Behind Blue Eyes

Night of Zealotry by Scott Marlowe My rating: 4 of 5 stars Another fun, action packed entry in the Assassin Without a Name series of shorts. They're getting more interesting, and more of the world is being revealed. I see something here that could grow into something quite epic in scope. Self contained stories so far, but enough hints of other stuff out there that it could really be expanded upon... View all my reviews

Murder Mysteries by Neil Gaiman My rating: 2 of 5 stars I received a copy of this ebook from NetGalley. This was...interesting. It seemed familiar, and I finally realized it had originally been published as a Gaiman short story in one of his collections. Though, it seemed like it was better as a Gaiman story. This seemed more like an adaptation of a Gaiman story. That is, one of his stories that got adapted by someone who is Not-Gaiman. I believe that is the case, though Gaiman's name is on the cover. So it brings up one question. First, why does Gaiman need someone else to adapt his stories into comics? Ummm. Sandman ring any bells? Neil Gaiman does comics. He does them well. He always has. Don't fix something that isn't broken. The art was pretty meh in this. And wouldn't you know it, it turns out the same guy that's Not-Gaiman is also Not-Dave-McKean. Yes, he adapted the story and was the artist. Way to get the double-tap on that one, P. Craig Russell. A

Arctic Wings by L. Ron Hubbard My rating: 3 of 5 stars I won a copy of this audiobook in the First Reads program on Good Reads. Here's another Golden Age action/adventure from L. Ron Hubbard, this one set in the Canadian wilderness. This time, our hero is an aviator, but like the other Hubbard heroes, he gets into one tough situation after another and finds a way to handle himself. While I did enjoy the fast pace typical to Hubbard's early work, I didn't care for the overall story as much as others I've read. The narrators and sound effects were very good, keeping me interested for the couple of hours it took to listen. I don't think I would have been as compelled to push through if I'd been reading a physical or ebook copy of this one. It's a well told story, but the characters just fell a bit flat. Hubbard's pulp era characters tend to be a bit stereotypical as it is, but usually he's got one or two that I can root for. Here, not so much. My fav

Honor Among Thieves: Star Wars by James S.A. Corey My rating: 4 of 5 stars 3.5 stars. I received a free eARC copy of this book from NetGalley. When I saw that James S.A. Corey was doing a Star Wars novel, I was excited. I'd read Leviathan Wakes and liked it a bunch. So how would that translate to the Star Wars universe? Very well, as it turned out. Abraham and Franck (the duo behind the Corey pseudonym) do well with crafting characters in a complex, yet easy to grasp setting. This is told from Han Solo's viewpoint, and they were able to give us a nice look inside his head to see what makes him tick. And yet, they stayed very true to the character as seen in the original trilogy. They also perfectly describe the movements, actions, dialogue, and mannerisms of the other characters we'd seen in the movies. The world building was here too. Of course, the Star Wars universe is very much in place already, but they added rich detail to scenes that would have flown by on the

Buzz: A Thriller by Anders de la Motte My rating: 1 of 5 stars I received a free ebook copy of this from NetGalley. I tried. After reading Game, I thought I wouldn't. But I gave it a chapter to see if the writing was any better. And really, no. It was not. I learned something though - not to request the second book in a series before reading the first. Oh well. Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for providing the opportunity to read this. View all my reviews

The Green God by L. Ron Hubbard My rating: 3 of 5 stars I received an eARC copy of this through NetGalley. I really enjoy these reissued Golden Age stories from L. Ron Hubbard, published by Galaxy Press. The presentation is great. This is the first that I've tried in ebook form though. This one is actually two stories: "The Green God" and "Five Mex for a Million". Both deal with American military guys in China, during the 1930's. And both of these protagonists immediately get into a crap ton of mischief, using their wits and there general badass-ity to get out of trouble. We get the expected mild sexism and racism typical to the pulp style and the time period. Nothing too out there. But we also get some fast paced action from start to finish. It keeps the reader's attention and serves as an escape in a single sitting (or two if you like to take the stories one at a time). And who said pulp fiction couldn't teach you any