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trevert's reviews
295 reviews
When Elves Attack by Tim Dorsey
3.0
An enjoyable and psycho Christmas book for anyone tired of the same old holiday stuff. Serge dresses as an elf and murders investment bankers, which is good wholesome seasonal fun.
The Free Lunch by Spider Robinson
4.0
A great choice if you enjoy Spider Robinson's brand of warm, empathetic, "human" SF. If you're looking for hard SF or bleakness, move on - Spider's characters are flawed, likable people trying to find redemption, and his books are like warm winter socks. Many critics might dismiss the term "cozy", but when times are hard, that's not such a bad thing. "Free Lunch" is like a happy vacation into the theme park of your dreams, and shares the sort of escapist fun that made "Dream Park" such a hit all those years ago. It's about a young boy who escapes into Dreamland... literally, a huge, automated fantasy park of the Disney style, with areas devoted to SF, fantasy literature, counterculture icons, and even some self-reference (Callahan's bar). The plan is to "live the dream" - To hide out and live inside the park as a runaway, but things get more complex when our lad discovers that he's not the first to do this, and that there are powerful corporate forces outside the park that want to destroy it. Lots of enjoyable fun ensues. A great book for young and old alike.
The Last Policeman by Ben H. Winters
3.0
Odd, sad, wistful, weirdly hopeful, and a solid mystery otherwise. Positives include a gripping and well-realized environment (The world is ending due to an asteroid collision in six months, why do anything?) and an enjoyable hero who's still intent on solving a crime and bringing the perp to justice even if he won't even be able to get a court case before the end of the world. Downsides are an overall depressing feel (which may not be a downside for all, YMMV) and fairly interchangeable characters who I honestly had a hard time telling apart. Much more original and unique than the typical police detective crime novel, though.
Redshirts by John Scalzi
4.0
Loads of fun. It makes a perfect book for my "meta" shelf alongside Mogworld and Ready Player One. A group of people on an exploration starship begin to notice that their ship has an unusually high casualty rate among the "redshirts", and that casualties are directly tied to proximity to a few main officer characters. From there, it spins into a funny and intriguing look at the borderlines between entertainment and science fiction. Worth reading for any Trek fan, and especially for any Galaxy Quest fan.
Seal Team 666 by Weston Ochse
3.0
Enjoyable time killer. It's a guy book through and through, full of male bonding, elaborate discussion of weapons, and even a faithful dog. Think Rainbow Six meets Silent Hill. The action scenes are great, there's some cool horror and creep factor, and the characters are pretty flat and not very interesting. All in all, solid pulp action adventure that I probably won't remember two days from now, but which I nonetheless enjoyed reading.
Cathedral by Nelson DeMille
3.0
Not on par with the author's more recent books, but still good. It reads like a prototype for his Detective Corey series, with a streetwise & practical police detective having to navigate the treacherous waters of PR, image, and international intrigue when dealing with a group of Irish terrorists who have "hijacked" the oldest cathedral in the US. The characters are excellent and the complex plot will keep you entertained, but it does drag a bit in the middle and isn't paced as well as his later books. However, I loved the ending (Which is corny but fun) and overall would recommend it to anyone looking for a twisty thriller.