Sporadic Reviews

Catnap

2012-01-26T17:22:00.000-06:00

This is often what happens when I read:

My wife's cat, Miss Kitty Fantastico, joins me and then the drowsy hits - even if it's a fantastic book.

Book Review - Shadow Ops: Control Point

2012-01-21T19:05:00.001-06:00

This isn't Harry Potter magic, muggle. In fact now that I think about it, this is more along the lines of Role Playing Game magic. The combination of magic users and military reminded me a bit of the Rifts table-top RPG, but set in Present Day.

Shadow Ops: Control Point, by Myke Cole, starts right in the thick of the action, as an American military SOC Team attempts to take down two magic users at a school who have just discovered their magical abilities - or "gone latent" as the lingo of the book presents it. These magic users are "selfers" - they're using their magical abilities for themselves and not for their country. The problem for Oscar Britton, a pilot on the mission, is that the two selfers are high school kids and if they don't surrender they'll be killed.

The Supernatural Operations Corp, SOC for short, consists of sorcerers working for the military: pyromancers, necromancers, aeromancers, etc. They've all gone through special training to control their magical abilities and to also focus their magic to suppress other magic users, allowing them to be easily captured. Throughout America, and the world, Selfers are gathering in rebellion against established laws controlling the use of magic for official use only.

After the mission ends, Oscar discovers his own magic powers and instead of reporting himself, runs. He's quickly caught again, and sent to a special training camp for civilian and military magic users on contract to the government where he has to decide to run again or become part of a team using their magic abilities for the country.

Shadow Ops presents a near-future America, and world, where magic has suddenly appeared and no one really knows what to do about. The politicians enact laws for things they don't understand and the military conducts operations against citizens on American soil. It's kinda scary presenting a world like that. The politics don't play a major role, though, more of a background motivation for the on-going story.

As I read this book, I sympathized with Oscar's internal ethical conflict: should he use his new powers against civilians and others because they represent a clear and present danger to the rest of the country? Or should he run, and not let others control his power. It all harkens back to Stan Lee, "With great power comes great responsibility." Not only does Oscar Britton have to decide what to do, but he's surrounded by people he's beginning to care for, and others he wants to help - his decisions will have ramifications for those people as well.

The magic in Shadow Ops covered all the bases: shooting lightning bolts or flames, healing, necromancy, elementals, and more. There was no wand-waving or spell shouting. The description of the action, magic and traditional, was exciting and worked well. It didn't occur to me while I was reading it, which is a good thing, but looking back the magic system seems lifted right out of a role playing game. It worked very well within the structure of the story though, and didn't seem at all like I was reading game-play.

There's just something fun reading about a covert military team shooting bullets from a gun with one hand and shooting lightning from the other hand.

Shadow Ops: Control Point, by Myke Cole, was provided to me by the publisher for review, is the first in a series, and is due to be published on January 31, 2012.

Book Received (and I am so reading it)

2012-01-19T18:30:00.000-06:00

Thanks to the publisher and author!

Book Received (and now I'm reading it)

2012-01-12T10:32:00.000-06:00

Thanks to the publisher and author!

Book Review: Mecha Corps

2012-01-11T20:08:00.000-06:00

Darn good mech action!

That pretty well sums up my review of Mecha Corps by Brett Patton. I read a Gundam series awhile back, and the Robotech novels, and Starship Troopers, and Armor. Other science fiction I've read has had powered armor in one form or another. They've all been good, but Mecha Corps just freakin' kills it! This book, apparently the start of series called the Armor Wars, is what all mecha fiction should be like.

It starts out much like other military fiction: Matt Lowell is on his way to boot camp to start his life as a mech pilot. One of the other cadets is a jerk, and I was surprised by his fate. I figured he'd either last longer, or come back as a ghost in the machine. Neither happened. Matt also meets a girl and falls for her, but he's more interested in piloting mech than building a relationship.

At Mecha Training Camp, Matt learns of a new type of Mecha much more powerful than anything that has existed before. He also learns of the impending war with the leader of a group of genetically engineered humans thought eradicated in a previous war. Matt's past comes back to haunt him as his training is accelerated and his experience with the mecha grows - all leading to an exciting final battle with the new mecha in action.

One thing that I found different about the mecha here, is what I assume is the use of nanotechnology. It's never blatantly said that the mech armor is based on nanotech - it's called biotechnology, but the abilities of the powered armor to do very unique things seems to stem from a use of nanotechnology.

Every hero needs a love interest, and every love story seems to need some angst to keep it interesting. While the human relationships within this story take a backseat to the awesome war machines, those relationships still drive the story. Matt's growing relationships with his teammates informs his decisions and his own growth, even though he puts himself and his piloting skills above those relationships.

This is a series I'm thrilled to find and can't wait for the next one!

Mecha Corps, by Brett Patton, was provided to me by the publisher for review.

Noah Primeval news release (Do want!)

2012-01-03T12:12:00.000-06:00

This book sounds interesting! Definitely adding it to my "Want to read" list.

It’s the first in a series called Chronicles of the Nephilim and is now available in e-book and paperback formats on Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble.
Noah Primeval is a fantasy retelling of the beloved story of Noah for a new generation. In an ancient world of darkness, fallen angels breed giants and enslave mankind to evil. Noah, a tribal warrior, has been prophesied to save humanity from the coming destruction of the world. But Noah’s wife and son are captives of these dark forces – and he’s not going anywhere without them.

Brian Godawa | Hollywood screenwriter explores Noah account with speculative novel | FamilyFiction.com

'via Blog this'

My Top Five Reads of 2011

2012-01-01T14:23:00.000-06:00

image source

Here's my list of the top 5 books I liked the best out of everything I read in 2011.

5: Mecha Corps - While I only mentioned it in passing, I thoroughly enjoyed it. (I need to give a real review soon.)

4: City of Ruins - I love Boss, and this series overall.

3: Ready Player One - just a fun book.

2: Robopocalypse - an exciting war with robots!

1: Leviathan Wakes - This is what Science Fiction should be! (And I'm looking forward to it's sequel.)

Honorable Mention: Firebird - brings the series back on track after a kind of depressing installment.

Happy New Year!

My Wife and Guild Wars

2011-12-16T08:23:00.001-06:00

Coinkydinkly, on the same day Guys Lit Wire published my review of the Guild Wars 2 novel Ghosts of Ascalon, two interviews with my wife hit the interwebs. Part of my wife's job is to write about the game Guild Wars.

One interview is at incgamers and kind of focuses on her new webcast: Guildcast TV which debuted last night (Thursday December 15, 2012). The other interview is at GuildMag and was just published today, but was actually done back in May of ~~2012~~ 2011.

Check `em out to learn more about my wife (And visit Guys Lit Wire!)!

Recent Reads Autumn 2011

2011-12-10T05:05:00.001-06:00

I've been on a reading kick lately, devouring these books and loving every minute of it! I have not been on a writing kick. It is called Sporadic Reviews afterall...

Dragon Fate, by E.E. Knight: Final book in the fantastic Age of Fire series. Knight is one of my favorite authors. This book one took too long to wrap up, too much going on for the end of a series. I still enjoyed it though.

Mecha Corps, by Brett Patton: Part Starship Troopers (without the bugs), part Transformers. It'd make great anime. I loved it. Well-written mecha action.

Dark Rising, by Grieg Beck: Good modern-day military adventure. Iran tries to create and maintain a black hole. Stuff that accidentally goes into it, sends back something worse! Interesting premise and lots of action. I enjoyed it. Part of a series, but stands perfectly well all by itself.

Transformers: Exiles, by Alex Irvine: Sequel to the novel Exodus, prequel to the cartoon Transformers Prime. It was okay.. read like average fan-fiction.

Star Wars: Riptide, by Paul S. Kemp: Better than the 9-book series that's currently running with the main Star Wars characters. Interesting premise and I'm intrigued enough to want to know if there's another sequel planned.

Earthbound, by Joe Haldeman: Third in the Marsbound series. Kind of post-apocalyptic: aliens took away all of Earth's power generating abilities and nothing works. Quick resolution. I enjoyed it.

Good stuff! The publishers or authors sent me all of these for review except for the Star Wars book and Dark Rising. I picked those up at my local library, along with a few others that I haven't read yet.

Books Received ... Recently

2011-12-09T12:18:00.001-06:00

Thanks to the authors and publishers!

Getting to know all about me!

2011-11-18T18:43:00.003-06:00

I don't think I've posted much about myself here. Maybe a few memes. I was much more prolific on posting Q&As about myself over at my family blog.

I figured I'd let those posts tell you a little about me, as not much has changed since posting those. I'm a little older and suffered a broken ankle last year, and my favorite authors have changed a little bit. Apart from that, these question and answer sessions can help you get to know Kev!

Forty-four Questions

The first ten years of this century

Ethical Quandaries

A lazy meme

The Wayback Q&A

Food

Here's one about my wife!

Another Q&A (the favorite authors have changed a bit)

And much more about me at my family blog.

Need a Recommendation for a book to read?

2011-11-11T09:56:00.027-06:00

Join me at Custom Reads. There you can search for recommendations, or make your recommendations for others to see. It's a nice way to get personalized book suggestions.

Custom Reads is a new community-based service with the goal of cutting down on the time it takes to find a new book to read. Recommendations come from real people and base suggestions for you on your member profile and feedback you give on the recommendations.

It's still in beta, and is a growing site. You could help it grow! Or you can get recommendations for yourself. Or both.

I'm not affiliated in any way with Custom Reads, beyond signing up to make recommend books. It's also another method of shameless self-promotion for Sporadic Reviews.

GAH! Too Many Good Books!

2011-11-10T16:40:00.000-06:00

It's a curse! But a good curse to have, yeah?

I just finished reading what I thought was the final book in the Eli Monpress trilogy. Turns out, it's a series! There's more to come! I read the first book, The Spirit Thief, awhile back for IJustFinished.com. When I finished it, I promptly went out and bought the next two books thinking that was it.

Then I got busy, and kept putting off reading them. I finally picked up the second book in the series, The Spirit Rebellion, a few days ago. I devoured it, and grabbed the third book, The Spirit Eater, off my shelf and tore through it, finishing up last night.

It's a fantastic series. It's a bit of a different take on normal fantasy. It's fun. No, it's rip-roaringly fun. It is a blast to read. It's not just fun, it's funny at times; it's also sad sometimes. It could have romance, but never goes there. The series hits the right notes on everything.

Throughout the stories, there's this background to the world tossed in almost like you're expected to know what's going on, but leaves you thinking to yourself in a loud voice, "Explain that! I want to know more!" There's a whole mythology within the stories that is really only hinted at right up until the end of the last book. In fact, the last book - well, the third book - gives answers left and right about things I've been wanting to know about. Of course... as soon as the answer is there, the answer has to be explained, but isn't. Answering the questions only leads to more questions.

I'm glad there's more of this series coming. It's just that good. But dang it! I don't want to wait!

When's the next one? Gimme!

Now with even more Plus!

2011-11-08T09:55:00.000-06:00

I just created a Google+ page for Sporadic Reviews. Nothing fancy yet... nothing at all in fact. I haven't even posted a profile pic (apart from my basic profile pic). Once they get integration with other platforms going, I hope blog posts and tweets and such will appear there.

For now, you can find the Sporadic Reviews Google+ page at gplus.to/SporadicReviews.

Collector's Editions of Beloved Books

2011-11-07T09:14:00.000-06:00

I read T.H. White's The Once and Future King a few years ago... maybe around 15 years ago - it's been awhile. I remember enjoying it. I read it when I was on that binge: fiction and non-fiction Arthurian material alike.

I read T.H. White's book because I had heard the Disney movie The Sword and The Stone was based on it, but the movie was aimed at young children and the book is not. In fact, the book goes well beyond where the Disney flick ends. We get to watch Wart grow into the true king, we meet Guinevere and Lancelot, and the other knights, we meet the hilarious King Pellinore and his life-long chase after the questing beast, "hello, what?", and so much more.

Ace and Roc Books recently republished The Once and Future King in a trade paperback Collector's Edition. Their news release says the Broadway production Camelot was based on this book - I didn't know that (I kinda want to see it now). The book club podcast, The Sword and Laser read The Once and Future King as one of their club pics recently too.

Ace and Roc also republished The Last Unicorn, by Peter S. Beagle, in a tpb Collector's Edition. The Last Unicorn is about a unicorn fearing she's the last of her kind and sets out to learn the truth. Helping her on her quest are a magician, a traveler, and an evil king. I've never read that, but I've heard it's good, and I should hunt down a copy and give it a read.

If you're a fan of special collector's editions, or need to replace the aged, worn out, well-read copies you already own, look these up. If I had room in my house, I most certainly would!

Book Review: The Scroll

2011-11-06T17:51:00.000-06:00

The Scroll, by Grant R. Jeffrey and Alton Gansky, finds famed biblical archaeologist David Chambers recruited to find the treasures detailed in the Copper Scroll.

After some personal losses, Davis lost his faith and his desire to work in the field of biblical archaeology. His old mentor, a Jewish archaeologist recruits him for one last mission, along with David's arch-nemesis in the field, and David's ex-fiance. With funding secured and palms greased, they take on a massive hunt for the gold and temple treasures listed cryptically on the Copper Scroll found with the Dead Sea scrolls.

David Chambers is a rude, brusk man who acts out when things don't go his way. His ex-fiance Amber Rogers, also an archaeologist, knows he used to be a better man and thinks he can be again. David is constantly at odds with Nuri Aumann, the other archaeologist working with them. Nuri is also seeking Amber's affections, which bothers David even though they're no longer a couple.

I'm a fan of Alton Gansky's fiction, but I've not read any of the non-fiction by Grant R. Jeffrey (though I might, after seeing his bibliography in the back of this book). This novel combines Jeffrey's prophetical knowledge with Gansky's ability to write engaging, edge-of-your-seat fiction.

To make the story move forward, the characters use cutting-edge technology to help them search for locations to dig, which makes finding the actual treasures happen faster. There's an underlying sense of urgency, and they're forced to take short-cuts that betray their academic good sense. But in the end, there's a reason they need to use brute force archeaology instead of the normal time-consuming methods.

Since it is Christian fiction, faith is discussed as are tenants of both Judaism and Christianity. David, having lost his faith before the book starts, and as the main character, has to have his crisis of faith that brings him back to his faith. It's mentioned that characters pray, but that's never front and center.

This book handles elements of the life of a Christian better than some Christian fiction I've read - but it's Alton Gansky - he usually does it well.

I rate it a 3.5 out of 5.

The Scroll, by Grant R. Jeffrey and Alton Gansky, was provided to me by WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for review.

Book Review: Debris

2011-10-30T12:04:00.000-05:00

Debris, by Jo Anderton, takes place in an unusual world that could be ours in the far future, or it could be another world entirely. This is a science fiction world with hints of steampunk and fantasy.

Tanyana lives the good life as a well-respected Architect. Using pions - particles of life that she can manipulate, and almost talk to - she build amazing creations. Pions are used throughout the world to build just about everything, from doorbells to the devices allowing carriages to float off the ground unaided. Tanyana's latest is a beautiful statue that comes crashing down around her and her team. Injured in the accident, her ability to control the pions is gone, and all she's left with is the ability to see and manipulate Debris. She's forced to become a collector - the poor, downtrodden, undercity-dwellers that have to meet quota in their collection of Debris. But as she learns about her new powers, the debris begins to act unusual, and Tanyana and her friends are caught up in the fight.

Tanyana is someone you have to get to know. Once she's fallen from her place in society, she struggles to continue to fit in within that world and resents her new profession, her new team, and her new life. As she learns about her new powers, she also slowly begins to suspect that her fall was not an accident and that there is much more to this world that anyone knows.

It's that little hint of conspiracy that really made this story work. People are punished for just talking to Tanyana. An ancient book seems to speak to her own predicament and that of her team. People back in her former life act like she's a pet project. Hints of higher technology are scattered throughout the story. And the Debris seems to have plans of it's own. That little hint of something more going on behind the curtains, of a secret we're not supposed to know, of a different world that is purposely kept hidden from the citizens of Tanyana's world.

It's a dark, grimy book. The lower levels where Tanyana's team works is ramshackle, riddled with puddles, and sewers, and creepy puppet-men following Tanyana.

Debris is an unusual, engaging story.

3.5 out of 5 stars.

An e-galley of Debris, by Jo Anderton, was provided to me by the publisher through NetGalley for review.

Book Review: The Clone Redemption

2011-10-29T17:01:00.000-05:00

The Clone Redemption, by Steven L. Kent is the latest in a series of military sci-fi featuring clones by the millions that form their own empire.

The clones, created to be soldiers and led by clone Wayson Harris, have broken ties with the Unified Authority and Earth. Both empires have colonies spread across the galaxy, but those colonies are being systemically eradicated by a new extra-galactic alien force that completely eliminates all life on the planet after 83 seconds. A small force has gone to the aliens' homeworld while Harris tries to evacuate colonies that are in the path of the aliens' drive to Earth.

The clones in this series are unique from my perspective. Most of them are bred to be distinguishable from real humans. They have muted skin-tones and features that are often repugnant to normal humans. They're bred to serve humanity as a military force: navy, marines, special forces. Each programmed with their specific specialties and skills.

The clone saga does a fantastic job of letting me join mid-series and doesn't make me feel left behind. Brief mentions of what's gone before interwoven into the narrative brought me fully into this world.

There are actually two story-lines interweaving: the small fleet in the home galaxy of the invading aliens, and the main story of Harris' clone empire. Both would have been interesting novels all on their own, but they combine into a fun story.

I enjoyed the exploration aspect of the fleet in Bode's Galaxy, and would have liked to see that expanded more, instead of just exploring one world, and moving on to the homeworld. Whereas the story with Harris, fighting two fronts, really kept me reading. Harris had to both evacuate millions of people from colonies, and fight Earth forces at the same time.

The technology used in this book was different enough from other books to remain fresh - especially the broadcast drive to travel between stars. Add in stealth tech, a new planet-busting weapon, kamikazes, pirating space ships, and virtual people who think they're real - all add up to an exciting intergalactic adventure.

The ramifications of the events in this book set up the parameters for a new series set in this universe.

4 out of 5 stars.

The Clone Redemption was provided to me by the publisher for review.

Book Review: Kris Longknife-Daring

2011-10-23T11:59:00.000-05:00

Kris Longknife: Daring, by Mike Shepherd, is the ninth book in a series I'd yet to read. Starting that far in, I was afraid I would have no idea what was going on or be able to get to know the characters easily. For the most part, the book did a great job of letting me know who was whom and what had come before. The only thing I think I needed to have read previous books to really understand involved Nelly the computer and her ...uh, children?

In Daring, Lieutenant Commander Kris Longknife, Commodore of the Fleet of Discovery heads out with an odd assortment of not-quite-allies to investigate the cause of ships disappearing at the edge of Iteeche space. Her fleet comes across a rather hostile species hellbent on destroying anyone that crosses their path.

While there seemed to be a lot of politics and machinations going on off-page, it wasn't prevalent and front-and-center in this novel like in the Honor Harrington series to which this series has been compared. This, to me, made the story move much more fluidly and kept the action at just the right level, with some pauses for good character development.

Our hero Kris Longknife is definitely not perfect. She sometimes makes the wrong decisions, in quiet moments she's unsure of herself at times, and at other times is headstrong and brash. Kris relies on her friends and retinue to keep her level.

The space combat was active and interesting. The technology was different enough from other military science fiction that it felt fresh, but similar enough that it wasn't outlandish. However, I did have to look up the word boffins. At first, in context, it almost felt derogatory. In addition, the Iteeche were an interesting alien species, and the threat of the new unknown aliens really upped the game.

This is great military science fiction, with little politics to get in the way of moving the story forward. Action, exploration, interesting characters, and maybe even some conspiracies afoot.

My rating: 4 Stars out of 5.

Kris Longknife: Daring, by Mike Shepherd, was provided to me by the publisher for review (thanks!). It's due in stores in paperback October 25, 2011.

Top Ten TV Themes

2011-10-20T12:25:00.000-05:00

On a recent episode of the Scaper Chronicles, I mentioned that I didn't like the theme music to the Farscape TV show and that the Doctor Who theme music took awhile to grow on me. That got me to thinking: what TV show themes do I like?

Here's a list of what I'll call my Top Ten (kind of in order):

10: Buffy The Vampire Slayer
9: Airwolf
8: Justice League (DCAU)
7: Battlestar Galactica (the original)
6: Stargate Atlantis
5: Angel
4: Transformers Prime
3: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (Season 4 and beyond)
2: Firefly
1: Stargate SG-1

These are genre TV shows: science fiction, cartoons, etc; normal TV shows is another post. A note to my Browncoat friends, please don't hate me because I didn't put Firefly as Number One.

My Wife Reviews: Geek Girls Unite

2011-10-20T07:00:00.001-05:00

I recently saw mentioned somewhere the book Geek Girls Unite and thought my wife would love to read it, being somewhat of a geek herself. I brought the book home for from the library the other day and she started reading it.

Here are her Twitter posts regarding the book Geek Girls Unite:

Rubi_ Rubi_ I respectfully disagree with this blogger: bit.ly/qLw17P That book was *terrible*

Rubi_ Rubi_ Among other thing, the book's author says that "muggle" is a word for hardcore Harry Potter fans.

Rubi_ Rubi_
Oh, she also says the Twilight series is "required reading" for geek girls.

Rubi_ Rubi_
@
@mr_ex Hah, no kidding. My geeky teenage daughter saw it on my dresser, got all excited, asked if she could read it. I told her yes. 15 minutes later she returned, threw the book on my bed in disgust, and stomped out. deck.ly/~fffUj

My girls take their geekdom seriously!

Book Review: Firebird

2011-10-18T19:19:00.001-05:00

Firebird, by Jack McDevitt, hits all the right notes in this sixth book of the series.

Chase Kolpath and Alex Benedict, antiquities dealers of a sort in the far future, come in to the belongings of a scientist that studied fringe topics and disappeared one day shortly before a terrible earthquake. That disappearance lead some to believe a conspiracy surrounds his death/disappearance. Alex decides to stir up the mysteries surrounding the scientist to enhance the value of those items before selling.

As is his MO, Alex needs to find out what really happened. On the way, Chase and Alex find a planet abandoned by humanity but with still functioning AIs, some that have been running since the humans left seven thousand years ago. Alex starts a movement to rescue some of the AIs and reintegrate them into society. As they seek out the answers to what happened to the scientist, they also discover a solution to a problem that was plaguing space travel for millenia.

This installment in the Alex Benedict series is much better than it's predecessor, Echo. Echo was dark, and kind of depressing. Alex and Chase are growing older and their attitudes and sensibilities are changing with them. That theme continues in Firebird, but it's not nearly as dark. Alex continues to be a sort of Don Quixote, frequently finding new causes célèbres that he feels necessary to represent or help promote or help solve. That usually goes well for him in the end, but lately has been causing some strife between Alex and Chase.

It's that strife that made me not really enjoy Echo as much, but seemed to work better in this book. Chase still doesn't like Alex putting his career (and hers) on the line for controversial causes, but she knows that's how Alex leads his life - and so far it's worked for him. They've lost some clients, but more often than not, earn them back in the end. Chase feels an attachment to Alex, she originally worked for his uncle. It seems to be that common thread that keeps them together. They're not lovers, but Chase and Alex are like an old married couple, comfortable in their relationship. Their love for each other is the love of old dear friends.

The planet with the AIs, some running amok, reminded me vaguely of Asimov's Robot City series. And of Stephen King's Maximum Overdrive. Some of the AIs wanted to kill them, others just wanted to be rescued from the monotony of their existence. What's an AI, programmed to serve humanity, to do when humanity has abandoned it yet left it operating for thousands of years? Keep on going, or become resentful and eventually go crazy? On a side note: this plot-line would make a great off-shoot story where these AIs band together, build their own starships, leave the planet and start a war with the humans. Someone should write that. I'd read it!

My only complaint with Firebird is that the prologue teaser didn't get a resolution or a revisit at the end. It gets mentioned in passing a couple of times during the book, mostly just a name on a list; but I would have liked to maybe see a different prologue featured that would have been easier to incorporate into the ending. The ending itself was perfectly executed... in fact, I think the entire novel was just about perfectly executed.

Reading this book, I found myself comparing Alex and Chase with the Boss character in Krisine Kathryn Rusch's Diving the Wreck and City of Ruins. I could see these series taking place in the same universe.(I'd read that too!)

Chase and Alex live in a far flung future, some nine thousand or so years hence. Humanity seems comfortable with itself. Their world seems like a nice place to live. It's definitely a great place to visit - every year in a new adventure!

My rating: 4.5 stars out of 5.

Firebird, by Jack McDevitt, was provided to me by the publisher for review and is due to be released November 1, 2011.

Book Review: That Which Should Not Be

2011-09-24T18:21:00.000-05:00

That Which Should Not Be, by Brett J. Talley, is a love-letter to Lovecraft fans. It takes place around the turn of the 19th century, ending in the mid-1930s. Carter Weston is a college student at Miskatonic U and is sent on an errand to collect an ancient tome that has turned up in a nearby town. There, he hears tales of encounters with otherworldly creatures - each story leading to the conclusion that The Rising of the Old Ones could be taking place soon.

I enjoyed TWSNB better than original H.P. Lovecraft stories. While the novel seems firmly entrenched within the Lovecraft lore and takes place a hundred years ago or more and the writing is meant to evoke those stories, the plotting and structure are more modern and easier to read.

I'm generally not a fan of first-person novels, especially ones with multiple characters all telling their own story in first-person, but TWSNB clearly separates each narrative so it's not confusing who's telling what story. Also, I enjoy suspense sometimes, but not gore. There's only one particular scene of a graphic nature early in the book that bothered me - the rest of the story didn't stray into graphic gore too much.

Fans of Lovecraftian fiction should love this, especially if you wish Lovecraft were a bit easier to read.

The publisher, through LibraryThing, provided an e-copy of the book for my review.

That Which Should Not Be: 3.5 stars out of 5. I liked it.

Book Review: I, Robot: To Protect

2011-09-24T15:56:00.000-05:00

I, Robot: To Protect, by Mickey Zucker Reichert, is a prequel of sorts to Asimov’s Robots series. The book was commissioned by the Asimov Estate, as apparently are other upcoming prequels to I, Robot.

This particular prequel introduces us to Susan Calvin as she is in medical school and starting her residency in a psychiatric department. She has several patients, each with a different disability. The first few she quickly and expertly solves. In the back corridors of the hospital, she meets a robot that looks just a man and quickly befriends him. She also becomes part of an experimental program to use nano-robots to analyze brain chemistry and diagnose problems that normal medicine can't diagnose.

For the most part I enjoyed this book as a stand-alone story, but it seems to contradict later Robot novels. The presence of a fully human-looking positronic robot in the mid-21st century is just way wrong. R. Daneel and R. Jander were supposedly the first humaniform robots capable of completely imitating humanity - that's more than 2000 years from now. Sure, with all the advances actually taking place in our reality, authors might be tempted to play with the timeline a bit - but this just seems to completely blow to shreds the validity of this story within the Asimovian Canon. Susan Calvin also seemed to me to be too perfect. She always seemed to have the right answer and know just what to do.

There was ocassional mention of a politcal group against robots, and then about three-quarters of the way through the book - their actions become the primary the plot. Before that, the main point of the book is showing the reader how great a psychiatrist Susan Calvin is. In the future, Susan Calvin is a famed robot-psychologist. Here, she's just a really impressive normal psychiatrist.

I'm interested to see where additional I, Robot novels take place, and hope they fit-in to continuity better that this. Other Robot/Foundation novels not written by Asimov have run the gamut from good (The New Robot Novels quadrilogy and the Caliban trilogy) to average (the 2nd Foundation trilogy).

I, Robot: To Protect was provided to me by the publisher through NetGalley. It's due out in hardcover on November 1, 2011.

Rating: 2.5 Stars out 5. I enjoyed reading it, but it wasn't really that good in the grand scheme of Asimov's universe.

Book Review: A Soldier's Duty

2011-09-14T10:25:00.000-05:00

A Soldier's Duty, Theirs Not To Reason Why, by Jean Johnson takes places in the far future where Ia, a young female from a high-gravity planet has a horrendous, portenteous dream. A precognitive dream showing her the almost certain terible future for humanity. As precog, she navigates the possible futures in her visions and forms a plan centering around her and her abilities to see the future to change that fate and give humanity a fighting chance.

Three years later, she joins the Marines and quickly puts her plan into motion. Going through basic training and getting her first posting she earns a nickname and a reputation, and begins building the foundation of what will be her life-long efforts to steer humanity away from the terrible future she foresaw.

I really enjoyed reading A Soldier's Duty, the first book in a series. But I really wanted to not like this book at first. For some reason, my initial reaction to the premise and to Ia and her methods rubbed me wrong, but the story kept me reading and when it ended I wanted more.

It's pure military science fiction, complete with "Oo-Rahs!", call-signs, space ships, armored combat, and a smattering of aliens; plus Ia's navigation of the timeplains she sees in her visions- these all combine into an exciting and fun read.

A Soldier's Duty gets 4 Stars out of 5. I liked it a lot and want more.

The publisher provided my review copy of A Soldier's Duty, Theirs Not To Reason Why by Jean Johnson.