Ricky Pine's Blog, page 104
January 25, 2017
Review: Cross the Line
Cross the Line by James PattersonMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
I don't think I was really expecting an Alex Cross novel that would top last year's stellar, harrowing Cross Justice, or even the twisty BookShots novella Cross Kill. But still, to have a book that doesn't deliver nearly as much thrills coming off the heels of that tough act to follow, it's pretty disappointing. At least we get good family stories for the Crosses, always a plus, but the case that dominates this book is quite forgetta...
January 23, 2017
Review: Kill Switch
Kill Switch by Jonathan MaberryMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Every horror writer has to dip their toe into the subzero chill of the Cthulhu Mythos pool sometime, and Jonathan Maberry's latest Joe Ledger novel is one of the finest Cthulhu-inspired stories I've seen yet. Loaded for bear with paranormal terror, Fringe-y trips into bizarre dreamworlds where only gods should dwell, apocalyptic thinkers hoping and praying to end the world on their terms, and Joe Ledger having to run all over the place...
January 21, 2017
Review: Carve the Mark
Carve the Mark by Veronica RothMy rating: 2 of 5 stars
*sigh* Well, loyal Pinecones, the time has come for me to review Veronica Roth's latest, and unfortunately, as a Veronica Roth stan till my dying day, I confess myself disappointed.
Before I go into this, please note that I'll be discussing the book's issues with racism and ableism to the best of my ability, but for further reading, I'll direct you to important posts regarding said issues.
* Justina Ireland on racism
* Jenny Trout on ableis...
Review: The Seventh Plague
The Seventh Plague by James RollinsMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
While maybe a bit of a come-down from its predecessor, last year's stellar Sigma novel The Bone Labyrinth, The Seventh Plague is nevertheless every bit as action-packed and classically James Rollins as you can expect from a Sigma book. From coming up with pretty plausible scientific explanations for the Biblical ten plagues of Egypt to involving real-world historical figures (namely, Mark Twain and Nikola Tesla, an unusual combinat...
January 20, 2017
As Of Now...I'm Out.
"Own your weird."
-Z Brewer
Welcome, my friends, to a world without America. But I'm not here to talk about that so much. I'm here to talk about resistance, and a very personal reason why I will not stop resisting the fascism that seeks to grip my zombie nation forever.
If any of you watched this week's episode of The Real O'Neals, you would have seen a scene where Kenny, our gay Irish Catholic teenage protagonist, goes on a date with his first-ever boyfriend and, in his internal-monologue...
-Z Brewer
Welcome, my friends, to a world without America. But I'm not here to talk about that so much. I'm here to talk about resistance, and a very personal reason why I will not stop resisting the fascism that seeks to grip my zombie nation forever.
If any of you watched this week's episode of The Real O'Neals, you would have seen a scene where Kenny, our gay Irish Catholic teenage protagonist, goes on a date with his first-ever boyfriend and, in his internal-monologue...
January 19, 2017
Review: Point of Impact
Point of Impact by Stephen HunterMy rating: 1 of 5 stars
So I picked up this book because it's the basis of the movie (and, now, USA TV series) Shooter. Very loosely so, considering both book and movie take place in the 21st century while the book was written in 1993 and has a Vietnam vet as its main character.
Turns out the movie and TV series (neither of which is anything special, really, but neither of which is outright bad) are loosely adapted from the book for a reason. Point of Impact...
January 16, 2017
Review: Rise of the Elgen
Rise of the Elgen by Richard Paul EvansMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Michael Vey returns and continues on the adventure begun in The Prisoner of Cell 25 - specifically, the hunt for his missing mother. This hunt, for which he'll need all the Electroclan's help, takes them out of the US and down to the mountains and jungles of Peru, where the Elgen have themselves another diabolical little prison-slash-science lab, not unlike the School from Maximum Ride or the Evolutionaries from Generation Icar...
January 14, 2017
Review: 2113 : Stories Inspired by the Music of Rush
2113 : Stories Inspired by the Music of Rush by Kevin J. AndersonMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Rush is a great, great band, with a story in every song. And this collection of short stories is only a hint of the inspiration they give.
For a band that made its name with such fantasy and/or sci-fi concepts as 2112 and Clockwork Angels (hint, hint: Kevin J. Anderson suggests that both take place in the same universe), it's no surprise that most of the stories inspired by their songs take fantasy and/...
January 13, 2017
Review: A Million Worlds with You
A Million Worlds with You by Claudia GrayMy rating: 2 of 5 stars
Claudia Gray's Firebird Trilogy has proven pretty polarizing in the two years since it started getting published, with opinions ranging from "OMG SO AWESOME!" (basically Brett Michael Orr's reaction, because it was one of the primary inspirations for The Bureau of Time) to "OMG TOO MUCH ROMANCE NOT ENOUGH SCI-FI UGH!!" (a few of my friends' reactions) to "OMG GROSS WHY IS NOBODY TALKING ABOUT THAT RAPE?" (the Avid Reader's re...
January 11, 2017
Review: Frozen Tides
Frozen Tides by Morgan RhodesMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
The fourth Falling Kingdoms book gives us some much-needed expansion of the world map, literally. Seeing how enormous the Kraeshian Empire is compared to Mytica, it becomes clear that they really are a legitimate threat, especially with King Gaius totally under Amara's spell. (Not that that's really a bad thing given how awful Gaius is, but if our heroes suffer for it, there'll be hell to pay.)
While this book suffers from a seriously slo...
