Tag Archives: 4 stars

Cursor’s Fury by Jim Butcher

16 Tuesday Feb 2010

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Jim Butcher continues to justify my purchases of his books. The Dresden Files have been strong through the first five books I’ve read. This is the third book in the Cursors Fury, and I enjoyed it as much as the first.

Butcher balances strong characters, political intrigues, dangerous foes, and an interesting magic without so much as breaking a sweat. The book is an easy read with great action and suspense, a developing love interest, and a main character whose weakness continues to turn into a strength. In this volume, we also learn a couple of very surprising facts that will no doubt come into play in the next volumes. I can’t wait to get the next book in the series and keep going.

Here’s hoping that this series by Butcher doesn’t go the way of the Wheel of Time or that Goodkind series (if you don’t know, that means 5 great books, and 6 more extremely mediocre or even brutal tomes)

Rating: 4 out of 5 (What’s This?)

Red Storm Rising by Tom Clancy

26 Tuesday Jan 2010

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I needed a long book to take with me to China. Tom always delivers on long books. I thought about taking the Bear and the Dragon with me, but wasn’t sure if it would be confiscated on the way into the country.

Red Storm Rising explores a scenario that would cause Russia to go to war with the NATO countries in order to break their treaty and seize the oilfields in the Middle East. Clancy presents a plausible explanation that makes everything follows inevitable.

From personal hardship, valor, and tragedy to national diplomacy and espionage, Clancy covers the war from outset to conclusion with this typical technical mastery and intense scenes.

Rating: 4 out of 5 (What’s this?)

Point of Impact by Stephen Hunter

02 Sunday Aug 2009

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If you are anything like me, you loved the Tom Clancy novels. At least you did until Red Rabbit and Teeth of the Tiger. The disparate yet interwoven storylines in books like Clear and Present Danger, Debt of Honor and Rainbow Six kept me riveted and always wondering how it would all come together. Clancy was a master of technology as well, which he showed in each novel as well as in his series of non-fiction books like Fighter Wing and Special Forces.

Point of Impact is like a Clancy novel without the extraneous story lines and political power plays. It is the story of one man, his sniper rifle, and a dastardly plot to frame him for a murder he didn’t commit.

The book is fast paced, well executed, and any NRA members wet dream. There was a little too much rifle detail for me at times, but I found the same with Clancy. Sometimes the books just get a little too technical, but it shows you that the author knows what they are talking about, and the character truly is an expert at what they do.

If you liked the penultimate scene on the hill in the jungle in Clear and Present Danger (The Battle of Ninja Hill, Chapter 27), you will love the gun battle on the hill in the forest in this book. It is the second book I’ve read with Bob Swagger. The other was 47th Samurai and I loved that book. By the way, Bob Swaggers nickname is Bob the Nailer. That’s just great.

Checking this Wikipedia page it appears there are three other Bob Swagger books. I believe I’ll be picking those up now.

Oh, and I’ve seen the movie “Shooter” that is based on this book. It isn’t half bad, but the book is much better, as it typically the case.

Rating 4 out of 5  (see ratings)

Furies of Calderon by Jim Butcher

27 Monday Jul 2009

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A two week long sojourn in Glacier National Park has left me woefully behind on my blogs. When you hike for most of the day but are back at camp by three in the afternoon, it leaves a lot of time for reading. So, without further adieu, I will begin firing off four reviews in quick order.

First, let’s talk about Jim Butcher and his Codex Alera series. If you have been paying attention, you may already realize that I have read a lot of Jim Butcher’s books. Actually, I think I have read five of his books just this year alone. When I find a good author, I tend to devour all of their work. Just ask Stephen King, Tom Clancy, Stephan Pressfield, or Stephan Lawhead. Well, don’t do that actually. They probably don’t know that I have read their books.

Furies of Caleron is a fairly standard fantasy series. The way I see it, there are two types. One features really powerful heroes matched up against extremely difficult situations (See Savlatore, R.A.). The other type of fantasy story whisks a seemingly normal yet sort of weak person into events way beyond their control, yet somehow they end up saving the world. Both types can be great entertainment, and every once in a while it becomes great literature. At least if you are Tolkien it does.

Furies of Calderon picks the latter situation. A young boy, picked on for his deficiencies, saves the realm. It is a pretty standard plotline throughout. What makes this book great is the setting, the magic, and the characters.

It is set in a Roman-era world. There are legions, horses, stone buildings, no guns and no technology. I love reading historical fiction in this setting, so I was pretty interested to see what would happen with a fantasy book set in this timeframe. I don’t believe I have read any fantasy with Roman leanings.

The magic is one of a kind as well. And when you are reading fantasy, isn’t that what you are looking for? You want to be awed and inspired by the fantastical things that can happen. In Furies for Calderon, every person in the country has tamed an elemental power, called a Fury. These furies come in water, earth, wind, fire, and a handful of other flavors. They can do the person’s bidding for healing, water, for flying, wind, or for damage, fire. It sounds a bit odd at first, but Butcher really pulls it off.

The lead character is a boy named Tavi. He is the only one that doesn’t have a fury, and yet he is smack in the center of the action, having to use his wits and resourcefulness to get everyone out of a tight jam. There are a handful of other great characters in the book, some interesting twists, and the beginning of a great fantasy realm.

Rating 3.5 out of 5 – really entertaining, just not sure I would reread it any time soon.  (see ratings)

Golf is Not a Game of Perfect by Dr. Bob Rotella

19 Friday Jun 2009

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Click to buy at Amazon

I started out the year with high hopes for my golf game. I was going to practice a couple of times per week, hit lots of putts, maybe take some lessons, and try to get down to a single digit handicap.

I shot a 39 on April 9 of this year at a tough course. I thought for sure I was on the right track. After that, it wasn’t pretty. I was in the high 50s for a number of rounds in a row. And it wasn’t a full round of 18. I was getting discouraged and started to think I really needed rebuild my swing from the ground up.

I bought two books at the same time. The first was Five Lessons: The Modern Fundamentals of Golf by Ben Hogan. I heard it was a great place to start to learn how to play golf. The other book was Golf is Not a Game of Perfect by Dr. Rotella.

I started reading the Hogan book first. It’s full of wonderful illustrations and Hogan has a direct and concise way of explaining the complex nature of the golf swing. There are definitely a lot of great things to pick up in that book.

I read a chapter or two and then started reading the book by Dr. Rotella. His book deals with the psychology of sports, and more specifically, the psychology of playing golf. As I read it, I realized my problem wasn’t so much that I didn’t know how to swing. It was that I didn’t believe in my swing. I had too many unfulfilled expectations, too many missed opportunities that haunted my thoughts as I played, too many mechanical ideas to focus on, and wasn’t having nearly enough fun playing the game.

He has a number of great ideas in the book that have helped me find some balance on the course. A few that I focus on are:

  • Don’t take swing thoughts onto the course with you, they are for the practice range. You can’t fix it on the course anyway, so play with the game you brought.
  • Take the shot you know you can hit and swing with confidence. Play smart.
  • Stick to a pre-shot routine. Do it every time.
  • Aim at a small target.
  • Practice with your short game often. That’s where you score.

If you can hit the ball well most of the time but aren’t getting the results you want, this is a great book to read. This book can help you understand the mental side of the game. If you are still figuring out how to hit the ball, then go get Hogan’s book first.

Last week I shot a 42 and felt great about it. I was even able to right the ship after a terrible seven where I took six shots inside of a hundred yards. I believe this book has helped me out a lot, and I make sure to read a little bit of it each time before I go and play.

Rating: 4 out of 5 – It isn’t a masterpiece novel, but it is a must have for any golfer who wants to play better.  (what do the ratings mean)

Angels and Demons by Dan Brown

22 Friday May 2009

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I’ve read all of Dan Brown’s books previously. With the motion picture release of Angel’s and Demons, I thought I’d run through the book again and try to remember what it is all about.  When I picked it up and saw that it was over five hundred pages, I almost had second thoughts. It’s not that I don’t like a long book. I do. In fact, I often pick up books at the book store because they are large.  But I wanted to get it done quickly so my wife could read it and we’d be ready to see the movie.

Fifteen pages in, I realized it wasn’t going to be a problem. I told my wife that she probably wouldn’t see me for a while and proceeded to devour the book.  I’d forgotten what Brown excels at.  The pages of his books go by faster than Superman on his way to a burning building.  Chapters are short, concise, and end with a cliffhanger.  It’s almost impossible to put down, because you know in another couple of pages that small plot point will be cleared up, but another will appear.

Brown’s books follow a formula. There’s nothing wrong with that if it’s exciting, even if you can predict a little bit what’s going to happen. Let’s run down the list:

  • Devious henchman with ultimate motivation – Check
  • Shadowy archfiend who’s identity we don’t find out until the end – Check
  • Clues that only one person in the world can figure out, and he happens to be there – Check
  • Tangled web of truth and fiction dealing with inflammatory historical material with potentially ulterior religious motiviation – Check
  • Surprise ending – Check
  • Excellent read, no matter your feelings on the subject matter – Check

Brown’s never going to get compliments for his prose, or even his character building. He’s writing a pulp fiction thriller, with lots of semi historical and potentially inflammatory material to build from.  For me, I think it’s great.  He makes people interested in art and architecture.  I’ve always wanted to go to Rome, but now I have specific things I’d love to see.  After reading the Da Vinci code, my interest in going to Paris and the Louvre was piqued. 

The religious aspects of his book don’t bother me in the least. If you aren’t strong enough in your faith to question it sometimes, or to do research on where the religion came from and what it’s been through, then you may have a larger problem than the plot of a Dan Brown novel.

And besides, it’s fiction! It’s a story.   And a pretty enjoyable one at that.

If you like this book and haven’t read the Da Vinci Code, you need to do that. And don’t forget his new book, The Lost Symbol, comes out this September.

Rating: 4 out of 5. (what do the ratings mean?)

The Last of the Mohicans – James Fenimore Cooper

08 Friday May 2009

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I hated the first chapter of this book. I was ready to toss it aside almost immediately.  I didn’t like the author’s tone, the way he talked directly to me, the way he described his characters, and the old style English it was written in. It took me three days to get through that first chapter.   A good friend of mine promised that the book got better, so I kept going.

And I am very glad that I did.  Chapter two immediately improved. Cooper stopped talking to me, and started telling the story.  The main protagonists were introduced; Hawkeye, the white scout living among Indians, Chingachgook, a lone Mohican chief and friend of Hawkeye, and Uncas, the son of Chingachgook, and the last of the Mohicans.  These three, along with three other white characters, spend the novel trying to recover two young ladies captured by the Hurons.

The action starts immediately in chapter two and doesn’t let up through the rest of the book.  There are many skirmishes between the heroes and the wily Hurons, a massacre at an English fort, a night raid, disguises, and a full scale battle to round out the story.  

It isn’t an easy read, but if you can persevere and begin to find the ebb and flow of Scott’s prose, you’ll be rewarded with a great tale.  I was truly moved at the end of the book. Either that or someone was chopping onions as I the last chapter ended.  I was attached to the characters and stunned with the way things concluded.

I don’t know that I’ll be picking up the book any time soon, but I am definitely going to be watching the movie.

4 out of 5.

Grave Peril – Dresen Files book 3 – by Jim Butcher

30 Monday Mar 2009

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After finishing a long and not so entertaining non-fiction book, I like to read something that I know will pique my interest.  Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files comes through in spades again.  The action kicks in immediately and only slows down for one or two chapters.

This time, Harry Dresden, our erstwhile hero, has some new help in the person of Michael Carpenter.  Michael is known as the Fist of God and is a Knight with a strong Faith and a sweet sword. He watches Harry’s back and destroys evil wherever he finds it. The ghosts in Chicago are running rampant, and it’s up to them to find out who or what is causing that to happen. 

The Dresden files are starting to fit into a mold.  Something ugly goes bump in the night.  Only one person in Chicago is equipped to fight the bad guy, and it’s Harry Dresden.  He sets out to find out what’s going on, and things go from bad to worse to badder to worser in a hurry. I know, not remotely grammatically correct, but I think you get the idea.  Just when you think it is as bad as it gets, it isn’t.  This time, it gets so bad that Harry dies – for a minute.  How can he get out?

Butcher set me up again this time.  As I read through the first half of the book, I started wondering why Dresden didn’t just do some badass magic stuff and get it over with.  He always seems so weak.  Ask and you shall receive.  When things look bleakest, Harry Dresden finds a way to get through.  And he does it in spectacular fashion.

I love a book that causes me to feel some emotion.  As long as it isn’t irritation, it’s a good thing.  This book managed to make me laugh and cheer.  Although it was a familiar plot arc, I really didn’t care.  Butcher does it well and made it feel fresh. I think I’ll try and find out if he can continue to keep it going through the whole series.

Rating: 4 out of 5  (see the rating system)

Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman

22 Sunday Feb 2009

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I hadn’t read any Gaiman until I heard of him from Patrick Rothfuss.  Rothfuss is a big fan of his, and since I liked his book The Name of the Wind, I was willing to try one of his favorite authors.  I am glad I did.  American Gods, the first book of Gaiman’s that I read, was an outstanding story of a class between the old gods of mythology, and the new gods of technology. Being a fan of Norse Mythology helped bring that book to life for me. Odin and Loki were two of the main characters.

In Anansi Boys, a similar thread is picked up.  Anansi is a West African character prevalent in many cultural stories.  You should learn more about it him here.  He appeared in American Gods, and in Anansi Boys, we learn about Anansi’s children; Fat Charlie and Spider.

Fat Charlie hates his father.  He hasn’t seen him in many years and he is not upset at all about it.  When Fat Charlie was a child, his father embarrassed him all of the time.  Now Fat Charlie will do anything to avoid an embarrassing situation.  But when Fat Charlie’s father dies, he feels obligated to head home and bury his father.  

While back in Florida, Fat Charlie learns he has a brother named Spider, and that his father was a god.  Fat Charlie doesn’t believe a word of it. However, he soon has to confront his brother and his heritage.  The story follows Fat Charlie and Spider as they learn about each other and confront their enemies, both in this world, and where the gods live.

Gaiman’s stories are unlike any other I’ve read. I typically read historical fiction or fantasy, with some science fiction and thrillers thrown in.  Gaiman’s stories seem to be of fantastic and unbelievable scenarios, yet he brings them utterly to life.  He weaves the impossible into everyday reality.  His writing takes on a lyrical quality as well, and often you find yourself rereading a passage for the sheer joy of it.  Let me share one of my favorites:

Daisy looked up at him with the kind of expression that Jesus might have given someone who had just explained that he was probably allergic to bread and fishes, so could He  possibly do him a quick chicken salad: there was a pity in that expression, along with almost infinite compassion.

You should read that a few times over. I know I have. It makes me smile every time.

If you like a good story and want to read something different then pick up this book, American Gods, or Stardust (I forgot about Stardust for a minute. If you don’t have time for the book, definitely watch the movie).

4 stars – See the explanation of the ratings

Fool Moon (The Dresden Files, Book 2) by Jim Butcher

13 Tuesday Jan 2009

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I’m going to try my hand at a couple of one-liners that can be put on this book in its 8th printing. Let’s see how it goes.

“Harry Potter’s got nothing on Harry Dresden.” – Libzig.com

“This book made me pee my pants…just a little.” – Libzig.com

“Chicago’s only wizard in the yellow pages is as good at getting himself into trouble as he is at getting out of it.” – Libzig.com

Ok. That’s enough practice. I think it’s obvious that my one –liners need a little work.  I read Book 1, Storm Front,  of the series last year, and immediately put Book 2 on my Amazon.com wish list.  After reading this book in just a couple of days, I now have Books 3-10 on my wish list. I don’t think I’ll be waiting until next year to read them.

I’m not ready to put this next to Shogun, Byzantium, or Gates of Fire on my short list of books that I’m always looking to reread, but it’s not far off.  Dresden is a very believable character.  He has flaws, self-doubt, and a biting sarcasm that left my wife continuously wondering just what was so funny.  He’s committed to using his gift of magic for good, but at the same time recognizes a lurking evil within him ready to subvert his magic and fuel it with lust and greed.

The story moves along at a good clip, with Dresden sliding into deeper and deeper trouble. Each time it looks like he’s gotten clear, something goes wrong to place him in a more perilous situation than before.  Help comes to him in unlooked for, but not unbelievable places.

If you haven’t read Book 1 of the series, I suggest you do so. You’ll find Dresden to be a compelling character and you can head into Book 2 knowing the back story.  In Fool Moon, you’ll find Dresden helping the Chicago Police investigate a number of grisly murders that have been taking place around the time of the full moon.  The attacks seem to be the work of wild animals.  Wild animal attacks during the full moon?  The only wizard in the yellow pages isn’t brought in unless there is something a little more sinister to it.  But who knew there were so many types of werewolves in Chicago?

There was a few times early on where I thought Dresden was a bit “weak” for a wizard.  He didn’t pull out any sweet moves and seemed a bit overwhelmed by the whole thing.  Butcher does a good of showing Dresden’s resolve, and before the end he dropped some powerful magic.  Turns out he’s a bit of a bad ass.

The book is excellent. I’m not sure much more needs to be said. Pick it up soon. Read it quickly, and buy more of the Dresden series.  I think I’ll be trying out some of Butcher’s other series as well.

4 stars – see the book rating explanation here