The Fifty-Two Finale
So over the Christmas break I got a chance to catch up on books 45 to 52 of my pledge to read 52 books in one year.
Here's what I thought of the last 8 books in 2008's fifty-two...
Book 45
Edge of Victory II: Rebirth
Greg Keyes
Another good installment of the NJO series. Keyes seems to have helped get things back on track and make it all a bit heroic again. there's still the overbearing doom in the galaxy but atleast it feels like our heroes have a chance. Also the developing nature of the Vong is good, they're not as two dimensional as they were at the start. I intend to keep reading the series in 2009.
Book 46
The Hymn
Graham Masterton
An excellent book ! Good pacing, some rude bits that all horror should have and and enjoyable ensemble of characters. The only thing that lets it down is the slightly abrupt ending.
Book 47
Resurrectionist
James McGee
Excellent continuation of the Harkwood books, they continue to be not a 100 miles away in feel to another 95th rifleman. This book seems to have taken a bit of a nod from the Pyke series of novels as there's quite a bit more swearing and a loads more 'dark' bits. As long as Harkwood remains a hero I'll be happy (as Pyke is a very very dark person).
Book 48
Bernice Summerfield - The Vampire Curse
Mags L. Halliday
Kelly Hale
Philip Purser-Hallard
A good anthology with three different takes on Vampires. I felt that Mags story didn't capture the young Benny as well as some of the previous books but was a good read, the news reporter format worked really well. Kelly Hale's story I must confess suffered from me being tired and I had to go back and re-read the end. Whilst I enjoyed the narrative I didn't like the concept of a time-travel holiday agency. It also felt like it had loads of complicated parts and was cut down to fir into a novella. The third story by Philip Purser-Hallard was awesome ! Excellent format, good plot and pacing and brilliant look at the future of Benny (with a cool twist).
Book 49
Wildthyme on Top
Edited by Paul Magrs
An excellent anthology of my second favourite female time traveller and her companion Tom. Like most antholgies some of the stories were a bit meh but overall I enjoyed this book. Some of them were really good and it's nice to see the history of Iris and Tom before Big Finish continue their new audio adventures this year.
Book 50
Nation
Terry Pratchett
I approached this book a little warily as I drifted away from Pratchett a while back. Whilst his Discworld books were still amusing they had ceased to be laugh out loud funny. They seemed to be just printing more of the same for fans of the series. I do intend giving some of the later ones a go again at some point but I'm not that fussed (perhaps someone here can convince me otherwise). Well back to Nation. I really liked it. It's not lol funny but does have some awesome moments. It's effectively a Robinson Crusoe-esque tale about the survivors of a tidal wave on a small group of islands. It has Pratchett's usual take on Gods in it but not taken to the extent of (the awesome) Small Gods.
Book 51
Ghosts of India
Mark Morris
Awesome book ! Everything a Doctor Who historical should be ! Morris also cleverly wrote in the obligatory 12 year old character this time in such a way you didn't want to throw the book out of the window (unlike his sadly rubbish and unusually for me unfinished read Forever Autumn). Ghandi is awesome in it too ! Not over used and the bad guys are believable too. I recommend this to any Who fan.
Book 52
The Doctor Trap
Simon Messingham
Hmm, I had saved this till last as I thought the premise of a bounty hunted Doctor was rather good. Sadly the book did not tick that many boxes and I have yet to finish it. Any sci-fi book where an immateur clone version of the hero pops up in the first chapter makes me wary. When it's a clone of the Doctor including Time Lord DNA enough to fool the TARDIS I shudder. There were so many ways they could have nicked the TARDIS without using a miraculous clone type thing (note that the official Doctor clone that Rose got lumped with also does not sit right with me, clones of main characters suck). Even if they'd cloned an old companion it would have been better. Pah, I blame this book for me being half a book short of the 2008 fifty-two.
So there you have it ! I managed 51 1/2 books in 2008 and I'm rather chuffed too ! If I hadn't recalculated my Starfleet Corps of Engineers books I would have done it too ! I plan on doing the same again this year too ! I also plan on adding some sort of games playing measure in as well because in 2008 I only managed to finish six computer games which seems a bit poor to me.
Laters,
C.
Here's what I thought of the last 8 books in 2008's fifty-two...
Book 45
Edge of Victory II: Rebirth
Greg Keyes
Another good installment of the NJO series. Keyes seems to have helped get things back on track and make it all a bit heroic again. there's still the overbearing doom in the galaxy but atleast it feels like our heroes have a chance. Also the developing nature of the Vong is good, they're not as two dimensional as they were at the start. I intend to keep reading the series in 2009.
Book 46
The Hymn
Graham Masterton
An excellent book ! Good pacing, some rude bits that all horror should have and and enjoyable ensemble of characters. The only thing that lets it down is the slightly abrupt ending.
Book 47
Resurrectionist
James McGee
Excellent continuation of the Harkwood books, they continue to be not a 100 miles away in feel to another 95th rifleman. This book seems to have taken a bit of a nod from the Pyke series of novels as there's quite a bit more swearing and a loads more 'dark' bits. As long as Harkwood remains a hero I'll be happy (as Pyke is a very very dark person).
Book 48
Bernice Summerfield - The Vampire Curse
Mags L. Halliday
Kelly Hale
Philip Purser-Hallard
A good anthology with three different takes on Vampires. I felt that Mags story didn't capture the young Benny as well as some of the previous books but was a good read, the news reporter format worked really well. Kelly Hale's story I must confess suffered from me being tired and I had to go back and re-read the end. Whilst I enjoyed the narrative I didn't like the concept of a time-travel holiday agency. It also felt like it had loads of complicated parts and was cut down to fir into a novella. The third story by Philip Purser-Hallard was awesome ! Excellent format, good plot and pacing and brilliant look at the future of Benny (with a cool twist).
Book 49
Wildthyme on Top
Edited by Paul Magrs
An excellent anthology of my second favourite female time traveller and her companion Tom. Like most antholgies some of the stories were a bit meh but overall I enjoyed this book. Some of them were really good and it's nice to see the history of Iris and Tom before Big Finish continue their new audio adventures this year.
Book 50
Nation
Terry Pratchett
I approached this book a little warily as I drifted away from Pratchett a while back. Whilst his Discworld books were still amusing they had ceased to be laugh out loud funny. They seemed to be just printing more of the same for fans of the series. I do intend giving some of the later ones a go again at some point but I'm not that fussed (perhaps someone here can convince me otherwise). Well back to Nation. I really liked it. It's not lol funny but does have some awesome moments. It's effectively a Robinson Crusoe-esque tale about the survivors of a tidal wave on a small group of islands. It has Pratchett's usual take on Gods in it but not taken to the extent of (the awesome) Small Gods.
Book 51
Ghosts of India
Mark Morris
Awesome book ! Everything a Doctor Who historical should be ! Morris also cleverly wrote in the obligatory 12 year old character this time in such a way you didn't want to throw the book out of the window (unlike his sadly rubbish and unusually for me unfinished read Forever Autumn). Ghandi is awesome in it too ! Not over used and the bad guys are believable too. I recommend this to any Who fan.
Book 52
The Doctor Trap
Simon Messingham
Hmm, I had saved this till last as I thought the premise of a bounty hunted Doctor was rather good. Sadly the book did not tick that many boxes and I have yet to finish it. Any sci-fi book where an immateur clone version of the hero pops up in the first chapter makes me wary. When it's a clone of the Doctor including Time Lord DNA enough to fool the TARDIS I shudder. There were so many ways they could have nicked the TARDIS without using a miraculous clone type thing (note that the official Doctor clone that Rose got lumped with also does not sit right with me, clones of main characters suck). Even if they'd cloned an old companion it would have been better. Pah, I blame this book for me being half a book short of the 2008 fifty-two.
So there you have it ! I managed 51 1/2 books in 2008 and I'm rather chuffed too ! If I hadn't recalculated my Starfleet Corps of Engineers books I would have done it too ! I plan on doing the same again this year too ! I also plan on adding some sort of games playing measure in as well because in 2008 I only managed to finish six computer games which seems a bit poor to me.
Laters,
C.