For your winter reading: Two Dan Simmons novels, reviewed by Jon Moss

It's winter--a great time to stay inside and curl up with your favorite means of staying warm, to read great books new and old. 

Here are a pair of "50-Word Reviews" by our prize-winning reviewer Jon Moss (for more of her reviews, see her blog Misty Midwest Mossiness). 

Hyperion
by Dan Simmons (3 stars)

I’m disappointed. Just when I was getting pieces of the puzzle and a few of the questions answered, the story ends. Abruptly. Hyperion is a re-imagining of the literary frame tale, similar to Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, but as science fiction space opera.

Seven pilgrims travel to Hyperion to petition the Shrike. Each pilgrim tells their tale in the hope  they will collectively  discover why they were chosen for the pilgrimage.  Between the tales, we eek out what’s really going on in the interstellar love triangle gone bad between the Hegemony (static humanity), the Ousters (evolved humanity) and the TechnoCore (AIs). 

(1989; won Hugo and Locus Awards in 1990)

The Terror (2007)
by Dan Simmons (4 stars)

I started reading this on a February evening, with snowfall predicted to commence after midnight. I sat shivering at the kitchen table while I read the first few chapters, even though my furnace kept my house toasty.  Brrrr..... Great writing by Dan Simmons, atmospherically speaking.

Simmons kept me riveted until the last few chapters, when he decided to take an extreme detour into arctic supernatural spirituality that left me, well, cold. Still, a great read by an outstanding author. I recommend lots of warm tea or hot cocoa and abstinence from long pork.

IMAGES: Many thanks to Wikipedia for the Hyperion cover, and to Amazon for the cover of The Terror.

Cindy N. Reviews the Transformers Movies--Part Three

Taking the 50-Word Review Challenge!

The Movie: Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011)
The reviewer: Cindy N. 
Available from: Amazon

Went into this one with an attitude of “If I see BumbleBee at least once I will be happy.” Slow at first, not sure where it was going to go, nice real footage from actual news footage.  Overall better story than Revenge, which was basically a two hour fight scene between movies and I could have missed it without losing anything storyline-wise.  None of my questions from Revenge were answered.  No explanation for the absence of Mikaela; introduce a blonde and move on.  I see I have to wait a year for Transformers 4. 

 
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More reviews are coming soon! Please note: this concludes our Spring 2013 50-Word Review Challenge.  The winners of our "Most Reviews Submitted" and "Most Popular Review" categories will be announced at ConQuesT 44, and also at the June KaCSFFS Meeting on June 15, 2013.

The KaCSFFS Board and membership are considering whether to issue another Challenge for the summer.  If you would like to comment on this decision, please use the comment section below.  We would love to know if our readers have enjoyed reading all the reviews.

We actually received more reviews than we could publish during the announced contest period, so we will continue publishing them until we run out. Please don't let us run out of reviews!
 
COVER IMAGE: Courtesy of IMDB.

Cindy N. Reviews the Transformers Movies--Part Two

Taking the 50-Word Review Challenge!

The Movie: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009) 
The reviewer: Cindy N. 
Available from: Amazon 

WT? The questions I was left with are endless. While the story made me think, so that is why there are pyramids.  How did the Decepticons create a flesh covered bot?  Where were the scenes of my favorite car BumbleBee?  Really send him off to protect the parents during the fight scene?  Having since seen Transformers 3, I totally believe Revenge of the Fallen was made to use up scenes left on the cutting room floor from the original movie. I end this review as I started it with WT? 

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More reviews coming soon!
COVER IMAGE: Courtesy of IMDB.

Cindy N. Reviews The Transformers Movies--Part One

Taking the 50-Word Review Challenge!

The Movie: Transformers (2007)
The reviewer: Cindy N. Available from: Amazon

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A story was told which was complete but left open-ended for future stories.  There is a very personal side to this movie.  I promised a dear friend of 28 years that I would watch this movie 37 days before he passed away.  I fell in love with older version of BumbleBee in the used car lot and then cried through my first viewing.  My new nickname is queen of the silent tear.   Friends made me watch it again. I laughed and cried. I have watched it three times now; still cry, but another favorite movie to watch again. 

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More reviews coming soon!
COVER IMAGE: Courtesy of IMDB.

Jon Moss Reviews "The Forever War"

Taking the 50-Word Review Challenge!

The book: The Forever War
The author: Joe Haldeman
The reviewer: Jon Moss
Available from: Barnes & Noble

If I had been born in the 50s and also been born male, I’m positive I would have loved this story. All the pain, confusion and futility of Vietnam but strung out and extrapolated over three thousand years (or about three years relatively speaking). The last fourth of the book salvaged the first three parts.

An extended review is available on Moss's blog.
 
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COVER IMAGE: Courtesy of Barnes & Noble.  

Ty Gephardt Reviews “Legacy”

Taking the 50-Word Review Challenge!

The book: Legacy
The author: James H. Schmitz
The reviewer: Ty Gephardt
Available from: Amazon

A would be pulp fiction story with a strong female lead that falls down in almost every scene. Following the standard tropes of pulp SF, this wild tale of mystery and intrigue revolves around Plasmoids, a lumpy, inert, biomachine of many parts. Unfortunately, Schmitz fails to adequately describe this and almost everything else to help realize what would be a fascinating tale. The narrative relies heavily on flashbacks for scenes readers have read. Regrettably, this extends to the climatic final act taking the form of “you know Bob, that fight a few months ago. . .” Pass on this book!

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COVER IMAGE: Courtesy of Amazon.com.

Jon Moss Reviews "A Canticle for Leibowitz"

Taking the 50-Word Review Challenge!

The book: A Canticle for Leibowitz
The author: Walter M. Miller
The reviewer: Jon Moss
Available from: Barnes & Noble

Miller’s award-winning novel stands the test of time and justifiably deserves to be continuously in print.  So many questions to ponder, presented through Miller’s monastic brothers preserving the last scraps of our civilization and an undying Jewish hermit (assumedly the Wandering Jew of legend) searching for Him who said ‘Come forth!’ Even though the Cold War is over, and mutually assured destruction no longer so assured, A Canticle for Leibowitz posits convincingly that ‘those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it.’

An extended review is available on Moss's blog.
 
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COVER IMAGE: Courtesy of Lake County Library System.

Jon Moss Reviews "To Reign in Hell"

Taking the 50-Word Review Challenge!

The book: To Reign in Hell
The author: Steven Brust
The reviewer: Jon Moss
Available from: Barnes & Noble

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Brust’s second published novel, To Reign in Hell, seemed to me almost an alternate history/legend/mythos to Milton’s Paradise Lost. Not having read Milton’s works thoroughly, I probably missed much of Brust’s subtleties, wit and demonic humor. I still smiled at his quirky repartee among the bit characters. He coaxed me into sympathizing with the traditional enemy host, illustrated that truth can be in the eye of the beholder and perception is everything.

An extended review is available on Moss's blog.
 
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COVER IMAGE: Courtesy of Barnes & Noble.

Jon Moss Review "Bridge of Birds"

Taking the 50-Word Review Challenge!

The book: Bridge of Birds
The author: Barry Hughart
The reviewer: Jon Moss
Available from: Barnes & Noble

--> An Asian adventure packed with action, mystery, myths, ingenuity, humor and hope. Hughart kept me riveted with each new chapter, each new adventure, each twist in the labyrinth. While some character dialogue seemed too modern for a tale of Ancient China (that ‘never was’), the relentless pace of events kept me turning pages faster and faster. I highly recommend Bridge of Birds to all lovers of fairy tales, legends and high adventure.  

An extended review is available on Moss's blog.
 
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COVER IMAGE: Courtesy of Hunch.

Jon Moss reviews "Curse of the Mistwraith"

Taking the 50-Word Review Challenge! 

The book: Curse of the Mistwraith
The author: Janny Wurts 
The reviewer: Jon Moss
Available from: Barnes & Noble 

Great prose, good characters, intriguing plot twists. I absolutely loved the first half of this book, riding along in the headlong rush to the first climax. I struggled a bit with the aftermath and could only watch in disgust and horror at the damage done to the characters I’d come to know and love. It made for great drama, sometimes almost melodrama, but boring it was not. I highly recommend this novel to fantastic fiction fans everywhere.

An extended review is available on Moss's blog.
 Readers, Please Comment: Did you enjoy this review? Dislike it? Agree? Disagree? Please share what you think!
More reviews coming soon!COVER IMAGE: Courtesy of Barnes & Noble.

Jon Moss Reviews "The Blade Itself"

Taking the 50-Word Review Challenge!

The book: The Blade Itself
The author: Joe Abercrombie
The reviewer: Jon Moss
Available from: Barnes & Noble

-->The first three hundred pages of this book were riveting. Most of the rest was entertaining but ultimately the ending disappointed somewhat – unless you like leaping off a cliff to the next book. This story was quite a ride – lots of action, fighting, intrigue, and fascinating characters.  

An extended review is available on Moss's blog.
 
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COVER IMAGE: Courtesy of Barnes & Noble.