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David McK (3801 KP) rated Map of Bones (Sigma Force, #2) in Books

Jan 28, 2019 (Updated Sep 12, 2021)  
Map of Bones (Sigma Force, #2)
Map of Bones (Sigma Force, #2)
James Rollins | 2006 | Fiction & Poetry
8
8.5 (4 Ratings)
Book Rating
<2021 update>

It's interesting going back to the beginning ('Sandstorm') as I did recently, and seeing how the series as a whole develops. This one is not quite as good as I remember it being, perhaps due my having read the the later novels ... ?



While this may not be the first SIGMA force novel, it is the first in which (what I would term) the core team of Commander Gray Pearce, Monk Kokkalis and Kat Bryant are first put together, and is also the first novel in the series which I read. Thankfully, while there may be the occasional reference to other events, it is not necessary to read the books in order.

SIGMA is best described as, basically, scientists with guns, and these novels invite (perhaps, even, demand) comparisons with Dan Brown as they are based on the same type of subject matter and follow the same plot outlines: secret orders, puzzles to be solved, races against time, and so on.

Based on this book, I would (and have) read more by this author (although I'll admit to being extremely annoyed with some of the characterisations in "Excavation").
  
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David McK (3801 KP) rated Two Necromancers, a Fortress, and a Titan (The Unconventional Heroes #5) in Books

Apr 26, 2026  
Two Necromancers, a Fortress, and a Titan (The Unconventional Heroes #5)
Two Necromancers, a Fortress, and a Titan (The Unconventional Heroes #5)
L.G. Estrella | 2025
5
5.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
The fifth instalment in L.G. Estrella's 'Unconventional Heroes' series, I found this to suffer somewhat from one unusual problem: namely, it's own length.

At 1521 (virtual) pages, that's more than 3 times as long as the previous instalment ("Two Necromancers, a Dwarf Kingdom, and a Sky City", which was 494 pages long) - indeed, I felt that this novel had enough content to be split across three separate instalments, with a clear delineation in the story between segments even if it is not presented as such when reading: there's no 'Part 1', 'Part 2' or 'Part 3' here.

For my money, Part 1 - or book 1 (5) of 3 (7) - would be the early parts of the novel, set in and around the Mercantile alliance, the middle part (what I would have preferred to be book 6 of 7 - would have been the Fortress of the title, the setup, action and denouement of the same and the final part (preferably book 7 of 7) would have been the action leading up to, and against the Titan.

It might also help to see Timmy and his crew actually lose once in a while ...
  
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Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) created a post

Dec 15, 2021  
The special guest author today on my blog is Florence Byham Weinberg with a fascinating interview. Learn more about her historical fiction novel BEFORE THE ALAMO: A TEJANA'S STORY, and enter the giveaway to win signed copies of that book and her other historical fiction novel APACE LANCE, FRANCISCAN CROSS.

https://alltheupsandowns.blogspot.com/2021/12/book-blog-tour-and-giveaway-before.html

**BOOK SYNOPSIS FOR BEFORE THE ALAMO**
Emilia Altamirano, half Otomí Indian, half pure Spanish, is born in 1814, the year after the Battle of the Medina River, where her father fought as an officer in the Mexican Royalist Army. She grows up in Bexar de San Antonio unacknowledged by her father, raised by her Otomí Indian mother, and “adopted” as an unofficial ward by José Antonio Navarro, hero of the Texas fight for independence from Mexico. She learns to read, write, and acts as a page for the Ayuntamiento (City Council). She learns nursing during a cholera epidemic and later tends the wounded on both sides during and after the Battle of the Alamo. She survives, but as a Tejana, Spanish-speaking, and a loyal citizen of Mexico, she faces an uncertain future.