Aser Tolentino

In his interview with Scott Brick at the end of The Lion, DeMille notes that one of the perils of writing ripped from the headlines fiction is that the headlines can change in the time it takes between outline and publication. Specifically, he says many authors were caught with partially completed Cold War thrillers as the Soviet Union rather suddenly ceased to exist. He dodged that particular bullet though and the result is that we are lucky to have this wonderful little tale combining many of the Cold War thriller tropes including abandoned POWs, horrid conditions in the USSR, morally ambiguous or downright bad actors within US intelligence, and the choice between doing the right thing and preserving the peace, into a sort of time capsule.

Readers familiar with DeMille's work will recognize the basic cast of characters: the guy and girl at the center of it all who are in over their heads by varying degrees, the CIA contact with questionable motives, the government mouthpiece only interested in preserving the status quo, and the bad guy who skulks around the shadows for a while before revealing himself and becoming a real pain to our heroes. What is different is that the attractive and plucky female lead this time around is far more ill-equipped to deal with the running and gunning than examples in later DeMille works. The hero of the story is to type though, ready to fling sarcastic asides and bullets in the bad guys' faces at a moment's notice.
The plot launches with satisfying swiftness, perhaps jarringly so, but may ware on people later as many later sequences involve a cycle of action and reporting to others that can get repetitive. There also quite a few, "but do they know that we know X" moments rehashing things in the characters' minds perhaps realistically, but not always enjoyably.
The tone of the book is classic DeMille, with plenty of atmospheric details that really help put the reader in late 1980's Moscow. The flow is also very engaging, and can go from absurdly ffunny to utterly depressing in the same breath. And even those scenes in which characters discuss their plight and speculate incessantly on what to do next are full of colorful little details, like eavesdropping countermeasures or the unique social dynamics of an American embassy in a communist state.
All in all, this story holds up now not as a tale of what could be but what might have been, with the end of the Cold War far from certain even in 1988, and people asking themselves "What would THEY do to avoid World War III?"

For going on half a decade, I've looked forward to each entry in first the Lost Fleet and now the Beyond the Frontier series. And every time I've harbored some little dread that this next one will be the one where it just cannot match what came before. That was particularly true when the war with the Syndics came to an end and some of the mystery of the Enigmas was done away with. But then came Invincible, which delivered two new alien races and space combat with truly intimidating adversaries who happened to be really cute, and the First Alliance Fleet and its commander proved up to every challenge.

Now, starting back at Midway with a standoff with a Syndic flotilla, Admiral Geary must tackle a new sort of fighting, one where is superiority in numbers and firepower are no substitute for sharp wits and decisive action. What's more, the duplicity of the Syndics seems to reach new lows, just as the Alliance's biggest trump card against the crumbling empire seems to be worth far less on the way back than when the fleet left Alliance space. Happily, there are more humorous breaks in the action, largely involving marines, quirky fleet engineers and Dauntless's rather...enterprising senior Master Chief. On the dramatic front, the author continues to delve into the psychological realities of naval crews and marines left to serve seemingly unending tours of duty fighting a war under unimaginable conditions and then faced with the sudden prospect of going home and having to live a "normal" life, or not, as the fleet's requirements dictate. And if tension verging on mutiny in the fleet weren't enough, political maneuvering back home is just as bad as was hinted in Invincible.

So with two hostile alien races, Syndics that won't realize they've lost, a fleet pushed beyond its limits, and politicians on every side ready to stab him in the back, Geary learns the Dancers will only negotiate after he takes them somewhere you'd least expect. Along the way, the author reinvents a few nautical traditions and throws in any number of technical details and character development that really help bring the Dauntless and those aboard her to life. And the additions to the universe that result as well as the revelation of just why the Dancers have come along with the fleet will make you wish it were May of 2014 already.

As the ninth book following Geary's adventures and the tenth book in the universe, Guardian remains remarkably fresh and does quite a lot to build a foundation for many new adventures. Forgoing yet another epic space battle after another, the author instead makes our hero confront a number of tactical puzzles involving enemy boarders, doomsday devices, and enemy ships that won't fight. Most surprisingly of all, it even managed to rekindle my interest in Midway enough to seriously look forward to the next Lost Stars novel.

There are a few editing goofs in the audio production, typically involving ship's names mysteriously changing mid-scene that isn't really a big deal. And though some pronunciations seem to have changed from one book to another, narration remains top notch. This is an easy recommendation, and yet another reason to pick up the series if you haven't already.

About a year ago, I wrote a very positive review of A Rising Thunder. Remembering that feeling of surprised enjoyment prompted me to disregard the more negative reviews and my own reservations and proceed cautiously into this latest Honorverse entry. And despite understanding and agreeing to some degree with many of the complaints with this release, I am fairly satisfied.

As has been noted before, this is the second half of A Rising Thunder, broken off because that book had just become monstrously long. The break is not chronological though, but instead focuses on what some of our (or somebody's) favorite characters were doing during the same time period, much like George R.R. Martin's A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons, if that reference helps anyone. Like I said, it means we get more time with characters left out of the previous story. Unfortunately, you may end up feeling as I did about halfway through, that you're being treated to a whole bunch of B plots. I don't know if they were all their originally, or if they were added to fill in the story when it was spun off, but there are several elements like the one cited by another reviewer about the kids whose dad is in prison and start a resistance movement that just kind of....is there. Another similar set of characters is introduced and never heard of again. I guess it's meant to introduce tension, but just comes off as sloppy or downright lazy. There are also many discussions of dispatches from around the galaxy to inform you of things going on during A Rising Thunder that might confuse you if you haven't read that book recently or recall its events too clearly; I had to consult a summary at one point when the characters had gone on for a few minutes and I just got tired of guessing exactly what they were talking about. While I'm at it, the Alignment POVs have to be the most annoying thing to have come along in these last few Harrington novels. They were so much more interesting when they were an unknown quantity, they now just seem completely ridiculous, trotted out to bemoan their thwarting by our heroes, only for one of them to remind the others of some codename project we've never heard of that makes them rub their hands in anticipation.

So why rate it as highly as I do? There are a few interesting character moments, particularly for some of the junior RMN officers. Personally, I've always had a soft spot for a certain GSN lieutenant who gets in a few good scenes. Also, there are some good battle scenes on the ground and in space. I always worry that hearing about SLN ships getting blown up will get old, but it hasn't yet... And not that it matters, but Weber throws in some OFS people that aren't total jerks, which given the number who are that and worse, is sort of refreshing.

I can understand the complaints about the narration too, but given the book's origins it would have been Johnson reading these segments originally anyway had the author had his way. The same understanding goes for issues with how little the book advances the overall plot, given that we're essentially dealing with a companion novel rather than a sequel or even a standalone spinoff thanks to publishing concerns. That's a heck of a thing for me to be saying, since I suspect we should all be wishing for the editor to be winning more battles with Weber, not fewer.

I seem to recall whole campaigns from the first war with Haven that were far more significant to the overall plot than almost everything in this book that were only touched on in briefings or other such conversations. So the bottom line I think is that given the way Weber recaps so much of what's happened in previous novels, you might actually be able to skip this one. If you like the characters currently serving in this part of the galaxy, there should be enough for you here. Otherwise, I'm sure the next proper sequel will have three or four chapters in which the universe's main characters discuss the significance of the events contained here, presumably with at least one disastrous assumption over what it all means for the strategic picture on the part of the League, the Star Empire, Mesa, some star nation we've never heard of, or all of the above...and maybe that'll contain more of what people turned to Shadow of Freedom for and found lacking.

I liked Partials enough to download Fragments as soon as I'd finished it. I liked Fragments enough to almost wish I hadn't
, dooming myself to a long wait for the third book.

Any reservations I may have had over Partials's plot were simply swept away by my enjoyment of Fragments. The story pays off the promise of Partials, showing us with greater depth and breadth the world we'd gotten only tiny glimpses of before. We have open warfare, an epic cross-country journey and some really tough choices to be made. All the while, our characters are having to grow up and fill roles they'd never expected to fall to them. And the lengths to which our heroes must go get a little more drawn out the farther they go, particularly when they are confronted with the choices others have made to save their side in the war.

Julia Whelan's performance continues to impress, improving if anything since Partials came out last year. The advent of multiple points of view means we're in other characters' heads, and the narration helps give life to the thoughts of various characters, doing particularly well I thought with Marcus's snarky fatalism.

Whereas Partials introduced the players in broad strokes and showed them making their tentative first moves, Fragments is all about setting up the sides' endgame plays. If we're lucky, the third book will give us something really spectacular.

I wonder if something like The Brotherhood of War could be written today. Begun over thirty years ago or thereabouts, it candidly but often light-heartedly tells a tale that begins where and when the author served, Germany immediately after World War II, and follows the personal and professional lives of a very diverse cast of characters as they rise through the ranks in the aftermath of the Second World War. During this time, the very nature of war was thought to be changing, though no one quite knew how.

Despite war and the profession of arms forming the core of the story, combat makes up very little of the narrative. Instead, we come to know the characters through the way in which they conduct their lives; the degree to which they play the army's political games, the passion with which they pursue the women they love and the degree to which they remain faithful, and ultimately the bond that links them as fellow officers. Along the way, we get a colorful depiction of life in the post-war army.

As we watch them grow, we see the army transform to meet the challenges of the new Cold War. We see this in the advisory duties two of our new lieutenants in this first volume, as well as the hints that the airborne legions that stormed into Normandy may soon be a thing of the past. Later installments would deal with the advent of army aviation and the rise of the army special warfare community.

These new unabridged editions are quite good productions. Dove's reading thankfully imparts a great deal of humor and self-awareness but also can bring seriousness and drama where appropriate.

Across nine volumes starting with this one, the army's triumphs and tragedies forms the backdrop for the drama of some extremely memorable personalities, and some of Griffin's best characters. This is why after all these years, technical errors, typos and continuity problems aside, the series as a whole remains a favorite and an easy recommendation for anyone remotely interested in a good story about soldiering. For the price, you simply can't go wrong.

I've returned to the seemingly bottomless well of young adult post-apocalyptic fiction several times since Hunger Games. There have been some real gems, some passable adventures, and some that will haunt my nightmares not for their gruesome imagery, but their terrifying lack of quality.

Among the books I've not been tempted to try, but which are pretty well rated and I must therefore assume are good books not written for me, are those dystopias in which A loves B but must marry C because of X, or some variation with thwarting of love being the paramount horror of the fictional society. And that does seem like something very tragic and conceivably worth the fighting and dying over that inevitably ensues. The world of Partials though, in the circumstances it places humanity and the means they adopt to combat them seems far more troubling, more unsettlingly compelling. With only a few tens of thousands of people left and not a single child having survived more than a week in the past dozen years, the government makes pregnancy mandatory. It seems unthinkable. But the author I think does a good job of creating a world in which this harsh reality is accepted, particularly with one observation about the loss of family when something like 99.996% of all mankind is wiped out: the protagonist wondering if any voter would have approved these measures if they knew their own child would have to live with the results.

So this is the world in which our hero Kira finds herself. And apparently she's more of a self-starter than a lot of other people. Despite some rather presumptuous first steps, she soon becomes the sole voice of reason, arguing for a real effort to find a cure for humanity's problems and a lasting solution to the threatened conflict that has loomed over society for the last generation. And like most calls for peace in such stories, they must be backed up by a willingness to trek into the wilds where mysterious enemies reside, and harsh confrontations with forces that cling to the status quo. The story may not be original, in its mechanics but the execution is well handled and enough fun is had along the way to make it worthwhile, even I think for most of those already knowing what they're getting into.

Some have complained about the flat portrayal of adults in this series, but it strikes me that in a story set so close to the events of the end of the world as it were, one could reasonably expect the generational divide we see, with people who came of age before the change far more conservative and cautious and less willing to take risks, having witnessed the end of the world after all.

I do not believe I have encountered Julia Whelan's work before. Her character voices, particularly for the young people are lively and distinct and all are easily identifiable. She employs emotional accents quite well to bring depth to the characters and some changes in pacing for things like action sequences that help draw the listener in. There are occasional noticeable hiccups in sound quality that I attribute to edits and re-records, but nothing too bad.

One of the previous forays into post-apocalyptic fiction I referenced at the start was Bick's Ashes trilogy, whose first installment ended on such a dramatic cliffhanger that I couldn't help but despise and admire her for the way it drove me to read the sequel. Partials gives its listeners fairer treatment, allowing you the opportunity to walk away from this one with a feeling of completion with an invitation to come back for more. And I have to say, that even as just set up for its sequel Fragments, Partials wins a strong recommendation.

Once someone has delivered a huge setpiece battle that culminates in the vanquishing of an Old One, it seems hardly fair to ask them to just turn it up a notch one more time for the next sequel.

This is why I can understand the different approach to Alpha, as well as the desire to tell Harbinger's origin story with as little intrusion as possible. Unfortunately, the result is somewhat darker than the previous installments, without the ensemble cast of the whole MHI team to lighten the mood. Instead, we have bumbling MCB agents, a crew of hapless psychopaths trying their hand at monster hunting and a newly turned werewolf that can't get over how the change will mean no more need to diet. Tipping the scales the other way, way over the other way, is a far more concentrated story taking place over about a day in an Upper Peninsula town beset by werewolves and some other supernatural baddies. This A plot seems to have far more in common with the series B movie source material than the world-saving heroics of previous outings, including improvisational weaponry that leads to incredible levels of gore.

As one would expect with a book where every chapter is prefaced by a story from Harbinger's past, even the narration seems to be grimmer. With the series venturing into third person narrative, thankfully not the case in Legion, we get to drop in on other people's headss and Wyman does a great job bringing them all to life.

This entry isn't one I'm bound to go back to again and again for entertainment. It is important set up for the big picture events that seem like they'll be steering the plot from here on out though. So if you're invested in the characters, it's a must read.

Id like to begin by saying I have purchased The Lord of the Rings, and fully intend to read it one day. I came to the fantasy genre by way of Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire, which this certainly is not. And let me say, as much as I loved those hefty tomes, I couldn't be any happier about it.

What we have here is a far more straight forward narrative with good guys and bad guys and some people in the middle who'll break one way or the other as the plot requires. It is full of action, people doing the right thing, a touch of intrigue and a dash of romance. It isn't that complicated but it is well-developed and most importantly, it is a whole lot of fun. And when I say it isn't complicated, I don't mean the author hasn't taken his time building this world. You will find plenty here worth your time, particularly a good sense of humor and characters you can't help but cheer for.

This first installment relies heavily on plots involving linear journeys and fairly direct conflicts but does throw in enough twists to keep things interesting, which sets up the characters and overall setting for a much grander adventure. I was incredibly impressed by the narration, particularly the characterization of the two heroes from the sample alone and am not surprised that it has since garnered an Audie nomination.

It's hard to express just how much I enjoyed this entire series. I can only hope the author continues to put out such great stories and finds the right vocal talents to bring them to life.

How do you follow up defeating an entity of unspeakable evil and unimaginable power that's been waiting five centuries to end the world? You take on his boss.

This sequel hits the ground running right where Monster Hunter International left off. The threat introduced in that book's epilogue makes itself immediately felt with a really powerful adversary going right at our heroes. And after a humorous detour through the Mexican criminal justice system, we're off to watch MHI do what they're best at, figuring out the bad guys game and beating them at it just in the nick of time. This is accomplished through the inventive use of high explosives, high-velocity silver bullets and clever or not so clever insults. This time around, Correia ups the scale, literally, on the action sequences, bringing about what has to be one of my favorite confrontations with a big bad in recent memory, involving an elephant.

Along the way, several characters will have their backgrounds fleshed out, including MHI's two favorite agents from the Monster Control Bureau, and MHI's history is filled in with a few insidious twists and turns.

The narration continues to impress with Oliver Wyman delivering Pitt's amiable tough guy wit in addition to as broad a collection of nationalities and supernatural creatures as you could ask for.

If you enjoyed Monster Hunter International, just look forward to more of that in every way.

There is quite a lot to recommend this book. The author's gifts for creating original characters as well as putting a new and at times laugh out loud slant to descriptions of fantasy settings and combat are truly noteworthy. The problem I have, is that reading Best Served Cold isn't very enjoyable.

Now don't get me wrong, some of my favorite reads have been really rough ordeals, I love A Song of Ice and Fire for starters. However the world on offer here is relentlessly dark, in a way that may be different from run of the mill fantasy but isn't to my way of thinking inherently better than other more conventional works, and actually suffers from its universal bleakness. As previously mentioned by others, crudity abounds for some reason, so much so as to be over the top.

My issues with the book aren't helped by the audio production that the publisher has built around the book. From his grand delivery, I can imagine Michael Page being a great narrator of fantasy books, just not this one. His style simply doesn't feel appropriate for such a dark setting, particularly with a female protagonist. Also, the recording has an odd quality, like it was performed in a small room with bare walls or something.

As much as I really liked parts of this book, I can't say I'll be going out of my way to recommend it. Perhaps it can best be called a good buy on sale, to be kept around for when you think you're too happy with the world around you and could use a good dose of glum.

I can't believe I've waited so long to try this series. Forget monsters as metaphor, objects of romance or other emotional angst, this book gives you vampires, zombies, werewolves and any number of other more obscure things that go bump in the night as baddies, after your blood, your soul, or worse. But luckily, as long as there have been monsters, there have been men and women who have gone into the dark to hunt them. And nowadays, they have all the firepower you could imagine with which to do it, loaded with silver bullets, of course.
The author has plenty of firearms knowhow to draw upon, and the book brims with terrific details and exciting gunplay. Funny little world-building breaks about common misconceptions about the supernatural world in this universe also provide countless moments that might actually make someone with a passing familiarity with genre tropes laugh out loud. The only hang up might be the drawn out nature of some of the action sequences, which have a noticeable effect on pacing when they slam against slower plot development. Also, don't be surprised if you figure things out before the author quite tips his hand, much less before the characters work it out. All in all though, this first installment delivers a solidly entertaining, action-packed fusion of sci-fi and fantasy that offers the promise of only better things to come, which the series has so far vindicated.
Oliver Wyman is without doubt the ideal narrator for this series, imparting just the right amount of emphasis on the first-person narrative's humorous asides and doing a surprisingly good job with the broad range of character voices.
If you're looking for a fun paranormal thrill-ride written by someone that knows the difference between 45 ACP and 45 Colt, look no further and be prepared for a few chuckles along the way.