Ricky Pine's Blog, page 123
July 22, 2016
Pitch Wars: #PimpMyBio
Hey peoples. So, as a hopeful Pitch Wars mentee, I'm going to do something I didn't do last year - the #PimpMyBio blog hop, because as much as they said it was optional, I get the feeling (insert Honey Lemon voice) it's really...not. Or I just want an excuse to write some fun stuff about myself. Something like that.
As a YA urban fantasy writer in need of publication, with over 150 queries under his belt, I'm thinking conventional routes might not cut it. Already I've got a small Wattpad fanba...
As a YA urban fantasy writer in need of publication, with over 150 queries under his belt, I'm thinking conventional routes might not cut it. Already I've got a small Wattpad fanba...
July 21, 2016
Review: A Million Suns
A Million Suns by Beth RevisMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Across the Universe definitely held back a few answers to its many questions, which is only for the better as far as its sequel is concerned. A Million Suns, unlike its predecessor, doesn't take its sweet time getting started. From the get-go, we're plunged into a world of moves and countermoves that could make President Snow take notice. (Funnily enough, I'm saying this while watching a House episode guest-starring Beetee himself, Jeffre...
July 18, 2016
Review: Across the Universe
Across the Universe by Beth RevisMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
I'm reading this one for the second time after giving up on it in March. The second read improved it, but not as much as I would have hoped. The first half of the book still suffers from a slow plot, seemingly full of dead ends, but then it becomes clear that there is more to this story and its weird sort-of murder mystery and the creepy-ass Season and creepy-ass Eldest. And Elder, who still creeps me out to an extent, mostly because...
July 16, 2016
Review: United as One
United as One by Pittacus LoreMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
It's finally here.
The glorious end of the Lorien Legacies.
And holy bloodydamn goryhell, how far this series has come from its beginnings in I Am Number Four. More than any of its predecessors, United As One is dark and intense and unremitting in its pulse-pounding action. It's the Mockingjay or Deathly Hallows of this series, by which point it's all-out war, and everyone's out for blood.
Including our heroes. Including our perennial Boy...
Review: Zero Hour
Zero Hour by Pittacus LoreMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Perfect timing - I got this one at the library almost at the same time that they acquired extra copies of United As One, so I was able to get myself properly prepared for the Lorien Legacies' Grand Finale.
The first story in this collection is told by Dani, one of the newly Garde-empowered humans featured in the brand-new final book, and details her initial flight from New York in the wake of the Mog attack. Then she meets John and Sam and g...
July 15, 2016
Review: The Games
The Games by James PattersonMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Four years ago, Patterson put out a Private novel centered around the London Olympics. Now I'm thinking Private Games was the first in a pattern, and that there will be more Olympic-themed Private books every four years.
Based on the example of Private Games and this book with the oddly similar title (I'm a little mystified as to why they changed it from Private Rio), Patterson's right on point with the timely Olympic-themed terrorist-thri...
July 13, 2016
Red Rain: Goodbye Dani, Hello Gideon
When I wrote the first draft of Red Rain, I ended it by committing a pretty serious writing foul - I gave in to my fans and their shippers' demands. At the time, the most popular ship among my Wattpad and Goodreads fanbase (this was back when I put my stories on GR as well, although I've long since taken those atrocious early drafts down) was Danex - that is, Dani Cabrera and Alex Snow. So I gave the fans what they wanted by pairing these young angels together...at first. After writing a...
July 11, 2016
Review: The Emperor's Revenge
The Emperor's Revenge by Clive CusslerMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
The best Oregon Files novel since Plague Ship, The Emperor's Revenge is a long, complex, action-packed ride. The beginning, in which we see the stuff of conspiracy theories - did Napoleon really die in exile, or did someone stage it that way? - is classic Cussler, but then we get a veritable metric ton of insanely fast-paced action dotting the Mediterranean and the former Soviet Union. There's even a very welcome crossover appea...
July 9, 2016
Review: Beyond the Ice Limit
Beyond the Ice Limit by Douglas PrestonMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
This has been a long time coming.
The sequel to The Ice Limit, last seen as a fictional book-within-the-book in one of the Pendergast stories (Still Life With Crows, if I remember correctly), is finally a reality - and as part of Gideon Crew's adventures too!
Without a doubt, Beyond the Ice Limit is one of Gideon Crew's best stories yet, especially given how much the previous installments in the series have all been building up t...
July 7, 2016
Review: Staked
Staked by Kevin HearneMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I can't remember how long it's been since I read an Iron Druid Chronicles book - and it doesn't help that this latest entry in the series has, I think, been delayed. (Though not to the degree we've been seeing lately on the Dresden Files - or, really, any Jim Butcher book.) But like all the best urban fantasy series, this here Atticus O'Sullivan adventure was well worth the wait.
The title is pretty much a dead giveaway that vampires will be the...
