Book #40

"The Thousand Orcs" by R.A. Salvatore

2.5 stars out of 5

Pretty much Tolkien's "The Two Towers" retold with Salvatore's characters. It was just way, way too similar. Actually, exactly the same plot. Kind of disappointing after "Sea of Swords" which I enjoyed immensely.

My favorite parts? Every scene involving Regis, he has become my favorite character of the whole series - Drizzt, the main hero, is just way too frickin' whiny. And then Ivan and Pikel Bouldershoulder for comic relief.

What I disliked most? Drizzt and Catti-brie. The whole "will they, won't they" is getting on my last nerve. I'm now really glad that Wulfgar got together with Delly Curtie because she's more down-to-earth and stronger than Catti-brie with her unending "issues" that are becoming more and more annoying with every book.

XMFC: favorite scenes 5

( Yes, another one of those! )

Book #41

"Eros, Philia, Agape" by Rachel Swirsky

1 star out of 5

Where to begin... There wasn't one character I could relate to or empathize with. Not Adriana, not Lucian and definitely, absolutely not the spoiled brat of their kid, Rose. Adriana needed a good shrink. Lucian was... uh, did the author actually want me to sympathize with him? If so, she failed utterly. And Rose, what a brat - but with those two as parents, no wonder. And the ending! I guess the author wanted us to believe in the possibility of a happy ending, what with the "maybe he returned to them and they both cried with joy!" crock of nonsense, but all I saw was Adriana behaving like a doormat.

The only positive thing was the gay couple, Ben and Lawrence. I would've preferred a story about them, thank you very much.

And this was a finalist for the Hugo Award in 2010? Wow, they must have suffered from a great lack of good entries that year.