Category: 50 book challenge

#17

by Gene DeWeese

I was browsing my shelves late last night because I wasn’t yet tired, although I should have been. That’s when I discovered that this book is the sequel to the one I read earlier (Chain of Attack). The Enterprise goes back to the anomaly to find out why people coming near it and similar openings seem to be experiencing terror and paranoia. Spock and Kirk believe that this may be the reason why there was so much destruction in the area where the anomaly/nexus left them in the last book. The author does a good job of explaining the physics theories that are the basis of the existence of the nexus and the cause of the terror, but it wasn’t as interesting to me as the first book.

#16

by S.P. Somtow

The plot of this book is complicated and difficult to explain briefly. The author draws on elements of Indian culture and mythology for the alien race he creates. The multiple story lines are woven together tightly, but at times it was difficult for me to follow what was happening. Still, it was an enjoyable read.

Wow. Two books in one day. If I keep this up, I might actually get to fifty books read this year.

#15

by Gene DeWeese

The Enterprise is studying some anomalies that act sort of like wormholes by instantly transporting an object across a distance. The distances vary throughout the trials, and they are unable to determine what factors influence how far an object will be moved. Suddenly, they find themselves in an unfamiliar galaxy with no idea where they are in relation to home. As they begin to explore the are in hopes of finding a way back, they find themselves entangled in an interstellar war that has raged on for millenia.

This is a pretty good Star Trek novel. It is somewhat reminiscent of Voyager, with the alien technology causing a ship to be sent across vast distances to an unknown place far from home, but the book was published in 1987.

My modem isn’t working, so I wasn’t able to waste the day online. This meant I had time to read. I got a wild hair and decided to read all the unread Star Trek books in my house. Probably a reaction to the darkness of Battlestar Galactica. More on that later.

it’s only a flesh wound (#14)

Goblins and wizards and orcs, oh, my!

by A. Lee Martinez

In the Company of Ogres by A. Lee Martinez takes place in a world full of creatures of epic fantasies and folklore. Orcs, goblins, sirens, wizards, warriors, and the titular ogres are among the species present, as well as regular humans. Most of the story is set in one company of the Legion that provides armies for wars.

The main character, Ned, is sent to be the new commander of Ogre Company, the place where troublesome soldiers are sent, mainly because he seems to be immortal. This is a good thing, as “accidents” have befallen the previous commanders of Ogre Company. Actually, Ned dies rather frequently, but somehow he manages to come back to life every time. He has not been able to figure out why he keeps coming back to life, but that mystery becomes clearer as the story progresses.

Ned is being cared for by a magical and divine protector, and she is responsible for his supposed immortality, but she cannot protect him forever. Eventually Ned must learn to protect himself, because if he dies and stays dead, the universe will be destroyed. You will have to read the book and find out what happens, because that is all I can tell without giving away certain plot points, not to mention the ending.

I have not been able to peg down exactly the type of audience Martinez is writing for. Initially, the book seemed to be aimed at adolescent boys. The soldiering and mythical creatures combined with simple descriptions and dialogue clearly places the writing in the young adult fantasy category; however, there are some elements of the story that are better suited for a more mature audience. Although, not so mature that they have lost all sense of silliness.

Silliness is the key to a great deal of the plot. Like Ned, the reader is bounced from one fantastic circumstance to the next, never knowing exactly what will come of it and without a clear direction towards an end point. Publisher’s Weekly recommended Martinez’s debut book, Gil’s All Fright Diner, to fans of Douglas Adams, and I suspect that style of silly is what Martinez is aiming for with In the Company of Ogres.

Most of the gore in the book leans towards the gross-you-out variety, more than the freak-you-out type. Besides, what kind of fantasy book does not have at least one sword fight scene? On the whole, the book is an entertaining read suitable for most young adults, provided that their parents are not adverse to a few slightly veiled references to sexual activity.

#13

Wow. It’s been well over a month since I last read a book. I am so far behind on this fifty book challenge!

I knew I needed to read something the other evening, so I selected something relatively short and entertaining. Crisis on Centaurus by Brad Ferguson fit the bill. It’s a Star Trek novel set in the original series. I found the 1960s/1980s perspective on computers to be quite amusing. The Enterprise computer has experienced a malfunction that causes problems all over the ship. Before they are able to go to a starbase for repairs, they are sent to Centaurus to aid in the recovery from a huge matter/anti-matter explosion that wiped out the capital city and killed thousands of people. The tension builds steadily throughout the story, but the resolution is abrupt and unsatisfying. It seemed to me that the author had a much fuller story that got cut down in the editorial process. Too bad, because he had some interesting subtext with some of the minor characters like Chekov and Sulu.

#12

My latest read is another young adult fantasy: The Black Unicorn by Tanith Lee. This one doesn’t draw on Tolkein, though. Tanaquil is the daughter of a sorceress, but she has no magical abilities herself. However, she can fix things, so in order to occupy her mind and her days, she fixes broken things brought to her by the residents of the desert fortress where she lives. The monotony of her existence shifts when she befriends a peeve who helps her put together the skeleton of a unicorn. The adventure that follows eventually leads Tanaquil to her destiny.

I haven’t read any of Tanith Lee’s other novels, but if this is an example of her work, I look forward to the rest. The book is short, but even so, Lee is able to flesh out characters and locations enough to connect them with the reader. She has left the ending open for sequels, which have been written (Gold Unicorn, Red Unicorn), so I will seek those out first.

#11

If the Lord of the Rings movies hadn’t done so well, I doubt this book would have made it onto the New York Times best seller list, much less reach number one.

My sister gave me a copy of Eragon by Christopher Paolini for Christmas this past year, and last night I finally finished reading it. I’d picked it up a copy while at a friend’s house earlier this month and read the first few chapters, but then life got in the way of finishing it. Last night I decided to read a few more chapters before going to bed (early). Sigh. I finished it at one this morning, and I am still ticked with the author.

This book is a part of a series. At no point must you think that most of the mysteries will be revealed by the end; nor must you think that any conflicts will be resolved, either. Personally, I think it’s cruel to leave a cliffhanger at the end of 508 pages. This is yet another way that the author has poorly ripped off Tolkein. His depiction of Elven and Dwarf societies are very Tolkein-esque, his map of Alaga

#9

Yesterday I came home to find my recent Amazon order had arrived. Last week while browsing LibraryThing, I discovered a new book in one of my favorite mystery series, so I pre-ordered it. It was officially released the next day. I’ve never done this before, but I’ve started collecting this series in hardcover and I decided to treat myself to a brand new tome.

Anyway. New book arrived yesterday. I finally had a chance to crack it open at 10:30pm, thinking I’d read until midnight and then finish this evening. As if. Check the time stamp on this post. I’m gonna need a grande latte when I wake up. Possibly with an extra shot.

Sour Puss is the latest in the collaboration between Sneaky Pie Brown and her person, Rita Mae Brown. As with the previous books in the series, the authors take time to set the scene, refresh our memories of the old characters, and introduce us to the new characters. The action doesn’t happen until the penultimate chapter, but Mrs. Murphy fans have come to expect that. We like spending time with our friends and family for a while before we have to get our paws hands dirty with some icky murder.

The back story deals with current events and concerns regarding bioterrorism. H5N1 makes a brief appearance, as well as theories about biological weapons used by Iraq in Desert Storm. Most important to the plot is the Supreme Court decision striking down state laws that prohibit direct sales of wines to out-of-state customers. Wine drinkers rejoice.

mooooooo

A sweetented crunchy reference book for breakfast reading.

Milking That Crazy Cow: a Century of Cereals

Milking That Crazy Cow: a Century of Cereals begins with a forward by Alan Snedeker, a creative consultant with a long carreer in writing jingles, advertising copywriting, and promotion design. He tells brief vignettes about what worked and what didn’t work with cereal branding and promotion in the years that his agency did creative work with cereal companies. This part of the book was the most interesting to me because it put the book into context. Snedeker makes the point that most breakfast cereals in the United States exist only as marketing tools to get kids to make their parents buy them a particular kind of sweetened grain cereal.

Continue reading “mooooooo”

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