Jason Waltz > Recent Status Updates

David Hardy's "Gladiator King" - filled with ferocious action, weird demonic sorceries, a compelling protagonist, and a murky plot. Entertaining, but when I'm confused as to why what's happening is happening, not the most appealing.

Last 7 or 8% has really kicked things into action after a lot of setting up. Interesting family relationships should make for some good heroic development.

So... I'm hanging on a thread here whether I continue this or not and decided to look to see if any of my friends had read the book. Not too many have or have it in their TBR, but a casual glance of other reviews has revealed to me that I may not want to finish this. Am I insane to finish?

Still not a fan of this writing style, but Parker does have a deft way with humor. Being stuck in a car and not wanting to read on my phone helps me continue 😃

Very clipped, staccato style of writing. Not easy for this reader to read. Hint of intrigue, promise of the back cover text, praise of some blurbs enticing me further.

Sarah Newton's tale of the power of remembrance is, well, powerful and filled with melancholy. The story begins with a common opening well-told, then nicely transitions into something larger; a S&S start that develops until one thinks it's becoming something else before strongly returning to is roots in glorious splendor.

Holy mighty stones of awesomeness!! Jones' Hanuvar is a mythic beast of heroics - I totally chilled to the bone and readied to grab my blade and leap into battle beside the man as he rose into the arena to meet his Eltyr! Powerful tale-spinning, thank you very much.

And Jones the Younger added a laugh 😂

V. Malan delivers another rousing & fun tale of Parno & Dhulyn! These two play well off each other, and their mercenary brotherhood sounds awesome.

Enge delivers a great premise once again, and Morlock maneuvers the pieces to success once more. The unimpressive little man with the impressive hands. If it weren't for the hunch and limp, he'd be a lady-killer.

It is a mark of a strong writer when his storytelling makes me want to read a tale whose protagonist I abhor. Hocking is just such a writer, and though I despise Benhus, I continue to read his exciting adventures. I do hope he dies a miserable death sooner than later. Benhus, to be clear.

Bill King kicks things off wonderfully with a Kormak tale of fierce and vicious intent. I like Kormak, and the brief section in his POV is a great addition.

Joe McCullough writes multiple snippets of a fellow name a Nick Bury, who seems quite the interesting bloke whom we don't get much of a glimpse at. I'd read more of him, though I'm uncertain of its style of delivery.

Ever onward to our rousing climax we charge! Much circumstance abounds, yet is also slightly plausible and so it plays well. We've taken a POV shift however, in these waning chapters, that should not have occurred. Well, now it's back to the good ol' fighting men and all's bound to be well.

Fun historical adventure. Some L'Amour, some Dumas, some Sabatini, some Cooper, even some Sadler. Good ol' American warriors on land and sea, at home and away, among friends and foes.

This has been a very enjoyable read. I look forward to reading this story, and so far would jump right into a sequel. Bad guys are nefarious and evil, good guys are trying to be good, or better, and sidekicks are pretty strong in themselves on all sides. Only one semi-false note in the whole thing, not enough to detail the fun ride.

This has been a very enjoyable read. I look forward to reading this story, and so far would jump right into a sequel. Bad guys are nefarious and evil, good guys are trying to be good, or better, and sidekicks are pretty strong in themselves on all sides. Only one semi-false note in the whole thing, not enough to detail the fun ride.

This has been a very enjoyable read. I look forward to reading this story, and so far would jump right into a sequel. Bad guys are nefarious and evil, good guys are trying to be good, or better, and sidekicks are pretty strong in themselves on all sides. Only one semi-false note in the whole thing, not enough to detail the fun ride.

This has been a very enjoyable read. I look forward to reading this story, and so far would jump right into a sequel. Bad guys are nefarious and evil, good guys are trying to be good, or better, and sidekicks are pretty strong in themselves on all sides. Only one semi-false note in the whole thing, not enough to detail the fun ride.

This has been a very enjoyable read. I look forward to reading this story, and so far would jump right into a sequel. Bad guys are nefarious and evil, good guys are trying to be good, or better, and sidekicks are pretty strong in themselves on all sides. Only one semi-false note in the whole thing, not enough to detail the fun ride.

This has been a very enjoyable read. I look forward to reading this story, and so far would jump right into a sequel. Bad guys are nefarious and evil, good guys are trying to be good, or better, and sidekicks are pretty strong in themselves on all sides. Only one semi-false note in the whole thing, not enough to detail the fun ride.

This has been a very enjoyable read. I look forward to reading this story, and so far would jump right into a sequel. Bad guys are nefarious and evil, good guys are trying to be good, or better, and sidekicks are pretty strong in themselves on all sides. Only one semi-false note in the whole thing, not enough to detail the fun ride.

This has been a very enjoyable read. I look forward to reading this story, and so far would jump right into a sequel. Bad guys are nefarious and evil, good guys are trying to be good, or better, and sidekicks are pretty strong in themselves on all sides. Only one semi-false note in the whole thing, not enough to detail the fun ride.

Taking a gamble on this one, seems to be paying off thus far. First person done rather well, pretty unobtrusive actually, even with multiple POV. I enjoy the main character too, who's accidentally becoming heroic.

Reading cuz this book has been in my 'possible' TBR Amazon list for a while and the author came to my town bookstore. Not my best decision. Derivative, blatant wish-fulfillment, inconsistent, quite in need of a solid edit, and preachy. It's short so I'll see where it goes.

Decent introductory pages, though a few elements of the stage setting I am not a fan of or in agreement with to various extents, individually mostly unalarming, as a whole unfortunately predictably already skewing the path to come.

Page 375: didn't expect such a lame story from Ed Gorman. Hope this last story redeems the close of this anthology.

Another book the Goodreads' and actual thing in my hands' page numbers don't match up: I'm currently on page 354 and not done yet.

"The Blue Burro" was a Jack Reacheresque modern quasi-Ranger story. Ok as such goes.

"A Border Dispute" is the first dud of this anthology.

By the way, the real title of this book is BLOOD OF THE SEVENTEEN FIRES.

Lots of coincidences and just-so-happens, but the grand adventure is fleshed out nicely and the characters all hold some depth. Nothing spectacular, reminiscent of many books I read in my youth, a combination Zane Grey / Edgar Rice Burroughs type tale.

"In the Line of Duty" by Elmer Kelton is a good story strongly written. A good, solemn Western.

Robert Leckie wrote some terrific WWII USMC books. When I saw this by him years ago, I grabbed it for the TBR pile. It's pretty much as expected and definitely a product of late '70s-early '80s men's adventure, ala THE PATRIOT.

Brandvold's "Ghost Colts" is a fascinatingly told tale that (a) had its secret revealed by its introduction, (b) made a rather seemingly major faux pas for a Western story that irritated me until I understood why, and (c) surprises me that it's included in this thus-far non-speculative anthology. But I really like it and thought it well-done all 'round.