Sky Dragons by Anne McCaffrey and Todd McCaffrey

I think that Sky Dragons (New York:  Ballantine Books, 2012) should be the last Dragonriders of Pern novel, particularly since Anne McCaffrey died last fall.  The more recent novels by McCaffrey and fils (numbers 9 through 16 in my list, which I’ve updated to include this latest novel) have simply not been as good as the original ones, particularly Dragonflight and Dragonquest.

Sky Dragons was hard to get into, particularly since there was no summary of the prequels in this part of the series.  In addition, the chapter titles did not include dates and locations as they have in most novels in the series.

The Columbus Affair by Steve Berry

I’ve read all of Steve Berry‘s printed books (not the ebooks).  Until I started reading it, I had expected The Columbus Affair (New York:  Ballantine Books, 2012) to be the latest in the Cotton Malone series.  It’s not.

The concept and plot are interesting, but I didn’t care for the characters.  None of them is really very likeable or heroic.

The Jungle by Clive Cussler with Jack Du Brul

It’s been a while since I’ve read anything by Clive Cussler, but when I saw The Jungle on a rack of books recommended by librarians at the country library, I picked it up.  The Jungle is the newest book in the Oregon Files series.  I enjoyed it, and a reader doesn’t need to have read previous books in the series to follow the plot.

I may have to go back and read all of the earlier books as well as more novels in the Dirk Pitt Adventures and NUMA Files series.

Blog Posts, Articles, and Reports To Read: March and February 2012

• “How To Write Readable – And Retweetable – Tweets“
• “Searching the Internet – A Primer“
• “The Annotated Emma, by Jane Austen, Annotated and Edited by David M. Shapard – A Review“
• “Why Ebooks Fail as Research Tools“
• “A Few New Releases: An Unfaithful Queen, A Kingmaker’s Daughter, a Mistress and a Time Traveler“

Dragon’s Time by Anne and Todd McCaffrey

The latest novel about Pern, Dragon’s Time (New York:  Ballantine Books, 2011), by Anne and Todd McCaffrey was disappointing.  The beginning, when Lorana has traveled to the future, was anticlimactic.  Lorana’s and F’jian’s jumping back and forth in time was confusing and unnecessary.  Taking the weyrlings and injured dragons and riders back in time to prepare for battling Thread is too reminiscent of Dragongirl.

The McCaffreys would have been well advised to combine the two novels and then cut out about half.

I would like to see a sequel about how Telgar Weyr deals with the return of all the dragons and riders.

The Sleeping God by Violette Malan

The Sleeping God (New York:  DAW Books, 2007) is Violette Malan‘s first fantasy novel about Dhulyn Wolfshead and Parno Lionsmane, who are Mercenary Brothers, even though Dhulyn is female, and Partners.  I enjoyed the novel and am looking forward to reading the others in the series:

• The Soldier King
• The Storm Witch
• Path of the Sun

Pern Novels

I finished reading and rereading all the Pern novels and updated my chronological list.

The Maze of Bones by Rick Riordan

The Maze of Bones is Book One of The 39 Clues series.  (Though this book is by Rick Riordan, I understand that the books are by different authors.)  My niece mentioned that she was reading the most recent volume in the series, so I thought I’d check it out.  I can see why kids from about ten to thirteen would enjoy the books, but I wouldn’t recommend them to adults.  From The Maze of Bones, young readers can learn a lot about Benjamin Franklin.  Based on the ending, I’d guess that in the next book they’ll learn about Mozart.

A River in the Sky by Elizabeth Peters

A River in the Sky (New York:  William Morrow-HarperCollins, 2010) is Elizabeth Peters‘ most recent installment in the Amelia Peabody series.  As with most lengthy series of novels, the later books aren’t as good as the first ones.  They become father formulaic as the author churns them out.  This is true of A River in the Sky.

In addition, as the series has progressed, I’ve found Amelia less and less likable.  She has gone from naively confident to arrogant.  I’m also not sure I like the integration of passages from “Manuscript H.”

A few years ago, I reread the then existing Amelia Peabody novels in chronological order according to when they were set not when they were written.  This latest novel was written and published out of sequence.  According to the “Amelia Peabody series” article at Wikipedia, the novels occur in the following order:

• Crocodile on the Sandbank
• The Curse of the Pharaohs
• The Mummy Case
• Lion in the Valley
• Deeds of the Disturber
• The Last Camel Died at Noon
• The Snake, the Crocodile, and the Dog
• The Hippopotamus Pool
• Seeing a Large Cat
• The Ape Who Guards the Balance
• Guardian of the Horizon
• A River in the Sky
• The Falcon at the Portal
• He Shall Thunder in the Sky
• Lord of the Silent
• The Golden One
• Children of the Storm
• The Serpent on the Crown
• Tomb of the Golden Bird
  

New Novel by Steve Berry

Steve Berry has a new Cotton Malone novel, The Emperor’s Tomb, which will be available November 23.  Unfortunately, I have no idea who the emperor is in the title.