Interesting Facts

Last year I read 127 books.
Finished 108
Stopped Reading 14
Still trying to finish 5

Fantasy 30
Sci-Fi 25
Horror 25
Mystery 9
Steampunk 1
Others 13
Comic 19

Of course here I could have gone far to say "Post Apocalyptic Fiction" or "Urban Fiction" or something like that. Black Library books were a fourth of the total with 34 books read.

Black Library
2006 - 23 books
2007 - 23 books
2008 - 10 books
2009 - 8 books
2010 - 34 books
2011 - 4 books so far

This year is beginning badly. With only 5956 pages read against 7455 of last year. I have to try harder...

Review: Zombie Britannica by Thomas Emson

Title - Zombie Britannica

Author - Thomas Emson

Year - 2010

Stand Alone or Series - Anthology of interlinked stories

Pages - 440 (B Format Paperback)

Reading Time - March & April 2011

Rating: 5.5/10

Review and General Opinion

As you know I love zombie books so When I find a new one I want to read it. This one has been sitting on my desk for almost a year. Unfortunaly the book wasn't that great. Why? Well there are several flaws that I will come back later.

Spoilers inside

In this tale we follow three main characters. Vincent in Wales, Carrie in England and Craig in Scotland. Each one is related in some way (check the name list). Carrie battles through the street of london to save his daughter. Vicent is trapped in a castle in wales with the girl he loves and must coop with zombies outside and crazy people inside and finally Craig a problematic kid who are stuck in a traffic jam and when his baby sister is kidnap by a crazy human he must battle himself, humans and the undead. This sound good but the concretization of the novel was not that good. So what fail?

When the zombies enter the fray right from the first chapter they hit so hard that humans start dwinling rapidly. Each chapter (all 80 of them) change from one character to another. They each try to coup with the adversities thrown to them be that zombies or other humans. Vincent tries to save himself and his girlfriend and after several incidents featuring zombies and some crazy fanatics he leads them to the sea to a boat. But unfortunally his sweetheart is transformed into a zombie and the book ends in a clinfhanger as she is currently transforming into a zombie inside a ship. Carrie with the help of a noawadays knight that could have been taken out from a XIII world tries to help her rescue her child. They battle zombies, a group of kids who are playing "Sacrifice-a-person-to-a-zombie-and-laugh-out-loud", and even a bunch of religious fanatics who imprisions them. After many battles mainly won they arrive at the house where she kills her dead-husband and saves his young girl. Meanwhile she is saving her child she have sex with her knight (who does it when all hell is breaking loose?) They hide inside a house as the army battles the zombies. They fvck as the battle is going on... (Talk about disturbed minds). After leaving the city the knights reveals that he is changing to a zombie and mother and child are trapped inside a church with zombies outside. Another clifhanger. The third character is a problematic kid with no regard to humankind or property. To me that's not problematic because this character should be the more fun to read but the author doesn't do a good work. This boy and his family are trapped in a motorway and after the rescue by a truck driver they escape the zombies. when he and his sister climb to the truck to ride there (Which father and mother would let that) they are kidnapped. He beats him and take the girl. After some adversities the boy arrives where the truckdriver his and after releases some zombies and his sister. The zombies take care of the humans and they escape to find their mother with a group of survivors. Between these story we get a view into the mother and father of Craig. 

In the end we left with two cliffhangers and one half close story.

Criticism

- All of this happened in one day (remmember this)

- Within several minutes the zombies start sweeping across Britain. Interesting was that no warning was given and they seem to arrive everywhere, all at once 

- After a couple of hours there was talk of forced breeding, acts of brutality, religiou fervour and cannibalism. It's a propestorous the situation. I Know they are some crazed people but it's too much.

- One character is so desperate to cross London to get to her child, she gets into a car with people who are clearly violent cannibal rapists. And every scenario she makes the a lethal choice, only to be rescued by a criminal guy with a Knight Syndrome. 

- The stupidity of all characters. No redeemable characters.

- Psycological was very, very bad. The author clearly think so low of humans that he gave that way. People not believing what is happening, yes that can be. Religious fervour, yes. Cannibalistic person after two hours.. nope. Talks of cross-breeding after two hours.. no. Sex as battle rages on and as they are in a quest to find the daughter.. No. (I believe that people whould act very differently from what they are normally but there is a limit of course. Maybe after days of more time there could be some thoughts that I said before but not after one hour or two).

- Link to the above. Apart from the main characters (and Gavin the gay guy from wales) nobody seems to be thinking straight and only thinking about their escape? 

- Every kind of stereotypes from other zombie novels are presented here. This was like a russian salad (that's the name?)

- Huge plot holes. If the main characters know that a zombie bite turns into a zombie why leaving them with them? Why does Vincent leave Holly in the back with only a half-turn zombie behind her? WHAT? Who does that? The justification is "He doesn't want to other group members to find that he is favour her..." What a heck man?

- People in an impregnable castle open the doors... WHAT? WHY? Not once but several times... They deserved to die!

Good Things

- The zombie idea that the sun gives them strenght and the night makes them letarghic. But a not so good thing is the skeleton guys... they are not zombies after centuries and centuries.

- Nobody can say that the book wasn't fast paced. Because it was.

- The first line as it says that this was based on a scientific warning. Very nice. 

- Lord of the flies meet Mad Max meets Zombie movie

- The last chapter from the point of view of holly as she turns into a zombie.

- Some Lines like "Bert: This happen very often in england? - Vincent: We're not in England - Bert: PAh like it's important... (This happens a lot in portugal as they confuse with Spain).

- The mother of craig as all mayhem unfolds around her she tells to the husband " Stop swearing in front of the children". Who says that in that situation? - Another line "They must be kids on drungs" (As she tells the zombies attack the cars and people)

Cast

Scotland

Carrie Asher 

Boyd - Husband of Carrie & Brother of Vincent - Zombie - Killed by Carrie.

Mya - Daugter of Boyd and Carrie

Sawyer - Knight & Robber - Turn to Zombie

Daddy - Robber - Turn to Zombie

Sonny - Robber - Turn to Zombie

Kaylee - Gang Victim (dead by policeman)

Wales

Vincent (brother of Boyd)

Holly - girlfriend of Vincent - Turn to zombie by Roger

Oswyn - castle supervisor - Escaped Castle (Presumly dead)

Bert - Typical american - Turn to Zombie

Patty ( Typical Devout American Christian ) wife of bert - Turn to zombie

Gavin (gay) lost it's partner - Turn to zombie

Andrew - killed - Dead

Penny - Turn to zombie,

Roger - Turn to zombie in the sewers  - Dead

Simon -bodybuilder bit by Andrew - Dead

Scotland

Craig Murray - Troublemaker

Samantha - Sister of Craig

Art - Driver, Cannibal (?) kidnapped Samantha

Terry - Father of Craig - Drunk, sacrificied himself to kill zombies 

Mother - Mother of Carrie (long time ago), Craig and Samantha) - Typical Denial of Truth...

Conclusion

Would I recommend this book? Only to the die-hard fans of zombie fiction and even them dont' expect nothing new or original or good. Read to your own peril. You will want the zombies to eat the humans. That's what I wanted. 

Unfinished - The Thackery T. Lambshead Pocket Guide to Eccentric and Discredited Diseases

In a time when my time (sorry the pun) is so small I must make choices of what to read or not. Having hundreads of books lining to read I decided that this one was not to my liking for now. Don't get me wrong. This short story anthology is quite funny and I bet in another time I would have finished it but it's taking too long so I stop reading it. In a future... who knows?

Would I advice to you?
If you want funny stories with several acclaimed authors with a thing of ridicoulous fiction. Post Modernist as Publishers Weekly refer to it. Great designs of the strange and fictious diseases. Demented I must say.  As I said I will return to it when my mind is set on this kind of tales.

Book Review: The Dead and the Damned - Jonathan Green

Title - The Dead and The Damned

Author - Jonathan Green

Year - 2002

Stand Alone or Series - Anthology of interlinked stories

Pages - 280 (Masspaperback)

Reading Time - Sep 2010 through Dec 2010

Review and General Opinion

This was my fourth book by Jonathan Green. First was Crusade of Armageddon which I yet to review and the second was Necromancer; reviewed here and last but not least Magestorm here and I've already had read a story called The Plagued Pit (review here). This book is a collection of short stories and each story follows the next and so on. (Thus the Season before the name of the story). This is similar to Gilead's Blood and Trollslayer. Each book is a collection of short stories published elsewhere.

The band is led by Torben Badenov (the captain), Stanislav Hagar (a Kislevite), Oran Scarfen (a thief), Krakov (probably a vampire or dead now), Yuri Gorsk, Alexi of Nuln (now dead) and Pieter (Since Dark Heart story). Badenov’s Band is a group of mercenaries led by Torben Badenov. Together they undertake one task after another in hopes of wealth and fame. It is rarely results in either, and instad the group is repeatedly subjected into one horrible adventure after another

Winter - The Hounds of Winter The band fights an evil curse of an ancient battle that had be fought 300 years ago. Nice tale with an interesting old tale.

Spring - Green Tide Rising (Orcs) After a group of orcs butchered a bunch of priests they are paid to find a plundered relic. In the way the find a battlepriest looking for rendemption. The end boss was too easy. Holy Bones

Dark Heart (Vampires) - After saving a maiden that tells them about her village. They go investigate (with no promise of money) and they find more that they can chew. Very good story. An Unexpeting ending.

Summer - Harvest of Souls They arrive to a strange village. Everyone if perfectly fit but there are no children. There they are attack by black riders and the villagers ask for their help.  The ending was kind of strange. Afterall they worship Slaanesh and the riders were Witch-Hunters. In this story we learn about Alexi.

Autumn - Plague Pit - Check Link

Autumn - A Murder of Crows & Winter - Sympathy of the Damned are connected. They help a lady and her entourage to escape a group of man and they arrive at a castle where the lady is marrying some noble. Then all chaos breaks loose. They are good stories.

Winter - The Dead of Winter

Ostermark. This tale is the only one that is set on a city. In this tale we learn more of Badenov band and mercenaries (and their motifs). This is the largest story and probably the better. After Dark Heart story Pieter joins the band and as each story goes he changes a bit. In this tale he flees the band after the final battle changed (that's what you deserve for fooling around with a necromantic/nurgle book in your hands thinking you can control it).

This ending leaves a door open to further tales but I think none was written aftewards. After two or three years Jonathan Green left the Warhammer World and went to Abaddon Books writing his Pax Britannia novels.

Conclusion

 This book is one of the best book that give that gothic feeling of warhammer. It's faithful yet simple. The seasons help a lot as well. It reads as a campaign in Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay. But that doesn't diminsh the book. I think this book could inspire people to try new campaigns.

The writing itself is nothingspecial but he uses adjectives to describe the eerie world it belongs. The atmospheric scenary is the best part of the novel (it happened in necromancer as well). I think Jonathan Green really understands the Warhammer World and he is one of the old guys. Books noawadays are different in writing and in stories. In all flaws and good parts this book is a nice addition to the Warhammer World and a must have if you are into the Empire 

Book Review: The Skeleton Crew - Stephen King

Title - The Skeleton Crew

Author - Stephen King

Year - 1985

Stand Alone or Series - Anthology (22 Stories)

Pages - 573 (Masspaperback)

Reading Time - Oct 2010 through Jan 2011

Review and General Opinion

The Mist - The main piece on the book and probably one of the best stories on this tale. I had seen the movie and I expect the same feelings and I got them. Even if the ending was a little different. I must say that this was one of the few times I prefered the movie. The ending in the movie (there are two endings, and I mean the ending where David killed everyone in the car to spare them from confronting the large beast.. and I mean large. Hundreads of meters high). Even so and with these more optimistic ending I give 8.5/10

Mrs. Todd's Shortcut was an interesting piece as well. It has some reminscence with science fiction and wormholes. It remind me of the series "Sliders". 8/10

The Jaunt was the masterpiece of them all. Undoubtly the best story that King has written in my opinion (for what is worth). A Father tell his family about what they are doing called The Jaunt (a kind of tele-transportation). The only difference is that you must be assleep. As the father tells his tale he ommits some parts like anyone who done it alive becomes insane or death by old age. As he tells us the several attemps by the creator the son becomes more interested on the tale. As they are waiting for the nurses to give them some drugs to sleep (there can be no risk of waking in the precise moment of the jaunt) he tells more about the ramifications and why it's so immportant. As the nurses pass the family they make the Jaunt but the son has not be asleep and as he emmerges on Mars (coming from earth after only seconds, that's the time that takes to me jaunt) his hair is completly white with shock, corneas yellowed with age, clawing his own eyes as the boy reveals the terrible truth behind the jaunt "Longer than you think dad. Longer than you think!" While physically the process occurs nearly instantaneously (two miles between two portals in 67×10⁻¹² seconds), to the conscious mind it lasts an eternity and beyond. 10/10 highly advice.

The Raft is another strong tale. It begins with two boys and two girls on a raft in a lake. A mysterious oil creature engulfs one girl. One of the boys tries to flee swimiing fast as he cans but to no avail and his consumed by it. The surviving couple try to make turns and rest without the risk of falling. After some intimid contact they make love and as they make love the girl hair touches the oil thing and it's consumed. The tale ends with the remaining boy pondering on commiting suicide. 8.5/10

Word Processor of the Gods is another masterpiece by Stephen King. With the word processor the writer can write things into existence and also delete things. The work was excelent with the writer even exchanging his wife and son by nephew and his mother which he thought they were nice than their own family. The story is excelent. 8.5/10

Surviving type - This story is gory. That's what I can say. A surgeon is smugling heroin and after an incident he is left marooned on a island. AS the story progress the writing change from a normal writing to an insane figurine. To survive he cuts and eats his own members. 6.5/10

Gramma - As I read this tale I thought it was familiar. Only after reading in wikipedia I remember where I had seen it... Twilight Zone. Very good tale. A Lovecraftian tale 7/10

Conclusion

These were the best tales on these anthology. With 22 stories I felt these tales compensate for the poorer ones. I must say that some of them I skipped because they were unappealing and uninteresting. Stephen King is like that. Either I love the tale or book or no. Even so he is a writer to check everything he writes because there are gems in them. 7/10

Book Review: Blood Ties - Elizabeth Christensen

Title - Blood Ties

Author - Elizabeth Christensen

Year - 2007

Stand Alone or Series - Series SGA8

Pages - 414 (Masspaperback)

Reading Time - Nov 2010 through Jan 2011

Rating - 5/10

Review and General Opinion

Why do I read these books? They are not all that good. The First one Risinig was the worst (here). I also read the Reliquary was the second (here) Entaglement the Sixth (here) and the seventh Casualties of War (here). They are pretty avarage and this one was no difference.

This book was a little different. Instead of adventuring in the Pegasus galaxy in these novel we get to do half the job on earth with Daniel Jackson and Rebecca Larance and Sheppard helping them out. Unfortunally that spoil the book for me. When I read these novels is for the characters. I don't care about the main series (Stargate). The characters on the Atlantis are way good and the adventures as well, not to  mention the Wraith and the ancients.

These novel Rebecca Larance is almost godlike divine being. She is a "real" wonder woman. Not only does she have the ATA gene but another rare gene which explains her own prophecy (bla bla bla).

The plot itself was far fetched even for the stargate universe and we see here the mysticism of Vampires. Yes.. Vampires are a kind of wraiths and even with all historical presentetion given by Jackson was weak. The plot in Iraq was nothing special and all the novel on earth is weak. The only good part was the dinosaurs part happenning on the pegasus galaxy. Quite good.

Critiscism

• Dr McKay is heavily portrait as a coward but as you all know, even if his words are of a coward his actions are not. He has saved the main cast dozen times and after complaining he is courageous beyond doubt. I really hope the next novels by Christensen are better.
• The plot was weak and rather far-fetched.
• Rebecca was annoying and totally unrealistic character
• Weir and Sheppard are two-dimensional

Good

The characters: Undoubtly the characters are the best part of the novels. To read again a novel with Sheppard, Teyla, Ronon and of course my favourite Dr Mckay (even if this one was awfully bad portrait, and I mean really awful.. a little brat that Weir (another weak character on the book) had to remove him from a science meeting. Awful!!! 

 

Conclusion

Would I recommend this book to anyone? No. There are so many awful things on it that I can't recommend to anyone unless they are die-hard fans as I am. And even bad canon is worth reading. I really hope the other books are far better.

Review: Shutter Island - Bennis Lehane

Title - Shutter Island

Author - Dennis Lehane

Year - 2003

Stand Alone or Series - Stand Alone

Pages - 414 (Masspaperback)

Reading Time - Nov & Dez 2010

Rating - 8/10

Review and General Opinion

The picture is from the film but the cover from the book is identical. Mind that I didn't watch the movie even if everyone talk about it. After reading the book I watch the movie and I was pleased with both. One can complete the other. Almost everything in the movie is on the book. They didn't get far from it which happens with other movies.

A couple of Marshals arrive on an isolated island that houses a federal prison for insane criminals.They were called to investigate a disapearence of a female inmate. As they start their investigation they suspect that not everything is as should be.  The staff of the prison is not as coopearative as they should be.

As the plot advances we are presented with a hard detective, psychological novel with a strong sense of a noir film. It was quite excelent book. All the investigation, the clues, the choice of words. The ending was another strong point of the book. As I said I didn't watch the movie so the ending was excelent. What a twist of events.

Conclusion

The book was a little different from what I read usually and so I was intrigue with this book. The other novels I've read with a detective is the Agatha Christie's but this was a little different. I enjoy the book with all the twists and megatwists. I would reccomend to anyone who hasn't see the movie. If you have seen the movie then I won't advice these book. Why? Because the spoilers are to great and there isn't anything new on the book. Either way you will be satisfied.

PS: I don't understand why the main character of the film (Di Caprio) didn't win a oscar. He makes a great character and the plot is solid. Oh well... that's the oscars I guess.

Book Review: War Unending - Anthology

Title - War Unending

Author - Anthology (11 Writers)

Year - 2010

Stand Alone or Series - Anthology Fantasy (Only available through Black Library website)

Pages - 318 (Softback)

Reading Time - March 2011

Rating -

• Swords of the Empire – Dan Abnett (Swords of the Empire) Review here
• The Small Ones – C. L. Werner (Way of the Dead)
• Rattenkrieg – Robert Earl (Tales of the Old World)
• Redhand’s Daughter – William King (2 Omnibus of Gotrek and Felix)
• Portrait of my Undying Lady – Gordon Rennie (Lords of Valour) Review here
• Virtue’s Reward – Darius Hinks (New Story)
• The Blood Price – Mike Lee (Omnibus Chronicles of Malus)
• Glow – Simon Spurrier (Way of the Dead)
• Three Knights – Graham McNeill (Way of the Dead)
• Seventh Boon – Mitchel Scanlon (Tales of the Old World)
• Broken Blood – Paul Kearney (Death & Dishonour) Review here

Rattenkrieg – Robert Earl (Tales of the Old World)

This tale involves around Skavens and a man with a quest. The story is good (mainly the beginning as the girl is scared of the dark) and the all the scenery and gothic feeling around the old temple of Morr and the priest. The tale its good I could see this small tale into a full lenghted book. As the "Avenger" tells his tale we get the feeling that something is lurking in the dark and the ending was my least favourite part of the novel. I also enjoyed the skaven's plan. How treachorous they are. Spoiler here: They kidnapp a girl of a important man so he could hire a team of rat-catchers and search for her in the underground with a "special" map given by someone. This way they do the dirty work of one of the clans as they wipe out three other clans. Classic Skaven Tale. 8.5/10

Redhand’s Daughter – William King (2 Omnibus of Gotrek and Felix)

When I thought that Giantslayer would be the last story I read made by William King I discover these tale. After the events of Giantslayer they end up in Araby (Where did they went and how far?). As they hitchhike a ride in Storm Hammer they encounter a large vessel belonging to Goldtusk. Of course they battle but to no avail 'cause of the damage to both ships but only after freeing Katja Redhand's daughter. She tells the dwarves about the treasure of their father and a jewel in a island and ofcourse the dwarves's goldlust kicks in. They travel to the island and there they find some ruins like the ones built by the Old Ones but different at the same time (Giantslayer references). As they go in into a ruin they find the treasure  and the jewel in a room surrounded by lava but an fire elemental appears and battles Gotrek. Felix tries to battle the elemental as well but the heat is immeasurable and he is easily defeated. As they battle Katja retrieves the stone and reveals herself as a sorceress and not Redhands daughter (a pirate king) but his wife. She then banishes the elemental and flees using magic. With the stone gone the all island is unstable and the lava begins to erupt. As the flee the ruins they battle a hundred goblins and after a brief encounter they battle Goldtusk and his bodyguards. There are some pretty good images of Gotrek battles like:

"Gotrek's axe lashed out, killing everything in it's path. It clove right through spears and shields and bodies, leaving red ruin in it's wake." - "Ahead of him, Gotrek hewed and cleaved as if possessed."

Ahh Gotrek story... Nothing like it. I really hope he will never die! (unfortunally for him) 10/10

Virtue’s Reward – Darius Hinks (New Story)
This tale is set in Mordheim and it's a rite of passage for three priestess as they are set to retrieve weirdstone. The tale is set at night in Mordheim and I tell you that's not an easy sight. There is something like a carnivale of monsters that delighted me. The tale as some twists as they encounter several foes and the ending is quite good.  I don't think they refer the name of the Sisterhood that sends them to retrieve the weirdstone which would be nice. Quite good story and a nice addition to the novel. 8/10

 

The Blood Price – Mike Lee (Omnibus Chronicles of Malus)
Another wonderful story and probably the better of this anthology. Malus Darkblade is one heck of a character and Mike Lee truly knows how to write about him and dark elves mainly. There is some rumors that he will be writing more tales of him. I really hope so. Mike Lee really knows how to write a evil character being full of treachury and hate. This tale was beautiful written and as I said before Mike Lee knows how to write. I can't remember a writer using so many "bad" adjectives in his tales. This tale itself is about how Malus meets Silar Thornblood and Lhunara (major character in Lord of Ruin) and how they raid Ulthuan for riches and slaves. It's very good. 10/10

Seventh Boon – Mitchel Scanlon (Tales of the Old World)

This tale was another interesting stroy on this anthology. Black Library choose them by finger. This tale takes us to a man who is trying to trick the devil or in these case the first daemon prince of Slaanesh. He made a bargain with the devil for an extend life (he wanted an immmortal one) and for that in the end he should have forfeit his soul to Slaanesh. For each period of 25 years (each boon) he had to made something in counterpart. Sometimes something like murder others corrupting people to Slaanesh. As the last boon approaches he makes a plan to thwart the daemon prince plans. Excelent story. It remind of some folk tales of people cheating on devils. 8.5/10

Black Library as I said choose eleven stories and I must say I am suprised of the quality of them. All of them are very good and takes this book as a starting point for anyone trying to enter the Warhammer World. There are three stories I did not read because I have on my pile list those books. I will get them eventually. I give the book 9/10

Book Review: Dark Imperium - Anthology

Title - Dark Imperium

Author - Anthology (9 Writers)

Year - 2001

Stand Alone or Series - Anthology W40K II

Pages - 288

Reading Time - 8 days (February 2011)

Rating - 8/10

Review and General Opinion

It's hard to review short stories. There are some brillant stories but others fail to impress me either because they are oo small or not that good. Some of them have spoilers.

Apothecary's Honour - Simon Jowett - 26Criticisms

Interesting story with a good character central character. It was my first story with this chapter (Avenging Sons) and I enjoy it. The apothecary do everything do save some of the gene-seed but in the end after saving it he is captured and come face to face a famous traitor space marine apotechary.

Daemonblood - Ben Counter - 26

This story is about vengence and repentace. Sister Aescarion of the Ebon Chalice pursues Castus a former ultramarine now turned champion of nurgle. This tale takes a span of several years which emphatise the feelings of sister Aescarion.  In the end the quest that seems about vengeance turns out to be about repentance.

Nightmare - Gav Thorpe - 10

This one was somewhat strange. It could be inserted here on 40k world as in the fantasy. A young boy is trouble by a voice in his dreams and because of that he was cast out of his village. This voice is the only friend his got. In this last dream the voice makes him go on an adventure or crusade against "evil" monsters. The ending is quite good. There are far worse foes than a daemon , well, what I am saying it's that a foe that deals with mind sometimes is worse that the one dealing with the flesh.

The Lives of Ferag Lion-Wolf - Barrington J Bayley - 12

One of the best stories on this anthologies. These tale is about Ferag Lion-Wolf a champion of Tzeentch and as he tells another pretender of his throne about his rise into the power he's got now. The ending was excelent and a twist you will not see it coming. Isn't Tzeentch also called the Great Betrayer? Is anything true?

Small Cogs - Neil Rutledge - 26

This tale depicts the Imperial Guard as they hold a position against the eldar. I didn't find this tale that interesting. The ending was not that good either. A bit of dissapointed and one of the weakest tales.

Angels - Robert Earl - 10

This tale is another that, with a small exception, could be fantasy. This tale had nothing in particular interesting and I didn't enjoy it. Then I thought better and I did enjoy it. This "Angels" are of course Space Marines as we all know it but as some tales say the space marines are just a myth to thousands upon thousand worlds. Very few people see space marines in their lifetime. The Imperium have a milion worlds and taking the account there are around 1000 chapters with 1000 space marines then the probabilities to see one are slim. These tale is set on a world without much technology and to see a space marine is quite something amazing. And in that viewpoint I enjoy the tale.

Hellbreak - Ben Counter - 20

This tale had Dark Eldars so how could it be a wrong tale? It's about a commissar that escapes the dark eldar and the he joins with other humans and try to escape. Knowing that to be impossibility they do everything to make a revenge for everything they did to them. It's quite interesting and the end it's quite good. The Dark Eldar society is not that forgiving and the end of this tale is about that. One of the Best.

Battle of the Archaeosaurs - Barrington J Bayley - 20

These tale is quite frightful. After sending two parties to reclaim the world without sucess they send a third party. This one has tanks and even two Titans. The book is quite good with the confrontation between the titan and the dinnosaurs's kind. The ending is the frightful thing. After failing with the two titans they decide to exterminate the planet. It's how we humans work? If we can't break someone spirit then we destroy it? Humans suck thats what Bayley said.

Know Thine Enemy - Gav Thorpe - 32

These tale takes us to the confrontation between the Salamanders Space Marines and the Eldar for a world where the eldar want a device. For what? Mankind with that thing that makes us unique (Curiosity) tries to unveil the mistery behind the device. The Eldar want it as well but for other purpose. The end is very good. Dark Eldar again.

The Wrath of Kharn - William King - 12

These tale is another gem of the book. William King is as anyone know one of the best writers writing for Black Library. Thank godness is coming back because Black Library needs him. Barrington Bayley was another that could have contributed more for Black Library. Unfortunally he only wrote Eye of Terror. This tale is a Chaos tale as Khorne Berserkers attack a Slanneshi cultists. I don't know if these tale could have been writen by anybode else. The language and images there are quite unique to the beginnings of Black Library

Ancient History - Andy Chambers - 34

With these tale I had hard time to get into. I must say that it was another story I didn't enjoy or didn't care.

Snares and Delusions - Matthew Farrer - 24

Word Bearers vs Eldar. Excelent. These tale is quite unique. With the view of a Word Bearers chaplain as he gets his chapter into war. It's quite good. The ending is delicious as well. Great addition to the book.

Hive Fleet Horror - Barrington J Bayley - 13

These tale is another gem of these book. Only these writer could do it. A view of Hive Fleet Kraken as it lay to waste another world. The ending is frightening. The ending of these tale tell us what we already know. The Empire will succumb eventually. Chaos as well. Eldar, Orks and even the almost undead Necron. They will all bow before the mighty Tyranids. Only the tyranids lasted forever. Excelent.

Criticism

Besides two or three stories I don't have a particulary criticism. The only one I could think of is why did Barrington Bayley stoped writing for Black Library? Or even William King or Brian Craig or Gordon Rennie? Bah

Good

There are excelent stories here. Some of them are way better that full-lenghted books. The stories of Barrington deserve a book for each story. They are excelent. I really hope that Black Library chiefs think what BL Fiction is about. These are the tales that made you special. Nice cover.

Conclusion

Excelent book. Anyone who enjoys Warhammer 40k should read these. Even outsiders could read three or four of them.

Review: Tale of the Dead Town (4th) Hideyuki Kikuchi

Title - Tale of the Dead Town

Author - Hideyuki Kikuchi

Year - 1986 (Japan) 2006 (RoW)

Stand Alone or Series - Fourth on Vampire Hunter D series

Pages - 171

Reading Time - 28 days 

Rating - 6.5/10

Review and General Opinion

This novel was a bit different than the first and third novel which I enjoyed a lot. The second book was a bit different. When I say different I say about the way the tales are told. Some are works have become less descriptive and more action-driven. To me it's not always that good. This is a rich world and it's a shame that we are losing it. These novel begins as D saves a woman (not so different as all other novels) and meeting an "ally" as he journey to his next job in a floating city. There he will find that things are not always what they seem to be. The story is quite straightforward. A vampire (or two) is stalking the city but they are of a different breed as they need blood to survive they have other qualities different from the noble vampires.  As the tale follows the detective D he finds some hidden secrets by some of the characters. In all the tale there isn't anyone capable of harming D (as in the previous novels). I enjoyed Pluto VIII (the "ally" of D) and in the end I was pleased by the tale.

Criticisms

- There are always a young girl needing rescue
- The movie-script look alike. This upsets me. The first novel didn't appear that way but this is something I am currently facing in latter novels.
- The long chapters. (not that big criticism)
- Maybe is just the translation but some bits are quite odd to decipher what a heck is happening.
- Vampire Hunter D; our hero is quite a character. Is anyone capable of defeating him? Is any character in all next novels capable of making him sweat a little? Godlike.

Good
- Vampire Hunter D: The Hero is quite an amazing "super-hero". All it's power and his talking hand (should appear more) and the feelings of other vampires and humans have around him. (This is the good part the bad part is explained above)
- The Setting & World: The setting of this series is amazing. With each book we get more info about Kikuchi view on the Frontier in the world he created and contributed with 33 novels and half a dozen short stories this world is getting better.
- The postscript: The author himself writes a postscript in the end of each novel that gives us some information about how this world came to be. Not particulary about the novel but the motifs and the why's. It's quite good.
- Yoshitaka Amano drawings are always great. Specially the covers.

Conclusion
This was my fourth book of Vampire Hunter D and as I said before the setting is amazing but this tale lacks more information about the world, nobility or even D. I was pleased with the tale and I will continue reading the novels but I am not happy where the tales are going. If you are a fun of Vampire Hunter D first novel then read these one but if you are new don't begin here. If you enjoy Vampires I would also advice you to read these novels. Maybe I will try reading another kind of book by Kikuchi.

Manga novel (released by DMP). Illustrated by Saiko Takaki.
This manga was as the previous ones... weak. As I read the novel I was floaping the pages so I could "see" the action. In those strange and confusing parts I saw the Manga to fill me in. In the next novel I won't have these companion book. But either way; in my opinion,  it was not as good as the novel.

Review: Empire - David Dunwoody

Title - Empire

Author - David Dunwoody

Year - 2008

Stand Alone or Series - 1st of a Series 

Pages - 293

Reading Time - 7 days (January 2011)

Rating - 4/10

Review and General Opinion

I've read nearly every zombie book out there I guess so I had to read this too. This was new to me. When I read the blurb I thought "This is new and interesting. Let us buy" (I usually don't speak as Gollum, but it's the mood). This could be a great novel. The ideia behind Death investigating why the dead are not coming and about the life in a city that is being abanonded by the military. We follow dozen of characters in fortish chapters (inbetween we have some entries in form of a journal and five chapters with a special force that really don't do anything beside seing the apocalypse rider and trying to find it and confirm his presence. Faith is important here where some people still believe in god and the zombies a form of punishment and others that really don't care. The Goverment is atypical of other goverments where they don't care about anyone except themselves. It's quite a cliche.

It had some good premise but everting fails.First a cross-breading virus that makes thing undead. Not just people but also animals, fish and it's hinted insects as well. But would life still exist after 100 years? The zombies in the other end are a little better. As they feed on other animals they gain power and become runners or more powerful. The inverse what happen? They died? After 100 years is there any abundant life avaiable to them?

(More) Criticisms
- Too many characters: At times I could figure it out who was who or what they were. Until 3/4 of the book I tried to remember a couple of names and everybody else was confusing. And everyone dies and without purpose. They were cannon fodder.
- Dialogues & Writing: My god, what a mess. In one chapter we are with one character and without any indication in the next sentence another character in a different location is talking. It made the storyline falter at some points.
- Proff-reading and editing, anyone? Was it making a script for a movie/game or a novel?
- Pet Zombies & Zombies that just don't die. Interesting no? Well, no. How does a zombie survive without a head? Only a body?

Things that could be Good
- Death - Great character (the end where he made a choice that had dire consequences to him) but unfortunally it appears not so often to be good and it's not that well characterzied.
- It was in the year 2112 but with an unbelieveble scenario
- Maybe the sequel will be better but we will never see it because I won't be buying more.

Good
- Meh. Maybe chapter 41 where Death talks to someone in a higher place.

Conclusion

I pay almost 10 euros for a book for a tradepaperback with only 280 pages and with big letters. It would fit into a mass book with 200/220 pages easily. And unfortunally (again) it's the first of a series. I bought this one but I don't see myself buying the second. If you like zombies and read everything else then try this one. If you like Romero's movies or "normal" zombies or you are new to them then don't pick this book. There are a lot books out there greater than this one.

Thoughts (XI)

The first entry of the year. Just one thing. I will try to enter more posts this year. I promise.
It has being a difficult start. Why? I usually start a book and in two or three days finish it. But last year I  left 15 books in the middle so I wanted t finish some of them. I already finish two or three. I want to this next year to read a little more (which is not happenning so far) and to try finish more trilogies I left opened. Well expect a review soon of "Empire" by David Dunwoody

In other news my work is going along with the crisis... much is going to happen this year.
I will have to cut some money in my books so I won't be buying the amount of books I was used to buy.
My health is doing ok.

Interesting Facts

I have been keeping a excel page with the pages I read per day. Interesting wednesday was the day I read more (4555) followed by Sunday. Saturday was the least productive day (2725) with almost half the pages read comparing to wednesday. June, July and August were the most productive months with almost 100 pages per day. Unfortunatly February, April and November with 56 pages per day. In general I read 75 pages per day this year. My goal was 80 pages per day so it wasn't all that bad. Last year I had read 45 pages per day with 16514 pages read. Now I have increased to 26968 (with more 5 days to read).

Let us hope this next year will be better.