Deceived

For me, the summer is all about sitting on the beach and reading a book. In my next few posts I'm going to highlight a handful of books I tackled while soaking up some sun.

Star Wars: The Old Republic: Deceived, by Paul S. Kemp, takes place at a dark time. The Sith Empire and the Galactic Republic have been engaged in a long, costly war. Neither side is capable of defeating the other. It seems like a stalemate, until a daring surprise attack on the Republic capital of Coruscant, led by the cunning Sith lord, Darth Malgus.

The attack takes even the Jedi by surprise. As a reult, many Jedi are killed, including Jedi Master Zallow. Coruscant is quickly subdued and the Jedi Temple is destroyed. Darth Malgus hopes that this will hasten end of the Republic and the Jedi.

Malgus is furious when he learns that the Sith Emperor is engaging in peace talks with the Republic. He believes that only through conflict can one achieve a greater understanding of the dark side of the Force. Darth Malgus feels the Sith will weaken themselves if they make peace.

The destruction of the Jedi Temple does more than just give the Sith a bargaining chip at the negotiating table. It ignites a fire of vengeance within the Jedi, Aryn Leneer. She believes the Jedi are failing to respond appropriately to the destruction of the Temple.   She decides to leave the Jedi Order intent on hunting down the Sith lord who killed her master, the fallen Master Zallow. 

The one person Aryn knows who can get her through the Sith blockade of Coruscant is her old friend Zeerid, a smuggler who is in debt to a group of criminals. As fate would have it, Aryn runs into Zeerid shortly after he is forced to accept a job smuggling spice, a highly addictive narcotic, to Coruscant.

This book is full of edge-of-your-seat action and suspense. A rival criminal gang is trying to stop Zeerid's smuggling run, Darth Malgus is unsure of why the Jedi have sent a clandestine operative to Coruscant, and Aryn doesn't know exactly who killed her master. There are shoot-outs, space battles, and epic light saber fights. There's even a shuttle that crashes into the Jedi Temple, filled with dark Jedi, who leap out and start kicking Jedi-butt. What's not to like about that? ... As a bonus, Darth Malgus is an interesting villain, not your average two-dimensional bad guy.

I would recommend Deceived to anyone interested in SciFi, even if you're not a Star Wars fan.

Stop by the library and pick up a copy.

As always, thanks for reading. Leave questions and comments below.

-Adam Delaura

Shadow's Son

Shadow’s Son, by Jon Sprunk, is very cliché. The run-of-the-mill assassin, Caim, is an orphan with an unknown past and mysterious power.  Caim accepts a job even though he has a bad feeling about it. When he arrives to complete his mission, he finds his target already dead.  That’s when Josey enters the room; the spoiled, naïve daughter of Caim’s target. Fragile Josey barely issues a scream before some other assassins enter the room intent on disposing of Caim and Josey.  They escape from the assassins and form an unlikely partnership as they attempt to find out who set Caim up and who killed Josey’s father. Naturally these two develop romantic feelings for each other, which in turn, makes Caim’s ghost companion jealous… I could go on but you get the point.

 

Despite Sprunk’s reliance on clichés, I found Shadow’s Son to be a quick and entertaining read. Sprunk’s fantasy world was more interesting to me than his characters. Nevertheless, I’m looking forward to reading the recently published sequel Shadow’s Lure. If you’re looking for something to read at the beach, stop by the library and pick up Shadow’s Son.

 

 

Here are two other reviews of Shadow’s Son:

SF Signal Review

Grasping For the Wind Review

As Always, Thanks for reading. Leave questions and comments below

-Adam Delaura

A Discovery of Witches

Today's review comes from Marie Enud, a frequent contributer. Enjoy...

As soon as I finished devouring all 579 pages of A Discovery of Witches, by Deborah harkness, I wanted to start reading it again.  If Anne Rice’s vampire Lestat morphed the Twilight Saga into Harry Potter and added a little alchemy, it would become this tale. The sheer magnitude of this story is told with a sustained pace of depth and intelligence.  Harkness creates a modern world where daemons, witches, vampires must navigate their legacy of complicated alliances and genealogies or face extinction. The facts and folklore of science and history lend a credibility to this story that is absent among lesser writers, and simpler tales.  For those seeking an intellectual antidote to the recent pop-culture “non-human creature craze,” look no further.

The tapestry of this story begins with Diana’s discovery of Ashmole 782, a long forgotten text that “appears” as she pursues academic research on alchemy.  The appearance, and then subsequent re-disappearance, of this book trigger an invitation for other-worldly creatures, danger, and adventure to invade the University where Diana teaches.  Those who love the archaeology of literature will delight in the moments when Diana Bishop (the witch) peruses Matthew Clairmont’s (the vampire) exquisite library.  Lovers of history will delight in the ruins and archeology that bind the characters.  Lovers of love stories will enjoy the intense yet meandering pace with which Diana and Matthew discover each other.

Never indulgent, Harkness guides the mystery of this book expertly.  Ending at a pivotal plot point, I imagine a sequel will be eminent. Until then, I am content to re-read and cherish this magical tale of imaginative alchemy. 

-Marie Enud

As always, thanks for reading. Questions and comments are encouraged below.
-Adam Delaura

Also checkout:
A Discovery of Witches (Audio Book)

Dreadnought

Today's review of Dreadnought, by Cherie Priest, comes from Paul Aridas. Enjoy...

In this sequel to Boneshaker, (previously reviewed here), Cherie Priest returns to the Steampunk world of Civil War America.  Except it’s East Coast Civil War America, where the edition of  Mercy Lynch, nurse-heroine-extraordinaire,  creates a completely different—albeit equally appealing—perspective of this unique world.  Cherie isn’t quiet Briar Wilkes, but she maintains a robust disposition whenever adversity strikes, repeatedly endearing her to the reader.

As Mercy embarks on a scandalously solo cross country trip to visit her dying father, she meets a cast of characters whose veiled motivations complicate her simple goal to reach Seattle. Mercy allies herself with a Texan named Horatio Korman, and together they begin to unravel the uncertainties and dangers emerging on their locomotive.

Intriguing as these relationships are, the story wanes in the middle. The perpetual threat of the Shenandohah, an enemy train, and the never-ending speculation about the mysterious cargo aboard the Dreadnought become redundant. Since the vampiric complications of gas, blight, and yellow tar addiction are just emerging on the East Coast, they are new to these characters…but not for readers who devoured Boneshaker----those fans will wish Priest had opted for tighter editing within these chapters. 

In the end, the book concludes brilliantly.  It’s worth finishing the novel to enjoy the moment when Mercy meets Zeke and Briar Wilkes, plus Lucy O’Gunning, and Andan Clay. It’s a reunion that hopefully foreshadows another steampunk novel set in this world.

~Paul Aridas

As always, thanks for reading. Questions and comments are encouraged below.
-Adam Delaura

The Lost Fleet: Beyond the Frontier: Dreadnaught

In The Lost Fleet: Beyond the Frontier: Dreadnaught, Admiral Geary is back in command of the Alliance fleet, this time on a mission to explore the territory controlled by the mysterious Enigma race. Fans of the previous novels will no doubt enjoy this installment of Black Jack Geary commanding the fleet from the flagship Dauntless. For Geary and his familiar side-kicks, confronting the Enigma race proves difficult. The Enigmas are secretive and go out of their way to prevent the Alliance Fleet from learning anything about them. In addition to the Enigma race, the fleet faces challenges to Geary’s command, and politicians who would rather see them fail.

Like previous novels in the series, this one is full of tense fleet battles, political maneuvering, and close calls. If you like the others in this then you should definitely stop by the library to pick this one up.

Here are some links to other reviews of this book:
cybemage.se
alternative-worlds.com

You can also read our previous review of the Lost Fleet series here.

As Always, thanks for reading. Leave your questions and comments below.

-Adam Delaura