Friday Book Review

Gee, I'm suddenly having good luck with new authors! I loved, loved, loved Linnea Sinclair's Finders Keepers

Not only does this book feature a terrific heroine in the persona of freighter captain Trilby Elliot, it's one of the few books I've read besides Alan Dean Foster's ”Splinter of the Mind's Eye” that manages to TRULY capture the feeling of the original "Star Wars." Seriously, if Trilby were a man, she'd be Han Solo. And yet, the book doesn't come off as a cheesy rip-off, either. Which is good because heaven knows the stores are already hip-deep in cheesy Star Wars rip-offs. Whatever happened to building your OWN world?

Whatever.

Anyway, RUN, don't walk, to pick up a copy of "Finders, Keepers."

I also finished re-reading the second book of Tanya Huff's ”Keeper’s” series, “Second Summoning”, which I already mentioned in a previous blog entry so I won't say much more about it except that if you need a laugh...this series is so worth the bucks. I'm usually not a big fan of talking animals in stories, but Austin the cat is a really outstanding character. I've never even owned a cat (damn allergies), but I'm pretty sure if I did, this is what he'd sound like!

Lastly, I've started Holly Lisle's ”Talyn : A Novel of Korre”and all I can say so far is "yawn." That’s a big disappointment because I usually love Lisle's work. I'm already a third of the way into the book and the two main characters haven't even met each other yet. I hate when that happens.

Get the action going already!

And what is it with the authors today who think we need 17 chapters of background explanation before there's even a hint of a plot developing? Didn't your high school English teacher explain how important it is to grab your reader's attention early and never let go of it? Sheesh - get to the point!

Besides, the whole storyline (such as it is thus far) has a definite reek of a certain "Star Trek" episode about two factions who've been warring forever because they've managed to make war sort of clean and distant (no property damage - people just get identified as casualties and report to be disintegrated as requested). I don't know the name of the episode (hey, I'm not THAT big a geek!) but anyone who’s watched much "Star Trek" is sure to know what I'm talking about. Well, if this story ever turns around and gets going, I'll give it a full review.

But I'm not holding my breath.

This weekend will involve car washing, kid and grandparent transportation duties and a baby shower. Boy, somewhere, Paris Hilton is jealous of me!

Happy weekend all!

KJ