book review | Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson

Author: Katherine Paterson
Title: Bridge to Terabithia
Series: –
Genre: Fiction; Classics
Pages: 190
Rate: 5/5 | Goodreads

I remember watching “Bridge to Terabithia“, how gripping, beautiful, and soul-wrenching it was. Figured, I might as well read the book by Katherine Paterson. Well, it’s just as wonderful and heartbreaking.

About the Book: Jess’s only escape was painting, drawing. Something his father didn’t approve of much, so the boy didn’t get to do it as much as he wanted, nor really flourish his fantasy until Leslie moved into the house next door. Strange girl of seemingly eccentric parents broke the mundane routine, hardships at home, nightmares at school. In the woods across the river they made themselves a safe haven, a fantastical Kingdom of their own, Terabithia. Which, as their rulers, they had to defend from monsters, and solve the problems as they arose.

My Opinion: It’s one of the most beautiful books I’ve read, with gorgeous movie to go along. Vivid, lively characters, magical story.

A great book I can greatly recommend. 5 out of 5 from me.

book review | The Grey Bastards by Jonathan French | The Lot Lands 1

Author: Jonathan French
Title: The Grey Bastards
Series: The Lot Lands 1
Genre: High Fantasy
Pages: 529
Rate: 4/5 | Goodreads

Thick books are hard to review, for they tend to encompass a very long period of time, with too many events happening. Such is “The Grey Bastards” by Jonathan French, a great book that doesn’t really fit in a single paragraph to express what was it all about.

About the Book: Jackal and his other half-orc brothers and sisters, The True Bastards, lived a relatively easy life in the Lot Lands, all up until a series of events, starting with a single pebble, sent down this mountain of almost leisure down in an avalanche. An argument with knights, a stolen and sold elven girl in the hands of the nastiest possible monster, an appearance of half-orc wizard, a being unheard of… There’s a tension for war in the air, with almost every possible enemy. Jackal isn’t sure their old chief is capable of keeping them all alive, and the wind already smells of blood.

My Opinion: I do greatly enjoy books told from non-human perspectives; extra points for them not being elves too. Nothing against elves, I love them dearly, but I’m pretty sure we’re all a little too used to fantasy meaning elves and dwarves as the only possible adventurers. Characters are written well, with tales of their own, even if their characters sometimes blend together. The book is a pretty good example of what’s epic fantasy adventure like, but made better by overload of filthy jokes, down to earth heroes, and clever beasts. The only problem I had were the overly long discussions that led nowhere, or to conclusions that could’ve been reached in two sentences.

A good book, not the best, but definitely good, so a 4 out of 5 from me.

book review | Salvage Marines by Sean-Michael Argo | Necrospace 1

Author: Sean-Michael Argo
Title: Salvage Marines
Series: Necrospace 1
Genre: Sci-fi; Military Fiction
Pages: 232
Rate: 3/5 | Goodreads

Hmm… “Salvage Marines” by Sean-Michael Argo had a great base, but the general story wasn’t so well told.

About the Book: Tired of slaving for a debt designed to never get out of it, one his father served, one he serves, and one his own son will serve too, Samuel Hyst joins space salvage operations as a soldier for hire. It pays well to stroll around abandoned, destroyed planets, wrecked drifting space ships, and alike. But Necrospace hides more dangers than empty hulls and dusty landscapes…

My Opinion: Have you ever read book “Sten” by Chris Bunch and Allan Cole? It is similar with the whole debt designed to keep you trapped and working stuff. But the characters were written poorly. Unmemorable, and hard to like or even sympathize with, they took down the story too. It might be the problem of the first book, so I’m okay with trying another one to see.

Well, 3 out of 5 is the best I can give it.

book review | Streams of Silver by R.A. Salvatore | high fantasy

Author: R.A. Salvatore
Title: Streams of Silver
Series: The Legend of Drizzt 5
Genre: High Fantasy; Adventure Lit.
Pages: 349
Rate: 5/5 | Goodreads

At times it’s good to rest with known characters in unknown lands. Such was “Streams of Silver” by R.A. Salvatore, fifth book in The Legend of Drizzt series, second book in the second trilogy of it. And it’s just getting better and better.

About the Book: Drizzt, our infamous kind-hearted dark elf, allows his dwarven friend to convince him to embark on yet another deadly dangerous expedition. This time it’s to find the legendary Mithril Halls, where the dwarf originates from. He, due to trauma of the battle that has left no survivors, and turned the legendary kingdom into a fairy tale, a myth, cannot recall much of it, just the general existence of it. But one thing is clear to everyone in the party off onto an adventure: neither the path there, nor the Halls themselves will be safe. For whatever destroyed the Mithril Halls might very well still lurk in the deep darkness underground.

My Opinion: Oh, this was good. This was Moria meets Deep Roads good. With foes in the dark, forgotten evil magic awaiting, darkness taking shape. And treasure filled halls, history of ancient dwarven kingdom wiped out.

These are really great so far. Could definitely recommend to anyone into classic adventure-filled high fantasy. A 5 out of 5 from me.

book review | This Rough Magic by Josh Lanyon | mystery

Author: Josh Lanyon
Title: This Rough Magic
Series: A Shot in the Dark 1
Genre: Detective mystery; LGBT Literature
Pages: 173
Rate: 4/5 | Goodreads

When I’m too lazy to make myself a TBR, I allow algorithms pick me a book. This time it was “This Rough Magic” by Josh Lanyon. And since I’ve never heard of it, and knew nothing about it, it came as a surprise.

About the Book: During a party in Sheridan house, someone stole a priceless Shakespeare folio. Their father puts up an ultimatum of three days: return it or police will get involved. But Brett, worried, and rightly so, that his sister might be involved in the theft, hires a private detective. Who turns out to be so good, he finds not just the folio, but all of the hidden and buried secrets too…

My Opinion: It’s one of those nice classic noir detectives filled with cigar smoke, and scent of martini, with sunny sounds of tennis being played outside permeating a scene or two. I like these, but rarely do I find good ones. And this one’s an LGBT one too, adding a great bonus which makes me curious about the next one in the series.

A good, easy to read book. I can give it a firm 4 out of 5.

book review | Naturally Tan by Tan France

Author: Tan France
Title: Naturally Tan
Series: –
Genre: Biography; LGBT+ Literature
Pages: 304
Rate: 4/5 | Goodreads

I was pretty much a kid when the first, old Queer Eye came out, teaching me about choosing right clothing sizes, and hair care. When new Queer Eye came out on Netflix, I got through all I could as fast I could, for it was even better than the old one. So now I’m reading host bio’s, starting with Naturally Tan by Tan France.

About the Book: Tan tells us of his life and what it was like growing up a gay brown boy from a Muslim family in Britain. It’s not easy now, so it wasn’t easy then. But he persevered, and managed to find happiness, joy, and even a wild streak, as say the one that got him on a plane to New York with his friends, his parents none the wiser. He got through many jobs until he finally landed the one in Queer Eye. How that happened, and some very fun behind the scenes of the show are all in the book too.

My Opinion: Tan is a very dear and wonderful person. The book worth the time, for at the very least you’ll learn more about style and the show that you love.

A firm 4 out of 5 from me, with hopes that there’ll be another book someday.

book review | Something in the Blood by David J. Skal | Dracula lit.

Author: David J. Skal
Title: Something in the Blood
Series: –
Genre: Biography; Nonfiction
Pages: 672
Rate: 3/5 | Goodreads

My final book on Dracula this year. I followed this resolution of one Dracula book a month fairly loosely, reading books where Dracula was a mere secondary character or, like in “Something in the Blood” by David J. Skal – a product. But all in all this was a strange and fun challenge that got me enjoy one of my most favorite topics. Sadly, this book wasn’t so great of an end to it.

About the Book: David J. Skal attempts to tell us about Bram Stoker’s life, his bed-ridden childhood and an illness of seven years that mysteriously went away. Of his a tad odd family, his work in literature and theater. How vampire Count Dracula came to be, and what he became, evolving through the years, outliving the author himself.

My Opinion: This was supposed to be a biography of Bram Stoker with great interest in Dracula, as title would imply. Instead it was a biography of any and all, sometimes in very great long-winded detail, gothic horror author of Stoker’s times. Sometimes the connection was clear, other times we got to read of a friend’s wife and her life after her husband has died. It’s interesting if you’re curious of how one was supposed to navigate the nuances of literature in Victorian England to not end up in jail. But if you’re just here for Bram, this is too heavy of a book to read.

The book is spread too wide to only have Bram Stoker’s face on the cover. I give it a 3 out of 5 for what was a very heavy and hefty read. If you just want Bram Stoker’s biography, read the authors word at the back of “Dracul” book by Dacre Stoker.

book review | Exit Strategy by Martha Wells | sci-fi

Author: Martha Wells
Title: Exit Strategy
Series: The Murderbot Diaries 4
Genre: Sci-fi
Pages: 176
Rate: 5/5 | Goodreads

Damn. The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells, especially with “Exit Strategy” are definitely up there, in my favorite sci-fi series now. Just below such grand things as Expeditionary Force by Craig Alanson.

About the Book: Murderbot’s not very happy about his new sense of caring. Upon learning that Dr. Mensah got in trouble due to it, and then possibly got kidnapped, definitely due to it, Murderbot is jumping all kinds of security hoops in attempts to reach her and find a way to save her. It’s good humans are so very bad at security.

My Opinion: Murderbot’s becoming a serious badass. I’ve happily re-read all of the fight scenes, and a few thought process paragraphs. Do yourself a favor and if you didn’t like first or even the second book – try to power through it, it really gets better and better.

Masterfully simple short books that are an easy pleasure to read. A 5 out of 5 from me, and a torment as I wait for the 5th one to be published. Eh.

book review | Dark Matter by Blake Crouch | sci-fi lit.

Author: Blake Crouch
Title: Dark Matter
Series: –
Genre: Sci-Fi; Thriller
Pages: 342
Rate: – | Goodreads

I didn’t rate “Dark Matter” by Blake Crouch due to the story theme itself. I simply dislike such topics in general, any repeated need to jump over hoops in a game-like reality to reach the goal or find the right one gets on my nerves for no known reason. It doesn’t reflect the quality of the book though.

About the Book: We all make choices, and live with consequences. Rarely, we get to take second chances at life, if we did indeed fail at something not wholly finite. One dark night Jason gets kidnapped. He wakes up in a lab. In a world where he never married the girl who said she’s pregnant with his child, his now teenage son. He pursued his career as a scientist, and the breakthrough in research is what got him all the way here. To his second chance at life. The life that isn’t his.

My Opinion: The choices we make lead us further. But the choices we don’t make… They lead a version of us further. A version who made that choice. Then, just after choosing eggs or toast for breakfast, we’re faced with another choice – bike or bus to work? And so reality branches out again. And again. Infinitely. We get this trope in time travel most commonly, I feel, where a character goes back, chances something, and then tries to go back again, and again, because their reality isn’t theirs anymore. Until they do it right, and it is. And I absolutely hate it.

Which says nothing about the book itself. The story is very well written, and if you like stories like this, I can absolutely recommend it to you. But I myself will refrain from rating, for I simply can’t apply one here.

book review | Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells | sci-fi

Author: Martha Wells
Title: Rogue Protocol
Series: The Murderbot Diaries 3
Genre: Sci-fi
Pages: 158
Rate: 5/5 | Goodreads

Alright, since I have a fourth book to read, let’s get on with this. Finished “Rogue Protocol” by Martha Wells, third book in The Murderbot Diaries. So far – so good.

About the Book: Dr. Mensah has bought Murderbot’s contract for herself, thus becoming his owner under what I understand are laws that androids can’t be ownerless. And since Murderbot didn’t feel like being property on some farm or what was it, it escaped, and Dr. Mensa didn’t seemed too concerned about it. But people are getting concerned for her: where’s this SecUnit rogue, responsible for mass murder? Is it murdering?? So to help itself and the kind Dr., Murderbot decides to gather some data that would point them all away from her, to the real problem. And of course, as its luck would have it, things ought to be buried under layers of corrupt corps who want to kill all kinds of witnesses, innocent people. Why it cares? It doesn’t know.

My Opinion: I like how the structure of events seems to be the same or at least similar, but the actions are so very completely different. Yes, there’s always enemies to be fought, and metaphorical soiling of the pants that comes with the too strong robots threatening to make it personal. But the reasons, the places, and the fights are always different and require plans, finesse, thinking on your feet. I also appreciate the relatively easy world-building. While I love the long-winded high-fantasy realms, it’s nice to rest from it by getting information in bits related to the story for a change.

So far I really like it. A 5 out of 5 from me.