Just Another Robot's Books > Book reviews by Just Another Robot

Thraxas

Posted : 2 years, 2 months ago on 31 August 2007 05:39 (A review of Thraxas)

Martin Scott two takes of my favourite genres, detective and fantasy fiction, mixes them with a pinch of satire and social comment, and comes up with a series based around Thraxas - a cynical, heavy drinking gumshoe with a beer gut who plies his trade in the mystical city of Turai. Much of the city is a skanky hell-hole of scoundrels and cheats, and Thraxas lives in the grimiest quarter. He's a disrespected ex-soldier with a doubtful past and a gambling habit he can't shake. And thrown into the "Everybody Hates Thraxas" mix is Makri, his only friend, a multi-racial Elf-Human-Orc whom Thraxas has to constantly defend against Human/Elf prejuidice, but only verbally, since Makri is a tough-girl ex-gladiator with a mean line in weaponry.

On the face of it, none of this should work and it took me several goes to get into it - but I'm so glad I persevered. Thraxas is a blast. A comic adventure full of dark humour and snappy one-liners. Some of the jokes come at you like a clown in a tutu they're so obvious, but in general the humour is wry and ribald, and Thraxas is a really likeable 'asshole'. His platonic relationship with the vibrant and moody Makri is well drawn, you really believe in their friendship, and their caseload is a busy mix of light-weight capers and darker more gruesome adventures. In this outing there's a drug bust to handle, the rescue of a not so innocent princess, and struggles with angry warrior-monks who fuel some great jokes.

There are eight books in the series so far and they're definitely worth your time if you're into comic fantasy.
http://www.martinmillar.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/thcom/thraxas.html


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Jamaica Inn

Posted : 2 years, 3 months ago on 13 August 2007 06:42 (A review of Jamaica Inn)

A cold winter's night. A bleak and desolate moor, and a terrified driver racing his stagecoach through the dark towards Jamaica Inn. He doesn't want to go there, doesn't want to be seen, but his only passenger, Mary Yellan, insists on going. Shaking with fear the driver dumps Mary at the doorway of the Inn and then races away, glad to be leaving with the skin on his back... The first chapter of Jamaica Inn is dark and deadly with the bite of cold and the smell of real fear. And it just gets better and better. If you haven't read it, watch out for Francis Davey, the albino vicar. He's unforgettable.

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Feel the Fear

Posted : 2 years, 3 months ago on 30 July 2007 01:23 (A review of Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway)

Good common sense advice when you need a confidence boost.

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Shogun

Posted : 2 years, 3 months ago on 30 July 2007 12:43 (A review of Shogun: A Novel of Japan (Coronet Books))

Fantastic action thriller, full of historical detail and well-crafted characters. The Dutch pilot Anjin-san is the central focus but the most finely drawn is the warlord Yoshi Toranaga. In a world dominated by competing factions and feudal lords each vying to take martial control of all domains, Toranaga’s mind is full of cunning schemes. He uses Anjin-san to put some of these schemes into action, and a few of outcomes are very dark – betrayal, death, war. But Lord Toranaga takes everything in his stride because to his long-range thinking, the powerful end justifies the means.

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Blue Shoes and Happiness

Posted : 2 years, 3 months ago on 30 July 2007 11:56 (A review of Blue Shoes and Happiness (No 1 Ladies Detective Agency 7))

Another heart-warming adventure for the sweet-natured Precious Ramotswe and her excellent assistant Mma Makutsi. In this outing the lady detectives have several cases to investigate including blackmail, and medical malpractice. But as ever in this wonderful series, it's the seemingly small and incidental that overtake the ladies, like Mma Ramotswe's musings about Aunty Emang - the popular agony aunt who doles out curt advice, and Mma Makutsi's fear that her 'feminism' has driven a wedge between her and her fiancée. Their inner worlds are so endearing, especially Mma Makutsi's love of new shoes, a passion that gets her into trouble this round. But best of all is the charming Mma Ramotswe - her sense of being in tune with the landscape of Botswana, her insights into human foibles, her salt of the earth common sense, and her brilliant way with tea. x

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Belgarath the Sorcerer

Posted : 2 years, 3 months ago on 30 July 2007 11:38 (A review of Belgarath the Sorcerer: The Prequel to the Belgariad)

Wish Belgarath was my granddad. He's so likeable. Tricksy and cunning, and always up to some kind of wonderful mischief. And reading Belgarath the Sorcerer, the story of his back-life before his adventures in the Belgariad and beyond, you discover how he grew up to be the way he is - a reluctant student at the feet of gods who eventually becomes a wily old master. Top class fantasy.

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Blott on the Landscape

Posted : 2 years, 3 months ago on 30 July 2007 11:25 (A review of Blott on the Landscape)

Excellent rural farce with lashings of wicked wit and the kind of surreal characters you'd love to meet like Sir Giles, the slightly nuts MP, his formidable wife Lady Maud, and her gardener, the weird and wonderful Blott. Very, very funny. In my favourites but a later novel, Ancestral Vices, is definitely my best.

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Pawn of Prophecy - The Belgariad

Posted : 2 years, 3 months ago on 30 July 2007 11:20 (A review of Pawn of Prophecy (Belgariad))

First and best in a fantasy series that's remarkable for it's huge sense of humour and unforgettable characters. Favourites are Old Wolf, Aunt Pol, Silk, and young Garion when he's first learning the Will and the Word.

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The Quiet Mind

Posted : 2 years, 3 months ago on 30 July 2007 11:10 (A review of The Quiet Mind)

One of my absolute favourites. Deep and meaningful sayings from a wise soul. Open this pocket size book on any page and you'll find something inspirational - an insight on love, a guide to self-knowledge, a verse on the richness of your personal brilliance... First published in 1957, the sayings cover a universe of everyday situations, and they give you the tools you need to access the best of your inner being. Similar in style to 'The Little Book of Calm' but a hundred times more powerful, the Quiet Mind is all about your personal journey to self-mastery.

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Engines of God

Posted : 2 years, 3 months ago on 27 July 2007 05:25 (A review of The Engines of God)

Scientists travel to a distant planet to sift through the stunning remains of a lost civilization... The beautiful thing about this story is that it's so easy to read. It's a page-turning 'X-Files in space' with likeable characters, gripping scenes and a truly strange mystery. If you like science fiction that plays like a vivid movie in your head, try this one. Jack McDevitt is a master storyteller. And I love the classic cover artwork from Jim Burns.

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