Posts: 15,886
Threads: 978
Joined: Jan 2016
Reputation:
1
All The Seas of the World by Guy Gavriel Kay
Kay continues to tell the history of the Mediterranean through this fictional. At this point Sarantium (Constantinople) to the Asharites (Islam) and the Jaddites (Christianity) want a little payback for their loss. The Kindath (Jews) are in there, too. The story mainly plays out in Batria (Italy) and the big City States like Firenta (Florence) and Serrenise (Venice). But it's a small story that starts with a man and a woman hired to kill the Caliph in North Africa and the repercussions of that action.
I love Kay's writing style, but he does love to go off on tangents. He also likes to switch narrator in the middle of a chapter, some times in the middle of a page. So, it's bit quirky and always takes me a bit to get used to reading. I also play the game of mapping Kay's words to the actual world which can take me out of the story.
This book closely comes after A Brightness Long Ago which detailed mercenary companies fighting in Batria and has a lot of the same characters from that novel in supporting roles in this novel. Plus, he references the events that happened in The Lions of Al-Rassan and the Sailing to Sarantium set of books. So it would help to have read those books but it's not necessary. The book is self contained.
The only way you can kind of tell it is a "fantasy" novel is a small skosh of magic. Other than that it's a tale of medieval Europe and the religious wars.
As a matter of fact, my anger does keep me warm
Posts: 15,886
Threads: 978
Joined: Jan 2016
Reputation:
1
The Jury Master by Robert Dugoni
Pretty standard thriller. The book starts off as a judicial procedural but morphs quickly into a political thriller. David Sloane is the lawyer who has a magic way with juries. But he receives a call and a package from Joe Barnack, friend to the president, right before Barnack commits suicide. Lots of different angles to the story. Did Barnack commit suicide. What happened in Mexico 30 years ago. How does this all connect to Sloane and why are people trying to kill him? Some of it is pretty cliched. Some of the characters are pretty stereotypical. But the book moves quickly with lots of action and occasional bits of humor. Solid Junk Food Book
As a matter of fact, my anger does keep me warm
Posts: 15,886
Threads: 978
Joined: Jan 2016
Reputation:
1
The Eighth Sister by Robert Dugoni
It is a new series but it stars one of the characters from the Jury Master. From what I read in this book a lot of things happen to David Sloane in the interim and Sloane does play a part in this book but isn't the focus. Charles Jenkins worked for the CIA but retired after the early events in The Jury Master. But he is brought out of retirement to help with an op in Russia that will get him back on his feet financially. Naturally everything goes haywire in Russia and he is soon on the run for his life. What I thought the book was going to be about turned into a this chase across Russia. When Jenkins gets back to the US, Jenkins is in a lot of trouble and needs the help of Sloane to get him out of it.
Another prime junk food book. Lots of action. Not a lot of sense. Diverting while reading but I probably won't remember this book in a month or so.
As a matter of fact, my anger does keep me warm
Posts: 6,595
Threads: 169
Joined: Oct 2005
Reputation:
0
Thanks for the Arkady Mertine referral; they're coming on the flight with me.
In the Tudor Period, Fencing Masters were classified in the Vagrancy Laws along with Actors, Gypsys, Vagabonds, Sturdy Rogues, and the owners of performing bears.
Posts: 15,886
Threads: 978
Joined: Jan 2016
Reputation:
1
The Middling Affliction: The Conradverse Chronicles by Alex Shvartsman
It was fine. Sort of a Jim Butcher knock-off. Conrad is a magic user but he can't generate his own magic. He has to fight an organization that is making magic practitioners powerless. Conrad's own powerless status is a secret but he wants to help find a cure for people losing their magic. It's a world wide romp in a host of place but most of the action takes place in New York.
Not a lot of depth. Not super writing. But the action moves fast.
As a matter of fact, my anger does keep me warm
Posts: 15,886
Threads: 978
Joined: Jan 2016
Reputation:
1
Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard
It was interesting premise. People with silver blood can do magic. People with red blood cannot. The red blood people are basically slaves to the ruling Silver blood elite. That all changes when Mare Barrow, a red blood, discovers she has powers. She was on the way to die at the front in a war with their northern neighbor when she is given a job at the palace. She is also is in league with the rebellious reds who want more freedom from their Red compatriots.
There is a lot going on. At first you think it's medieval. But then you realize people have electricity and devices. Strong hints that it is our world many years in the future after some cataclysm.
I'm unsure if I will read any more of these books.
As a matter of fact, my anger does keep me warm
Posts: 15,886
Threads: 978
Joined: Jan 2016
Reputation:
1
The Brereton Diaries by Lewis H. Brereton
General Brereton fought in every theater during WW2. He started in the Philippines. Directed part of the operations in India before heading to the Middle East. After the Invasion of Sicily, Brereton went to England to help with the D-Day invasion. In all the theaters, he put together the Air Corps and planned their operations. It's germane to my life because, he had overall command of my grandfather's Squadron and even makes an appearance in Black Scorpion Diary. My grandfather mentioned this book in his book and I get the feeling my grandfather used the Brereton Diaries as a template for his book.
If you want a crash course in World War 2, this would be a pretty good place to start. Brereton interacts with all the major players from Macarthur to Montgomery, Patton to Eisenhower. He worked with all of them and was party of many famous battles. The book is a little dry and I found myself getting lost amongst the numbers for the different regiments, battalions and armies. I did learn a lot about the war but it does pretty much skim the surface.
As a matter of fact, my anger does keep me warm
Posts: 15,886
Threads: 978
Joined: Jan 2016
Reputation:
1
The September Society by Charles Finch
Another Victorian era mystery with detective Charles Lennox. A boy has gone missing up in Oxford and it may be tied to a murder from twenty years ago in India. It's all very gentile and upper crust and about manners. It reminds me a lot of Sherlock Holmes except not as rough. Manners then mystery. But the books are a good change of base from the violence I'm getting the Gudolini series.
As a matter of fact, my anger does keep me warm
Posts: 15,886
Threads: 978
Joined: Jan 2016
Reputation:
1
Realm Breaker by Victoria Aveyard
What if the band of heroes on epic quest to save the realm all die rather than save the kingdom? What do you do next. That's the premise of this series and where the book starts off. All the heroes die and only a squire is left to bring word back to the castle of what has gone wrong. It was that premise that made me want to see what happened next. Well, bad things happen. And they keep happening.
It's a good bit of world building. Lots of clashing kingdoms ready to go to war. Untrustworthy people. At the center of it is Corayne daughter of a female pirate longing to go on adventure but denied by her mother to go on an adventure. Well her desires come to fruition when it's up to her to stop the scourge that threatens Allward. She joins another band of typical fantasy adventurers to go do the thing at the place to save everyone.
There are a few good twists in the plot. There are a lot of cliche's especially the bickering between the members of the troop. But it was kind of fun. My only complaint are some of the naming conventions. The story revolves opening portals to other worlds through magic. Yet, these portals are called Spindles. I know what a spindle is. It is not a portal. So every time they mentioned the Spindle, I would get thrown out of the story because i thought it was a very poor choice of words and I decried the author's choice. Since the Spindles play such a big role in the story, I read the word a lot. Grrr.
Kind of enjoyable. The second book is out already and is on the way from the library.
As a matter of fact, my anger does keep me warm
Posts: 4,744
Threads: 905
Joined: May 2008
Reputation:
2
(07-21-2022, 07:18 AM)Greg Wrote: My only complaint are some of the naming conventions. The story revolves opening portals to other worlds through magic. Yet, these portals are called Spindles. I know what a spindle is. It is not a portal. So every time they mentioned the Spindle, I would get thrown out of the story because i thought it was a very poor choice of words and I decried the author's choice. Since the Spindles play such a big role in the story, I read the word a lot. Grrr.
"Do not fold, spindle, or mutilate"
...makes me think about the hyperspace in Hitchhiker's Guide:
[b]Arthur Dent:[/b]
What are you doing?
[b]Ford Prefect:[/b]
Preparing for hyperspace. It's rather unpleasantly like being drunk.
[b]Arthur Dent:[/b]
What's so wrong about being drunk?
[b]Ford Prefect:[/b]
Ask a glass of water.
--tg
Posts: 15,886
Threads: 978
Joined: Jan 2016
Reputation:
1
When Sorrows Come by Seanan McGuire
Toby goes to her wedding. Mayhem ensues. As it does.
It's been building up to this for awhile. Toby finally gets to marry Tybalt, the king of the Cats. She has to travel to Toronto to do this because the High King and Queen requested they hold the wedding there.
As usual, the books stops every three or four chapters to explain who is who and who they are related to and why it's important. Plus, long descriptions of what kind of Fae they are. It takes awhile for the book to get going. You would think with all that explanation, I would be able to remember who is who but I don't. There are dozens of main characters at this point and it's hard to keep them straight. McGuire needs to simplify the stories and just deal with a few characters for a change.
That being said, this book was a stronger entry into the canon. I could follow the mystery of why people are trying to kill the High King. We only had to go back a couple of centuries for the reasoning. There were funny bits. There were a lot of speeches about what makes a family but it worked fine in this context.
The next volume comes out in the fall.
As a matter of fact, my anger does keep me warm
Posts: 15,886
Threads: 978
Joined: Jan 2016
Reputation:
1
The Last Agent by Robert Dugoni
This book has the exact same plot as the first book in the series. CIA agent Jenkins has to escape from Russia. That's it. This time he has to rescue the agent that helped him escape in The Eight Sisters. Jenkins teams up with Fedorov who was Jenkings FSB adversary in the Eight Sisters. Now, they have an even worse FSB officer chasing him. But all the same kinds of twists and turns and narrow escapes happen. Curious to see what the plot of third book in the series is going to be.
As a matter of fact, my anger does keep me warm
Posts: 15,886
Threads: 978
Joined: Jan 2016
Reputation:
1
On Target by Mark Greaney
In an attempt to clear his name or at least mitigate all the kill orders against him, Court Gentry, The Gray man takes an assignment from his new Oligarch boss to kill the President of Sudan. The his former hit in the CIA wants him to merely kidnap the president of Sudan. Naturally everything goes awry when he has to stop to save a damsel in distress. He is also fighting a painkiller addiction and the mounting injuries aren't helping with that. Lots of fights and weapons porn and being wounded but fighting on against impossible odds.
But I now have to retract my comments about The Gray Man movie. In this book is the CIA organization that gave him the Sierra Six moniker and in the book, Gentry is frequently referred to as Six. He's also known as the Violator.
As a matter of fact, my anger does keep me warm
Posts: 15,886
Threads: 978
Joined: Jan 2016
Reputation:
1
Ballistic by Mark Greaney
It just dawned on me. These books have no humor in them. It's all very serious macho weapons porn.
Court Gentry goes to the grave of a man who once saved his life only to get caught up in Mexican drug war. He needs to save the dead man's family from the local drug lord who has a terrible obsession with Santa Muerta. There is a lot of running around and shooting in Puerto Vallarta and Mexico City. Lots of gun battles and improbable escapes. And even an improbable love seen because Court doesn't know what to do with a woman. The big question is will there ever be a safe haven for the Gray Man or is he destined to spend his life on the run from all the enemies he keeps making.
As a matter of fact, my anger does keep me warm
Posts: 15,886
Threads: 978
Joined: Jan 2016
Reputation:
1
Fleet Street Murders by Charles Finch
Quite the whiplash to go from the hyper violence of the Gray Man series to this gentile victorian era mash-up of manners and murder. I think there was one gun fight in the whole book.
Finch is getting better at the mystery part of these books. Lennox has to travel to the fictional city of Stirrington in the North of England where he runs for Parliament. Meanwhile in London, two Fleet Street newspaper editors have been murdered at almost the same time. Lennox is torn between his duties running for office and his need to solve mysteries. He's also having a bit of problem with his fiancee, Lady Jane, who wants to delay the wedding.
These aren't really mysteries you can solve while reading, you can only guess at whodunnit. The pleasure is in the descriptions of a different age and following along with the process.
As a matter of fact, my anger does keep me warm
|
