Ricky Pine's Blog, page 114

Review: Blood Rites

Blood Rites by Jim Butcher
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The first time I read this particular Dresden story, I gave it four stars. I guess I must have forgotten how madcap it was, even by Butcher's usual standards. All the blood, sugar, sex, magik...wait, isn't that a Chili Peppers reference? If so, you may shoot me.

Just kidding.

But seriously, this is definitely one of the better Dresden Files books out there, and I'm not just saying that because of the greater inclusion of vampires - and especi...

Review: Furthermore

Furthermore by Tahereh Mafi
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Tahereh Mafi's Alice in Wonderland-reimagining middle-grade debut is markedly different from Shatter Me, which can only be a good thing. It's, surprisingly, a little slow to get started, and after about 100 pages, I was really starting to wonder when things would happen.

Then the adventure really kicks off in earnest, making for a seriously page-turning read. Page-turning, and aggressively surreal, though not in the same "is this even a sto...

#StayPeculiar: The Miss Peregrine Movie

***THIS IS A SPOILER-FREE REVIEW.***

I didn't realize Tim Burton was capable of so much awesome...oh wait, it's Tim Burton, of course he's capable. But put him in the director's chair for a movie based on a Ransom Riggs novel, and made with an as-always seriously on-point screenplay by Jane Goldman (Kick-Ass, Kingsman), and it's easy to say one of the most gifted cinematic visionaries of our time has outdone himself. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children is not only Burton's best mo...

Review: Nil on Fire

Nil on Fire by Lynne Matson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I wasn't quite as jazzed with this book as I was with its predecessors, but I can tell you that it's not because there's any less action to go around. Far from it. My real issue, however, lies in the interjection of chapters that are meant to be from "Nil's" POV, focusing both on a number of new arrivals on the island and the island itself, who proves to be quite the diabolical genius loci. (That's the proper plural of that expression, rig...

Review: Academ's Fury

Academ's Fury by Jim Butcher
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Continuing the Codex Alera series, Academ's Fury showcases even more of the rising tensions in Alera as certain Lords (and Ladies) conspire to overthrow the First Lord and plunge the land into civil war...and meanwhile, Tavi's studying, and proving that just because he's got no furycrafting powers doesn't make him any less of a man. In fact, because he has no furies to rely on, he's more in the eyes of some...and more dangerous for sure.

F...

Top Ten Tuesday: Fall 2016 TBR

Once again, Joey of Thoughts and Afterthoughts has given us an interesting "Top Ten Tuesday" post: his fall 2016 TBR top picks. Now I've just gotta share mine - including a few books that came out BEFORE this fall, but which I still haven't had a chance to read because my library's so slow to get any copies in...but oh well.

10. Rick Riordan - The Hammer of Thor

I don't think I'll ever leave the world Uncle Rick began with Percy Jackson.

Hope he's worthy.
9. Lynne Matson - Nil on Fire

I'm sta...

Review: Jerkbait

Jerkbait by Mia Siegert
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

"Ten thousand people look my way
But they can't see the way that I feel
Nobody even cares to try..."
-Styx, "Man In The Wilderness"

"Is there anybody out there who
Is lost and hurt and lonely too?"
-Coldplay, "Square One"

Thanks to the Wattpad4 bringing Mia Siegert in for an interview a few weeks back, I was inspired to try this book out after learning what it has in common with my very own Red Rain - the lead characters are twin boys, with one (Tris...

Review: Falling Kingdoms

Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I've been seeing this series on store and library shelves for a while, and after years of not touching it (and a few months of serious Sarah J. Maas withdrawal while I'm painfully waiting for Empire of Storms), I've finally read this first book.

It does remind me a bit of A Song of Ice and Fire in terms of the surprisingly high violence level and focus on in-universe politics, with a touch of magic thrown in for texture. The book foll...

Review: Chorus

Chorus by Emma Trevayne
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This series...I dunno. It's got a cool twist on the dystopian genre as its premise, one that's actually had its own secret influence on my own writing with the concept of addictive music tracks. (Although my books, rather than try and emulate the idea of big business attempting to force musical drivel on the world for mind control - "Everything Is Awesome!"-style - simply make musical addiction a mental condition.) Unfortunately, I just can't...

Review: Furies of Calderon

Furies of Calderon by Jim Butcher
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It's been a while since I've read Codex Alera, so now that I'm also re-reading The Dresden Files, I figured it was high time I started re-reading Butcher's other big fantasy series as well. I forgot how exciting these books were, with all their elemental furycrafting fun and the pseudo-Roman politics at play. Everyone calls this the logical offspring of Avatar: The Last Airbender and A Song of Ice and Fire (even though the latter cam...