Behind Blue Eyes

Fool's Fate by Robin Hobb My rating: 4 of 5 stars What I've come to expect from a Robin Hobb book. That is, it has about twice as many pages as the plot should support, but that's alright. Because the remaining text is filled with essential character development, which is Hobb's greatest strength as a writer. So in that sense, it's a typical book from her. But on the other hand, it's very much its own story, or sub-story of the greater tale of FitzChivalry Farseer. I won't really comment much on how it wraps up this trilogy, for fear of spoilers, but I will say that it fit. View all my reviews

Slow Bullets by Alastair Reynolds My rating: 4 of 5 stars I received an eARC of this book from NetGalley and the publisher. Alastair Reynolds has easily become one of those authors that I've taken an interest in, ever since I read Revelation Space last year. That was a novel that I like quite a bit, even though many parts of it were above my comprehension level. So even though I enjoyed it overall, I became leery of reading more. Then I saw that this was coming out, a short novel with an interesting premise: a soldier dealing with the aftermath of a war that's just had a ceasefire and not everyone's been told. I was quickly engaged with Scur and her story, and better yet, I understood what was happening! This was some seriously cool space opera as it should be. I like my science fiction to be heavy on the fiction, with a dash of the science. Or even more than a dash if it's told in such a way that I can follow it. That's what this was, and I would definitely gra...

The Golden Fool by Robin Hobb My rating: 4 of 5 stars Here we are again, the middle book of a Hobb trilogy. I really think she hits her stride in these second books. The pace has built up a bit from the first, and it sets up the third one nicely. There were a couple of emotional scenes in this that are certainly appreciated by a long time reader of this overall series. I won't go into it, but they alone made this book something special. I hope they are a good preview of what's to come in Book #3, which I'll be starting soon. View all my reviews

Pines by Blake Crouch My rating: 4 of 5 stars I received a copy of this ebook from the publisher through NetGalley. 3.5 stars, for being a great page-turner. The characters and plot lines were solid, but nothing that grabbed me and wouldn't let go in and of themselves. The pacing was excellent, and I do like where Crouch seemed to be going. The end game was worth a half star all on its own; where there wasn't a lot of surprise along the way, there was as it wrapped up. I really didn't see that coming. I'll be continuing with this series, for sure. And I'll be watching it on Fox in a couple of weeks. View all my reviews

Fool's Errand by Robin Hobb My rating: 4 of 5 stars I see that I still haven't reviewed this, and I'm already 40% into the second one. Well, there isn't a lot to say, really. If you like Hobb and her previous two trilogies about the Elderlings Realm, you'll want to continue. Here, we're back to the first person narrative of Fitz himself, and it's great to catch up with old friends. The story itself is decent enough, but what struck me about this particular book was the slow build. True, this is a staple of long Hobb books, but here is where it really works. Not a lot happens for a long time, but with Hobb, that's ok. She doesn't make it boring, but rather gets us into a comfort zone from which we can branch when it is time for stuff to happen. So there, not a lot to review. Just enough to say yeah, I liked this and I'm moving right into the next one... View all my reviews

The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi My rating: 4 of 5 stars Wait, what? What did I just read? Yeah, something like that, Captain. I tell you what though. I liked it! If this was a series, I'd read more of them. Yeah, if you write a Malazan Book of the Windup, I'll damn read it. Because there was so much I didn't understand. There was so much I scratched my head about and wondered WHY?! But I was engrossed. The future Thai Kingdom depicted here and the world it's set in are brilliant. I felt like I was there. I didn't always get what was coming, but if you saw someone with a white shirt, you want to blend into the crowd. I wonder though, what those white shirts were made of. I mean, as hot and sticky and humid as it was, how did they stay white? Mr. Bacigalupi is definitely on my radar. View all my reviews

Clash of Eagles by Alan Smale My rating: 4 of 5 stars I received an eARC of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. What a satisfying read. Imagine an alternate history where Rome didn't fall, and was responsible for leading the age of discovery into the New World. How would their early encounters with the Native Americans go? This book turned out to be much more than a "what if?" situation, developing into a richly constructed historical fantasy. While the author mentions it as the first of a trilogy, the story here is pretty much self-contained. Still, I'll definitely want to read more! The pacing is good, though a bit on the slow side. It feels alright though, as it takes time to properly world-build and to get the key players into place. Smale does a good job keeping it interesting even at points where he has to make brief info-dumps. It's a little a time, and is interspersed with bits of humor and action scenes. And the battles! Oh yes, Bernard Cor...