kgbooklog

Score:
5 - buy in hardcover
4 - buy in paperback
3 - buy used
2 - get from library
1 - okay, but not worth seeking out
0 - boing (well written, but I couldn't get into it)
-1 - disappointing
-2 - flawed
-3 - couldn't finish
-4 - couldn't even begin
-5 - I can't believe I read the whole thing

5-4-05
Joel Rosenberg, Not Exactly the Three Musketeers
Tor (1999) ISBN: 0-312-85782-9
Score: 1.5

Book 8 of the Guardians of the Flame, this focuses on minor characters since it takes place mainly during the events of The Road Home. The style and tone are different, likely in imitation of Dumas (who I didn't much like). In fact, it seemed to be written by an author less sophisticated and experienced than the one who wrote the earlier books.

5-8-05
F. Paul Wilson, Gateways
Forge (2003) ISBN: 0-765-30690-5
Score: 3

Seventh Repairman Jack novel. After a car accident puts his dad in a coma, Jack goes to Florida to be with him. There he learns more about the ladies with dogs he keeps meeting, as well as his dad's military experience, all the while dealing with the unwanted attentions of a girl who can control mutant swamp creatures.

5-12-05
Lynn Flewelling, The Bone Doll's Twin
Bantam (2001) ISBN: 0-553-57723-9
Score: 2

Well written, but not spectacular. Epic fantasy about a kingdom near collapse due to invaders, plagues, and nobles behaving badly. It mainly focused on the childhood of the queen who is supposed to set things right, but for now must be hidden by a magic sex change. The magic systems were interesting, but I don't care much for prophesies. Ends abruptly on a cliffhanger. I'll probably like the sequels better since the main character is nearly an adult now (I've never been good at relating to children).

5-15-05
Carole Nelson Douglas, Cat in a Hot Pink Pursuit
Forge (2005) ISBN: 0-765-31399-5
Score: 2

Book 17 of the midnight Louie series, which seems to be drifting back towards mystery (though the inter-character relationships are still an important part of the plots). This book had the characters mostly working alone, and still trying to keep secrets from each other. Matt is in Chicago looking into his past, Max is mostly absent, Molina has acquired her own stalker, and Temple goes undercover on a reality TV show.

5-19-05
Joel Rosenberg, Not Quite Scaramouche
Tor (2001) ISBN: 0-312-86897-9
Score: 1.5

Guardians of the Flame book 9, more like the previous than the earlier ones. More Walter Slovotsky (good), very little Jason (good), and more angst (bad). Still no progress on the sword/wizards/Matriarch plot thread (which hasn't even been mentioned since book 4).

5-23-05
F. Paul Wilson, Crisscross
Forge (2004) ISBN: 0-765-30691-3
Score: 2

Eighth (and most recent) Repairman Jack novel, involving a nun, a blackmailer, and an evil cult. It's becoming harder and harder to pretend this series will have a happy ending. And is there some reason why the ladies with dogs never give Jack any information until after the crisis is past? If I were them, I'd give him Glaeken's address right at the start.

5-25-05
J.D. Robb, Naked in Death
Putnam (1995) ISBN: 0-399-15157-5
Score: 2

First in a series of police procedural romances set in the future. Eve Dallas is a homicide lieutenant investigating a prostitute murderer; Roarke is the rich, mysterious, handsome suspect. The setting and plotting were good, characters less so (we don't see much of anyone except Eve and Roarke, and they were usually surprised at their own reactions). The romantic scenes were weakened by unexpected POV shifts.

5-27-05
Charlaine Harris, Dead as a Doornail
Ace (2005) ISBN: 0-441-01279-5
Score: 2.5

Fifth book of the Southern Vampire series, this one deals with Were politics and a sniper hunting [shape]shifters. As usual, Sookie is courted, beat up, and shot at for a variety of reasons, while meeting new vampires and learning more about the fairy twins (I can't remember if Claude even appeared in the earlier books). I've come to the conclusion that any time she receives a significant amount of money, it means something nasty and expensive is going to happen to her in the next book.

5-28-05
Margery Sharp, The Rescuers
Little, Brown (1959)
Score: 1

An amusing story of how the mice of the Prisoners' Aid Society rescue a Norwegian poet from the infamous Black Castle prison. The atomic powered toy boat with fully functional mouse-sized controls was neat, if out of place in an otherwise cultured and nostalgic story.

5-28-05
Steven Erikson, Midnight Tides
Bantam (2004) ISBN: 0-593-04628-5
Score: 5

Book 5 of the Malazan Tale of the Fallen (though it doesn't actually include any Malazans). It takes place at the same time as Gardens of the Moon, but on a continent not shown in the other books and only two major characters overlap (Trull Sengar and the Crippled God). The plot concerns an escalating conflict between the newly unified Tiste Edur (shadow elves) tribes and the capitalistic human kingdom of Letheras, and includes lots of ambition, greed, secrets, and betrayal on both sides. I'd reccommend this as a starting point for the series since it's much more straight forward than GotM.