Limbus, Inc. features 5 short novellas, tied together by a framing plot. They are a mix of horror, science fiction and fantasy and all revolve around the mysterious Limbus corporation. Their business cards somehow find their way to people who are struggling in their regular lives. They get offered their ideal job, with exorbitant pay, but usually it turns out that the jobs are not quite as they were described...
"The Slaughter Man" by Benjamin Kane Ethridge: This one's mainly sci-fi. A man, who after a lifetime of working in a slaughterhouse is left without a job, a wife or much of anything really, is contacted by Limbus and offered a job on a spaceship killing various aliens to feed a being only known as the Princess. The pay is suspiciously good, but all goes well at first. Then the Princess develops a taste for his flesh... Gory but good.
"The Sacrifice" by Brett J. Talley: A war veteran suffering from PTSD is seduced into taking a job from Limbus: He has to rescue a kidnapped girl. He soon discovers a gruesome cult and it turns out that the girl might not be the only sacrifice they want... This story bears an unfortunate similarity to the "Wicker Man", and not the original but the Nic Cage remake.
"One Job Too Many" by Joseph Nassise: Set in the near future after a huge war. Nate has lost his job, his girlfriend and all his earthly possessions, when a Limbus business card shows up. His new job involves teleporting to places, taking photos, picking up packages etc.. The show more trouble begins when he notices that he apparently isn't only travelling through space but also time... I liked the story, although it got slightly confusing.
"We Employ" by Anne C. Petty: Dallas, a college dropout, estranged from his parents and having hit rock bottom, comes into possession of a Limbus business card. Thinking that he has nothing to lose he shows up for an interview and actually gets offered a job as a dog walker. Of course the dog's owner isn't quite human... This story has the most likable protagonist so far, but the ending kind of ruins that.
"Strip Search" by Jonathan Maberry: Hunter, a private investigator is hired by Limbus to investigate a serial killer, who has been going unpunished by the police. Everyone who has looked into this so far has ended up dead and the killer seems to have picked his next victim. Limbus points Hunter in the direction of this victim and he soon discovers a secret cult who is using the kills for a dark ritual. Luckily Hunter has some special abilities... The story plays with all the common noir tropes and tosses in some fantasy and horror for good measure. Overall it's my favorite story of the book, but unfortunately it's also the one that would work just as well without the Limbus Corporation part. show less
"The Slaughter Man" by Benjamin Kane Ethridge: This one's mainly sci-fi. A man, who after a lifetime of working in a slaughterhouse is left without a job, a wife or much of anything really, is contacted by Limbus and offered a job on a spaceship killing various aliens to feed a being only known as the Princess. The pay is suspiciously good, but all goes well at first. Then the Princess develops a taste for his flesh... Gory but good.
"The Sacrifice" by Brett J. Talley: A war veteran suffering from PTSD is seduced into taking a job from Limbus: He has to rescue a kidnapped girl. He soon discovers a gruesome cult and it turns out that the girl might not be the only sacrifice they want... This story bears an unfortunate similarity to the "Wicker Man", and not the original but the Nic Cage remake.
"One Job Too Many" by Joseph Nassise: Set in the near future after a huge war. Nate has lost his job, his girlfriend and all his earthly possessions, when a Limbus business card shows up. His new job involves teleporting to places, taking photos, picking up packages etc.. The show more trouble begins when he notices that he apparently isn't only travelling through space but also time... I liked the story, although it got slightly confusing.
"We Employ" by Anne C. Petty: Dallas, a college dropout, estranged from his parents and having hit rock bottom, comes into possession of a Limbus business card. Thinking that he has nothing to lose he shows up for an interview and actually gets offered a job as a dog walker. Of course the dog's owner isn't quite human... This story has the most likable protagonist so far, but the ending kind of ruins that.
"Strip Search" by Jonathan Maberry: Hunter, a private investigator is hired by Limbus to investigate a serial killer, who has been going unpunished by the police. Everyone who has looked into this so far has ended up dead and the killer seems to have picked his next victim. Limbus points Hunter in the direction of this victim and he soon discovers a secret cult who is using the kills for a dark ritual. Luckily Hunter has some special abilities... The story plays with all the common noir tropes and tosses in some fantasy and horror for good measure. Overall it's my favorite story of the book, but unfortunately it's also the one that would work just as well without the Limbus Corporation part. show less
This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.
Bill Hicks is one of my absolute favourite stand up comedians, I just love the way he didn't simply tell jokes but rather channelled his anger about different issues into incredibly funny comedy. Sadly, this book simply doesn't do him justice. There is some biographical stuff, a few interviews, letters, newspaper articles, poems etc. but by far the biggest part of the book is made up of (annotated) transcripts of some of his performances. I have several issues with that: a) all of these are already available as audio or video, so I already know them b) Hicks' material changed pretty slowly, so there is a lot of repetition. A lot of repetition. c) Written down, the material just isn't nearly as funny as when performed live. If the annotations were a bit more extensive they would be useful (Stewart Lee's How I Escaped My Certain Fate does this a lot better), but as they are they only serve to distract. There is some interesting stuff in here and I'm still giving it 2.5 Stars, but if hadn't got it for 99 cents in the Kindle deal of the day I'd probably feel a bit cheated. Better spend your money on "American - The Bill Hicks Story".
I've read several Star Wars tie-in novels over the years and although none of them were among the best books I've ever read (maybe except for the Thrawn trilogy), I still enjoyed them. This book on the other hand is among the worst reads I remember. I only finished it out of sheer bloody-mindedness. Bad dialogue, a laughable plot, a complete lack of understanding of the Star Wars universe (to be fair, it was written before the prequel trilogy, so some canon errors may be forgiven. Some.), the way the characters act doesn't match their behaviour in the movies/other books (especially Leia gets completely butchered)... This book is worse than Jar-Jar Binks.
Perhaps even grittier/bloodier than the First Law trilogy, also by Abercrombie. In my opinion Abercrombie's character driven style worked a lot better here, because things are happening on a smaller scale in this book. Instead of a huge war that could change the fate of the world, Best Served Cold is about a mercenary leader trying to get revenge on the people who murdered her brother and tried to kill her as well. The only thing that kept me from fully enjoying the book is its utter bleakness. There really wasn't a point where I thought that a "happy" ending of any kind was really possible. It's really hard to empathize with any of the characters, however interesting they may be. This book is about the futility of revenge and how it transforms people into the very thing they hate. I'd recommend it to anyone who isn't fazed by graphic descriptions of torture, cannibalism, poisoning... and is looking for a book that is almost impossible to put down once you've started.
This book is set in a dystopian near future. Civilization is slowly crumbling away, because people spend more and more time in the OASIS, a virtual reality that has supplanted the internet and rules almost every aspect of life. When James Halliday, the creator of OASIS, dies, it's the start of a great hunt for the easter egg he hid somewhere in this virtual world. Three keys have to be found and three challenges completed before someone will win the prize: Ownership of the OASIS and Halliday's multi-billion dollar fortune. The story starts when the main character becomes the first person to find the first key, after the hunt has been going on for 5 years. It rapidly becomes a race to the finish line, because a ruthless corporation is using every resource at it's disposal to solve the riddles first to take control of OASIS.
I loved this book, it's full of references to 80's and 90's po culture, movies, TV, books, music and especially video games, and Cline creates a very interesting world. The story kept me hooked to the very end and I finished the book over the course of two nights. There are a few things to criticize as well, the main character is a bit of a Mary Sue and the end is just too perfect (it was kind of obvious where it was going and I expected another twist to give me at least a little bit ambiguity, but then it just abruptly ended). At some points I also felt that the "inner workings" of the novel were too exposed: The three act structure is pretty obvious show more through the three keys and once or twice I found myself mentally ticking of points on the Hollywood Formula checklist/thinking "Ah, I was wondering when that would show up again, Chekhov's gun eh?". Nevertheless, it's a great book and I'd definitely recommend it. show less
I loved this book, it's full of references to 80's and 90's po culture, movies, TV, books, music and especially video games, and Cline creates a very interesting world. The story kept me hooked to the very end and I finished the book over the course of two nights. There are a few things to criticize as well, the main character is a bit of a Mary Sue and the end is just too perfect (it was kind of obvious where it was going and I expected another twist to give me at least a little bit ambiguity, but then it just abruptly ended). At some points I also felt that the "inner workings" of the novel were too exposed: The three act structure is pretty obvious show more through the three keys and once or twice I found myself mentally ticking of points on the Hollywood Formula checklist/thinking "Ah, I was wondering when that would show up again, Chekhov's gun eh?". Nevertheless, it's a great book and I'd definitely recommend it. show less
I don't know enough about the American Civil War (not being American myself) to vouch for the historical accuracy of this book. Despite that I enjoyed it, it's well written and very detailed. The characters are interesting, although it is a bit stressful to keep track of them all. The plot starts a bit too slowly but the pace picks up later.
This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.
This book has a lot of potential, even though the premise isn't the most original - several young people discover that they have special abilities and band together to fight an evil organization that seeks to exploit them. What's interesting is that each of them suffers from a handicap, for example blindness, a crippled leg or Down syndrome.
While the book managed to keep me interested until the end and definitely has some enjoyable moments, it also suffers from a few shortcomings. First, the scientific explanation for the superpowers doesn't go any further than a diffuse connection to string theory ("pulling at the strings of the universe") which is a bit disappointing, especially since string theory is even referenced in the title.
A few times I felt that certain scenes could have been shortened or just plain cut without hurting the plot. There were also some loose ends that are never picked up again and at the end there were too many questions left unanswered for my taste.
Overall, in my opinion this isn't a bad book, but it would have profitted from a good editor (and perhaps a bit more proofreading).
While the book managed to keep me interested until the end and definitely has some enjoyable moments, it also suffers from a few shortcomings. First, the scientific explanation for the superpowers doesn't go any further than a diffuse connection to string theory ("pulling at the strings of the universe") which is a bit disappointing, especially since string theory is even referenced in the title.
A few times I felt that certain scenes could have been shortened or just plain cut without hurting the plot. There were also some loose ends that are never picked up again and at the end there were too many questions left unanswered for my taste.
Overall, in my opinion this isn't a bad book, but it would have profitted from a good editor (and perhaps a bit more proofreading).
This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.
This book was a very positive surprise. It is set on the fictional island of Morakeewa, somewhere in the South Pacific, and told from the viewpoint of Tommu, one of the natives, who has set out to write down the history of the island. The story starts during WW2, when American troops landed on the island and when they departed left behind a lot of books, fuel and most importantly a tractor. The hunter-gatherer culture changes radically, because the tractor makes agriculture possible and more and more people congregate in the Village. Quickly, different social classes emerge: The Gardeners, who are the leaders of the village, interpreting the will of Our Granny (the woman who first made contact with the Americans and although she doesn't appear publicly anymore and is possibly dead is still revered by the villagers), the Guardians who drive the tractor and act as a police/military force and the Readers who read and interpret the books left behind by the Americans. The rest of the villagers enjoy the spoils of the tractor and trade what they don't need with those who still live in the jungle.
This supposedly utopian society quickly becomes a dystopian one however, when some people begin to resist the progress, which they feel benefits some unfairly while others suffer, and try to force a return to the ancient ways of life. Soon the whole of the island is caught up in a guerilla war between the Gardeners and Guardians on one side and the Shadows, led by the mysterious Hami show more Datu on the other. Tommu who is trying to compile a factual history of the island learns that it is impossible to stay neutral, as both sides want him to favor their cause.
The society of the island mirrors in many ways "our" civilization and history and deals with a wide range of issues, from religion, environmentalism and professional sports to corruption, police brutality and terrorism. Hansen writes in a very captivating style and although there were some minor errors (poisonous swamp lizards? spiders described as insects?), this remains a very good and thought-provoking book. show less
This supposedly utopian society quickly becomes a dystopian one however, when some people begin to resist the progress, which they feel benefits some unfairly while others suffer, and try to force a return to the ancient ways of life. Soon the whole of the island is caught up in a guerilla war between the Gardeners and Guardians on one side and the Shadows, led by the mysterious Hami show more Datu on the other. Tommu who is trying to compile a factual history of the island learns that it is impossible to stay neutral, as both sides want him to favor their cause.
The society of the island mirrors in many ways "our" civilization and history and deals with a wide range of issues, from religion, environmentalism and professional sports to corruption, police brutality and terrorism. Hansen writes in a very captivating style and although there were some minor errors (poisonous swamp lizards? spiders described as insects?), this remains a very good and thought-provoking book. show less
This review was written for LibraryThing Member Giveaways.
This book is a pretty good example of why it isn't always a good idea to make a book/movie/tv show out of something that went viral on the internet. There is a fine difference between watching a 30 second Youtube video of a cat playing the piano and going to the cinema to see two hours of it. So, while the Twitter feed may be funny (especially for those who consider an older man using words like "fuck" or "shit" a lot as the epitome of comedy), the book has too few funny moments for its length. If you take away the comedy aspect however, this is a fairly good story about the elationship between a father and his son with an almost touching end, which is why I'm still giving this 3 stars. It's not what I expected and in my opinion a bit overrated, but it has its redeeming qualities.
An anthology of Sword & Sorcery fantasy stories by some great authors. I got this mainly because of the new Scott Lynch story, but there are some other stories, by authors I've long wanted to check out.
"Check Your Dark Lord at the Door" by Lou Anders and Jonathan Strahan
Both an introduction to the anthology and a quick history of the Sword & Sorcery genre, well written and very interesting.
"Goats of Glory" by Steven Erikson
I've had my eyes on his Malazan series for a long time, but didn't want to commit to such a long series when there's already so much I want to read. With this story he definitely jumps a long way up on my TBR list. The story is off to a rather slow start, with five mercenaries riding into a little hovel of a town, looking for rest, but soon there's as much action as you can ask for. A great start for this collection.
"Tides Elba" by Glen Cook
I've only read the first book in his Black Company series so far and didn't enjoy it very much, but I liked this BC short story a lot. Very well crafted, not much action, but very entertaining.
"Bloodsport" by Gene Wolfe
Starts of with an interesting scenario, a kind of mix between chess and gladitorial combat, but then it descends into something that can at best be called mediocre.
"The Singing Spear" by James Enge
A bit short, but fun to read. Part of/Set in his Morlock the Maker series/universe, which I just might have to check out.
"A Wizard in Wiscezan" by C. J. Cherryh
A lot better than the previous two. The setting show more is nothing groundbreakingly new, a young wizard trying to overcome a tyrant, who has taken over the town, and his dark sorcerer, but very well written, with some fresh ideas.
"A Rich Full Week" by K. J. Parker
A story about a wizard, or rather natural philosopher (because there is no such thing as magic, just science we haven't worked out yet) just doing his usual job. May contain zombies.
"A Suitable Present for a Sorcerous Puppet" by Garth Nix
The first Nix I've read, and while the story itself isn't anything special, I loved the characters he created and the dialogue.
"Red Pearls: An Elric Story" by Michael Moorcock
My first Moorcock, I liked his writing style and the story was very good. Elric himself is, in my opinion, thoroughly unlikeable. Also, without having read the other Elric stories, it was a bit hard to understand everything that was said or alluded to.
"The Deification of Dal Bamore: A Tale from Echo City" by Tim Lebbon
A priestess escorts a rebel to his execution. The problems begin when she finds out that he is a sorcerer. Good story.
"Dark Times at the Midnight Market" by Robert Silberberg
Set in his Majipoor universe, Silberberg's story is probably the funniest/lightest in this anthology. A fun read with great characters.
"The Undefiled" by Greg Keyes
One of the weaker stories, some good ideas but no executed very well. Not enough information about the setting or the characters and in the end it wasn't really clear, at least to me, what had actually happened.
"Hew the Tintmaster" by Michael Shea
Nice story, with some great twists. No idea why it is described as a "fully authorized Cugel the Clever adventure", since he doesn't play a big role and the story would work just as well without him.
"In the Stacks" by Scott Lynch
Fantastic. Not set in the same world as his Gentlemen's Bastards novels but in a library, that reminded me a little of the one in Pratchett's Unseen University and Jasper Fforde's Well of Lost Plots, but a whole lot darker and more dangerous. The story has Lynch's usual twists and action, as well as some interesting characters. Made me remember why I read each of his two novels in less than a day.
"Two Lions, a Witch and the War-Robe" by Tanith Lee
Apart from the title, there are no similarities to the Narnia books. A good but not great story, I liked the first half more than the second.
"The Sea Troll's Daughter" by Caitlin R. Kiernan
I'm not sure what to make of this story. I enjoyed it, but the ending was a bit disappointing and left some questions unanswered. Definitely interesting.
"Thieves of Daring" by Bill Willingham
The weakest story in this book, it's just much too short. It starts at the end of a fight, and ends just before the next one starts. Unfortunately, not much happens between those fights.
"The Fool Jobs" by Joe Abercrombie
I've had his First law trilogy recommended to me before, but never got around to reading it. This story is set in the same world, with a group of mercenaries planning a raid on a remote village to recover a magical artifact. Needless to say, everything goes horribly wrong. A satisfying end to the anthology.
All in all, this is a great collection. It has it's weak points, but some of the other stories more than make up for them. I'd definitely recommend this book. show less
"Check Your Dark Lord at the Door" by Lou Anders and Jonathan Strahan
Both an introduction to the anthology and a quick history of the Sword & Sorcery genre, well written and very interesting.
"Goats of Glory" by Steven Erikson
I've had my eyes on his Malazan series for a long time, but didn't want to commit to such a long series when there's already so much I want to read. With this story he definitely jumps a long way up on my TBR list. The story is off to a rather slow start, with five mercenaries riding into a little hovel of a town, looking for rest, but soon there's as much action as you can ask for. A great start for this collection.
"Tides Elba" by Glen Cook
I've only read the first book in his Black Company series so far and didn't enjoy it very much, but I liked this BC short story a lot. Very well crafted, not much action, but very entertaining.
"Bloodsport" by Gene Wolfe
Starts of with an interesting scenario, a kind of mix between chess and gladitorial combat, but then it descends into something that can at best be called mediocre.
"The Singing Spear" by James Enge
A bit short, but fun to read. Part of/Set in his Morlock the Maker series/universe, which I just might have to check out.
"A Wizard in Wiscezan" by C. J. Cherryh
A lot better than the previous two. The setting show more is nothing groundbreakingly new, a young wizard trying to overcome a tyrant, who has taken over the town, and his dark sorcerer, but very well written, with some fresh ideas.
"A Rich Full Week" by K. J. Parker
A story about a wizard, or rather natural philosopher (because there is no such thing as magic, just science we haven't worked out yet) just doing his usual job. May contain zombies.
"A Suitable Present for a Sorcerous Puppet" by Garth Nix
The first Nix I've read, and while the story itself isn't anything special, I loved the characters he created and the dialogue.
"Red Pearls: An Elric Story" by Michael Moorcock
My first Moorcock, I liked his writing style and the story was very good. Elric himself is, in my opinion, thoroughly unlikeable. Also, without having read the other Elric stories, it was a bit hard to understand everything that was said or alluded to.
"The Deification of Dal Bamore: A Tale from Echo City" by Tim Lebbon
A priestess escorts a rebel to his execution. The problems begin when she finds out that he is a sorcerer. Good story.
"Dark Times at the Midnight Market" by Robert Silberberg
Set in his Majipoor universe, Silberberg's story is probably the funniest/lightest in this anthology. A fun read with great characters.
"The Undefiled" by Greg Keyes
One of the weaker stories, some good ideas but no executed very well. Not enough information about the setting or the characters and in the end it wasn't really clear, at least to me, what had actually happened.
"Hew the Tintmaster" by Michael Shea
Nice story, with some great twists. No idea why it is described as a "fully authorized Cugel the Clever adventure", since he doesn't play a big role and the story would work just as well without him.
"In the Stacks" by Scott Lynch
Fantastic. Not set in the same world as his Gentlemen's Bastards novels but in a library, that reminded me a little of the one in Pratchett's Unseen University and Jasper Fforde's Well of Lost Plots, but a whole lot darker and more dangerous. The story has Lynch's usual twists and action, as well as some interesting characters. Made me remember why I read each of his two novels in less than a day.
"Two Lions, a Witch and the War-Robe" by Tanith Lee
Apart from the title, there are no similarities to the Narnia books. A good but not great story, I liked the first half more than the second.
"The Sea Troll's Daughter" by Caitlin R. Kiernan
I'm not sure what to make of this story. I enjoyed it, but the ending was a bit disappointing and left some questions unanswered. Definitely interesting.
"Thieves of Daring" by Bill Willingham
The weakest story in this book, it's just much too short. It starts at the end of a fight, and ends just before the next one starts. Unfortunately, not much happens between those fights.
"The Fool Jobs" by Joe Abercrombie
I've had his First law trilogy recommended to me before, but never got around to reading it. This story is set in the same world, with a group of mercenaries planning a raid on a remote village to recover a magical artifact. Needless to say, everything goes horribly wrong. A satisfying end to the anthology.
All in all, this is a great collection. It has it's weak points, but some of the other stories more than make up for them. I'd definitely recommend this book. show less
This book is set in a New York in which there are mythical creatures secretely living among ordinary humans. So far, so rather standard urban fantasy. However, instead of the omnipresent vampires (who appear only in a minor role) or werewolves C. E. Murphy focuses on lesser known races, like gargoyles or djinn.
The main character, Margrit, is a lawyer, who has an on-off-relationship with a police officer and is suddenly introduced to the world of the Old Races. For the first third or so of the book, these aspects of her life seem a bit disconnected, but after that the pace of the book picks up and it all comes together rather nicely.
While the plot is perhaps not entirely groundbreaking, I still enjoyed the book and I'd definitely recommend it to anyone interested in urban fantasy.
The main character, Margrit, is a lawyer, who has an on-off-relationship with a police officer and is suddenly introduced to the world of the Old Races. For the first third or so of the book, these aspects of her life seem a bit disconnected, but after that the pace of the book picks up and it all comes together rather nicely.
While the plot is perhaps not entirely groundbreaking, I still enjoyed the book and I'd definitely recommend it to anyone interested in urban fantasy.
This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.
The Baldur's Gate series are some of my all-time favorite video games, so I was pleasantly surprised when I found out that there was a trilogy of books based on them.
However, this book didn't live up to my expectations. The author rushes through the main plotline, leaving out loads of characters and events and all the side quests/plots. Of course it would be almost impossible to form some sort of cohesive narrative (as a novel at least, it works well as a game) from all of the game content, due too the sheer amount, but there were a few characters and events I sorely missed, which would probably have added a lot to this book (How could the author leave out Minsc and Boo?). Condensing 100-200 hours of playing time into 240 pages is a almost impossible task and it's not very well executed here. The book is not very well written and the characters are pretty one-dimensional. For anyone who hasn't played Baldur's Gate this is probably pretty much incomprehensible and for anyone who has, it's gonna be a disappointment.
However, this book didn't live up to my expectations. The author rushes through the main plotline, leaving out loads of characters and events and all the side quests/plots. Of course it would be almost impossible to form some sort of cohesive narrative (as a novel at least, it works well as a game) from all of the game content, due too the sheer amount, but there were a few characters and events I sorely missed, which would probably have added a lot to this book (How could the author leave out Minsc and Boo?). Condensing 100-200 hours of playing time into 240 pages is a almost impossible task and it's not very well executed here. The book is not very well written and the characters are pretty one-dimensional. For anyone who hasn't played Baldur's Gate this is probably pretty much incomprehensible and for anyone who has, it's gonna be a disappointment.
Great book, especially for a debut novel. I really liked the concept of the magical tattoos and found it very well executed. I also liked the way the werewolves/-bears/-cats were represented, although I think they (and vampires, too) are a bit over-used in urban fantasy.
There aren't any obvious plotholes and I had a very hard time putting this book down, but there are also a few weak points. For one thing, many of the supporting characters are rather one-dimensional. Also, the way Dakota apparently has to flirt with everyone she meets seems a bit exaggerated.
Apart from that, I had a good time reading this and will keep my eyes out for the sequels!
There aren't any obvious plotholes and I had a very hard time putting this book down, but there are also a few weak points. For one thing, many of the supporting characters are rather one-dimensional. Also, the way Dakota apparently has to flirt with everyone she meets seems a bit exaggerated.
Apart from that, I had a good time reading this and will keep my eyes out for the sequels!
This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.