The Rogue (Traitor Spy Trilogy - Book Two)

Title: The Rogue
Author: Trudi Canavan
Series: Traitor Spy Trilogy
Preceeded By: The Ambassador's Mission
Succeeded By: The Traitor Queen (Due 2012)

NOTE: NOT SURE WHY, BUT THE AUTOMATIC SCHEDULING DIDN'T WORK - APOLOGIES FOR THE LATE POST.

Ratings

Score: 7/10
How likely I am to read the next in the Series: I'd like to...

Review

Trudi Canavan is an exceptional author. I expect that even if the publisher did no marketing for the book at all, it would still become a bestseller.

But like all authors, only one of her books can be the very best, and unfortunately this isn't it. It must be difficult for an author to hear that her latest book wasn't as good as the last, but when previous books include "High Lord", "The Magician's Apprentice" and "Last of the Wilds" it really is an extremely high standard to set.

Inferno (Star Wars: Legacy of the Force - Book Six)

Title: Inferno
Author: Troy Denning
Superseries: Star Wars
Series: Legacy of the Force
Preceeded By: Sacrifice (by Karen Traviss)
Succeeded By: Fury (by Aaron Allston)

Ratings

Score: 9/10
How likely I am to read the next in the Series: Definite :-)

Review

I bought this book on amazon. When deciding which version of the book to purchase (I eventually went with paperback) I looked at a couple of the reviews. One or two said that it was the worst in the series. I find myself having to disagree with them. It's not the best, both the previous book in the series (Sacrifice - Karen Traviss) and the previous book written by Denning (Tempest) exceeded it. But It wasn't the worst either. I really enjoyed reading more about Luke, who has been pretty much absent from previous books, and also of Han and Leia, who seem to come and go in previous books.

Marked (Soul Guardians - Book One)

Title: Marked
Author: Kim Richardson
Series: Soul Guardians Trilogy

Succeeded By: Tricked (Not Yet Published)

Ratings

Score: 9/10
How likely I am to read the next in the Series: I'm looking forwards to it.

Review

This is possibly the hardest review I've had to write. Not because the book was bad, in fact I was rather impressed by it. No, the reason that it's been hard to review is that it's closest book I've come to on this blog that could be classed as "chick-lit". It's unfamiliar territory for me.

But don't let this stop you from reading it! The majority of my blog's readers are male, but I would still say that they should consider this book. Especially if they are looking for a light, easy read.

Stormlord Rising (Watergivers Book Two)

Title: Stormlord Rising
Author: Glenda Larke
Series: Watergivers
Preceeded By: The Last Stormlord
Succeeded By: Stormlord's Exile

Ratings

Score: 9/10
How likely I am to read the next in the Series: Definite

Review

According to my blog stats, the prequel to this book - "The Last Stormlord" - is the most viewed review on my blog. Apparently people are quite interested in the series. And I can see why, that first book was really good. This second one though, is even better.

As before it has a striking cover, apparently of a woman this time, which really does it's job of attracting readers. And they should be attracted. But ideally to the Last Storlord first, as that really needs to be read before a lot of this one can be understood.But it's worth doing. In this one we see shale undergoing a lot of character development, and Terenelle as well to a lesser degree. But character development means nothing without a good plot, and this one is almost irresistibly good.

Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter

Title: Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter
Author: Michael Reaves
Superseries: Star Wars
Preceeded By: Darth Maul Saboteur (eBook Novella by James Luceno - currently available in the back of modern editions of Shadow Hunter)

Ratings

Score: 8/10


Review

Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter was the first book that I read in the Star Wars extended universe, and it's probably due to this book that my blog is currently rather full of star wars book reviews. It's not my favourite book in the Star Wars franchise, but it is one that I will always enjoy reading - and have indeed read several times.

Dead Forever: Resonance

Title: Resonance
Author:William Campell
Series: Dead Forever Trilogy (Book Three)
Preceeded By: Apotheosis


Ratings

Score: 9/10
How likely I am to read the next in the Series: There isn't any :-(

Review
If I'm honest, I would have to say I wasn't expecting a lot from this book. Not because I doubted the author's talents, but because of where the last book left things. Essentially what had been a story set in the vast expanse of the galaxy has been reduced to the story of someone on a single planet, Earth.

I'm happy to report that actually, Campbell pulls this off really well. I mainly expected the story to be for a large part stand-alone, but it integrates with the previous books quite impressively. It's difficult to explain how well it does work without just simply copying the first few chapters, but from the start, it does work well. So, alleviated of my fears, I could allow myself to simply enjoy the book.

Acorna: The Unicorn Girl (Acorna - Book One)

Title: Acorna: The Unicorn Girl
Author: Anne McCaffrey & Margaret Ball
Series: Acorna (Book One)

Succeeded By: Acorna's Quest

Ratings

Score: 11/10
Can I do that?

How likely I am to read the next in the series: I always do immediately after I read this one.

Review

Note: This review refers in general to the entire Acorna series, as well as this specific book.

When asked which, out of all my books, I would recommend first, I was stumped. There are so many good books that I love, and how could I choose between then. But as I sat looking at my ridiculously large book collection, I realised that there was only one it could be. Acorna.

Sacrifice (Star Wars: Legacy of the Force - Book Five)

Title: Sacrifice
Author: Karen Traviss
Superseries: Star Wars
Series: Legacy of the Force
Preceeded By: Exile
Succeeded By: Inferno

Ratings

Score: 10/10
How likely I am to read the next in the Series: Definite

Review

I'm having trouble starting this review in any sort of catchy way, so let's assume I have, and i'll get on with it. Basically, this is pretty much the best book of the series so far. The characters are incredible, the plot is generally unpredictable, and Boba Fett is back again.

Starchild and Witchfire

Title: Starchild and Witchfire
Author: David Henshall

Ratings

Score: 10/10


Review

Starchild and Witchfire is one of the earliest books I remember reading, except perhaps the gingerbread man, and I still enjoy it today. It's a kid's book, and so naturally the main characters are children, a boy and his sister, who get caught up in a quest to save a world that is apart from their, and our, own.

NEWS: More Posts, More Regularly...

Those who regularly read this blog may have noticed that for the last for weeks, every post has been on a Tuesday. That's because I decided that reviewing regularly was a good idea, and likely to make more people keep reading the blog.

Now... One review a week isn't a lot. But since this is pretty much a bobby-type affair, real-life prevents me reading lots of books a week. So I've come to a conclusion. It doesn't take long to write the review, just the reading. So there will be another post each week, with either a shorter, less detailed review of books that I've already read or reviews of shorter books (Such as those aimed at Children). This will allow me to spread more reviews, without taking up too much more of my time, as well as reviewing some of the Kid's books I have waiting.

The first of these Friday posts will be posted in exactly 24 hours from this post, and the first few will be some of my favourite books. The Tuesday posts will continue ro be books read with the intention of reviewing, as usual.


Hopefully this will allow me to review more books, more regularly, and more often.

-Adam

Dark Lord (Falconfar Book One)

Title: Dark Lord
Author: Ed Greenwood
Series: Falconfar

Succeeded By: Arch Wizard

Ratings

Score: 8/10
How likely I am to read the next in the Series: I'd really like to.

Review

I've read quite a few books this year, and as a student the year for me begins in September, so that's quite some time to be reading.  But this is very likely to be the most unique of all of them.

I decided to review it almost entirely on the strength of the title, "Dark Lord", with the incredible artwork on the cover enticing me further. It embarrasses me somewhat to say that I actually had no idea of what it was about... But it paid off. If I had read the blurb, I would have chosen a different book. It's about a man who travels to his own fantasy world, and I generally avoid these books, for reasons which will be explained below...

Exile (Star Wars: Legacy of the Force - Book Four)

Title: Exile
Author: Aaron Allston
Super-series: Star Wars
Series: Legacy of the Force
Preceded By: Tempest (By Troy Denning)
Succeeded By: Sacrifice (By Karen Traviss)

Ratings

Score: 8/10
How likely I am to read the next in the Series: Ordered it already!

Review

There is a rule I've heard in several places. The second in a trilogy is always the worst. Now the glaring exception to this rule is the Original Star Wars trilogy, where the Empire Strikes Back was probably the best, but in general, it seems to be true. This isn't part of a trilogy, but each author writes three books, and I'm hoping the rule applies to that too. Why? Because Allston's second book wasn't as good as I was hoping.

That's not to say it's bad! I've rated it 8/10, which is still a high score. It's just not at quite the same level as the previous three in the series. There are three reasons for this, the first of which is this:

Returner's Wealth (Wyrmeweald Trilogy)

Title: Returner's Wealth
Author: Paul Stewart, Chris Riddell
Series: Wyrmeweald Trilogy

Succeeded By: ????

Ratings

Score: 5/10
How likely I am to read the next in the Series: If I find the time - it won't be a priority...

Review

If you've read anything by these authors in the past, chances are that it's the Edge Chronicles. That was an incredible series, beautifully illustrated, which is still one of my favourite sequences. Wyrmeweald however, is completely different.

The first, and most striking point is that there is a considerably smaller number of illustrations than I was expecting. There is still at least one per chapter, but they are Narrow Borders to the page, and there ARE some full page drawings of the dragons, but I would have liked to see more.

The reason for this reduced number of drawings is that the book is clearly aimed at an older audience, it's a little more violent, and quite a bit more sexual. And I thought that the more sexual parts were done quite well, not actually describing anything in detail, but hints of adult activities are found across the book.

Knight Errant (Star Wars)

Title: Knight Errant
Author: John Jackson Miller
Superseries: Star Wars

Ratings

Score: 9/10
How likely I am to read the next in the Series: If there is one, I'll read it.

Review

This book is everything that "Cloak of Deception (Review: 3/10)" should have been. It has fast flowing action, great characters, and layer upon layer of political mystery and intrigue. In essence, it contains almost everything I look for in a book.

The one thing that I don't believe it has is a strong plot. I expect that this is because, while it IS a standalone book, it follows the story-arc started in the two Knight Errant comic series (Aflame and Deluge). However this didn't seem to be that much of a problem, since despite not knowing where the book was going, I couldn't put it down.

The Reluctant Mage (Fisherman's Children - Book Two)

Title: The Reluctant Mage
Author: Karen Miller
Series: Fisherman's Children
Preceeded By: The Prodigal Mage


Ratings

Score: 4/10
How likely I am to read the next Book: Not Likely
      (Note - In this case, the next book is a prequel)

Review

I'd heard good things of Karen Miller, and her Kingmaker, Kingbreaker series. In fact, I don't remember anyone ever saying something negative about it. I hadn't read the previous books in the sequence, but I asked my Brother to summarise it, before starting on this book. It sounded captivating, and I launched myself into the book with interest.

Ten minutes later I decided I should make tea, maybe tidy up a bit. Do some studying. Unfortunately, after the three weeks it took me to struggle through the last book I reviewed, I found myself stuck again. That was a dissapointment.

Cloak of Deception (Star Wars)

Title: Cloak of Deception
Author: James Luceno
Superseries: Star Wars
Series: -


Ratings

Score: 3/10


Review

I knew when I bought this book that it would be a good one. I just knew it. Star Wars books are generally good quality, it's set in my favourite time-period of the Star Wars Universe, and was centered around political story-lines. As regular readers of my reviews know, I like to see politics and intrigue at work in novels. So I was hyped up to read it, and opened it a soon as I got home.

But somehow, something went wrong.

Tempest (Star Wars: Legacy of the Force - Book Three)

Title: Tempest
Author: Troy Denning
Superseries: Star Wars
Series: Legacy of the Force
Preceeded By: Bloodlines (By Karen Traviss)
Succeeded By: Exile (By Aaron Allston)

Ratings

Score: 10/10
How likely I am to read the next in the Series: Definite!

Review

When I picked this book up at midnight last night, it was with the intention of reading for ten or twenty minutes before going to bed. Three hours later, I put the finished book down. From the prologue to the end, I found no point in the book where I didn't want to read "just the next few pages..."

As with the previous book, Bloodlines, I started reading with some trepidation that the third (and final) author in the series would not meet the quality that I had found in the first two. I'm happy to be able to say I needn't have worried. Denning is at least as good as Aalston and Traviss, and once more I'm glad that I started reading this series.

The Crowded Shadows (Moorehawke Trilogy - Book 2)

Title: The Crowded Shadows
Author: Celine Kiernan
Series: Moorehawke Trilogy
Preceeded By: The Poison Throne
Succeeded By: The Rebel Prince

Ratings

Score: 5/10
How likely I am to read the next in the Series: Probable

Review

This book was much better than I was expecting. In some ways. In other ways, I felt let down. In general, everything about it was unexpected.

Starting with some of the good things, after the first hundred or so pages, I couldn't put the book down. The action of following the wolves, followed by the fascinating cultures and rituals of the Merron people were just two of the areas where Kiernan excelled in her storytelling. The depth of it was so real, that I have to wonder if they are based off a real people, although in some ways I hope not.

Bloodlines (Star Wars: Legacy of the Force - Book Two)

Title: Bloodlines
Author: Karen Traviss
Superseries: Star Wars
Series: Legacy of the Force (Book Two) (N.B - Not all by Karen Traviss)
Preceeded By: Betrayal
Succeeded By: Tempest

Ratings

Score: 9/10
How likely I am to read the next in the Series: Definite.

Review


For Star Wars fans, this book can probably be reviewed in just two words: Boba Fett.

He's one of the best-known characters in the Extended Universe, and Traviss writes him incredibly well. There wasn't a single scene with Fett in that I can remember that would have scored below 10/10. The author should be particularly proud of those scenes.

Night of the Living Trekkies

Title: Night of the Living Trekkies
Authors: Kevin David Anderson, Sam Stall

Ratings
Score: 7/10


Review

Night of the Living Trekkies is a title that pretty much sums up the story. Unlike with some vaguer titles in Sci-Fi/Fantasy, with this one you really do get what it says on the metaphorical tin.