Posts Categorized: Paperback

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Mutineers’ Moon

Review by Travis Starnes Mutineer’s Moon is the first book in the Dahak series following the giant ship Dahak and it’s bonded human Colin McIntyre as they try to thwart a group descended from high tech mutineers bent on taking back the ship and its awesome power. This book has many things to like about it. Weber definitely steps outside of his comfort zone for sections of this title, and while not all of it works, I was glad to see him stretch his limits a bit. The first thing that catches my attention is the use of genetically altered humans fighting among normal people. In a way, it is incredibly reminiscent of Sterling’s ‘Draka’ series, especially the final book in that series. Weber manages to write these characters in a way that they seem superhuman but not out of the bounds of reality. The characters are all very well… Read more »

Doctor Who: The Clockwise Man

Review by Travis Starnes Doctor Who: The Clockwise Man is the first book in a new series that follows along, and intertwines, with the re-launch of Doctor Who that started in 2005. This book features the 9th doctor, played by Christopher Eccleston on the show, with Rose as his companion and takes place during the first season of the show. In the book the Doctor and Rose have landed in 1920s England and must deal with a killer roaming the street, a missing TARDIS and a house full of secrets. I am a fan of the new run of Doctor Who, although not its earlier incarnations, and this is my first run at one of the Doctor Who books. The first thing that really stands out to me is how close they held to the feeling of the show. Both Rose and the Doctor read on the page just as… Read more »

Certain Prey

Review by Travis Starnes In Certain Prey Davenport teams with a pair of FBI agents to track down a ruthless killer for hire. Unlike most of the earlier books in the series where Davenport is pitted against someone out for personal gain or a straight psychopath, this installment his foe is much more meticulous. This book has a different feel then the previous parts of the prey series. In earlier books he was reacting to the criminal’s actions trying to stop them before whatever plan the bad guy came to fruition. In Certain Prey Sandford has reversed the roles with the bad guy being pushed by Davenport and company, reacting to his moves. The feel of the book is definitely different and really helps pump some new life into the series. While I have enjoyed every installment so far I was starting to notice a pattern in the stories so… Read more »

The Legend of Drizzt 25th Anniversary Edition, Book I

Review by Andy The first of the Drizzt Do’Urden trilogies is quite good. Parts of the plot are a bit slow but it is good overall. Drizzt’s and Zaknafein’s characters are very interesting in contrast to the rest of the drows, who find pleasure in killing, especially killing and not getting caught. Then when Drizzt moves to the surface and finds the prejudiced hatred of the surface people. The plot has exciting chases and battles, which fill up most of the book, as well as interesting parts about drow society, with Drizzt growing up in a world going against his principles. Getting into the book is confusing with the battle, since you have no idea what is going on or why, but soon enough it gets good. Also, the part when Drizzt first gets to the surface is not as good, as well as the part with the illithids. The… Read more »

Drakon

Review by Reynold Starnes Drakon is S. M. Stirling’s follow-up to the Draka Domination trilogy. The Domination trilogy is an alternate history tale which envisions a dystopian society formed in South Africa by British loyalists following the American Revolution. The Draka society is slave-holding and racist with everyone not part of the privileged Draka elite viewed as serfs. At the end of the trilogy, we find the Draka are bioengineering their off-spring to become a new and superior species. Drakon begins in the year 2442, where Gwendolyn Ingolfson, who is a first-generation modified Draka and is nearly five hundred years old acts as a trouble-shooter for the Race. She took part in the Final War which, in this timeline, the Draka won. Except for a small number of feral humans, the solar system only has the Draka and homo servus, genetically modified humans. At the end of that war, the… Read more »

Stone of Tears

Review by Travis Starnes The adventure continues with Richard, Khalan and company. Richard’s life is turned upside down, again, when he learns what it means to be the True Seeker. This is the second book in the series and it holds up well compared to the first book. For me it actually scores marginally higher than its predecessor since it maintains what I enjoyed from Wizard’s First Rule, namely the characters, and fixes some of the problems I had with that book, such as the writing. The story and themes this book touches on are generally pretty interesting. Goodkind holds with the love story from the first book, delving into the importance of love and its dangers. While I had a lot of trouble with the love story in the previous book, here it works well and is one of the better themes. This is a bit strange when you… Read more »

1633

Another year has gone by and the residents of Grantville and the new United States are making their way in 17th century Europe. In 1633 this new country will be reaching further into their world and continuing their conflicts with the Catholic countries that oppose them. 1633 is not only a quality sequel to its predecessors but one of the rare occasions that a sequel beats the original in some ways, although not all. I would credit a lot of the advances this book makes to the addition of Weber partnering with Flint. I can feel a lot of his structure and character work behind the Flint façade. As with 1632 the majority of characters are still pretty cliché. However many of the major character, including previously minor characters who have been moved up to the big leagues, are getting fleshed out a bit more. Raising the profile of already… Read more »

Wizard’s First Rule

Review by Travis Starnes Wizards First Rule follows the exploits of Richard, the soon to be seeker, and Kahlen, the confessor, as they embark on an epic journey to save their world from an evil wizard who set on taking over the world. This is the first book in a series of contemporary fantasy novels in the vein of JR Tolkien. I want to start off by saying I did actually enjoy reading this book, although the following review might make you think otherwise. Yes, this book does have some things going against it but in spite all of those I enjoyed my time reading it and that is all that really matters. I rated this book a 4 out of 5 purely on my emotional connection to it, and I do recognize the large number of fantasy readers who feel the structural and technical problems with the book can’t… Read more »

Ender’s Game

Review by Andy Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card is science fiction with a realistic twist. It may not be the absolute best book I have read but nothing in it is terrible and it has few things are great. The big thing I found amazing was the plot. There are lots of surprises and peeks at the “omniscient” point of view that doesn’t make sense until later. I also found some of the characters pretty enjoyable although others may need some work. That being said it’s a pretty good book. The supporting characters are mostly fine, but the antagonists needs some work. I found Bonzo, one of Ender’s battle school enemies and ex-commander, interesting with his “Spanish honor” but Stilson and Peter are just strange. Peter even more so because of how he changes through the book and how he acts when he believes nobody is listening. Ender also… Read more »

Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets

Review by Travis Starnes Homicide is one of the better true crime style books I have read, although that might be because it is more crime reporting then true crime. Simon spent a year with the Baltimore police following members of the Homicide division and focuses primarily on 3 of its members. Many will recognize the names and some of the situation in this book as it was made into the well acclaimed TV series Homicide: Life on the Streets several years after the book came out. Even without all the hype around this book following the success of the affiliated TV show, Simon was definitely at the top of his game. His writing is very engaging and he has the non-fiction narrative down to a science. The book has more of a novel feel then a biography of the people involved yet never feels like fiction. More importantly this… Read more »