Joshua Palmatier's Blog, page 21

Book Review: "The Misfortune Cookie" by Laura Resnick

This is the sixth book in the Esther Diamond urban fantasy series, with an emphasis on humor and fun, rather than being dark like most of the urban fantasy out there. I've been enjoying this series since the first book and recommend it for someone looking for a light, easy break from typical urban fantasy out there.





The premise of this book: Esther's usual waitressing job is ended when the restaurant run and frequented by one of the mob families in the city is raided by none other than her on-again-off-again boyfriend Connor Lopez. Her mob friend and hitman Lucky goes into hiding in Chinatown and ends up calling Esther and Max when he suspects that one of the Chinese mobsters has been killed mysteriously . . . by a fortune cookie. Esther agrees to confront Evil once again, with Max at her side, and it has nothing--absolutely nothing!--to do with the fact that the mobster's son is making an independent film and suddenly needs a new leading lady.

As I said, I've been enjoying this series. It's light and easy to read and the characters are fun to follow around, especially when they get into the most bizarre and interesting situations. Lucky, Max, and Connor return, of course, and all of them end up playing a significant role as the plot unfolds and they start investigating the spread of these misfortune cookies. A good portion of the book is spent on the continuing relationship troubles between Esther and Connor, the main point here being that Connor has slept with Esther and yet HASN'T CALLED HER for over a week since. But Max and his magical talents are actually required in this book, and they are front and center, rather than being performed off to one side. And Lucky plays an important role in the resolution, as well as recognizing the Evil in the first place. We get the introduction of a new character with some fairly strong hints that he'll play a role in the next book. But I don't want to spoil anything here, so that's all I'll say.

I didn't rate this as highly as some of the previous books in this series because it isn't quite a strong in terms of plotline and development. I thought that far too much time was spent on the "hasn't called me yet" aspect of the relationship, but then I'm a guy, so perhaps I'm not tapping into the seriousness of this situation as much as I probably should be. But while reading, I reached the point where I said, "I get it, let's advance this part of the plot to another level, please." I also thought that the main plot regarding the fortune cookies, once it got started, kind of stalled out a little bit in the middle. For a long while, nothing happened with it, mostly because there was (initially) only the one misfortune cookie sent. However, once the second one appeared, the plot rocked from then on.

So, overall a good story and nice installment in the series. Certainly an enjoyable and fun read that doesn't discourage me at all in terms of reading the next book when it comes out. Not as strong as some of the previous books, but certainly much better than a slew of other humorous urban fantasies out there. If you haven't started this series, I suggest to start it now.

Book Review: THE LOST FLEET: RELENTLESS

This is the fifth book in the Lost Fleet series from Jack Campbell. I don't generally read military SF, tending more toward epic fantasy, but everyone now and then I try some for variety. Overall, I enjoy the story, but then head back to the fantasy. Not with this series. I was hooked on the Lost Fleet and its situation and characters from book one and am almost done reading the last book in the series already.





The premise is that John "Black Jack" Geary is woken from 100 years of hibernation to discover that the war that had just begun when he scrambled to get into the escape pod of his ship is still being waged and the Alliance fleet has run into an ambush far behind Syndic enemy lines. Geary is forced to take command and has been leading the fleet back toward home, with some significant loses along the way. Now, only three jumps from Alliance space, the fleet has entered a system with Alliance POWs. Geary refuses to leave them behind, even though he's just learned that the Syndics have pulled a previously unknown "reserve" fleet from their far border and it's waiting between the current system and the only route available toward home.

Again, the characters and the plot of this series continue to evolve and engage. Since the series is winding down, you know that a final confrontation is inevitable, since there are only so many routes Geary can take the fleet in order to reach home. However, the fleet has managed to destroy most of the Syndic's known forces. So it looked like Geary had a decent shot at simply taking the fleet straight home. This book threw in multiple twists to that expectation, including the sudden appearance of this "reserve" fleet. Such a device would normally come off as author manipulation, but in this case, the existence of such a reserve fleet, one that the Alliance had never heard of, and of such size, made complete sense, due to the presence of the aliens on the Syndic's far border.

So, just when the reader has started to relax, and the characters have begun to think they're going to make it back alive, we get a new force for them to deal with, one that they can't simply roll over. Throw in the assault on the planet--something that hasn't happened in any of the previous books--in order to save the POWs, and of course the continued threat of saboteurs in the fleet, and this fifth book is chock full of tension.

The only reason I didn't give this book five stars is because some of the threads mentioned above get resolved in this book in a way that was slightly disappointing. Basically, after the build-up of the past four books, the resolution just felt . . . quick. One thread in particular ended rather swiftly and without any possible complications that Geary or the others may have overlooked. But the majority of the threads continued on and/or were resolved with great satisfaction, so I was not disappointed with the book at all.

This series is still highly recommended, and as I said, I've already nearly finished the last book in the series. I have moved Jack Campbell to my "must read" author list, and will be buying his books as soon as they come out for the foreseeable future . . . even though I'm an "epic fantasy" reader and writer.

DAW's New Releases!

I've posted the latest new releases for August 2014 from DAW Books over at the unofficial blog ( dawbooks )! Swing on by and check out new books from E.C. Blake, Stephen Blackmoore, and Irene Radford! Plus the paperback release of Jim C. Hines' Codex Born.

Latest Book Discussion!

I've posted the latest book discussion over at the DAW Books ( dawbooks ) unofficial blog! Swing on by and check out Happy Hour in Hell by Tad Williams, the second book in his Bobby Dollar series. If you've already read it, let us know what you think!

Book Discussion: "Happy Hour in Hell" by Tad Williams

Time for the last book discussion of the July book releases, Tad Williams' Happy Hour in Hell, the second Bobby Dollar novel. Here's the new cover and cover copy! Who's read this one already? What did you think?





Cover Copy: I've been told to go to Hell more times than I can count. But this time I'm actually going.

My name’s Bobby Dollar, sometimes known as Doloriel, and of course, Hell isn’t a great place for someone like me--I’m an angel. They don’t like my kind down there, not even the slightly fallen variety. But they have my girlfriend, who happens to be a beautiful demon named Casimira, Countess of Cold Hands. Why does an angel have a demon girlfriend? Well, certainly not because it helps my career.

She’s being held hostage by one of the nastiest, most powerful demons in all of the netherworld--Eligor, Grand Duke of Hell. He already hates me, and he’d like nothing better than to get his hands on me and rip my immortal soul right out of my borrowed but oh-so-mortal body.

But wait, it gets better! Not only do I have to sneak into Hell, make my way across thousands of miles of terror and suffering to reach Pandemonium, capital of the fiery depths, but then I have to steal Caz right out from under Eligor’s burning eyes and smuggle her out again, past demon soldiers, hellhounds, and all the murderous creatures imprisoned there for eternity. And even if I somehow manage to escape Hell, I’m also being stalked by an undead psychopath named Smyler who’s been following me for weeks. Oh, and did I mention that he can’t be killed?

So if I somehow survive Hell, elude the Grand Duke and all his hideous minions and make it back to the real world, I’ll still be the most hunted soul in Creation. But at least I’ll have Caz. Gotta have something to look forward to, right?

So just pour me that damn drink, will you? I’ve got somewhere to go.

Book Review: "Chimes at Midnight" by Seanan McGuire

This is the seventh book in the October Daye series by Seanan McGuire. This is a dark, urban fantasy series, with an emphasis on the dark, focusing on how the fae are living in their knowes adjacent to our more mundane real world. The series starts off a little rocky in my opinion, but has steadily been improving both in the quality and focus in the most recent books, starting with Late Eclipses (book four). This book continue that trend.





The premise here is that October is investigating the sudden appearance of goblin fruit on the streets, which is highly addictive to changelings and humans, so addictive it kills them. Once she has proof that multiple changelings have died from the addiction, she goes to the Queen of the Mists to get help with the problem . . . and is promptly banished from the realm, given three days to pack up and ship out. Now she's scrambling to save herself from eviction from faerie completely, her allies banding behind her, and the only option may be to depose the Queen.

Again, the quality of the books has increased steadily and this book was solid. The characters are, once again, engaging and the plot moves along at a swift pace. In earlier books, the plot and some of October's decisions were . . . well, rocky and sometime didn't make sense. Not so here (or in the previous few books). Seanan appears to have completely settled into this world and this character. Probably the best part of this book is how October finds her allies supporting her in her efforts, all of the actions in previous books coming into play to help her achieve her goal. Also great, October doesn't wallow in angst and being alone, nor does she hesitate to accept the help she's offered. In past books, she'd refuse help or shove it to one side, which was always annoying. As a character, she's grown, and this book brings all of that growth to the forefront. Also nice, some of the plot threads that were alluded to in previous books (such as the goblin fruit being a problem on the streets, and multiple other side comments) are finally pulled together and addressed. Not all of them, and there's obviously some loose ends in this book that need to be tied up, but many of them come together here.

So, overall, a great book in this series. One or two minor things were overplayed (the kissing of Tybalt got slightly annoying and also the reliance on the Luideag in the first part of the book) but those were, as I said, minor. I'm looking forward to the next book in this series, which should be out sometime this fall.

The Latest Book Discussion!

I've just posted the book discussion for How the White Trash Zombie Got Her Groove Back over at the DAW Books, Inc. unofficial blog ( dawbooks )! Swing on by and check out this series, which I've been enjoying from the start. This is the fourth book in the series.

Latest Book Discussion!

I've just posted the latest book discussion at the DAW Books unofficial blog ( dawbooks )! We're looking at Shattering the Ley, the first book in a series by me, Joshua Palmatier. Swing on by and check it out!

Book Review: "The Lost Fleet: Valiant" by Jack Campbell

This is the fourth book in the Lost Fleet series. It's military SF, which I don't usually read and/or enjoy, but I have to say that this series rocks. So maybe I do like military SF . . . just only the good kind. *grin* In any case, if you like realistic, hardcore, military SF, then you should be reading this series.





In this book, we get the continuation of the battle at Lakota star system, which in the previous book is where Captain John Geary found his fleet trapped and outflanked by the Syndics . . . with the help of the elusive aliens that gave the Alliance and the Syndics the hypernet gates. Geary managed to get the majority of his fleet away from the jaws of the trap, but then immediately turned around and returned to the system, hoping the move would catch the Syndics by surprise. At the same time, the forces within the fleet that don't want Geary to succeed have stepped up their on internal attacks, raising the level by actively killing members of the fleet that could expose them . . . and targeting John Geary himself and those that support him.

Again, the book and the plight of both John Geary and the fleet capture the reader's interest and sympathy and immediately draw you into the story. The key to this series' success (at least for me) is the focus on the characters and the near-impossible situation that they find themselves in. That's what keeps the book riveting, not the realistic space battles. The political intrigue taking place internally also keeps me reading, since Geary's greatest enemy isn't actually the Syndics or the aliens, it's people within his own fleet. To add to all of this, here the relationship that has been developing between Geary and the captain of the Dauntless also comes to the fore--a relationship that neither one of the two can act upon without serious consequences. All of this combines for another great book in the series.

The only reason that I didn't give this book 5 stars was because the book itself is off balance. There are some great scenes in the first half of the book as the fleet re-enters Lakota and is forced to deal with the Syndics forces that remain there and their own internal sabotage. However, after that, the book enters into a lull that pretty much extends all the way to the end of the book. There are some internal struggles in there, and one or two moral issues raised and addressed, but the immediacy of everything is lost when the fleet departs Lakota. Basically, I felt the first half of the book completed the arc started in the previous book, and the second half was simply a transition period getting us to the next book. Yes, some things were developed--necessary things, even--but the main thrust of the book happened in the first half.

So, that simply means readers should immediately move on to the fifth book in the series, which I fully intend to do. *grin* Even with the lull, it was a great book and retained my interest all the way to the end. Definitely interested in seeing what happens next.

Latest Book Discussion Posted!

I've posted the first of the July book discussions at the DAW Books unofficial blog ( dawbooks )! We're looking at Elisha Magus, the second book from E.C. Ambrose in the Dark Apostle series. Swing on by and check it out!