novel

The Devil's Star

Book Notes Written with a loving hand by kitt some time around 12:52 on 26 September 2015

Oh, good lord, when is the list of books from my mom going to end? I swear, I've read more of her books this year than I have of mine. No, wait, that's not quite true. Feels like it, though.

And what is it with all the Harry books? Harry Dresden. Harry Potter. Harry Bosch. And now, Harry Hole.

I am not kidding on that name. The main character's name is Harry Hole. Just let me die of laughter now.

He's a detective. The plot is set in nominally Oslo. There are deaths and they are murders. At least there isn't any Mab. Or tunnels. There is a BAD COP, though, so maybe this is just a Norwegian Bosch tale. No, wait, no tunnels.

This book was a fast read. I know that Mom enjoys Nesbo's work. I also know there are Stieg Larsson comparisons. Blah blah blah. Right. Fast read, somewhat interesting. This Harry is, as just about every other Harry also is, flawed in ways that adversely affect the outcome of his life. He's an alcoholic. He obsesses. He makes mistakes. In the end, he solves the murders, and I really didn't see who-did-it coming, so there's that.

Not recommended, not not recommended. If it's on your night stand, go ahead and read it.

Updated: This is book 5 of the Harry Hole series. If you read them in order, they are great, and more recommended than if you jump into the beginning of the series.

The End of All Things

Book Notes Posted by kitt at 20:27 on 16 September 2015

I've read all of the main books of the Old Mans war by Scalzi. I really like Scalzi's works, with a few minor exceptions, and those mostly because they seem derivative and not Scalzi in all his glory. So, when the Human Division came out, even in its serialized format, I devoured it. The serialized format was torturous in the slow release, but awesome in the suspense that it built. The End of All Things was released in the serialized format, but, for some reason, all my new author alerts missed them. It wasn't until Luke mentioned starting it that I remembered I even had the book, auto-purchased on in Kindle format.

Shock. Reading a book this year that wasn't chosen by my mother? Amazing.

So, I picked it up and, unlike my reading for most of this month, zipped though it. I even read the alternate version, which I have to say, kinda bit. I'm glad that Scalzi listened to himself and chose the version he published.

It's a great conclusion to the Old Man's War series, in the same way the Lost Colony was a great conclusion, which is to say, if Scalzi wants to keep writing books in this universe, he can.

In this book we see many of the same characters from previous books in the series. I don't know how Luke read this book without having read the previous four (no, Zoe's Tale does not count), but he said it worked for him.

This series is recommended, this book in series is recommended. I recognize I will read pretty much anything Scalzi writes, and I am not ashamed to say this.

White Teeth

Book Notes Posted by kitt at 20:26 on 13 September 2015

Talk about a breaking dry spell. I hadn't finished a book in two weeks, and was, thankfully, under a deadline to finish reading Present. Between that book and this book, I'm hoping the drought is over.

This book is yet another in the ongoing series of books my mom left for me to read. I am amused by her selection, and happy for the exposure outside of my typical science-fiction-fantasy genre of reading (though, with Harry Bosch, Virgil Flowers, Jack Reacher, and Walt Longmire, apparently mystery-crime-fiction-action has become an acceptable genre in my repertoire, so maybe my fiction tastes aren't really that weird any more).

So, yeah, this book. It was okay. It's about three generations of two families connected by an Englishman and a Pakistani man of the middle generation who are best friends, having bonded during World War 2 at the end of the war. The stories are meant to be intertwined, with actions that were thought to be inconsequential at one point, flapping their wings and becoming a hurricane later in the characters' lives. I didn't particularly care for the abruptness of the non-linear story-telling, but, well, honestly, the style worked for this story.

The book is longer than most I read, and less ACTION-PACKED than the ones I read, so it took me a while to read. It was okay. I won't hand it to someone recommending it, but I wouldn't stop anyone from picking it off my shelf to read. I'll likely put it in Andy's little library for someone else to read.

Bridge of Sighs

Book Notes kitt decided around 20:17 on 27 August 2015 to publish this:

Not recommended.

I did not like this book. This book was yet another Mom book in my stack of books. I started the book and was struck immediately with how much it read like the Brothers Karamazov. After which I thought to myself, "If I wanted to read the Brothers Karamazov, I would read the Brothers Karamazov, and I have already read the Brothers Karamazov, so I don't need to read this." Which is pretty much true. I've read that book, but I read that book because it is a classic Russian, which this book is not.

I did not enjoy this book at all. I had to force myself to keep reading it. I asked Mom about it after I finished it. She didn't like it either. She really likes some of the other books by Olen Steinhau. Not this one.

Not recommended. At all.

 

 

Opal Fire

Book Notes Written with a loving hand by kitt some time around 02:02 on 22 August 2015

Okay, at this point, I have no idea if this was a book from Mom or a book I received as a gift. It was on my stack of books to read. It is no longer on my stack, as I have read it.

This is book one of the Stacey Justice series. Stacey has recently returned to her hometown from elsewhere. Her family is a family of witches. Her cousin owns a bar in downtown. She has a dog and a cat. Her dad died when she was younger, her mom disappeared soon after that. And her family believes she is a chosen one.

No pressure.

The book opens with her cousin's bar in flames, Stacey trying to get her dog out of the bar. His collar is stuck on something, preventing him from escaping the burning building. Stacey manages to free the dog with the help of her cop boyfriend, they all escape. The bar burning is considered arson, with the rest of the book a saga on figuring out how the flames were really started, and what the hell, whose bones were discovered in the basement after the fire?

There are a few "not fair" scenes, with people abusing their power, a few close calls, and a run of emotion in the book. Everything turns out okay, the good guys (girls?) win, and a new mystery presents itself at the end of the book.

The book was a quick read. Again, not really my style. Unsure why, because Dresden is my style. This one, not so much. I likely won't continue the series, though the first book was a quick fun read. And yes, that 2am "finished reading" timestamp is accurate.

Storm Damage (Cliff St. James Novels)

Book Notes Yeah, kitt finished writing this at 23:35 on 20 August 2015

Ugh, do you know how much of a pain it is to write a review when you've read two more books since you finished this one? You don't? Okay, here's a suggestion: write the review when you finish the book so that you have it fresh in your head.

This is another one of the books my mom bought and added to my stack. I swear that pile is becoming smaller, but only because I'm stalled on a couple other books, one at least I know I should be focussing on instead of these books in Mom's stack.

This is book one of three (? maybe? I think) currently published about Cliff St. James, an ex-cop turned private investigator in New Orleans after Katrina. He is asked to solve a murder that happened just as the hurricane was about to hit, so all the evidence is pretty much washed away.

In investigating the murder, St. James is beaten up, has a lot of sex (not related to the being beaten up), torched (well, his stuff anyway), and has another couple people die before he solves the mystery. I have no idea just how plausible any of the book would be. I'm pretty sure if I have a large gun pointed at my face, I'm not coming back with wise-cracks. Though, that's likely part of the training / world that happens if you're exposed to it. I prefer not to be exposed to that, but recognize that the fictional world portrayed likely exists.

The book is a modern day, crime mystery, set in New Orleans. It was a fun read. I likely won't continue in the series, as the premise isn't one that captivates me.

At the Mountains of Madness

Book Notes kitt decided around 23:01 on 19 August 2015 to publish this:

During

Okay, sure, this is the first HPLovecraft I have ever read, and I had no idea what to expect, but really, a pilot and a geologist stumble into a strange 500 million year old cave with a series of carvings and suddenly know an entire culture's history?

WTF?

Let's just skip the story set up and just go straight to the Old Ones history, instead, shall we?

Right.

After

Okay, having never read Lovecraft, I had no idea what to expect. I enjoyed the history lesson, though seriously doubted one could come up with such an elaborately detailed history by walking through hallways adorned with statues and frescoes for a couple hours. That part was a little absurd. Okay, a lot absurd.

The full text is available online. It's a quick read if you're curious about Lovecraft. Having not read anything else by him, I am unable to compare this to his other works. This one was fine for me.

Beacon 23

Book Notes Yeah, kitt finished writing this at 23:25 on 18 August 2015

Having read Howey's Wool, Shift, and Dust, I know I like his writing, both his style and his scenarios. So when Beacon 23 popped up in my Amazon recommended list, I was immediate intrigued.

Howey writes in small books, mostly long chapters or such, and serializes them, releasing them weekly to biweekly-ish (as in "fortnightly" and not the way you're thinking of you're thinking "semiweekly"). Sometimes the serialized books are bundled into a single volume, sometimes not.

Beacon 23, relatively new, is available in 5 parts. It is a quick read. The basic premise is that there are gravity wave beacons that send out location information about hazards in space, the way that lighthouses would send out local information about land. The narrator lives solo on/in one such beacon.

Over the course of the five parts, we get his history, and we get the saga of his life. We read about his struggles, against his past, against his inner demons, against the loneliness, and his fate.

It's a great read. Highly recommended.

Beyond Exile

Book Notes Written with a loving hand by kitt some time around 19:52 on 18 August 2015

Okay, having finished the first book of, well, apparently a three book series, I went ahead and read the reviews of the next two books. The ending of the first book was so stunningly unsatisfying that I was nearly jumping at the chance to read the next book, Beyond Exile, to have some closure. So, I bought the next book.

Many of the annoying things with the previous book had been worked out by the time the author was writing this one. The jarring history that shouldn't exist in one's journal because the knowledge is assumed, is gone. We are on the journey with the narrator, so experience his life with him.

Much better.

The story continues exactly where the previous one left off. There's a helicopter crash and the narrator has to travel by foot for about 300 miles through zombie-infested backcountry to return home. He receives some unexpected aid, meets another journeying-solo man, and discovers some fantastic technology.

We also learn the source of the zombie in this universe. While I appreciated the closure, the particular suggestion is eye-rolling, which makes me giggle, given how preposterous the idea of zombie-ism is in the first place. That I'm willing to think, "okay, this scientific explanation for why dead people continue to function and crave living flesh," but, "this explanation isn't valid" is amusement-inducing.

I enjoyed this book more than the previous one. Yay for the narrator. Boo for bureaucracy.

Veiled (Alex Verus)

Book Notes Instead of being asleep at 21:28 on 15 August 2015, kitt created this:

I really like the Alex Verus series, by Benedict Jacka. It might be because of the broken hero, or maybe because the realistic results of various choices. The book reminds us that we make decisions as best we can at the moment, and they don't always turn out to be the best one in the long run, but they are the best at the moment. This series, about Alex Verus, a diviner mage living in London, pretty much exemplifies this concept. Best decision at the moment, hope for the best, so much outside of our control.

This is book six of the series.

There are a lot of explanations in the book about this political structure and that bit of history. There were times where I was thinking, "Ugh, more explanation than I really needed." Given that I read relatively fast, I didn't mind the history lessons, but the fact that I even noticed means there were a large number of them. The history lessons not withstanding, there was enough intrigue and mystery and ACTION that, again, I enjoyed this book.

Though, now that I think about it, this book might not be able to stand on its own... It's a good continuation of the series, but not really a book to pick up to read. If you're reading the series, this isn't the first of two to cause stopping (my rule, two bad books in row in a series and I stop reading the series), but it's not a stand-alone book. Read books 1-5 first.

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