I have posted a review of this little book on my Participatory Bible Study Blog.
Category: Book Reviews
-
Minutemen
(As of 10/2/11, B&N is offering
Minutemen for $8.76, 32% off
the cover price)Nick May is coming out with his second book, Minutemen
. (His previous title is Megabelt
from Energion Publications.)
This book is not at all like Megabelt. It’s the story of four young men whose relationships haven’t worked out (or are deteriorating) and the decisions they make as things spiral out of control more and more. There’s no obvious solution to the ever increasing problems. But the one thing you can expect in this book is that unexpected–and positively weird–things will happen.
Nick claims no moral to the story, but I can make several of them, and perhaps that’s the point of not having an intentional moral proposed (and made obvious) by the author–one can make up one’s own.
This is coming from the brand new Eucatastrophe Press.
-
Book Note: Citadel
I’ve enjoyed previous books by John Ringo, especially the Prince Roger series, so when I saw this book at my local public library I grabbed it and read. Of course, I was jumping into the middle of a series, which is generally a bad idea, but that happens to me quite often.
The book starts slowly. In fact, I was beginning to wonder whether Ringo had abandoned action entirely. In the end, however, perseverance paid off, and things got more interesting. Not that the character building isn’t interesting. I’m just not used to having so much of it at the start. You will continue to see the early characters as the story develops.
This is some good space opera with a “Terra über alles” feel to it. Though earth is the underdog in the story to all appearances, there is a clear human superiority going on as human ingenuity surprises the aliens. I rather enjoy that sort of story for a change, and Ringo does action rather well.
I rate this 4 stars.
-
Note: Naked Heat
I read this book, and the previous Nikki Heat volume, Heat Wave
, because I found the concept of a book by a ghost writer, writing for a fictional author interesting. (OK, that sentence is too convoluted, but I’m not going to fix it.) I find the ABC show Castle entertaining in a non-intellectual sort of way. It’s good relaxation.
As for Heat Wave, it took me half the book to get interesting. It almost fell into a rating of 1 on my scale, by virtue of my failing to finish reading it. But about half way through it managed to become mildly interesting and ended up OK. Because I decided to check out the next volume, it makes it, just barely, to a 3.
Naked Heat was better. I was interesting throughout. It’s not a book I couldn’t put down. In fact, I put it down in the middle of quite a number of scenes, including one with Nikki Heat in the middle of a fight. I also had a fair idea what was going on too early in the book, though the evidence was not always presented all that clearly. Some authors keep you guessing by having a complex case. Others do it through some obscure presentation of the evidence. This one uses the latter a bit.
It’s still a decent book, and the concept is fun. I give it 3 out of 5 stars. I also give Heat Wave 3 out of five stars, but Heat Wave barely made it, while Naked Heat is a solid 3.
-
Note: The Hittite
I picked up this book because of the obvious historical connection. I found it a fairly interesting read if one didn’t expect excessive historical background. It’s build around the siege of Troy and provides an interesting idea for the famed “Trojan Horse.” The jacket description is a bit wild (it mentions bringing down the walls of Jericho, which isn’t in the book).
I’d recommend reading this more as fantasy than as historical fiction and give it 3 of 5 stars.
Buy The Hittite
from Amazon.com.
-
Review of James in the Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament Series
I’ve published my review of the excellent volume on James in the Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament series on my Participatory Bible Study Blog.
-
Review: The Girl Who Played with Fire
I read this book on the recommendation of a friend, and quite frankly at the start I was a bit unsure that I was entirely happy with the idea of reading it. It takes about a third of the book for the plot to get moving. I’m used to this from some British mysteries, which I adore in spite of it. The early part of the book is spent introducing an incredible number of characters, and once I’m thoroughly confused they start doing something.
In The Girl Who Played with Fire, not only is the reader confronted with a large number of characters, most of them are busy having sex with one another. I don’t think of myself as a prude, but I found it a bit much!
Once the action got going, however, it varied from good to great, and I’m planning to go on reading with the next volume. My friend recommended starting with this one rather than the first, and I’m sticking with that. With the number of flashbacks contained in this volume, I doubt I need to read the first one.
I found the characters rather engaging. The lead character is a young lady who is well outside the norm, and she defies probabilities in a number of ways, but she isn’t impossible–just odd. You’ll get to understand her more as the book goes on. For some time I thought she was simply too invulnerable, but that turned out not to be the case.
My favorite portion of the book was that I was surprised by several events near the end. I’m not got to put any spoilers in this review, so I won’t say in precisely which way I was surprised.
If you can get past the early portions of the book (don’t skip them–you need the information), and you like mysteries with elements of a thriller, then you’re sure to enjoy this book.