One of the most notorious assassins in the galaxy, Gage accepts an assignment that begins opening old wounds and raising the past and promises he made but has yet to fulfill. When he returns home, a betrayal by an old girlfriend and a rescue by a military buddy, Kenny -- the only other man to survive the same massacre that resulted in Gage's career change from military man to killer -- sets him on the path to find the truth of what happened that night and to bring justice for the men that died that night -- men he commanded. With the help of Joanna, the sister of one of the men who died, and Jak, a street rat, Gage follows a thin, often scattered, trail of memory and information acquired through Kenny's numerous contacts and officials within the highest levels of the military and government. With security forces out to recapture him and his father and Joanna in tow, Gage unearths betrayal and manipulation and sets in motion events that will change the course of an entire planet.
Impression: I have to admit it, I love The Assassin Journals: Hunter. I was one of the early readers years ago when the author was first developing it, and fell in love with Gage even back then. A killer who has tried to turn off his sense of right and wrong, he's still at the mercy of a moral compass that will no longer allow him to ignore a promise made in a much more innocent time. He must come to terms with why he became an assassin and make the choice to regain control of his life. The only way he can do that is to find out the truth of the massacre that was the first step to becoming what he is now. It's his story, and he never let's you forget it. Some of the turns in the plot are not unexpected. Which is not to say they are foreseen, only that the story turns into them nicely...you can't see things happening any other way. And for me the ending was more sad than shocking, but it is a well-played ending none the less.
I do have some issues with the book, but they are mostly with the editing (or lack of it) and the formatting (what's with the extra spacing between paragraphs?) that are bothersome for a visual reader. If there's any issue at all with the story itself, it's that a few places in the middle seem too simplistic, but these still do not diminish my enjoyment of the book. And really, since I am not much of a SF reader, that really is high praise for me. Partington does the one thing that will keep me in a SF story: she focuses on the characters and the events and keeps the "science" in the background -- it's necessary to the story, but kept to being an important part of the setting rather than a focal point that requires a lot of scientific explanation.
While not graphic in detail, there is violence and a sex scene, so I wouldn’t recommend it for younger readers, but for younger adults on up, I find it to be an excellent read. I'm looking forward to Partington's next novel in the series. (And, yes, I know she's writing one! ;))
Colla MacDonald is a young lord who wishes to return Castle Duntrune, once the home of his ancestors and now under the rule of the Campbells, to Clan Donald, but he needs the help and blessing of his uncle to do so. His uncle refuses to give any such help without knowing what they will be up against and suggests Colla send his young piper, Duncan, to discover Campbell's strength. Duncan agrees to aid his master in this way and is soon across the water and ensconced in enemy territory under the guise of seeing and courting his lady. Duncan finds love and danger, and soon comes to realize that Campbell is gathering his forces. When he is captured, he must find a way to warn Colla even though he will never leave Duntrune alive.
Impression: One of the things that really struck me about this novella is the voice of the narrator. It's a very unique, musical voice that fits the character and the story. It's the first thing that captured me as a reader and drew me into the story. Based on the legend of the Phantom Piper of Duntrune, the story is well written and well researched. Though the plot is pretty straightforward, that works in this case, and it doesn't keep the author from throwing in a little romance or some of the unexpected.
The characters are rich and each is unique. The details used help capture the reader and make the setting, the people, and the story itself more real. The writing is well done, and the author brings quite an emotional quality to the story. You can see this being the way the story happened. I highly recommend The Piper when it comes out. It's a beautiful tale that touches the heart.
Generations after the loss of magic and appearance of the Vaelinars in Kerith, war is brewing. Ravers and Bolgers attack Dweller communities, weapons are being created in secret, and the land is being corrupted as the Vaelinar ways begin to unravel. The Vaelinar Queen Lariel must gather men and women to support her while avoiding assassins and trying to discover the reason for the taint in her lands. Among those who come to her aide are Rivergrace, a Vaelinar found on a river by the Farbranch family, an escaped slave who has no memory of her past; the Farbranches themselves; Sevryn, a Vaelinar halfbreed who has lost his mentor and the last 20 years of his life; and the Bolger Rufus who knows both Rivergrace and Sevryn, and perhaps their missing pasts as well.
The Farbranches and Rivergrace, the daughter they adopted from the river, are driven from their farm into the city. There they are unknowingly drawn into the intrigues surrounding Lariel and the Vaelinar Houses, and Rivergrace and Sevryn find themselves drawn to each other. As the Queen is drawn into a trap, two of the younger Farbranches and Rufus come to her aide, while Rivergrace's affinity for water and Sevryn's love for Rivergrace that helps her discover the secret of the taint that could bring her rule to an end.
Impression:The Four Forges was a slow starter. There's a lot of background that is necessary for the reader to know, and I do believe the author handled it as best she could, but it does slow down the actual story. And the author's voice and style takes a little getting used to as well, which also makes the story a little harder to get into at first. However, it still has a draw to it, and once you get past the background stuff and adjust to the style of writing, the book takes off. I was very glad that I persisted in reading it past the initial 100 pages (give or take) that it takes to start getting into the heart of the main story.
Rhodes's descriptions are rich, her characters deep, and her plot well done. Even the threads that do not appear to have anything to do with what's going on have their place in the overall scheme of things, and she brings it all together at the end nicely. She made me care about her characters. I wanted to keep reading to see what would happen to them, and I cried at their losses, laughed at their humor, and worried for their safety as those who stood against Lariel drew them into their plots. The Vaelinar and Dweller cultures were rich, the descriptions were beautiful and well done. The writing itself was deep and rich. As a reader I was drawn into the world and story of the book, and I kept needing to go back and get more. I'm looking forward to picking up book 2 in the trilogy. Though I wouldn't place this in the category of best fantasy I've read, it's definitely recommended reading.
Sachiko, Masato, and Hikaru have come a long way since Hikaru was diagnosed with autism. Sachiko has found the support she needs and managed to place Hikaru in an understanding school with an autism classroom. There are still bumps along the way--people who do not understand what autism is and want to blame the parents for how Hikaru behaves, but they are generally in a very good place. He's in a classroom with an excellent teacher and a supportive principle, and even Masato is dealing with Hikaru's particular behaviors better. He has reduced his expectations for his job and become more supportive of his wife and son.
But Hikaru is growing and some of his behaviors are changing. He's starting to wander more and be harder to keep track of, which gets him, and his parents, into trouble with neighbors and local businesses. And when Hikaru's teacher marries a fellow teacher at the same school and gets transferred to another school, and the principle dies of a heart attack, new problems begin. The new teacher doesn't understand her special needs children--a position she took because she thought it would be easy. And the new principle is more concerned with appearances with his bosses than with the needs of the children or the concerns of the parents. Sachiko and Masato find themselves struggling once again to make sure their son's needs are met.
Impression: As with Vol 1, I'm quite impressed with With the Light. I'm particularly in touch with that feeling of needing support and struggling to find it. I think my only problem with it is how frequently Hikaru gets away from his mother--I think most parents of disabled children who "get away" frequently tend to be more aware of where their child is and more watchful than Sachiko was made out to be. But even that does not reduce the enjoyment or informative nature of the story. The plight of parents with autistic children is still very clearly portrayed. As in the previous volume, there are cultural differences that are both interesting and sad since they show how the experience of parents of autistic children is so much harder in Japan. Overall, though, it's a wonderful book that I highly recommend. I am anxious for volume 3, which comes out in September.
Masato and Sachiko Azuma welcome their newborn son with joy. Born "with the morning light", they name him Hikaru, which is Japanese for "To be bright". But almost from the beginning, Sachiko notices that something isn’t quite right with her son. He doesn’t like to be held, he appears not to hear, and has other behaviors that disrupt their home in ways they did not expect with a newborn. Worse, nothing Sachiko does seems to help reduce the problems. Masato starts working more and becomes less involved, blaming her when he can't sleep. Her mother-in-law blames her for the problems Hikaru appears to be having because "children grow up as they are raised". Even her friends in her mother's group don't understand the difficulties and begin to withdraw from her.
Alone, blaming herself, Sachiko is surprised to learn that her son may have a disorder known as autism. She's never heard of it and it seems so farfetched that at first she refuses to believe the possibility. But, as Hikaru's problems and developmental delays become more and more apparent and separate her more from others, including her own husband, she realizes that she needs to look into the diagnoses both for her own sake and her son's.
Impression: Vol. 1 of With the Light chronicles Sachiko's and Hikaru's journey through the maze that makes up the diagnoses, treatment, and living with someone with autism from birth through Hikaru's early elementary years. Because it's a manga, much of how it covers the disability is simplistic, but it still manages to do an excellent job of educating the reader on what autism is and how it affects everyone involved with someone who is autistic. As the mother of an autistic boy myself, I was able to relate to the feelings of doubt, the isolation, and the joys that coping with the disability can bring.
The only warning I have about the book is that it is clearly from a Japanese perspective and the culture surrounding disabilities is very different. For example, most, if not all, schools in the U.S. have classrooms for disabled students, so a mother of an autistic child does not generally have to go out of her district just to find one. There may not be a guarantee the class is the best for her child, but there will be a class to place him or her in. Services can be hard to find, but they are not nearly non-existent, and, generally speaking, special ed teachers in the U.S. are required to have special ed training at the college level.
Beyond that, With the Light is a heartwarming story that clearly explains what autism is and how it affects everyone involved. You can't help but feel for Sachiko as she struggles to make those around her understand that she's not a bad mother, but that her child has a specific disability that affects his behavior. At this stage, the journey is often frustrating as she tries to reach out to people who can help and tries to find ways to reach her son behind the autism wall. The art is generally very beautiful, and the writing easy to follow even for first time manga readers. And the volume includes a couple of personal essays from those who are grappling with the autism puzzle.
My youngest daughter even read it and came away with a new understanding of what her brother needs. I highly recommend With the Light.
When Gary was 14, he shot his father to protect himself and his mother. His mother died and he was sent to a correctional facility for boys. Now a foster family has decided to take him in and given him a new chance at a normal life. But, as Gary discovers, the past isn't that easy to break away from. As the secrets of those around him become unraveled and the typical pressures of teenagerhood build, Gary struggles with what he knows he must do and the anger that bubbles just under the surface. When he finds himself in a situation that's close to what happened when he was 14, Gary struggles to make the right choices despite the pain they will bring to him and the people he cares about.
Impression:Off Track is an intense novel that highlights the damage left behind by abuse. The author submitted this to LP as a young adult novel, but, despite the age of the protagonist, it's not a book I would let my teenagers read--much of it is too graphic and violent. That notwithstanding, is an excellent story. The reader is pulled in and pulled along--you come to care for Gary, want the best for him, and want it all to work out for him. You cheer for him, cry for him, fear for him. And, above all, you want to know what happens next. It's not a book I would have picked up if I had found it at B&N--it's just not something I would normally read, but it is an incredible journey that will not leave you unchanged. If the content matter won't bother you (violence, abuse in a variety of forms), then I recommend giving it a look when it's finally released in August.
Dr. Cherijo Torin has been taken captive by the Hsktskt, the lizard slavers who had raided the planet she was on at the invitation of her husband. Angry, hated by both captives and captors alike, with enemieis who would do anything to see her dead in both groups, Cherijo must survive to aide her fellow slaves with all the medical training she has. Even her nursing crew stands against her. As she struggles to aide those she can and come to terms with her traitorous husband, she becomes involved in a plot to free as many as possible without becoming a permanent part of the Hsktskt experiments on the races they enslave.
Impression: This is my first Stardoc novel, and usually diving into a series in the middle can leave a reader feeling like they are missing something. Not so with Endurance. Viehl makes sure to quickly catch any new readers up on what has gone before without boring them with huge chunks of exposition that have no bearing on the current story. She works the past in right when the reader needs to know it as quickly as possible. It slows the pace of the story itself a little, but not badly enough to bore the reader or even make the reader start skimming. The plot itself is pretty straightforward, but the ending has a nice little twist that works despite the being a little puzzling. The book itself isn’t all that deep, but the characters are and the setting and cultures are quite believable. There's no fat in this book--it's well written. I'm not much of a science fiction reader, and I prefer soft SF to hard, but this is one of those books that makes you think you just might be able to change that. Highly recommended.
Women are dying in Chicago. They are ruled as suicides, but Murphy suspects differently and brings in Dresden to have a look. When he finds a Bible verse written in such a way that only a wizard can find it, there's no doubt that the "suicides" are actually murders. As Harry digs deeper, his discoveries don't make the job any easier. An old enemy rears its head, the war between the White Council and the vampires hangs in the balance, and his half-brother becomes a suspect. He must unravel the mystery to protect those he cares about without tipping off an unknown informant in the Council or getting himself killed while also still keeping the fallen angel Lasciel at bay. It's just another day for Dresden....
Impression: I love the Dresden Files series and look forward to picking up the next book when it comes out, but White Night was a bit disappointing for me. It was still a fun read, I still enjoyed it and devoured it like the other books in the series, but it falls among my least favorite among the Dresden books. The writing felt off--less concise and polished than in previous books, and there were issues in the way the story was written that didn't sit well with me.
The plot was pretty simple, which has worked in previous books, but didn’t work so well in this one because I was able to figure out the bad guys before the main character did. Since I'm not the brightest with figuring these kinds of things out, the transparency bothered me; the fact that I had it figured out before Dresden bothered me even more. And there were, not so much holes in the plotting, but little bumps that puzzled me. For example, there's a point in the book where Dresden opens a doorway into the Nevernever and he herds a group of people through but never makes it through himself. It's never really clearly explained how these people got out of the Nevernever. As a reader of the series, I can pretty much figured out who helped out, but a new reader doesn't have that benefit of experience. Considering the amount of words that were extraneous in the novel, some of those words could have been cut to allow for a clear explanation of how people got out. (However, I will admit that it could have been slipped in and I missed it since I was reading quite late.)
On the upside, Dresden is as wonderful as ever and, even with the bloated feeling of the writing, the story does still pull you along. There's always a concern this far into a series (especially after the Anita Blake books) that the character changes will make the character unrecognizable, or the plotting will fall apart, and neither of those happen here. Dresden is recognizably Dresden, and the plot works despite the bumps. And I do love the interaction between Dresden and Lasciel--I was worried when she first showed up in his life, but now I'm sad to see her go (assuming she's really gone). And it's going to be interesting to see how the end events affect the Dresden world. So I'm not totally turned off by the book, just not nearly as impressed as I have been with previous books. I can still recommend it, just not for a first time Dresden Files reader--there's too much that requires someone who is familiar with the world setting.
Thosha-Tol was born with the powers that are the province of the female Keepers of his people and, by the decree of the goddesses, should be destroyed. Instead the Keeper who midwifed his birth smuggled him away and raised him to use those powers as a Keeper until it's time to release him to those who would teach him to fight.
Then the monsters of legend begin to appear, not only on Thosha's world, but on all the worlds of the Aknivarian Cycle. And thus begins Thosa's journey to find those responsible for bringing these creatures back from the dead and destroying them by any means possible. Along the way he discovers new cultures, makes new allies, and learns a new magic that will forever separate him from his people and cost him everything.
Impression: This version of Thosha-Tol was an unedited, unrevised rough draft, and I still enjoyed it immensely. The story carried me along despite the problems associated with a first draft. The characters are intriguing, and I came to care for them despite the need for a little more depth (which is expected in the early draft stages). The setting was the weakest part of the story and even it was interesting. And there were places where the emotion just bowls you over. The ending is both astounding and logical, the deception revealed both expected and heartbreaking. Once the kinks are worked out, the novel will be a powerful statement on the cost of faith and doing what's right just because it needs to be done.
I look forward to this one hitting the shelves one day, and I plan on picking up at least 2 copies when it does--one to get signed and one to read. Thosha-Tol is one of the best novels I've read, which is amazing since it was a rough draft and I tend to be one of the pickiest readers I know. I expect it will only get better from here.
Corwin awakens in a hospital with no idea who he is or why he's there. He has some vague memory of an accident, but nothing more than that. What he does know for sure is that someone is keeping him doped up and in a hospital long after he needs to be, and he's determined to find out why. As it turns out, escaping the hospital is the easy part. Surviving his family while trying to discover who he is and why they're in contention with one another is by far the more difficult task. The alliances he makes are shaky at best, but he slowly regains his memory and returns to the place where it all began: Amber.
Impression:Nine Princes in Amber was a nice, fast read. It's a short book, but that doesn't make it simple. The settings are rich with detail, the characters well defined, the plot less straight forward than it would appear as the princes each try to outsmart one another. Corwin turns out to be no less ambitious, though one of the more likable characters. And there is so much that happens in so few pages that a reread is definitely going to be necessary to catch all the nuances of the story. There were a few lulls that I did have to kind of plow through, but the book is otherwise a very good read. Not one of my favorites, but definitely recommended.
Amanda is an accountant whose life gets turn upside down when she is kidnapped and awakens to find herself chained to one of the most gorgeous men she has ever seen. Hot and sexy, Kyrian turns out to be a Dark Hunter--an immortal similar to a vampire but who chooses not to drink human blood. Instead, he hunts down the vampires who do, and it's one nasty vamp, Desiderius, that has chained the two of them together and set them loose so he can hunt the Hunter and Amanda. Amanda finds herself attracted to Kyrian in a way she's never been attracted to a man before. Charged with protecting humanity from Desiderius's kind, Kyrian keeps her with him, only to get tangled in an attraction he doesn’t want as he tries finish of Desiderius once and for all--which can only be done if he can regain his soul from Artemus. Determined to defeat Desiderius, Kyrian must face his past, conquer his fears, and trust the woman he loves after centuries of not trusting anyone, and somehow get his soul back from a goddess who is not known for relinquishing what's hers easily.
Impression: As mentioned in my previous review, I'm not big on romance novels. And my biggest problem with the majority of them is how they suppress any common sense in a plot to forward the romance. So even if there's an interesting plot, it gets squashed in the favor of romance/sex even when the romance/sex makes no sense. I was kind of hoping the paranormal stuff would be a little different. If this book is any indication, the only difference is that one or more characters is paranormal--vampire, werewolf, whatever, and that's it. The rest is pretty standard: romance/sex at any cost. You just cannot convince me that a person "running for his/her life" who is getting all hot, hard, and horny for the person running with them is truly afraid that his/her life is truly in danger.
And that happens A LOT in this book. I can get being attracted, and getting hot, hard, and horny when the danger has passed, but while you're fleeing a blood sucking killer? Um, no. I read this book because several people said her writing is wonderful, but the most interesting plot--the cat and mouse between Desiderus and Kyrian--doesn't get the attention it deserves until the later 1/4th or 1/3rd of the book. Before that, it is all backdrop for the relationship developing between Amanda and Kyrian even when the it doesn't make sense. The writing itself was generally okay, except for the constant (and usually unnecessary and annoying) pov switches, but nothing all that "wonderful". All the characters are inhumanly beautiful--tall and elegant, sculpted gods and goddesses. I could probably overlook this if the rest of the book wasn't so flawed, but, in this case, it only made a bad book worse.
I suppose readers of standard, fluff, who-cares-if-the-characters-make-sense romance will love it as long as they also like the paranormal. As for me, it's most definitely NOT on my recommended list. I like fluff as much as the next person (though, admittedly, I do like a little depth to my reading), but my fluff has to make sense.
Hannah is a talented young artist who has lost her dearest friend and mentor, her grandmother. In grief and at the insistence of her mother, she sets asides her dreams of being an artist to work in a stable job, but she's miserable. When she catches her boyfriend cheating on her, meets two very sexy men, her job goes belly up, and her best friend goes after her own dreams, Hannah must reevaluate her choices and decide whether or not to take a chance on her dreams and in love.
Impression: I generally do not like romance--there have been a few I've liked, but most have another plot that drives the story and don't let the romance take over. The "romance" books I like are the ones where the romance makes sense rather than ending up the end all be all of the book. The sexual tension comes in at appropriate times rather than being forced into the situation, no matter what that situation is. In my experience, most romance books are not like this. Every now and then, I pick up and try another one (usually by some well recommended author), only to get the same old stuff (and, yes, I do understand that the romantic/sexual element is the main part of the genre; honestly, that's not my beef--it's that the element too often overrides common sense--well, that and the language often used that is really silly when you think about it). I'll keep trying, but I pretty much expect the same old same old.
So it's always a surprise when I run into a romance novel that I enjoy, and I really enjoyed The Still Life of Hannah Morgan. The romance elements do not overwhelm the rest of the story, the main character is someone I could relate to as a reader, and the plot very solid. I literally could not stop reading it. Still Life is funny, romantic, and very real. It's a book that I'm enjoying editing, and a book I would buy if if I found it on the shelves at B&N. And, for someone who doesn't like romance, that's saying something.
Unless otherwise noted, all books reviewed have been purchased by me.
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I will no longer be linking to Amazon and no longer recommending Amazon as a place to purchase books I review. Amazon has repeatedly used bully tactics to reinforce its policies, even if those tactics cause harm to authors or limit customer choices. Amazon usually apologizes for the events after the fact, but that they continue to use the same methods makes those apologies hollow. I will not purchase from or encourage others to purchase from a business that chooses to take from the pockets of authors (who as a whole earn a lot less than general public realizes) and decide what the public should and should not read.
