Ricky Pine's Blog, page 103

Review: The Death and Life of Zebulon Finch, Vol. 1: At the Edge of Empire

The Death and Life of Zebulon Finch, Vol. 1: At the Edge of Empire by Daniel Kraus
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In recent months, I've been working to find a good YA historical piece, often with poor results (as was the case with Salt To The Sea or Razorhurst.) This brick of a book from Daniel Kraus, with a larger-than-life title to match, fits the bill a little better, perhaps better than any YA historical I've read since The Monstrumologist. Appropriate, given that the first Kraus book I read,...

Review: Blood for Blood

Blood for Blood by Ryan Graudin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

For the sequel to Wolf By Wolf, Ryan Graudin takes the reader on another whirlwind tour of this alternate history where Hitler lives eleven years longer than he did in the real world...and the Valkyrie plan has been revived to try and effect a long-needed coup. Though Blood for Blood is no less fast-paced than its predecessor, it also suffers from a tendency to get lost in too many plot threads and too much focus on characters other th...

Review: Devil's Advocate

Devil's Advocate by Jonathan Maberry
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Pairing beautifully with Kami Garcia's Fox Mulder origin story Agent of Chaos, Jonathan Maberry whips up another masterful horror-mystery in Devil's Advocate, wherein he focuses on teenage Dana Scully. Raised Catholic - or, at least, in Catholic school - Scully finds herself troubled by horrifying visions of devilish murders, and in order to get to the bottom of a rash of deaths at her new school, she needs to delve into some East...

Review: Agent of Chaos

Agent of Chaos by Kami Garcia
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The first of the two X Files Origins books, this one focuses on teenage Fox Mulder, as written by Kami Garcia. I've been waiting for Garcia to really dazzle me again for a while, since I'm still waiting on continuations for the Dangerous Creatures and Legion series (there's no way those could end where they did!) But for another opportunity for Garcia to show how good she is at writing teenagers getting into paranormal creepery, this boo...

Review: Empire of Storms

Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

First off, I have to say that flaming blue-orange contrast cover with Aelin looking incredibly more beautiful and kick-ass than ever is just downright awesome.

Second off, the one and only proper reaction to that doozy of an ending:



So. Empire of Storms.

Honestly, after Queen of Shadows with its Lovecraftian horror and demonic possessions every-freaking-where, I thought Maas had peaked. Maybe she has - the books she's put out in the las...

Review: Hunt for Jade Dragon

Hunt for Jade Dragon by Richard Paul Evans
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This fourth Michael Vey book, which I know now to be the middle entry in a seven-part series, improves a bit on its predecessor by weaving a somewhat more complex - and yet, comprehensible - web of story. While I was a little unhappy about the previous three books consistently sprinkling in side sections of the story that I felt detracted from the overall experience, here, the side trips finally feel necessary, because some...

Review: Queen of Shadows

Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

At first, I was a bit worried that the length of this book would make it too daunting a task to really enjoy. Luckily, like with a good Harry Potter or Song of Ice and Fire book (or Cassie Clare's epic-sized City of Heavenly Fire), this book delivered lots of high action over its considerable length. Even though I'm not at all happy with some of the character development (Aelin being quite an epic jackass compared to the previous boo...

Review: Good Behavior

Good Behavior by Blake Crouch
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Thanks to my friend Speedy, I got into Good Behavior last fall and soon found myself addicted. I mean, it's based on Blake Crouch's work, so of course it's addictive. But now I get to see, at last, the source material - three novellas, each one following Letty Dobesh on another heist-y misadventure, some more suspenseful than others. The first of these formed the basis for the series pilot (mostly), while the second and third, aside from...

Review: Heir of Fire

Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Huh...so I thought I'd rated this one four stars the first time I read this, but turns out it was five. Well, now that I've re-read it, I'm bringing it down to four for sure. Don't get me wrong, Celaena's story - and rediscovery of her true self as Aelin - makes for some pretty fascinating reading, but it takes up a huge, huge chunk of a huge, huge book at the expense of Chaol's story. For Chaol, it's a shame that much of what we get is...

Review: Crystal Storm

Crystal Storm by Morgan Rhodes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Finally, the fifth - and, unless I'm much mistaken, penultimate - book in Rhodes' Falling Kingdoms series. After the events of its predecessor, here we get some really unlikely team-ups going on, with just about all the original cast forced to clench their teeth and unite against the bigger threats the whole land of Mytica now faces. Those bigger threats, of course, being the various flavors of Kindred and also Amara.

It's great to see J...