Basket of Book Reviews

I bought most of these books. A couple were won as prizes. I don't get paid for these reviews. I use Amazon links because they are the easiest to locate. Here's what I've been reading:

Runestone of Tiewas, M. H. Bonham, Yard Dog Press, 2007, ISBN 9781893687837

This is book 2 of a series, but that didn't stop me from enjoying the story. It's high fantasy but not a typical Tolkein world. Yes it has several varieties of elves, and several varieties of humans, but it also has demons, and the bit I found most intriguing, several main characters who were ghosts for a thousand years before being reborn to face their enemies again. The story bogged down in a few places, but overall, it was a fun read. I'll be looking for more in this series, including book 1 that I missed.

Rating: 4 stars, PG for violence

Ink, Sabrina Vourvoulias, Crossed Genres Publications, 2012, ISBN 9780615657813

This is a near future science fiction story where the US population is required to be tatooed to show their status - citizen, legal immigrant, or illegal immigrant. It's a story that explores our perceptions of race and inequality. The story threw me off at first because each chapter switches viewpoints between six different main characters, most of them in first person. But the book is worth reading. Usually when the issue of race or prejudice is explored, it revolves around those of African descent. This book deals mostly with Hispanics. How far is our government willing to go to stop illegal immigration? How far will we allow it to go? I didn't find the story completely believable, it pushed the situation a bit far, but I did find it compelling.

Rating: 4 stars, R for violence, situation, and language

Chickens in the Headlights, Matthew Buckley, Covenant Communications, 2005, ISBN 9781591568520

Matthew Buckley writes a fun semi-autobiographical novel about the summer he was ten. As the second oldest of seven brothers, eleven and under, chaos and mayhem rule their house despite his mother's best efforts to civilize them. Coming from a large family myself and with eight kids of my own, mostly boys in both, I enjoyed the book. His story of their family vacation rang true. I've lived through enough road trips as a kid and a parent. My kids enjoyed the book, too, even the 9yo. It would be a fun one to read aloud. If you enjoy books like The Great Brain or Tom Sawyer, you'll most likely get a kick out of this more modern version.

Rating: 4 stars, G, but be warned, it includes fistfights, chicken attacks, and lots of boy mayhem

Carnival Girl, Sonja Herbert, Cedar Fort, 2012, ISBN 9781599559964

Another autobiography, Carnival Girl is the story of a girl growing up in a carnival in the aftermath of WWII. It's a touching story of finding faith and family, even if that family isn't perfect. I met the author at Costco one afternoon and bought her book after talking with her. She grew up as part of a traveling carnival and didn't step foot inside a house until she was a teenager. Her stories are a fascinating look into a life I've never experienced.

Rating: 4 stars, PG

A Thousand Words for Stranger, Julie E. Czerneda, DAW, 1997, ISBN 0886777690

I love Julie Czerneda's stories. This is one of my favorites. Book 1 in her Trade Pact series and her first novel, it's the story of a species driven by their biology to the brink of extinction. Sira is a sympathetic main character, struggling to remember her past and understand the strange compulsions driving her to seek out Jason Morgan, human captain of the starship Silver Fox. She doesn't know who to trust and finds danger at every turn. If you enjoy hard science fiction (using biology instead of physics) with a touch of romance, you'll enjoy this book. I highly recommend anything by Julie Czerneda.

Rating: 5 stars, PG for violence

Space Sirens, Full-Throttle Space Tales #2, Edited by Carol Hightshoe, Flying Pen Press, 2009, ISBN 9780981895734

I enjoyed the stories about women in space. Ranging from a Dolly Parton-esque security guard who can kill a man thirty ways with just her pinkie finger to heavy-weight Martian spaceship crew and colonists, this collection of short stories has a bit of everything. Anthologies can be a great way to find new authors. These stories are fun and imaginative. The only thing that really bugged me about this book was the number of copy-editing errors, wrong words or misused phrases or typos. If you can overlook those, this book is a fun read.

Rating: 3.5 stars, G to PG-13 depending on the story (a couple had a lot of language)

Red Alert! Battle Stations!

Space Battles: Full Throttle Space Tales #6
Edited by Bryan Thomas Schmidt

Flying Pen Press, 264 pp., tbp, $16.95, April 18, 2012

Red Alert! Red Alert!

This is not a drill…

Anna Paradox’s “Between The Rocks”: The Courtly Vizier, a utility truck, renders aid to a colony ship but when they return to their asteroid home from supply runs to mines on Old Lumpy from Jupiter’s atmosphere, the colony ship they once helped attacks them. But the situation is not what it seems, and strange circumstances are at hand.

David Lee Summers’ “Jump Point Blockade”: While pirating a mine on an asteroid, Captain Ellison Firebrandt and the crew of the Legacy find themselves forced into battle by Captain Stewart of the New New Jersey, serving as shields against the Alpha Comas at a jump point to Rd’dyggia. But instead of obeying Captain Steward, Firebrandt has plans of his own.

Jean Johnson’s “Joystick War”: Scavenging a storage bunker for salvage, Scott Grayson and Rrenn F’sauu stumble onto mint condition Targeting Drone A.I.’s, joystick controlled combat suits and can’t resist taking them for a test run. Then an old enemy, the Salik turn up, and instead of joy rides, they’re fighting for their lives and their people...

Mike Resnick & Brad Torgersen’s “Guard Dog”: Watchfleet sentinel Chang leads a lonely life of extended, dream-filled sleeps in between frenetic, life-or-death battles. The Sortu had almost defeated humanity and the lives of everyone, including his wife and son, depend on men like him. Then, called to battle again, he finds himself up against the last opponent he’d ever expected...

These and more stories await inside…

All personnel, report to battle stations!

Between the Rocks – Anna Paradox
The Thirteens – Gene Mederos
Like So Much Refuse – Simon C. Larter
Jump Point Blockade – David Lee Summers
First Contact – Patrick Hester
Isis – Dana Bell
The Book of Enoch – Matthew Cook
The Joystick War – Jean Johnson
Never Look Back – Grace Bridges
The Gammi Experiment – Sarah Hendrix
Space Battle of the Bands – C.J. Henderson
A Battle for Parantwer – Anthony Cardno
With All Due Respect – Johne Cook
Final Defense – Selene O’Rourke

Bait and Switch – Jaleta Clegg

The Hand of God (A Davi Rhii Story) – Bryan Thomas Schmidt
Guard Dog – Mike Resnick and Brad R. Torgersen

Basket of Book Reviews

I set the goal to review every book I finished. I'm not keeping up very well. Today I've got four print books in the basket. Just FYI, I bought all of these books. And I haven't regretted a penny of it.

  The Lute and the Liar by Rie Sheridan Rose

This book saved me from several hours of plane ride boredom. I picked it up from Rie at FenCon in Dallas a couple weeks ago and started it on the plane between El Paso and Los Angeles. (I hate the way Southwest charges for direct flights between Salt Lake and Dallas. It's a lot cheaper to fly all over the place but it takes forever to get home, but that's a completely different blog post.) I had the book tucked into my carryon and pulled it out while sitting on the ground waiting for the plane to take off again. One big advantage of a print book - you can read it during take off and landing.

The Lute and the Liar is the story of Mordigan Bryre, an apprentice bard who can't stop lying. Two weeks before he is to receive his journeyman's status, he is dismissed in disgrace and meets a mysterious witch who strikes a bargain with him. If he seeks out the wizard Talthos he can gain a magical lute that will make him legendary. But if he tells a lie, he will lose his golden voice. He sets out on his quest without realizing Princess Allysian is following him, determined to declare her love and bring him home. Ultimately, Mordigan faces the choice of saving her honor and reputation or his voice and his life.

I really enjoyed this tale. It reminded me of the classic fairy tales I used to devour as a child. Rie has a deft touch with characters and settings. She creates a magical world and fantastic people and still pulls in the emotional connections. Mordigan is a lovable yet flawed character. Allysian spends most of the book sitting in prison. I would have loved to see more action from her. I also wanted the book to be longer and much more involved. I loved the setting and the characters and wanted to play with them more. The ending came too soon. Overall, this is a delightful book.

4.5 stars, G rating (although I'd recommend it for ages 10+)

Adventures by Mike Resnick

The right reverend Lucifer Jones travels across Africa pulling cons and swindles on everyone in search of a fortune. The problem is that the people he's conning are even bigger scoundrels. Reminiscent of all the campy, overblown adventure stories of the pulp magazines, this book is a rollicking good read.

I've always enjoyed pulp fiction, stories of exotic locations and great adventures. Mike Resnick serves up his version with a huge dollop of spoof. Tarzan, except by a different name, makes his appearance on more than the cover. Except he's a British lord who has inherited a big swath of jungle. He spends his time reorganizing gorilla society and government and protecting the wild. This is just one example of the kind of silliness this book excels in.

4 stars, PG for mild suggestiveness







Red Dragon Codex by R.D. Henham

R.D. Henham is a cover name for a lot of different writers. This book is written by Rebecca Shelley, a very sweet woman I've had the pleasure of knowing for several years now.

Red Dragon Codex follows the adventures of Mudd, his sister Hiera, and Drakecutter as they track down Redclaw the Destroyer, each for their own reasons. Mudd must rescue the village seeress who has been kidnapped by the dragon and her dragonman, Kirak. Drakecutter seeks revenge for his dwarf village, ravaged by the dragon in an unprovoked attack. Hiera follows to keep Mudd safe from his own vision of heroism. Each of them learns to trust and help each other, each learns that together they are stronger than alone. Kirak's story kept me intrigued the most, but I won't spoil it by doing more than hinting he's not quite what he seems.

Red Dragon Codex is an entertaining story aimed at 8-12 year-old children, but good enough to use as a family read-aloud book. I've got the Brass Dragon Codex on my shelf, also written by Rebecca Shelley, that I'm looking forward to sharing with my children along with this one.

5 stars, G rating, but with some mild violence

Full Throttle Space Tales #1: Space Pirates

It's collections like these that are changing me into a fan of anthologies. Space Pirates is loaded with great stories of space pirates. From the sublimely silly Space Pirate Cookies by C. J. Henderson (my favorite in this collection) to the dark and disturbing Never Lie to Yourself by Uncle River, this collection has something for every fan of science fiction and space opera stories.

I'm very happy this is book #1 in a series. I can't wait to get my hands on the other books in this collection. If the stories are as good as they ones in this book, they promise to provide hours of great entertainment.

5 stars, PG for mildly disturbing situations