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)

October Read's

• Scattered, Smothered and Chunked - Bubba the Monster Hunter Season 1 by John G. Hartness
• Since I have read Larry Correia's MHI series the concept of a redneck monster hunter isn't too far of a stretch for me. But Bubba is a distinct voice. Working, for of all groups, the Catholic Church as a freelance monster hunter the stories in this book were varied and entertaining. We don't learn the whole truth of what formed the personality of Bubba until the final novella, which goes into his origin story, but overall the flow works. There were a number of LOL moments in this book that kept me entertained throughout.
• CTRL ALT Revolt! by Nick Cole
• Set in the not too far future, this is the story that addresses why a large fear of the tech community, artificial intelligence (or machine sentience), represents such a fundamental threat to the human race. Gaming plays a big role in this story, focusing on Fish, a game developer, and Mara, a blind DD girl who is trying to rise above it all. The pace was a little anemic at first, but things slowly come to a boil and people are racing around both in the real world and in the electronic games worlds which play such a key role to the plot. And now I learn that the author has another book (Soda Pop Soldier) that this basically the prequel to, so that just got added to the pile.
• The Trafalgar Gambit (Ark Royal #3) by Christopher Nuttall (Goodreads Author)
• Breaking away completely from the BSG-yness from the first the first book, this story yet again focuses on the mission and crew of the HMS Ark Royal. Shifting a little more into the geo-(galacto?) political realm, we find the crew on a last ditch attempt to open up diplomatic relations with the aliens (which they determine to have seperate factions based on the actions of some of the ships in the second book). But war is politics in another form, so even with the diplomatic mission there is still a lot of action left in this story to satisfy. The trilogy is ended in a satisfactory manner (and only because of a hunch did I realize that there was a follow-on series).
• Dead Six (Dead Six #1) by Larry Correia
• Parallel stories about two black-ops operators dealing with a murky world. Both of the main characters, Valentine and Lorenzo, are engaged against the terrorists that exist in a fake middle eastern country similar to Qatar.  Valentine works for Dead Six, an black CIA backed set of operators who are tasked with taking the war to the terrorists homes/vacation spot. In the end they are deemed to be disposable and are themselves marked themselves. Lorenzo is more of an independent operator with a small team that is being blackmailed to complete a mission of obtaining a key (which opens a special door.... the contents of which aren't explained but are very mysterious/supernatural). There is some overlap, characters die and in the end you have Valentine and Lorenzo up against their respective organizations as a team. I am interested to see where this goes in the next book.
• The Gap Into Conflict: The Real Story (Gap #1) by Stephen R. Donaldson
• This is kind of a twisted perverse little story. The two main characters are pirates, in a future where the area of space they are operating in is fairly lawless. The more twisted part is what happens to the female space cop, who is captured and controlled by Angus Thermopyle who takes advantage of her and is also the focus of attention of the other main character (also a pirate) Nick Succorso. I am not sure why this series is so popular but since I already have the second book I guess I will find out.

June Reads

Amazing how little reading gets done when you are stuck in a whirlwind of requirements that come with being a Company Commander during Annual Training in the National Guard. Basically for 2 weeks I didn't read or watch most anything.

• Technomancer (Unspeakable Things #1) by B.V. Larson
• I started this book on a "meh" note... for some reason it didn't click right away and only after I was about 1/4 into the book did I really get engaged. This book covers the standard problem that a lot of readers have of having to discover the world the characters are in by literally making the main character a blank slate. With effective amnesia (able to do things like read, talk, drive, shoot guns, but not able to remember any personal details) the main character wakes in a hospital facility in one of my most . Slowly we learn more about this world, with the weird occurrences and "magical" devices that are the key to people's "magic". I was quite satisfied by the way that the events finally built up to the ending.
• Ark Royal (Ark Royal #1) by Christopher Nuttall
• It is hard to imagine that a potential reader of this book hasn't watched Battle Star Galactica just as much as the average reader should see that the writer obviously was influenced. Aging Carrier close to retirement? Check. Carrier the new hope for Humanity? Check. Command staff with a lot of personal issues? Check. Fighter pilots going at it like rabbits? Check.
  But the Author does a good job once you can forgive him for the fact that he was strongly influenced by BSG, even if just in his subconscious. 
• United States Of Apocalypse by Mark Tufo (Goodreads Author), Armand Rosamilia (Goodreads Author)
• Not a bad little story. Nothing like a reminder that apocalypse can be started by more mundane actions. (Though North Korea? Could you have picked a more unlikely bad guy?) This one does a good job on focusing on two people, one in NYC and one in the unpopulated area of California. You don't see a lot of stories focusing on what happens to the big cities, because in the end you are fairly toast in all but the smaller ones unless you bug out quickly.

Kitty Takes a Holiday (Kitty Norville #3) by Carrie Vaughn

Kitty Takes a Holiday (Kitty Norville #3)

by Carrie Vaughn

This book was kind of a slog to get through. I continue to enjoy reading stories involving Kitty, but this story seemed somewhat adrift and not anchored like the first two books.  It also had the odd feel that there were basically two stories in this book that are combined. The mystery of who is harassing Kitty during her self-enforced isolation and the part where she deals with the aftereffects of the first story.

Overall we get a better understanding of the world that Kitty lives in (with the expansion of new types of supernatural creatures and of magic) as well as better understanding of the two men who dominate her life, her lawyer, Ben, and her occasional hunter ally Cormic.

I really do enjoy the tone (the voice) of Kitty, she remains an engaging character and I have hopes for the next book. It helps that in the end she is back where she belongs, behind the mic.

Kitty Goes to Washington

Kitty Goes to Washington (Kitty Norville #2)

by Carrie Vaughn (Goodreads Author)

Gotta love it when the book is set in my hometown.  And in this case the author seems to actually have visited DC.   I am really come around to Kitty. Beyond the amusement of a werewolf named Kitty, her character seems fairly consistent and is entertaining to me.
This time Kitty has been summoned to DC to testify to Congress.  After the events of the first book, more of the supernatural is out and Congress wants answers. DC of course has it's own supernatural underground...  A senior vampire with tight control of the city, were's who work for embassy's and a much more tolerant collection of were's.

The supernatural backstory of this world continues to grow, in this case we are introduced to the concept of elves (and magic that works).

Kitty's big mouth continues to get her in trouble, and her overriding curiosity doesn't help either.

Fun read and I am looking forward to the next book.

Soulless

Soulless (Parasol Protectorate #1)

by Gail Carriger

I really liked this book. I read a lot of fiction with Vampires and Werewolves in them, and the most interesting part is what sort of twist the author puts on the particular legend. Soulless delivers on that, with an interesting twist of being set in Victorian England in a world where the Vamps and Were's are known and even mostly accepted in society and in this case there is an interesting twist...  You have the rare supernatural (who only survive the transition if they have an excess of soul), the common normal (normal amount of soul), and the ultra-rare preternatural (no soul).

Alexia Tarabotti is soulless, and her mere touch completely dampens the supernaturals ability (i.e. a vampire could walk in the day if holding on to her). A spinster who has been "put on the shelf" (at the old age of 25!) and barely tolerates the upper class world that she lives in (choosing to focus on things such as science and current events) she seems to find herself embroiled in supernatural machinations.  She is friends with a foppish vampire and interacts with the supernatural regulatory agency (run in this case by an alpha were and his beta) on a regular basis.

Everything is fine until a vampire, badly dressed and not part of the local (Westminster) hive, decides that she is a viable snack.  What follows is a great romp where we learn more of the underlying society, about the great plot she has stumbled onto and a fair amount of romance (at least by Victorian standards). Very satisfying book that is well written with strong identifiable characters, great dialog and a plot that moves steadily along.

One Foot in the Grave (Night Huntress #2)

by Jeaniene Frost (Goodreads Author)

Now with government sanction.  Fast forwarding from the last book by 5 years, we catch up with Cat as she has become part of the government organization that took her in at the end of the last book, still pining for Bones. Which is good since Bones quickly shows up after searching for her the past couple of years (not buying her note that she left him).  She does have a strong support group, new friends and coworkers that very much like her (some a little too much) but other her work she doesn't have all that much else going on in her life.

We learn a little more about the quirks of the Vampire world, meet Cat's father (or sire depending on interpretation) and overall quickly move along on a whirlwind plot.  All of which leads full circle to the beginning of the book, and a suprise decision that shows that Cat is more than just a vengence demon out for blood against rouge vampires (talk about daddy issues).

Halfway to the Grave (Night Huntress #1)

Halfway to the Grave (Night Huntress #1) by Jeaniene Frost

This was a heck of a fun read. This book introduces Catherine Crawfield, a half-vampire Vampire hunter. While sometimes the vampire thing seems a bit played out, Cat is an interesting twist. The whole vampire mythology is pretty much mainline (super strength, ability to confuse minds, super-healing, and of course the whole blood sucking thing. The devil in these stories is in the details, like the fact that Vamp's are only susceptible to silver and wither away when killed.) the idea of the halfbreed is more open to interpretation.

Cat is the product of a vampire rape (which apparently has to occur in the short period of a less than a week from being turned) who is raised by her mother. At 16 she finally told how she came to being and is put on the path to staking every vampire she can get her hands on. The story finds us joining her at age 22, with quite a collection of vampires laying around her grandparents farm. Everything was going well until she picks up her next victim, Bones.

We learn more about Bones and his particular quest and, as so often happens in these sorts of tales,  eventually there develops a romantic interest. Luckily the seemingly required erotic bits are short and not too painful to listen to.

The events in the story quickly escalate and are well written. But the jewel of the story is Cat, quippy and fun to listen to (ala Buffy), which ensures that I will be taking on the next book shortly.