Book Reviews
Guest Review: “The Traveler” by John Twelve Hawks
The first words that come to mind are speechless and breathtaking. I lose all sense of almost any vocabulary when trying to define the experience while reading The Traveler. The imagery and realism with which Hawks so cunningly captures in his words are profound and exhilarating.
Review: “Finding the Way and Other Tales of Valdemar”
Mercedes Lackey’s Valdemar books are the reader’s equivalent of coming home after a long day; putting on your pj’s and eating cereal for dinner. It’s simple and sometimes intensely comforting. As a reader, the structure of a Valdemar book is highly predictable and that is part of their appeal.
So, this book of short stories is a great way to shake things up.
Review: “Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty” by Raymond Benson
Let me begin by saying that I wanted to love this book. I love the game, I love the characters, I love reading; it seemed a natural fit. Unfortunately, it wasn’t. What I ended up reading was an “okay” version of a story that I know could have been much better.
Review: “Ella Enchanted” (The Book)
The DVD for Ella Enchanted has just come out recently, so I decided to go for a 2-4-1 deal. With my book review, you also get a brand new, one of a kind movie review at no extra charge! (Only at participating stores. Check local store for details. Offer does not include state and local taxes. Void where prohibited.)
Review: “The Mirador” by Sarah Monette
The single most impressive aspect of Sarah Monette’s writing is her strong sense of voice. The stories are told in first-person with the perspective alternating between Felix and Mildmay throughout the chapters.
Review: “Fire Study” by Maria V. Snyder
Oh, Yelena. You crazy, headstrong, impulsive, bleeding heart, acrobatic trickster, I have missed you. I hope Ms. Synder takes it as a compliment that I have read each of her books in no more than two days. For all the work that goes into them, part of me feels that I should somehow be savoring them more. But if I did, then I wouldn’t find out what happens next as quickly as I need to.
Review: “Team of Darkness” by Tony Ruggiero
In the twenty-first century, amidst six billion people and surveillance equipment able to tell a gnat’s sex from outer space, four monsters hid together in caves just outside the city of Kacianik, Kosovo, for nearly a century, until they attacked a captain of the US Army and left witnesses.
General Stone could barely contain himself. Vampires. Real life, blood sucking, coffin dwelling, God damned vampires. What if they could be captured? Studied? What if they could be kept under control and compelled to follow orders?
Review: “The Darkest Part of the Woods” by Ramsey Campbell
Have you ever had a sore spot like an aching tooth, an ingrown toenail, or a spot on your arm where you just got a shot? You know, some place that kisses you with a sharp pain if you don’t leave well enough alone? What do you do? You touch it, squeeze it, push on it. There you go, a grown-up, intelligent human being with a toothache, and you’ll actually bite down hard. When you can’t take the pain anymore you let up and wonder at your stupidity. Then, you go and do the same thing again half an hour later.
The Darkest Part of the Woods, by Ramsey Campbell, was a toothache I wouldn’t stop biting down on. I don’t know how many times I set the book down after an hour of reading, completely bored, totally uninterested… just to pick up the book again the next day.
