Wesley

I'm thinking that this novella might have made a nice, albeit a little long, Prologue to the upcoming book in the Iron Druid Chronicles. The author, rightly so in my opinion, however chose to give us the Novella insead of making us wait.

I don't want to give away any spoilers so I'll just finish with this; if you like the Iron Druid Chronicles then you'll enjoy this title. It's an appetizer for the upcoming 5th book Trapped.

For the record I only gave it 3 stars on the story because, being a novella, it was too short.

I agree with another reviewer, Tom from CA, in that the author seems to have lost interest in the Drizzt Character. He does seem like he wanted to wrap this up and finish it.

Mini-Spoiler Alert- I'm going to try and stay away from some details so I don't ruin this for those who have not read this book but some things I can't help but mention. Please, be warned. The book started out a little slow and it never really sped up. The action scenes always left me wanting a little more which can be a good thing but the author never delivered. I read page after page trying to figure out where everything was going but I just couldn't. The mother-son storyline was cliche in the extreme between Dalia and Effron the Broken Tiefling. It was easily predictable where that storyline would lead. The Drizzt, Entreri, and Dalia triangle was more of an obtuse rhombus and if my description there doesn't make sense then I succeeded in showing exactly how that "triangle" led nowhere and made no sense. Sorry for that.

I have enjoyed Salvatore's writing style and his Drizzt books for years and even if I wasn't interested in the story specifics themselves, Salvatore was always able to pull me in and keep me turning pages. He is that good a writer and storyteller. This time it seems his heart just wasn't in it. I was very interested in the Regis and Cattie-Brie teasers but they ended up going nowhere. The ending was just like a flooded back yard that slowly just drained and faded away. If this is to be the end of Drizzt Du'Orden, and it is by no means clear that this is the end, then he met quite the sad ending. Again, to be clear, I can't even tell you if this was the end of Drizzt, that was how unclear it was. I was forced to go back and re-read the advertising for this book to make sure it was the end of the series and sadly it was.

The ending timeline was perfect for ending this book in 1,000 different directions but I am dissappointed in the way the author chose Drizzt to go.

I am very happy that at least Artemis Entreri isn't dead or even close to it. I hope he comes back in a trilogy all his own someday. He is one of my favorite characters and I don't want to see him go.

I've been looking for computer or Internet tech thriller but surprisingly in this Internet Age, there are surprisingly few. This nove so far is one of my favorites. I loved Daemon by Daniel Suarez and the sequel Freedom and when I finished them, I went looking for more. This Jeff Aiken Novel was what I found. I wasn't disappointed although I must add that it is hard following a book like Daemon so that says a lot for this author and this book.

I did like this better than Daemon in one respect, the author went into the tech details much more than I'm used to seeing in this small genre and for that I am glad. I can't say enough how much I enjoyed reading parts such as when our protagonist Jeff worked his way through the code on the machine at the law firm or how he describes how script kiddies use buffer overflow bugs to execute code. He explains it in such a way that you don't have to be a computer scientist to understand him. My wife confirmed that for me because she isn't a "computer person" as she puts it, while I am a system and network admin and we both enjoyed it equally.

One thing I'd like to note, because of what I said above and how he goes into detail regarding things like buffer overflows, etc; This is not a hacker instruction guide. You won't learn how to hack by reading this book. Sure, you might get a general idea or even come up with a decent flowchart on what and how to do certain things but I think Mark Russinovich does an awesome job going into the tech stuff while keeping the non-tech audience interested.

I also enjoy the author's writing style. It isn't so much a lyrical style as much as he explains things and tells the story in such a way that lets you concentrate on the story instead of reading or the listening. Even with audiobooks, I often find myself rewinding or playing parts over again because I just didn't get something. I didn't do that at all with this book, well....unless our dog jumped in my lap or pulled my pant leg wanting to go out. :)

Boom, Mrs Locke strikes again. At first I didn't like the pace of the story, it wasn't as exciting to me as the 1st book was. Things were happening but I didn't feel like I was on a thrill ride the same way I felt with book 1. I was afraid the novelty wore off.

I'm deliriously happy to say I was wrong. I kept on and it got much better. I still enjoy the 1st book better but this one is still pretty good in its own right. The author has a way of keeing you turning pages, not wanting to put the book down. I won't reveal spoilers but lets say that you learn more about our protagonist when members of her family are threatended. We aksi learn a little more about Xandra's abilities which are pretty cool.

To explain the missing star, because book 1 was noticeably better than this one, I couldn't also give book 2 5 stars. I feel too many people give out 5 starts to books they only like a little and I won't do that. Book 1 deserved 5 stars. This book, because it's not quite as thrilling and exciting as book 1, I took off a star.

I did thoroughly enjoy the book and I would recommend it to anyone, considering they read book 1. I can't wait for book 3! Kate Locke is an extremely talented author and I can't wait for more!

This series was pretty long, with each book over 20 hours long and book 3 was just over 30 hours IIRC. I couldn't be more thrilled they were that long. I enjoyed all 3 books immensly. The two main protaganists were the classic good guy/bad guy characters but the author did a fantastic job of not making you feel like you've seen it all before. They were well rounded and you could relate to both of them sometimes, even though they were as different as night and day
. The supporting cast was a little weak at the start but some of them filled out well. The other characters were developing well as the novel went on. I was a little worried about Princess Arista, thinking that she was going to be the typical fool girl who makes nothing but bad decisions. She didn't really flesh out in this novel but before the end of the next book I was starting to look forward to chapters involving more of her.

My one big disappointment was magic. This book, and these novels in general, had so much potential in bringing to life a thoroughly enjoyable and fascinating magic system especially considering Princess Arista was supossed to be the first wizard in a long time. They didn't use much magic at all. This was why I left out 1 star from the Story. I would easily have given all 5 stars if the magic and sorcery would have been used more.
That said, even without the magic and sorcery I couldn't wait to start the next book and just as I was finishing one I was already downloading the next in the background.

In all honesty. With more magic and sorcery the series would have been really, really, really good. As it stands the series is really, really good. :)

Thanks for reading my review.

SPOILERS WILL FOLLOW! WARNING! I'm writing this for parents who want to get this for their pre-teen and teen children.

The story of WebMind was great. The characters were well thought out but in some cases sterotypical. The kid who tries to take advantage of Kaitlyn and then bullies Matt is one such case.

That said, the story revolving around WebMind is fantastic and extraordinary. I also enjoyed Hobo the chimp/benobo although his making a choice not to be violent was too far fetched for me, at least in this story.

Now on to the elephant in the room. Regardless of what a perfect world is or how the characters think it should be; parents encouraging their 16 year old daughter to first sext her bare breasts to her new boyfriend and then just days after first kissing a boy (not just this boy, any boy) they let their daughter her have sex with him, is not the mindset I want to instill in the world I live in.
The mother finding the sexting bare breast picture on her daughter's phone and sees the sext she sent to her boyfriend but when she shows the father, he is not only not upset, but he tells her there is nothing wrong with it. That is crazy in my book, sorry for the pun. Sure, they didn't tell her directly "Hey Kaitlyn, sexting is fine and by the way, having sex is great and we think you should have it now too" but their actions (and lack of action) spell it out very clearly. They knew full well that their daughter who was born blind and had just gained sight, had her very first kiss and sent naked pictures of herself to said boy. They also knew that just days after gaining sight, etc. she was going to have sex. They accepted it as a forgone conclusion.

I think the sexting and Kaitlyn losing her virginity added nothing to the overall story other than an irresponsible influence on many pre-teen and teen children who will read this book. I don't think books should be censored or banned. I read many, many books per year, sometimes two or more per week and I run across many situations like this but this one is different in that it is a book specifically geared for young girls. I don't know how to handle it other than by writing this review.

The above is why I dropped 2 full stars from the overall and 3 from the story, If those two situations were handled differently I would have given this book a full 5 star review. It was that good. It is not something I normally read but someone recommended the first book and I was pulled in. :)

Thanks,
--Wesley

30 seconds after finishing Daemon, the 1st book in this series, I started up this sequel. The first book was that good and this sequel did not disappoint.

I honestly don't think anyone will have to read this review because if they read the 1st book, Daemon, they will get this book. You just can't ignore it after finishing Daemon. The author delivered and big. Both of these books are hard to put down. The one bad thing was that I finished them both in less than 3 days.

I hope Mr Suarez continues this series. The thrilling endings in this book brought very good resolution to many things but left it open ended enough to allow more books.

Lastly, I will add that the author didn't just rehash what was in the 1st book. Sure, there were continuations in the main theme but Mr Suarez added new twists and angles to this story that made the story much better.

In all honestly, I can't think of a single thing I'd change in these two books.

I approached this book with trepidation. I read the intro and Publisher's review and I was afraid the book would be ok but predictable. I was so happy to be wrong. The plot takes turns someone computer literate would expect but to kill an analogy, it fishtails and spins around a little in getting there.

The characters are well thought out and we get to know them a little but at the pace this book usually takes, it let the author slip in some surprises. The "heroes" turn out to be remarkable and extraordinary but they are believable and very real, everyday people who shine in the face of adversity. I don't like reveleaing spoilers so I can't say much more about them but I think everyone will find someone in the book they can relate to.

Also, the technical aspects of this book can scare away many people who just aren't "into" computers but the author does a great job of guiding the reader and making sure they can follow along.

This book is not just for the tech savvy. You don't have to be an Internet or computer junkie to enjoy this book.

I'd have given this book a 6th star if it was avaliable.

I purchased God Save the Queen during a lull in other book series I was reading based on mainly the reader's reviews. I was not disappointed and now I can't wait for the next book in this series.

The story took a little at the start before it started to pull me in but when it did, I couldn't put it down. It is a refreshing tale that I'm sure will entertain you as it entertained me.

The book has vampires, goblins, and even werewolves but their story is told in a refreshingly different style. Goblins are almost always little dingy monsters with sharp teeth that are mainly used as battle fodder but here they are dangerous to the extreme even when alone. It is not the same old take on the same old characters.

This book also does a great job at mixing up the modern science and technology with the magical and mystical. One does not preclude the other but instead the author meshes them together very well and in a manner that draws the reader into the story.

Give it a chance and I think you'll enjoy the book.

This was an enjoyable reminiscence into the Ender Wiggins story. This book fills in the details immediately after Ender ended the Bugger War.

Although written years after the original Ender's Game and even Speaker for the Dead, etc. the rest in the series, this book is a nice fit. I'm happy that the author chose to revisit this part of Ender's life. It wasn't just an author looking to rehash an old hero, you can tell that Orson Scott Card put a lot of thought into this work and I for one thank him for it.

I would easily recommend this book to anyone, provided they read Ender's Game first. (with 'read' in both the present and past tense - sorry for the pun, I couldn't resist.)

I thoroughly enjoyed Ender's Game and Speaker for the Dead were good books. With Xenocide I enjoyed the book, honestly, but it wasn't as good as Speaker for the Dead.

Children of the Mind the same in that sense. It is a book I'd recommend but I have to say that Ender's Game was a classic with SoD being a very good book. Xenocide was good but Children of the Mind isn't that I'd say.

I had to read it because of the 3 books prior but it was too predictable. It seemed like he raced to meet a deadline almost. It just doesn't stand well on it's own. It needed the earlier books to get the 3 stars I gave it. As a standalone I'd be tempted to give it a 2.

In fairness I have to say that Ender's Game (and even Speaker of the Dead to a degree) set such a high benchmark that this book suffered for it.