Turn the Page: Kaiju Storm by Jake Bible

I finally finished the second installment of Jake Bible's Kaiju Winter series. I wasn't blown away by the book like I was the first, however it did leave me wanting for some more. This particular series is set up to be four books total; that being said, this book is more about separate character journies than actual answers to the series big questions. Wanting more from the book isn't a negative either; all the cards haven't been thrown on the table storywise, so my interest is still piqued.

Mr. Bible has stated that he is putting his own twist on the Kaiju genre with these books. Even though twists are sometimes nice, I long for some more traditional-giant-stompy monsters in the series. So far, there have been big monsters but nothing much akin to the bipedal menaces we attribute to the label of "Kaiju." The large threat in this book has been ooze monsters which I always feel are somewhat of a cop out. It's usually like, "the protagonists are then chased by... hmm, what could they be chased by? Argh! My ideas are so loose and gelatinous...I got it! Ooze monsters!"

All in all, I still got some enjoyment from the book and would like to continue the series to find out what happens. I would still suggest the series to anyone who likes the whole idea of modern day Sci-fi World Disasters. Check it out if thats your thing, otherwise I would say you aren't missing too much.

Turn The Page: "Monster Hunter International" by Larry Correia

The first thing I have to say is that I have read a lot if not all of Larry Correia's Warmachine fiction and I enjoyed it. His writing style is very readable and is free of annoying stylizations that might get tiresome while reading (this is directed at Ari Marmell). This book was on the long side for the story it was telling; however, I could definitely see the argument of the length developing the whole world in which the story takes place. I generally enjoyed the book but certain things kind of annoyed me.

First off, I tend to dislike "the one" stories in that I feel like everything comes very easily to the character and hardships/dangers aren't so bad in that you know the character will come out of it okay if not mostly okay. I think this is why the Song of Fire and Ice series has such mass appeal; no one is safe, which lends to a lot of edge of your seat moments and plenty of "what the fuck"s. This is a "the one" story. Even though things do get explained as to why he is so special, it still left me with the feeling of **yawn** by the end of it. I never felt, even when fighting the ultimate foe, that the main character was in any real danger.

The second thing that was irksome about the book was the main character reminding us how physically big and brutish he is. The character is obviously modeled after Mr. Correia, who is a large man and a gun fanatic, but I don't need to be reminded every 25-50 pages of how big the character is. You may be reading this with no familiarity with this book or the series and think that I'm over reacting; read it and tell me it doesn't get annoying.

All in all, I can't say at times I didn't feel like it was a chore to read; it had slow parts but was generally okay. I'm actually not interested in reading the rest of the series, in that I feel like it will just be this book with different monsters. That being said, I don't think I would really recommend this one. I would recommend his Warmachine fiction however.

Have Fun!

Turn the Page: "Kaiju Winter" by Jake Bible

I'm back from vacation and am feeling the sadness of returning but I am happy to give you another most likely non-thorough book review. My next selection is "Kaiju Winter" by Jake Bible.

When I was first glancing at this title in the Amazon store on my Kindle, I immediately thought "Lame;" I was wrong. I loved Godzilla and all his pals as a kid and remember running up the block to the local video rental joint to get some sweet Kaiju movies on VHS. Even with my inner kid saying "Kaiju = Awesome," I was still skeptical on how well this book would keep my interest. I decided to throw caution to the wind and purchase this book. In the end, I couldn't be happier with it.

Kaiju Winter revolves around characters who are all basically interconnected in backstory, however, are currently separated in the book. It is a third person, omniscient perspective that "location hops" throughout the book. By "location hop" I mean one segment might feature Dick and what is going on around him and then in the next segment, the action revolves around Jane and her surroundings. This dynamic really gives the book a blockbuster Kaiju movie feel and keeps the book flowing. I had a hard time putting this one down; even on vacation.

I am feeling very positive about this book and I really don't think I have anything minutely bad to say about it. It was damn well worth the $4(don't quote me on the price) for the digital version and I am anxiously waiting for the next book in the series that is supposed to be named "Kaiju Storm." So, give it a shot unless giant monster apocalypse is really not your thing.

Turn the Page: "NPCs" by Drew Hayes

I'm actually on vacation right now and one of my favorite things to do pre-trip is to load up the Kindle with an amount of books I could never finish in a week. Here's to being prepared!

One of the books that I chose this time around is called "NPCs" by Drew Hayes. I was a touch skeptical when I read the teaser text on the Amazon entry for it. From what I gathered it would only really appeal to the mecha-geek sub-faction of Geeks, but I was wrong (or I'm a mecha-geek).

The book's humor is excellent if you have ever played through even at least one pen and paper RPG campaign and didn't text or play games on your phone throughout it (don't do this if you do; everyone else at the table thinks you're an asshole for it). I really liked the characters as well; they all did have a stereotypical archetype to them(completely on purpose) and they grow from there. I've read other novels of late that had teaser text that claimed the books were "the new thing of" or "a new look of" the Fantasy genre. Bullshit, says I!!! This is a new twist!

It is an easy read and enjoyable throughout. To be honest, it reads almost like a transcript of an RPG group's campaign in a literal sense. It will also make RPG players think a lot harder about how they roleplay in their campaigns, in my opinion. The adventurers in the book, who are controlled by players, come across as jerks and their behavior is on the whole disdained.

This brings me to my finally comment on the book before I shoo you off to read it. Generally, I abhor the mixing of universes. When someone from our world goes to another universe or alternate universe, I am instantly turned off because the content can become quickly tainted with cheesy catch phrases and a character who would in reality most likely die at the first sign of any real danger their smart phone couldn't get them out of. The worst is when the character from our time uses our slang around the denizens of the foreign universe only to confuse them and has to awkwardly explain the meaning of what they just said. Or, at a turning point of usually a giant battle, a surly medieval warrior who has distrusted the "outsider" breaks out with "yeehaw," "cool," or some other slang to show his now acceptance of the otherworlder. Dousche-chills galore, Batman! Not going to lie here; this book has a decent amount of that, save the last bit about the turning point of a battle. I feel it didn't bother me since the whole cross-universe thing was presented totally different here.

At any rate, it was a great book and I would highly suggest it. Check it out.