Books!

[Jagosaurus]

Just finished Blue Gold by Clive Cussler. This is part of the NUMA files with Kurt Austin being the main character. These are a spinoff from his flagship Dirk Pitt novels, and a few of those characters pop in & out. Most folks know of Sahara which is a Dirk novel.

The best way to explain NUMA (National Underwater Marine Agency) is an underwater NASA. Kurt Austin is a "special assignment" agent that gets drug into special forces type missions all dealing with boats, planes, helicopters, submarines... you name it. Usually some evil person or corporation trying to strong arm their way to power at the expense of others and Kurt & Joe swoop in. They're really fun thrillers. I can recommend this one.

Now onto Flood Tide which is one of his Dirk Pitt novels.

[Markies]

Started reading 'The Talismans of Shannara' by Terry Brooks.

He is my favorite author and it is my favorite series. I read the first trilogy and this is the final book in the quadology.

Damn, I really am a slow reader. Ugh, I really got to pick up the pace as 6 months to read one book is just sad.

So, I finished 'The Talismans of Shannara' by Terry Brooks. I thought it was good, but not great. It was the final conclusion of this quadology and it had to wrap up so many different storylines. With that in mind, the book jumps all over the place and becomes a bit difficult to follow.

Now, I am going to start 'Magician: Master' by Raymond E. Feist. I read the first book, 'Magician: Apprentice' years ago. It was probably over 10 years ago, so I hope there is a nice catch up at the beginning.

[Jagosaurus]

Just finished Flood Tide by Clive Cussler. The is one from his flagship series with the main protagonist being Dirk Pitt. For those who aren't familiar, the movie Sahara is based on a novel with the same title from this series.

Clive Cussler writes techno-thrillers all a nautical theme. The genre really pulls me in and you can read more about it here (wiki link).

I can absolutely recommend Flood Tide. From China to Hong Kong to Cajun Louisiana, this one is action packed. As I mentioned above in a previous post, NUMA (National Underwater Marine Agenecy) can best be compared to the underwater NASA. The Specialist Assignments Director, Dirk Pitt, and his sidekick, Al, get pulled into all types of espionage on the high seas due to their backgrounds, resources at hand, and just generally sticking their nose where it doesn't belong .

The combination of Asian and Cajun culture brought into this one really adds to it. I'm of cajun lineage on both sides (my maternal great grandparents didn't speak much English and my paternal grandfather preferred "French"). I can confirm, he nailed the Louisiana culture vibe.

Cussler tackles the tough and brutal subject of Asian human trafficing across the seas. Don't worry... Dirk and Al are on it, using everything NUMA can throw at the Asian crime boss.

[REPO Man]

Not a book, but I just finished "I Dared My Best Friend to Ruin my Life" and the sequel "I Dared My Best Friend to End My Life".

The sequel's clearly the weaker of the two.

Now where's the film adaptation?

[Markies]

Now, I am going to start 'Magician: Master' by Raymond E. Feist. I read the first book, 'Magician: Apprentice' years ago. It was probably over 10 years ago, so I hope there is a nice catch up at the beginning.

4 Months for a Book is better. I should always read more, but if I average 4 months for a book, I should be good.

I finished 'Magician: Master' by Raymond E. Feist this evening!

It was good, though I was completely lost for most of the book. The time away between the two books did not help nor was the fact that they were originally one book and split up recently, so they didn't have any help in retelling the previous story. The book had so many characters to keep track of and it was a bit hard to follow. However, the book was well done and very intense in spots. For not understanding most of it, I still enjoyed it.

Up next, I am going to catch up with the famous Dan Brown books. Up first, 'Angels & Demons'. I am fairly excited for this one as I think it will be an interesting read and something unique. It is outside of my comfort zone and more recent than my normal books, but I have heard wonderful things about the book. It should be interesting to say the least.

[Jagosaurus]

So has any body else read the Dresden Files series? It has a cult following among the sci fi book crowds. I think most classify it is urban fiction as it is all about the paranormal set in modern say Chicago.

Harry Dresden is wizard of the White Council and a local Private Investigator who takes cases involving the paranormal and supernatural. He also acts as a consultant for Chicago PD Special Investigations unit. This drags him into many more... um, situations.

Jim Butcher has done a great job of creating the world so far. I am currently on book #3 of 15, Grave Peril. There is already everything you would imagine but better and clever.... wizards, vampires, the Fae, sorcerers, dragons, ghosts, werewolves, demons... and reportedly the universe really expands moving forward. I'm impressed. I'll check in when I have finished Grave Peril this weekend.

Dig creatures and spooks... want to see a wizard try to keep the world balanced out but with some style? Look into them. Good stuff. The first book is titled Storm Front.

[Stark]

Yeah the Dresden Files are great, easy reads. Reminds me of Buffy, fantasy in a modern setting with lots of witty dialog and great characters. I'm several behind on this series, I think there are like 14 books. I should see about getting them on Audible, as I don't really read that much any more.

[Jagosaurus]

Yeah the Dresden Files are great, easy reads. Reminds me of Buffy, fantasy in a modern setting with lots of witty dialog and great characters. I'm several behind on this series, I think there are like 14 books. I should see about getting them on Audible, as I don't really read that much any more.

I dig the comparison of Dresden to Buffy. Popcorn supernatural action with some witty humor.

Forgot to mention I read the first book in The Expanse series, The Leviathan Wakes. This has gained popularity as folks are claiming the show on Sci fi is the next BSG. Altough it's on cable, Netflix is somehow involved with the TV show deal as well.

The first book was definitely worth a read. No spoilers here, but I have to say it almost felt like 2 books. About 3/4 of the way through it takes a hardcore sci fi turn where the book up to that point had been mostly cyberpunk space travel & space military action. Worth looking at for fans of space genres:

[Jagosaurus]

Recently finished Obsessed by Ted Dekker. If you're not familiar with the name, he writes thrillers and horror novels with morality and good versus evil being a common theme. His characters are often struggling with faith, not always necessarily their Christianity but also their faith in others and themselves. He is able to mix that in subtly into horror themes and thrilling action. It's a pretty unique combination.

He does have a entire fantasy universe that spans roughly a dozen books knows as The Circle. What's interesting is that several of these very slightly overlap with his otherwise seemingly standalone novels. I've read his fantasy books but prefer his thrillers. They usually involve a serial a killer laced with horror elements. Think Dean Koontz meets Stephen King with Christian undertones. He has several others I need to check out. Some others of his I recommend:

- Bride Collector
- Adam
- Bonemans's Daughters
- Thr3e
- Priest Graveyard

Out of all these, Obsessed is definitely the most heavy hearted. It spans two stories from the Holocaust to the 1970s, both overlapping. It involved two German sympathizer serial killers and a hidden Jewish relic. While WWII is dark part of human history, this is a page turner worth reading.

I'm big Dekker fan and have some of his books signed. I was able to meet him a few years back. Very nice guy.


I just started this after years & years of putting it off, I decided I needed to take the plunge. About 200 pages in & loving it.

[Jagosaurus]

I finished Lord of the Rings The Fellowship of the Ring last week. Wow, Tolkien was 50 years ahead of his time. These books would be amazing if written today. I jumped right into The Two Towers already.

I've always been a fan of the movies & I'm a reader who likes fantasy but hasn't read these ... no excuse for why it's taken me this long!!!