Sword Play by
Clayton Emery
My rating:
4 of 5 stars
This is the first novel I've read that's tied directly to the Dungeons & Dragons multiverse, and according to the lists I found online, is the first chronologically in the extensive Forgotten Realms library. I think knowing beforehand how campy a lot of the material from first and second edition D&D can be increased my enjoyment of Sword Play.
I started reading these books in an attempt to get a feel for the world and lore that makes up the Forgotten Realms. Taking that approach made this book very enjoyable. I think if someone reads this book expecting it to be on par with Lord of the Rings, they're probably going to be disappointed. That being said, I thought this book was a lot of fun. I mean, if you can't laugh about a main character's name being Sunbright Steelshanks, you may be taking this particular branch of the fantasy genre more seriously than it may have ever been intended to be taken.
Is some of the dialogue bordering on, or even crossing over into terrible? Yes. Are the fight scenes over the top and sometimes ridiculous like Saturday morning cartoons from the late '70s and early '80s? Absolutely! But I think that's what makes this book, and maybe even this entire fantasy subgenre so enjoyable for me thus far. It made this 42 year old guy feel like a kid again. I can't find anything wrong with that.
Stick around for future reviews to see if my thoughts about this particular line of books changes, or if the campy holds its enchantment for This Aaron Guy. Only time will tell if the enjoyment holds as I make it further into the Forgotten Realms.
Until next time, stay safe, and above all, be true to yourself.
That Aaron Guy
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The Blue Light Project by
Timothy Taylor
My rating:
4 of 5 stars
I've had this book on my Nook for years, and I don't even remember where it came from, honestly. I'm thinking it must have been from a Free Friday promotion from Barnes and Noble. I started reading it the other day simply to clear it off of my device, since it's been there for so long. I'm glad I did!
The Blue Light Project is a very interesting commentary on society at large, and of fame and those who seek it in particular. Does fame change both those who achieve it, and those who seek it at all costs? Does the media hold excessive sway over society and dictate not only what, but how people think? These are two of the biggest questions the author explores in his telling of this story about a hostage taker who storms a show called Kiddiefame during a live broadcast.
I thought Mr. Taylor did a superb job introducing the reader to the various characters throughout the book, and I especially liked Rabbit and Eve. When Thomas Pegg was first introduced, I felt like I had just been slimed, and I pretty much hated the character, and hoped he wouldn't be in the book for long. Later, I still didn't really care for him much, but I did find myself feeling a bit of sympathy for him, because even though he's kind of a terrible guy, he had things happen to him in the past that even he didn't completely deserve.
The building tension throughout the book was very well forged, and I felt it pushed the storyline along quite nicely. As the crowds gathered outside the theater where children were being held hostage by an obvious madman, tempers flare, and it seemed that full scale rioting was inevitable. I think reading it now, after our entire country has so recently gone through such a hard time over the past few years, mostly due to the media and their slanted views of pretty much EVERYTHING makes this novel even more poignant, since it was published almost eight years ago.
If you haven't yet read anything by Timothy Taylor, I highly recommend you check out The Blue Light Project. I found it both entertaining and thought provoking.
Until next time, stay safe, and above all, be true to yourself.
That Aaron Guy
View all my reviews
Siege of Talonrend by
Stuart Thaman
My rating:
5 of 5 stars
The goblins are coming! The goblins are coming! Ok, so, that line was never put into this book, but it definitely could have been. Siege of Talonrend is an exciting tale of missing kings, fantastic magical weapons, evil plans, and massive attacking armies.
If you're a fan of fantasy fiction (and who isn't?) this first installment in The Goblin Wars series is for you. Once I started reading it, I finished it in an extended reading sprint. My favorite character is Gideon. He's a mighty warrior who has a magic sword that gives him amazing fighting abilities, with one minor caveat: if he draws it and doesn't kill something that has a soul the sword can feed on, the magic within the weapon will eventually kill its wielder. If you want to find out more, you'll have to read the book, as no spoiler of plotlines am I!
I thought the author's storytelling abilities were spot on, and I completely lost track of time while I was reading this one. The battle scenes are epic, the characters came to life, and I even found myself liking a few of the main goblins. We're supposed to just hate goblins from the get go, right? Well, I thought so, too, until I was introduced to Vorst and Gravlox. The more I got to know them, the more I really didn't want them to die before the story ended.
Stuart Thaman has crafted a great tale of fantasy within the pages of Siege of Talonrend, and made me want to find out more about what happens after the goblin attacks on the city. Well played, Mr. Thaman. Well played, indeed.
Until next time, stay safe, and above all, be true to yourself.
That Aaron Guy
View all my reviews
Find Siege of Talonrend on Amazon:
I've had my Nook Simple Touch for a few years now, and hadn't used it in quite some time because it wouldn't charge. I was about to pull the trigger on getting a replacement battery for it, and had even taken the unit apart a few weeks ago to do that. After taking it apart and disconnecting the battery, and then reconnecting it, I tried to see if it would charge. It still just sat there, with the screen saying, "Your Nook's battery is to low to power on. Wait fifteen minutes," or something to that effect. Well, an hour and a half later, the same message was still being displayed.
Last weekend, Deborah and I went to quite a few estate sales, and found a small flea market that was having a 50% of on EVERYTHING sale. I found another Nook that was marked $10, and figured if it would at least power on, I could scavenge the battery from that one to replace the one in my old unit. At only five bucks, why not, right? So I took the new-to-me unit home, and it charged right up. This morning, I was finally going to swap the batteries out, but somehow, I've misplaced the only screwdriver I own that was small enough to take the single screw out of the Nook I just purchased to take it apart. After searching and searching without finding the screwdriver, I had planned on going to the Evil Empire to buy another one, when I figured, "Why don't I just plug the old Nook in and give it another shot at charging?" So, I unplugged the battery from the mother board, reconnected it, and plugged the charger in. For the first time in well over a year, (maybe 2) it's powered up and still charging. Weird how electronics act sometimes, isn't it?
Of course, I still need to run to the store-that-shall-not-be-named to get another mini screwdriver so I can put the thing back together, but at least it's working now. I've been downloading books from Amazon and reading them on my phone for the past few weeks, but I don't really like reading on a backlit screen. I kept downloading books that will work on my Nook, as well, in an effort to force myself to get it back up and running again so I don't have all these books just sitting on my computer without a non-backlit screen with which to read them. For some reason, I didn't want to put them on the Nook I just bought. Probably because I bought it with the intention of selling it if it worked, I guess. If I put books on it, I'd just have to move them over to the other unit. Who wants to go through all that file transfer? Apparently, not me! LOL!
Be patient, everyone who follows the book reviews around these parts. More will be coming soon. In fact, I'm gonna post another new one right after this blog entry goes up, so keep an eye out for it.
Soul Survivor by
Susan Faw
My rating:
3 of 5 stars
I thought this book was a decent fantasy series intro, and found it to be entertaining, but some of the descriptions were a bit vague and confusing, and sadly, most of the confusing bits had to do with the magic the story revolves around. This was a fairly quick read, but I'm not sure I'm sold on buying the other books in the series to see what happens next. I just wasn't sucked into the story enough to become invested in the characters. They didn't really seem to be as fleshed out as they could have been. A lot of the fantastic things in the story seemed a bit cliche and unoriginal.
Until next time, stay safe, and above all, be true to yourself.
That Aaron Guy
View all my reviews
