Meandering but Quaint Intro to Series
593187
This is an introductory book to the Milford-Haven series & while I found it enjoyable enough, I don't have a burning desire to get right to the next in the series. The murder mystery (which was the draw in reading this for me) was tied up well enough but I mostly felt that this was all just to set the stage for the next in the series. I did enjoy the feel of the setting. I love sleepy seaside hamlets & felt the author did a very good job giving a sense of place. There are quite a few characters to keep up with & it felt like I was being introduced to the whole town in a flurry, whether or not they were really relevant to the mystery. Honestly, I didn't commit all the characters to memory because I was more focused on the dead reporter resolution. Even so, I feel that this wrapped up well enough to be satisfying even as a standalone if you decide not to read the remainder of the series. This is a light enough read for the weekend or while travelling.
201747
This is a fair review of a small portion of the series.  I would have liked to have seen new material introduced.  A new reader of the series may not want to choose this as the starting point.
3843932
This review applied generally to books 5-10 in the Wheel of Time series.

Perhaps this part of the series shound be entitled, "Waiting for Godot," or "Waiting for Rand to actually do something."

I got started on this series this past March, when I happened to read a review of the the final book in the series, which had just been released. Books 1-4 were pretty good, but books 5-10 seeming drag on - and  on and on.  The pace of plot is increasingly glacial, and by that I mean glacial before global warming.  Way back in the beginning, the author set up the series climax as the showdown between the hero, Rand, and the Dark Lord.  But we seem to continuously add new characters and unnecessary subplots.  How long long can Perrin search for his kidnapped wife before finding her?  How long can Mat watch the dice in his head go round and round?

There are many Sci-Fi/Fantasy Series that extend over many volumes.  But in the successful series, major plot elements are resolved at the end of each book, or at least at the end of 2-3 books.  But it this series, there is rarely plot resolution, we just keep adding more characters and subplots.

And speaking of characters, if you are going to have seemingly hundreds, please give them distrinctive names that don't begin with the same letter?  The much referenced Pattern seems to favor women's name beginning with "E."  Reading late at night, the E-women seemed to blur together.  Many of the Foresaken seemingly have names that begin with "M."  Or they continuously change their names.  Well, I foresook trying to remember who was who. The pattern must be like the native Hawaiian language with a distinct shortage of letters. I found the names to be very confusing.

On the positive side, Mat and Perrin continue to be interesting characters - while Rand seems to be going Shakespeare on us, acting like Hamlet.  These middle books tend to muddle together in my mind, so I am not quite sure what happened when - but the Cadusunae character is interesting as well.  Min and Elayne continue to be Min and Elayne, and the same can be said for most of the balance of the characters.

I would have probablly given up on this series but for the reader reviews for the later books 11-14, where the plot gets going again,  reaching a quite satisfactory climax (see my review of book 14).  So I viewed books 5-10 as having to eat my vegetables - and I am a devout meat and potatoes guy.  You need to read the middle books to understand where the plot stands at the beginning of book 11, but I think most people tend to skim this lengthy interlude.
2382466
I enjoyed this latest series starter by Butcher, but I was also a bit disappointed.  I have enjoyed both his Codex Alera and his ongoing Dresden Files series.  Both had/have flaws but always have been eminently readable.

For the most part, this was as well.  But I think that he practiced some of the same flaws I have found in both here and in a combination I feel really undermined a long book bent on establishing so much so fast.

In Codex Alera I felt he relied a bit too much on the whole bringing the disparate band together aspect.  The initial book was rousing and interesting.  But as the series progresses, I felt the shift to the school and the outcasts coming together was a bit tired in some ways.  And predictable.  In the Dresden Files I find Harry can be a bit too much at times.  As the series has progressed, the challenges become almost too great as Butcher tries to amp up and keep his series fresh and a momentum going.  Here off the bat a main male character seems to have all that already and Harry Dresden has taken a dozen books or so to get there?  The rogue captain is just a bit too rogue.  The disparate group is a bit too immediate in the banding together.

So while Butcher does a great job of world building, exploring some aspects that are quite new to his style and yet still nicely and richly Butcher in tone, I felt that the book just doesn't come together as it skips around and tries to marry a couple different narrative and character themes (in a general sense) that don't allow that world building to come alive as richly as it should or even let it solidify to become the bedrock on which this fantasy series shall and should firmly rest.

Also there is third element (there are actually more but they fit a bit more smoothly with the rest) of intelligent animals that reminds me a bit too much of Mercedes Lackey at her most precious that seems to never quite fit with the rest of the elements Butcher delivers.  And this gets to be a glaring and distracting bump in the flow of my reading every time it occurs.  I guess I am just "catty" about such elements.

In small but no less important part, I think my rating is a tad lower due to it being the first book of an author I'm quite familiar with as well as usually pleased with.  I'm disappointed with this but not totally unhappy with it.  And I rate this in hopes that perhaps a slight bit more criticism will see a successful author perhaps raise his game a bit more come book two.
4937879
A friend had recommended this series highly.  I was looking for a new series to read and decided to give this a try.

The beginning of this book was incredibly slow for me.  I was about a quarter of the way through and had about given up.  Finally, it picked up around page 250 and I really enjoyed the rest of the book.

The other reviewers are correct.  It is derrivative and it doesn't have the depth of Jordan or Martin (for better or for worse).  However, once certain things are established, it gets going.  It's a fairly quick read and there are some interesting ideas that are introduced.  Another big plus is that the series is done, you don't have to wait for another book to come out.

This one is good enough to warrant reading the next book.  I just hope it keeps the momentum going
2299485
I have read a couple of the books in the series.  This novella is my least favorite. It's okay but I didn't much care for it.

Since I enjoy antiques, I am predisposed to  like the basic premise of this series:  a mother and daughter who got into the antiques business together and along the way solve the occasional murder.  Mom has mental problems and is on  meds long term; daughter is severely depressed  after a divorce and is on Prozac.  Their nagging each other about their meds is a recurring theme in the series, and pops up a lot in this novella.  More than is necessary to my way of thinking.

Like the spoiled little dog.  I'm glad her vision has been restored (is that possible?),  It is a nice touch. She is good for a grin.

One of the trademarks of this series is that Brandy, the daughter, writes most of the story, and her mother writes the rest.  They snipe back and forth at each other's versions of the story, and sometimes the editor/publisher chimes in to try to get them back on track.  I presume that since Barbara Allen is actually two people (a husband and wife) that this an obvious way to divide up the writing.  Sometimes the technique works okay; sometimes it is overdone.  In this particular story it is overdone and becomes distracting.  Brandy's version of the story is okay, but her mom's is so over the top it sounds like she's a flagrantly gay male rather than an elderly female.  The character's "voice" just doesn't sound right.

This a Christmas story.  The murder victim is the obnoxious star of a local history play which the mother wrote.  Of course, our heroines (with the able assistance of the little dog) have to help the sheriff solve the crime and all ends well.  There are a lot of Christmas stories being published right now as 'tis the season.  Some of them are entertaining, others are hacked together to take advantage of the seasonal market.  This one is reads hacked together hastily.  Big fans of the series will like it.  If you haven't read any of  the other books be warned that it doesn't stand alone very well.  You can follow the story, but the characters are so shallow here that they are hard to enjoy; you might want to skip this so you don't get turned off to the series.
142210
Unfortunately this series still fails to engage me. Similar to the previous instalment in the series this book is okay to read but only just.

As the book blurb states, the werewolves as well as a bunch of other weres have decided to come out of the closet and announce their presence to the mundane world. Unfortunately the werewolves have a bit of a grudge towards the vampires. Quite a bit of a grudge actually. In the underworld of the supernatural world of Faith Hunter, a grudge means nasty secret plots, blood being splattered around and general mayhem. Naturally Jane is caught in the middle.

The basic story is good and the writing is quite okay from a purely technical point of view. Jane have to do quite a bit of research and detective work as the story develops. There is no lack of action and those parts are quite okay as well. There is a fair amount of things going on though and it felt a bit like the author just threw in ideas that she had but never really developed them but rather used them as background props.

The author also continues to do a quite okay job of spinning together explanations as to the creation in the past and presence today of these supernatural creatures with events and recounts (with a bit of artistic freedom of course) from the human legacy of religious mythology.

My main problem with this book is that it fails to engage me. The story is told in such a way that it sometimes feels more like a historical recount than the action filled, supernatural adventure that it is. Jane herself really lacks charisma and she does not seem to develop in any larger degree either, neither as a character nor as a supernatural creature. There is little humour, wittiness, bantering or otherwise entertaining comments or dialogue in the book.

At this point I am a wee bit on the fence as to whether I want to continue to spend time on this series. It is not a bad series but it has left me with a bit of a meh feeling after the last two books. I really do not like to stop in the middle of a series though so it is likely that I will give it one more try.
42317
Overall, I think this book is a good introduction to the series. It lays out a lot of the ground work necessary for a grand plot that spans many books, thus creating great potential for the rest of the series.

But the fact it is an introduction is why it is only 4 stars for me. It spends a lot of time on Harry Potter's "muggle" family background, introducing the magic world and how the magic world interacts with the non-magic world, introducing Hogwarts, and introducing characters that aren't so directly related to the plot of book one. This leaves only a little bit of time dedicated to the conflict discovered and solved in this specific book.

I like that the heroes control their own destiny. They possess the virtue of independence and use it to solve the mysteries throughout. Their value of logic is also showcased, as it is utilized at a key point in the book. A few, key, deeper meanings for kids to learn from the heroes (displayed in this book):
1. The virtue of Independence, as briefly described above.
2. The value of logic, as briefly described above.
3. Don't evade reality - shown through the use/refusal to use Voldamort's name. Dumbledore wisely tells Potter to say his name.
4. Hard work and determination. Harry and their friends embark on learning a completely new world and new material for them at Hogwarts.
3860239
An ok intro into the series (although I did keep comparing the Justice to Dimitri from Vampire Academy).
It gave good history into the main characters, and they are niceable enough.  Yeah I think I'll try the next one and see how it goes.
66942
Good intro to the series but after reading 2 more books, don't think this series is worth buying.
164022
I loved the first book in this series, but wasn't that crazy about this sequel.  The same quirky charming characters that I grew to love in the first novel are back, but the storytelling seemed a bit thin in this latest adventure.  I don't feel that the author was successful in creating suspense and driving a narrative that was just too thin to sustain my interest.  I think young readers will figure things out pretty early on and just might find themselves growing a bit bored despite the charming dialogue and interesting animals introduced here.

This series is distinguished by the interesting animals that it introduces and it's charming characters.  Even though I wasn't particularly fond of this installment of the series, I will still look forward to the Nocturnal Brigade's next adventure.
1325359
PROUD HELIOS is an independent raider, a spacefaring pirate that has been attacking primarily Cardassian ships but lately has been branching out to other ships.  Their activities are beginning to have an impact on the trade in the area, trade that the Bajorians desperately need to rebuild their ravaged economy.  Sisko and his crew are soon involved in their search for this mysterious, aggravating vessel and find themselves in the unusual circumstance of having the same goal as the Cardassians.

This is the ninth novel in the DS9 series and is set in approximately season two.  Not all the characterizations are as fully developed as they will be later on in the series nor are the relationships between the characters what they will become later on.  For fans of the series, particularly those who enjoy the action of a space battle this one is an enjoyable read.  For those fans who are more interested in the characters and in the various cultures represented on the station this one is a bit of a disappointment.  The plot develops rather slowly and predictably with few surprises along the way.  We learn nothing new about any of the characters and in fact fans of the series will be way ahead of the author.

Still PROUD HELIOS does not violate any 'facts' set down in the series -  always a problem with tie-in novels.  It is an fairly good addition to the series, just not an outstanding one.
1108215
This does not seem to have the usual wit and charm that I have come to expect out of this series.
3391189
OK SIMPLE ...rambling towards the finish of sorts! CUTE in some parts....but not a big hit! ok for a series,
980546
This is the first in a new series following eleven 'ultimate predators', beings that have been asleep for sixty-five million years and are only now reawakened to prevent destruction prophesied in an ancient Mayan prediction. These beings are far from human and although initially the reader isn't told what they are it's pretty easy to guess, particularly because of their names.

When Ty Endeka is awakened from his sleep in Ireland and taken to Houston to assist the godlike Fin to overcome the evil named Nine he struggles to keep his predatory nature contained. Especially when he meets his designated driver, Kelly Maloy, a music student who's trying to earn some extra money through being a driver. Kelly doesn't realise that she hasn't been picked randomly but that Fin has seen her in the future battle against Nine. As the supernatural world of evil, vampires, werewolves and other nonhumans is unfolded to Kelly she finds Ty is taking more and more of her attention - but is there any future between an ordinary girl such as her and a strange, predatory and ancient beast?

This story was a reasonable read with an interesting background - that of the ancient predators - although it wasn't always easy to be convinced by the story with these creatures. However the characterisation in this story was rather weak - events take place and the characters react to them but the reader is never drawn deeply into their world and their thoughts. The romance aspect was fairly unromantic and perfunctory and it wasn't entirely clear to me why either main character fell in love with the other. The large cast of characters wasn't too unwieldy, however, and there were some interesting people introduced. Whether I can face reading the (presumably) following ten books in this series is another matter - this one was OK but nothing special and the slightly bland writing style would probably get dull fairly quickly.

Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book  Helen Hancox 2008
4078996
I'd give it 3.5 stars if I could. I'm not familiar with the author's other work, but I stumbled upon this due to my fondness for the original series. I'm sure it's not easy to follow in DNA's footsteps, but it often felt like the author was trying too hard to imitate. If you care to know more about Arthur, Ford, Trillian, Random and Zaphod, they are all here and recognizable.
2874538
I want to like Mr. Daulton's Galactic Mage series. It is quite earnest and has a lot of action but the love angle amongst sentient planets and the relationship arc between the main protagonists is overdone. He does a decent job of developing his characters for the most part although they are a bit one-dimensional. The young girl who is trained as an assassin is a bit too monomaniacal in her determination to kill everyone to win over the Galactic Mage although I could understand someone who is that young with a developing sense of self and her relationship to the world around her to have a skewed view of reality. I enjoy the series just enough to not abandon it but I do wish it was a bit more complex.