Ricky Pine's Blog, page 126
May 9, 2016
Review: The Raven King
The Raven King by Maggie StiefvaterMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
***SPOILER ALERT***
The thing about this series is that each book has started off beautifully, lost a lot of steam in the end, and then ramped things up again going into the final 50-100 pages or so. The Raven King is no exception. I was afraid that the series would end quite underwhelmingly for a while, and then, boom, demonic possession and ley line magic all over again!
The writing's as beautiful as ever, and the magic's definitely...
May 7, 2016
Review: The Mountain
The Mountain by David Lynn GolemonMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
I wish my library would get back to ordering the Event Group series, because of how perfectly awesome and perfectly ready for quarter-billion-dollar-budgeted movie adaptations they are. This prequel adventure, the origin story of the Event Group itself, is no exception. Set in the 1860s, an American crew (in the height of the Civil War, no less) travels to the Ottoman Empire to investigate the supposed landing site of Noah's Ark, Mo...
May 6, 2016
Civil War: High Action, High Emotion, High Thrills
***NO CIVIL WAR SPOILERS, BUT SPOILERS FOR PREVIOUS MCU FILMS AND AGENTS OF SHIELD.***
Nobody likes it when the parents fight. And when the family in question is the Avengers family? That's an extra-heavy dose of "from bad to worse."
Going into this movie, I expected nothing more or less than what my best friend called an "emotional horror show." Adding to that, I figured that, like the best movies out there, this one would go for a full-spectrum emotional experience. Many movies of the MC...
Nobody likes it when the parents fight. And when the family in question is the Avengers family? That's an extra-heavy dose of "from bad to worse."
Going into this movie, I expected nothing more or less than what my best friend called an "emotional horror show." Adding to that, I figured that, like the best movies out there, this one would go for a full-spectrum emotional experience. Many movies of the MC...
May 5, 2016
Review: Magic Kingdom for Sale—Sold!
Magic Kingdom for Sale—Sold! by Terry BrooksMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
Here's a little something different from the horror-heavy action-adventure of Shannara - a much more lighthearted fantasy adventure from Mr. Brooks. It's certainly got a highly original idea going for it - can you imagine finding an entire magic kingdom for sale in a department store catalog? And then you'll find out that maybe it was for sale for a reason - it needed tons of outside help to bring itself back up to some le...
May 3, 2016
Review: Every Heart a Doorway
Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuireMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
By sheer coincidence, this is the second book I've read in a row that A) was written by an author native to the Bay Area, and B) includes a number of LGBT+ characters. Just as Pantomime was among the first books I read with an intersex protagonist, this was one of the first I read with an ace protagonist, as well as a trans male lead.
As for the story, it's a short but very sweet - and oh so very dark - exploration of a place no...
May 2, 2016
Review: Pantomime
Pantomime by Laura LamMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
This quarter at CSUEB, I'm taking two classes with one of the school's most beloved English Department professors, who mentioned this book recently and got me to want to read it.
I was not disappointed.
What I've just read is something of a missing link between The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, with its fantastical circus setting, and A Darker Shade of Magic, with its alternate-world thing going on - not to mention its high concentration of LG...
April 30, 2016
Review: War Hawk
War Hawk by James RollinsMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Because the library where I live is completely crazy, they've not ordered War Hawk yet, and so it's impossible to even put it on order. However, they have an ample supply on the "Lucky Day" shelf of new releases, and so I snatched the opportunity to pick up this book, our first adventure with Tucker Wayne and his war dog Kane in...two years now?
Taking inspiration from the life and times of Alan Turing (whom I can only picture as Benedict Cum...
Review: Zom-B Goddess
Zom-B Goddess by Darren ShanMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
First off - who else has looked at the cover and been reminded of Imperator Furiosa?
Second off - At last this book reveals the true motivations behind the Dowlings, who are now playing quite the Gambit Roulette with each other's viruses, and of course B winds up caught in the middle.
Third off - wow. I did NOT see that ending coming. Even down to the wire, Shan's got tons of surprises up his sleeve, and he deploys them by the megaton.
Last...
Review: Predator One
Predator One by Jonathan MaberryMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Perhaps the most terrifying book Maberry has ever written, or will ever write. I'm saying this almost entirely based on the scenes with Davidovitch, in which we get to see how horribly he's been tortured - not only through pain, not only through knowing his family's lives are being altered, moment by moment, by agents of the Seven Kings - but also because of how he comes to take sadistic pleasure in what's happening to his wife in par...
April 29, 2016
Review: The Magician King
The Magician King by Lev GrossmanMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
I can't help but feel that this second Magicians book suffered from a serious case of More Of The Same Syndrome, leading to a bit of a sophomore slump. Sure, training is officially over for Quentin et al. They're no longer studying magic at Brakebills, they're now officially full-fledged magicians. But they're still learning all sorts of spellcraft - and learning that the slightest mistake could send them pretty much spiraling into H...
