Ricky Pine's Blog, page 136

Review: Soundless

Soundless by Richelle Mead
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

I enjoyed the Vampire Academy 'verse. I was okay with Gameboard of the Gods. I could not, however, get into this book at all. Right away, it's very slow and boring and not at all engaging. It takes a long time for the expected twist - Fei miraculously becoming the only one in her village who can hear - to come, and when it does, it's easy to miss. You would think that that's the sort of thing that would provoke a cliffhanger ending to the c...

Review: The Brothers Cabal

The Brothers Cabal by Jonathan L. Howard
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

And now for something a little different to treat us happy members of the Cabal Cabal - a story largely narrated not by the great necromancer Johannes, but by his slimy, disgustingly vampiric brother, Horst. Most of the time, we get to hear Horst's tale, with Johannes (on his sickbed) interjecting with interludes and footnotes along the way. We're getting a little more Fforde-like with this book, which expertly blends elements...

Review: The Wishsong of Shannara

The Wishsong of Shannara by Terry Brooks
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Mr. Brooks' challenge: write a worthy follow-up to The Elfstones of Shannara.

Challenge: met.

The next generation of Ohmsfords produces their best fighter yet - the tough-as-nails Brin, who follows in her father's footsteps and goes on another epic quest to save the world. This time, though, the forces of evil will come this close (picture my thumb and forefinger a millimeter apart) to corrupting her beyond repair, should they h...

Review: A Red-Rose Chain

A Red-Rose Chain by Seanan McGuire
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

More Toby Daye tales are always just what the doctor ordered. Her wickedly dry sense of humor is the biggest plus of all, as always. She and Tybalt have excellent chemistry together, chemistry that just begs to be depicted on screen (I'd love to see Emma Stone for Toby and Sebastian Stan for Tybalt.) The side characters are as colorful and fun as ever (just look at the way the Luidaeg can't help but be rude on the phone all the time...

Review: Trollhunters

Trollhunters by Daniel Kraus
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Given my disappointment with Rotters, I was a little leery upon seeing the name of Daniel Kraus attached to this book. But with the other name attached - that of Guillermo Del Toro - I knew that this book would be much more enjoyable.

Trollhunters was far better than Rotters, that's for sure. It reminded me a lot of the Goosebumps movie, with a bit of Goonies and Super 8 mixed in. It felt simultaneously retro and modern, and filled with al...

Review: Untold

Untold by Sarah Rees Brennan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This series is a little more lush and romantic than The Demon's Lexicon and its sequels, but that's not bad. The romance never gets too excessive (other than the occasional overuse of the words "solid" and "lean," but then I've been finding myself guilty of doing that same thing in my own writing from time to time), and the characters always stay interesting. And the action, while few and far between, really packs a punch when it happens....

Review: The Abomination

The Abomination by Jonathan Holt
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I've seen a few reviewers compare this one to both Dan Brown (for the Catholic conspiracy elements) and Stieg Larsson (for the European crime drama, although it's Southern European here as opposed to Scandinavian Noir.) I'd also like to throw in some comparisons to James Rollins (tough female carabinieri in the lead role) and Preston and Child (for sheer food porn. Seriously, Mr. Holt really loves going into detail when describing exo...

My 2015 Favorites: The First Annual Pinecone Awards!

2015 has been a great year in every segment of pop-culture to which I'm closely in tune. It's hard to pick a Top 5 in every category, but pick them I have. After careful consideration, Pinecones, I have my favorites of the year - the winners of the first-ever Pinecone Awards!

Let's get started with the most important category of all to writers like me...

BOOKS:

Honorable Mentions: More Happy Than Not, Career of Evil, The Sword of Summer, The Fate of Ten, Queen of Shadows

5. Although my reading an...

Review: Crimson Shore

Crimson Shore by Douglas Preston
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Welcome back to the weird and wonderful world of Agent Pendergast - in his best adventure in years. I know, I've thrown that title around quite a lot in recent years, but compared to any other Pendergast book in a long time, this one's really outdone its predecessors big-time. Not only is it one of the more lush and lovely entries in the series - you can just smell the salt marshes and fish of its New England setting - but it's also o...

Review: Name of the Devil

Name of the Devil by Andrew Mayne
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Chalk up another horror-tinged murder mystery of mayhem from Mr. Mayne. Let's just say that because I read this mostly on Christmas Day, I'm going to Hell for sure. It's like Grasshopper Jungle on Easter Sunday all over again.

I hope a third Jessica Blackwood book comes along soon - these obscure stories are too good to pass up.

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