The Android's Dream by John Scalzi

The Android's Dream by John Scalzi is an entertaining action/science fiction romp through one possible future. The characters are fun and not too serious, and the writing reminds me most of a young Neal Stephenson--which is good. He also runs into more hardcore space opera/alien territory without taking himself too seriously--which is also good. This is probably the best sci-fi I've read this year, but only pick it up if you're in the mood for a quick, breezy read that's fun and enjoyable and packed with action: it's more "sci-fi" than science fiction. Highly recommended.

9/10

Grave Peril/Summer Knight by Jim Butcher

I was pleasantly surprised and pleased by Grave Perilby Jim Butcher. I finished it in about a day, the fastest I have read any of his books so far. The action is brisk and unflagging, and the danger quotient is high. Dresden, Butcher's hero, is appealing as ever and creative in dispatching much more powerful (in terms of raw power) baddies than himself. The series, however, begins to stray somewhat from the private eye with magical powers initial setup into a more Shadowrunstyle. This isn't necessarily bad, as it's a natural progression from what comes before. This is my favorite book in the series so far.

Butcher keeps up the pace with the fourth book, Summer Knightby continuing some of the previous plot threads, but not taking up some of the more important ones. This leads to a feeling of this being a transition book: the previous book was so compelling that you just want to get back to some of those story threads. I am looking forward to reading the next book.

So far, I am very satisfied with this series.

Grave Peril: 9/10
Summer Knight: 8/10

"Fool Moon" by Jim Butcher

Jim Butcher's sophomore effort in the Dresden Files, Fool Moonseries suffers a bit from too much. There are too many types of baddies, too many baddies themselves, and not enough focus. It's not entirely bad, as Butcher seems to bring most of the plotlines into play by the end. We begin to see some formulaic aspects come into play as once again, Dresden creates two potions, gets beaten like a redheaded stepchild, and is stripped naked once again.

This is almost like Die Hard 2. Clearly derivative, but still not bad. Plus Dresden gets his ass beat like John McClane.

Well, the reason we have formulas is because they work. I'll be interested to see what Butcher does with the next book in the series.

6/10

"Storm Front" by Jim Butcher

Storm Front reminds me of the early books of Laurell K. Hamilton, but not in a bad way. Indeed, a lot of the excesses and nonsense that have come to characterize Hamilton's latest work are absent in the first book in Butcher's "Dresden Files". Gone are the two chapter-long sex scenes and instantly killed villains with the ever-escalating power levels (like a bad episode ofDragonball Z) and in are the slowly escalating levels of stress and danger for the protagonist. Though the book feels derivative now (with Harry Potter and the aforementioned Hamilton) the plot is handled deftly and moves quickly, with no fatty unnecessary bits.

I can't remember who said it, but someone said: "Strand your hero in a tree, and then throw rocks at him." Butcher takes this to heart. There's no letdown. Harry Dresden, quite simply, gets his ass kicked, but somehow comes out on top.

I'm looking forward to reading more of Butcher's work. I'll keep you up to date.

8/10