A Green Mushroom

I don't have a ton to say about the novelization of Rogue One, but I did read it. Like most Star Wars movie novelizations it's essentially the movie in book form.  While books adapted to movies often work well it typically isn't as interesting the other way around.  But, I always read the Star Wars ones anyway just to get the bonus content and context to the universe. The Rogue One novelization has a few scenes that either were never in the movie or were cut from it.  It also fleshes out a lot of characters' internal thinking about events, which is something you almost never get in a movie. My favorite part is probably the admin documents used to break up the story randomly.  They give looks inside the building of the Death Star and inside the Rebellion.  It's just tiny vignettes but they're great! I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone who isn't Star Wars obsessed in the same way I am.  But, I'm glad to have read it.  I always like lea...

Red Rising is a book I've owned for awhile but didn't pick up until very recently.  I probably bought it on sale because I've consistently seen it come up on lists of really good sci-fi.  Now I see why. The world of Red Rising is in a caste driven future where humanity has expanded to all around our Solar System.  The main character is a "Red", basically the lowest caste in the whole class system.  He's a helldiver on Mars that mines for minerals required to terraform planets.  His caste is being oppressed by the leader caste, the Golds.  You can see where this is going, right? I thought I could... and the first quarter of the book was predictable yet interesting.  But after that things get really shaken up.  So, if I've sold you on my slight info and two thumbs up alone... go buy it now and stop reading.  If not, I'm going to drop some spoilers to get you more interested. It turns out that Mars is already terraformed and so are mos...

Guards! Guards! was my very first Terry Pratchet novel.  He has multiple series that all gently interweave in the same setting and I was told this was a really good place to start. And I really liked the beginning of the book.  It was fun to figure out the setting and it was actually really humorous which isn't something I normally go for it books.  But in the first third of this novel it worked for me.  I also loved the ending and the way all the stories wrapped up. My problem was with the middle of the book.  I thought the whole novel could have been reduced in length by a third if a lot of the wasted time in the middle was cut out.  It's just a pacing thing. Now I'm thinking about possibly reading more of Prachet's stuff.  I just wonder if it's better paced than this book.  I can tell there are a lot of things in his writing that I like, so I should probably give him at least another novel to try to hook me.  I'm just not sure wh...

The Blood Mirror is the latest (and second to last) book in the Lightbringer series by Brent Weeks.  I've loved this series as a whole and I'm excited to get to the conclusion of that. With that being said, this book mostly feels like set up.  Where the first three books definitely lead into one another they are still each a solid narrative that has a satisfying ending.  They just have a tease of what's to come next.  The Blood Mirror feels like half a book that just ends.  It's a good half of a book but it doesn't have the typical arc I was expecting. I kind of wish that I had waited for the last book to come out and then read these last two together.  It seems like that's how they are intended to be.  They're definitely one story split between two books where the earlier ones felt like complete stories told in a series. I did like the book though.  It made me very excited for the next book and to read the conclusion of the series, when...

Paper and Fire is really good.  Between it and the first book, Ink and Bone, this book series has shot up to my favorite novels that I've found this year. Paper and Fire picks up about six months after Ink and Bone leaves off but it works really well.  In terms of story development nothing major has happened in between but it starts kicking off right when the book begins. It's always hard to review later books in a series without giving spoilers for the earlier ones.  But, I really like this series.  I read through Paper and Fire super fast because it hooked me and now I immediately want the next book!  Unfortunately, I have to wait for it to come out since I'm already caught up. If you haven't already, you should check out The Great Library series.  I'm loving it.  Go grab Ink and Bone and see what you think.

I've read a lot of books this year, just like I always do, but none of them were truly fantastic.  Most fell into the mediocre to ok range.  A few were good and a few were total duds. That changed when I read Ink and Bone.  It's easily my favorite book that I've read this year so far.  I knew almost nothing about it going in except that I had liked some of the author's work before and by the end of the book I wanted to know what happened next!  Rachel Caine does a great job kicking off a new series with Ink and Bone. Ink and Bone is set in a world where the library of Alexandria never burned.  It continued to grow in both scope and power until it controlled all knowledge in the world.  All technological advancement had to come from the library and so this alternate timeline finds a much different world than the one we live in. The printing press has been suppressed and instead people have to check out books into "blanks" that function similar...

After failing to get into the Drizzt series I decided to pick up an old series I hadn't read in awhile.  Since I had recently re-read Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone I thought I would just dig back into the series. Between reading in my kindle app and listening via audible I've already flown through Chamber of Secrets and Prisoner of Azkaban.  Neither is quite as good as I remember from when I read them as a kid, but both hold up pretty well. If memory serves, then the series really picks up with Goblet of Fire and stays interesting all the way through the end.  I'll soon find out since the next book I have queued up is that one! It's been really interesting revisiting Harry Potter as an adult.  I first read these books as a teenager and enjoyed them a lot.  As an adult I can find more plot holes in them and pick them apart more critically but I'm still able to have fun with them and enjoy them for what they are.

After finishing the first two books in the first Drizzt trilogy I thought I could power through and finish the third.  I knew I wasn't going to stick with the series long term but I figured I could at least get through the initial trilogy. It turns out I could not. I gave Sojourn a try and made it maybe a fourth of the way through.  But, unfortunately, Drizzt is the only interesting character in the book.  And the book keeps cutting away to a bunch of other POVs and characters instead of sticking with him.  Even if it did stick with him he's still not very complex as a character at this point in the series. I had to set the book down and move on to something else.  I started avoiding reading which it how I knew it was time. I'm still not opposed to a good D&D novel.  I would love to find one that clicks with me.  It just looks like the Drizzt series isn't going to be it.

I finished up the second Drizzt book and already it's starting to feel like so many other generic fantasy stories that I've read. I thought that the Drizzt books might be a good place to sink my teeth into the greater world of Dungeons and Dragons lore but I'm starting to realize that these books would appeal to a fourteen year old me much more than they appeal to me now.  They don't seem like they're doing anything new or interesting. Being a completionist I will probably finish out this first trilogy of Drizzt books before setting them down.  I'm already two thirds of the way there so why not? This book, Exile, in particular finds Drizzt after he has rejected his heritage as an evil Dark Elf (Drow) and has gone a little bit feral in the underdark on his own.  He ends up making his first real friends and then spends most of the novel running away from the part of the Drow that are hunting him.  It's a direct continuation of the first book and ties...

I'm keeping up to date with all the new Star Wars novels and Aftermath: Life Debt is the latest. I think this book is better than the first Aftermath novel but it's still not great.  I just haven't been able to buy into any of the author's unique characters for this series.  Luckily, this book pulls in Han, Chewie, Leia, Wedge, and some others.  That helps it so much.  They're interesting and established characters where all the new unique characters feel like bland stereotypes. But the one thing this book does brilliantly are the interludes.  There are a bunch of them throughout the book and they give quick little vignettes about what's happening around the galaxy.  I found myself excited for each new one coming up. After finishing the book I think I can see where this series is going.  I'm fairly sure it's leading to the Battle of Jakku which is covered in Lost Stars.  It's essentially the last stand of the Empire before the galaxy fal...

Mecha Ace is the latest interactive fiction that I finished reading.  I haven't read one in awhile, but these are the interactive novels put out by Choice of Games LLC and I've found a bunch over the past few years that I like. Mecha Ace is all about being a Mech pilot fighting for the rebellion against an evil empire.  Sounds like a fairly standard setup but the actual missions and choices in the novel are fantastic.  I loved this author's work and I need to find out if he's written any other interactive fiction that's been put out through Choice of Games. I really like finding good ones put out under the Choice of Games label, but honestly the hardest part is finding a good author and then finding their other content.  It gets buried under the general catch all label too often. Anyway, Mecha Ace is really good, so if you're into interactive fiction or have ever enjoyed a choose your own adventure game you should give it a shot.  You can read/play it...

I've never read a Dungeons & Dragons novel before in my life but after watching a bunch of the D&D episodes of Acquisitions Incorporated they had a guest appearance of Drizzt and they all freaked out.  Since they're all people who's opinions I tend to like I thought I should check out the source material. That brought me to the first Drizzt book, and there are many.  This one is called Homeland and it's set in the Underdark in the city where Dark Elves live that starts with the letter M but I'll never be able to spell it from memory. It was a good fantasy book, but not a great one.  Nothing crazy or unpredictable happened but it also wasn't so formulaic that I was bored the whole time.  It really was a middle of the road fantasy novel. But, it got me interested enough in the character of Drizzt that I'll pick up the next book.  I just hope that he gets out of the Underdark setting and gets to go explore more of the world.  I would love to ...

This is not my normal kind of book.  It's about Japanese ghosts and how they fit into Japanese culture.  I don't typically stray from fiction when it comes to reading for fun, but this one was cool! I found it because it's by the author that does Japanese cultural essays in Wayward, which is my favorite part about that comic.  It's actually the main reason that I still pick it up whenever a new issue releases. Yurei: The Japanese Ghost is all about Japanese ghosts and their evolution over the years.  It's a fascinating read and gave me a lot of cultural insight that I knew nothing about. Overall it's an interesting read, although it had some culture touch points that were hard for me to grasp as a Westerner.  But I got a lot of good information out of this book.  I would say if you're interested in either Japanese culture or ghosts in general you'll find something worthwhile in reading this.

The Three Body Problem is a book I heard rave reviews for.  What I found was not what I was expecting. The novel is about first contact with aliens, but it takes forever  to get to the point.  Instead you spend the first quarter of the book reading about the cultural revolution in China then you spend almost the entire rest of the book following characters who are trying to put together clues to a mystery (alien first contact... it's obvious the entire time) while never actually being interesting. No one ever puts the pieces together or accomplishes anything.  Instead they need it spelled out for them by the person who made first contact. There's no drama, no good story arc, never a character you can relate to.  And to top it all off there are huge sections of the book that are written as dry as possible. What I expected was a groundbreaking Sci-Fi novel since that's what it was sold to me as.  What I found was the longest preamble to a premise ...

I'm still catching up on some of The Force Awakens tie-in novels that slipped past me in the months leading up to the movie. While I basically read every adult novel of Star Wars as it comes out, I skip over most of the young adult or early reader books.  Generally this has served me well, but occasionally there's a Star Wars young adult book worth my time.  It turns out Before the Awakening is one of those. It's a book broken into three parts, one for each main character in the movie. Finn's story is all about his stormtrooper training, relationships with his squad, interactions with Captain Phasma, and his first deployment.  It's really good backstory. Rey's story covers a few months of her scavenger.  It explains where her mechanical and piloting skills come from as well as giving some more information on how she views the world. Poe's story ties in most directly with it basically leading right up to the point where the movie starts.  We lea...

My regular readers all know by now that I love all things Star Wars. That being said... this is the first Star Wars book in the new canon that is extremely mediocre.  It's not horrible but there's no way I would recommend this one to anybody. Seriously, if you want a recommendation go read Lost Stars .  It's probably my favorite Star Wars book ever and it's in the new canon extended universe. Star Wars Battlefront: Twilight Company is supposed to be a tie-in book to the Battlefront game that releases today.  Actually, it's a very generic sci-fi military novel.  I've never been a big fan of military books.  These are novels that spend the whole time focusing on what it's like fighting on the ground and being one of the troops.  Twilight Company is no exception. There are a bunch of undeveloped flat characters that you spend the whole book with.  They're ground troops in the war against the Empire but they rarely tie into the overall ...

I was surprised to see that Blade Runner was actually a novel  from the 60s.  I've tried to watch the movie a bunch of times and it never grabbed my attention but I'd never given the novel a shot. Once I started reading it I very quickly ran into that 60s Sci-Fi feel.  I didn't know if I had enough drive to read a book like that at the moment so I got the Audible version instead. It's actually a pretty interesting book.  It's all about a bounty hunter in search of renegade androids on the loose in his territory.  It's post apocalyptic and the world is a radioactive wasteland where most life is dead.  There's an entire religion built up around the remaining living animals and it also influences how people feel about the artificial life of androids. It's not a book I would necessarily recommend to anyone, but I am glad that I've read it.  I know it's either based off of or another name for Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep which i...

I've been reading to my daughter for as long as she could sit in my lap while I flip through pages.  She's 5 now and she's an avid reader. We've gone from baby books, to little kid books, to kid chapter books.  Last month she asked me when she could start reading "grown up books like Daddy".  And I said, "Right now!  Let's start!" So I've been reading The Hobbit to her.  It's the quintessential starter book for adult novels in my mind, probably because I remember my mom reading it to me. It's a book that I can read while she listens and just lets it wash over her.  When we sit down to read for the night we always talk about what happened the night before, and she seems to be keeping up with the story just fine... even though Tolkien's prose isn't all that approachable.  I'm thinking next up might be something more modern and easy to read, like Harry Potter, but the jury is still out on that decision. After finis...

Lost Stars is the greatest Star Wars novel I've ever read.  You need to understand how big of a statement this is from me.  Here's a partial look at what the old (now "Legends") timeline looked like: That's only a partial list of books and I've read almost all of them.  This book is better than those. The new timeline only has a few novels in it, and Lost Stars is the one I expected the least from.  It's the one that turned out the most amazing.  Last week I said that Aftermath is the best of the new books.  That's before I read this one.  Lost Stars is so much better. You see, Lost Stars is billed as a young adult romance story.  The other novels that have come out are more traditional for Star Wars books and they deal with either the main characters of the movies or slightly expanding the timeline beyond Return of the Jedi in an adult book fashion. Lost Stars is about how the events in the Star Wars universe look from the perspe...

I'm so excited for this movie! Out of all the books I read last year, The Martian was my favorite.  I've been recommending it to everyone I know who reads books or listens to audiobooks.  I read it and then immediately listened to the whole thing to experience it a second time. It pushes all the right buttons for me.  It's a space adventure where things go wrong and people need to use their intelligence to get out of the bad situations.  It's also semi based in real science which can be fun when done well.  And it's done very well in the book. If you haven't read The Martian and you're an avid reader you really need to get around to it.  It's great!  Even if that doesn't interest you, maybe you'll get as hyped as I am for the upcoming movie!  I can't wait!