Worthy Successor to the Uproarious 'Mercury Falls'
933179
Reading Rob Kroese's 'Mercury' trilogy is easily the most fun one could have while contemplating the end of the world. An engaging amalgam of genres evocative of the work of Douglas Adams, Carl Hiassen, and even Kevin Smith, this singular imagining of the Apocalypse (begun in 'Mercury Falls,' continued in 'Mercury Rises,' and to be concluded in the highly anticipated upcoming novel, 'Mercury Rests') challenges the reader's preconceived notions about religion, politics, and human (and angel) nature while providing a truly entertaining reading experience throughout.  Satirical and edgy without being offensive, the wit and humor of Kroese's writing lend a refreshing accessibility to age-old themes; his unique style allows the material to be insightful without ever being heavy-handed. The action is fast-paced and the dialogue snappy, yet characterization and plotting is not sacrificed; the books are truly laugh-out-loud funny, but never 'jokey.'

This particular book, 'Mercury Rises,' picks up where its predecessor ends.  As with most midpoints in a trilogy, a fair amount of energy is spent forwarding the action of the first installment and setting the stage for the finale.  Still, the same sarcastic, farcical spirit of the first book is alive here.  This isn't just a placeholder between a beginning and an end---'Mercury Rises' is strong on its own merit.  While the characters of 'Mercury Falls' are more fully developed and some new, equally captivating ones are introduced, the plot continues to drive, and the journey continues to be as fulfilling as when it began.

This series strikes a brilliant balance of sophistication, intelligence, and fun.  I highly recommend starting first with 'Mercury Falls,' following it immediately with this book, and joining the rest of us in anticipation of the Fall 2012 release of 'Mercury Rests.' When I stumbled across these books, I was a new Kindle Fire owner with enough credit in Amazon gift cards to say, "Why not?" when the suggestion popped up on my screen.  I have since not only recommended these books to others, I have purchased copies to give as gifts. Much like being the first of your friends to discover a good indie band, this is a curve you'll enjoy being ahead.
3919044
Sometimes, a spoof is even better than the real thing. That's the case with Aaron Williams' "Nodwick Chronicles II," brimming with humour for anyone who has ever played Dungeons & Dragons (or has ever mocked it), full of flying hamsters, aristocratic orcs and evil gods.

The gang is sent to retrieve a magical pillow from a castle, only to find that their client is working for an evil god, Baphuma'al, who has an evil reason for wanting all his teeth back. And the "Powers What Is" accidently give Yeager superpowers. Now he is the heroic Hoo-man, defending innocent hamsters from thugs. Unfortunately, those cosmic powers also gave the Grey Golem an uberbrain -- and he's out for revenge.

Then Piffany is recalled, and Nodwick falls through a hole in reality, and encounters a world without Piffany -- a decrepit world ruled by Baphuma'al. If that wasn't enough, Nodwick encounters an angel the next time he dies, who tries to convince him that the group would be better off if he stayed dead. But changing the group's dynamic has disastrous results, ranging from cannibalism to zombiefication.

In the final stories, the gang finds themselves paying a mortgage when they travel to the Hollow of Hazardous Horror, and come back with more than a giant ruby. And finally, they find out why there are so many orcs -- turns out that somebody has been turning wayward royals into monsters.

With any spoof, there's the danger of overstepping and making it all spoof. Fortunately, Aaron Williams doesn't overstep it, finding a good balance between comedy and real stories about friendship, loyalty, and how much fun it can be to go looting abandoned castles and dungeons.

Not that it's heavy at all -- this volume has plenty of fun scenarios, like the evil god with a lisp, or poor Piffany teaching "icky-bad nasty" kids who disrupt her classes with cannibalism, lycanthropy, and banishing souls to "not nice places." And the "It's A Wonderful Life" spoof is a truly inspired piece of work.

This also continues the spoofy casting -- we have all the fantasy cliches here. There's Nodwick, a long-suffering henchman who dies frequently, and is only resurrected with holy duct tape. There's a hairy barbarian who likes to smash things, a smart if somewhat greedy wizard, and a saintly cleric who refers to villains as "not nice men" and has a war cry of "Love and puppies shall prevail!"

There are some loose plot threads (mostly about Baphuma'al and those prophecies) at the end of the second Nodwick volume. This is "Dungeons and Dragons" -- with a sense of humour.
942872
Accidently letting the Earth's Geomancer die on your watch is a good way to ruin your whole day, especially if your brother is the immortal Fist and Steel of the Earth, the protector of the Geomancer. In this second volume of Archer & Armstrong collecting issues 5-9, aptly titled the "Wrath of the Eternal Warrior". Aram and Obi are desperately trying to find the replacement Geomancer, who happens to be a quite shocked Kay McHenry, before Gilad catches up with them to exact vengeance for letting her predecessor die (See Vol. 1).

To keep things busy, enemies old and new are of course formulating their plans. Factions within the Sect are creating multiple alliances, whilst older enemies The Null, are bringing their plans to fruition, and it is up to Gilad, Kay, Aram and Obi to put aside their differences to work together to save the world/Universe, yet again.

As usual with this title, the laughs are aplenty, the golf buggy chase scene is typical of the comedy action that happens regularly, and at times is reminiscent of a comical scene from a movie such as "Red". As expected, the sibling rivalry between Aram and Gilad often turns petty, but the rapport between the brothers is a shining light in this volume, as one minute wanting to knock each other senseless and constantly lambasting each other, to the next, saving each other's skins and expressing their genuine love and respect for each other as only two immortal brothers can.

This book has everything, laughs, adventure, tender moments, and of course my favourite, the flashback scenes which not only provide a greater perspective to the characterisation of the immortals and the story plot, but also to events in history from the Valiant perspective. Even little titbits are thrown out between Aram and Gilad about events they shared through-out history, and the inevitable mortal interpretations of these said events, which really add a sense that you are let in on a little secret from history, which is quite fun to be part of.

I tip my hat to writer Fred Van Lente's creative writing, in that he weaves a wonderful adventure connected through the past and into the present, smattered with loads of comical moments that lighten the mood at the most unexpected times.

This book is a very enjoyable read and I rate it highly not only for the points already mentioned but also for the information we learn along the way that contains relevance to the greater Valiant universe. The re-introduction of Gilad Anni-Padda was done quite cleverly in that it is interpreted from the viewpoint of an outsider, Obi (Archer) as a precursor to his own title (Eternal Warrior) Starting September 2013.

This series should come with a warning in that it is highly addictive.
Enjoy.
1736002
A fantastic sequel that lets us dive even deeper into White's fantasy/sci-fi world with just as many laughs as the first!
3613552
Fresh off the success of the zombie mayhem in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies comes a new "historical fiction" novel about the young Queen Victoria and her untold life as a demon hunter. But unlike P&P&Z, the story is original and the characters are taken from history, but with a demon/comedy-horror element thrown in.

While the concept is completely absurd, that's where the amusement comes in. The story is based very loosely off history and spun into something original and genuinely funny. The characters were surprisingly well constructed for an absurdest horror-comedy novel. Maggie Brown is a fun demon hunter that I couldn't help but cheer for and Victoria is young, interesting, spunky and passionately in love with Prince Albert. Heck, even the romantic element between Victoria and Albert was well-done in this novel, despite the focus on demon mayhem.

I found myself laughing out loud several times during Queen Victoria: Demon Hunter, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Queen Victoria is a fun, light read that filled with absurd demon hunter antics and is perfect for fans of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters and any other type of zany horror-comedy that doesn't take itself seriously at all.
3106394
Christopher Wright's "The Sidewalk Shadow Disengages Gravity" declares itself a sequel, and while the first in the series was fun and experimental, the author's style, talent, humor, everything have grown and now excel in this latest space opera adventure. Primarily from the viewpoint of Victor, as disaffected and reluctant of a hero as you'll find, Chris Wright's imagination also delivers Captain Valiant (delivered with just the right amount of mock hero worship), Candy Princess (saccharine sweet reformed-cannibal ruler of destroyed kingdom), live-in ghost girlfriend (as in lives inside anyone she wants) who takes independent corporeal form only in Hell, and many more enticing and even eroticcharacters .  With better adventures and more arcane puns than Piers Anthony, clever use of MindSpace a la Alex Hughes, a vision of this universe and of Hell every bit as entertaining as John Connelly's The Gates (but far more "R" rated), this is a book of disturbingly creative yet natural dialogue (Mr. Wright should consider screenplays), and hopefully the launch of a major new talent.  If Douglas Adams were starting out today, he'd run neck and neck with Chris Wright, and Wright might be the more humorously creative of the two.  Good luck, Christopher Wright, from a new fan, Jeff Brown
1726575
Set in an unnamed kingdom where the characters from Wonderland and Looking-Glass Land coexist with the mad mariners of "The Hunting of the Snark," Roger Langridge's new comedy/adventure series is an inspired Popeye-meets-Lewis Carroll mashup.

It's a classic quest story: Princess (soon to be Queen) Scarlett, the 8-year-old heroine, has to rescue her missing father, the Red King, from the three wicked royal advisors who've quietly ousted him in a palace coup. Her destination: Snark Island, a monster habitat and de facto political prison hidden from the rest of the world. Her unlikely allies: the Walrus and the Carpenter, a pair of hand-to-mouth con men dragged kicking and screaming into the potentially lethal adventure of a lifetime. Their adversary: the Gryphon, an implacable thug hired to hunt down Scarlett and her baby brother, Prince Rusty, at any cost.

This is a fun read for all ages, especially for those who've already immersed themselves in the satirical, philosophical, and surrealistic world of Lewis Carroll's books, and who can't get enough of the literary Easter eggs in Langridge's panels. (His attractive, lively pen lines are a pleasure to look at on their own.) It's even sweeter for those who catch the "Thimble Theatre" references to Wimpy, Swee'pea, and Olive Oyl -- the last named in a salute that has to be seen to be believed.
4843286
Right off the bat, author Richard Herr explains that Invasion From Fred is a fairly difficult book to define. He states that while it definitely falls into the realm of science fiction, its also a very humorous book. He also explains that its demographic is hard to define, since it involves young characters but also involves adults. The result is something that reads like an attempt by Douglas Adams to tackle the young adult genre, and the resultant book is a highly enjoyable one that should prove relatively accessible to readers from any age group.

Some of the language is arguably beyond that of most younger readers. Not only does the book include words like sylvan (in the very first paragraph, at that), but there are also a couple of word choices that some parents may not approve of their children finding in a book. Nothing, however, is so naughty or so intellectual that a younger reader would be deterred from grasping the main thrust of the story. The story starts simply enough, with a young boy who dreams of playing baseball, but eventually spins into a wacky yarn involving beings from outer space. And the wackiness begins early on with, as the cover implies, a talking fire hydrant.

The fire hydrant turns out to be an alien from the planet Fred, which is named after a god of war. This leads to a bit of irony when the hydrant introduces its own name as Mars. The planet Mars knows as Fred is the planet we know as Mars, while the planet we know as Earth is the planet Mars knows as George andwell, you can ascertain the type of humor being utilized here. The early chapters are written in French scenes, with a new chapter beginning each time a new character is introduced to this lunacy. But later on, it takes a more traditional literary structure and the story begins to grow into something much greater that will leave any good-humored reader in hysterics.

Invasion From Fred does not take terribly long to read, which is good since you will likely want to read it more than once. It is not every day that a story this amusing presents itself, but thank goodness this one did. Richard Herr has another book, Tales from the Starboard Caf, that I imagine I will find myself reading soon if it promises to be even half as enjoyable as this one.
1214386
I've read several books by Christopher Golden, and I love Drake's Uncharted adventures.  Calling this book a tie-in is technically true, but Golden's talent is such that it really seems to rise a little above the average media tie in novel.  Putting myself in the place of readers who might not have played the games, I might have enjoyed a little more introduction to the character of Drake; however, let's face it, this is going to mainly appeal to folks who know who these characters are and what they are all about.  On that level, you get exactly what you probably hoped for--a fun adventure with danger and lots of shooting starring our favorite swashbuckler.  Sully is convincingly protrayed as well, and the settings feel as if they have come directly from the game.  Golden is good at injecting a little of the personal relationship magic between the main characters that make the game so good.  This book is probably aimed towards a younger market, so don't look for much in the way of burning romance, but that's ok.  I'm came for the adventure, and stayed for the engrossing story.  A worthwhile and enjoyable read.
3985509
This is a delightfull funny novel.  Howard Halliday is the jaded editor a small line  of dubious low-brow publications, ranging from  softcore-porn to religion, most notably  the tabloid "Midnight Examiner" which  is  notorious for sensational headlines like  "UFO FOUND IN GIRL'S  UTERUS".  The setting  and characters of Halliday's small media  empire are plenty colorfull and amusing  enough, but when they cross paths  with the  sinister machinations of a crime boss,  the genius of author  Kotzwinkle kicks into  overdrive.
This is a delightfull read.  I think it  could make a marvelous movie.
-- DCM "Froggy"
1230245
Yet another airport gift-shop purchase to while away a flight turned into a fun read. I won't re-hash the plot here, but it's more compelling and nuanced than some of the low star "dis" reviews give it credit.

Even though the baddies (and they're not all bad) are an evolved form of dinosaur from a parallel Earth ("seraphs" in their parlance, the legendary Biblical "demons"), this is NOT a "V" meets "Stargate" knock-off. The seraph are more to be pitied than hated, and there are some heroes among them as there are low-life among the humans being attacked. Indeed, the seraph are more human than snake in their mores and culture: they pollute their planet, they're dominated by a "Corporation" and have an uber class and under class of citizens, they make war, cuss each other out, slaughter one another for sport and eat the dead, write obscene graffiti on buildings, are obsessed with cars, fashion, sex, etc. - gee, sound familiar?). They can shape shift into human forms and as such have infiltrated both our world and an alternate "two-moon" Earth as politicians, captains of industry, religious leaders, soldiers, etc.  On Abaddon, the seraph planet, the teenagers even wear "message" t-shirts ("New Sex Pistols").

Yes, Ann Coulter makes an "appearance" in this book.  I won't spoil it for readers, but suffice it to say, I found the inclusion both hilarious and most appropriate. Hee hee. You'll just have to buy the book and check it out.

The only downside of the book was fighting my urge to "see" the seraph as evil versions of the smooth-talking, upright walking GEICO gecko. Be forewarned.
2645792
My husband picked this up after telling me "any random book printed by Baen is good" - and, of course, because it has "rats" in the title . . . He read it and laughed his way through it and insisted that I read it, too, to which I agreed readily enough.  I won't recap the story, but I will say it is a hoot and a half!  The rats are hedonistic Shakespeareans; the bats are revolutionary Irish; and the vats are hapless humans who are just along for the ride.  And, of course, you have the land-owners, who have the money - throw in the evil bugs from outer space and the benevolent aliens who are providing the technology to defeat them (or are they?) and you have a mix that is sure to please anyone who likes military science fiction, space opera, or just plain silliness.  HIGHLY recommended!!
2279561
An irreverent and raucously funny read. Joanne M. Harris, more well-known for her realist novels like "Chocolat", retells the legends of the Norse gods from the perspective of the lovable miscreant, Loki.

Through the tongue-in-cheek and confessional tone of the retelling, the reader forms a refreshingly easy alliance with Loki, also known as the Trickster and fire demon Wildfire, who unabashedly acts out of selfish desires and misanthropic motives to bring about the downfall of the Aesirs in the prophesied Ragnarok, the final battle between the gods and the powers of evil.

All the chief characters from Norse mythology are in full force here. With such a extensive cast, and many other minor characters, they inevitably become quite caricaturised and are less than well-rounded, but that is no shortcoming in a novel like this, in which the artful rewriting of a legendary myth takes precedence.

There is Odin the supreme god, also known as Allfather to the other gods, who is presented as a hoary old man who is paranoid and superstitious, and less than completely honourable in his adopted brotherhood with Loki. In the latter's version of events, Loki is betrayed by Odin and acts out of self preservation and also bitterness at the way he is treated as an outsider in Asgard. Harris manages to win our sympathy for Loki, while laughing at the uptight and conceited behaviour of the gods, like Thor, who is painted as a muscle-bound dimwit with an uncontrollable temper, his too-perfect dumb jock brother, and Heimdall the watchman, nicknamed Goldie, who is also Loki's chief nemesis within the walls of Asgard. The goddesses are also shown in less than flattering light, often seen to be impossibly vain and haughty, and with dubious morals, like Freyja, who sells herself for some jewelry, Sif, Thor's wife, with more than a healthy obsession with her own hair, and Sigyn, a handmaid who is smitten with Loki and becomes his annoying wife, much to his chagrin.

In both dialogue and action, Loki has the best lines and makes fools of his adopted family, the Aesirs, as they find ways and means to ostracise him from their exclusive club. It is all quite the 'outcast-in-a-prestigious-high-school' story, which Harris writes with aplomb, giving voice to an often misunderstood character, and making us root for him even as we step back to laugh at those who take themselves and their perfection a tad too seriously.
3513966
This book is a lot of fun. Weir seems to have done a ridiculous amount of research into how a manned NASA Mars mission would probably work, and turns this knowledge into a suspenseful adventure with a likable protagonist and a healthy dose of humor. The story begins, in classic castaway fashion, from the journal entries of an astronaut named Mark Watney, who's stranded on Mars after an emergency forces the rest of his fellow astronauts, who think him dead, to abort the mission and depart.

Now alone with his expedition's equipment, including rovers, space suits, a habitat, and some botany experiments (but no radio), Watney must improvise ways to stay alive and contact Earth. A lot of science and engineering geekery soon follows, but Weir does such a good job of explaining it, using Watney's informal voice and snarky, quip-ready "engineer" humor (the opening f-bomb sets the tone), that I don't think it will be too hard for the average reader to understand. Being an engineer myself, I could easily relate to how this guy's mind worked, as he took apart different systems and put them to use in ways they weren't quite meant to be used, yet did so in a careful, controlled manner. I had one of many smiles at the part where he contemplates international law and decides that one of his actions makes him a pirate. A SPACE PIRATE! Yep, engineer.

I don't think it's much a reveal to say that the narrative eventually expands to include people back on Earth. If you recall the movie Apollo 13, a lot of similar action follows, as NASA and other organizations put their best minds to work on the problem of how to save Watney. I won't spoil the series of mishaps, setbacks, and narrow escapes that follow as he hangs on for a rescue attempt, but suffice to say that Weir makes good use of his setting and contrives some creative but plausible solutions. The supporting characters could have been developed a little more, but their banter is entertaining. Weir is clearly a fan of NASA, but isn't above poking fun at bureaucracy, PR machines, and the various personalities that inhabit the organization.

I hope someone sees fit to make a movie, because all the right ingredients are here. There's a crowd-pleasing survival story and a likable hero. There's a long-shot plan and a big-screen-ready nail-biter of a climax. And it's a heckuva a lot more believable than other Mars-themed stuff that Hollywood has given us (I'm looking at you, Red Planet). But, if there's never a film, audiobook narrator RC Bray is the next best thing, with a boyish voice that's a perfect fit for Watney, and different affectations for his various quips.
2581968
An irreverent look at life in the 21st century for the Gods of Mount Olympus, whose power is waning because people no longer believe in them, and who --  since the advent of Christianity, an event that precipitated their decline -- have been living fairly quiet, uneventful, boring lives in London amongst the mortals. When a petty argument between sensuous and spiteful Aphrodite and her vain, impulsive nephew Apollo becomes a case of oneupmanship, two innocent mortals -- Alice and Neil -- are unwittingly pulled into the fray.

If you're familiar with the works of Douglas Adams or Terry Pratchett then you'll recognize their influences all over this story -- not to mention that of another Neil: Neil Gaiman, whose book American Gods is a deeper, darker version of this theme. And it's probably no coincidence that the character of Alice was named as such -- for she takes a journey that put this reader in mind of that other Alice's trip to Wonderland.

This is a fun, quick read -- especially for fans with a pre-existing love of Greek Mythology (like me). It's whimsical and silly, yet manages also to have moments of true poignancy. Highly recommended to anyone looking for some entertaining escapist fun.
3396876
Mark Teague's work --- his artwork, at any rate --- is instantly recognizable to anyone who has known a kid in the last dozen years. His hilariously inventive illustrations for such books as HOW DO DINOSAURS SAY GOODNIGHT? tell stories in their own right. Now, with THE DOOM MACHINE, his first work of intermediate fiction, Teague proves that his storytelling skills don't start and stop with illustrations, but he is quite a talented writer as well.

Let me set the scene for you. The year is 1956: the dawn of the Cold War and the height of the country's infatuation with all things outer space. Jack Creedle is a paper delivery boy in the small town of Vern Hollow. He tries to stay one step ahead of the town police chief (and the chief's bullying son, Grady) while not worrying his well-meaning mom too much and spending as much time as he can "borrowing" supplies from the local junkyard to fix up old cars. Perhaps inspired by his Uncle Bud, a dedicated inventor, Jack is a talented, budding mechanic. So it's good thing that he's around when Dr. Shumway and her daughter roll into town and can't roll back out again because their car has broken down. Young Isadora is an aspiring scientist --- with some surprising skills --- who looks up to her accomplished mother but wishes she had a little more excitement in her life.

It turns out that Isadora is about to find excitement in spades. There have been recent reports of extraterrestrial activity in Vern Hollow, and, although Dr. Shumway and Isadora don't believe a thing until they have found empirical evidence, pretty soon empirical evidence finds them. Determined to escape from the quarantine imposed by the Outer Space Division of the U.S. Army, they load up Dr. Shumway's newly souped-up station wagon with Uncle Bud and his destabilizer machine (cleverly disguised as a refrigerator) in tow. When they encounter an alien search party, they (and the extremely valuable machine that can create holes in space) find themselves taken on board the huge flying saucer, prisoners of a ruthless alien commander named Xaafuun who just can't stand "ooman bings."

Mark Teague's debut novel is a nonstop adventure, a wild and whimsical joy ride through time and space. What's remarkable is how Teague manages to include semi-serious ideas about time travel, quantum mechanics and relativity into what is, in the final analysis, an exuberantly ridiculous plot, an homage to the adventure stories of yore. In the style of old 1950s science fiction television shows and movies, THE DOOM MACHINE is a crazy combination of fact and fiction (okay, mostly fiction) as Jack and company encounter dozens of different alien species as they careen through space on an interstellar journey that none of them (or any of Teague's readers) will soon forget.

And, of course, the novel just wouldn't be complete without Teague's own numerous illustrations scattered throughout, bringing to life even more vividly the crazy worlds of his imagination.

  --- Reviewed by Norah Piehl
1371220
In this second outing for our intrepid duo of Binky and Doan, we are treated to a new location and several new characters, all of whom are great fun. Orland/Brad certainly knows how to flesh out a character, giving them heart (or the absence of one) and interesting foibles. I enjoyed the pace of this romp, and laughed out loud in places. This is a witty and enjoyable, light-hearted visit to the City of Angeles, and is a great extension to the first novel in this series. I only wish the author had continued to write these characters. You owe it to yourself to give this book a read.