Review: Area 51 - Nosferatu - Robert Doherty

Title Area 51: Nosferatu
Author Robert Doherty
Pages 310
Year 2003
Publisher Dell Publishing Company
Reading time 5 day (March 2009)
Rating 7 / 10

This was my first book by Robert Doherty. Afterwards I understood that this book was just one of the series of Area 51. Fortunally it could be read as stand-alone... Well I enjoyed the book but it didn't make me want to order other books. If I found it on a store I would buy it but not order it.

This book starts nicely and gives us an introduction of few elments for the series and the history behind it interested me. I think that is one of the most important things on a book. The background..

We get to know about the aliens Airlia and the story in the past and how they shaped our history. Our main history is Nosferatu and we learn how where they created (bred) just for they could awake and feed on human blood and it turn fed upon the gods. We learn about the love that Nosferatu held with Nekhbet that was sentenced to a living death inside her tube. From this moment on this book turns into a love story (a race to get his love) and the agenda of another one called Vampyr.

The all love story and the sadness of being apart is very well portrayed. We feel like Nosferatu feels (or as the author wanted us to feel).

It is recommend for anyone who life Robert Dohery novels and anyone who likes vampires and want to read a different way of making them.

Review: The Mystery of the Blue Train - Agatha Christie

Title The Mystery of the Blue Train
Author Agatha Christie
Pages 296
Year 1928
Publisher RBA
Reading time 1 day (February 2010)
Rating 7 / 10

This is a story not told on the first person as much of the previous books were. In this book Poirot has already retired from his work and now is going to the French Riviera by "Le Train Bleu" but the mysteries follows him. In this train a woman is murder called Ruth and there are two suspects on the spot. There is the husband of the late murderer woman called Derek Kettering who was spying on her and the Conte de la Roche who is the lover of Ruth.

Ruth who had recently adquired a famous ruby is also missing.

Being there at the time Poirot says he will help with the investigation and the father of the woman also asks Poirot to help on the case.

The story is a complex one and the first 50 pages we get to know several of this characters and all the reasons that each one had to murder the woman

As the story progresses we get to see Poirot in action and as all the stories by Agatha Christie we get to suspect each character and in the end we are presented with two (not one) killers/robbers.

As most of the stories by Agatha is very hard to find who is the killer and I think that is good. I would like to know if anyone find it out because it seems to my mind it's darn hard.

My last thoughts is that this is a solid and quick book and I enjoyed it reading it. Being at the hospital for several hours I got to read it all and to my pleasure I found out that this is a good thing... reading the book all straight in one take. I don't remember doing it. Well now the next novel that I will read by Agatha Chrstie will be "The Sittaford Mystery". I read good things about it being the first one dealing the supernatural.

William King is back to Black Library

It was one of the most beloved authors ever to write to Black Library. He created Gotrek and Felix and also wrote Ragnar of the Space Wolves and one book from a trilogy based on Eldar. Then he left... Fortunally he is returning... Maybe the money now is better no?


From the Black Library website..


http://blacklibraryblog.blogspot.com/


Saturday, 13 February 2010
The Return Of Bill King


William King has signed a major new deal with the Black Library, for a trilogy based on the high elf characters Tyrion and Teclis.


Twin brothers Tyrion and Teclis are the greatest heroes of an age, and their like will never be seen again. Prince Tyrion's skill with a blade unmatched by any living swordsmen, whilst Teclis is the most powerful mage of his generation. Set over two hundred years before the current Warhammer timeline, the new trilogy tells an origin story of these two phenomenal champions.


Head of Black Library, George Mann, said of the deal: “I’m overjoyed to be welcoming Bill King back to the Black Library, particularly with such an exciting and auspicious series. Bill has a real flair for a good story and his writing really brings the Warhammer world to life. I know people are going to adore these books.”


William King was born in Stranraer, Scotland, and is one of Black Library's best-selling authors, with sales in excess of half a million books. He started writing for Games Workshop in 1988, and later he worked in the design studio. His swords and sorcery series Gotrek & Felix and his Space Wolf novels have become a staple in the Black Library range. His short fiction has appeared in Interzone, Zenith, and a Year’s Best SF collection. He currently lives in Prague.


The deal was conducted with agent John Jarrold, and the first novel in the trilogy will be published in 2011.

Review: Urban Gothic - Brian Keene

Title Urban Gothic
Author Brian Keene
Pages 301
Year 2009
Publisher Leisure Books
Reading time 5/6 days (August 2009 and Februrary 2010)
Rating 7.5 / 10

Having read four books by Brian Keene he is probably one of my favourite authors within Horror Fiction. But this book... I don't know what to make of it. I start reading as soon I bought it but after reading 100 pages I was a little dissapointed and stopped altogether.

In December I said to myself that I won't leave any un-read books behing.

Well even if I had leave it behing I would still have bought more of his books because I really enjoy him and everyone can make a book that isn't that good right? Well as I said my first impression was not a good one but after picking it I finished it in two days.

In end was a pleasent reading (but unfortunally not the same level as City of the Dead or The Rising) but a good book that knowing what I know now I would still buy it and read it.

This book is not connected to other books of the series but at some part the big awful mean guy says that is deity is Ob (I hope you remember it/him?). Apart from that I don't see how the books are connected to other ones...

In this book we have a straightforward plot. A bunch of kids (all white, all pair up) end up in a not so friendliy zone and when a group of other kids (all black) tries to help them they get scare (not before insulting them) and run away into a victorian house.... Well this is how all begins...

In that house there are a bunch of mutant-like sick people that you see in some horror movies who try to kill, eat, rape and everything disgusting you can imagine and believe me with that descriptions Keene gives us you will feel disgusted (in a good way that only a horror/gore fan can understand).

This black kids who after all a bunch of nice people try to help them with an elderly resident of that residence... The plot is this and I won't say that much more...

The end is predictable, much to my deslike and the survivors are easily detected as you read the book. The end as well don't "end" the fate of our mutant friends and as other horror novels you are keeping wonder what will happen and Keene can pick this characters in later books...

******************************************************************

Now an off-topic but at the same time related to my thoughts on the choosing of my characters... (attention that is my opinion and nobody else)

I would not dwell much on this subject but the white/black kids that are portraited in this novel makes me wonder what is Keene trying to accomplished...

Since everyone knows Harlem imagine this. You are a bunch of white rich kids with a broken car in the middle of Harlen and you see a bunch of black kids coming your way. What a hell would you do? I bet that most of the people would think... Well I am getting to be robbed. Some would flee and others would resign to their fate. And how many would thing... Well they are getting here to help me... PLEASE! If you say that you would be this last one you are liar, or you are psicopath.

There have been some controversy as why there aren't that many good black characters in horror, fantasy and sci-fi. Some writers are trying to incorporated them in the books but I think most of them just fail big time. Most of them are not believable and seemed false and they are there to make a point (or trying to show you that they have a point).

This thing that I said is easily understood but it seems everyone nerves are on edges and anyone is a spacegoat. I read in a blog that because some cover didn't feature a more dark skin they are making a petition or something like that. What a hell??

Some people don't seem to understand that 90% of the people who read fantasy, horror or Sci-Fi are white. (probably more). And there are only a handful of black writers... It's the way things are. Are this is how it is. It's easier for a white person understand a white character than a japonese or black character. We have different knowledges, backgrounds, history and therefore we are different. As most of the white kids don't understand why japanese's kamikazes or muslims suicide bombers, they in their turn don't understand how ways. It's the way that life is, not rascism but life. Get us to it.

Believe me, I don't care about what colour the skin of the person is, Earthsea of Ursula L K Guin make the characters a colour that is neither black or white and the book is one of the most appreciated books in the genre and mine. If you feel that I am being racist or something like that well bad luck because I ain't. Go pick your fights somewhere else.

Review: Earth Last Citadel - C L Moore and Henry Kuttner

Title Earth's Last Citadel

Author C L Moore and Henry Kuttner
Pages 128
Year 1943

Publisher Ace
Reading time 4 days (August 2009)
Rating 6 / 10

Having read and reviewed No Boundaries by the same authors I found this book in a store I would never imagined and with a ridicolous low price so I grabed it and start reading imediately. Bare in mind that these story was written in the middle of WW2 and are one of the most revered names in what would be called SF's Golden Age (one of it), besides this C L Moore (the wife of Kuttner) was already publishing books when women at that time were not seen as today. Well when Kuttner died in 1958, Moore stopped writing altogether and she lived until 1987. It's a shame because she was very talented woman.

Well as I said most of SF from that period has historical value but the SF used or thought are completely surpassed and most people cannot understand those books or ideas. Well this book is about four people. Two allies (one american spy and one scottish scientist) and two Axis (one renegade american and one german girl) who stumble upon an alien craft in the Sahara and they are catapulted into the far future on a dying earth where aliens control a bred some of our own human descendents.

As I said this book is in the beginning of the SF era and at my modern measure I thought this book was dull and pretty small. There is no depth to the characters and the story relies on imagery like as they arrived and the moribund earth is populated by giant worms and fylging creatures and the views are shrouded in continuous mists. This part of the book drawns there and makes us feel the desolation and melancholy of our beautiful earth. The aliens are portrayed as devilish beings that are sucking the life of our earth and they resemble more akin to Lovecraft's aliens than anything else. I wouldn't advice to read this book as a CL Moore story or Henry's Kuttner. No Boundaries is far better... Then come back to this one.

The book is quite small and at the end starts being a little strange with the plot being quite strange and confusing...

Review: Liberty's Crusade - Shadow of Xel'Naga - Speed of Darkness - Starcraft

Title Liberty's Crusade / Shadow of Xel'Naga / Speed of Darkness
Author Jeff Grubb / Gabriel Mesta / Tracy Hickman
Pages 256 / 258 / 242
Year 2001 / 2001 / 2002
Publisher Pocket Books
Reading time 4 days / 5 days / 5 days (October 2009)
Rating 6 / 4 / 7

I've trying to read this three books but never had the disposition to read them because in total the trilogy had around 756 pages. But in October having read that Starcraft 2 was going to be release and trying to play again my old starcraft game I tried to read the books...

In the end what were my conclusions? The game is better.
With the first book, Liberty's Crusade, we are more into the characters of the game. We see how Raynor falls into the grasps of Mengsk. How the confederacy falls as well. We see the beautiful Sarah Kerrigan and how she is crossed and turned into the Queen of Blades. In the end I enjoyed the book. The book was a fast paced one and unfortunately the characters pay dearly with it being a bit more than two-dimensional ones with the sole excpetion of the main character, but what can you expect? In the end there were no surprises but one thing it was better than the second because it didn't feel like he was narrating a video game.

The second book was Shadow of the Xel'Naga written by Moesta (Kevin J Anderson and Rebecca Moesta) and it was awful. I always thought Kevin Anderson should be so good since he was writing Dune with the son of Frank Herbert but this book I read until the end because I forced myself. Grab some new and old characters and make a plot. Then add the names of every building and every creature and we've got 258 pages and a story. Now make some advances while inserting names and buildings. Bah... It reminds me of those games the south koreans play and someone is narrating as a football game. It was very bad book and I really hope that this is not the best Kevin can do...

The Third book was called Speed of Darkness and was written by Tracy Hickman, one of the founders of Dragonlance. This book was probably the best of them all but as the others they didn't do it for me... This story we get to know a bit more of all military aspect of the Terran Confederacy. Marines are a brainwashed conscript with no porpuse with the expection of following orders. The narrative is quick and the plot is throw at us briefly. At the middle book we get the zerg and the attack on the outpost. And the main character? Well he is a newly recruited with a dream/quest and this voyage is to reveal his true identidy. As he battles fragments of unknown memories start to surface and at a time he can't distinguish real from unnatural (implemented) ones. This book is no Dragonlance novel and nowhere the standart of them.

If you like Starcraft and want to read a book I would advice the last one, Speed of Darkness. Do not read Shadow of the Xel'Naga. Is worthless. Check the amazon and see the reviews from the three books...

Review: Burning Shore - Robert Earl

Title The Burning Sohre
Author Robert Earl
Pages 416
Year 2004
Publisher Black Library
Reading time 4 days (January 2010)
Rating 7.5 / 10

This is the first book by Robert Earl and the first with Florin and Lorenzo. This book turned out so good that two books were release later, Wild Kingdoms and Savage City. This book is the only oppurtunity to read some fiction in Lustria. Before this there had be no books depicting Lustria. A later book was published but in it was in the Blood Bowl universe. Well this was a year that Black Library tried to explore other places/Situations... This one in Lustria, Gav Thorpe's Slaves to Darkness went to the South with Tomb Kings and Magestorm with Mages. In Warhammer 40k Simon Spurrier wrote Lord Of The Night one of the most appreciated novels along with Double Eagle by Abnett.

Well returning to this book... This book is the first of Florin and Lorenzo as I said before. The book to my knowledge was a bit bigger... I think there was no need for 416 pages for this novel and so I thought some parts were secondary and not needed. But apart that I enjoyed getting to know Florin and specially Lorenzo. First Florin is a noble and Lorenzo is servent but in the novel I think he doesn't act like one but as a equal. Sarcastic always making fun of situations and of people yet getting Florin out of trouble but nevering acting not-peaseant like. He gets all sarcastic with other peers or nobles but not Florin. It's a fatherly, respectly love. I enjoyed it.

Florin on the other end begins as a spoiled, irresponsable kid but as the situations demands he turns into a hero-alike. I enjoyed this change.

Now the plot, Florin (a Bretonnian) likes to gamble but when a crime lord tries to earn his dues he and his man-servant flee into a ship that is going on a exploration of the New World called Lustria (the homeplace of lizard-men greatly influenced on the aztects or the mayan civilization. Well it was a great setup and it was nicely executed by the author. Well the crew is a melting pot of inhabitants of the old world such as Bretonnians, Tileans, Kislevites, Marienburgers (Empire) and Dwarves.

Well there are several important characters we get to know such as Colonel van Delft, the Dwarf Thorgrimm, Graznikov (kislev) and one that I hoped that he appeared in later novels Orbrant. He his a warrior priest of Sigmar on a quest to self-finding. Well not to mention one of the most important characters the celestial wizard Kereveld.

Well a voyage for gold turns out to be a expendition funded by the celestial college but that doesn't change anything in the plot. The men still wants gold...

In Lustria we get to know the Lizard-men, heavily inspired in some cthullu mythos beings. I thought the parts with Lizards were done great specially Xinthua. (On the great overall the Lizard-Men are not evil as Chaos. They are not corrupted by the taint of chaos but as beings of great age and understanting of magic (very different from the views of humans or elves).

On this book we get to know things that until here were unknown like the constelations of starts above or how many planets does this solar system has. We even get to know more of some beings that inhabited the s eas such as Serpentia Megalothon or the opinions of Bretonnians and Empire against and for Tilean food.

The ending was a bit of rush and the saving of Florin from the hands of the Lizard Men is a bit of... odd and easy. In the end was an interesting book that make me understand a bit more of the warhammer world and the need to read the next books with Florin...