Mitch

A stunning conclusion to the first Grey Death Saga

Revisado: 06-23-21

By all the gods in space, what a finish to the trilogy. Grayson Carlysle and his Grey Death Legion are finishing their mercenary work in the employ of the Free Worlds League of House Marik. Their reward? A landhold to call their own on the planet Helm.

As they are departing their duty station to go to their new home, a plan is set into motion that sees Grayson and the Legion branded as renegades, criminals of the worst kind.

As everything they hold dear comes under attack, the Grey Death must battle to survive while unfolding the plot against them.


This book is easily one of my favorites in the series as a whole, and this production makes it even more so.

The narrator is still excellent, my only qualm being that one of the antagonists sounds like a borderline parody, but it suits him. Some excellent tricks have been included in this book, such as digital distortion for radio calls, and even A FREAKING SONG. It gave me chills, honestly.

With action, intrigue, emotion and pathos, this book will never fail to remind you:

Home is the Regiment.

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Alternate History Done Right

Revisado: 06-04-21

Taking place in the years following World War I, Hard Magic follows two magically imbued people as their lives become entangled in a shadow war. Jake Sullivan is a veteran, an ex-felon, and a Heavy. He was born with the innate magical ability to manipulate the gravitational forces around him. While this made him extremely good at breaking rocks in prison, he uses it now to help apprehend other rogue Actives, people with magical abilities.

Meanwhile, across the country we meet Fay, a girl whose family escaped the Dust Bowl. She was adopted by a Portuguese farmer in California when he recognized her magical talent, one he shares. Fay is a Traveler, capable of teleporting herself short distances.

Disconnected circumstances draw them both into the view of the Grimnoir, a secret society of Actives dedicated to protecting the public from harm at the hands of other Actives. They're then thrust into the ongoing conflict with The Imperium, the imperial Japanese nation, led by the most dangerous Active alive, The Chairman.

The Chairman has grandiose and sinister plans for the world, and the Grimnoir must stop him.

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A Near Mythical Experience

Revisado: 05-25-21

The origins of Elminster, one of the greatest mages ever known to the Forgotten Realms, is a fantastic story. It takes its time, unfolding over years of the young man's life, starting with the day his family is killed by a dragon riding mage. We follow his youth as he becomes a thief, prowling the streets for coin and never turning down the opportunity to inconvenience a swaggering mage apprentice.

One night, after an inadvertent run-in with the Magister--the most powerful wizard in Faerun--Elminster is set on the path to becoming a mage himself, whether he knows it or not. What follows are years of learning and apprenticeship under various magic users, expanding his power and knowledge until he can rival the arrogant Mage Lords of the land. Elminster's quest for vengeance culminates in a spectacular fashion, as any battle between wizards should. I can't wait to continue this series.

On a performance note, I really liked this narrator. Only a few times did he mispronounce/misuse a word, most often bow (pronounced as in bow and arrow) being said where bow (like bow before your king) was the appropriate choice. Otherwise, it was a fantastic reading.

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A Charming Epic Yarn

Revisado: 05-14-21

What a book. I went into this not knowing what to expect. I'm pretty new to D&D stuff in general and knew very little about settings outside of The Forgotten Realms. The world of Krynn is charming and hits all the right fantasy notes while not feeling stale.

The story starts out simply enough, with a group of friends returning from five years apart. Each went their own way. adventuring and trying to discover what evils seem to be growing in the world. They soon find themselves guarding a pair of barbarians who hold a powerful relic, and they must journey to discover its secrets.

This book pays very close attention to its source material, down to the point that I knew which spell a character was going to cast by seeing which material component or hand gesture they used.

The characters in this book are amazing. You have Tanis, a half-elf who doesn't particularly fit well in either society. Flint, your typically grumpy hill dwarf. Caramon and Raistlin, twin brothers who are barely alike at all. Caramon is a gigantic man, a fighter, loud and boisterous. Raistlin is thin, a mage, and afflicted by some disorder connected to his acquisition of arcane knowledge. Riverwind and Goldmoon, the two northern barbarians and seemingly star-crossed lovers.

Then we get into the three best characters in the book. Tasselhoff Burrfoot, a Kender. Kender are like halflings, but completely without fear, struck by insatiable wanderlust, and with a propensity for 'acquiring' items from others, apparently without conscious effort. Then there's Bupu, a dirty little Gully Dwarf who befriends Raistlin and helps the party survive when things are dire. And finally, the standout character, Fizban. Fizban is a wizard whose power surpasses Raistlin's, but whose mind also seems to have slipped further from his grasp. Fizban loves to cast Fireball, even at inopportune times, and holds a grudge against trees that block his path. He is absentminded and lovable, never quite crossing over into blatant absurdity.

Performance-wise, this book was pretty good. The narrator is skillful and clear. Unfortunately, there are many instances of weird timing in his narration where I think the editing left too long a space between words that shouldn't have one.

Still, minor gripes aside, this is a fantastic book and a perfect first step into fantasy novels, especially if you're interested in D&D.

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A Pilgrimage in its Own Right

Revisado: 05-04-21

I remember seeing the cover to this book at the public library as a child. It always fascinated me, but I never picked it up. Now, some twenty years later, through circumstance and luck, I've stumbled across it again and I mourn not having made this breathtaking journey sooner. Hyperion is astounding, its locations and characters seemingly connected in a web as complex as that of the Hegemony's Farcasters. And within the confines of the tale, you get military sci-fi, religious experiences, cyberpunk and neo-noir vibes, even some temporal tragedy. And through it all runs a single thread:

The world of Hyperion, its mysterious Time Tombs, and the terrifying presence of the being known as The Shrike, a twisted, humanoid visage of dark metal and ruby eyes, bristling with blades.

A group of six men and a woman have been chosen to partake in a pilgrimage to Hyperion, to the Time Tombs, to The Shrike itself. Impending war means this will be the last such pilgrimage, perhaps ever, and each person carries with them a story that inevitably leads them onward.

Don't be like me. Grab this one quickly if it interests you. You won't regret it.

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Poignant and powerful

Revisado: 01-26-21

Military sci-fi is a many-headed beast. If you're looking for tactical genius and brilliant strategy, this isn't the book for you. But if you're looking for the tale of a grunt who refuses to die, a man who finds himself alone when the fighting stops, then Armor is your book.

*They called it The Ant War. That's what they looked like, after all, eight-foot-tall ants. Felix is a green soldier, making his first drop as a power-armored infantryman on a miserable desert world named Banshee. No expected resistance, no worries. Even as a Scout, arguably the most dangerous job available, this should be a walk in the park. It was not. Felix soon finds himself one of a handful of survivors after a brutal and hellish set of maneuvers.

No one in the infantry makes more than ten jumps. Ever.

After six months on Banshee, Felix has made nineteen. And he owes his survival to The Engine, a side of himself that will push him forward, that will rip and tear with only his armored body if it means he lives another day. Through it all, Felix is met with the incompetence, ignorance, and egotistical showboating of a command staff with no actual battlefield experience, especially not in The Ant War.*

Having served under a few different chains of command with varying levels of competence, my own experience is far below what the main character persevered through. But it reads true in its attitude and depiction of brass more concerned with medals, ribbons, and dog-and-pony shows than they are with the soldiers under their command.

I highly recommend this book if you'd like something of a cross between Starship Troopers and Shin Godzilla. That's the only way I can think to convey this amazing book.

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Its Reputation is Well-Deserved

Revisado: 01-22-21

While not as outright gory and disturbing as John Carpenter's version, you can definitely see where his inspiration came from. This a beautifully tense tale about a group of men at the bottom of the world trying to discover who among them is no longer human. It's claustrophobic, paranoid, and suspenseful. Definitely worth a listen.

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A Perfect Treatment of a Should-be Classic

Revisado: 01-12-21

Battletech books have been sadly mistreated in the past, many of them being nearly impossible to find in paperback. Catalyst's push to get these beauties circulating again is admirable and much needed. The official ebooks have better editing than their less legitimate forebears, and they're priced pretty appropriately for their length. I have read this book several times, and it never gets old.

But this... oh, boy.

I haven't even finished listening yet, but in the first two chapters you can tell that these audiobooks have been given the love they deserve. The narrator is clear and confident, and his performance is great. Each character has a unique voice and inflection, making sections of dialogue easily interpreted.

As stories go, Decision at Thunder Rift is both simple and elegant. Carlysle's Commandos, a mercenary unit in the employ of House Steiner, is wrapping up their duty as the garrison of a world named Trell I. When the incoming replacement unit unexpectedly opens fire on them, and their base is sabotaged, the unit is devastated. Its remnants scramble offworld, unknowingly leaving behind Grayson Carlysle, son of their commander.

Now stranded on a backwater world with a mostly hostile population, Grayson must find an escape, while also seeking to learn how his unit had been betrayed.

Many of the later books in the Battletech series tended to focus on combat between battlemechs. Part of what separates the Gray Death Trilogy is much of its focus on asymmetric warfare, the difficulties and dangers of taking on these hulking war machines with what many would consider an inferior force. The action is fast, gritty, and ferocious. The political intrigue is succinct and well-written. It's not A Song of Ice and Fire, but it doesn't have to be.

Get this book. You will not regret it.

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Classics in their Own Right

Revisado: 01-12-21

If you've never experienced Conan the Barbarian through anything more than cultural osmosis, you can't find a better pick than this collection. Comprised of every Conan story published in Weird Tales, you'll get to experience the vibrant world of the Hyborian Age in every facet. Conan, like his predecessor--Kull the Conqueror--lived a life of many faces, from bandit and mercenary to king of an empire.

Keep in mind these stories were written in the '20s and '30s. You will find racial and chauvinistic slants to several stories. Nothing as blatant or pervasive as Lovecraft's, but Robert E. Howard was one of HPL's contemporaries and the times do show. That being said, Conan is an oddly humanitarian and egalitarian figure, striking the chains from a group of slaves on a ship and making them his crew for part of a pirate adventure. All in all, it's an interesting little time capsule.

The narrator does a wonderful job bringing the world to life, making Conan every bit the worldly yet superstitious font of primal vitality he should always be.

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A Bold Beginning

Revisado: 10-06-20

Nine Princes in Amber is the first book in a series of, I believe, ten. And it is a great start for what promises to be an epic fantasy tale.

A man awakens in a hospital room, still partially sedated and with his legs in casts. He'd been in a car accident, though he doesn't remember much else. The next few chapters follow him as he regains some memory of himself and his family, setting him on a long path toward Amber, the one true world.

I've been a fan of Roger Zelazny for a few years now. His writing style is straightforward, easy to follow, and engaging. The narrator was excellent, giving urgency where a scene required, and using distinctive voices for each character. The road to Amber may be long, but you'll never get lost along the way.

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