More books I've read as part of the
50 Book Challenge43. To Reign in Hell: The Exile of Khan Noonian Singh by Greg CoxGreg Cox's trilogy about Khan comes to an end with this story that bridges the gap between "Space Seed" and
The Wrath of Khan. It's a good book, though not a lot of unexpected things happen here. There is not the sheer joy there was in the first two volumes of watching Cox tell the story of Khan and pepper it with references to recent and current events. That said, the book does have a couple of twists and turns within what must happen to set up the events of
Star Trek II. It's just not as much fun as the first two segments were.
42. Star Wars: Yoda: Dark Rendevous by Sean StewartThis book really makes Yoda come alive on the printed page, as well as giving us some side characters we can care about.
41. Murder off Mike by Joyce KriegReading this murder/mystery, a thought struck me. Do real-life detectives ever get irritated that, in fiction, just about anyone can do what they do?
This is the story of Shawna Bogart, an on-air personality for a talk radio show in Sacramento. When another host and friend apparently commits suicide, Shawna suspects foul play is afoot and investigates. The style of this one is very readable and the pages keep turning. I love the setting in the radio genre and there are a lot of good asides about the current state of radio stations--talk and otherwise. The ending, where it all becomes part of a huge conpsiracy, is a bit too much for my liking, but don't let it ruin the great character created in Shawna Bogart.
40. Trill and Bajor (Worlds of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Vol. 2) by Andy Mangels, Michael A. Martin, J. Noah KymI've said it before and I'm sure I'll say it again--the
DS9 relaunch is one of the more enjoyable on-going series in the
Star Trek novels today. It rival the New Frontier as the
Trek books I most look forward to seeing appear on the shelves.
That said, the first volume of the Worlds of DS9 trilogy left me feeling not too excited. It was OK, but not up to the usual standards. The good news here is volume 2 makes up for that. Two good sized novellas continue the story from Unity--esp. the story on Trill. Seeing the fall out and the collapse of Trill society is well done. The Bajor story is a bit more of a personal journey but it works well.
39. Labyrinth of Evil (Star Wars, Episode III Prequel Novel) by James LucenoBefore
Attack of the Clones came out, DelRay gave us the forgetable "The Apporaching Storm" by Alan Dean Foster to get us ready for the new sstar Wars movie. This time around, we get James Luceno's "Labyrinth of Evil" a story that takes place in the month leading up to the Revenge of the Sith. It's a far better book. Luceno does a great job of setting things in motion for what we may see unfold in
Revenge of the Sith. He draws upon the first two prequel movies as well as the Clone Wars series of novels to weave a great story that did exactly what it was intended to do--left me panting for the opening of Revenge of the Sith. To say this one ends on a cliffhanger is an understatement.
38. Lucky You by Carl HiaasenHaissen's books usually make you smirk or giggle but this one had me laughing out loud at points. It's the story of two winning lottery tickets and the people whose lives they touch. It's absurd, it's funny and it's clever. If you've read any of Hiassen's works this is a great place to start.
posted by Michael Hickerson at 2/16/2005 11:31:00 AM |
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