More Books than Time

Book Reviews - Romance, Fantasy, Science Fiction - By an Adult for Adults

Saving Paludis by Clayton Graham – Science Fiction I Could Not Finish

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The publishers kindly provided my a complimentary copy of Saving Paludis to review through NetGalley but I simply cannot get past about 40% of the novel.  The characters and plot are all over the place, disorganized and incoherent, and not enjoyable.  I read to enjoy so this one is, sadly, a Did Not Finish.

The basic plot is Earth has colonized Paludis and shoved the natives to a small peninsula.  Now the natives have managed to attack Earth (apparently it is the natives or some other unknown race from the same planet, it isn’t real clear at the 40% point) for revenge? freedom? (also not clear).  The human colonists meanwhile have discovered a sleeping pill that enables long hibernation without side effects, thus opening more of the galaxy to exploration and exploitation.  It’s not real clear yet why the sleeping pill and attacks on Earth are connected, or even whether they are connected; after reading so far I’d expect some hints that the novel is pulling together the disparate strands.

There are three main characters per the blurb, but it isn’t entirely clear what the other characters are doing or why they are present.  The novel is uneven in narrative flow, pacing, character development and plot, and I cannot keep focused.  Please note that many of the Amazon reviews are 4 and 5 stars, so I may be the outlier.

I am very sorry, but I cannot read any more.  There are far too many other books out there to enjoy.

2 Stars

Obsidian Son – Great Sounding Fantasy, But What A Bust

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I don’t usually review books I don’t finish.  Since I read 5 to 10 books a week and review only a couple, I put most effort into books I like or ARCs.  I’m making an exception for Obsidian Son, the first novel in a four-part series by Shane Silvers.  Obsidian Son sounds so good and has great reviews on Amazon, a fun premise, neat cover.  It’s all there, everything except the book itself.

The story starts off with our hero, Nate Temple, wizard, bookstore owner, super rich young fellow and recent orphan, sneaking up on the Minotaur to engage in a bit of cow tipping.  He gets smeared with cow dung, arrested, interrogated by the police, released.  When he gets home to have a drink with his two best friends he simply tosses his coat into the laundry basket and makes drinks – without washing up.  Sorry, that was hard to take.

The main character is a sophomoric jerk with an overabundance of ego and a nasty attitude about women.  (Quote:   “To women and careers and the men who ride them.”)  Yet this same character hasn’t asked his office manager for a date because he might get turned down.  Yeesh.

Author Silver has way too heavy a hand with foreshadowing.  Even without getting past the first quarter of the novel I could tell that Temple’s mysterious client is himself a dragon (he smelled like rocks and snakes), that Temple’s friend Peter was somehow corrupted by someone magic (since he had on a new bracelet and suddenly had magic abilities), that Temple will discover his parents’ company used magic as much as technology.  So on.  Really, how much more obvious can someone be, yet Temple, who is supposed to be super smart never notices and never even asks his buddy Peter where he got magic?

The author clearly has little to no understanding how people who have money actually use it, or what the consequences might be of flinging Aston Martin cars around to one’s friends.  The main character thinks nothing of driving through red lights, speeding down urban streets and doing donuts to stop his flashy new car in front of his friend.  Does anyone really think that having a fancy car means he doesn’t have to share the road?  This is when I decided to pull the plug and delete Obsidian Son from my reader.

The last point is the blasphemous use of the name Jesus.  This is the name of God’s only begotten Son, not some casual throw-away interjection.  The author tossed a couple of these in the mix too.

Overall, 1 star.  Did not finish and do not recommend.

Missing Pieces – Suspense and Family Drama – Heather Gudenkauf

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Suspense and mystery novels aren’t my favorites but every once in a while one catches my eye. Recently NetGalley offered Missing Pieces, a “chilling page-turner” from Heather Gudenkauf.  Well!  That sounded too good to pass up.

The book seemed reasonably decent, but I couldn’t get into it, just lost interest.  I gave it up after about 25% and flipped to the back to find my theory as to the villain was completely wrong.

I think if you enjoy suspense and family mysteries you would like this.  The writing was good and the setting, a small town in Iowa with family secrets, was intriguing.  Perhaps had I stuck with it I may have enjoyed following the lead character, Sarah Quinlan, as she delves deeper into her husband’s past and family secrets.  But maybe not.

I’m going to give this 3 stars on NetGalley because it would be a good read for those who enjoy the suspense / mystery genre.

Guess Graphic Novels Aren’t For Me

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I received a copy of Jim Butcher’s The Dresden Files: War Cry Collection (Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files) by Jim Butcher from Net Galley at no charge.  The opinions are mine.

I’ve read every single book and short story Jim Butcher wrote about Harry Dresden, Chicago’s only practicing wizard, so was delighted to get a chance to see this one early and at no charge.  Unfortunately I discovered that it was very difficult to read, not because of a weak plot or lack of interest, but due to the limitations of graphic novels typography.

I simply could not read the words.  My Nook Color can expand a given part of the page, and I tried to do that with a few pages, but it is tedious and when the text was expanded enough to read, the pictures and rest of the page were blocked out.  It’s too hard to follow the story when you have to jump back and forth dialogue bubble by dialogue bubble.

Look at that cover.  Doesn’t this look like a great read, with lots of Harry action, swords and wizardry?  I’d like to read the story but not when it means peering at the page to see the text.  This is a limitation of me, not the novel.

Ascension The Demon Hunters – Just What Era Are We In By the Way?

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I try not to be too picky with things like historical accuracy or logic of magical systems, but sometimes novels simply are not good enough to make me overlook anachronisms or flimsy “powers”.  This book, Ascension (Demon Hunters), by A.S. Fenichel, never put the heroine in a plausible setting or explained the narrative in a way that made sense.

Ascension has a lovely cover picturing a young lady wearing a dress from the early-mid 1800s and carrying a sword.  The guy behind her (whom we can expect to be a hunk since he shows a few inches of chest) is mostly hidden.   The lady is Lady Belinda Clayton, the daughter of an earl, engaged to Lord Gabriel Thurston, the Earl of Tullering who goes to ton parties that include the promenade.  Gabriel recently returned from four years of service in the war and wears his hear in a queue.

Those few pieces of background say we are in the early 1800s, possibly even the latter part of the Napoleonic wars, except the dress doesn’t match.  And men didn’t wear long hair much after the early 1800s.  And Belinda’s faithful maid, Claire, runs a hot bath for her after a long night of demon hunting, yet hot baths during the middle of the night required heating jugs of hot water, lugging jugs and the tin bath up the stairs to the bedroom, pouring the water in, then pouring it out, jug by jug, once the bath was over.

We have anachronisms upon anachronisms.  Sadly the book didn’t appeal to me enough that I could overlook these, nor the ridiculous plot.  Lady Belinda was kidnapped by demons to be a water sacrifice, tortured and then rescued just in the nick of time by her now-friends and associates in the demon killing gang.  In the four years Gabriel was away, Lady Belinda developed muscles, dirty fighting tricks and learned to use a sword to kill demons.  I guess that’s almost plausible, except why would even stupid demons kidnap a rich, titled lady when London was full of homeless, nearly nameless people of any age or gender.

The premise of the book sounded so good:  “A lady by day, and a demon hunter by night”. “Gabriel … determined to show her that their love can endure, stronger than ever.” Doesn’t that sound enticing?  Plus a strong heroine and a big dollop of romance where the guy is in love?

Unfortunately I just could not finish this.   I got to page 60 or so, jumped to the end to see whether it actually ended or was set up for a sequel (there will be a sequel) and gave up.

There are some good points.  The book is well edited with no obvious spelling, grammar or basic writing errors. A.S. Fenichel’s writing style is pretty good.  The bad points are the flat characters and unrealistic (even for fantasy) plot.  Plus, be aware there are sex scenes every few pages.

This book was given to me with the hope I’d write a review, but unfortunately I didn’t like and can’t recommend Ascension (Demon Hunters).

Throne of Glass – Pretty Good; Crown of Midnight – Not

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I read Throne of Glass while on vacation and liked it a lot despite the unappealing main character. Unfortunately, the sequel, Crown of Midnight was boring and I did not finish it.

This review focuses on the first novel, Throne of Glass. The main character, Celaena Sardothien, is an assassin, trained since childhood to kill for money. She is 18 and has been imprisoned at hard labor for a year. With that background, she has very little choice when offered the chance to leave the prison to compete to be the king’s champion.

It’s obvious Calaena doesn’t like killing people but she is put out and angry when someone does not instantly recognize her or her lethal skill. We don’t know much about her, but from the broad hints she was the daughter of the murdered rulers or highborn nobles in the neighboring country that the King conquered. She did not have much choice but to learn the assassin trade, and once trained, was presented with a bill for 5000 marks for her training. It’s clear that it never occurred to her that she could have left the assassin guild once she paid back the 5000 marks – she could never have left before repaying – nor did she ever look for alternative employment.

That’s the main character. A rather stuck up assassin who doesn’t much like to kill but is very very good at it. Her main adversary is the King and her sidekicks are the King’s son Prince Dorian and Captain of the Guard Chaol. These two secondary characters are more likable but we don’t learn much about them.

The political background could be fascinating. Unfortunately we see hints of the politics, but nothing is built out. Calaena spends a lot of time getting dressed up, exploring secret passages, flirting with Chaol but she is a flat, lusterless character in a sketched out world.

Nonetheless, Throne of Glass was enjoyable enough that I was eager to read the sequel, hoping that Calaena would grow up a bit. However, after reading about 30 pages of Crown of Midnight I put it back in the library return bag. I could not read it.

From the reviews on Amazon, readers are split, either loving it or a little bored. This is another novel that was written for older teen girls who probably love it.

Two Fantasy Novels I Did Not Finish: City of Dark Magic and The Rithmatist

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Sorry, I could not finish either of these.

City of Dark Magic: A Novel

I had more fun reading about the Lobkowicz family and the Prague castles on Wikipedia than reading City of Dark Magic: A Novel. Nothing really wrong with the book, except there wasn’t much to it. The historical back story was interesting; the characters and their problems were not.

I got about half through, decided it was pretty boring and skipped to the end because I was curious about the senator and her role in the mix. Got the answer, closed the book. Yes, I am interested in Prague but not enough to read the rest of the novel.

The Rithmatist

For those who love Brandon Sanderson’s work, this will be heresy. But I have not yet found a book by him that caught my imagination and made me want to spend a couple of hours with it. Mistborn was OK, but I didn’t enjoy it enough to look for the sequels.

The Rithmatist is listed as a YA title and the main characters are teens. I found the book dull because the characters were not interesting.

The back story was intriguing. Why would a high class school spend so much time and energy educating Rithmatists when supposedly their creations did not affect the real world? Is the study only good for dueling or is there a practical use? Why is the North American continent a bunch of islands? How did the chalkings go wild?

This novel didn’t get to these questions. Instead it was true to the YA market and focused on Joel and his desire to be a Rithmatist.  Some days a good coming-of-age story hits the spot, but not today.

Two to Avoid: Greyson’s Grove and Hero’s Guide to Storming the Castle YA Fantasy Novels

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I read two YA fantasy novels this week that just did not work for me.

Greyson’s Grove

In fact, let’s be accurate.  I gave up on the first one, Greyson’s Grove, after 200 pages.  I only got that far because I got fascinated with how obtuse the heroine was.  I had a small bet with myself as to how long it would take  her to realize her crush / secret boyfriend was really another elf.   She was surrounded by clues but unable to put together that basic fact?

Greyson’s Grove’s biggest problem was the umpteen bazillion pages spent being a teenager.  About the only cliche Greyson didn’t hit was worrying about her weight.

Most of the online reviews are favorable, and if you are a teen or tween girl you’ll probably love it.

I bought Greyson’s Grove after reading a short sample on Barnes and Noble.  The sample was interesting, with a might-be-fun premise, intriguing setting and characters.  Plus (honesty time) I had just gotten two B&N gift cards for my birthday and wanted to buy something. This was a waste of $2.99.

Hero’s Guide to Storming the Castle

The other book would be fun if you were 10 or so. The Hero’s Guide to Storming the Castle is written in the first person with cute characters and what might be a fun plot. The illustrations are interesting and I especially liked the feisty-looking young lady on the cover.

Alas. I’m not 10, or even under 20 and this was terminally cute. I stopped reading it after about 15 pages. If I were in a different mood I might like it as a light diversion but I’m not feeling that mindless today.

 

Faerie Wars Chronicles Ruler of the Realm, Faerie Lord Herbie Brennan YA Fantasy

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The Faerie Wars Chronicles started off with a bang with Faerie Wars and its sequel The Purple Emperor. Both were excellent with interesting characters, fast plots, evil villains, well-written dialogue and conflicts that felt real.

You can read my reviews here:

The Faerie Wars by Herbie Brennan YA Fantasy Fiction Book 1 Chronicles

The Purple Emperor Faerie Wars Chronicles Herbie Brennan YA Fantasy Review

Sadly the next two books in the series, Ruler of the Realm and Faerie Lord were disappointing and did not come close to the fun and enjoyment of the first books. Both were boring, with little character development and even less plot tension. Both were unconvincing and worst of all, left me feeling like I really didn’t care what happened next.

The whole series is aimed at younger readers but the first two books were satisfying for me, and based on reviews on Amazon, many adult readers enjoyed them too. These next two books have all the shortcuts we expect in YA fiction that can turn off adults. The characters just do things without drawing out why they act as they do. Wonderful results happen to save the day, without any reason as to why.  Very likely younger readers will enjoy these two novels although I did not.

Ruler of the Realm

Ruler of the Realm wasn’t bad, just not very good. I did not enjoy reading it.

Just Blah

It felt pedestrian, with the characters acting out a script vs. acting like real people. For example, Henry, the hero from our world, is kidnapped by the aliens also known as demons, and implanted with a device to control his thoughts and given false memories. He believes he has been turned into a demon and ordered to produce a faerie/demon child with the Purple Empress Blue. Really? Henry has taken biology classes in high school and should know it doesn’t work this way. Even had he been changed into a demon he cannot produce a demon child. That may seem like a trivial point that only a pedant would care about, but I have a hard time believing that someone as smart as Henry would fall for a lie like that.

The Good Parts

The only good parts of the book are the settings, which are well done and the ending. Brennan introduces several parts of the Faerie World that we’ve not seen before and gives excellent descriptions.  When  you’re in the desert you feel hot.

Not to spoil it for readers, but the finale is excellent with Blue managing to overcome the demon king by herself. What I do like with Herbie Brennan’s books is that they stand on their own without cliffhangers in between novels.

Overall Just OK

Ruler of the Realm dragged. So Henry is back in England and confused. Yes, and why should I care? The previous two books gave you a reason to care, but Ruler of the Realm does not.

I managed to finish this but it was a close call.

Faerie Lord

I did not get past the first 30 pages or so of Faerie Lord then skipped to the end. I was glad that they rescued Hodge but that was about the only thing I liked in the book.

Based on Amazon reviews, I am in the minority not liking this. Maybe I tried to read it too soon after the first two books and just had enough of the series.

I see there is a fifth book now, The Faeman Quest, with Henry and Blue’s daughter Mella which I will not read.

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The Monstrumologist, Rick Yancey, YA Fantasy Fiction Review

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I liked Rick Yancey’s Alfred Kropp series so much I looked for more books he wrote. The Monstrumologist was disappointing. I could not get past about page 40.

Maybe I started The Monstrumologist with my expectations set too high after the Alfred Kropp series. Or maybe it simply just is not as good as the Alfred Kropp books.

I could not get interested in the main character, Will Henry, nor did the plot or style interest me. I did not finish The Monstrumologist and cannot recommend it.

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