Reviews :: Book Rating :: Books that are Mediocre :: Page 17

THE RETURN OF THE BLACK COMPANY (With Amazon), a Tor published omnibus, coming next month we thought we should get some Glen Cook on the site in preparation.
THE SWORDBEARER is one of a number of Glen Cook’s earlier works that is being reprinted by Nightshade Books. It was written, originally, in 1982 and showcases a lot of the themes and ideas that would later be used in what we, and many others, consider one of the greatest entries into the military fantasy genre, THE BLACK COMPANY.
As per Glen Cook’s usual, THE SWORDBEARER is a fast-paced, action-packed tale. It follows a somewhat traditional fantasy story, with a magical sword taking center stage in the hands of a boy protagonist, Gathrid. The writing is very indicative of the genre in the ’80s. For readers today, this book does nothing groundbreaking. Many of the familiar fantasy tropes are present and there are more than a handful cliches tossed about.
To be honest, THE SWORDBEARER doesn’t […]Read the rest of this review »

How about a requested review from one of our readers?

Have you ever watched the movie 28 DAYS LATER? (Amazon) The basic plot is that a virus gets loose among the population of England. This virus turns people into rage-crazed zombies, whose blood, when given to a non-exposed person, turns them into a zombie within 30 seconds. Essentially, in the movie, we see the initial release of the virus, and then we cut to 28 days later (get it?) and the aftermath of the spread of the virus.
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It was hard to approach this book without wetting our pants in excitement. R. Scott Bakker is Nick’s favorite author, by far, and owes Steve for introducing him to The Prince of Nothing series.

After reading the book a number of times we have decided how we can proceed on this review. We will make a concession right here and now. As much as we’d like to, it is completely impossible to review this book without comparing it to Bakker’s earlier trilogy set 20 years prior to the events in, this, the beginning of his second trilogy.
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It is with irony that we, the superheroes of book reviews, feel betrayed by Jim Butcher‘s latest Dresden Files novel, TURN COAT (Amazon). We debated long over what we should say in regards to this novel, and more importantly, this series. How about a history lesson? No?

Too bad.

Back when Steve “used to be important” (sorry, inside joke) at the bookstore, one of his regular customers said he wouldn’t read another recommendation until Steve read the Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher. There were only seven books out in the series at the time. Steve read them, and thought they were great fun. He, in turn, forced his superior attitudes on Nick and Rob. They concurred as to the overall awesomeness of Harry Dresden, the Wizard P.I. in Chicago (it just sounds awesome huh?). Books 8 (Amazon) and 9 (Amazon) were released, and we figured we had found the golden series. Book 10 (Amazon) came out, and though it felt like nothing but pure setup for the rest of the series, we forgave Butcher. After all, Butcher wouldn’t betray us right? He wouldn’t turn on us would he?
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