the scheming Prowl really started to hit his stride in this volume
584301
This follows up on the heals of the amazing vol. 5, which was IDW's first attempt to address the political problems that lead to the overthrowing of the old Primes and the dissolution of the Cybertronian Senate.

This volume builds upon the Machiavellian scheming of Prowl that was first introduced in the Prowl Spotlight issue. It is a strong character turn that was further developed in John Barber's "Robots in Disguise" series a year after this was written.

The plot and the dialogue are solidly good. Mike Costa's written work on Transformers was very mixed - this is among his best work.
3179001
This volume deals with Hannah's return to Mage University and many encounters on the war including Smidgen bounty-hunters, Hell Shades, her step-father Gerard and lots of fighting, drinking and magical goings-on.  The second half is much more serious and sees some unusual events and turning-around. There is also an extra Braga story about her father's life.

Fun and entertaining at first then more serious, this volume is well worth reading.
2905025
This mystery got better and better as I got into it. Poor Peter is paired with his boss, a real pain in the bum, on an investigation of a neighboring police force officer and possible wrong doing. The case expands, though, to involve a series of missing persons (including a local art teacher) and the fact the local authorities have been pretending there hasn't been a problem in their jurisdiction. In spite of his boss Peter gets to the bottom of the situation, clears the name of an old friend and, alas, his dumb boss thinks they make quite a team and will have to do this again. Those who have followed this series will thoroughly enjoy this latest installment. I know I did.
1453059
Continuing the story from the first volume, 'Enter: Ninjak' finds Aric and his armor returning to Earth in the modern day. After a brief respite, Aric is attacked by the Vine's agents on Earth and a very well-equipped mercenary named Ninjak. A true professional, Ninjak only does what he's paid to do, but when a rogue element within the Vine exposes a far-reaching conspiracy, he may have no choice but to join forces with his quarry.

  Once again, we're treated to some excellent action sequences here, including an epic battle in the last issue where we see Aric really break in his new suit. There's one great scene where we get a glimpse into Aric's personality as he screams "Are there no more?!" after killing pretty much everything. We also see more of the Vine, and learn a lot about what they were doing on Earth in the first place. We're introduced to Alexander Dorian, an agent of the Vine on the Earth and Neville Alcott, a favorite from the original Valiant Universe. Ninjak does a pretty good job taking some of the limelight from Aric, an agent of finesse against Aric's brute force. We even get the first laugh-out-loud moment in the series to date, a slightly awkward situation involving a barbarian and a cherimoya. While this arc isn't quite as wide in scope as the first, it's still thoroughly enjoyable.

  I didn't realize the first time I read these issues that there was a different artist on the pencil here, and that's because Lee Garbett does a good job in keeping up with the style set by Nord. There's still nothing particularly breathtaking here but the action sequences are quality and the characters maintain their appearance throughout.

  While not quite as good as the first volume, this book delivers more of what we love about X-O Manowar and sets the stage for the coming super arc, Planet Death!
2901923
Much better in this book.  There is more satisfaction, but plenty of hooks for future books in the series.  Maddox is both more human and more New Man than he knew. The Builder was as much of douche as I thought he would be and whinging as well.  Ludendorf was too clever for his own good, but mostly decent.  Strand is definitely a character that is as evil as we expected him to be.  It's a good read. I'm glad I stuck with the series despite the weakness of the first volume.
2893571
I feel that with Usurper, Steven Plagman begins to hit his stride is a writer, where components that I found weak in the first book have been worked out better, and the writing style has improved over the time since the first book was written.  The characters in these books are complex, and even when you feel like you have run into a predictable character, they still have surprises that you don't expect, which I appreciated.  It was great to delve into this world again and I'm looking forward to reading book three to find out what is happening next.
3703775
It was surprising to see Scratch pull off a stupid bad guy trick despite being a good guyi.e., leaving an enemy with a gun with one shot so he can kill himself. That really didn't seem his style; he comes off as pragmatic most of the time.

Now that Aidan has visited the facility he and Gabby got treated at, hes changed. He didn't gain some of the more interesting abilities, but his reaction time and endurance went through the roof. And of course Bobby, whos a young runt of a lycanthrope, sees Scratch as his Alpha. I love that he handles this mostly by saying, sure, Boss! instead of some over-the-top wolf thing. (Weve already had the latter in series after series.)

Now the stakes go up: Giant centuries-old lycanthrope; hypnotizing, lightning-fast vampire whose plans must be stopped lest he unleash hell on earth. Theres even a Rabbi with a golem.

I could have done without the guy code references, but thats just me. I wanted to see more with Gabby, but in some cases it seems like Scratch is over-sheltering her.

All in all I enjoyed this zombie tale.
982585
Ever since Jim Butcher's writing has slowed, the world has been searching for a worthy contender.  Underwood has stepped up to the plate and has knocked the ball almost out of the park.

While his writing isn't perfect, his characters are familiar yet very original. I enjoyed the fact that their motivations are very believable, and they experience growth that shows in their actions at the end of the book.

He also ties it into a larger world and plot that hints at the fun adventures in store for readers in books to come.

I'm eagerly awaiting the next adventure.
1114727
This volume picks up the pace and shows Tan's growth in maturity and skill in shaping.  He is still questioning.
2325549
In this volume the Survey Corps are trying to deal with the intelligent female Titan that they ran into in the last volume.  We see more of what this Titan is capable off and also see a flashback to Erens time with the Survey Corps and how Eren and the rest of the Corps came to trust each other.

This volume was very fast-paced and intense.  There is a lot of action and the illustration is well done and easy to follow.

I enjoyed the backstory about how Eren and the Survey Corps started working together.

Overall this is a good installment in the Attack on Titan series.  I am eager to see where things go with the female Titan.  I enjoy all the action in this series and all the little mysteries surrounding our characters.  I would recommend to those who enjoy action-packed survival types of story with an element of fantasy in them.
3508504
The previous ten or so volumes in this series have advanced about one year each in the life of Miles Lord Vorkosigan, from the age of twenty to thirty-two. This time, though, the author jumps ahead seven years after the events of _Diplomatic Immunity_; Miles and Ekaterin now have four kids and Miles has been an Imperial Auditor for a decade, with more than a dozen cases under his belt. (Since Bujold has occasionally departed from strict internal chronology in the past, one hopes she intends to go back at some point and fill in the gap with a few more novels.)

This case takes Miles back into the world of cryogenics, of which he has traumatically first-hand experience. The Kibou-daini, the culture of which appears to be largely Old-Earth Japanese in origin, has developed a fixation on cheating death. Freezing the recently deceased or the medically compromised has become routine; many older people even choose to be frozen while they're still healthy. The goal is to be thawed out again at some point in the future when specific terminal diseases have been cured, or when a general rejuvenation treatment has become available. Competition used to be fierce among the world's hundreds of "cryocorps," but the industry has consolidated and the half-dozen surviving companies are much more interested in freezing new clients than in thawing the old ones, since they hold the voting proxies of those in the cryochambers. Now one of the largest of the corporations is about to establish a branch in the Barrayaran Empire and Miles has been sent to look into things and make sure all is on the up and up. (He already has reason to suspect it isn't, of course.)

Another change from the usual pattern is that much of the story is told from the P.O.V. of eleven-year-old Jin Sato, a runaway and semi-orphan with an intense interest in any form of animal life. At the moment, he's getting by on the roof of an abandoned cryogenic facility, where his menagerie of small animals can be kept corralled. Jin rescues Miles from a kidnapping gone wrong and Miles takes the opportunity to investigate the local society and political situation from the bottom up -- which, naturally, reveals a number of problems and crimes he would not otherwise have known about. Miles being Miles, he undertakes not only to see that the might are brought low, he also rescues Jin's mother, brings his clone-brother, Mark, into the action, and engages in covert ops himself for the first time in years. Miles always knows how to enjoy himself while getting things done.

This isn't one of the best in the Vorkosigan series, but it's not bad. Seems a little lightweight and rushed, though, as if Bujold simply had a contract to fulfill with her publisher. But it's still an enjoyable read. However, the narrative ends with a major change in Miles's life, so that subsequent episodes will have to be somewhat different from what went before. I'll be various curious to see how she -- and Miles -- handle things in his new life.
447468
I was favorably impressed with the first volume of World's End Harem and the second volume maintains the pace.  Reito wants to begin his quest to find Elisa and to develop a cure for the Man-Killer Virus.  However, he comes across a message Elisa left him suggesting this virus's outbreak was no accident.  Reito also meets a government minister who wishes he could be like Kyoji, the other male, who's breeding like a rabbit on Viagra.  She's not above using tactics to force the issue (#MeToo activists probably wouldn't like her).  The second part of the volume tells the story of Doi Shota, the third male left immune.  He was a small, awkward high school boy who was the target of savage bullying.  Then, he had to be put into cryosleep.  When he wakes up he finds himself with a sexy attendant named Karen and is the only boy at a school of beautiful girls.  Doi can't believe something like this is happening to him.  World's End Harem is proving to be a gripping series and the cast is quite intriguing.  I am looking forward to the upcoming volumes.
1338713
The intricacies of the politics of the White Council and the hidden Black Council have reached a new level in this volume of the Dresden Files. Warden Morgan stumbles to Harry Dresden's doorstep, injured and pursued by his own people. He is accused of murdering one of the wizards on the Senior Council, and despite the chance of a cursory trial, the penalty will assuredly be death if he is apprehended. Harry cannot imagine that Morgan would have committed such a crime and offers Morgan his protection, at least while he can investigate the issue.

Harry has to call in an awful lot of his friends in this one, for he is pursued by a skinwalker out of Native American tales, a hired freelance conjurer, the White Council, and a mystery figure that Harry suspects has framed Morgan. The vampires of the White Court also make an appearance.

I listened to the audiobook for this volume, and this was one of my favorites in the series, particularly in the way that it ended.
2147989
In this volume, we mainly see Naoto as she follows Heine and Badou in an attempt to gather information about the person that killed her family and almost killed her. With the three of them together, the story is more focused, but it's not exactly linear. I wouldn't say it was confusing, but there are some odd random jumps back in the story. It can be a little jarring at times.

While the story progresses well in this volume, I felt that the art and action weren't as impressive as the previous two. To me the action scenes in Volume 0 and 1 were nothing short of art, very clear and unique. They felt a little messy in this volume. Still beautifully done in comparison to most series, just not up to the level I'd gotten used to in the other volumes.

All in all, still a great read. I'm looking forward to the next release!
4204970
The fourth volume of Jim Butcher's Codex Alera series, Captain's Fury continues the adventures of Tavi as he contends with Canim invaders and duplicitous Aleran "allies." At the same time, First Lord Gaius, Bernard, and Amara travel to Kalare to put an end to Kalarus's rebellion. As usual, Butcher stuffs the novel with combat and political intrigue. At this point, he knows what he's doing; he has created a formula for the series, which could continue in perpetuity. I have followed with interest Tavi's journey from a shepherd to a student to a soldier to a prince. Illustrating a character's growth from a boy to a man is an effective way to plot a series.

This novel's highlight is the development of Gaius as a full-fledged primary character. In the earlier volumes, he has been a presence more than a person. His arrival as a character humanizes him. I also like how Butcher reverses the roles: Before, Tavi was the one without furies, while Gaius reveled in his; now, Tavi is starting to come into his power while Gaius cannot depend on his. The First Lord also serves as a foil to Tavi. You can sense a conflict brewing between them based on their personalities. Tavi's compassion and trust will inevitably clash with Gaius's grim resolve. Much of the novels focus on the nature and consequences of service and loyalty. More than any other volume, Captain's Fury shows how Tavi inspires service and loyalty, whereas Gauis compels it.

By now, we know Tavi's secret identity, and part of me thinks it is a mistake. I like Tavi as a resourceful country boy who succeeded due to, not in spite of, his inability to furycraft. His success showed up the flawed society of this world with its emphasis on bloodline and furycrafting. Now, we have to wonder if his success is inherited instead of innate. Has he excelled merely because of his father? I know that Tavi's identity is crucial to the series and cannot be second-guessed, but I still wish he were a simple shepherd. There are enough stories about peasants who were royal all along.

Butcher's series is entertaining, but I think it is starting to feel formulaic. I hope that Butcher throws a curveball in the next volume. I'm ready for some surprises and betrayal. Also, can someone please insert a map of Alera in the next book?
1737624
This books focuses more on Laura Howard and her bond-partner, the Paran.  There's a lot more political intrigue on Tolaria, with ramifications for the Sural and the Paran.  We're also introduced to another territory, Monralia, whose ruler despises the Sural and covets power.  Lots more detail about Tolaria and the politics that go on under the Sural's notice.

I really felt that Ms. Meierz has really started hitting her stride with this book.  While the first two were really good, this one is like a powder keg that's ready to explode.  And it does--and neatly sets up the next book in the series......
2701184
A change of tone from vol 1 and 2. These changes made this series that much better.