Tag: Abandoned

The Rite (Forgotten Realms: The Year of Rogue Dragons #2) ★☆☆☆☆ DNF@30%

~ Bookstooge ~ 30 Comments

rite (Custom)This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress, Blogspot & Librarything by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: The Rite
Series: Forgotten Realms: The Year of Rogue Dragons #2
Author: Richard Lee Byers
Rating: 1 of 5 Stars
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 352/Abandoned
Format: Digital Edition

 

Synopsis:

More and more dragons go rogue and the various characters attempt to figure out what the badguy Sammaster has done by backtracking him. One group to a mystic monastery currently under siege by dragons and another group to a some wizards who are working on Sammaster’s notes.

DNF’d at 30%

 

My Thoughts:

My first DNF of the year. Man, I was bored with this story. There are several factors leading into that though.

First, I have had a string of 4star books since the beginning of the year. My standards were thus higher. Second, I was on the fence about Forgotten Realms the whole of last year and kept giving them chance after chance. This year, No More Mr Nice Guy. Third, I don’t want to keep on eating badly cooked literary mac-n-cheese where I KNOW that half the stuff is half-baked. Finally, work was physically brutal this week and I ended up taking today off because of how hard Monday-Thursday had gone. Hiking an hour using showshoes, carrying 60lbs of equipment, shovelling out traverse stations all day, breaking trail, pulling a sled filled with 200lbs of equipment during the day, then ending the day by hiking an hour out with 60lbs of equipment again.

If I had read this last year, I probably would have given it 2.5stars and struggled through the final book in the trilogy. Not this year. I am done with this book and this trilogy and the whole Forgotten Realms series. It is written for a completely different target audience than me and I need to stop trying to shoehorn myself into that demographic. Objectively, it was the same as the first book, but I just don’t have the patience to deal with it anymore.

I have enough books on my Oasis and in Calibre to last me 2 years. That’s if I don’t add a single thing. So why should I persist in adding books that have an extremely high chance of being lower than 3stars? Not worth it.

★☆☆☆☆

bookstooge

 

Crossover (Cassandra Kresnov #1) ☆☆☆☆½ DNF @45%

~ Bookstooge ~ 7 Comments

crossover (Custom)

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress, Blogspot & Librarything by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: Crossover
Series: Cassandra Kresnov #1
Author: Joel Shepherd
Rating: 1/2 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages: 467/Abandoned
Format: Digital edition

 

Synopsis:

DNF @45%

 

My Thoughts:

Due to some of the moral subject matter, I abandoned this book and will not be reading any more in the series.

☆☆☆☆½

 

bookstooge

 

 

The Voice of Mars (Starship’s Mage #3) ☆☆☆☆ ½ DNF@13%

~ Bookstooge ~ 12 Comments

voiceofmars (Custom)

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress, Blogspot, Librarything & Tumblr by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: The Voice of Mars
Series: Starship’s Mage #3
Author: Glynn Stewart
Rating: 1/2 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages: 310/Abandoned
Format: Digital Edition

 

Synopsis:

DNF’d at 13%.

 

My Thoughts:

Due to some of the moral subject matter, I abandoned this book and will not be reading any more in the series.

☆☆☆☆ ½

bookstooge

 

The Punch Escrow ☆☆☆☆ ½ DNF@42%

~ Bookstooge ~ 3 Comments

punchescrow (Custom)

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress, Blogspot, Librarything & Tumblr by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: The Punch Escrow
Series: ———-
Author: Tal Klein
Rating: 0.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages: 333
Format: Digital Edition

 

Synopsis:

8 All things are full of weariness;
a man cannot utter it;
the eye is not satisfied with seeing,
nor the ear filled with hearing.
9 What has been is what will be,
and what has been done is what will be done,
and there is nothing new under the sun.
10 Is there a thing of which it is said,
“See, this is new”?
It has been already
in the ages before us.
11 There is no remembrance of former things,
nor will there be any remembrance
of later things yet to be
among those who come after.

Ecclesiastes 1:8-11

English Standard Version

 

My Thoughts:

 

SYLVIA
“I had an abortion, Joel.”

….

“I guess about a month later , I realized I was pregnant. Keeping it was never an option. I had career plans, and my dad wasn’t well,so I…”

….

“I’m sorry I never told you.”

….

 

JOEL

“I love you, Syl. You made the right choice.”

That “you made the right choice” killed this book completely. Between the, once again, complete lack of originality [go watch the movie The Prestige, or read some foundational science fiction] that I moaned about in Dark Matter and that complete disregard for the most helpless of human life, I am done.

☆☆☆☆ ½

bookstooge

 

Bane of Malekith (Warhammer: Tyrion & Teclis #3) ★☆☆☆ ½ DNF@27%

~ Bookstooge ~ 21 Comments

baneofmalekith (Custom)

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress, Blogspot, Librarything & Tumblr by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: Bane of Malekith
Series: Warhammer: Tyrion & Teclis #3
Author: William King
Rating: 1.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 416
Format: Digital Edition

 

Synopsis:

DNF @ 27%

 

My Thoughts:

Nothing was happening. I was not in the mood for some b-quality fantasy book to give me a modicum of entertainment. This was no worse than the previous 2 books but that is damning praise. It was like eating spaghetti but without any sauce or meatballs or spices.

I am really not having good luck with the Warhammer universe. Savageddt has suggested I try some Gotrek and Felix. My only reservation is that those books appear to also be written by William King and I’d really like to try someone else. Guess I’ll be spending some time this weekend checking some other Warhammer series out.

★☆☆☆ ½

bookstooge

 

  1. Sword of Caledor (Book 2)
  2. Blood of Aenarion (Book 1)

Threshold (Chess Team Adventure #3) ☆☆☆☆ ½ DNF@39%

~ Bookstooge ~ 13 Comments

threshold (Custom)

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress, Blogspot, Librarything & Tumblr by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: Threshold
Series: Chess Team Adventure #3
Author: Jeremy Robinson
Rating: 1/2 of 5 Stars
Genre: Action/Adventure
Pages: 351
Format: Digital Edition

 

Synopsis:

Did Not Finish at 39%

 

My Thoughts:

“So, what, Christianity is founded on a magical charlaton?” (Jack Sigler)

“Jesus spent his childhood in Egypt, as did Moses, so it’s possible both men found some ancient source of knowledge and used what they learned to perform amazing miracles.” (Hercules)

Yeah, I’m done with this.When Christ’s Divine Nature is denied, then I stop reading. I will also not be reading any more by Jeremy Robinson.

☆☆☆☆ ½

bookstooge

 

  1. Pulse (Book 1)
  2. Instinct (Book 2)

The City of Mirrors (The Passage #3) ★☆☆☆☆ DNF@13%

~ Bookstooge ~ 13 Comments

mirrors (Custom)

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress, Blogspot & Librarything by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: The City of Mirrors
Series: The Passage #3
Author: Justin Cronin
Rating: 1 of 5 Stars
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: DNF
Format: Digital Edition

My Thoughts:

I gave this until the 13% mark to draw me in. It never did. The writing was just fine, there were no problems or anything I could point a finger to and say “Therein lies the the problem.” No, this was just like the previous 2 books in that it bored me. I might have put up with that for those 2, but now? Not so much.

If you liked the previous books I suspect you’ll like this one as well. I was pretty meh about them and nothing in this book was any different, so I was pretty meh about it as well. I’ve got about 120 books on my Oasis and around 100-150 books in Calibre that I plan on reading so I am not going to waste my time reading something that I am not enjoying.

It doesn’t help that besides Dracula, I am not a vampire fan, nor am I a big post-apocalyptic fan.

★☆☆☆☆

bookstooge

  1. The Passage (Book 1)
  2. The Twelve (Book 2)

The Lord God Made Them All (All Creatures Great and Small #7) DNF@10%

~ Bookstooge ~ 14 Comments

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This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress, Blogspot, Booklikes & Librarything and linked at Goodreads & Mobileread by  Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

 
Title:         The Lord God Made Them All
Series:       All Creatures Great and Small #7
Author:     James Herriot
Rating:      Unrated
Genre:       Non-fiction
Pages:       388
Format:    Digital Edition

 

Synopsis:

Even more stories from the Vet. And apparently he goes to Russia, or something.

 

My Thoughts:

I abandoned this at the 10% mark. I just couldn’t take any more cutesy stories about animals or the people. The people just pissed me off. So I endured for almost 40 pages. Then when he starts off about him going to Russia, and preparing his reader for that adventure, I just gave up.

Almost 400 pages was too much and I had really reached my limit of animal stories about 2 books ago. Nothing wrong with this book, hence the Unrated rating. I am using this as a lesson to teach myself when I need to abandon a series sooner.

bookstooge

 

  1. Review of Book 1
  2. Review of Book 2
  3. Review of Book 3
  4. Review of Book 4
  5. Review of Book 5
  6. Review of Book 6

The Sea Devil’s Eye DNF@18% (Threat from the Sea #3) (Forgotten Realms)

~ Bookstooge ~ 12 Comments

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This review is written with a GPL 3.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress, Blogspot, Booklikes & Librarything by  Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission.

 

 

Title: The Sea Devil’s Eye
Series: Threat from the Sea #3
Author: Mel Odom
Rating: 1 of 5 Stars
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 356
Format: Kindle Digital edition

 

Synopsis:

Abandoned, Did Not Finish.

 

My Thoughts: Maudlin Memories Abound

Part of why I abandoned this was because I had just finished Gardens of the Moon and I was still reveling in my first 5star read of 2017. ANY book was going to have a hard time following that. However, all the glaring faults of this Forgotten Realms trilogy were really brought into the light after staring into the previous book.

I was at a part where the main boy character [he’s 20’ish, but ‘boy’ is the best description] is being talked to by the main love interest and she’s pouring her heart out and simply asking him if he loves her. This boy has a very big “I’m not worthy” complex and he’s an introspective melancholic. In fact, he acts EXACTLY like me when I was 18-22. So my problem isn’t that he’s unbelievable, it is that he’s just plain selfish and WON’T look at anything other than how he wants to. My real life problem was solved when a professor at bibleschool answered one of my self-absorbed questions by laying into me and simply telling me the truth, in front of the whole class. I didn’t change overnight but I did begin to think about other people. In this trilogy, the boy has his professor moments but he stays self-absorbed. Maybe later in the book that changes, but after 2+ books, I was done.

A young hero needs to mature. However, if you’re only writing a trilogy, don’t drag that “grow up” point to the last chapter. It’s unpleasant for me as a reader because I have to put up with the character until then.

Nothing of the quality of this book was any less than the previous two. I’d simply had enough of the characters and the author’s wanking around.

star10full-custom

Abaddon’s Gate (The Expanse #3) DNF@7%

~ Bookstooge ~ 12 Comments

da5b9af52635503170379c9ee530a1cf

This review is written with a GPL 3.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress, Blogspot, Booklikes & Librarything by  Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission.

 

 

Title: Abaddon’s Gate
Series: The Expanse #3
Author: James Corey
Rating: 1/2 of 5 Stars
Genre: SFF
Pages: DNF
Format: Kindle digital edition

 

My Thoughts:

Due to a Christian pastor living in a homosexual relationship and that being portrayed as acceptable [by the writers, the readers and the Bible by inference], I will not be finishing this book or continuing with this series.

star05full-custom