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Phil Leader (619 KP) rated Life, the Universe and Everything in Books

Nov 20, 2019

Originally there were the two series of the radio show which Adams rewrote and reorganised into two books. And for a long time that was it, that was all there was of the Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

Then one day I was in a bookshop when there it was: A new Hitch Hiker's book by Douglas Adams, black cover with an old-fashioned ring pull on the cover (the ones that detached from the can to cause maximum environmental damage).

Having essentially completed what appeared to be the story arc in the first two books, what was going to be next for our heroes? Arthur and Ford were last seen stranded on prehistoric Earth and Zaphod and Trillian were missing after teleporting from Hotblack Desiato's stunt ship. Would this be a tired and cynical cash in, retreading old ground but failing to capture the magic of the originals?

Needless to say, Adams didn't disappoint, creating a plot around an alien race creating a weapon capable of destroying the universe, and it is up to Arthur, Ford, Zaphod and Trillian to save the day, along with Slartibartfast who had to be co-opted in to make the plot work since the other four would far rather have been at a party getting drunk (or in Arthur's case drinking some proper tea).

Yet more footnotes and extracts from 'The Book' ensue with Adams' imagination creating a number of new comic inventions - Agrajag, how to fly, Wowbagger the Infinitely Prolonged. All of it moves with pace and brio as if the characters are enjoying the freedom of a new book, even if there is a universe to save and only one party.

Kudos

Phil Leader (619 KP) rated The Roswell Conspiracy in Books

Nov 25, 2019

The Roswell Conspiracy

Boyd Morrison | 2012 | Fiction & Poetry, Thriller

8.0

(1 Ratings)

Book Rating

In his previous novels Boyd Morrison has shown that he is able to take historical legends that have incredible elements - Noah's Ark, King Midas turning everything into gold - and not only spinning a thrilling plot around them but also providing explanations for these that just might be plausible. This is helped by his no-nonsense leading character of engineer Tyler Locke.

In this third Tyler Locke novel Morrison tackles something a little less mythological but no less bizarre. With his own take on events at Roswell, New Mexico in 1947 and tying in the Tunguska explosion in Siberia in 1908 he manages to provide an explanation that just might be possible. Throwing in Russian rogue agents and a plot to wreck the infrastructure of the USA means that Locke must keep his wits about him to escape from plenty of attempts to stop him discovering the truth.

There are the typical aderenaline fuelled chases and technological wonders around the world as expected and the addition of two feisty female leads adds some spice. Tyler's electrical engineer friend Grant also gets to shine as he and Tyler split up to pursue different leads.

As usual the writing is very effective, the action scenes cracking along and the plot driven against the clock. Although the bones of the plot are clear early on the details must still be pieced together and Locke's opponents are ruthless in pursuit of their goals.

The pace does lag at times as there is a lot of exposition to get through at various points to explain the actions of both heroes and villians but given the sheer complexity of what Morrison acheives in joining so many global events together this is understandable.

Morrison is definitely my favourite adventure/thriller author and this book shows why that is.

Kudos

Sophia (Bookwyrming Thoughts) (530 KP) rated The Mark of Athena in Books

Jan 23, 2020

Original Review posted on <a title="The Mark of Athena" href="http://bookwyrming-thoughts.blogspot.com/2013/07/review-mark-of-athena-by-rick-riordan.html">Bookwyrming Thoughts</a>

Note: Formatting is lost due to copy and paste.

I probably should have waited until it was about a month until The House of Hades was published in order to read The Mark of Athena.

     The good thing? I don't need to do some major catching up. And I might end up dragging (not literally) my mom over to the book store when the fourth book finally does come out.

      But where there's good, there's bad (boo). So, the bad thing? Considering what happened in The Mark of Athena and The Son of Sobek (I'm not even sure I spelled that right. Oh, and link leads to my Goodreads review), I really wished I could have waited. Because I now have to do the fancy little countdown... (is there even an official countdown?).

     Unfortunately, I might decide to wait an entire year after all to finally read The House of Hades. (Sorry, but I'm one who keeps good things for last... sometimes. For reasons not to be told >;))

     But I still want to know what happens next to Percy and Annabeth after what happens to them at the end (and definitely the rest of the demigod crew as well).

     So! Overall thoughts on Riordan's most latest work in the Heroes of Olympus series: fast paced, lovable and humorous characters from the prior series returning along with the new ones, and a confession of mine: I'm a sucker for mythologies retold as I am with fairy tales retold.

Random Question: Anyone else excited for The House of Hades to come out later this year? :D