Glenn's Daily Script » Books

Book Review: Magic Study by Maria V. Snyder

Glenn — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 21:51:19 +0000

I don’t think I’ve read a fantasy novel in quite a long time. By Fantasy, I mean something that takes place in some imaginary time and place where some fantastical elements exist that can range from mystical creatures to magic to … use your imagination.

This book is actually the 2nd book in a series about Yelena a young woman who was kidnapped as a child and apparently (meaning it happened in the 1st book?) had a very rough life.

In this one, she is traveling with your mentor/master Irys who is a master magician (1 of 4 in the Sitia country/territory.

During this story, we find out Yelena’s talents in magic and what she is truly made of by her efforts in playing detective on a mystery where evil is trying to steal girl’s souls. Of course, that would be interesting enough if we didn’t have to deal with her long lost brother thinking that she is a spy and drips of evil herself.

The character development is full and engaging. The story takes it serious enough but inserts humor and other emotions through out.

It took me about 25 pages to get into this story but after that, I was hooked and it was a quick read from that point onward.

It’s the 2nd book in a series but served well as a stand along story though clearly it would have been even more interesting had I read the first (Poison Study). I’m excited to read the first and the 3rd story (Fire Study) and I recommend you search it out and try it for yourself.

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Book Review: Magic Study by Maria V. Snyder

Graphic Novel Review: Secret Identity by Kurt Busiek and Stuart Immonen

Glenn — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 21:31:50 +0000

I haven’t been inspired to write down any book or movie reviews lately but I heard a recommendation about the Graphic Novel – Secret Identity and thought I would check it out.

It’s a different take on Superman. The premise is that in our world, the world of no super powered any bodies, a family with the last name of Kent who also happen to be in a small town in Kansas (no, not Smallville) have a son with dark hair and a normal complexion. The new parents thought it would be fun to name their son Clark.

In the Graphic Novel, there are 4 separate stories. One where Clark is a teenager; One where Clark is a young adult; One where Clark is beginning a family; and One where Clark is growing older.

In this premise, Clark has no powers but is teased for being Clark Kent/Superboy by his family and friends. He’s frustrated by it but not truly resentful. During the first story, Clark finds out that he has super powers just like Superman. The rest of the stories have elements where Clark wrestles with this part of him and the secrets he must keep and who should he keep them from. Should he share with his family; should he share with his love; should he share with his children.

I would have loved to see these stories longer but most graphic novels are not only quick reads but you forget them and they have little impact. To me, this may be one of the most impactful comics I have ever read. It presents a perspective on life with a back drop about super powers, Superman, and heroes.

It was really enjoyable and I highly recommend it.

More Harry Potter (no spoilers)

Glenn — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 20:52:05 +0000

Ok, I’ve spent the last 12 waking hours or so reading the last of the series.

I enjoyed the book. JKR has a certain style in the book that is both good and bad. Obviously, the bulk of it is good otherwise those of us who are fans wouldn’t have become fans and kept reading the series.

She has got character development nailed. And more than that, she seems to have got growth in characters nailed to as they age/mature. It may or may not be accurate to any particular individual or group of individuals but it moves along and is very credible and draws you into the character. Your really felt when you were first introduced to the characters how young they were and at the end, you really felt how much they have grown and matured.

She also had a real nice story line that flowed well. I wouldn’t call it formulaic or anything but she did have a nice way to give a quick bit at the beginning and then ease into the rest of the story till the climactic end usually followed with some sort of epilogue that rapped it up and set it up for next time.

My biggest issue (maybe my only real issue) is that she would often leave character’s personalities/traits/development aside and have them do something entirely out of character. Yes, I would understand this if they were being impersonated or were under spell but she would have them do it as a normal part of the story. It didn’t happen often but was annoying when it happened because it seemed to happen to many of the characters in the story. I guess I could see one character being “random”. I think we all have met someone who doesn’t make sense but most people make sense in their own make up and while, I would never say people are predictable, they are understandable.

I guess it’s a minor nit because I’m a big fan and really enjoyed this book and all the others. I’m sorry to see it all wrapped up.

One last comment. There was one specific comment about this book. I loved this book but was disappointed with the epilogue as it seemed inappropriate for the book and to be truthful, not very well done – maybe rushed! With that, it didn’t damper my enjoyment.

I would put more information about the book in here but Kathy reads these and she hasn’t started, much less finished the book yet.

Harry Potter Mania!

Glenn — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 13:58:42 +0000

Xander is finally getting excited about Harry Potter.

The movie has been out for a week or so and he is really out for us to go see it this weekend. Kathy and I screened it last week (pretty entertaining though lots of bits left out). He’s not letting up so we’ll probably take care of that this weekend.

He’s also mentioning the book which is release this weekend. Actually, I’m pretty excited about the book too. I’ve seen a lot of rumor news on the book including false and some pretty credible stuff.

Spoilers never really spoil the story for me as it’s always about the journey. I’m a very immersive book reader and movie goer so knowing spoilers can make it exciting because of the build up before a book or movie but it really doesn’t take away from the story line of the book or movie. I guess if it was a big twist like “The Sixth Sense” but those kind of story lines are pretty rare if we are truthful about it. I guess that’s also why I like watching movies and reading books over again.

Anyway, I’ve seen the latest movie and am pretty excited to read the next book. Given Xander’s excitement, I don’t think it’s quite as much as his though.

UPDATE: I got the book last night and before bed, I got to about page 250.

Book Review: Bitten by Kelley Armstrong

Glenn — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 16:32:55 +0000

Kelley Armstrong has written a lot of books with the tag line “Meet the Women of the Otherworld” which are about various women of supernatural ability.

Bitten is about Elena Michaels, a strong, sexy woman who also happens to be a werewolf. She has decided to isolate herself from her pack though because she doesn’t trust the man who turned her (Clayton – who loves her).

When danger comes to the pack, the alpha calls her back. She doesn’t come running though she does call and can’t get ahold of the pack. After some worrying, she finally heads towards the pack.

The danger seems to much for Elena and too much for the pack. It causes the pack to reassess itself and it causes to Elena to look into herself and her distrust of Clayton and her feelings for him.

The story telling is slow and methodical. You get a sense of the characters quickly but they are added to in deep ways throughout the stories. I liked how the author added to the characters in a very consistent way throughout the story. The villains seemed awfully powerful throughout the story and I was not sure how the story was going to resolve itself.

It was a good story. I recommend it.

Book Review: Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews

Glenn — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 03:44:47 +0000

This was an interesting and different kind of story.

The concept of the story is that we are in some sort of similar Earth but where Magic comes and goes in waves. When Magic comes, technology doesn’t work so good if at all. There are magic players who participate in the society. Some are good and some are bad and some are in between.

The main character is Kate Daniels and she would describe herself as roughly in between. She is a mercenary and is out for hire to solve magical issues. She doesn’t make a lot of money and seems to get hurt a lot.

The story begins with the closest thing to Kate’s last family member getting killed. She goes down the path of solving the murder and in doing it we get to see all sorts of people and creatures in this world. Vampires are different and are totally controlled by necromancers. Shapechangers are run in a dictatorial fashion.

Kate is in over her head and is getting no real help from the magical police (guardians) that have authorized her to investigate this murder. Everyone has secrets and it’s really hard to figure out who is involved so it’s messy. I doubt the true mystery fans would be stumped by the story but I thought it had some good turns that kept it going.

The character development was slow but steady and you really new Kate and the other cast by the end. Good story.

Book Review – Light My Fire by Katie MacAlister

Glenn — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 17:02:05 +0000

I haven’t stopped reading books. In fact, I have read quite a few. I just haven’t been inspired to write any reviews lately. Mostly the books that I have had were entertaining but just there to fill time (the copious amounts of spare time that I have) but they did draw me in. You know what I mean – a book that makes you want to read it. A book that is really interesting so that you want to put aside other activities to read it or maybe obsessively read it until you are finished no matter how tired you may be at the end.

This book wasn’t quite at the far end (meaning I didn’t read it straight through) but I was anxious to get back to it every chance I could so it was very engaging. I also found that the author has a good sense of humor. It’s not quite the sense of humor that makes you laugh out loud but it makes you laugh inside or at least giggle a bit (yeah, I know a grown man giggling is quite a site isn’t it?).

Anyway, to the book! Go check out Katie MacAlister’s web site. She’s even got a bit of a blog.

Aisling Gray is the main participant in the story. She is a guardian. A guardian is a “wizard” of sorts who’s purpose is to manage demon portals to protect human kind. She also happens to be a dragon’s mate which is interesting. It’s interesting because it gives her some of the dragon’s abilities like the ability to use and control fire. Also, the happens to be a demon lord because she is the master of a low level demon, named Jim. He’s not especially evil but instead kind of a pain.

This is the 3rd book in a series and I think has actually gotten more interesting. I look forward to the next in the series. If you are worried about spoilers stop here.

The book is about Aisling Gray moving to London to begin an apprenticeship with Nora – an actual guardian. While there, Nora get’s in trouble with the guardian council. Rene, a taxi driver, that has mysteriously been part of her misadventures since the beginning shows up in London too. She is suspicious and as the story progresses she learns something very interesting and a bit scary about Rene. Rene is an immortal and in fact one of the …. fates. Wow! That was big!

The bulk of the story is about 2 threads though.

First is Drake, the dragon that Aisling is mated too. She begins the book in a bad place with him but through a lot of work finally smoothes everything out. That of course means that a lot of other things are wrong. It seems that the Green dragons (Drake is the head of the green dragons) have been declared war on by the red dragons (headed by a female dragon that seems to have some romantic interest in Drake). Also Fiat, the head of the blue dragons, does some really evil stuff which in the end makes Aisling his mate legally though he doesn’t appear to be holding her to it and instead is going to do something more evil in the future (which to me the obvious thing is…wait for it after this next bit). Oh, yeah I forgot. Aisling might or might not be pregnant with Drakes child. Fiat is convinced so that is what I think is after – the child.

The other major thread is the demon world. The demon world is headed by prince’s – 7 to be specific. 1 of them rules for a period of time (several hundred years if I remember). The time for change is up and Aisling because she is a demon lord is in the middle of it. The current head prince, Bael, is manipulating her. And in fact, puts her in a position where she has no choice but to destroy the weakest of the current prince’s so now she is a prince (or princess) and that means she now has dark/evil power in her. She is having trouble not using it. If she uses it – she will become damned. Not good. Related to this thread. Bael has also manipulated her into becoming the manager of the Otherworld meeting place in Paris.

Aisling’s life is complicated. I can’t wait for the next book to see how this all spins even more out of control. It should be a fun ride cause this one sure was.

Book Review: Bit the Jackpot by Erin McCarthy

Glenn — Mon, 01 Jan 2007 06:34:57 +0000

This is the second book about “a tale of vegas vampires”.? The last one centered on Ethan, the President of the Vampire Nation, who is running for re-election and Alexis the sister of a half vampire.

This time it centers on Seamus Fox, Ethan’s campaign manager and Cara Kim, a vegas stripper.? They get entangled in some vampire mysteries and relationship issues.? Seamus has to turn Cara into a vampire to save her life but complications ensue.? The complications are both about the reason she was “killed” and also in their relationship and how Seamus is handling it.

The story is simple, which is the way I like mysteries, though the action could be more intense.? The romance is light and fairly funny so overall I think it’s a good and light read which I recommend.

Book Review: Touch The Dark by Karen Chance

Glenn — Mon, 04 Dec 2006 22:57:15 +0000

This book is by someone I haven’t read before, I think.

The premise of the story is that Cassie is a clairvoyant and can talk to ghosts, 2 unique gifts.? She is also considered the pawn of an evil vampire gangster named Tony who decides at the beginning of the story that it’s time to kill her.

We then get tossed into a maelstrom of people and data of magic and vampires and other magical creatures.? It would be really hard to explain too much of this story without giving the end away but Cassie is key to solving a mystery, potentially stopping a war between two groups and preventing the evil group from taking power … but she may get something she doesn’t want.

The book does really well with it’s character development and dialog which is really important to great story telling.? Even though I had a lot of trouble due to interruptions (life getting in the way), this was a book that I wanted to get back to.

I would like to read the next book about Cassie as soon as it gets to our library.

Book Review – Dzur by Steven Brust

Glenn — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 02:55:06 +0000

I have read several of Steven Brust’s stories about Vlad Taltos.? They are all great stories so I had some preconceptions going in.

The premise of this is that there is a world where there are “humans” and “easterners”.? The “humans” are broken into different groups all based on various dragons.? These are both ethnic and organizational groups.? The organizational elements actually have a cycle of rule and how the emperor is determined.

“Easterners” don’t make it very high in the social structure.? Vlad is an exception though he has climbed his ladder in the least desirable group, the Jehreg (they are kind of the mafia kind of organization).

Magic is important to the stories too.? Magic is broken into different kinds including sorcery and witchcraft and maybe others.? Another important element is that Vlad has an actual Jehreg dragon (Loish, a small dragon) that is his familiar who is physically tied to him and mostly sits on his shoulder.? Loish also has a mate who sits on Vlad’s other shoulder.

Vlad’s exception in that he’s socially high on the ladder is really important in that he has lots of friends in different places.? They play an important part in this story.

Now to the story.? This is a reasonably complex story of Vlad coming back to town even though the Jehreg (the organization) has a price on his head.? He finds that his wife has some problems and he decides to help out.? An interesting element of the story is that it has? back drop of Vlad having a very elegant, multi course dinner throughout the story.? I was constantly hungry throughout the book.

The story was a little slow but had lots of great dialog though I remember it being crisper and sharper in some of the older books.? Still with all that, I enjoyed the book a lot and it was fun to follow the twists of the plot through Steven’s twists till the end.? I missed these stories.

Book Review: High Stakes by Erin McCarthy

Glenn — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 20:13:14 +0000

This was kind of an interesting twist on the many romantic vampire books that I’ve read and reviewed.

The story centers on Ethan, a vampire, who is also the current President of the Vampire Nation and running for re-election.? His campaign manager has urged him to find a woman to marry in order to give his constituents a better image.

The other main character is Alexis who is human and a prosecutor for Las Vegas and a type A personality.? She comes in because her sister Brittany was picked by Ethan as a potential candidate for First Lady and she doesn’t like it.? Ethan really isn’t all that interested in Brittany but the second he sees Alexis, he’s pulled to her in a way he hasn’t been pulled to a woman in all of his 900+ years.

We get to find out lots of interesting details that don’t lead to anywhere in particular such as a murder attempt on Ethan and the characters behind that.? We also learn that Brittany, who is Alexis’s half sister is actually half vampire (males can father children with human females though this is severely frowned upon).? We also learn that there is a banned character that Brittany has a strange attraction to.

The story is fun and engaging though it ends abruptly as if we aren’t done with these characters.? I expect there is more from this author on this story.

Book Review: The Homework Myth by Alfie Kohn

Glenn — Mon, 06 Nov 2006 04:44:37 +0000

I had heard an interview a while ago by Alfie Kohn and was intrigued by what he had to say so I decided to check out his book.? It took a while for our local library to have it for me (it is popular apparently!).

The book is about how our country has an educational policy built with certain premised that include:

Homework will improve academic success at all grade levels
Homework will improve non-academic elements such as work ethic, focus, ability to finish at all age levels
More homework is always better than less
Even though homework is painful, it should still be done
Our country is losing a contest in education against other countries and more homework, at all grade levels will help
Our children are investments in the future (as if they are commodities rather than children)
Tougher standards are more important than improving learning standards (i.e. make the work in the classroom and the homework harder and harder rather than focus on how children learn so that they can learn more)

There are probably more elements that are covered in the book but I think these were some of the key elements.

He spends 3/4ths of the book debunking every one of these policies and all the research that may be behind them (if there is any because many of the policies don’t have any research to back them and are just made up out of thin air).? The elements on the research are interesting at time but also confusing at time.? I imagine that there is no other way it could be done because there is just so much material to cover.? Unfortunately though, it may not be useful in the end because ultimately you need data to use to make changes (see next section).

The last 1/4th of the book is trying to discuss what a parent might do in order to change things.? This is very common sense kind of stuff such as don’t push extreme and suggest experiments with evaluation elements to see progress for teacher, student and parent.?

My only disappointment in the book is that the data on research was not presented in a more organized fashion so that it would be useful in presenting a case to local schools, school boards, and even teachers.? As it is, you can only use the author as the authority which may not be useful as he clearly has an agenda and bias (much like the researchers he lambasts!).

Even with the criticism above, I still found his arguments sound and reasonable.? Especially as a parent of kids just beginning the educational struggle, I have some angst about what to do when it comes to nearly every aspect of their education.? I watch the homework and find little value in it for my children.? I would love the resources of the teachers who put the homework together be spent more on the education during the class rather than this nearly useless homework.?

One aside, so far we have been fortunate in that about half of the homework has been free form reading which is useful for the child and is even called out as such by the author.? It changes as they get older though.

Book Review: In The Company Of Ogres by A. Lee Martinez

Glenn — Mon, 23 Oct 2006 15:24:08 +0000

This book was complex and fun at the same time which seems a bit contradictory, especially for me.

The premise of the book is that Ned, an accountant works as an accountant and does a pretty good job of it (especially since his boss eats anyone who doesn’t balance their books).? Ned also has this nifty ability to come back from the dead and has garnered the name “Never Dead Ned”.? He doesn’t especially like his life but doesn’t really want it to change but that doesn’t matter because he just got a promotion…

He’s now the commander of Ogre Company.? The last bunch of commanders have met “accidental” deaths.? The company soon discovers they kind of like Ned even though he’s not much of a Commander.? Ned also learns some pretty nasty stuff about himself (I won’t tell about that cause it’s really the only surprise in the book and I don’t want to give it away).? He has to learn to cope with this news or some pretty bad things happen.

I wouldn’t say it’s a “guffa” funny book but it made me smile throughout and though the beginning was a bit slow, I wanted to finish it after I got about 20 pages into it.? It was a good read.

Book Review: The Lucifer Gospel by Paul Christopher

Glenn — Mon, 16 Oct 2006 01:30:36 +0000

This is an interesting book that is a bit along the lines of Dan Brown’s religious mystery though this book takes itself much less seriously.

Don’t misunderstand me, there is a huge multigenerational conspiracy going on that is being unraveled by the hero Finn Ryan and her partner Virgil Hilts but while they are going around on their adventure, they are still fairly light hearted even though their lives are at risk.

The premise of the story is that Finn takes a job as an archeological artists on a dig sight and she and photographer “don’t call me Virgil” Hilts discover a mystery around something called the Lucifer Gospels.? In discovering an artifact though, it puts their life in danger and they immediately are on the run around the world.

It’s a pretty fun story though the author does take short cuts by going into many pages worth of description rather than properly integrating components into the story.? Even with that short coming though I enjoyed the book and the authors style.

Apparently, this is the 2nd book featuring Finn Ryan so I believe I will find the other and see how that is.

Book Review: A Bite To Remember by Linsay Sands

Glenn — Mon, 25 Sep 2006 05:00:11 +0000

This is a book that is part of an ongoing series that Linsay Sands has written. I have reviewed some of the earier books.

The premise is that there are some folks in the world who are “infected” with nano’s that were created by the mythic civilization of Atlantis in order to improve health, life and such. It did all that and made those infected immortal but had some side effects. Those infected need blood to survive and are sensitive to the damaging rays from the sun (not “poof” there you go kind of damage).

This story is about Jackie Morrisey a human private eye hired to help immortal Vincent Argeneau. Vincent is an actor and has a business putting on plays. Needless to say, there is immediate chemistry between these two even though Jackie was violated earlier in life by a bully immortal.

This story has some twists that some of the previous didn’t have but they aren’t terribly surprising. It’s still a fun, lite read. It does look like the author is setting up future story lines to go off in a different direction than previous stories using detectives as the center of the story line. That might be a little more deep.