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Dragon in Chains by Daniel Fox
Chaz Brenchley writing under the pseudonym (he has a lot of pseudonyms) Daniel Fox tells this China set fantasy story. The man gets around. The Emperor and his retinue is on the run from a rebel army. They wind up on a small island off the coast where Jade is mined. The waterway in between has a dragon under the water only kept in check by the prayers and spells of a group of a sect of monks. The arrival of the Emperor throws the whole thing out of whack.There are pirates and a rebel army and a jade miner and an old man that has sailed the strait all his life. There is a lot going on in this book and it's refreshing to see fantasy from a different viewpoint.
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The Reformatory by Tananarive Due
In darkest Florida, in a haunted town sits a haunted boy's school. Robert Johnson Jr gets sent to the reformatory for six months after he kicks a neighbor who was grabbing at his sister. The neighbor is white. Robert Jr is black. Robert can also see the ghosts all around him especially the ones all over the Reformatory grounds.
The Reformatory is a stereotypical bad place run by a sadistic warden and abetted by sadistic henchmen. Bad things happen. Meanwhile Robbie's older sister Gloria is working to try and get him out.
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07-30-2024, 08:31 PM
(This post was last modified: 07-30-2024, 08:33 PM by Dr. Ivor Yeti.)
(07-15-2024, 01:13 PM)Dr. Ivor Yeti Wrote: (04-24-2024, 09:13 AM)Greg Wrote: His Foundryside trilogy is better.
Almost finished book II of foundryside and you are right so far.
Finished it on the road. It was very good. His new series, the thinly disguised Sherlock, was outstanding, too
Also finished Pushing Ice by Adrian Tschaikovsky. I rate it a solid "meh". It's a one-off Space Opera, but predictable.
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.
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Qigong: The Secret of Youth by Dr. Jwing-Ming Yang
A little light reading.
I probably should have read this book when I first started making the Iron Crotch Doc. So, many things would have been clearer and my questions of GM Tu would have been a little less ignorant.
Although, I know more. There are huge swaths that remain unclear.
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Unsub by Meg Gardiner
A serial killer murder mystery set in San Francisco. Caitlyn is the young officer tasked with seeing the clues that no one else can see. Her father was a detective in charge of a previous serial murder case that led to his nervous breakdown.
It wasn't a great book. Seemed very formulaic. Fun to read a book set in the Bay Area and recognizing the locations.
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Into the Black Nowhere by Meg Gardiner
Another one from the UnSub universe. Caitlin Hendrix now works for the FBI and her first case is a potential serial killer roaming around Texas. She gets to run around the country chasing the killer, catching the killer and then losing the killer. Meanwhile she's depressed she's not with her ATF boyfriend.
A little too much weird romance for me.
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Patient Zero by Jonathan Maberry
Joe Leder is a beat cop in Maryland attached to a raid on a terrorist headquarters. Thinks go poorly but Leder emerges unscathed after killing a man and gets to show how competent. But the man he killed doesn't stay dead. Next thing you know, Leder is attached to a mysterious government agency trying to see if terrorists are releasing zombies into the population of the United States. Lots of action and gunplay. It's kind of military urban fiction pastiche. I kind of like. The characters are interesting. I believe there are more monsters down the line for Joe and company to face.
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(07-10-2024, 09:56 AM)Dr. Ivor Yeti Wrote: Read Tesh/Some Desperate Glory per your recommendation. It was one of the best reads in a very long time. Fascism & De-Radicalization were really well-handled and the story kept twistin & turnin. Very enjoyable.
Some Desperate Glory just won the Hugo award for best novel.
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First Frost by Craig Johnson
Sherriff Longmire, the early years. Actually there are two parts. There is Longmire in the present day as he deals with the pushback from his most recent adventure and then there is Longmire as a fresh college graduate heading off to Paris Island to start boot camp with the marine corps. Along the way, young Longmire and his Native American friend, young Henry get into trouble in a weird little town in Arizona just off Route 66. Even the Yakuza show up.
It was a nice quick read. Solid writing. The present day story was just sort of there to remind us what was happening in the Longmire world and foreshadow upcoming events. Good read for the weekend with the Olympics on in the background.
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Been going through Stephen Brust Vlad Taltos books. So much fun. In between I've been meandering through an Andre Norton omnibus. Golden Age SF from my childhood. Fun!
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The Dark Corners of the Night by Meg Gardiner
Caitlyn and crew head to Los Angeles to track down a serial killer. In one sense it was nice to be in the milieu of Los Angeles, but these killings are a bit too brutal for me. I don't need that much bloodshed in my life.
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(08-16-2024, 10:15 AM)Greg Wrote: The Dark Corners of the Night by Meg Gardiner
Caitlyn and crew head to Los Angeles to track down a serial killer. In one sense it was nice to be in the milieu of Los Angeles, but these killings are a bit too brutal for me. I don't need that much bloodshed in my life.
That's why I stopped with Val MacDiarmid.
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.
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River of the World by Chaz Brenchley
The conclusion of the story started in Bridge of Dreams. The story got off to a slow start as we see Issel and his group cross the river to destroy the bridge and Jendra's continued efforts to save her sister. But then there was a lot of magic and battles and the story moved along. I like Issel as the resultant Wizard and the price he has to pay for all his magic.
A good fantasy story with different viewpoints.
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Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu
Ah, research. I've read it before. I thought I would read it again to gain a little insight into Taoism. The most helpful parts of this version were the afterwords and appendix. They did a deep dive into why they translated words a certain way and what those words meant. It was all fascinating but confusing.
I'm going to track down the Ursula K. LeGuin version to see if that makes it better.
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Jade Man's Skin by Daniel Fox
Book 2 of the trilogy. More action and adventure in the alternate reality China. The dragon is now free sort of. The Emperor wants to go on war adventures. Plotting still abounds. Some really good action sequences.
Unfortunately, my library doesn't carry the final book in the series.....
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