Once again just getting the last month done before the current one ends. Starting off with the Kevin Anderson edited
Blood Lite III: Aftertaste urban fantasy anthology. Which was pretty lackluster overall. Even old favorites like Jim Butcher have fairly weak offerings in this one. In fact, as far as I can recall, all three volumes of this series have been less than stellar, with none making my 50% or more enjoyable stories test to keep...
Much better was the reprint of
Wild Cards with the two new stories added, edited by George R.R. Martin and
Dark & Stormy Knights, another urban fantasy anthology, edited by P.N. Elrod. The "Wild Cards" series has long been a favorite, so two new stories was just icing on replacing my worn-down original copy of volume one. And Elrod's anthologies have a high ratio of quality...
I love Baen's offering of election Advance Reader Copies. I mean fifteen bucks is normally about twice my max for an e-book. But I can't resist getting things like the newest "Ring of Fire" novel,
1636: Papal States by Eric Flint & Charles Gannon three months early. This one finishes up the Italy centric arc started previous by Flint & Andrew Dennis...
Got Check Wendig's
Dinocalypse Now as part of a Kickstarter drive. Its a fun pulp-adventure story that serves as an introduction to "Spirit of the Century" rpg. The book is full of psychic dinosaurs, jet pack adventurers, talking gorillas and angry cavemen with a cliff-hanger ending...
No Wake Zone is the sequel to C.E. Grundler's
Last Exit to New Jersey. You'd think Hazel Moran's friends and family would have figured out that lieing to her for her own good doesn't work. I mean it went really badly the last time...
The roommate got into writers Ilona Andrews from one of their short stories. And I can't blame him since I devoured thru the first five of their "Kate Daniels" books,
Magic Bites,
Magic Burns,
Magic Strikes,
Magic Bleeds and
Magic Slays over several days. The series is set in a world where technology is failing as magic rises into ascendcy. Kate Daniels, the lead, is a merc and troubleshooter dealing with shapeshifters, vampires and guilds of would be paladins in a altered Atlanta...
In fact I liked them enough to grab up the various short stories and novellas for my Kindle.
Magic Dreams and
Magic Mourns are regular expand the setting style shorts.
Curran and
Fathers & Sons retell portions of the previous volumes from the view point of the main romantic interest for Kate...
Also from the Andrews, but unrelated to "Kate Daniels", was the novella
Of Swine & Roses, a story about feuding magical Houses, teen romance and a pig related curse...
I'm still not sure about
the Long Earth by Terry Pratchett & Stephen Baxter. Its a good book and I am intrigued enough to want to know what happens next. But something about most Multiple Earth stories just doesn't click with me. I'm not sure why, maybe its something to do with Quantum...
Charles DeLint's
Little Grrl Lost is nice YA book which puts a would be punk
Little into his Newford setting...
Got to several of my backlog of Kindle Deal of the Day books in July. Starting with
Heat Wave by Richard Castle. A decent enough modern mystery/crime book, where I'd be interested in checking out the rest of the series if I find them on the cheap. I do wonder who they have ghost writing them...
Also tv related is
the Cold Dish by Craig Johnson, the first in the "Longmire" series the recent A&E show was adapted from. I'm definitely wanting to check out the rest of this series, but $12.99 is well above my normal price limit on an eBook. And I couldn't remember the author's damn name the last time I was at the used book store. Also Lou Diamond Philips captured his character's voice perfectly in the tv show...
I was a bit let down by the other two Deal books. Alison Croggon's
the Naming is a pseudo-Gaelic/Celtic fantasy that reminded my a bit of Lloyd Alexander. But man, the book just slogged along at times. Its the first in what is obviously meant to be an epic story, but I can't find myself willing to wade thru the next books. The other book, Zane Grey's
Riders of the Purple Sage just failed to connect with me. I found myself giving up about 3/4 of the way thru. The book wasn't helped by the guest introduction basically spoiling the ending in discussing the story...
The Drowned Cities by Paolo Bacigalupi is in the same world as his
Ship Breaker, where much of the south-eastern U.S. is devastated marshland. I like the touch, where China attempted a peace keeping mission against the many American warlords...
Mira Grant's
Blackout brings her "Newsflesh" trilogy to a close. And its a pretty fucking bad-ass ending, what with the giant conspiracy and the surprise resurrection and all...
From the roommate insists I read this pile, Eric Flint & Dave Freer's
Slow Train to Acturus has an alien civilization making first contact with a Terran Generation-type colony ship. Pretty good and interesting directions the various human cultures evolved in. Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle
the Mote in God's Eye was a scifi classic I'd never got to. And I own a few of the pair's other books. But I found myself having to constantly remind myself that they wrote this in the 70s to try and get past how antiquated the futuristic culture seemed. Especially given the one non-white character being a underhanded, conniving baddie...
Peter Clines'
Ex-Heroes and
Ex-Patriots are an enjoyable pair of super-heroes in zombie apocalypse world. I'm hopeful that Clines will put out a third book in the series...
And finally
Kitty Steals the Show is Carrie Vaughn's most recent "Kitty Norville" book. With werewolf radio host Kitty going to London and the First International Conference on Paranatural Studies. With Kitty and her family meeting up with various old friends and foes, looking into the vampire's Long Game and helping a ghost have a family reunion...
Total Books: 28
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