Category Archives: book review

Blue Adept – A Review

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The latest book I’ve finished reading on my Sony PRS-505 is “Blue Adept” by Piers Anthony. This is the second book in what originally was a trilogy, but as with so many of Mr. Anthony’s series, has grown beyond– to seven books.
It has been my experience that you either like Piers Anthony or you don’t. I have to admit that I am not as fond of some of his writing as I was when I was younger, but overall, I still enjoy his lighthearted approach to fantasy. This series “The Apprentice Adept” is less comical than his Xanth books, with an interesting mix of sci-fi and fantasy as the hero and others cross from a world of one to a world of the other. I was occassionally annoyed by how thick the hero can be, apparently just refusing to accept the reality that we, the readers, have already figured out. This is another hallmark of Anthony’s writing, and sometimes is just tedious.
If you like Piers Anthony, you will enjoy The Apprentice Adept. If you like Neil Gaimon, you will probably enjoy the series. But do not read this book without having read the first book in the series — Split Infinity. This original trilogy is very much one story. This was in fact, the big negative that I had for the book. While there is a climax in this book, it is in the last sentence, and one has to read the next book in order to find out what the resolution of that climax was.
Happy reading and ereading.

Royal Harlot – A Review

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“Royal Harlot” by Susan Holloway Scott was not a book I would have chosen to read on my own. I picked it up specifically for the Historical Fiction Book Challenge. On the whole, I enjoyed it. I had not read much on Barbara Palmer, or this time period, so learning something about a new part of history is always fun.

I found the characters and her point of view believable, and the author approached it in a realistic way without apologies. The Duchess was mostly interested in having fun and feathering her own nest, and in that way, she wasn’t too different from most people I know today.

The sex was graphic enough to be interesting, though I would have liked a bit more description of the places and things around the people (the clothes were well described). Mostly I felt it dragged on a bit, because not much really happened. While I’m sure that is realistic, it makes for slow reading.

If you enjoy historical fiction, “Royal Harlot” will be for you. If you are a fan of history, give it a try. Otherwise, maybe not.

Gods Behaving Badly – A Review

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I just finished reading “Gods Behaving Badly” by Marie Phillips. Of course I read it on my Sony PRS-505 eBook Reader, and it is available in a variety of eBook formats, just in time for Read an eBook week. Simply put, this was the best book I have read in a long time. It was funny, sad, surprising, sad again, and then funny again.

Imagine the Greek Olympians were still around today, power diminished, living in London. Though they still do their jobs– Apollo still sees that the sun comes up and goes down, Ares still manages war, and Hermes still delivers the dead to Charon the boatman as well as over-seeing the world’s money– they have little extra power and have to work for their money. Aphrodite has a job as a phone sex operator, Artemis walks dogs, and Apollo has an idea for a television show in which he plays a psychic.

The book is well-researched and the gods are perfectly portrayed. The two main human characters in the story are very real and their relationship is very touching. Most of all, the book is extremely well-written. It is very witty, well-plotted, and the language use is wonderful.

I highly recommend this book to anyone. If you have a love of mythology or fantasy you will really appreciate it.