Dime Store Magic - Kelley Armstrong

Seal / Random House, 2004, 414 pages

ISBN: 0-7704-2955-6

Read: February 2024, age 45

Women of the Otherworld, book 3

 

I had fun, but it wasn't particularly great.  It felt like it took the author a bit of time to come into the voice of the main character, and I'm not a huge fan of unwarranted confidence, which seems to be her main trait. I also didn't particularly enjoy the persistence courting methods.  There seems to be a lot of unhealthy relationships in this series so far.  It did get better by the middle of the book, once things were established.

 

Rating: 3 

The Ringworld Engineers - Larry Niven

Del Rey, 1980, 354 pages 

ISBN: 0-345-33430-2

Read: February 2024, age 45

Ringworld 2

 

This book felt like just one more unnecessary sequel to cash in on the fame of the original, without adding anything to the story.  The original was pretty neat; but it was more a mystery exploration.  This one didn't have the sense of wonder, the characters weren't much, and the plot left a lot to be desired. 

 

There are a bunch more books in the series, but I'm done with it.

 

Rating: 2

Stolen - Kelley Armstrong

Seal, 2003, 557 pages

Original copyright 2002

ISBN: 0-7704-2902-5

 

Women of the Underworld, book 2 

This book opened us up into the wider world a bit, which was nice - the 5-strong (or whatever) werewolf pack was feeling small.  The new characters seemed interesting enough, as well.  Decent book.

 

Rating: 3 +

Storm Force - Chris Bunch

Roc, 2000, 343 pages

ISBN: 0-451-45688-2

Read: February 2024, age 45

The Last Legion, book 3 of 4 

I almost liked it.  The book was fine, but even after three books, I don't care too much about the characters, and I couldn't follow much of the tactics of the battles or the strategies of the war.  As a result, the book was just underwhelming.

Rating: 3-

Firemask - Chris Bunch

Roc, 2000, 342 pages

ISBN: 4-451-45687-4

Read: January 2024, age 45

 

The Last Legion, book 2 of 4 

I liked this one a little bit better than the first - it was a bit more focused and the war was an external threat rather than a civil war / slave rebellion.  It was easier to cheer for the good guys, less confusing, and more fun.

Rating: 3

The Golden Age of Piracy - Benerson Little

Skyhorse, 2016, 294 pages

IBSN: 978-1-5107-3785-1

Read: January 2024, age 45

This was a fun book, and it made me want to run back to my 50 Fathoms game - knowing a bit more about all the pirate NPCs would have been really good on my first play-through.  

 

I did find that it was contradictory in places, often within the same chapter.  It was roughly organized by theme but there was overlap all over - it seems like it was a hard topic to cover efficiently, and it didn't succeed everywhere.  It was fast and fun, though, and a reasonable overview.  

 

It had gobs of endnotes, and I wish they had been footnotes.  I got tired of flipping to the back.

Rating: 4 

Fight Club - Chuck Palahniuk

Norton, 2005, 218 pages

Original copyright 1995

Read: January 2024, age 45

I didn't really like the book.  It was a bit too dark, and the conceit was much too obvious to me.  The writing was fine.  I'm glad to have read it, just to see what it was about.

Rating: 3