Review: Old Man's War by John Scalzi

Old Man's War
Author: John Scalzi
Publication: Tor Books (December 27, 2005)

Product Description: John Perry did two things on his 75th birthday. First he visited his wife’s grave. Then he joined the army. The good news is that humanity finally made it into interstellar space. The bad news is that planets fit to live on are scarce—and alien races willing to fight us for them are common. So: we fight. To defend Earth, and to stake our own claim to planetary real estate. Far from Earth, the war has been going on for decades: brutal, bloody, unyielding. Earth itself is a backwater. The bulk of humanity’s resources are in the hands of the Colonial Defense Force. Everybody knows that when you reach retirement age, you can join the CDF. They don’t want young people; they want people who carry the knowledge and skills of decades of living. You’ll be taken off Earth and never allowed to return. You’ll serve two years at the front. And if you survive, you’ll be given a generous homestead stake of your own, on one of our hard-won colony planets. John Perry is taking that deal. He has only the vaguest idea what to expect. Because the actual fight, light-years from home, is far, far harder than he can imagine—and what he will become is far stranger.

My Thoughts: This is classic space opera in the tradition of Robert A. Heinlein (which is by no means a bad thing). John Perry is an interesting and engaging character. He is sharp, sarcastic and willing to try something very new. At age 75 and knowing that he doesn't want to get older, he enlists in the Colonial Defense Force not knowing what is in store for him. No one on Earth has ever met anyone from the CDF. John is changed and becomes a soldier. He manages to survive numerous battles when 3/4 of his fellow recruits do not and he is promoted from Private to Captain in a very short time.
 
What is the male equivalent of a Mary-Sue story? This would seem to qualify if only because John always seems to be in the right place at the right time. He lost his beloved wife before they could both enlist. Yet he is rescued from a massacre by someone wearing her body. He comes up with a unique firing solution that turns a battle from defeat to a victory. He manages to find the plans for a secret advanced weapon in the middle of a battle. There are probably more examples too.
 
I very much enjoyed this book and am glad that the sequels -- The Ghost Brigades and The Last Colony -- are sitting in my TBR stack too. The book was filled with adventure, interesting situations and characters, and even love.

This one has been sitting on my TBR stack since before Feb. 19, 2008 (when I joined LibraryThing and scanned all my books into it.)
 
Challenges: 2010 TBR Challenge, Bottoms Up Reading Challenge

Recommend Me -- Sunshine and Shadow by Sharon and Tom Curtis

Recommend Me is a meme that Kate at The Neverending Shelf is hosting. Each Friday, participants will pick one of their all time favorite reads to share. This could be a book that your read yesterday or years ago.

To play along, grab a favorite read and tell us about it. You can include your thoughts about the novel, its summary, your favorite memory related to the novel... the possibilities are limitless. If you are up for a challenge, you can also include:

• Your review of the novel
• Links to others' reviews of the novel
• Recommending to a general group of readers or if you want to be extra daring, to specific reader friends

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Sunshine and Shadow

Authors: Sharon and Tom Curtis

Publication: Bantam (September 1, 1986)

From the jacket: Could their explosive love bridge the chasm between two impossibly different worlds? He thought there were no surprises left in the world...but the sudden appearance of a young Amish widow Susan Peachey was astonishing -- and just the shock cynical Alan Wilde needed. She was a woman from another time, innocent, yet wise in ways he scarcely understood.

Irresisitibly, Susan and Alan were drawn together to explore their wildly exotic differences. And soon they would discover something far greater -- a rich emotional bond that transcended both of their worlds and linked them heart-to-heart...until their need for each other became so overwhelming that there was no turning back. But would she have to sacrifice all she cherished for the uncertain joy of their forbidden love?

Why I'm recommending this -- I thought the book was just magical. Alan is a movie director who was a former child actor abused physically and emotionally by his parent. Susan has been raised in the sheltered environment of the Amish community. Both have known sorrows but deal with them very differently. This is a wonderful love story about opposites attracting.

The beginning of the book hooked me immediately:

He liked the monster. Some monsters had it. Some didn't. This one did. Take the Creature from the Black Lagoon, for instance, or the Rancor monster in Return of the Jedi, They had real charisma. If a monster had that "certain something," movie audiences were perfectly cheerful about watching him consume half the cast.

This book came out, or came unto my radar, at about the same time as the movie Witness with Harrison Ford. That was another take on the Amish woman and the outsider. I loved the movie but love this book even more.

If you can find it (and only 39 members on LibraryThing and only 30 members on GoodReads have it), this is a wonderful book for lovers of romance between two very different characters.

(I have two copies in excellent condition that I am not sharing with anyone. They would be some of the first things I'd save if my house caught fire.)

Review: Shift by Rachel Vincent

Shift
Author: Rachel Vincent
Publication: Mira; Original edition (March 1, 2010)

Product Description: Being the first female werecat enforcer isn't easy. Scars accumulate, but I'm stronger in so many ways.

As for my personal life? It's complicated. Choices worth making always are. Ever since my brother's death and my father's impeachment, it's all I can do to prevent more blood from spilling. Now our Pride is under attack by a flight of vicious thunderbirds. And making peace with our new enemies may be the only way to get the best of our old foe.

With the body count rising and treachery everywhere, my instincts tell me to look before I leap. But sometimes a leap of faith is the only real option….

My Thoughts: This episode in The Shifters sees even more trouble for Faythe and her pride. Not only are they under attack by Cal Malone who has managed to hide his activities from other werecats but Malone has recruited allies in the form of the almost legendary thunderbirds.

The thunderbirds have been told by Malone that Faythe's pride was responsible for the death of one of their members. This causes the death of two Sanders' enforcers and the injury of two others. The thunderbirds are determined to destroy Faythe's pack and determined to take her and Kaci to Malone. Faythe and Kaci and captured by thunderbirds and the only way to keep Kaci alive is to bring the real guilty party back for justice. Jace, Marc and Faythe have an almost impossible timeline. Also, Faythe needs to keep Jace and Marc from killing each other because both love and want her.

I like the introduction of the thunderbirds with their very different value system. The book blurb talks about making friends with them but I can't see that happening. The value systems between the werecats and thunderbirds are much too different. However, at the end, the thunderbirds owe Faythe. I'm curious to see how Faythe collects.

Much is unresolved at the end - both with the threatened civil war and with Faythe's own more personal problem with Marc and Jace. I can hardly wait until August when the final volume of this series comes out. Hopefully, all will be resolved.

This was an exciting read with lots of physically and emotionally fraught scenes.

Challenges: RYOB Challenge

Share the Love Contest (Ends Feb. 26)

Contest has ended. Thanks for participating!

Before I began reading so much urban fantasy, paranormal romance, and YA paranormal/urban fantasy, I was a huge fan of character driven science fiction and romance. I still read, buy, and love books by these authors. I think many would also love these genres if they gave them a chance. To let you have a taste, I want to give a couple of books away.

I would like to share my love for two book series by giving away the beginning books in each series. These are stories that I have read many times. (The books themselves are used copies that I purchased to give away since I won't be parted from my much loved copies.)

I find something new in them each time I read them. These books are science fiction with strong romantic elements.

Cordelia's Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold is a science fiction romance. In her first trial by fire, Cordelia Naismith captained a throwaway ship of the Betan Expeditionary Force on a mission to destroy an enemy armada. Discovering deception within deception, treachery within treachery, she was forced into a separate peace with her chief opponent, Lord Aral Vorkosigan - he who was called "The Butcher of Komarr" - and would consequently become an outcast on her own planet and the Lady Vorkosigan on his. Sick of combat and betrayal, she was ready to settle down to a quiet life, interrupted only by the occasional ceremonial appearances required of the Lady Vorkosigan. But when the Emperor died, Aral suddenly became guardian of the infant heir to the imperial throne of Barrayar - and the target of high-tech assassins in a dynastic civil war that was reminiscent of earth's Middle Ages, but fought with up-to-the minute biowar technology. Neither Aral nor Cordelia guessed the part that their cell-damaged unborn son would play in Barrayar's bloody legacy. 

Agent of Change by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller is also a science fiction romance. Fleeing the scene of his latest mission, Val Con yos'Phelium finds himself saving the life of ex-mercenary Miri Robertson, a young Terran on the run from interplanetary assassins. Thrown together by circumstances, Val Con and Miri struggle to elude their enemies and stay alive without slaying each other-or surrendering to the unexpected passion that flares between them.   

This contest is for followers of my blog who are at least 13 years old (to avoid having problems with Child Internet Protection requirements). The contest will end at 11:59 PM on Friday, Feb. 26. Winner will be notified by email on Saturday and the package will go out on Monday, March 1 (if not sooner.)

Please fill out the form below.

Good luck!

Waiting on Wednesday: Black Magic Sanction by Kim Harrison

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme started by Jill at Breaking the Spine. It is a chance to talk about a book that we are anxiously awaiting. Post your link in the comments at Breaking the Spine and see what others are waiting for.

This week I am anxiously waiting for:

Black Magic Sanction

by Kim Harrison

Eos (February 23, 2010)

Rachel Morgan has fought and hunted vampires, werewolves, banshees, demons, and other supernatural dangers as both witch and bounty hunter—and lived to tell the tale. But she's never faced off against her own kind . . . until now. Denounced and shunned for dealing with demons and black magic, her best hope is life imprisonment—at worst, a forced lobotomy and genetic slavery. Only her enemies are strong enough to help her win her freedom, but trust comes hard when it hinges on the unscrupulous tycoon Trent Kalamack, the demon Algaliarept, and an ex-boyfriend turned thief.

It takes a witch to catch a witch, but survival bears a heavy price.

Why I'm Waiting: I have read the other seven adventures in the Rachel Morgan series and want to know what happens next. Weather permitting, I am attending a book signing on March 1 and will get a chance to meet Kim Harrison and get my books signed.

Teaser Tuesday -- Shift by Rachel Vincent

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

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Shift

Author: Rachel Vincent

Publication: Mira; Original edition (March 1, 2010)

Though my father's office practically sizzled with the rage that flowed through me and my fellow enforcers, Paul Blackwell, acting head of the Territorial Council, seemed completely unaffected. I watched him from my place near the closed office door, both arms -- my right still in a cast -- crossed over my chest.

Review: First Drop of Crimson by Jeaniene Frost

First Drop of Crimson
Author: Jeaniene Frost
Publication: Avon; Original edition (February 9, 2010)


Product Description: The night is not safe for mortals. Denise MacGregor knows all too well what lurks in the shadows—her best friend is half-vampire Cat Crawfield—and she has already lost more than the average human could bear. But her family's past is wrapped in secrets and shrouded in darkness—and a demon shapeshifter has marked Denise as prey. Now her survival depends on an immortal who lusts for a taste of her.

He is Spade, a powerful, mysterious vampire who has walked the earth for centuries and is now duty-bound to protect this endangered, alluring human—even if it means destroying his own kind. Denise may arouse his deepest hungers, but Spade knows he must fight his urge to have her as they face the nightmare together . .


Because once the first crimson drop falls, they will both be lost.


My Thoughts: This was an enjoyable spin-off. Spade has always been a fascinating character -- English nobleman, deported to Australia, forcibly turned to a vampire. Denise would be content to never see another vampire in her life. Losing her husband and having a miscarriage as a result of the vampire war she was part of has left her with post-traumatic stress and an aversion to vampires. But, after being marked by a demon who wants to track down a relative of hers who reneged on a deal, Denise has to go to Spade as the lesser of evils. They have many adventures and learn that their prejudices can't stand against the attraction they feel for each other. This was great romance and filled with lots of adventure and dangers. We also got to see more of Cat and Bones too.

I want to read the next adventure when Mencheres is featured.

Challenges: 2010 E-Book Challenge, RYOB Challenge