Mark Martinez
It's been awhile since I read a Star Wars novel. I picked this one up because Chuck Wendig. He delivers a good adrenaline rush with a new cast of characters that I think will hold up well over the course of a trilogy. Count me in. But I expected more cursing!
Beautiful NSA cryptographer and her boyfriend save the NSA's classified data from a fate worse than deletion. Mostly, I wanted to smack the main characters upside the head and get to the end of the book.
The author, Dan Brown, also wrote The Da Vinci Code, which I found entertaining for the historical references. Mr. Brown's rollercoaster ride narrative style seems to be his trademark, but the ride is a little rough in Digital Fortress, his first thriller.
The mass-market paperback edition was published by St. Martin's Paperbacks.
I found Robert Jackson Bennett's City of Stairs to be a compelling and entertaining story. This second book in the series is just as good and General Turyin Mulaghesh is a fearsome character! Part suspense novel, part military spec fiction; City of Blades is a page turner and interesting commentary on war and military service.
I read an Uncorrected Proof of this book from http://www.mybookishways.com/ and RandomPenguins.
I'm not sure what to make of Jeff Long‘s tale of an ancient underground civilization and the genocidal conflict that ensues after their discovery. It starts out kind of creepy, turns into a romance novel, then ends with one of those horror movie final scene gotchas.
Published in paperback by Jove.
Damn, I like these characters. Which means I'm going to have to read the whole fucking series! Just what I need, more books.
A clever short tale written for the 2012 Olympics, but the 2016 Olympics are about to start, so it's a good time to get caught up.
Another fine installment in the Expanse series. There is clearly much more to come and I'm looking forward to all of it.
Interesting fictional account of an epidemic. Looking forward to reading the novel that follows.
Andy Mangels and Michael A. Martin contribute a tale about Ezri Dax and the secrets of Trill, while J. Noah Kim provides a story about Kira, the Sisko family, and Bajor. Both are intimate and fascinating. A must read if you have been following the DS9 relaunch.
Published in mass market paperback by Pocket Books.
The saga of DS9 continues in this first volume of a series set on the homeworlds of various characters. Una McCormack follows the new careers of Garak and the O'Briens on Cardassia while Heather Jarman takes us to Andor where we learn more about Shar and Prynn Tenmei. Both are satisfying reads and I look forward to new volumes.
Published in paperback by Pocket Books.
Keith R. A. DeCandido takes us to Feringinar with Quark and Ro Laren, then David R. George III offers a tale about Odo, Taran'atar, and the Dominion. While not as compelling as other books in this series, Niners should read this books to keep up with the ongoing relaunch.
Published in mass market paperback by Pocket Books.
I wasn't sure what to expect from this book by Keith R. A. DeCandido, but his characters are vividly drawn and the story is engrossing. I guess this is sort of a tribute to the television show The West Wing with a trek twist, giving us a view of Federation President Nan Bacco and several months of her administration. Different and entertaining.
Published in mass-market paperback by Pocket Books.
Worf, the new Federation ambassador to the Klingon Empire, takes on his first diplomatic mission. The warrior must become a negotiator in the face of a civil uprising on a conquered planet. Author Keith R. A. DeCandido obviously enjoys writing about Klingons.
Published in mass market paperback by Pocket Books.
I've found that I can count on authors Andy Mangels and Michael A. Martin to deliver outstanding Star Trek tales and this novel is no exception. Picard is reunited with some old friends when the Enterprise is caught in the middle of a civil war. The Romulans are involved, but with friends in Section 31, the Federation's covert operations division, who needs enemies?
Published in paperback by Pocket Books.
The short stories set in the Expanse universe have all been interesting character studies, but the authors have outdone themselves with this origin tale. Very nice. Read it!
The best of the series so far. I like the author's pop culture references blended into an action-packed magical police procedural. I also read the first issue of the comic book series just out. It looks to be equally entertaining.
James Luceno authors the final chapter to the New Jedi Order series, and given his flair for drama and action, he was a good choice to bring this long tale to an exciting conclusion. As expected, our familiar heroes, Luke, Han, Leia, Mara and others, acquire a new understanding of the Force and bring an end to the Yuuzhan Vong invasion. Ok. Now what? Will anyone get to take a vacation now?
Published in hardcover by Del Rey. The hardcover comes with a bonus CD-ROM containing the first New Jedi Order novel, Vector Prime by R. A. Salvatore, in eBook format.
This is another lean mean Parker novel by Richard Stark. All of the Parker tales are quick and entertaining reads. Neither Parker nor Stark disappoint, but this time around, Parker runs. This doesn't happen often.
Published in hardcover by Mysterious Press.
I just listened to the audiobook version from Skyboat Media, read by Stefan Rudnicki. A very good adaptation of one of my favorite books. Rudnicki's voice and presentation are a good fit for Matt Helm. This is a terrific way to reread a classic spy novel.
I watched the Amazon pilot episode yesterday so I had to read the book, which I finishing in two sittings, to my surprise. P.K. Dick is a very compelling writer even though I don't think I fully understand where he was going with this book, which doesn't really have an ending, just an invitation to think about where we're all headed with our lives. Pretty interesting.
Bob Howard continues to age with interest, as does his wife Mo. I'm both amused and saddened by events in this installment of the Laundry files. Of course, the good news is that Spooky seems to be getting along fine in his or her new circumstances. Or is Stross just setting us up for something terrible to be named later?
Amazing that a story arc with so many POV characters can be so engrossing. Now I settle in to wait for winter and catch up with the television series.