Book – Page 13 – Made by Mikal

Rage of a Demon King

Post author:mikal
Post published:March 19, 2012
Post category:Book

I've been reading this book for ages, but finished it last night. It feels a bit trivial to be writing this now, but I tend to read more when I am stressed, and I finished this while waiting for the kids to go to bed last night, so I may as well quickly write it up. This book is the Kingdom war promised in Shadow of a Dark Queen and Rise of a Merchant Prince. I was a lot more comfortable with this book, because its mostly not about Roo wanting to shag every woman on the planet. In fact, a lot of people get their comeuppance, which is nice. However, heaps of people who don't deserve it also die. Its almost like a A Hymn Before Battle or Legion of the Damned, which are both books which stick in my mind as being ones where most everyone dies. Overall a good book, which a good ending which I think is a little rare for large scale combat novels. [isbn: 0006482988]

Runner

Post author:mikal
Post published:February 27, 2012
Post category:Book

I bought this book on impulse, and I am glad I did. The book is very Buddhist in its outlook, and characters believe in reincarnation, which makes it ok for people to die. There sure is a lot of that happening in this book, perhaps more so than in Dietz's combat books. The underlying story is very different from the other Dietz stuff I have read, and very good. The Legion of the Damned books suffer from very one dimensional characterizations of their female characters, whereas this book has a strong female as a leading and fully developed character, which is a nice change. I enjoyed this book. [isbn: 9780441014095]

Red Storm Rising

Post author:mikal
Post published:February 12, 2012
Post category:Book

I had read this book many years ago, and remembered it fondly. I wasn't disappointed reading it again -- its certainly a classic techno-thriller, even if it is a little dated now. I imagine it would make less sense to someone who hadn't grown up with the cold war, but within that context its a good read. The worst bit is that given what we knew back then it is so completely plausible. Great book. [isbn: 0006173624;9780006173625]

Rise of a Merchant Prince

Post author:mikal
Post published:February 5, 2012
Post category:Book

I didn't really like this book, but I persisted with it because I want to keep reading the series. I thought the previous Serpent War book Shadow of a Dark Queen was weak, but this book was weaker. The book follows the rise of Roo as a merchant, and is improbable at best -- Roo's wealth is generated by cornering the food market for Krondor and I see weaknesses in the analysis there -- surely the Duke wouldn't allow such a manipulation of the market when it harms his citizens, why weren't there food riots when the cost of basic staples jumped to record levels overnight? Basically, it just doesn't seem believable to me. The sequence at the panthian lair on the other hand is much better, and the best bit of the book. Its a pity it is only about 50 pages long. [isbn: 0006497012;0071001007992;0380720876]

Shadow of a Dark Queen

Post author:mikal
Post published:January 27, 2012
Post category:Book

I read this book before LCA 2012, but never had a chance to mention it here. It was the first return to Midkemia for me since I read the Krondor's Sons books. This book is set a lot later, and there is very little reuse of characters between The Riftwar Saga or even Krondor's Sons. The only real overlap is the presence of Pug briefly. This book over does its "dirty dozen" aspects, with much of the book focusing on the military training of criminals. The rest of the book feels like a rushed military adventure in a far land, and could have done with some more attention. However, the book isn't terrible, and I thought it was ok overall. [isbn: 9780006480266;0006480268]

The Ghost Brigades (2)

Post author:mikal
Post published:December 30, 2011
Post category:Book

The second time around I think my opinion has changed a little. I found the plot a little hard to believe (perhaps I am scarred by other book's twee explorations of the motivations of alien species), and overall the book not as good as Old Man's War. Then again, its far from the worst book I have read this year. Original post about this book. [award: nominee prometheus 2007] [isbn: 0765354063]

Red Mars

Post author:mikal
Post published:December 21, 2011
Post category:Book

This is another book on colonization. To be totally honest I enjoyed the first half of the book more than the second, and I rather thought the book dragged on and could have done with a more vigorous editing. There are sections which are deeply descriptive, but it doesn't progress the story. Overall, I was a little disappointed.

Speaker For The Dead

Post author:mikal
Post published:October 14, 2011
Post category:Book

This is the second book in the Ender's Game series, and is better than the novelized Ender's Game, although it is impossible to beat the short story version. Ender has grown a lot over the time between this book and the last, and the story is compelling and believable. I really enjoyed this book.

By Blood Alone

Post author:mikal
Post published:October 7, 2011
Post category:Book

Maybe I've been reading too much combat fiction recently and need a change of scenery. Or perhaps its just that this book isn't as good as the last two (Legion of the Damned and The Final Battle). The characters aren't the strongest, and the plot is weaker than the previous two books. On the other hand, I did finish the book, and don't regret reading it. Oh, the cliff hanger ending is annoying too. [isbn: 9780441006311; 0441006310]

The Final Battle

Post author:mikal
Post published:October 7, 2011
Post category:Book

I somehow forgot to make a note about this book when I read it, I suspect because I was travelling at the time. This book was as good as Legion of the Damned and an enjoyable read. The book continues straight on from the previous one, and possibly should have been inside the same volume. A fun read. [isbn: 9780441002177; 044100217X]