Books 34-39, Reviewed
Short summary:
34. Michael Connelly's City of Bones - 4 stars.
35. Samuel M. Key/Charles de Lint's Angel of Darkness - 4 stars.
36. Robert Holdstock's Gate of Ivory, Gate of Horn - 4 stars.
37. Nick Sagan's Idlewild - 5 stars.
38. Bram Stoker's Dracula - 1 star.
39. Tara K. Harper's Wolfwalker - 5 stars.
Book 34: Michael Connelly: City of Bones, 448 pages. Connelly writes good cop-solves-crimes novels, and I enjoy his hero, Harry Bosch. This series reminds me a lot of the early James Patterson/Alex Cross books, before they started being written more for sales than plot. I'll certainly keep an eye out for more of Connelly's work. Quick read - about three hours on a Sunday morning. 4 stars out of 5. Finish Date: 12 Jun 05.
Book 35: Samuel M. Key: Angel of Darkness, 240 pages. Samuel M. Key is the pen name used by Charles de Lint for his dark horror work, to differentiate it from his regular fantasy fare. It took me a while to read this book, because it is very dark and almost frightening in places, so I read it in phases and digested each chapter a day or so before going on to the next. To review the parts that caught my attention the most would be to give away plot. 4 stars out of 5. Finish Date: 30 Jun 05.
Book 36: Robert Holdstock: Gate of Ivory, Gate of Horn, 320 pages. A Mythagos Wood book. Holdstock is another author who uses obscure mythology in his modern fantasy, and it works out decently. While this book wasn't as absorbing as I've found books by de Lint, he's definately in the same calibre of writing. I liked the main character, although I felt at times the author was being deliberately obscure without need to be on the plot. The ending is rather unexpected and worth the wait. 4 stars out of 5. Finish Date: 8 Jul 05.
Book 37: Nick Sagan: Idlewild, 288 pages. Since I'd read the books out of order, I had to squeeze in the first book before the third is released in August. I actually liked this book better than the second, in some ways. It had one consistant point-of-view, and Halloween makes a good narrator. While I understood Edenborn without reading this book, it filled in a lot of gaps, particularly on back history. I'm on pins-and-needles until the third book, which I have on pre-order as a birthday present! A definate "must own" book. 5 stars out of 5. Finish Date: 16 Jul 05.
Book 38: Bram Stoker: Dracula, 428 pages. A bookcrossing.com book. I was rather disappointed by this classic. It started out with promise, especially the Jonathan Harker bits. Then all the male characters descended into blubbering worshippers of the two female characters, and by the end of the novel, I was wishing Dracula could snack on all of them and be done with it. I kept having to put it aside and read chapters in between other books, but I managed to finish it at last. 1 star out of 5. Finish Date: 20 Jul 05, read concurrently with books 34, 35, 36, 37 & 39.
Book 39: Tara K. Harper: Wolfwalker, 320 pages. Wolfwalker Series, book 1. A bookcrossing.com book. I had to force myself to put this book down so I could get to mundane things like sleep and work. The lead female character is intriguing, skilled without being absolutely perfect. The lead male character was definately my favorite, and I was glad that the author switched between their points-of-view. The book is more adventure than fantasy, and the author does not hesitate to have less-than-happy-endings for her characters. I can't wait to find the rest of the books. A definate "must own" book. 5 stars out of 5. Finish Date: 21 Jul 05.
Did Not Finish:
Walter Jon Williams: The Rift, 528 pages. From the book jacket: It starts with the dogs. They won't stop barking. And then the earth shrugs - 8.9 on the Richter scale. It's the world's biggest earthquake since Lisbon in 1755, and it doesn't hit California or Japan or Mexico, but New Madrid, Missouri, a sleepy town on the Mississippi River. I read the first 100 or so pages and felt like I was reading the script to a disaster made-for-TV miniseries. I finally gave up on getting any further.
Mount To-Be-Read:
Gordon Dickson's On the Run, Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel's Chosen, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's The Palace & Tempting Fate, Piers Anthony's Bio of a Space Tyrant, Graham Joyce's Dark Sister, Richard Matheson's Earthbound, C.S. Friedman's This Alien Shore, Diane Duane's So You Want to Be a Wizard?
2005 Reading List
34. Michael Connelly's City of Bones - 4 stars.
35. Samuel M. Key/Charles de Lint's Angel of Darkness - 4 stars.
36. Robert Holdstock's Gate of Ivory, Gate of Horn - 4 stars.
37. Nick Sagan's Idlewild - 5 stars.
38. Bram Stoker's Dracula - 1 star.
39. Tara K. Harper's Wolfwalker - 5 stars.
Book 34: Michael Connelly: City of Bones, 448 pages. Connelly writes good cop-solves-crimes novels, and I enjoy his hero, Harry Bosch. This series reminds me a lot of the early James Patterson/Alex Cross books, before they started being written more for sales than plot. I'll certainly keep an eye out for more of Connelly's work. Quick read - about three hours on a Sunday morning. 4 stars out of 5. Finish Date: 12 Jun 05.
Book 35: Samuel M. Key: Angel of Darkness, 240 pages. Samuel M. Key is the pen name used by Charles de Lint for his dark horror work, to differentiate it from his regular fantasy fare. It took me a while to read this book, because it is very dark and almost frightening in places, so I read it in phases and digested each chapter a day or so before going on to the next. To review the parts that caught my attention the most would be to give away plot. 4 stars out of 5. Finish Date: 30 Jun 05.
Book 36: Robert Holdstock: Gate of Ivory, Gate of Horn, 320 pages. A Mythagos Wood book. Holdstock is another author who uses obscure mythology in his modern fantasy, and it works out decently. While this book wasn't as absorbing as I've found books by de Lint, he's definately in the same calibre of writing. I liked the main character, although I felt at times the author was being deliberately obscure without need to be on the plot. The ending is rather unexpected and worth the wait. 4 stars out of 5. Finish Date: 8 Jul 05.
Book 37: Nick Sagan: Idlewild, 288 pages. Since I'd read the books out of order, I had to squeeze in the first book before the third is released in August. I actually liked this book better than the second, in some ways. It had one consistant point-of-view, and Halloween makes a good narrator. While I understood Edenborn without reading this book, it filled in a lot of gaps, particularly on back history. I'm on pins-and-needles until the third book, which I have on pre-order as a birthday present! A definate "must own" book. 5 stars out of 5. Finish Date: 16 Jul 05.
Book 38: Bram Stoker: Dracula, 428 pages. A bookcrossing.com book. I was rather disappointed by this classic. It started out with promise, especially the Jonathan Harker bits. Then all the male characters descended into blubbering worshippers of the two female characters, and by the end of the novel, I was wishing Dracula could snack on all of them and be done with it. I kept having to put it aside and read chapters in between other books, but I managed to finish it at last. 1 star out of 5. Finish Date: 20 Jul 05, read concurrently with books 34, 35, 36, 37 & 39.
Book 39: Tara K. Harper: Wolfwalker, 320 pages. Wolfwalker Series, book 1. A bookcrossing.com book. I had to force myself to put this book down so I could get to mundane things like sleep and work. The lead female character is intriguing, skilled without being absolutely perfect. The lead male character was definately my favorite, and I was glad that the author switched between their points-of-view. The book is more adventure than fantasy, and the author does not hesitate to have less-than-happy-endings for her characters. I can't wait to find the rest of the books. A definate "must own" book. 5 stars out of 5. Finish Date: 21 Jul 05.
Did Not Finish:
Walter Jon Williams: The Rift, 528 pages. From the book jacket: It starts with the dogs. They won't stop barking. And then the earth shrugs - 8.9 on the Richter scale. It's the world's biggest earthquake since Lisbon in 1755, and it doesn't hit California or Japan or Mexico, but New Madrid, Missouri, a sleepy town on the Mississippi River. I read the first 100 or so pages and felt like I was reading the script to a disaster made-for-TV miniseries. I finally gave up on getting any further.
Mount To-Be-Read:
Gordon Dickson's On the Run, Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel's Chosen, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's The Palace & Tempting Fate, Piers Anthony's Bio of a Space Tyrant, Graham Joyce's Dark Sister, Richard Matheson's Earthbound, C.S. Friedman's This Alien Shore, Diane Duane's So You Want to Be a Wizard?
2005 Reading List