Wizards of Mars review

I finished Wizards of Mars by Diane Duane a couple of days ago and decided to do the review before I forgot half of the plot (as in some unnamed reviews that I had done). It should be mentioned that this is the ninth book of Diane Duane’s Young Wizard series, which began with So You Want to Be a Wizard. I had read the first one way back when I was a young boy of 12 (about 2003). I had just started reading the Harry Potter series maybe a year or two before so I was hooked on fantasy books at the time (well fine… I am STILL hooked on fantasy books). Anywho, it is imperative that you read the entire series in order to understand the book. It was a few years since I read the previous book, Wizards at War, and I was utterly confused for the first two chapters until things started coming back to me. I was really considering re-reading the entire series, but if I did that, I wouldn’t even get this book read this summer.

                In this book, Kit finally sees if there is/was life on Mars. As we all know, Kit Rodriguez was a Mars fanatic for the last few books, so it just figures that Duane would do this eventually. There was just enough teenage drama to make me slightly nauseous and wish I had left the series alone. I also found myself embarrassed for the characters as Nita told aliens that they were “hooking up”… as if the aliens should know what the flip that means. But I digress, once one gets past the fact that this book was intended for young adults (or even the 12 year old from 8 years ago), it was a very good book. I found myself wanting to read the rest of the book in one night (about 300 pages… but I didn’t want to stay up too late so I left it be). I hope that Duane’s next book in the series aims its focus to the older readers that grew up reading her books. I would love her immensely if she did. :)

Update: I found out that the tenth book in the series is called Games Wizards Play. It's about a game to determine which young wizard on earth will get a internship-ish thing with the planetary wizard. I read the description and I get the feeling that it's going to have the same flaws as the previous one. I guess we'll see (hopefully not in another 5 years like the wait for the last one was).

Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie

The overall plot of Best Served Cold is of this woman, Monza, who loses everything, almost including her life. After she is carefully looked after by an old man, she runs away and seeks revenge on those that have taken everything from her. She hires the best killers to aid her in her quest, never really believing that she would succeed. It wasn’t until after I read the book (actually it was just a few seconds ago) that I learned that this is a stand-alone novel following Abercrombie’s First Law series. I am usually not one to just read a book in the middle of a series, but it can definitely be read alone with no knowledge of the other books.

This is the first book I read of Abercrombie’s, and I thought his overall writing style was good. This book in particular was well written.  In the beginning, we see Monza as a heartless person. It isn’t until the end of the book that we see that she has been a victim her entire life. I am not much for reading about war and gore and swearing (which there is a lot of in this book) but somehow I ended up enjoying the book. I am not a fan of  gore so if it would skip the battle scenes, I think it would have captured my interest a little more.

"The Grass is Singing" and "Darkly Dreaming Dexter" Reviews

Everyone has seen or heard about the hit show on Showtime called Dexter (and if you haven’t, WATCH IT NOW; this blog will still be here), and I'm sure you loved it as much as I did. It is about a serial killer hero that kills only bad guys but a double life as a blood splatter analyst for Miami Metro Homicide. Very succinct, but very accurate description I think.  When I heard that the show was based on books by Jeff Lindsay, I was literally jumping with joy. I actually found out when I got the second book for Christmas last year (apparently the book store employees had no idea which book was the first in the series). From there, I ordered the rest of the series earlier this year and just read the first one,  Darkly Dreaming Dexter, this summer.
 I adored the book. Lindsay was hilarious at just the right moments and literally took my breath away at the end. One thing that I really liked about the franchise (so to speak) is that the writers of the show didn’t just copy the book. The ending of the book and the end of the first season are immensely different, so that was a shocker for me. I thought the book was a little short though. I know it is a series, but I had hoped that the book would end with the end of season 1, but it seems as though this wasn’t the case. I don’t know what the next book has in store, but I really want to read it. I should never have gotten so far in my reading; then I could be reading it right now! 

                The Grass is Singing by Doris Lessing is about a murder of a white woman in Rhodesia when segregation was still the norm. After discussing a little about the murder, the story leads us to the beginning of the victim’s life. We as readers are slowly taken down the road of insanity as the women loses more of her mind with each passing heat-filled day. (Not unlike the abnormal heat wave that I am experiencing in Ohio… well, maybe not as bad, but it’s still hot.) The story was told extraordinarily well. I was kind of dragging myself to read it because it didn't seem very interesting to me, but after the initial confusion, I ate the book up. I was truly amazed at the feeling that Lessing had put into the story.

                Be on the lookout for the review of the book I am currently reading, Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie. It may take a few months to write, but I will get to. Have faith!