Monday, July 30, 2012

2012 July Reading List

11.22. 63 by Stephen King – I was reluctant to read this book because I have zero interest in Kennedy's assassination. The good news is that only a small part of the book is focused on the actual event. From this point of view, all the hype is based on false advertising. The not so good news is that the book is awfully long. For several hundreds of pages I couldn't help feeling that the author was stalling before getting to the actual story and it took me a while to realize that this was the real story. King is a great atmosphere writer, but a story can't be based only on atmosphere, it needs a plot too and here thehttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif plot drags. And if you dissect it bit by bit, it turns out it's not such a great plot after all. I'm not that happy with King's time travel solution, but then again I wouldn't really call him a hard sci fi writer so I wasn't expecting much. 4/5 stars

The Spook's Destiny by Joseph Delaney – Delving into little brother's fantasy books again. I used to like this series, but this is already the eight book and you know what the problem with the long series is: all plots tend to blend into one and after a while you can't remember what happened in each book anymore. I could barely find the patience to read it all so this was the last book from this series for me. 3/5 stars

The Long Earth by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter – All the great ideas are there, but the presentation is lacking. The book failed to engage me as a reader, there's no excitement in it. I felt like watching a Discovery documentary. If there had been a power failure, I would have just moved on to something else without giving it a second thought. 3/5 stars

The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon – I had the same problems with this book as I did with The Shadow of the Wind only that beside the fact that is rehashing most of the plot point the book is longer and the plot goes off the rails much worse. It frustrates me to see a writer who writes so well, and Zafon writes better than well, being unable to come up with a believable plot. Really, I don't care how well it's written, if the plot makes no logical sense then the book gets the thumbs down from me. Actually, it's even worse if it's well written because otherwise it could have been great. Anyway, I didn't really connect with Martin, I hated Cristina, but I loved Isabella. Her interactions with Martin were the best parts of the book. The Sempere men felt a little faded in the background, but they were still nice. And another little nitpick: all those streets mentioned, if you've never been to Barcelona they bring nothing to the story, they're just names. 3/5 stars

The Prisoner of Heaven by Carlos Ruiz Zafon – I liked it much better than The Angel's Game. The only problem is that it relies heavily on the universe developed in the previous books from the series. I don't think it would do so well as a standalone especially since it's a rather short book. But I liked the policier feel. I didn't like the ending though. It's not a bad ending, it's just unsettling, and I don't like that. 4/5 stars

Cinder by Marissa Meyer – First of all, I will never understand while people keep retelling old stories instead of inventing new ones. This being said, and keeping in mind that even as a kid I wasn't a big fan of Cinderella, the story wasn't too cringe worthy. The technical part managed to keep me interested, but the plot twists were predictable and the romance just silly. And I didn't like the ending that isn't really an ending at all. 3/5 stars

2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson – The world building is superb. Unfortunately, it takes precedence in front of the characters and the plot sort of stealing the show while the story itself fades into the background. One thing puzzled me: why did Swan have to speak out loud with her qube? What's the point of having the quantum computer embedded into her head if all the data transfer isn't done internally? Also, the characters left me cold and Swan was annoying too often. 4/5 stars for the world building, otherwise 3/5 stars

Saturday, July 21, 2012

Human Instincts available on Barnes & Noble, Kobo, iTunes


I just checked and it looks like, beside Amazon and Smashwords, Human Instincts is also available through the following on-line stores:

- Barnes & Noble

- Kobo

- iTunes

Friday, July 20, 2012

Human Instincts Review (3)


And another one:

"This compelling story was the perfect read on my Kindle for a night when power went out for hours."

Read the rest on Goodreads.

Human Instincts is available on Amazon, Smashwords and other online stores. Check out the links in the right side bar.

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Human Instincts Review (2)

It feels so good to wake up to a 5 stars review in the morning. It's always a bit worrisome when someone who isn't familiar with your writing gets to read your stories. What if they don't like your style, the language, the characters, the plot? There are so many reason someone could not care for a book and struggle reading it just because they have to.

Well, this wasn't the case. The following comment made me especially proud:

"I was really surprised by this book. I'm always a little nervous with the whole Apocalyptic stuff, but it was surprisingly very good. The characters are well written, Deanna comes off as the kind of woman who made a mistake and is willing to risk it all to fix it. The story is face paced but full of entertainment, not a dull moment to be found. You're instantly drawn in, wanting to know more. I finished it in one sitting, because I just had to know. I loved the ending, it just left me with a smile and wanting more. I found it very unique, and full of twists and turns."

Read the full review on The Reading Diaries.

Human Instincts is available on Amazon, Smashwords and other online stores. Check out the links in the right side bar.

Monday, July 16, 2012

Human Instincts First Review


The first review of Human Instincts has appeared on Smashwords. I'm grinning up to my ears.

"The ending left me wanting more... Which is always a good sign."

Good sign indeed, except that I haven't considered writing a sequel until now. Hmm...

Human Instincts is available on Amazon, Smashwords and other online stores. Find the links in the right side bar.

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Interview on A. D. Duling's blog

Thanks to Alishia for interviewing me for her A.D. Duling's Diddley Doodle Dandy Writings blog.

Human Instincts is available on Amazon, Smashwords and other online stores. Find the links in the right side bar.

Later edit: Regarding the upcoming projects, I think I need to clarify something: aside from the self-publishing, there are several other projects I'm working on. Chances are the Romanian stuff will get published first so my English speaking readers will have to wait for a bit, but no worries, Evolution 2 is coming out on August 15 and it includes my story "Beneath the Skin".

2nd edit: And this was my 500th post.