VampCon (Disappointingly, NOT about a Vampire Convention)

This pulpy vampire novel doesn't waste any time getting to the action. From the start, the humorously named Jonathan Stoker gets thrown into this vampire congregation--some fancy meet and greet with all the vampires, like a big, ugly family reunion. A different slant on vamps, this departs from all Anne Rice-ian and Twilight notions of pretty vamps and gets to some gritty and kind of nasty origins involving giant spider aliens with poisonous salivating bellies. Narsty. Throw in some ancient magic and the notion that vampires' abilities are affected by their past sins and you get a spin on the time old traditions that works well in this novel. While I kind of wanted a little more from the characters, the pacing and action beats kept me reading.


***SPOILER ALERT***
 

Summoner Time Machine #1: VampCon begins and is not a convention. Still a little disappointed about that, particularly with the influx of geek culture in our-- Okay. So Ariel, magic slinging vamp extraordinaire, manipulated her summoner juju to make sure that Jonathan Stoker attends this congregation. Good usage of the summoners to show us their power, because it becomes incredibly important later. So they arrive at VampCon, Peter of the Many Voices shows up and all hell breaks loose because of one McRory too many. Pretty much everyone's going to die at the hands...or feelers of giant nasty ass spiders.

Summoner Time Machine #2: Flash forward to the future---Peter melded with a spider and Ariel pulled out a summoner to save everyone's asses from VampCon. So it pretty much hit the reset button, giving Winston a chance to rouse the three that Peter's prophecy told would cause problems with world spider domination. (As an avid hater of spiders, I would like to add a resounding ew to this plan) So the three rally, Jonathan Stoker, a man handy with a wrench and good gut impulses, Aram, a pacifist priest who can see everyone's deaths and HJ, a vampire wrecking ball, aka the shifter.

Summoner Time Machine #3: All the action heads back to the site of the original VampCon, except in the other tower where Peter has the place ready to connect to alternate dimensions. Unleash spidery doom, rah, rah. All of the characters who survived the original battlefest at VampCon (badge, lanyard and all) meet up again at the North tower and commence their boss fight against Peter and the Spiders. A couple explosions, some kickass fight scenes and really tense moments later, the good guys have won, even though Jonathan Stoker needs a new wrench.

This felt like an action movie to me and hopped from one scene to the next fairly quickly. I liked the organization of the story into three parts with the time lapses since I thought that worked very well for the story structure. Character-wise I wanted to throw Donny McRory off a cliff from the start, more because his dialogue tried a little too hard to be annoying and I thought HJ's convictions on lesbian-ism got a little Banky-ish in regards to Espen, but Jonathan and Ariel held the story together quite well. All in all, a fun jaunt.

Rating: 3


*I received this book for review

The Serpent's Shadow (Pin the Shadow on the Giant Apocalyptic Snake)

Rick Riordan really knows his way around a fun middle grade adventure. Kane Chronicles as a whole, definitely delivers. Sadie and Carter are fantastic and the brother/sister dynamic never gets old. I enjoyed all their bickering throughout the entirety of the series and I think this final book does a nice job of showing how close they've gotten from the beginning. It takes the whole Apocalpse Doom + limited timeframe approach that all the other ones do, but this time they're confronting the biggest bad of them all. The ending fight had a great feeling of resolution to it since they included many of the gods and friends they'd made throughout the earlier books.


***SPOILER ALERT***


Kane Enemy Brigade #1: Sarah Jacobi and the other magicians in her evil posse aren't the biggest of bads, but they're certainly like a swarm of pesky locusts that waste the Kanes time while they're trying to stop an Apocalypse. Even better, the Sarah Jacobi Squad ties into the end because they ended up selling out the magician good guy robe in honor of an Apocalypse ready Apophis worshipping one. So at the end when they're jabbing needles into everyone's ankles, they can't turn all the magicians against the Kanes once its revealed that they're servants of Apophis.

Kane Enemy Brigade #2: Setne reminds me of how Set came off in the first book and he's a welcome addition to their crew as the traitorous wizard who holds the key to defeating Apophis. His greasy hair and slick dialogue make him memorable, but just as entertaining is watching him wobble back and forth from good guy to bad guy. To be honest, he's mostly just selfish and therefore his motivations are self centered. He's willing to help the Kanes because he wants to keep living, but at the same point, the second Carter slips up, Setne's there to sic Blood Stained Blade on him.

Kane Enemy Brigade #3: Apophis has been the big bad in the background from the first book, so it ties the trilogy full circle when he's defeated in this one. He's such a big conceptual bad guy that it's a little odd for them to be battling Chaos itself (Unlike Set which was on the same playing field once Sadie and Carter God Suited up.) All of their friends come into action helping them take down Apophis and their plan works even after all of the setbacks along the way.

Once Chaos is defeated, as a result the Gods also have to distance themselves a bit from humanity, a repercussion I could appreciate for balance's sake. Sadie and Carter's story is nicely wrapped up in the ending and I especially loved them finishing up on the recording, like they did in every book. The Kane Chronicles overall were a fun jaunt through Riordan's contemporary Egyptian world.

Rating: 3

Weekly Wednesday MFK: Hunger Games

 So, I'm giving this a spin because book characters are awesome and definitely worth our MFK time. To kick things off, I figured I'd hit a book I've reviewed on this blog, but also one that most people out there know: The Hunger Games. Feel free to pipe in with opinions, outrage, etc in the comments.

Girls:

Katniss, Prim and Johanna

Guys:

Peeta, Gale and Finnick


My Take:

Girls:
Katniss- Marry. Despite the trauma lapses, she knows how to hunt and provide for a family.
Prim- Kill. Sorry Prim, after three books, the Mockingjay has more personality than you.
Johanna- Fuck. Come on, the psycho's always wild in the bed!

Guys:
Peeta- Kill. As much as I loved Peeta in the context of the story, all that cake baking and I'd end up a doughy baker's wife. Ew.
Gale- Fuck. All that passion and anger? What a great hate fuck.
Finnick- Marry. All I need to point out is Finnick and Annie. Perfect marriage material right there.


BerzerkerTiki's Take:

Girls:
Katniss- Marry. She's not overly emotional and I know I'll have at least a couple weeks to myself while she's on tour.
Prim- Kill. Heh, oh wait, Suzanne Collins already beat me to it in the third book.
Johanna- Fuck. Because most likely the next time they do a Quell, I'll never have to see her again. 

Guys:
Peeta- Marry. Aka, bitch get in the kitchen and bake me some fucking bread.
Gale- Kill. I thought that his character was just one bad haircut away from being Edward Cullen.
Finnick- Fuck. Before or after the end of book three?

Captain's Fury (Name dropping like a boss)

I would have to say right now it's a tie between Cursor's and Captain's Fury for the best book of the series thus far. So, yes, Jim Butcher did it again and blew the story out of the kickin' underwater theme park. All of the secrets he built up and revealed throughout the first three books come to fruition in this book as Tavi learns of his true heritage....the son of the deceased Princeps and the grandson of the First Lord of Calderon. Not only are the Canim still a problem externally, but the bigger issue throughout this book involves the Senator Arnos and the politicians. They refuse to see reason and Arnos has it out for Tavi from the start. He puts them into a ridiculously dangerous campaign and then heaps the expectations on him until he manages to oust him as Captain.


***SPOILER ALERT***


Hello, My Name is Octavius Gaius: Prepare to Die #1: Because of Arnos being King of the Douches, Tavi's sent to prison. But luckily, this boy is incredibly smart and if he doesn't already have a plan, he's in the middle of developing one. However, the stroke he pulls using the information of his heritage comes as pure genius. Once in prison, he petitions to Cyril to let him out. He's got more important things to do than stay in prison, like rescue Varg, the Canim and negotiate peace with the Canim. Cyril cares about Tavi and thinks Arnos is being an idiot, but he won't betray the crown. Lucky for him, he won't because Tavi's the damned Princeps. 

Hello, My Name is Octavius Gaius: Prepare to Die #2: Despite the dangers involved in getting Varg out of prison, they manage to make it to the Canim and deliver the merchandise so they can negotiate a withdraw on both sides and stop the senseless fighting. The Canim want to build ships and go home and the Alerans want them to go home. Win/win. Tavi returns to the Legions to deliver the news of all the adventures he was up to while he was "imprisoned." The soldiers in the First Aleran are overjoyed to see their Captain, but concerned about what Arnos would do. And then he drops the bomb of his true identity. An entire legion goes slackjawed in shock with his incredibly ballsy declaration.

Hello, My Name is Octavius Gaius: Prepare to Die #3: He declares juris macto, fight to the death, on Arnos, but unfortunately Arnos is a coward and calls his mercenary Navaris up to fight Tavi instead. She's been after his blood through the entire book and it was only a matter of time until they finally faced off. And the battle is tense and heated, with the entire force watching. When Tavi claims his victory however, he also solidifies his strength in the eyes of his troops. The call rising up afterwards where they shout "All Hail Octavius Gaius" is nothing short of bone chilling and gave me goosebumps.

Puppies sent packing, battles won and enemies brilliantly outmaneuvered? Butcher's skill at plotting really shines in this fast paced and fantastic book. The Canim are an excellent and worthy foe and the threat from within causes most of the tension throughout the book, matched only by the inventive fight scenes.

Rating: 4

A Hidden Fire (Battle for the books and the hot librarian)

I have to say, I was quite impressed with this book. I couldn't put it down. Started it on a lark, but then the mysteries in the beginning kept me reading and the deeper I read into the characters, I got incredibly attached. The strongest strength to this book is the intrigue. It keeps you guessing, keeps things not quite explained, at least not until the end.The cast is fantastically fleshed out and none of the characters are flat or cookie cutter. Giovanni is all dark and mysterious, but it turns out, he has good reason for being a loner and he really is quite alone. Beatrice is a smart, computer savvy and capable female lead which is...well, refreshing. And Carwyn the Irish priest vampire who wears Hawaiian shirts? I think that says it all on its own.


***SPOILER ALERT***


Giovanni's Mysteries #1: When I first started reading the book, it took until the third chapter to reveal he was a vampire. You could guess it, sure, but there was enough vagueness and enough uniqueness in his abilities that you didn't just go, d'oh, vampire. His interactions with Bea in the library are like an intricate dance as both observe the other, becoming more intrigued and more interested. And once he reveals himself to her in the elevator? She handles it like a champ, despite her qualms and concerns. Plus, the concept of elemental vampires is a fun variant and brings an entirely different perspective to his vampirism.

Giovanni's Mysteries #2: Now, this is a vampire with a fine appreciation for books. (An avid reader's wet dream) And early on in the novel, particularly when Carwyn comes around, it becomes evident that Giovanni's running some sort of game. Even though he finds Bea attractive, he's ancient and has more smarts than that. Her dad is the source of intrigue because he's been tracking down his books the whole time and has the feeling her father got involved. Well actually, he has the concern that her father got turned. So he hires Bea to work for him and leaves the reader wondering what his real end goal is with all of this.

Giovanni's Mysteries #3: The final bit of intrigue which ties the story together involves Giovanni's crazy "son" (aka the guy he turned) Lorenzo. Nothing like Giovanni. And more like an unstable clown that's taken too many uppers and decided to prance around in Renaissance garb. At least that was the mental image that popped to mind every time he spoke. And Lorenzo pretty much takes it on himself to toss Bea's life into the garbage chute. He attacks her grandmother, he turned her father and he kidnaps her, forcing her to live in his gigantic Grecian dollhouse and wear all of his dumb white outfits.

So the story wraps up with Lorenzo temporarily defeated and Bea saved, even though she bears some pretty hardcore trust issues as a result of her staycation in Lorenzo's funhouse. Even though her and Gio get together, she ends up still leaving for L.A. which I was very sad about. But, the book still ended on a good note with Gio walking up to her place in Cally and leaving a note for her, which desperately makes you want to read the next book.


Rating: 4

Divergent (Abnegation's the new Puritan)

This book was getting a lot of talk and piqued my curiosity. Young adult dystopian scifi? I could get behind this. I feel mildly conflicted on this book as a reader. It was a spectacularly fun read and I ripped through the book, but now that I've had time to mellow on it and think, I'm a little more subjective. The concept is phenomenal and the world is very fascinating with a clever new dystopian society. Beatrice as a character is who I feel conflicted about. She seems very detached for a lot of the book. Despite her romance with Four, she leans towards an emotionless response to things. While I can appreciate her struggles to stay strong, sometimes I felt a little lacking for internal reassurance that she's not so prickly. What I will say though is that her fights throughout everything make her a badass and that is something that kept me wanting to read along.


***SPOILER ALERT***


Dauntless be crazy #1: From the beginning of the book, we get the gist that these Dauntless folks are crazy mofos. But when they say they're daring, what they mean is they're pretty much Tyler Durden level nuts. Not that it doesn't make an entertaining read, it definitely does. If you aren't tough, you soon learn to be, or you die. Beatrice/Tris starts off strong, jumping off the roof first. Since she's from boring ol' Abnegation, she has to prove that she's tougher than the rest even though she's a slip of a thing. And these kids get brutal.

Dauntless be crazy #2: While Tris stayed in the middle ranks during the physical stuff, its the mental initiation where her Divergent juju really sticks out. During these simulations, its about addressing fears, but the Dauntless initiates are fully immersed. Except for the Divergents. They have the unique ability to realize they're in a simulation, a la The One style in the Matrix, and they can therefore manipulate their surroundings. The Divergent thing becomes more and more dangerous in this highly regulated government where things are supposed to work perfectly because people are supposed to perfectly fit their factions.

Dauntless be crazy #3: The problem with perfect dystopian societies is that they don't exist. Hence they all come crumbling down. The Erudite are crafty bastards (shocked, anyone?) and decide to take out the factions that they don't like. The Dauntless mental initiation? Zombie juice to take over all the Dauntless and use them as soldiers. Only issue with this plan are those pesky Divergents.This is where Tris and Four as well as all the other Divergents reveal themselves, because they won't mindlessly walk in to slaughter all of Abnegation. Tris turns into a badass and the remaining people in Abnegation rise up to fight against the Erudites.

Regardless of any qualms I had, the end of the book picks up in such a phenomenal way that its incredibly addictive and worth the read. The romance between Tris and Four is really engaging and I love the way they bond together. I'm definitely looking forward to the next book.

Rating: 4

Out of Time: A Time Travel Mystery (Gangster Vampire, go the hell away)

This book opens up with a great romance setup. Stodgy professor and his friendly assistant. They're both interested in one another, but given their current situations, age and status, neither is willing to make a move. The perfect solution? A frolick through time courtesy of Simon's grandfather's watch. Hurrah! Now stuck in a different time period, all those pesky problems melt away and they can finally bone! Except for the gangster vampire. What is UP with the gangster vampire. Where a simple gangster would've worked just as effectively, he was a vampire as well which was a whole bushel of unnecessary. Oh I'm brooding and tormented and eternal, wah. And Simon happens to be a professor of the occult! How perfect! In all seriousness, because the vampire reveal was left for the second half of the book, it felt hokey and out of place. Had the paranormal been present from the start, it wouldn't have muddled my reader expectations, but man, midway through the book and he's just a pain in the ass.


***SPOILER ALERT***


Simon and Elizabeth's Self Made Hurdle #1: While they're adjusting to the times, Simon and Elizabeth both struggle with mutual attraction. Because it bubbled under the surface when they were in modern day times, this new environment that forces them to be together also forces up some of the pent up feelings they've both hidden. Things are progressing well in the romance department...*gasp* sharing a bed! Secret touches! Until Elizabeth gets a job working as a waitress in a bar. BUT during Prohibition which makes it more dangerous. Of course Simon's hidden all the prophetic dreams about her death, so he just seems like he's being a controlling ass and of course it pushes her straight into the job and further from him.

Simon and Elizabeth's Self Made Hurdle #2: As soon as it seems they've made up and the romance is heating up again, they kiss which ruins everything. Simon opens his mouth again and tells her it was all a lie. Her being upset is very understandable since all she's wanted from the beginning of the book is a relationship with Simon. And Simon continues creating his own problems by not telling her about the prophetic dreams until the breaking point when they finally air their grievances, realize they love one another (duh) and make sweet sweet love.

Simon and Elizabeth's Self Made Hurdle #3: So it seems like the only hurdle now is Simon's doom dreams, but a gangster, King, takes a liking to Elizabeth. Now, a head gangster taking a shine to a lady is trouble enough, but he's a vampire too. (Still don't know why) Elizabeth so far has been fairly independent and intelligent, but once King becomes involved in the picture it's like the vamp drained her brain and is going back for blood. The logical thing to do when a mob boss takes a liking to you is quit said job and move away. Especially since they're planning on heading home in a couple of weeks and it doesn't really matter where they are. No. She decides to stick around which gives King time to fall for her and kidnap her.

This all leads to the end of the book where Simon runs into Time Travel Grandpa and they fight King the Vamp together to get Elizabeth back. Big explosions, King has a magical change of heart and saves Elizabeth. Simon and Elizabeth return to the future, make googly eyes, the end.  Not bad, I mean the story kept my interest, but while the romantic tension fueled the beginning half of the book, the latter part with King the vampire just got silly. My vote is to cast the vampire off the island and just enjoy the time traveling romp through the 1920s.

Rating: 2