The Great Geek Manual

Book: River of Stars
ISBN-13: 978-0451464972

Author: Guy Gavriel Kay
Publisher: Roc Hardcover
Genre: Historical Fantasy
Release: April 2, 2013
Length: 656 pages (Hardcover)

Book Rating: A- (96 / 100)

Verdict

River of Stars is less of a epic fantasy and more of an historical drama, but that should in no way discourage Genre fans from picking it up. The story still carries a distinct mythic flavor, largely due to the care with which Kay crafts his exquisite prose. River of Stars is more staid and majestic in terms of plot development than your run-of-the-mill fantasy novel, but the intricacy and scope of its plot are enough to satisfy even the most demand George R.R. Martin fan.

Pros: Elegant prose. Fascinating historical backdrop. Superb world building.

Cons: Slow start. The pacing of the novel is a bit slow. Less action than a fantasy.

Read the rest of this entry » » »

Book: Download the Weird
ISBN-13: 978-1609910327

Series: Ripley’s Believe It or Not!
Publisher: Ripley Publishing
Genre: Non-Fiction / Trivia
Release: September 11, 2012
Length: 256 pages (Hardcover)

Verdict

Download the Weird is possibly Ripley’s most cringe-inspiring book of trivia yet. The gross-out factor alone is sure to make this book a hit with kids. It’s also likely to be a hit for trivia buffs and internet forum addicts looking to get their Twitter-portioned entertainment offline. Perfect for break rooms, coffee tables, and bathrooms.

Read the rest of this entry » » »

Book: Seawitch
ISBN-13: 978-0451464552

Author: Kat Richardson
Series: Greywalker Series, Book 7
Publisher: Roc Hardcover
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Release: August 7, 2012
Length: 352 pages (Hardcover)

Book Rating: C- (67 / 100)
Series Rating: C+ (75 / 100)

Verdict

Despite having one of the most relatable protagonist in urban fantasy, Kat Richardson’s Greywalker series continues to skew towards female sensibilities. The Greywalker series involves more emotion than mystery, more internal struggle than action, and more personal closure than climax. That doesn’t make it bad series by any measure, but male readers seeking a some light reading may want to look elsewhere. Urban fantasy is, after all, a male dominated genre.

On the other hand, this series is recommended for female readers looking for an urban fantasy series without the Laurell K. Hamilton eroticism that has recently become the norm among fantasy series with female protagonists.

Pros: Well-written protagonist. Interesting magic system. Light on romance.

Cons: Short on mystery. Pacing drags, especially during action sequences.

Read the rest of this entry » » »

Book: Ready Player One: A Novel
ISBN-13: 978-0307887443

Author: Ernest Cline
Publisher: Broadway
Genre: Young Adult / Cyberpunk
Release: August 16, 2011
Length: 384 pages (Hardcover)

Book Rating: B (88.3 / 100)

Verdict

Ready Player One reads like a novelization of Tron or a Young Adult version of Snow Crash. It’s definitely a must-read for fans of video games and the cyberpunk genre and a fantastically nostalgic walk down memory lane for geeks who grew up during the arcade-craze of the eighties. Everyone else should approach this book with caution, though. While the overwhelming multitude of pop-culture references makes Ready Player One a very fun read, they do very little to prop up the story’s thin plot, one-dimensional characters, and simplistic conflict.

This will never be a mainstream hit, but, chances are, if you’re browsing this blog, this book is for you.

Pros: Chocked full of trivia and pop-culture references. Extremely geeky.

Cons: The puzzles of the plot are Dan Brown-simple. Shallow character development. Saccharine sweet ending.

Read the rest of this entry » » »

Book: The Mongoliad: Book One
ISBN-13: 978-1612182360

Author: Neal Stephenson, Greg Bear
Series: The Foreworld Saga, Book 1
Publisher: 47North
Genre: Historical Fiction
Release: April 24, 2012
Length: 442 pages (Paperback)

Book Rating: B (85 / 100)

Verdict

If Michael Crichton’s Eaters of the Dead had been written by Guy Gavriel Kay, The Mongoliad would have been the final result.

Fans of historical fiction are certain to count The Mongoliad as a staple of the genre, and hardcore Neal Stephenson won’t be disappointed, either. However, The Mongoliad suffers from the same shortcomings as most books of the historical fiction genre. It is a bit dry, due to the historical tone of the narration, a bit overly cerebral, due to the necessity of explaining the details of medieval living, and a bit slow due to the sheer volume of exposition required by those explanations. The overall effect is the The Mongoliad is not a heavy piece of reading, but that much is obvious simply by virtue of Neal Stephenson’s name on the cover.

Pros: Highly authentic historical detail. Frequent, inventive battle scenes.

Cons: Unpronounceable character names. Little-to-no suspense. Slow start. Story pacing drags a bit. Sudden ending leaves the book feeling incomplete.

Read the rest of this entry » » »

Yesterday, I received a copy of The Mongoliad (Book One of The Foreworld Saga) by Neal Stephenson and Greg Bear in the mail from Wunderkind PR.

I was momentarily confused upon opening the package, as I had read articles on BoingBoing and io9 describing The Mongoliad as an experiment in interactive storytelling, but evidently, it’s a book, too. More to the point, it’s a book inspired by “Stephenson’s dissatisfaction with the authenticity of the medieval sword fighting scenes he had written into his Baroque cycle of novels” and written by some of my favorite authors.

Needless to say, I am highly intrigued. I’ll be posting a review of the book in the very near future.

Check out the Facebook page and website for The Mongoliad; they feature extras such as author interviews, fan cheat sheets, and interactive app downloads, and they promise more extras are on the way.
Read the rest of this entry » » »

Book: Book of Sith: Secrets from the Dark Side
ISBN-13: 978-1612182612

Author: Daniel Wallace
Series: Star Wars
Publisher: 47North
Genre: Science Fiction Reference
Release: February 10, 2012
Length: 160 pages (Hardcover)

Book Rating: F (40 / 100)

Verdict

Book of Sith is a pretty bit of eye candy that fills in some long-anticipated back story of the line of Sith masters that culminated in Darth Sidious (Emperor Palpatine). However, it reads like a reference manual, without much in the way of depth or story. In short it’s a whole lot of gimmick without much substance.

This is a book that will really only be of interest to truly pathologically obsessed Star Wars fans.

Pros: Beautifully illustrated. Great packaging. Interesting trivia tidbits.

Cons: Contains a lot of snippets, but not much in the way of a story.

Read the rest of this entry » » »

Book: The Night Eternal
ISBN-13: 978-0061558269

Author: Guillermo Del Toro
Series: The Strain Trilogy, Book 3
Publisher: William Morrow
Genre: Horror / Fantasy
Release: October 25, 2011
Length: 384 pages (Hardcover)

Book Rating: C- (65 / 100)
Series Rating: C+ (75 / 100)

Verdict

The Night Eternal is an unfortunately weak conclusion to the single most cinematic book series released in recent memory. Overall, the quality of the book is inconsistent with the previous two entries in the series. Even so, Del Toro’s horror trilogy might have gone down in history as one of the classics of the genre, if not for the eleventh hour incorporation of Christian mythology as the lynch-pin in the story’s climax. All in all, the book is nearly a complete disappointment.

Pros: Very cinematic prose. Excellent action sequences. Fantastic premise.

Cons: Inconsistent tone. Characters don’t ring true. Heavy reliance on deus ex machina devices. Sappy conclusion.

Read the rest of this entry » » »