Month: March 2013

I bought this book from Audible and listened to it using my iPhone and the Audible app.

This is the third book in John Scalzi’s series Old Man’s War.

This story did not work for me, there were to many GLARING plot holes and things left half-baked. This is the first of Scalzi’s books that I didn’t really enjoy. It was ok, just not as original a story I have come to expect from him.

William Dufris does a great job of narrating, he is one of my favorite performers.

From the publisher:

Retired from his fighting days, John Perry is now village ombudsman for a human colony on distant Huckleberry. With his wife, former Special Forces warrior Jane Sagan, he farms several acres, adjudicates local disputes, and enjoys watching his adopted daughter grow up.

That is, until his and Jane’s past reaches out to bring them back into the game – as leaders of a new human colony, to be peopled by settlers from all the major human worlds, for a deep political purpose that will put Perry and Sagan back in the thick of interstellar politics, betrayal, and war.

©2007 John Scalzi; (P)2008 Macmillan Audio

I rate this book a 6 out 10 and recommend it only to those who are following the Old Man’s War series.

I bought this book from Audible and listened to it on my iPhone with the Audible app.

My friend Rod mentioned this book in a Tweet a while back and I thought I would give it a try and I am glad I did.

Scott Lynch creates a fantastical world reminiscent of renaissance Venice Italy full of royalty and thieves. I feel that it is written more like modern fiction than it is traditional fantasy, magic is present but not over-explained.

Michael Page does an amazing job with his performance, he brings all of the characters to life and gives them accents and speech patterns that I would have totally missed if I’d have read a printed book.

I really liked this story and now can’t wait to read the second book in the series.

From the publisher:

An orphan’s life is harsh—and often short—in the island city of Camorr, built on the ruins of a mysterious alien race. But born with a quick wit and a gift for thieving, Locke Lamora has dodged both death and slavery, only to fall into the hands of an eyeless priest known as Chains—a man who is neither blind nor a priest. A con artist of extraordinary talent, Chains passes his skills on to his carefully selected “family” of orphans—a group known as the Gentlemen Bastards.

Under his tutelage, Locke grows to lead the Bastards, delightedly pulling off one outrageous confidence game after another. Soon he is infamous as the Thorn of Camorr, and no wealthy noble is safe from his sting. Passing themselves off as petty thieves, the brilliant Locke and his tightly knit band of light-fingered brothers have fooled even the criminal underworld’s most feared ruler, Capa Barsavi. But there is someone in the shadows more powerful—and more ambitious—than Locke has yet imagined. Known as the Gray King, he is slowly killing Capa Barsavi’s most trusted men—and using Locke as a pawn in his plot to take control of Camorr’s underworld.

With a bloody coup under way threatening to destroy everyone and everything that holds meaning in his mercenary life, Locke vows to beat the Gray King at his own brutal game—or die trying.

©2008 Scott Lynch; (P)2009 Tantor

I rate this book a 10 out of 10 and recommend it to anyone who likes good fiction or adult fantasy. This book is full of foul language, but not so much that it distracted me from the story.

I bought this book from Audible and listened to it using the Audible app on my iPhone.

Such an interesting story, a mystery sci-fi inter-dimensional romp. I find it hard to write about without giving major parts of the story away.

Try it, I think you’ll like it.

From the publisher:

Padlocked doors. Strange light fixtures. Mutant cockroaches.

There are some odd things about Nate’s new apartment. Of course, he has other things on his mind. He hates his job. He has no money in the bank. No girlfriend. No plans for the future. So while his new home isn’t perfect, it’s livable. The rent is low, the property managers are friendly, and the odd little mysteries don’t nag at him too much. At least, not until he meets Mandy, his neighbor across the hall, and notices something unusual about her apartment. And Xela’s apartment. And Tim’s. And Veek’s. Because every room in this old Los Angeles brownstone has a mystery or two. Mysteries that stretch back over a hundred years. Some of them are in plain sight. Some are behind locked doors. And all together these mysteries could mean the end of Nate and his friends. Or the end of everything….

©2012 Peter Clines and Permuted Press (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

I rate this book an 9 out of 10 and recommend it to any geeks who like a good mystery.