Peter Jones

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.

Look, by now you know what you are getting with a Rick Riordan book. There are no surprises here.

Flawed but likable and noble main hero? Check. Gotta save the world from some deity who was wronged/offended by the other deities? Check. A little bit of romance to keep the characters moving (with some social commentary in this one)? Check. A plucky band of misfit adventurers who have to come together, overcome some differences/personal challenges and work as a team? Check. A slightly subversive take on old mythology? Check.

It's all there and it all goes down nice and smooth. And, for the most part (save a trans character who some might have issue with), it's safe, inoffensive fun. I always enjoy Riordan's stories and style, and this doesn't disappoint. But after so many books I'm getting to the point where it all feels so well trodden that these books just can't get much more than an “I liked it”. Nothing stronger. Quick, light reading that will satisfy if that is what one is going for.

But if you are looking for more depth than that, you'll need to look elsewhere.

Jack McDevitt again demonstrates why he is one of my favorite current sci-fi authors. The Devil's Eye is another Chase Kolpath/Alex Benedict novel, which blends science fiction, Indiana Jones style xeno-archeology, and who-dunnit mystery into a delightful end result. If you aren't reading Jack McDevitt yet, you owe it to yourself to fix that right now.

The Trials of Apollo series has a slightly different feel than the others. This is due to the main character being an incredibly self-centered, egotistical piece of crap. But Apollo is learning. He is growing, and it is this growth of the character, as he comes to understand how the gods have toyed with mortals and their demigod children, that makes him compelling.

The weaving in of Roman and Greek mythology is, again, done well and entertaining. But it never goes from good to great. It's like a Rice Crispy treat. Not many people really LOVE Rice Crispy treats, but no one hates them either. They're tasty, easy, but you don't have one and think “Wow, that was really something special”. You just sort of eat it, enjoy it for what it is, and then forget about them until the next time someone offers you one.

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.

I saw this movie years ago but remembered very little other than the Red Bull. Reading the novel as an adult was a very pleasant experience. This is a delightful novel. I cannot recommend it enough. The follow up story is a perfect coda as well.

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.

This is just... not good. I realize it is a set up for a much larger universe. But I don't see myself engaging in this universe anymore than I already have.

First off, the writing is incredibly amateur. This reads like some lesser quality online fan fiction. I can tell there is the germinal core of an interesting story. But I can't get past the poor grammar, the sloppy descriptions, and the ignoring or hand waving away any of the potentially more interesting points.

Also, it seems that the author thinks he is writing a “powerful, independent, liberated” main female character. So why is it that every description of her starts with how darn hot she is? And the one physical characteristic that changes when she becomes alien super vampire is her legs are longer and even more attractive? Let's see, we'll make her flawed by making her short, then sex her up by making her taller and her legs even more attractive? This is the sort of pandering in the guise of empowering that drives me up the wall. Let's make the characters interesting because of who they are, not because they rip people apart and look super hot while doing it. Groan.

At least it was a fast and easy read. Not totally worthless, but I would NOT recommend this to anyone I liked.

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.

The Chronicles of Prydain have long been some of my very favorite books. About ever 5-10 years I come back around and read them again. In needing to take a break from the slog that has become The Wheel of Time, I decided it was time, again, to visit these classics. The Book of Three is certainly not the best book in the series, by a long shot. But it still delivers. I appreciate the characters, though love them for what we get in future books. That is really what we get her, the establishment of certain characters we will come to know and love more as the series continues. And for that, I still cherish this book.

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.

I enjoyed the Norse mythology side, and the way it is being tied to the other mythologies. The story is fun, the characters entertaining. However, at this point it really feels like the Rick Riordan formula is pretty drilled in. No surprises here, just a fun, easy read.

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.

With Firefight, Sanderson takes his Reckoner's saga in a bit of a different direction. Still with some focus on the Epics and their powers, the real focus is more on the individuals. We meet a new group of Reckoners, but the their is little to really introduce them. Still, the revelations about Epics and the world they inhabit are very interesting. Certainly not as involved a plot as some of his other works, still, Firefight is a lot of fun and well worth reading.

I really enjoy kettlebell work. It is an efficient, effective tool for improving both strength as well as cardiovascular fitness. While I have moved beyond the combination of just swings and TGU in my personal kettlebell work, this is still an excellent resource that describes the myriad benefits of this tool.

It reads well, is engaging and offers a wonderful introduction to the world of kettlebell workouts.

Another great entry in this series. I really enjoy Riordan's writing and his characters and this is a satisfying conclusion to this most recent saga.

I really enjoy the Silo Saga. Wool and Shift were both very interesting stories. Dust continues right where Shift left off. It does manage to pull the story to a decent conclusion. However, it felt like it took too long to get there. The first third of the book just didn't grab me and moved too slow. The end just sort of hits and didn't feel like we had a good wrap up. And while we got some small resolution for a very small part of the people living in the Silos, there were still too many unanswered questions.

Worth a read, but not quite the highlight the other books were.

Shift is the second omnibus installment in the Silo Saga. Whereas Wool told a tight, linear story about Silo 18, Shift jumps back and forth. While it does so well, this did lead to some mild confusion. Also, as it covers quite a bit of time, it was difficult to keep everything in order for me at times.

Still, it was a very enjoyable read. Shift explores the genesis of the silos, the reason behind their existence, and hints at a dark purpose buried under ground with them. It was a fascinating look into what lead to the world we encountered in Wool. And while many questions were answered, I felt there were still many left at the end of the 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.

Z 2134 is a Kindle serial, written and released in installments. In brief, it deals with (yet another) dystopian future, where the population is segregated in to different numbered cities (sort of like, say, districts). There is tight, totalitarian control from the government. And for the sake of entertainment, citizens are punished by being forced to participate in the Darwin Games, battles that pit people from each district, er, city against each other in a fight to the death.

Hmm, wasn't there some movie based on some book sort of like that recently?

So, yes, what you have here is a rehash of The Hunger Games with just a sprinkling of The Running Man thrown in. Oh, but wait, there is a completely unique aspect that sets this apart from being completely derivative.

This book also has zombies.

Yup, more stinking zombies.

So what is good? Well, it moves pretty fast, and the story is at least moderately exciting. My big problems though are this: there is violence and gore described just for the sake of itself, for the shock factor. And there is excessive profanity for no compelling reason. The characters really aren't that well realized, the dystopian future just exists, with no reason as to why it exists other than it does. Same with the zombies. They are just there to make the world a more grim, disgusting and challenging place. At least in this book, they don't tie in to the world, they don't give it substance, they just feel like they are thrown in there because zombies were at the height of popularity when the author started writing.

There are small moments of an interesting story. Sadly, these moments are buried under a mountain of harsh, unappealing prose. While you could do worse than Z 2134, you could also do a lot, lot better.

Disenchanted is an entertaining romp through the fictional world of Dis. Dealing primarily with Boric, the novel begins with him being dead, then fills in the gaps of how he ended up in that non-living state. Along the way the groundwork for him solving his undeadedness is placed, and the novel works toward a satisfying, if somewhat surprisingly saccharine conclusion.

All in all, it was an easy, enjoyable read, but I'm not sure there is enough to bring me back again for another read.

I do not give out 5 stars lightly. A book has to earn such a rating. And Brandon Sanderson has really earned it with The Emperor's Soul. Sanderson won the Hugo award for this novella this year, and it was a well deserved award.

A quick read, I still felt a strong connection to the major characters of the book. Once again, Sanderson creates an entirely unique magic system. His ability to do this repeatedly makes him one of the most interesting fantasy authors.

I won't spoil anything in the book, it is sufficient to say that this is well worth the time to read and I can honestly see myself coming back to read it now and again.

Redshirts was an extremely fast read. Not only is it a short book, it moves very quickly. Humorous at times, with a twist in a direction I did not anticipate, I enjoyed the book from start to finish.

Interestingly, the “Three Codas” part actually takes up at least the final fourth of the book. And, as opposed to the rest of the book which tends to maintain a fairly light and silly tone throughout, the codas are surprisingly emotional.

All in all, a quick, fun read, but I don't see myself going back to this one regularly as it is rather thin. I am intrigued by reading something else by John Scalzi, hopefully something with a bit more depth.

I have been a huge Rush fan for years, and Neil Peart has always been an intriguing lyricist, particularly in the world of rock music. It was pleasant to have Rush return to the concept album with their most recent record of the same name as this book. This is a fleshing out of the story, giving more context to the songs.

In that regard, it works very well. Listening to the album now, I feel I have a better understanding of each of the songs, they work together in a better, more cohesive manner.

However, the novel really doesn't go much beyond that. With the exception of the main character, all the others are incredibly flat, with little depth to them. And even the main character doesn't get much more treatment than that. The only reason we have a better understanding of his motivations is because we spend more time with him than the others. The wider world is there, waiting to be plumbed and mined for a very interesting story. Sadly, we don't ever get that. Instead, we get a sweat, enjoyable, quick coming of age story that compliments the album nicely.

By no means essential reading, still, it is quick and easy to get through, and I already find I enjoy the album more now than I did before, so I felt it was worth it.

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.