don't be dull, be fannish

"Lost Souls (Torchwood Radio Dramas #1)" by Joseph Lidster

♦ ♦ ♦

Story: 2 stars. Set directly after season 2. Jack, Gwen and Ianto are still dealing - or not dealing - with Owen and Tosh's deaths when Martha asks for their help. How they feel is shown in their short chats with her, Martha namely hasn't seen them since their friends' funeral. I especially liked her conversation with Jack. I also liked the tight bonds between the three main characters. The story's setting is quite intriguing: the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland. But the creature itself... I found it slightly lacking, to be honest.

Narration: 5 stars. John Barrowman, Eve Myles, Gareth David-Lloyd and Freema Agyeman, they all do amazing jobs! It's like following a real TW episode with your eyes closed. It's fantastic! John Barrowman has a beautiful voice!

To sum it up: This would have been a pretty average episode of TW but I liked that it showed us how the characters dealt with their tragedy.

"Fool Moon (The Dresden Files #2)" by Jim Butcher

♦ ♦

I would love to give it more stars but I can't. I just can't. I gave book #1 4 stars but this... I understand that Harry's a bit of a klutz - but there's being a klutz and then there's being an idiot and a hypocrite.

Every other chapter it's the same spiel, my fault, it's my fault, I did that etc. and so on. But does Harry learn his lesson? I'm sick and tired of him keeping stuff from others, stuff they need to know to be able to protect themselves. And I'm not saying he should spill his beans about the White Council, not at all. But why does he keep vital stuff from Murphy? Why didn't he tell Marcone that MacFin was after him?

And then there's the stupid stuff he does. Like when he went to the Streetwolves alone and started asking them about the murders. Or when he had to show off after taking that pick-up potion. Acknowledging you did a stupid thing doesn't help when you do it again 10 pages later!

And his hypocrisy, especially towards Marcone. He accuses Marcone of breaking the law - but he does it too! But that's okay because he has a good reason, after all. Or when he keeps humiliating Marcone, yet banking on Marcone being a gentleman and not killing him. Harry's dislike of Marcone blinded him so much that he didn't even bother to warn him that crazy shapeshifting killers were after him, Harry just decided to turn Marcone's property into his playground and damn the consequences. I hate double-standard setting hypocrites!

I've been told that after the first 3 or so books, the series really takes off. At this point I truly hope so because, as likable as the characters are, I don't see the appeal much, especially compared to John Taylor, Connor Grey, Atticus O’Sullivan etc. urban fantasy heroes.

"Fire in the Blood (Vampire Files #5)" by P.N. Elrod

♦ ♦

The worst book in the series yet. Not only was the plot kinda boring, Jack's sudden bad reaction to hypnosis, his woe is me whining, his reluctance to come clean to Escott and the way everybody and their uncle suddenly managed to get the drop on him made me actually dislike him a bit and that has never happened before. Jack is quite a likable, sweet guy so this... this was a real shock. The most interesting part was the introduction of Kyler. I'm curious where that storyline's headed.

Overall, quite a disappointment.

"The Light of Burning Shadows (Iron Elves #2)" by Chris Evans

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

Even better than book #1! Chris Evans has an amazing ability to combine humor, adventure and incredibly likable characters. And his character development is one of the best I've found in a book in ages, see the relationship between Konowa and Prince Tykkin, for example. In the first book, Prince Tykkin was an arrogant prick of the highest order. In this one, he and Konowa start finally working together and even agree on stuff, which shocks both of them. And I literally cheered when Prince Tykkin punched Suljak and told him that Konowa was a loyal soldier and he would not tolerate anybody slandering him! That was awesome!

Another fascinating character is Alwyn, his affinity for the frost fire and his friendship with Yimt. I don't really agree with the Three Witches, Rallie, Chayii and Visyna, their "my way or the highway" attitude grates a bit, but even they are likable which just shows Evans' talent, that he can make you like every character!

I can't wait to read book #3 which is the final one in the series. I bet it'll be a ride!

"Art in the Blood (Vampire Files #4)" by P.N. Elrod

♦ ♦ ♦

A detective story of the noir kind, only with a vampire in the main role. As a friend of mine keeps saying, this is a vampire series without vampires. Jack's the only supernatural creature far and wide and he has just a few supernatural tricks up his sleeve. Other than that, it's all hard detective work as he and his friend, Charles Escott, investigate.

This particular story had little suspense but very likable characters which made up for the lack of other things. Still it felt a bit slow, not even the reveal of the murderer was all that thrilling. Interesting for people who like the characters but I think it would bore those who don't know Jack, Escott and Bobbi and their previous adventures.

"A Fistful of Charms (The Hollows #4)" by Kim Harrison

♦ ♦ ♦

My problem with this series is that I think the main heroine, Rachel Morgan, is a cow. No, I don't like her. Seriously, any heroine who considers herself "sassy" needs to be slapped upside the head. And I just love how she can always justify to herself breaking the law and it doesn't matter if it's the human law or black magic. But everybody else doing the same thing needs to be tagged and put in prison, especially Trent Kalamack - who always makes everything better, in my opinion.

So, I loved David, Kisten and Jenks and I missed Trent. I hated what Harrison did with Nick and Jax. Rachel and Ivy's issues are reaching epic - and ridiculous! - proportions and they are dragged out ad infinitum. I mean, Rachel finally let Ivy take a sip from her and the bite went on and on and on for pages and pages!

You see, when the book is good, it's REALLY good - scenes with David, Jenks being awesome... - but when it's bad, I feel like thumping my head against the table. I have no idea why these books are so popular. As I said, the main heroine is a cow.

"Brother X Brother Vol. 5" by Hirotaka Kisaragi

♦ ♦

I really wanted to like this volume because "Brother x Brother" has belonged to my favorite series from the beginning. Unfortunately, I was disappointed. Volume 4 delivered a good ending to the main story and I hoped that the author would begin something new, a new plot. Unfortunately, Kisaragi continued spinning the same thing - and it felt like an unnecessary addendum. It was downright boring. No excitement. And when Soichiro started wearing that stupid dog costume, it dreadfully reminded me of "Gravitation", never a good thing.

Hopefully, volume 6 will be better.

"Under Wraps (Underworld Detection Agency #1)" by Hannah Jayne

1 star out of 5

That was AWFUL! I can't remember the last time I read such a terrible book. I made it through 150 pages and then I had to drop it because it was so bad! I can't believe this got published in the first place and some people actually like it. The jumpy plot aside, the heroine was such a manhungry wimp that I wanted to slap her. She made me embarrassed of being a woman, that has never happened before!

She is all about fluffy baths and fluffy bathrobes and fluffy bread while watching reruns of Gossip Girl and nattering about shoes and designer clothes and "Yummy, yummy" men with her vampire best friend - a 160+ year old best friend, who can only think about sales in her favorite boutiques! And when said BF forgets to chain a werewolf, the only thing she is asked to do - and she can't be bothered to go back and actually do it because she has to go to a CLUB! - and it leads to an incident during which the main heroine is pummeled black and blue, her reaction is basically "Whoops! My bad? Let's dress up!"

But back to the main airhead AKA the main heroine. She insists on being called an "executive assistant", NOT a secretary. She insists on helping the police and imagines herself as "CSI Sophie" or as one of Charlie's Angels in a leather bustier - yet she gets sick when they just talk about the body. When the cop tells her to stay at the precinct because she's a civilian, she calls him a sexist and insists on going everywhere with him - but when there's a murder, she whines that she doesn't want to go to the crime scene because the BODY IS STILL THERE! WTF?!

She keeps having sexual fantasies about her boss and the cop - fantasies a la Ally McBeal in which she climbs over the table and starts licking the guy. Whenever they sit close, she keeps leaning into the guy, imagining how horny she is, SNIFFING him! She made me feel sleazy in a sexual harrassment way. Yuck!

The straw that broke the camel's back was when the cop tried to teach her how to shoot and she pulled the trigger and started yelling and jumping up and down with a FRICKIN' LOADED GUN IN HER HANDS!

No. Just no. AVOID! AVOID! AVOID!

"Assassin's Creed: The Secret Crusade (Assassin's Creed #3)" by Oliver Bowden

3 stars out of 5

Bowden's best effort yet. The book still feels choppy and jumpy and thin but not as much as the previous two. It's the story of Altaïr Ibn-La’Ahad, a young, brash and arrogant Assassin who has to undergo a long journey before he gets wiser and becomes the Master of his Order. At first, it was really hard for me to identify with him because he really was downright unlikable but with time, he matured and changed and I started to like him a bit more than Ezio, the hero of the previous 2 books.

Still, not really my cuppa.

"The Caves of Steel (Asimov's Robot #2)" by Isaac Asimov

3.5 stars out of 5

Amazing world-building. Reading about the "caves of steel" in which Earth's population locked itself gave me a very claustrophobic feeling. As someone who lives in the country, it was hard for me to grasp the instinctual agoraphobia of these people and its description gave me a very creepy crawly feeling.

I liked R. Daneel Olivaw a lot and sometimes it was hard not to forget that he was actually a robot. Well, until he was willing to let Elijah take the fall to serve the "Greater Good", that's when it really hit me that, as likable as he was, Daneel was still a robot without feelings. Elijah, on the other hand, was a bit too emotional for my liking, perpetually afraid or angry. Also, as an agnostic/borderline atheist, I didn't like his obsession with the Bible, it felt really... preachy in places.

Still, a great book, exactly the kind I like - a sci-fi that's about exploration, not just shooting at each other.