Riptide by Douglas Preston

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Great story about pirate treasure off the coast of Maine.

Lots of ambiance about small town coastal life in Maine.





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Echo by Jack McDevitt

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is extremely well written, but shows signs of being a really great short story or short novella that has been padded to novel length.

I really had the feeling that it was going to be one of those novels where in the end, nothing has happened.

BUT… that was not the case: in the last few chapters the pace picks way up and there is a lot of action.

Am I grumpy. Yes. Because of this novel? Not really, but it wasn’t helping.

If you like alien artifacts, you will like this novel. If you like lost civilizations or lost human colonies you will like it (and saying that does NOT give the secret away).





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Citadel: Troy Rising II by John Ringo

My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Ok, I should know better than to try reading "Military Sci Fi".

Personally, I look forward to a future where there is no military and thus no glorification of it.

I don’t know what possessed me to think I would like this…. I think maybe because I read Live Free or Die… but I had to skip all the big sections of depiction of military training and equipment in order to get to the actual story.

I know there was an actual story buried in Citadel: Troy Rising II, but it was much smaller than in Live Free or Die, and it wasn’t worth it (to me) to put up with all the militaristic abuse to find the story.





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Seed Seeker by Pamela Sargent

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Really good book about a human colony and the computerized seed ship that seeks them.



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Thomas Paine and the Promise of America by Harvey J. Kaye

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Empress of Eternity by L.E. Modesitt Jr.

My rating: 1 of 5 stars

This is one of those kind of books I just don’t care about. It is actually 3 stories interleaved.

I got tired of jumping around and it never caught my imagination.

Finally decided to just read the last couple of chapters.

I’m at the point in life where I count the minutes. Have to decide what to spend my time on and this novel is not it.





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The Unseen by Alexandra Sokoloff

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Great fantasy/thriller based on the question "Whatever happened to Dr. J.B. Rhine’s parapsychology research?"

Takes place on and about Duke University & Durham NC. In the Psychology Department at Duke. Fairly realistic. Young female PhD starting on a tenure track position, after having a horrible breakup with her fiancee in California.

[one thing: nowhere in the book or notes is there mention of the fact that Rhine's data was fudged, though not necessarily by Dr. Rhine himself!]





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