Lucien21 Books 2016

[Lucien21]

The Courier - Gerald Brandt

Kris Ballard is a motorcycle courier. A nobody. Level 2 trash in a multi-level city that stretches from San Francisco to the Mexican border, where corporations make all the rules. A runaway since the age of 14, Kris struggled to set up her life, barely scraping by, working hard to make it without anyone’s help. Witnessing the murder of one of her clients changes everything. Now she’s stuck with a mysterious package that everyone seems to want.

This book has potential for a decent cyberpunk future novel. Big sprawling multilevel cities, corporations rule the world, fast motorcycle couriers etc. The world building is pretty decent. Painting a mega city where the poor live on lower levels serving the levels above.

Unfortunately the young girl who is he hero of the story is not the well written, tales of abuse as a kid, seems to luck herself out of scrapes instead of by any skill, falls for some guy after a couple of hours and changes personality regular. None of the other characters are that much better or memorable.

The plot starts out as her stumbling across a murder while doing a sketchy delivery late at night and has to flee, but jumps the shark about half way through when it introduces the explanation and conspiracy behind the delivery. It's bonkers and come out of complete left field.

It's a shame the characters and story don't match the setting.


2/5

[Lucien21]

Dark Matter - Blake Crouch

“Are you happy with your life?” Those are the last words Jason Dessen hears before the masked abductor knocks him unconscious. Before he awakens to find himself strapped to a gurney, surrounded by strangers in hazmat suits. Before a man Jason’s never met smiles down at him and says, “Welcome back, my friend.”

In this world he’s woken up to, Jason’s life is not the one he knows. His wife is not his wife. His son was never born. And Jason is not an ordinary college physics professor but a celebrated genius who has achieved something remarkable--something impossible.

Is it this world or the other that’s the dream? And even if the home he remembers is real, how can Jason possibly make it back to the family he loves? The answers lie in a journey more wondrous and horrifying than anything he could’ve imagined—one that will force him to confront the darkest parts of himself even as he battles a terrifying, seemingly unbeatable foe.

Enjoyed it so much I read it in more or less one day.

4/5

[draclvr]

Must get this one - I've read several books by Blake Crouch and loved all of them. The Wayward Pines series was really good.

[Lucien21]

Must get this one - I've read several books by Blake Crouch and loved all of them. The Wayward Pines series was really good.

I'll add them to my list

[Lucien21]

The end of the world running club - Adrian Walker

Do the impossible
Or lose your family forever…

Edgar Hill, unsympathetic husband and half-hearted father, finds himself in a hopeless situation. Despite all his best efforts, he hasn’t managed to keep his family together. In fact, they are further from him than ever – 550 miles to be precise.

And in a world near annihilated by a terrible disaster, leaving the UK harsh and brutal, uncrossable by car or bike, his journey to find his loved ones will be fraught with challenges.

His best option is to run.
But what if your best isn’t good enough?

Initially I was getting right into this book. Mainly due to its setting in the Edinburgh area. It adds an extra edge to an area you know being destroyed. Lots of "I know that area" moments.

However as they move further away from Scotland that attraction wained.

The post apocalyptic setting was well laid out but the main character was a annoying whiner most of the time and the other characters were not much better.

I kept poking holes in the fact they were going to run the length of the country rather than use a bike or something.

3.5/5

[Phlebas]

550 miles from Edinburgh? Where does that take him, Land's End?

[Diat60]

I love apocalyptic books and will give this one a try. Any other recommendations? My all time favorite is "The Stand".

[Lucien21]

550 miles from Edinburgh? Where does that take him, Land's End?

It certainly ends in Cornwall in the book. Which is about that distance I suppose.

[Lucien21]

DC Rebirth

Back in 2011 DC rebooted their universe in a huge event where after "Flashpoint" the universe became the New 52. It cancelled all series, threw out most of the continuity and brought in 52 new series that some of which hit 52 episodes when DC decided to do it all again.

Rebirth is DC's new event, relaunching all it's books starting in June 2016. It looks to bring back all the continuity and keep the New 52 changes as it re-alignes the characters with the old styles, the TV shows and starts over all at the same time.

With the release of DC Universe: Rebirth Special, characters not seen during The New 52, including Wally West, Jackson Hyde / Aqualad, Ryan Choi and Doctor Fate, returned to continuity, while other characters, such as Ted Kord and Ray Palmer / Atom returned to their characterization from prior to Flashpoint. Additionally, Wally West explains the in-universe cause of the reboot following Flashpoint was not due to Barry Allen attempting to fix the timelines. Rather, for reasons yet unknown, it is revealed that Doctor Manhattan (from the Watchmen universe) interfered and removed approximately 10 years from each character, which resulted in the younger age of heroes in The New 52, and the loss of legacy and previous relationships.

So I was catching up on my comic reading while on holiday so I read a bunch of Rebirth issues.

The first collection will be the #0 issues for all the series which details and introduces the new continuity.

DC Universe: Rebirth Special #1
Aquaman Rebirth #1
Batman Rebirth #1
The Flash Rebirth #1
Green Arrow Rebirth #1
Green Lanterns Rebirth #1
Superman Rebirth #1
Titans Rebirth #1
Wonder Woman Rebirth #1
Batgirl and the Birds of Prey Rebirth #1
Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps Rebirth #1
The Hellblazer Rebirth #1
Justice League Rebirth #1
Nightwing Rebirth #1
Red Hood and the Outlaws Rebirth #1
Blue Beetle Rebirth #1
Deathstroke Rebirth #1
Suicide Squad Rebirth #1
Suicide Squad: War Crimes Special #1
Supergirl Rebirth #1
Batman Beyond Rebirth #1
Cyborg Rebirth #1
Teen Titans Rebirth #1

Rebirth seems to have been a sales and critical hit so far. I hope it continues.

[Lucien21]

Batman: I am Gotham

Issues 1-6 of the new Rebirth series. Gotham has two new heroes with Superman like powers. Gotham and Gotham Girl. Batman helps them out until Hugo Strange and Psycho Pirate whammy the pairs emotions into overdrive and now Batman must fight to save his city.

Story is a bit up and down on this. Tim King has big shoes to fill to meet the standard that Scott Snyder was hitting. David Finch's art was good and the inclusion of the new heroes was a neat idea.

3/5

Detective Comics - Rise of the Batmen

An unknown predator begins outdoing Batman, taking down dangerous threats with military precision. It’s up to the Dark Knight and series costar Batwoman to rally and train the young heroes of Gotham City to end this mysterious threat!

WHAT NOW: Batman and Batwoman begin training Spoiler, Red Robin and Cassandra Cain, but is the villainous Clayface ready for redemption?

Really enjoyed this arc as Batwomen become the head of a new Bat Team, training them to be crime fighters. It also introduces an army of trained military Batmen who have watched and learned Batman's tactics adn borrowed his tech to become a deadly foe to the Batman and his new team. It has a kicker oif an ending which would have been powerful if the next page hadn't shown that it was faked.

4/5

Action Comics - Path of Doom

The New 52 Superman is Dead and Lex Luthor with Power Armour has taken his place. However a Superman from the pre-flashpoint universe is hiding out with his wife Lois and their son Jonathan. As Lex is an enemy in his universe he puts on the Superman costume and appears to confront Lex and fill the gap of the dead hero.

To make it more confusing Clark Kent shows up with no memory of having powers and seems human.

While fighting Lex, Doomsday appeared so both Lex and Superman have to fight their old nemesis. (I'm pretty sure that the kitchen sink was going to appear next).

The new Superman continuity is nearly as bonkers as the last time they killed him and replaced him with 5-6 replacements.

3/5

[LadyKestrel]

I haven't followed the comic scene, Lucien, but your description of the Superman mess made me laugh out loud. I was picturing a flying sink painted with a big S.

[Phlebas]

The new Superman continuity is nearly as bonkers as the last time they killed him and replaced him with 5-6 replacements.

Four, surely?
I actually remember really enjoying that - the actual Doomsday/'Death of Superman' event left me completely cold but I thought the sequence with the four very different pretenders to the throne was interestingly done. I haven't been following lately though - I read both Grant Morrison's Superman series but nothing else recent. I've all but given up on DC and Marvel for now, too many Big Events and the characters and stories lose out.

[Lucien21]

Nevernight - Jay Kristoff

In a land where three suns almost never set, a fledgling killer joins a school of assassins, seeking vengeance against the powers who destroyed her family.

Daughter of an executed traitor, Mia Corvere is barely able to escape her father’s failed rebellion with her life. Alone and friendless, she hides in a city built from the bones of a dead god, hunted by the Senate and her father’s former comrades. But her gift for speaking with the shadows leads her to the door of a retired killer, and a future she never imagined.

Now, Mia is apprenticed to the deadliest flock of assassins in the entire Republic—the Red Church. If she bests her fellow students in contests of steel, poison and the subtle arts, she’ll be inducted among the Blades of the Lady of Blessed Murder, and one step closer to the vengeance she desires. But a killer is loose within the Church’s halls, the bloody secrets of Mia’s past return to haunt her, and a plot to bring down the entire congregation is unfolding in the shadows she so loves.

Will she even survive to initiation, let alone have her revenge?

Harry Potter type school for Assassins. Maybe that's a redux too far. Its' certainly a bit like that. As Mia survives the death of most of her family after a failed coup. Taken in by an old shopkeeper age 10 she is taught how too use her special skill before being sent to the deadly Red Church where she has to learn to become the perfect killer or die trying.

I was pleasently surprised that there were a couple of twists towards the end that I didn't see coming, betrayals, Deaths and one laughable bit of coincidence involving a horse.

The writers love of being over descriptive was fine most of the time, but it was occassionally annoying (especially the constant reminded of the non-cat), as was his inclusion of footnotes in every chapter (these dont work well on a kindle), but I was swept up in the characters and plot that didn't hold it's punches with the violence at times.

I quite enjoyed this. However as with most things in fantasy it is the first of a trilogy so now I need to wait on the sequel.

4/5

[Lucien21]

Deep lul in book reading for a couple of months. I was reading a book, but wasn't getting into it so I was dragging my heels. Decided to drop it and try something else.

In preparation for the movie coming out in a couple of weeks I read..

Catalyst - A Rogue One novel : James Luceno

War is tearing the galaxy apart. For years the Republic and the Separatists have battled across the stars, each building more and more deadly technology in an attempt to win the war. As a member of Chancellor Palpatine s top secret Death Star project, Orson Krennic is determined to develop a superweapon before their enemies can. And an old friend of Krennic s, the brilliant scientist Galen Erso, could be the key.
Galen s energy-focused research has captured the attention of both Krennic and his foes, making the scientist a crucial pawn in the galactic conflict. But after Krennic rescues Galen, his wife, Lyra, and their young daughter, Jyn, from Separatist kidnappers, the Erso family is deeply in Krennic s debt. Krennic then offers Galen an extraordinary opportunity: to continue his scientific studies with every resource put utterly at his disposal. While Galen and Lyra believe that his energy research will be used purely in altruistic ways, Krennic has other plans that will finally make the Death Star a reality. Trapped in their benefactor s tightening grasp, the Ersos must untangle Krennic s web of deception to save themselves and the galaxy itself.

So it is basically a book that introduces some of the characters that appear in the upcoming Star Wars movie. It revolves around a scientist and his family as the his crystal energy research is being used to create the weapon for the Death Star.

The book is interesting due to giving some small insight into the famous battle station and I suppose you get to see Tarkin etc as he was in between Episodes III and IV where the Death Star is being built in secret and he has a Star Destroyer. The problem is that the book is light on action and heavy on exposition and hints of things to come. Maybe once i've seen the film it will make the book more relevant and interesting. The main character in the movie is a kid for the majority of the book and her interaction with her parents and one of the bad guys from the film will mean that i have more of a backstory having read it.

3/5

[Lucien21]

Lee Child double bill

The Enemy - Reacher Book 8

Probably my favourite book of the series so far. It is set in 1990 when Reacher was still in the army. In the light of the Berlin wall falling and major changes coming to the army. He must solve a series of murders at the same time dealing with family troubles and army politics.

I liked the look into his family life it gave more background to him. The mystery itself was pretty decent although I figured out the major fallacy in their investigation more or less from the start and especially after the second body was found.

Overall a decent read.

4/5

One Shot - Reacher Book 9

This is the book they used for the first Reacher movie so the sniper plot was familiar to me. Of course it's not an exact match there are secondary characters in the book that are not in the movie and the ending is slightly different. The book version wins out from an overall plot and reasoning, while the movie is just dumb fun with a short-ass Reacher.

3.5/5