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abigcoffeedragon's reviews
1707 reviews
Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians by Brandon Sanderson
1.0
First, let me start with I love Brandon Sanderson's work - I loved Elantris, and the Mistborn Series, and I love his Writing Excuses and anything about writing that he does he is very knowledgeable and very entertaining, though I will pass on his portion of the Wheel of time because I did not enjoy Robert Jordan's portion, but this is about Alcatraz.
There are good points, so do not think that I am completely bashing this work, but this book, as a whole, annoyed me to read, it did not entertain me, and Rutabaga
see what I did there, I put in a completely incoherent word in the story - Sanderson does this a ton in Alcatraz - rutabaga is only one of the words he does this with for a half a chapter - I mean, come on.
All in all this is not entertaining enough for me to recommend anyone of any age, and anyone who does enjoy this book, I could not have a conversation with, because you have to have a major case of ADHD to understand what is happening here and what this is about -
This is not my cup of coffee, and I will pass on everything else Sanderson until something new comes along, which will not be for a while.
There are good points, so do not think that I am completely bashing this work, but this book, as a whole, annoyed me to read, it did not entertain me, and Rutabaga
see what I did there, I put in a completely incoherent word in the story - Sanderson does this a ton in Alcatraz - rutabaga is only one of the words he does this with for a half a chapter - I mean, come on.
All in all this is not entertaining enough for me to recommend anyone of any age, and anyone who does enjoy this book, I could not have a conversation with, because you have to have a major case of ADHD to understand what is happening here and what this is about -
This is not my cup of coffee, and I will pass on everything else Sanderson until something new comes along, which will not be for a while.
Waylander by David Gemmell
1.0
Okay - I am done with Gemmell - his heroes are all carbon cut-outs of each other - this is his fourth book that I have read, and I cannot do it anymore - characters that die but do not die - characters that die but kill in their death - women are all w****es (and I mean all) - men are okay with women being w****es - traitors that tell their detailed plans to strangers - people who know that there is a plot, and continue because they think that knowing will save them from death - strangers fall in love, but never say a kind word to one another - and the hero is always, and I mean Always and old out of shape dude that knows he will die ... and he will die, making these very tragic hero stories, which would be okay, if I actually cared about the hero -
I think what kept me going was that the narrative is actually okay to read - but in the end there really is no story and no one wins and you could have lived your entire life without hearing this story and still been okay on your deathbed - the magic (when it exists) has no logic and works when it wants to - and lots and LOTS of war and killing, with thousands dying to no end and to no purpose -
I have officially quit all things David Gemmell and I will not go down this road again - I liked no one in this book - I did not even like the children as they were rude and merely a plot device
I think what kept me going was that the narrative is actually okay to read - but in the end there really is no story and no one wins and you could have lived your entire life without hearing this story and still been okay on your deathbed - the magic (when it exists) has no logic and works when it wants to - and lots and LOTS of war and killing, with thousands dying to no end and to no purpose -
I have officially quit all things David Gemmell and I will not go down this road again - I liked no one in this book - I did not even like the children as they were rude and merely a plot device
The Horns of Ruin by Tim Akers
1.0
I did not like this story - I wanted to - and I stuck with it, but it bored me to tears - i kept putting it down - doing something else - and then picking it up again - this is not something I want to try to finish though - one quarter of the book read, and I am bored - I wish that this was a more interesting read - the reviews made it sound great, and I am sure that there is a story in there somewhere, but it seems sporadic and all action without purpose - I must pass on the rest of Tim Akers books for now.
The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack by Mark Hodder
1.0
No - just ... no - I wanted and tried and kept going - this to me was force feeding myself a novel filled with characters I did not care about and enemies that were not believable or reasonable to be bad guys - I mean, at some point, I have to give up on this, and it happened when i was almost half way through - I will close this book, never to be opened again, and not lose any sleep for whatever happens to anyone in this book - ever - I am sorry, I know that this is supposed to be an enjoyable affair, but it truly is some of the most boring modern writing that I have read in quite some time.
Firefight by Brandon Sanderson
5.0
This second novel in the Reckoners series does not disappoint.
For those who must read everything, you can read Mitosis, but I personally felt that it was a throw away, without much time or detail spent that make the Reckoners series something that I enjoy so much.
Like STEELHEART, the novel FIREFIGHT follows the point of view of David, our hero who has spent over half of his young life studying EPICS (super powered villains) to take them down, and return the world to that of the mortals.
When Brandon Sanderson plots, he plans Character, Setting, and Plot, and then writes a great novel. The characters are fun, and even though we only have the one point-of-view, we get to know the other character through dialog that makes everyone feel very real. The setting is fun because it is our world, after a super-power apocalypse changes the world. And the plot, though straight forward, has many twists and turns that even if you see something coming, something else will blind side you. That is what makes this series so fun for me. Fast paced, and a ton of action.
The depth of the novel is not there as most fantasy novels has, but this is geared towards younger readers, so it is about pace and action and fun, and not 100 characters with political agendas. The people who frown on the simplicity of the writing, are not getting into the story. This is a series about what happens when people all of a sudden gets super powers, and what happens when the power starts to corrupt them.
For those who must read everything, you can read Mitosis, but I personally felt that it was a throw away, without much time or detail spent that make the Reckoners series something that I enjoy so much.
Like STEELHEART, the novel FIREFIGHT follows the point of view of David, our hero who has spent over half of his young life studying EPICS (super powered villains) to take them down, and return the world to that of the mortals.
When Brandon Sanderson plots, he plans Character, Setting, and Plot, and then writes a great novel. The characters are fun, and even though we only have the one point-of-view, we get to know the other character through dialog that makes everyone feel very real. The setting is fun because it is our world, after a super-power apocalypse changes the world. And the plot, though straight forward, has many twists and turns that even if you see something coming, something else will blind side you. That is what makes this series so fun for me. Fast paced, and a ton of action.
The depth of the novel is not there as most fantasy novels has, but this is geared towards younger readers, so it is about pace and action and fun, and not 100 characters with political agendas. The people who frown on the simplicity of the writing, are not getting into the story. This is a series about what happens when people all of a sudden gets super powers, and what happens when the power starts to corrupt them.
The City of Towers by Keith Baker
4.0
This is a good read and a good beginning to the world of Eberron - I agree with most others that this seems to have a tinge of the Players Guide sprinkled throughout, but, considering that this was written by one of the major sources for Eberron, I would expect no less - moving on to tale #2 and hoping for more story and more character development
Legends of the Dragonrealm by Richard A. Knaak
2.0
Meh - nothing like having a book spell everything out for you in bits of "As you may well know" dialog or "allow me to introduce you(character and reader) to..."
I only got as far as I did because I love the way that Richard Knaak writes - He makes me continue on and I am never lost ... however ....
The story was nothing special - cardboard characters, plot-lines used before, and the whole novel dripped of un-originality - I took a break to see if anything compelled me to finish - it did not - so, I will leave this one incomplete and will not move on
Do not have the child of destiny, nor have him be the child of the villain - this is Star Wars without lightsabers and robots - Luke and Darth, fighting again, only with 'magic' and not the 'force'
I only got as far as I did because I love the way that Richard Knaak writes - He makes me continue on and I am never lost ... however ....
The story was nothing special - cardboard characters, plot-lines used before, and the whole novel dripped of un-originality - I took a break to see if anything compelled me to finish - it did not - so, I will leave this one incomplete and will not move on
Do not have the child of destiny, nor have him be the child of the villain - this is Star Wars without lightsabers and robots - Luke and Darth, fighting again, only with 'magic' and not the 'force'
Farlander by Col Buchanan
1.0
Prologue. Great action, intrigue, and world building, so in short, I was hooked. even when the crazy old bald killer made the leader of the bad guys (assume) 'loosen his bowels', it was semi humorous, and I moved on
Chapter one. nothing 'happens' except a man that guards a wall and another guard 'loosened his bowels' in fear.
Chapter 2. Following a street urchin whose dog dies (not a spoiler, as it is said on the first page of the chapter) who later breaks into a room and his 'bowels loosen in fear' again.
I am done. One time, it is kind of humorous, though not really. Two times, you are just trying to make a bad joke funny, and failing. Three times, and I start to feel like the world should be called Incontinence, as no one seems able to control his or her bowels. This is a crap sack world. LITERALLY. Also, nothing happens action-wise after the prologue except implied sex and implied attempted molestation, with a ton of dialog and info dump, without me caring about the characters or the world.
On a side note, a mother who brings home a man and appreciates him loudly from the room next to her young son, loud enough that he needs to go sleep in the barn. SERIOUSLY? I mean, can we at least TRY not to make every woman a useless whore in Fantasy, or is that the tried and true trope from the 80’s that will never die. If my mother did that, I would not feel sorry for myself, I would only hate my mother more, so why did this character feel such sadness for his mother? In the pages of their relationship, there is nothing, and I mean NOTHING, that makes you believe that he would ever miss her when he runs away.
I was born at night, but I was not born last night, though I believe that this book was thought of in one drunken night – here is why some authors should outline their stories first and have Beta readers. No, no, and hell no.
Chapter one. nothing 'happens' except a man that guards a wall and another guard 'loosened his bowels' in fear.
Chapter 2. Following a street urchin whose dog dies (not a spoiler, as it is said on the first page of the chapter) who later breaks into a room and his 'bowels loosen in fear' again.
I am done. One time, it is kind of humorous, though not really. Two times, you are just trying to make a bad joke funny, and failing. Three times, and I start to feel like the world should be called Incontinence, as no one seems able to control his or her bowels. This is a crap sack world. LITERALLY. Also, nothing happens action-wise after the prologue except implied sex and implied attempted molestation, with a ton of dialog and info dump, without me caring about the characters or the world.
On a side note, a mother who brings home a man and appreciates him loudly from the room next to her young son, loud enough that he needs to go sleep in the barn. SERIOUSLY? I mean, can we at least TRY not to make every woman a useless whore in Fantasy, or is that the tried and true trope from the 80’s that will never die. If my mother did that, I would not feel sorry for myself, I would only hate my mother more, so why did this character feel such sadness for his mother? In the pages of their relationship, there is nothing, and I mean NOTHING, that makes you believe that he would ever miss her when he runs away.
I was born at night, but I was not born last night, though I believe that this book was thought of in one drunken night – here is why some authors should outline their stories first and have Beta readers. No, no, and hell no.