November Reads

• Dawn (Xenogenesis #1) by Octavia E. Butler
• Meh. This was one of those drag me to the end (since if anything life has proven, I have the ability to power through pretty much anything) type of books, that actually had me reading other books in between before finishing. While it was an interesting concept (aliens abducting survivors of an apocalypse on the Earth with the intent of repatriating them in the far future), the very concept was so grim that I had a hard time keeping up my interest (in particular as you learn the plans of the aliens). I know that even though there are more books that more me this is a one and done. (1/5)
• Grits, Guns & Glory - Bubba the Monster Hunter Season 2 by John G. Hartness, Melissa Gilbert (Editor)
• Bubba, the most unlikely Church employee that you are going to find, is a lot of fun. This collection of short stories (all chained together to provide a comprehensive overall sequence) will keep you awake during a long drive. Bubba is a mostly straightforward good-old boy who, along with his assorted allies (life-long friend, girlfriend and his handler Priest), fights the things that go bump in the night that are creating problems. Taking off right from the end of the last book where Bubba is doing his impression of a shis-kebab, the book ramps thing up for a the main fight at the end of the novel (with a couple of fun turns down side stories). Bubba's big fight is with his brother who effectively defeated him last "season" and continues to gather power towards his overall plan at the end. Overall this was a fun book to read in smaller bites. (4/5)
• First Grave on the Right (Charley Davidson #1) by Darynda Jones
• A nice light pallet cleanser after the heavy handed book I read lately. A little more harlequin than I normally go book-wise, but the overall concept (the world that is being spun) is pretty interesting. I enjoy the concept of Grim Reapers living with the rest of us (Everything from Dead Like Me on TV to good old Death in the Discworld universe) and this story delivered. Took a little while to get into it but hard to stop once I got started. If you enjoy a book where the paranormal is more leaning toward normal, this can be a nice fun read. (4/5)
• The Brotherhood of the Wheel by R.S. Belcher
• Another good urban fantasy read. What if the Truckers and Motorcycle Clubs are really agents of a secret society (formerly the Knights Templar) that is out there to protect the travelers of the roads? Well in this world they are and we get to learn more about them and how they handle a big bad enemy from effectively destroying reality. The world and situation are slowly revealed through the eyes of the newbie characters, a MC guy and an investigative cop. I definitely would look forward to another book written in this universe. (4/5)

May Reads

• Kill Switch (Joe Ledger #8) by Jonathan Maberry (Goodreads Author)

• Ever read a book that is part of a series that you are so excited about and enjoying so much that you had to push back and take deliberate action to read in smaller bites? Yeah, that was this book (given my druthers I would have zipped through this book but I decided to spread out my entertainment). The book starts slow with some pretty clear foreshadowing that like a lot of the Joe books everything isn't going to be all-right in the end and that the country as well as the main characters aren't going to get out of this un-scarred (happens in a lot of Jonathan Maberry's books). I am proud of my self control to have taken two whole weeks to listen to this book (and really, this is a series where I seriously recommend the audio book. Ray Porter, the narrator is awesome. Even Jonathan has admitted that now he hears his characters as though narrated by him, as he is writing new stuff! His skill at presenting these stories is a significant enhancer).
  
  As to the story? What if the lights went out? What if everything that runs on electricity other than the tiny bit used in brains/hearts stopped working? (side note, this is the basis on a global scale for at least one TV show and one really good book series) What else could you do to make that worse? Well if you read this book you can come up with some idea's. The Ledger series has been delving more into the paranormal (vs the Science gone bad from the first couple) the past book or so, and this keeps it up. I really cannot think of much more to say that doesn't potentially spoil the story.
  
  BTW, there is a great little scene in this book that is a treat if you have read some of Maberry's other series's (beyond the fact that those other story-lines all have similar characters and names in them).

• Shifting Shadows: Stories from the World of Mercy Thompson (Mercy Thompson 0.1/0.6/0.8/1.5/4.5/5.5/7.4) by Patricia Briggs

So somehow this book ended up on my pile (Audiobook) and to pace myself with Kill Switch I decided to give it a try. Overall the stories stood up well even accounting for the fact that I am effectively unfamiliar with the Mercy Thompson world. It actually may motivate me to try at least first book of the main series. 

• Welcome Home / Go Away (Kris Longknife #9.5) by Mike Shepherd
• A short little palette cleanser from some of my recent books. This novella fills in a little of the backstory of the Kris Longknife series. Told from a different perspective than normal, mostly from her grandparents point of view (mostly General Trouble). It was interesting to see how the events of the latest book played out from another perspective. Nothing significant happens in this book but it was fun to spend a little more time in this world.
  
  
• Chains of Command (Frontlines #4) by Marko Kloos
• Another interesting continuation of the story of Andrew Grayson. Like the other books there is another fast forward that leads to rejoining Andrew and his wife a year after the events of the last book. Desperately rebuilding the military, Andrew has been co-opted to become a Drill Sergeant, pumping out new recruits into a military that is desperately short handed. But Andrew is not fated for that career for too long as his skills as a successful leader are again called for. Tasked to support a special team to go after the leadership of their confederation who fled just prior to battles of the last book, Andrew picks up a promotion (to the amusement of his wife) and is tasked to put together and lead a team to see if some of those ships that disappeared can be put retaken and put to use in their upcoming campaign to retake Mars.
  
• A Shrouded World - Whistlers (A Shrouded World #1) by Mark Tufo (Goodreads Author), John O'Brien
• So I am much more familiar with Mark Tufo's Michael Talbot character (I actually read the first book of John Obrien's Jack Walker series last month), but this seemed like a fun little collaboration between two characters (+ Trip from Talbot's world). Each of the characters got to interact with the other's main issue (Talbot's zombies and Jack's nighwalkers) and introduced a new bad guy to this world (the Whistlers). It took a little while for the characters to meet up finally, but it was worth it. I am looking forward to the next book to see what happened to this world.

• The Adventures of Tom Stranger, Interdimensional Insurance Agent by Larry Correia
• So it was free. And I got a lot of enjoyment from it. So win for me. This short story/novella was offered free on Audible so I couldn't pass on a free story from one of my favorite authors. Goofy? Yep. Chock full of pop culture references? Check. Overall it feels like this was a collaboration of a bunch of drunks (I can see it now.... "hey! hey! Put in Chuck Norris"), but not just any drunks but a bunch of SF/Fantasy/Mil-SF Con drunks. This story made my run fly by.

March "Reads"/Reads

Long books plus long runs seems to even's out my audiobook listening. 

Hell's Foundations Quiver (Safehold #8) by David Weber

• Long book, long series. I think things are slowly coming to a head. Weber's villians, in this case Clinton, are always appropriately hatable that you feel sorry for the people on their team. Almost. David Weber is wordy but the sheer concept of this story keeps me coming back, the combination of "older" tech being aided by futuristic capabilities to help the good guys win really does make this a fun series to read. 4/5 (AB)

Eruption (Supervolcano #1) by Harry Turtledove

• Disappointing. I have been a fan of Harry Turtledove for most of my life so I bought this on his name alone. And while the concept is interesting (The Yellowstone Supervolcano erupts!) it just doesn't feel like his other books. I get it, the idea is to abstract this massive, world changing event and put it up against a personal perspective of the people who are being affected. But this felt more like the disaster films I grew up on in the 80's and early 90's, right down to the corny characters. I don't think I can bring myself to get the next book of the series. I was bored. 2/5 (AB)

Terms of Enlistment  (Frontlines #1) by Marko Kloos

• Good start to a series. Overall this book entertained (always the highest praise from me). The near future looks somewhat bright (at least there is star travel, though Earth itself is looking pretty grim). Following the story of someone from the modern equivalent of the projects (and on the dole) who earned the right to enlist, it is always interesting to me as someone who went through basic training in the USA to compare. Nothing too egregious leapt out at me and the progress of Andrew to first the local Army and then eventually to the Navy was entertaining (I like how when he showed up on his first ship the XO accuses him of being a PX Ranger (bought some awards at the PX that he didn't earn), though I suspect any real XO worth his salt wouldn't have given him the the chance). Overall I was excited to get started on the next book. 4/5 (AB)

Watch on the Rhine (Posleen War: Sidestories #1) by John Ringo, Tom Kratman

• If there is ever a book I have read that most clearly got started over a few drinks, this book is it. I imagine it went something like: "I bet you I can write a story where the nominal good guys wear Sigruden (the Lightning bolt of the SS)" "Hah, good luck with that"  And with that we have this book, which started as a short story and became this full length novel. Where the fricking remainder of the SS is rejuvenated to help Germany fight off the oncoming Posleen horde. Now I share some convictions with the author, Tom Kratman, a retired US Army Officer, so the way that certain parts of Germany are handled came off quite satisfying to me, but overall, like all the Posleen (Legacy of the Aldentia) world this is a grim world. Overall it was a solid addition to the the universe that was created by John Ringo. 4/5 (DB)

Lines of Departure (Frontlines #2) by Marko Kloos

• Continuing a solid series. The storyline flashes forward 5 years to the re-enlistment of Andrew and his Girlfriend. The fight against the against the aliens is going not so well. Andrew has shifted from being a regular swabbie (after converting from being a regular grunt in the first book) to becoming a Combat Controller (basically a JTAC from my military experience. Still part of the space service but down in the mud coordinating air and space support). The best part of this was the humanizing of his relationship with Mother when he is down on leave, taking her out of the PRC and letting her experience some of the world around her). And after getting engaged to his girlfriend (and promising to be back in 6 months) he heads off to fight... not the aliens but the other part of humanity that has colonized deep space (Russian/China coalition). And then things get worse. Finally he is basically exiled (with a whole bunch of other people) onto some ice world.  And then things get worse again. 4/5 (AB)

Angles of Attack (Frontlines #3) by Marko Kloos

• Surviving the trials of the last book, Andrew is now stuck out on the ice world. With a ragtag group of ships from both sides they finally start working together against the enemy menace. After going back to Earth-space, coming back to the ice world and then finally returning to Earth (and linking up with his fiancee) things of course take another bad turn. Looking forward to the next book to see where things go from there. (4/5) AB

Rising Tides: Destroyermen, Book 5

Rising Tides: Destroyermen, Book 5 by Taylor Anderson is a solid book. But it feels like you are treading water, because overall the story is taking its sweet time in developing. I still have high hopes and at this point I am quite invested in the characters in series and am curious how things will progress.

This really felt like a development book, setting up the next couple of books for some bang up, drag out fights. Not to say that the book is totally devoid of action, but the biggest danger in this book really came from nature (rouge waves, volcano's) and not from the Grik or to a lesser degree the New Dominion.

The fun (but sometimes dragging part) of this story is that there are number of diverse story lines all running concurrently. CPT Reddy and the Walker visiting New Britain, Sandra and the Princess still shipwrecked, the recovery of the ship full of P-40E's, the attempts to recover S-19, and the ongoing campaign against the Grik. Add in the nature of slow travel and sheer size of the Pacific and things are going to slow down.

That said, I will buying the next novel shortly. Great writing style and even when it is slow it is still a great read with engaging characters and societies.

Zombies: The Recent Dead

I like Zombies. I like Short Stories. Zombie short stories? Sure, why not? Yeah, I picked this book up because I love zombie/post apocalyptic novels and feel that sometimes all you need is a short concise story. I wanted to like it, but......

This book lurked in my list for a long time. I would read a story (I really only found one I tolerated) and then put it off to the side, coming back every so often to bite a small chunk off, get bored and then put it aside again. So I would say I slogged through this book. And this is short story compilation, it shouldn't be like this, where every bite was just not satisfying, but it was. But I rarely give up (from determination or hope, but I rarely quit anything once I started it, be it real life or reading) so I finally finished it (3 months later!).

I will say that the last story was one of the best, so it didn't finish on a truly sour note. But the best thing about this book? That I don't feel compelled to read it any more.