Darkness Series - Harry Turtledove

one sentence summary:
WWII with dragons and magic instead of tanks and bullets.

review:
this idea was very good but the novels were far to long and drawn out. I enjoyed parts of them but other parts were nearly boring. The romantic side to the story was terribly written, but the one conniving bitch character was really well done. For the most part the solder and general characters were interchangeable and didn't really have much texture. I wouldn't recommend these UNLESS you love LOTR and also enjoy detailed military fiction.

5/10

Sentry Peak - Harry Turtledove

one sentence summary
An alternate version of the American war between the states, with unicorns and serfs.

review
I am glad that all the reviews I read after I slogged my way through this collaborate that it is the worst work Turtledove has ever written. The dialogue is really good, great in fact, which shows me that Turtledove is a good writer but everything else about this novel was drudgery. I had little sympathy for the characters and found them irritating and the situations they were continually putting themselves in exasperating. I don't really recommend this to anyone.

4/10

Moirin's Trilogy - Jacqueline Carey

One Sentence Summary:
Moirin is not like anyone else that she knows, strange gods speak to her and she must find out why.
8/10
10/10


Naamah's Kiss (Moirin's Trilogy #1)
One Sentence Summary:
The child Moirin is raised to adulthood and begins her quest to discover and follow her destiny.
Review:
Carey tackles this new series with the same ability to look life in the face and not shirk away from the more difficult subjects. The prose are beautiful and the descriptions of scenery are moving. The characters are all very well thought out and Carey is successful in making you love them or hate them. The action and adventure is a bit slow to start but once it does you will not be able to put the book down.
10/10
10/10

Naamah's Curse (Moirin's Trilogy #2)

One Sentence Summary:
Moirin continues her journey travelling from far to find her true love.
Review:
The adventure in this volume has snowballed and can not be stopped. Carey thrives on description and as Moirin travels the world she encounters new lands and new people which Carey describes with such detail that you honestly feel that you are part of the adventure. Reading this, like anything by Carey, is an experience you will not soon forget.
8/10
10/10

Naamah's Blessing (Moirin's Trilogy #3)


One Sentence Summary:
Moirin and her love, Bao, travel to Terra Nova and the adventure continues.
Review:
More beautiful prose and more thrilling escapades. This concludes the story arch very well, in an unexpected way and closes the door on the story of Moirin and Bao. Carey has said she has no intention of returning to the world of Phedre and Moirin but I hold out hope that one day she will have a new story to tell as the world is such a wonderful place I hate to think I will never return to new adventures.
9/10
10/10

Notable Quotes:
"I seek words of such surpassing beauty that they might melt the hardest heart of stone." - Kiss

"Our eyes met. We had so very many shared memories between us, Bao and I. Some were wonderous, and some were terrible. Some were both." - Blessing

"I have seen the impossible. I have seen great and terrible wonders, and I tell you, the world is a vaster and stranger place than ever I had reckoned." - Blessing
If you enjoyed this read:

Everything else by Jacqueline Carey
The Wayfarrer Series - Sara Douglass

Thursday Next Series- Jasper Fforde

One Sentence Summary:
a hilarious alternate reality series set in 1980's (mostly... well the first 4 books, the last ones take place 15 years later) London (some of the time... except for the third one...mostly).
7/10

The Eyre Affair (Thursday Next #1)
One Sentence Summary:
A bad guy is kidnapping fictional characters and Thursday Next, head of literary investigations, is on the case. 

Review:
A very solid start to a great series, Fforde's sense of humor and timing is impeccable  A perfect read for those who like reading as it is full of literary references and wit. In a land where the characters can literally jump out of the novels they are in and be moved to new stories the adventure never ends. Every page drips with witty quips and amazing characters. Fforde's imagination is nearly unparalleled on today's literary front.

9/10

Notable Quotes:

"Take no heed of her.... She reads a lot of books."

"I'm not mad. I'm just...well, differently moraled, that's all."

"Religion isn't the cause of wars, it's the excuse."

Lost in a Good Book (Thursday Next #2)

One Sentence Summary:
A newly married (and pregnant) Thursday's life is going good until Goliath Corp eradicates her husband.

Review:
In this novel we get to know Thursday better as she learns to book jump and meets classic literary characters. Fforde uses the classic characters we all know and love (or hate) to showcase the development of Thursday. The rest of the non-pre-existing characters are not particularly well developed. Still as witty as the first but no well written "new characters" are introduced to the series, though I am not sure there need to be.

8/10

Notable Quotes:
"Her majesty is one verb short of a sentence. "

"You'll like it here; everyone is quite mad."

"I could almost see common sense and denial fighting away at each other within her. In the end, denial won, as it so often does."

"Marriage, like spinach and opera, was something I had never thought I would like."


The Well of Lost Plots (Thursday Next #3)
One Sentence Summary:
Thursday is still pregnant and preparing to be a single mom is hiding in BookWorld.  

Review:
This was not as strong as the first two novels in this series but still really witty and enjoyable.  The plot was a bit outlandish but so is everything else about the series. From a book lover perspective this is the best in the series because of its focus on the literature itself, the way things are written and the use of characters. The only weakness is in the way the story line sometimes gets lost. 

7/10

Notable Quotes:

"Books may look like nothing more than words on a page, but they are actually an infinitely complex imaginotransference technology that translates odd, inky squiggles into pictures inside your head."

Something Rotten (Thursday Next #4)
One Sentence Summary:
Now a mother Thursday and her son Friday return to the real world from BookWorld, hilarity ensues.

Review:
This is the conclusion to the prior three novels. It is written with Fforde's typical wit with dialogue that will make you laugh till you cry. It also has literary references that will increase your to read list.

9/10

Notable Quotes:

"Death doesn't care about personalities - he's more interested in meeting quotas."

"I suggest we depict penguins as callous and unfeeling creatures who insist on bringing up their children in what is little more than a large chest freezer."

First Among Sequels (Thursday Next #5) 
One Sentence Summary:
Fourteen years later Thursday has to uncover a serial killer in BookWorld and raise family.  

Review:
Fforde comes back strong with this one, so witty, so hilarious, so well written. That said in typical fashion the "first" in the series opens a lot of story lines and concludes none, we will have to continue reading the series (oh the horror). 

8/10

Notable Quotes:

"Whereas story is processed in the mind in a straightforward manner, poetry bypasses rational thought and goes straight to the limbic system and lights it up like a brushfire. It's the crack cocaine of the literary world."

"Reality TV was to me the worst form of entertainment--the modern equivalent of paying sixpence to watch lunatics howling at the wall down at the local madhouse."

One of Our Thursday's is Missing (Thursday Next #6)
I have not read this one yet.

The Woman Who Died A Lot (Thursday Next #7)
I have not read this one yet either.

If you enjoyed this you should read:

The Discworld Series - Terry Pratchett
The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy Series - Douglas Adams
Jeeves Series - P.G. Wodehouse

the Milkweed Triptych - Ian Tregillis

Bitter Seeds (Book 1)

In this novel the Allied forces of WWII are aided by Warlocks and the Axis is aided by super-humans created by Nazi Scientists. The family dynamics are well executed on both sides of the war with characters you care about fighting each other. The author did an amazing job of drawing out the fictional story and the detail of real world history to add a gritty feel to the setting he put his characters in. Basically a well written fantasy that draws you in and leaves you wanting more. If you enjoy speculative fiction, I would recommend this novel.

8/10 (Fantasy / Alternate History)

If you enjoyed this book you may also like:

The Dresden Files - Jim Butcher
Thursday Next Series - Jasper Fforde (light funny alternate histories)
Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter - Seth Grahame-Smith