his inheritance, he finally becomes someone I could get behind.

So, Angelmaker, your premise was interesting. A clockwork doomsday machine. Secret agents, super spies, possibly immortal super villians. Throw in automata, creepy monks, a fierce little dog with marble eyes, and you have the ingredients for a great story.

Despite all those ingredients, I just struggled to really get in to your story though. You tried. You switched points of view between the main characters, you fleshed them out with extended flashbacks. But it must have just been me, and not you.

So, despite all this complaining, you might wonder if that 4/5 stars I am giving you are pity stars. Stars gifted for the simple reason that your creator's previous work, The Gone Away World ranks as possibly my favorite book of all time. The good news is that no, they aren't pity stars.

See, the good thing is, once you finally grabbed my attention, at about page 300 or so, you really grabbed on. I'm talking choke hold, death grip tight. Two months to read the first 300 pages. Two days to read the next 175. And in the end, I really enjoyed the ride. Knowing now what I know, some day we'll sit down together again. I have a feeling that next time, we will pass the pages much more quickly. So, despite our extended time together, I really, truly enjoyed the ride. Thanks Angelmaker.

Elantris is the first novel by Brandon Sanderson. It is a very good first novel, but it does feel a little raw as compared to his later work. The concept is interesting and the characters well fleshed out.

However, I actually felt the characters were too well fleshed out. The majority of the book feels like character development with very little movement of the ultimate conflict of the story. The story sort of meanders back and forth between the three main characters until the last 1/4th or even 1/5 of the book. At that point, suddenly it kicks it into overdrive and begins to tell a very interesting and compelling story.

My biggest complaint is that once the story was over, I finally really wanted there to be more. The book ends with the potential for much more. While the novel resolved, it felt to me that there was much more that could have been told. It really feels like the first book in the series, where the majority of the time was spent establishing a world and characters so that a larger, epic story could be told in the follow up books (that don't, at least at this time, exist). Worth reading, no question, but not my favorite of the author's.

For the few who may not have heard of it yet, Born to Run is a book about the Tarahumara of Mexico, a group of preternaturally good runners. In this book, author Christopher McDougall uses the Tarahumara and a race staged on their home turf as a backdrop to discuss running, particularly long distance running, in many different ways.

The story is compelling, the characters fascinating and larger than life, and the writing is engaging and immediate, while still remaining thoughtful. It does come across as somewhat sensational at times, and you are left wondering just how solid the studies that are referenced are. However, there really is a powerful story here, with some evidence to back it up, that running really is something we humans should be doing. Not just something that we can do. Running really does seem to be almost an essential part of our nature, and this book does a great job of eliciting a response in the reader. I definitely recommend Born to Run, and plan on re-reading it whenever I feel my running mojo fading.

An interesting companion to the Infinity Blade games, Awakening serves as a nice bridge between the two. Explained here through the narrative are some important elements to the fiction that help to flesh out the world the folks at Chair created. We understand more now the repetition of the first game as well as the hints at technology at the end of that game. All in all, a good read, and certainly worth it if you are at all invested in the fictions of the games. Sanderson's writing is good, though felt somewhat rushed in this short book. Still, recommended.

Mistborn is a thrilling introduction to a fascinating world of magic, mystery and danger. Brandon Sanderson does an excellent job of developing this world, along with its own magic systems and hints of a deep, rich mythology. This first entry is an incredibly satisfying read, yet leaves plenty open for the future installments. I thoroughly enjoyed this first book and look forward to reading the rest of this series.

Edie Investigates was the perfect answer to a long layover this past week. As a prelude to Angelmaker, it effectively presented characters I want to know more about. It also gave hints of a world that I intensely want to explore. Highly enjoyable prose as expected from author Nick Harkaway. This short novella whet my appetite for more while leaving me sufficiently satisfied with the story it had to tell.

Charles Finch both adds layers to his characters, and takes away the spotlight some in this next addition to his Charles Lenox series. The most interesting aspects revolved around Lenox having to reconcile his new marriage, position in Parliament, and life changes of close friends with his ongoing need to be an amateur detective. Unfortunately, I didn't feel these were fleshed out as much as I would have liked.

Also, I find it more difficult to sympathize with the characters, primarily due to their aristocratic position in Victorian England. The most powerful moment comes when a character challenges Lenox on this very point.

I enjoyed it, but didn't find myself as engaged as I had with previous books in this series. Still, worth reading.

Rick Riordan again tells a griping tale of demigods and mythology mixed with modern times. I find his writing, while predictable, to be engaging and the characters are well thought out. The new characters from Roman heritage are interesting, likable, and still seem very human, despite their powers. This is what makes Riordan so effective, his ability to take these severely overpowered characters and still make them flawed, vulnerable and likable.

I very much look forward to where the story goes from here, as the clash between Greek and Roman demigods is imminent. Highly readable.

I heard many excellent comments regarding this book and the series as a whole. I delved in and really wanted to appreciate the world that had been created.

However, the book just never clicked for me. I tried to get into it, but didn't care for the characters, the conflict or really what was happening in the world. Perhaps I will go back some day and try again, but if, 200 pages in, I still can't find myself caring about the world or its characters, I don't see the purpose in pressing on.

Touted as the “American Tolkien” George Martin's epic tale begins well enough, with ominous portents that “Winter is coming”. A rich world with a deep history is created with care. Families, feuds, and intrigue abound. But, it just ends up being too much. The book begins to crumble under the weight of the complexity. There just end up being too many people, with too many betrayals, and, for me at least, too many bad things that happen. At the end of the first book I felt fairly hopeless that anything good was going to happen to any of the characters I cared for. By the end, I was ready to be done, and had no desire to read the rest of the series as published to this point. Perhaps I will revisit it some day, but I may have to forget the slightly bitter aftertaste this epic volume left behind.

The Throne of Fire is the second in the Kane Chronicles series by Rick Riordan. Like the first, it continues the story of Carter and Sadie Kane and their ties to Egyptian mythology. Like the predecessor, it alternates between points of view, two chapters to each character at a time, told in first person.

The story continues where the first left off, with the looming threat of Apophis rising and plunging the world into chaos. This was, of course, the larger evil revealed in the first. However, wherease the first book felt that it had a decent, if unresolved ending, this one suffers from “middle movie syndrome”, or rather middle book. The set up has already been done, and the story just doesn't end in what was, for me, a satisfactory conclusion. There was a bit too much set up and not enough tie up.

Overall, I still quite enjoyed it, and recommend the series to fans of Riordan's previous books. It just isn't my favorite of his.

I won't lie, it took my wife suggesting this a few times for me to finally decide to pick it up. I found the beginning, the genesis of the relationship with Russel and Holmes interesting. However, the middle really bogged down for me. I just didn't feel there was that much “sleuthing”, and that was what I came to the book for. It was interesting enough that I may read another in the series, but I wasn't running out to grab the next book.

This is tough. I think that I would give it 2.5 if I could, but given I can't, it is probably closer to 2 than 3. I liked the idea of the world Paolo Bacigalupi built. Emiko herself was an interesting character. However, I just didn't care for anyone else. Jaidee perhaps, but I didn't feel any connection to the characters, and there was really no one I felt I could cheer for. Perhaps Kanya in the end.

The writing is fine, the world is interesting enough. But in the end, I just didn't care about any of the characters, and this was the book's biggest failing for me.

Whereas the first book in the series didn't really demonstrate a lot of depth to either the characters or the world, I felt this was remedied well int the sequel. The enemies felt more threatening, the world felt more developed, and the characters seemed to become much more multidimensional. All in all, I felt much more excited to read the next entry than I did after finishing the first.

I struggle somewhat giving this book a score. It was interesting and exciting. However, when all was said and done, I just don't know If there was enough to the story to make me want to come back. Perhaps as the larger story unfolds I will find more substance. Overall an enjoyable read though.

I have been an avid fan of Jack McDevitt since reading Omega years ago. I have been in love with his work, particularly the Alex Benedict/Chase Kolpath novels. Very few of his books have disappointed me (Ancient Shores and Eternity Road being my least favorite). Time Travelers Never Die is one of his latest, and actually is one that I don't plan on reading again. It is a fascinating, fictional look at some historic events and figures. That aspect is well done. However, there was little tension in the events. The ability to instantly jump out of whatever situation the characters were in hindered the building of meaningful tension and conflict. I also found that the novel didn't really address the idea of the paradoxes of time travel satisfactorily. Enjoyable and worth reading, but only once. Not one I will go back to again.

It took a while to get going, but once it moves, American Gods is a fun, intriguing romp through the varied beliefs that make this “melting pot” such a great place to live. Shadow, the main character, is an intriguing main character. Stoic, yet still surprisingly vulnerable throughout. The climax was interesting, but not quite as fulfilling as I had hoped. Nevertheless, a fine read.

The Gone Away World, Nick Harkaway's debut novel, has ruined me. Seriously. Since finishing it, I have found nothing that captures the same sense of humor, mystery, fantastic writing style, and completely original idea as this brilliant novel.

Told from the first person perspective, The Gone Away World is a fantastic piece of fiction. I can't even begin to go into the plot without worries of spoiling the wonderful and delightful twists and turns it takes. Set in a future world where the technology exists to make your enemies just “go away”, what happens when you discover that everyone, simultaneously and secretly, developed that same technology? And just what does the noosphere think about billions of people just being made to “go away”? Well, I'll just say, it doesn't like that idea. The consequences are terrible.

Just read this. Seriously. I don't remember the last time I finished a book and really, truly loved it as much as this book.

Though slow to start, Michale Chabon engages the reader with a fascinating murder mystery in an alternate history setting. Jewish culture is sprinkled throughout, and makes the story that much more interesting. A highly recommended read.

A sometimes overlong epic, Williams does a wonderful job of world-building, with a rich history that he manages to keep germane to the central story. Simon's development through the course of the series is well written and very believable.

Dune Messiah earns three stars today. However, I have a feeling that when I read it again (as I already plan to do), it will score much higher, as this book is the true denouement of the story of Paul Atreides, the first Kwisatz Hadarach.

Dune is a true epic piece of fiction. This book has influenced so many others. In re-reading it I appreciated anew just how much Herbert builds Paul Atreides up as a classic tragic hero. The tragedy, though, is saved for the next in the series.

A true classic, the powerful finale to one of the greatest bildungsroman series of novels ever. Worthy of all the praise I could heap upon it, Lloyd Alexander creates one of the most endearing group of main characters in literature.

Jack McDevitt knows how to pull the reader in, no doubt about it. He has an uncanny ability to casually create futuristic worlds that feel so real, so plausible, that it is easy to forget this is definitely science fiction.

With “Seeker” he has created a gripping, intriguing yarn that is one part Indiana Jones and one part lost colony/mystery material, set 10,000 years in the future. Told from the first person perspective of Chase Kolpath, “Seeker” keeps the pace moving, creates characters the reader cares about, but allows the mystery and suspense to build marvelously. I thoroughly enjoyed “Seeker” and recommend it to fans of good fiction, not just sci-fi.

This review is off of old memories, so forgive me. I was very intrigued by the concept of Nine Princes in Amber. I mean, this idea that all worlds are just shadows of this master world, Amber. And that there are people who can manipulate this at will is all pretty cool.

However, what we end up with is a bunch of characters who were all pretty much chumps, waging war for no purpose other than their egos (I suppose it is true to life then, eh?) and the fact that they can to become the ruler of Amber. The main character, Corwin, was completely unsympathetic. I had zero reason to want him to have any sort of victory. The other characters were all terrible as well. It moved both too fast and too slow, at times getting bogged down in silly details, and completely rushing to others.

I honestly cannot recommend this book, and just don't see any of the praise that is heaped upon this book.