Runaway Vampire / Lynsay Sands

Runaway Vampire

(Argeneau #x)

by Lynsay Sands

romance, horror

copyright 2016

read in September 2019

rated 6/10: read to pass the time

Good grief! I seriously consider rating this book as a seven! But it's such nonsense!

Ah, but I rate for *my own* enjoyment. And I must say, I thoroughly enjoy this book. Largely due to wanting a lightweight read...

I have just finished a complex, solid book. Now I just want something light. Something inoffensive. Something which will entertain... briefly. This book is light. Inoffensive (but see next para). Entertaining. And forgettable. Not really a seven, well worth reading... but, right now, I am enjoying something very light :-)

And inoffensive...? I almost categorise it as "porn". The sex is graphic... but it's all part of the "romance". The sex is between lovers, I can't fault that. It's dirty, graphic but, well, it's sex for love rather than pornographic sex for its own sake.

I do appreciate the back-cover code: romantic & sexy get big ticks, gothic, action & funny get smaller ticks. You know exactly what you will get. The small-tick action, for example: perhaps three action scenes, very little advancement of the plot. (The book is in the middle of a continuing saga.) Far more space is dedicated to the sex, the romance and the explanations of what it -- this vampire scene -- is all about. Plus a rather detailed explanation of the good and bad and reasons why, of an earlier marriage.

Is that explanation because targeted readers like to read about people with marriage problems? To my mind, the detail could well be the author giving reassurance -- and instruction -- to the marriage-troubled reader.

Other than that, it's all about wish fulfilment. And it's all very enjoyable.

Back to the ticks on the back cover: Did someone read the book and decide which boxes it ticked? I rather think that the author ticked the appropriate boxes -- and then wrote a story to match.

Though I do feel the need to point out a couple of problems... pedant that I am.

First, the problem of never being able to visit the non-vampire relatives. What's wrong with a bit of mind control? Every vampire can do it: just make the relative think that you look as you should.

Second, when a character says, "For Mary and me?" and is "corrected", "For Mary and I."  No! no! no! They are making a shopping list for Mary and -- *object* of the sentence -- *me*. Good grief :-(

Not that it affects my enjoyment of the book. But the pedant in me, cringes.

Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper

...        Agamedes Consulting / Problems ? Solved

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So-cratz: "The only true wisdom consists in knowing that you know nothing". Ted: "That's us, dude."

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Dying for you to read my blog, at https://notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com.au/ :-)

Priory of the Orange Tree / Samantha Shannon

The Priory of the Orange Tree

by Samantha Shannon

fantasy

copyright 2019

read in September 2019

rated 8/10: really quite good

A complex plot with complex characters. Too many characters for me, I soon lost track of all but the key players. The plot was complex but... I could follow most of it. Most of the time.

Characters & situations did seem to appear with little warning. Not deus ex machina but too many, too conveniently. Perhaps a second reading would make it clearer? At 800 pages I can't see me re-reading!

The back page compares Priory to Lord of the Rings, the front page compares to Game of Thrones. Perhaps yes to GoT, no to LotR...

Priory is a massively imagined world. As big at GoT, broader yet shallower than LotR. Perhaps the GoT comparison is valid, there are many competing factions, the very satisfying conclusion still leaves plenty of room for further stories. The overall plot is not as clear as LotR, there are too many threads for a valid comparison.

Priory takes a more modern approach to epic fantasy: cast of thousands, many interwoven plot threads, characters in many shades from good to evil. Probably makes for a "better" book but I'm still a fan of LotR :-)

A major difference from GoT is, nearly all of the Priory characters are "good". The villains are -- mostly -- clearly evil. The main challenge of Priory is to convince the well-meaning characters to fight with the good team. At the climactic battle -- there is no doubt who is good and who is evil. I like that.

The comparison to LotR is that Priory is, "A feminist successor". I guess it is. In a sensible fashion. Most of the major characters -- good and bad -- are female. Yet the male characters are not denigrated; they play important -- though lesser -- roles.

As a male I was not cringing... after some initial confusion of expectations I simply saw the characters as good or bad or likeable or not. Though with some sympathy for the fighting females who often wore billowing skirts over multiple petticoats.

I read Priory in fits and starts but always wanted to come back to it. It's familiar yet unique. I enjoyed it.

Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper

...        Agamedes Consulting / Problems ? Solved

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So-cratz: "The only true wisdom consists in knowing that you know nothing". Ted: "That's us, dude."

===

Dying for you to read my blog, at https://notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com.au/ :-)

Kraken Rising / Greig Beck

Kraken Rising

(Alex Hunter 6)

by Greig Beck

copyright 2015

read in August 2019

rated 7/10: well worth reading

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. And yes, it is silly -- but good. Almost worth an eight, really quite good... but no, it's just a bit too silly. And I mean that in a good way :-)

The goodies are all solid muscle yet, usually, quite intelligent. Some of the lesser goodies have more brains and less muscle, they take on the traditional cowering in fear role. Though some do tough it out.

Men, women, no bias... Well, okay, most of the muscles are male but not all the wimps are female. In a tough person's world the author does a solid job of reducing standard stereotyping.

There's an awful lot of fist-bumping... is that really a thing? And smiling? Not by the most heroic of goodies, oh no, we're too tough to smile.

The villains are also tough... just not quite as tough. The human villains, that is. The Kraken of the title is very very tough. Even tougher that the hero! Luckily the hero has access to super powerful weapons of villain destruction.

In fact, everyone has powerful weapons. The goodies, luckily, have weapons that are just a little bit more powerful. And, of course, the goodies are better than the baddies at using their weapons.

The action is violent, plenty of people get killed -- but plenty of people survive. And the goodies are doing it to save the world... while taking time to save weak individuals and to crack the occasional tough-person joke.

There's even romance! Very light, just enough to let you know that these super-tough people are actually human.

It's all just way over the top! Yet... very enjoyable. Unbelievable but very enjoyable.

Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper

...        Agamedes Consulting / Problems ? Solved

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"Why be difficult? Be impossible." … Ginger Meggs

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Dying for you to read my blog, at https://notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com.au/ :-)

The Passage / Justin Cronin

The Passage

(Passage 1 of 3?)

by Justin Cronin

horror

copyright 2010

read in August 2019

rated 7/10: well worth reading

There are vampires. So, is this horror? Yes. That's the easy category. The "science" of vampire creation is too vague to make this science fiction. Actually, some of the later science strikes me as being unbelievably wrong -- not that it matters, it's just a way to advance the plot. There is definite apocalypse theme but, well, it's horror. With more.

The first part of the book is slow, like treacle. There is a lot going on but it is a slow build-up, not much action. Confusing, too, with lots of characters being introduced -- only for most of them to disappear.

There is a cast of thousands, many of whom play their -- essential -- parts and then disappear. Even a couple who later reappear... are quickly disposed of (again). Don't get too attached to anyone!

This is not a character-driven story. It is the history of the fall of our current civilisation. Perhaps a new civilisation will appear in the next two books?

btw: Current references -- with three books published -- are to "a book series" rather than "a trilogy". So be warned. Still, this book ends quite satisfactorily, despite the obvious to-be-continued final situation.

Then the action really begins -- and it's wham! bam! vampire blasting excitement... mostly. With quite a lot of exploration of the remaining post-apocalyptic civilisation. And some rather questionable decisions. In particular: why does the young family leave what appears to be a very safe location?!

This is a very thick book providing a lot of detail. Much of the detail is irrelevant to the plot -- but adds depth to the new world order.

The writing style is... very good. No surprise when I read that the author was a professor of English. Excellent style, very easy to read. Sometimes confusing as the story jumps from character to character -- and backwards and forwards in time.

All this adds up to a readable book which is well worth reading. And, quite satisfying.

Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper

...        Agamedes Consulting / Problems ? Solved

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"Why be difficult? Be impossible." … Ginger Meggs

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Dying for you to read my blog, at https://notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com.au/ :-)

Singularity / Ian Douglas

Singularity

(Star Carrier #3)

by William H Keith aka Ian Douglas

military science fiction

copyright 2012

read in August 2019

rated 7/10: well worth reading

This is book three of... possibly... eight. Still, it can be read alone. Sure, there are dozens of characters that I don't know -- but they are well introduced. Often, over-introduced. There is a lot of repetition.

Character backgrounds are repeated. Science explanations are repeated. Descriptions of hardware -- vehicles, weapons, alien artifacts and so on -- are repeated. Not really boring just noticeably repetitive.

The plot moves forward slowly, clearly, inexorably. Brute force prevails, nothing subtle. Just thump the enemy -- and be thumped in turn -- till one side surrenders.

All that sounds rather... ordinary. So why do I rate this at seven? It's a six, read to pass the time -- with one bonus, the scope of the background history...

Right at the end we get a multi-billion history of the universe. I've had this before and it tends to be pointless, tedious, hard to accept. Douglas presents the backstory of his universe in a brief, believeable and relevant fashion. Relevant to this book, enormous in scope, brief and interesting.

For that history I add one rating point.

Even without that history, I will be happy to read other books in the series. In any order. An enjoyable enough way to pass some time.

This book provides a solid and satisfying conclusion, with a clear expectation of more to come, more problems to be solved by cunning strategies backed by brute force. This is clearly not the end of humanity's problems... because it's a huge universe, with a huge range of spacetime for problems to develop.

====    Dr Nick Lethbridge  /  Consulting Dexitroboper
             Agamedes Consulting / Problems? Solved.
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"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away." … Blazing Swan Survival Guide

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dying for you to read my blog: notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com.au :-)
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Uncharted / Anderson, Hoyt

Uncharted

(Arcane America #2)

by Kevin J Anderson, Sarah A Hoyt

fantasy

copyright 2018

read in July 2019

rated 6/10: read to pass the time

This book is clearly identified -- on the front cover -- as, "Lewis and Clark in Arcane America". So I read the Wikipedia entry on Lewis and Clark before reading this book. The book is a solid magical alternative to the real L&C. Which is both good and bad.

As an alternative history, this book is good. From my limited knowledge I can believe that the L&C expedition could have gone like this... if they were exploring a land with active magic. It's fun to meet the "real" people in their "arcane" incarnations.

Unfortunately real life is not as well organised as a good novel. This causes problems. The dog, for example...

Both real and arcane Lewis are accompanied by a dog called Seaman. This leads ro an awful example of a Chekov's gun. When a gun is hanging on the wall in act one, it must be fired in act three. Otherwise it is pointless... as is the arcane dog. Other than matching history, the dog serves no purpose. It is annoying.

Some arcane characters match their real counterparts. Others -- such as the Indian woman and her husband -- have radically changed roles. Often, this works well.

Towards the end of the book, arcane and real seriously diverge. The pace of action accelerates. The plot logic is stretched thin. The ending of conflict is quite clever, unheralded, satisfactory. Yet clearly leading into another book.

All of this is a mixture of good and not so good. An acceptable story well-based on a real expedition. There is only one major fault with this book:

There is absolutely no excitement. Not that it is boring, there is enough invention to make it worth reading. Yet the story simply does not grip the reader. In fact it's not the story. It's the way that it's told.

====    Dr Nick Lethbridge  /  Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting / Problems? Solved.
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"The most dangerous gift is advice"
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dying for you to read my blog: notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com.au :-)
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Agent of Chaos / Kami Garcia

Agent of Chaos

(X-Files Origins)

by Kami Garcia

copyright 2017

read in July 2019

thriller, fansonly

rated 5/10: readable but only if there's nothing else

First, an admission: I am not a fan of the X-Files. I did watch a couple of episodes, they struck me as being direct steals from science fiction stories that I had read. Still, the series was characters as much as stories.

This book is a story of Fox Mulder, a story of the beginning of his belief in the weird stuff. He meets a nutty alien conspiracy theorist and guess what? It all appears to be true... Lightweight, illogical, easy to read.

The book is full of references to the tv series. Fair enough, the book is a post-written prequel to the tv series. As a non-fan, though, some of it seems pointless and contrived. And stupid like a thriller... Fox is being "managed" by an all-powerful super-secret agency. All very exciting when gradually revealed in a tv series, rather ridiculous in the one relatively short book.

Fox himself is an idiot. A super-smart idiot. Think Sheldon Cooper but chasing murderous villains rather than scientific truths. Where Sheldon can embarrass his friends, Fox unthinkingly puts his friends in danger.

The book is interesting -- even for a non-fan -- for its insight into the Fox Mulder character. The plot is either embarrassing, or aimed at quite young teenage readers.

The book is readable but I wouldn't bother. Unless you're a fan.

====    Dr Nick Lethbridge  /  Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting / Problems? Solved.
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"Dogs also bark at what they do not know" … Heraclitus
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dying for you to read my blog: notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com.au :-)
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