The final chapter to the books from I read in 2013. It is definitely sad that all this fun is coming to an end, but it had to at some point right? If you need to catch up (no worries, only 2 of the reviews are all that long) check out my initial post, my first follow-up, The Devil in the White City review, my second follow-up group, and my Steelheart review. Now on to the final list.
Quick Links
Argo by Antonio Mendez
Argo: How the CIA & Hollywood Pulled Off the Most Audacious Rescue in
History is just that. If you haven't seen the Ben Affleck movie, you
should...it's good watching. The book isn't anything spectacular, but is
worth the read. It is just a smattering of details of how the CIA was able to
start what appeared to be a reputable production company, fool the Iranians
into thinking they wanted to film a movie there, and ultimately get 6
Americans out to safety. It is a really interesting story. Two things stood
out to me, first the fact that the CIA learned from Hollywood greats how to
make a person look like someone else. And second, how awesome the Canadians
were through the whole ordeal. The movie didn't highlight this, but without
Canada, the rescue would not have happened. A good read and worth the time.
3 Stars
The Second Ship by Richard Phillips
The Second Ship is the first novel in the Rho Agenda Trilogy,
and possibly the strongest. The story is about 3 high school students that
find an alien ship near Los Alamos, NM and by interacting with the ship, it
begins to "change" them. And then these high school students do what you'd
expect high school students with new abilities do...get into trouble. This
sound childish, but it is definitely not. There are dark characters,
questionable good guys, and tons of fun. It was really a fun read. You can
relate to any one of three kids, and other characters are very intriguing.
Just know that this is the first of a series and more was planned from the
start. You'll want to carve out time for all three.
4 Stars
Immune by Richard Phillips
The second novel, Immune, is a bit of a letdown from the first novel, but
still a good read. The characters, the 3 kids, begin to make moves and
decisions that--at least in my mind--violated the stories logic rules. After
setting up the kids thoughts and motivations in the first novel, the choices
appear to force a plot direction rather than the logical movement of each
character. There are also some introductions to some antagonists that I
really didn't care for. They felt...wrong. But towards the end, the story
begins to pay off a bit. It's worth reading only to proceed to the next
book...for the ending I gave it a little boost in rating.
2 Stars
Wormhole by Richard Phillips
Wormhole is the final chapter to the Rho Agenda trilogy, and this is the
one where things begin to really pay off. We start to see what's going on
from the beginning, you understand and know deeper character motivations, and
you get great swaths of action. This is the book that really makes the whole
series click. Think of the trilogy as a long Sci/Fi epic that is split into
three parts. And this is the grand conclusion. If you are a Sci/Fi fan, it
is worth your time.
4 Stars
Mimus by Lilli Thal
I've had Mimus in my queue for a long time mainly because it constantly
gets great reviews. Seriously, it is consistently getting glowing reviews.
So I fired it up and started reading it. It starts off very formulaic
medieval type story, then abandons that formula for something more refreshing.
Then there's a huge chunk in the middle of nothing. There's some jokes and
japes, but nothing of any substance. In fact, a relationship is established
and then goes completely unused for the rest of the book. Then the tide turns
and the plot picks up again, but right before you are done. I don't know why
it keeps getting great reviews, maybe I expected too much. Also, don't listen
to this book on audiobook...the narrator is awful.
2 Stars
Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn
I read Dark Places and decided to pick up Sharp Objects
and read. Sharp Objects is a well plotted book and full of pretty dark
material. Honestly, I'm not sure what to say about it. None of the
characters are relate-able, but I think that is part of the point. I don't
care for some of the decisions made by a few of the characters, they felt out
of place and pointless. This really isn't a good book...
2 Stars
Redshirts by John Scalzi
Ok, a story about a starship's crew from the point of view of the constantly
dying groups of crew members? I'm in! Redshirts is interesting and funny.
Scalzi took the simple concept of the disposable crew members and wrote a
whole story around it. Scalzi's writing style is a bit different, he doesn't
allow the dialog to flow and the point of view didn't fit. I say this about
the point of view, because the Second Coda was actually the best written part
of the book. It wasn't the best story, but the most well written. Had the
book been in that voice, it would have been so much better. If I had anything
else to complain about this book, it is that it was too short. It was a quick
and dirty read that left me wishing there was more to it.
4 Stars
Theft of Swords by Michael J. Sullivan
I picked up Theft of Swords because I wanted wanted to reads
something about thieves. I've been reminiscing about playing
Thief: The Dark Project--one of the best games ever made--and
wanted something to help quench my desire. I'm glad I grabbed it. Thief of
Swords is actually two books in one that follows the time-line and story of
the Riyria [Rī-eer-ah], two men that thieve outside of the guilds. (At this
time underground guilds were setup to control the market and pricing. If you
didn't work for a guild, you could wind up dead or severely crippled.)
Sullivan doesn't worry about why the species exist--humans, elfs, and
dwarves--and simply places you in the world and wraps you up in the characters.
I like this because he assumes you can already accept this semi-familiar
world, and doesn't waste time telling you why. The story is great and
situations are engrossing. And best of all, you find yourself wrapped up in
the interaction between the two main characters. I'm going to finish the
series and probably read the supplementary series as well.
5 Stars
It was a good end to the year...we will see what 2014 has in store.