Category Archives: books/book review

Irons in the Fire

Book Review of Irons in the Fire (Chronicles of Talis, #1), by Antonio Urias

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Irons in the FireAuthor, Antonio Urias sent me a copy of his novel Irons in the Fire for review.

Description from Goodreads:
The City of Talis is a fragile beacon of civilization on the edge of the Faërie Lands. Beyond lies a wilder world of dark enchantments and terrible wonders, but behind the city walls humans and faëries live together in uneasy peace—until an explosion rocks the city and long smoldering tensions threaten to ignite. 

As the Commandant of Police, Baron Hessing has maintained stability for decades. But with a murderer on the loose, an anarchist bombing the city, and rumors of a faërie uprising, he is starting to loose control. Hessing finds himself caught in a web of interlocking conspiracies and he may need to choose between saving his city or his family. 

Into this maelstrom appears the Countess. Trained from birth for a single purpose—vengeance—suddenly she’s everywhere from secret catacombs to the halls of power. Beset by enemies on all sides, it will take all her training to succeed in a city on the brink of revolution. Plans are in motion centuries in the making that will change the fate of Talis forever. 

Review:
This was almost a winner for me. It had an interesting world, interesting characters, a convoluted plot, and people/fairies doing things for deeply personal reasons. And for the most part, outside of some repetition, the writing was very readable. It could have been really really good. Instead, it was ok.

There were several reasons for this. One, there were about 4 billion characters, each with a plot thread of their own. It was too much and became confusing. Two, the narratives, from all these characters’ perspectives were often provided to the reader in very brief snippets. At one point we got about a page of one character getting sea sick and then jumped away again. It was jarring and not a particularly engaging way to read a story. (It made the book feel very long.) Lastly, the book, with all its many many plot points doesn’t wrap up. So, you’ve been presented with multiple mysteries, none of which are solved. This is a BIG no-no for me.

All in all, it has some fun fantasy characters and the beginning of what will probably be an intriguing storyline 1,000 pages from now. If you’re willing to commit to the long haul it’s worth picking up. I don’t know that I am.

Rattlesnake

Book Review of Rattlesnake, by Kim Fielding

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RattlesnakeI bought a copy of Rattlesnake, by Kim Fielding.

Description from Goodreads:
A drifter since his teens, Jimmy Dorsett has no home and no hope. What he does have is a duffel bag, a lot of stories, and a junker car. Then one cold desert night he picks up a hitchhiker and ends up with something more: a letter from a dying man to the son he hasn’t seen in years. 

On a quest to deliver the letter, Jimmy travels to Rattlesnake, a small town nestled in the foothills of the California Sierras. The centerpiece of the town is the Rattlesnake Inn, where the bartender is handsome former cowboy Shane Little. Sparks fly, and when Jimmy’s car gives up the ghost, Shane gets him a job as handyman at the inn. 

Both within the community of Rattlesnake and in Shane’s arms, Jimmy finds an unaccustomed peace. But it can’t be a lasting thing. The open road continues to call, and surely Shane—a strong, proud man with a painful past and a difficult present—deserves better than a lying vagabond who can’t stay put for long.

Review:
I thought this was a sweet little story. It’s basically about two men falling in love, that’s it, nothing flashy or exciting, but it’s sweet. What saves it from being boring is that the two men in question are the type of men who rarely make it as main characters, a 43-year-old drifter/chronically homeless man and a 33-year-old crippled man with a traumatic brain injury. And the book proves that readers (or at least this one) don’t need infallible, godly gorgeous, alpha men as heroes. I adored Chase and Jimmy (Chase especially).

It is a bit of an insta-love, which is unfortunate, because it’s not really supported. I have no idea why Chase tried so hard to keep Jimmy around, but I’m glad that he did. I also thought it was a little on the predictable side. But again, it’s a fairly straight forward romance, so it wouldn’t have been overly realistic to have too many twists and turns. All-in-all, it was a book that made me happy to see the HEA (even if it did get a little sappy there at the end).

Romulus Buckle & the City of the Founders

Book Review of Romulus Buckle & the City of the Founders (Chronicles of the Pneumatic Zeppelin #1), by Richard Ellis Preston

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Romulus BuckleI checked Romulus Buckle & the City of the Founders, by Richard Ellis Preston, out from the library.

Description from Goodreads:
In a postapocalyptic world of endless snow, Captain Romulus Buckle and the stalwart crew of the Pneumatic Zeppelin must embark on a perilous mission to rescue their kidnapped leader, Balthazar Crankshaft, from the impenetrable City of the Founders. Steaming over a territory once known as Southern California — before it was devastated in the alien war — Buckle navigates his massive airship through skies infested with enemy war zeppelins and ravenous alien beasties in this swashbuckling and high-octane steampunk adventure. Life is desperate in the Snow World, and death is quick. Buckle and his ship’s company must brave poisoned wastelands of Noxious Mustard and do battle with forgewalkers, steampipers, and armored locomotives as they plunge from the skies into the underground prison warrens of the fortress city.

Captain Romulus Buckle must lead the Pneumatic Zeppelin and its crew of ne’er-do-wells on a desperate mission where he must risk everything to save Balthazar and attempt to prevent a catastrophic war that could wipe out all that is left of civilization and the entire human race.

Review:
Bah, it was ok but not much more. Here’s the thing, the writing seemed fine but everything was waaaaaay over described and nothing of significance really happened. Don’t get me wrong, things blew up, the air ship almost crashed like 400 times, people ran around and said droll things, but in terms of an overall story arc it didn’t really show up until about page 350. Yes, the leaders had been kidnapped and the crew was rescuing them, but that’s not really much of a plot as presented here. It’s just an excuse to be off doing things.

So, even though I checked this out of my local library along with the sequel, I’m returning them both. I’m not going to bother with the second book. I’m just not interested enough and I have a strong suspicion that, if it takes 350 pages to finally present the real plot in this book, it’s probably the same in book two, which means I’ll likely finish it little more satisfied than I am now. It’s just not worth it to me.