Review: The Last Star

The Last Star by Rick Yancey
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I went into this book with very low expectations because of my considerable disappointment in The Infinite Sea. After reading this book, I've concluded that this series would have been better off as a duology. The trilogy we got is two reasonably good books (hyped way too much, I think, but not bad at all) sandwiching a choppy, unfocused mess in the middle.

The good thing about The Last Star is that it's something of a return to form, focusing again on the war against the Silencers and the rising 5th Wave of brainwashed human soldiers. It's been a while since I read the second book (I don't think I've picked up The Infinite Sea once since I read it 18 months ago or so), but as I remember it, one of my biggest issues with that book was its long stretches told in different POVs from Cassie's, and the POV switches weren't indicated in any way. (Or maybe I'm confusing this with the fourth Virals book, which I read around the same time, and which I distinctly remember having a few distracting POV switches without any kind of tag to indicate them.) Here, however, not only do the POV switches happen more often (which helps keep the story moving that much faster, and more linearly - something I didn't like about The Infinite Sea being its irritatingly poor pacing), but they're also very clearly indicated when they happen, which helps matters considerably.

On the storytelling front, the book isn't without its flaws. For instance, the whole Cassie/Evan romance thing. I've never much liked Evan - I thought he was too much of a typical pretty-boy bad-boy, although at least he has a more legitimate reason to feel as tortured as he does. Again, though, what the book lacks in romance (sometimes I think I'm the only one wishing Cassie and Ben could be a canon pairing - it's like Clary and Simon all over again), it makes up for in action. Particularly in, for instance, its opening scene, where a priest (Catholic, unless I miss my guess) presides over what looks like an ordinary Mass, only to turn it into a bloody-murder Silencer-worshiping ceremony instead. I'm still not sure if that was Yancey's way of suggesting that men of God are more gullible and, therefore, more easily swayed by the Silencers (which is probably just my strong aversion to religion rearing its ugly head.)

In the end, this book rescued the series for me, and now I'm actually looking forward a bit more to seeing the 5th Wave movie (for which I'm still on a waiting list at the library.) Although I can imagine a lot of fans wouldn't like it, particularly with its ending aping one of the more controversial YA series finales of recent years (I won't say which one - that alone would be a massive spoiler), I, as one of the few who enjoyed that controversial book anyway, found this book's conclusion satisfying all the same.

Ave atque vale, 5th Wave trilogy.

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Review: The Last Full Measure

The Last Full Measure by Trent Reedy
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It seems that with each new book in this series, the US is getting dangerously closer and closer to fulfilling Reedy's prophecy - one that I really hope never comes to pass. It may not even be the same privacy-rights issue over federal IDs the way this trilogy presented the initial cause of its Second Civil War. It may be something else, like LGBT+ rights (an issue that went surprisingly untouched throughout this trilogy - and on that subject, when I told my dad the premise of these books, he immediately, semi-jokingly, suggested that the current transgender rights issue was the cause of this Second Civil War), or the bigotry promoted by Der Fuehrer Drumpf.

Either way, one can only hope that enough people will have read this trilogy and taken away the warning signs. Allowing America to devolve into a Second Civil War just because compromise is so out of the question for some of the hardliners in charge in the government would have so many horrifying ripple effects. Not only would this open the door for even more corrupt types to take over and force their own visions on society (as happens in this book with the white-supremacist Brotherhood of the White Eagle), but what about the rest of the world? Reedy paints a grim picture of what would happen if the US were so focused on containing its own crisis that it couldn't stop a power vacuum from forming elsewhere. This gives rise to a resurgent Soviet Union, an Israel forced to defend itself against Middle Eastern annihilation like never before, and China rattling its sabers at sea, among other unwanted turns of events.

And meanwhile, for PFC Daniel Wright and his compatriots, the war turns very personal, very fast, as they realize just how much it's not over. The United States can't help them. Idaho's government can't help them. The Brotherhood (comprised, no doubt, of the sort of men whose warped religion, smallness of junk, and raging inferiority complexes have turned them into incredibly hateful SOBs) is turning Idaho into its own racist, sexist playground of horrors. And for what endgame? Nothing but destruction and death (one death in particular had me in tears), all because some of these people just couldn't get their way before and jumped on a chance to hit the reset button?

War is hell. And maybe there's never really a victor, no matter what goes into the history books.

Reedy may be done with Daniel's story, but his rich, spot-on world-building could be equally well-served penning a spin-off or two focusing on the larger World War III conflicts going on beyond the Pan American territory.

In the meantime, to the Divided We Fall trilogy, I hereby say ave atque vale.

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Review: American Assassin

American Assassin by Vince Flynn
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I've been meaning to try out Vince Flynn's books for a while, especially since his name is often mentioned in the same breath as the likes of Lee Child or James Rollins. It wasn't until they announced some casting choices for the planned movie adaptation of this book - namely, Michael Keaton as the elderly mentor-type, and Dylan O'Brien as the American Assassin himself - that I finally had the motivation to read this. Then I went and announced on Twitter that I was adding this book to my to-read list effective immediately, and a surprising number of Twitter denizens praised my decision - including Proxy Snyder.

The only real issue with this book is that I sometimes had trouble telling whether or not it was supposed to take place in the past, or in the present day. I mostly blame the back-cover blurb for that because of its indication that it's set "two decades after the Cold War," around the time of publication, but in-book chronology indicates it's pretty close to the Lockerbie bombing of 1988, and characters still speak of the KGB in the present tense, so it's most certainly set in the very early 90s. Which makes sense, since this is a prequel, as I understand it.

That said, though, it's a good story, in which we learn about first the training of Mitch Rapp, then his earliest missions taking on terrorists of all shapes, sizes, and colors. Revenge is a pretty powerful motivator, as in Rapp's case where the Lockerbie bombing took the life of someone very close to him. Helping him out on his missions is how perfectly undetectable he is. Old Man Hurley sure gets a nice surprise when he first tries to take him on in a fight, and underestimates him to the point where he only manages to "win" by resorting to the cheapest of cheap shots - grabbing Rapp's balls. There's also the fact that Rapp's got dark enough features to blend in, chameleon-like, in most Mediterranean and/or Middle Eastern settings. Like Beirut, where most of this book's action takes place.

Reading the IMDb message boards, I've noticed a lot of people proposing their own alternative casting choices for Rapp, other than Dylan O'Brien, whom many of these message boarders perceive as too white (never mind the fact that he's mostly Mediterranean and has said he's been told to stay out of the sun while filming Teen Wolf lest he tan too much) for the part. (Such other choices include Elyes Gabel, Tyler Posey, and, of all people, Ryan Eggold. What, none of them could consider Brett Dalton, if they were looking at New Tens broadcast-TV action-thriller bad boys?) But none of those alternatives have O'Brien's excellent range. Just look at the sharp contrast between his two most famous roles - jokey, clumsy, hilarious Stiles Stilinski...



...and the battle-hardened, lean, mean, fighting machine that is Thomas.



I get way too much mileage out of that Scorch Trials electric tazer rifle GIF already. Judge me.

Bottom line, this is a great story, and if they make it official and cast Dylan O'Brien as Mitch Rapp, I'll have even more reason to part with my money for a movie theater ticket.

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Review: Daughter of Smoke & Bone

Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I first tried reading this book maybe three years ago, and for whatever, found myself completely unable to get beyond page 20 or so. At the time, I put it down to the dynamic between Karou and Kaz - I somehow got it into my head that he was supposed to be the main love interest for this book, and let me tell you, I thought he was an absolute tool. As for Karou, I thought she seemed pretty bland as a character, especially given her strange, evil-Adele way of thumbing her nose at Kaz.

Then, after so many years of avoiding this trilogy, I decided to reread The Raven Boys, which I also similarly gave up quickly because of my initial inability to connect to the characters. And I found Stiefvater's book really benefited from the second read, which allowed me to catch up on the series just in time for The Raven King. In addition, my dear friend Sierra discovered my Goodreads profile and found that we had wildly differing opinions on Daughter of Smoke & Bone, which served as another factor to convince me to reread this book.

Upon doing so, I found myself able to get past the point where I gave up before when I finally realized, "Oh yeah, Kaz isn't the main love interest after all! He's just an unimportant tool, and we're supposed to hate him!" And that's when I also got a glimpse of Zuzana, whose presence made a stronger impact on me because she was just so damn funny.

And, from there, I was able to discover just what I was missing. Globetrotting adventure, angels and demons with twists, magic wish money, picturesque Prague setting for most of the action, and then...Akiva and Karou. Now this romance is much more like it! They really work well together - and together, they give Zuzana a chance to utter some lines that, when I read, them, made me laugh out loud. No kidding. I'll never see the words "mating" or "seed" without thinking of Zuzana again.

I especially liked Akiva because he reminded me a lot of my own angelic character, Alex Snow - particularly in terms of physical appearance. Although Akiva is way more idealized, he and Alex look similar enough (particularly in terms of skin tone) that he could be Alex's next cosplay. When he's done with his impressions of Scott McCall or MK from Into The Badlands, that is.

So, all in all, despite the shaky start, this first book in the trilogy turns out to have been completely overlooked by this reader, writer, and fanboy. Luckily, I've got Books 2 and 3 waiting in the wings. For those reads and reviews, stay tuned.

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Review: The Inquisition

The Inquisition by Taran Matharu
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

"Well, it would've been, could've been, worse than you would ever know..."
-Modest Mouse, "Dashboard"

I'm sorry to go there right off the bat, but that title is just begging for this point to be made:



And as for that cliffhanger Matharu left us with last time, along with the one he gave us this time, I hereby present my idea of what must be going on in his head:



So...The Inquisition. Mercifully, the title group only really appears during the first quarter of the book or so, because as interesting and high-stakes as the whole trial thing is, it turns into an absolute farce - and not in a good way - very quickly. It pretty much takes on the sort of kangaroo-court proceedings my fellow Americans and I can expect if the Nazis - sorry, the GOP - win the White House this year. (God forbid.) And speaking of all the Nazi horrors Der Fuehrer Drumpf must have in mind for my country, in this second book, Matharu raises the racial-tension theme up to eleven (almost said "up to elven" there, haha). By the end of the book, it becomes clear that the orcs aren't all the enemy, not even close. And that there's a certain conservative-type cabal in Hominum, bound and determined to reshape human society in their own image. False God much?

As for our heroes, it's been a year since the end of The Novice, and none of them are, well, novices anymore. Training is over. These guys and gals are pretty hardened now - especially Fletcher, who's noticeably grown up (but still can't grow a decent mustache.) And on the demon side, there's none better than our little Toothless-esque Salamander, Ignatius, who takes all the levels in adorable in this book.

Together, they journey into the dangerous jungles of the orc world - the same jungles featured on the book's cover, where Everything Is Trying To Kill You. Just look at the description of the guy who accidentally wiped his arse with the wrong leaves (and in a place like this, are there really any right leaves for the job?)

All this action and adventure, of course, leads up to a cliffhanger even more gnarly than the first one, if anything. Well, it's much less sudden than that of The Novice, but still. I reiterate:



Taran Matharu, you bloody genius.

I really, really hope that next year, my library gets with the program and orders The Battlemage well in advance of its release. Seriously, library, being forced to do special orders like I did for the first two Summoner books is not helping your business.

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Review: Demigods & Magicians: Percy and Annabeth Meet the Kanes

Demigods & Magicians: Percy and Annabeth Meet the Kanes by Rick Riordan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I haven't been able to read these stories with the rest of the world because, as usually happens when an author puts out bonus e-book novellas, I'm forced to wait for a print compilation because I have no e-reader. It's worked out well for me on, say, The Bane Chronicles, or I Am Number Four: The Lost Files.

For some reason, I was never as big a fan of The Kane Chronicles as I was of Percy Jackson and the Olympians. But after reading these three crossover stories, I think I might have to reread the Kane trilogy at some point, if only because I know better now how well these two sets of heroes work together. Rick Riordan's got himself an excellent mythological multiverse going, and every aspect of it must be appreciated.

The best part of this book, however, is the sneak peek to The Hidden Oracle right at the end. I've been pretty pumped for that one for a while (unfortunately, the library's got a LONG waiting list), and now, I'm even more so. Apollo seems like a surprisingly lovable assbite - a side of him I don't think we got enough of in the old Camp Half-Blood books.

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Review: Once a Crooked Man

Once a Crooked Man by David McCallum
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

As Jethro Gibbs might say, "Don't quit your day job, Duck."

I probably wouldn't have picked up this book at all if not for the fact that its author stars on one of my favorite TV shows. Reading it, I found it to be a fairly enjoyable read, with the same sort of mix of crime and humor that I've come to expect from James Patterson, particularly in his NYPD Red series. However, this book was also strongly impacted, negatively, by its meandering storytelling. The central mystery kept taking a backseat to a bunch of flashback sequences, many of which involve teenage or young-adult love. They seem more than a bit nostalgic, and I'm not faulting McCallum for that, but the way they enter the story feels more than a bit shoehorned in. It gets extremely distracting after a while because it keeps grinding the story to a halt like in "Kill Ari, Part II" when Gerald couldn't operate the stick shift on Ducky's old Morgan. ("Good God, man, use the clutch!")

For further NCIS-inspired reading, I think I'd rather look at a Castle-style defictionalization of McGee's - sorry, Thom E. Gemcity's L.J. Tibbs adventures.

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