Doug Lewars's Blog, page 24

Sacre Bleu

Sacré Bleu by Christopher Moore

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


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This was a romp through the art world of the impressionists and hilarious in parts. It was also a love story and a fast moving adventure. It is not, however, for everyone. If you're squeamish about rape jokes then this isn't the book for you.



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Stranger Things Have Happened

Stranger Things Have Happened by Jeff Strand

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


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This is classified as YA but frankly I think it should be classed as Juvenile Fiction. Children up to eight or nine might enjoy it but I think anyone older will likely walk away. The author created a reasonably good fifteen-year-old but the supporting cast is a bit too over-the-top for the YA group.



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Velocity

Velocity by Dean Koontz

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


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This was an excellent thriller, exciting, fast paced and it keeps you on the edge of your seat throughout. That said, it is not without problems. The plot hinges around the protagonist taking an irrational step when he first receives a sinister note. In addition, it is never clear how the villain came across Billy to begin with. We're told it cane from reading his short stories and villain himself makes mention of 'serendipity' but that seemed a bit of a stretch. In addition, Billy's sudden understanding of art and its underlying meaning near the end seemed rather out of character. Still, I think the reader has to let a few things go in most works of fiction.

Dean Koontz is a very thorough author. His character, Billy, is meticulous in taking every step necessary to hide evidence the killer plants to incriminate him. This is all very well, but having to listen to each and every detail right down to the construction of older homes grew a bit tedious from time to time. Likewise the author's reflections on religion didn't seem necessary. As with modern writing, the protagonist undergoes a transformation throughout the course of the book. Since the plot kept moving right along I could live with Billy's interior growth but for me it didn't add much. Some reviewers claimed the climax was obvious but I didn't see it coming and so found it surprising and a nice twist. If you like mystery in general and thrillers in particular I think you'll like this one.



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The Islands of Chaldea

The Islands of Chaldea by Diana Wynne Jones

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


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This is a pretty good YA book but I'm not certain young people will have the patience to complete it. The pacing is rather slow. Still, I quite enjoyed it and the ending was satisfying. I listened to the audio version and it was very well read.



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The Personal Assistant

The Personal Assistant by Kimberly Belle

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


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This is a pretty good mystery/thriller, however if you need to like the characters to enjoy the book, you may want to pass this one by. None of the characters is particularly pleasant. The perspective changes every few chapters so it's a little difficult to pinpoint which character is the protagonist but one is an Instagram influencer who seems to make a serious error in judgement. Directly the dogpiling starts and everyone wants to cancel her. This was the part I enjoyed most because we see cases of cancel culture all around so portraying it in a story seemed like a good idea. For writers, using a different style which indents and makes bold the internet text should be noted.

While the book was fast paced and interesting, the ending was rather bland. Still, overall the book was enjoyable and worth reading.



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Dark Lord of Derkholm

Dark Lord of Derkholm by Diana Wynne Jones

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


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This was an excellent fantasy adventure, fast paced with plenty of excitement. Unfortunately it wasn't what I'd hoped for. The plot involves a fantasy world being used as a tourist attraction. Revenue is generated from tours from a non-magical world which may have been ours. However even more wealth is flowing in the opposite direction. Worse, the tours create havoc among the population since they're realistic adventures in which the tourists eventually get to defeat a dark lord. Illusion and acting form a part of it but some individuals on both sides are killed or injured. They have real battles. The population for the most part wants the tours to end. Into this we have a wizard whose interests lie in raising magical livestock being cast as the dark lord and being responsible for much of the organization of the tours.
The author sets up all this perfectly. Unfortunately she decided to play it straight when it could have been a spectacular comedy. Imagine a setup like the above with a character such as Terry Pratchett's Rincewind responsible for everything and you'll understand what I was hoping for. Yes it was a good book, but it fell far short of what it might have been.



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Black Maria

Black Maria by Diana Wynne Jones

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


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This is a YA book although I'm not certain young people will enjoy it. It's starts off fairly slowly and many readers may give up before things get lively. It's a pretty good story and operates on a number of levels. For young people it's a story about overcoming someone with the power to change those she dislikes into animals. For adult readers it's a satire on radical feminism in which the women of a village have transformed the men into something like Stepford husbands. Lacking any ability to think for themselves they do whatever they're told. However a part of them is still functioning for if an order is even slightly vague they can interpret in whatever manner they wish. Therefore when they're sent out to hunt the protagonist's brother who has been transformed into a wolf, they wind up killing the wrong wolf. The one they kill is the daughter of Black Maria, a sorcerer even more powerful than her mother. I like the story but found the ending a little vague. We learn what happens to most of the characters but very little is said about Elaine and I found her one of the more interesting individuals. Once the magic is dissipated her husband wants to adopt an orphan but Elaine fist says she hates children and then relents. It's not clear if we're to believe she's had a sudden change or heart or what exactly is happening. Outside of that, the book was quite good.



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Playing With Fire

Playing with Fire by Derek Landy

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


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This is a pretty good YA book. It is non-stop action from beginning to end. I think young people will love it. Older people can enjoy it too but older individuals might not be inclined to rush into the next book in the series. Since it happened the first book in the series was not available, I started with this one and it took a while to come up to speed with respect to what was going on but after a time I managed it. I may continue with the series or at least go back and take a look at the first one but not in the near future.

There's also a bit of humour in the book. I particularly enjoyed the joke about the cannibal.

I recommend this book for authors who want to write action scenes because this author does it very well. Admittedly, the characters are superheros and supervillains loosely disguised by magic but they keep things moving. What impressed me was they way the author seemed to select bits and pieces from various genre, give them a twist and make use of them. For example, many of the fight scenes reminded me of ones I'd seen in anime. Heroes and villains are sent flying, possibly crash through walls and get right back into the fight. Skulduggery himself reminds me a little of the protagonist from Devil May Cry. Likewise, the villains are intent upon restoring the faceless gods who, from the description, seem rather like variations on the ones Lovecraft created.

Taking bits and pieces from here and then, reworking then into something original is something I think authors should consider.

Since this is a series don't look for everything to be resolved a the end but in general I thought the whole thing was very well done and young people will think it's great.



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Fractal Noise

Fractal Noise by Christopher Paolini

My rating: 1 of 5 stars


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DNF

I was in a hurry when I selected this book from the library and failed to see the warning notice on the back cover. Almost at once I realized something was amiss but it took thirty pages or so before I rechecked the blurb and then took a look at the back. There was the warning stating clearly this book had won an award of some sort. It happens that I, and those who act as judges for handing out awards are polar opposites. It they like a book I will abhor it and vice versa. I think many readers, particularly younger ones, will quite enjoy this work. The premise is excellent. A team of surveyors looking to find planets suitable for colonization stumble across an alien artifact. Until that time, no intelligent life had been found in the galaxy. The artifact is a hole dug into the surface of the planet measuring some number of kilometers in diameter and transmitting the Mandelbrot fractal sequence. This much is great. I wanted to keep reading to find out the mystery behind the artifact and transmission. Unfortunately the characters are a disaster. The author may write from various view points but I saw only one, that of a man who lost his wife more than two years before and is still a total basket case. And so we have to deal with the angst of this individual. In addition, I believe many (most? all?) of the other characters have inner demons with which they're doing battle. There are deep, deep conflicts roiling just under the surface. Not for me. This is the type of book I hate and refuse to read. Yes, I would have liked to find out more about the mystery but not enough to listen to page after page of whining. Those readers who enjoy characters with deep dark unresolved issues through which they have to battle in order to find some sort of resolution will love this book. Those who like a good rip-roaring plot are better off looking elsewhere.

Some reviewers dislike the cover being designed by AI. Personally I don't give a damn about whether a human or a computer designed the cover. It's the story I want to read and this one is decidedly lacking.



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Mr. Spicebag

Mr Spicebag by Freddie Alexander

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


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This is a children's book and needs to be evaluated accordingly. It's not to my taste but it wasn't written for me. I think it targets kids from about 7 to 12. Parts of it are a little coarse so I think it would appeal to boys more than girls. The author keeps the plot moving right along. The villain is properly villainous. The protagonist, a 10 year old boy always does his best and manages to win out in the end, and peace is restored. The author's message is to eat healthy foods but I'm pretty certain most young boys will disregard it without difficulty. Children are surprisingly good at spotting and ignoring adult messaging no matter how carefully it is disguised. I listened to the audio version so I don't know if the illustrations are any good but i expect they're fine. After going to the trouble of writing a book I doubt any author would settle for poor illustrations. For adults, I don't recommend the audio version. Children like sound effects and the reader when out of his way to accommodate them. It gets a bit painful at times. If you have a kid in the target age range I think you can give them this book and there's a pretty good chance they'll enjoy it.



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