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nrlymrtl has commented on (125) products.

Strange Chemistry #10: Zenn Scarlett by Christian Schoon

nrlymrtl, May 13, 2013

Zenn herself is often thoughtful, driven, and focused on the animals (though many wonder why she isn’t more interested in the local available boys). She often feels a stronger connection to the animals she tends than to any human outside the Cloister. The story is full of intriguing alien species, and their ailments. Add to that, some cool vet tech, and you have a bio nerd fest in the making. I also enjoyed the mystery of the various ‘accidents’ involving the beasties. townies push hard from every direction to shut down the Cloister, not renew their lease, and use the land for agricultural purposes. Indeed, Christian Schoon is an author to keep an eye on as I expect his writerly talent will increase with each book.

While there are many things about this book I enjoyed, the underlying plot could have used a little more polish. The driver for much of the book was that the bulk of the farming populace of Mars had an underlying fear and detestment for all things ‘alien’, which meant the Cloister was shunned by the bulk of the community. Truthfully, I had trouble buying into this premise as they are humans living on an alien world and many of them use or have alien items and/or animals on their farm. But once I turned off the part of my brain that kept saying the basic plot didn’t carry the weight of the entertainment value for me, I was able to focus on the cool tech, the aliens, and the sometimes vomitous situations Zenn found herself in.

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Ghoulish Song by William Alexander

nrlymrtl, May 11, 2013

I absolutely loved Book 1 in this series. I know, I can be a little kid sometimes. Book 2 was nearly as good and I quite enjoyed myself. Ghoulish Song gives us more of the steampunk flair, going into how the Inspector weighs and measures the quality of the bread loaves with his mechanic arms and eyes. the loss of a shadow, something we never think of, and how it throws Kaile’s life into a spin was inventive and entertaining. The enchanted flute and the monsters and wonders Kaile faces with it kept me thoroughly engaged during a long car ride. While we didn’t learn anything further about the goblins, it was nice to see them here and there throughout the story.

I enjoyed the first book slightly more for 2 reasons: the world was new and fresh to me, full of wonder; and the ending was more satisfying because not everything turned out 100% OK. With that said, this book is still worth your time. It had me laughing out loud and nudging my man, who was also stuck in the car with me, whenever a plot point was revealed. My man found this unnecessary as he was fully paying attention too. Yes, he can be lured into listening to a little kid book if it is William Alexander.

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Heroes Proved by Oliver North

nrlymrtl, May 11, 2013

Let me start with the fact that this book had lots of near-future or cutting edge tech sprinkled through out it. I really liked those parts of the book.

OK, now I can tell you the biggies about the book that turned me off. There is only one woman in a position of authority (the US President) and she is a bad guy; a stupid bad guy at that. No, that is not spoiler as you learn this early on. All the rest of the women are meek, mild mannered, most of them are wives and mothers. Sigh…… Often the author was patronizing in his admiration of the quiet strength and fortitude of the female side of the species.

I disagreed with nearly all the politics. If you happen to agree with them, then this book probably won’t be such a drag for you. Basically, the gist of the book was that Christian, heterosexual, white males rule. *quirked eyebrow*. Can you hear me sighing again? I am not male or Christian, so perhaps that limits my sympathizing with the main characters. Also, there were some lines about gay marriage contributing to the decline of the US (I’m for marriage equality). Then there was that part about Islam being inherently evil (raises both eyebrows). I think organized religion, any religion, in general can be unhealthy for a person. But singling out a major world religion as inherently evil seems simplistic to say the least.

So, there you have the biggies. There were some other bits �" like so much of the book seems to be a regurgitation of some military procedure or another, making what would otherwise be an exciting rescue scene something you may doze through. This book probably could have used just one more round of editing to trim these parts down. There was a plethora of acronyms in this book and some were not explained, and some were (usually a knowledgeable male was explaining them to some helpless female). The ending of the book was a bit sudden, left some side plots unfinished, and wasn’t fully satisfying; it left me with a sense that the author started to suffer from Lazy Author Syndrome, relying too heavily on deus ex machina.

But, hey, there was cool tech.

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A Clash of Kings (A Song of Ice and Fire #2) by George R. R. Martin

nrlymrtl, May 10, 2013

Through Book 2, we see plenty of personal growth for Daenyres, Jon Snow, Sansa, and Arya. Each of them has their own internal fight going on, based largely on inherited expectations, but then each has their own unique external struggle. We learn more of the Wildlings and the Grey Men. Theon Greyjoy shows his true colors, and they were not what I was expecting. While Rob Stark takes more of a back seat in this installment, his mother Catelyn plays a bigger role as the various kings vie for superiority.

By far, my favorite character is Tyrion Lannister, the dwarf and Uncle to the kingling Joffrey Baratheon. Tyrion often had the best lines and there are so many instances in this tale where he did the right thing �" partially because he was in a position to do so �" but also because it was something his moral code required him to act on. This is the book where Tyrion won my heart.

There’s battles and betrayal. Intrigue spills from every darkened corner. Dark magic is employed in nefarious deeds. Everyone has secrets, and not all those secrets will stay hidden. Those that appear creepy, are not always evil; and those that appear pristine are not always good. Poor Arya learned this all in one fell swoop.

I know some folks have shied from these books because of the length. I know some feel that the HBO series is adequate. I say that these books are eminently worthy of your time. The level of detail adds to the richness of the setting and the motivations of the characters. If any of you have been waffling about whether or not to make room for these books, then I strongly encourage you to treat yourself to some of the best epic fiction out there.

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Nimpentoad by Josh Herz

nrlymrtl, May 3, 2013

This delightful little book is full of great illustrations in each chapter that are just as beautiful as the cover. While the book only took me perhaps 10 minutes to read, I lingered over the illustrations. I believe this book will appeal to small kids for the illustrations alone, and for the silly names and adventures also. Built into the story line are lessons on various polite manners, such as chewing with your mouth closed, along with the more serious theme of bullying. I also enjoyed that the three authors are a family team in creating this story.

For me personally, as an adult in my 30s, I enjoyed how many mushrooms (delectable, not hallucinatory) that the Nibblings cooked & consumed in various ways. For each malevolent group of bullies they came across, they met the problem a different way each time, showing inventiveness and the ability to flex with the circumstances. And then there are the illustrations. I know. I keep coming back to them, but they truly are gorgeous.

If I must talk about the short comings of the book, there is only one that comes to mind. As an adult reading this, the obvious lessons in manners and on bullying occasionally eclipse the adventure story of making it safely through the woods. I myself prefer more subtlety, but this is a book written for small kids and subtlety would probably be lost on that age group.

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