The Dangerous Days of Daniel X by James Patterson & Michael Ledwidge

James Patterson is well known for his thrillers, from his Alex Cross series to his stand-alone shots of mystery and suspense, but a far more recent addition to his canon is thrillers for the young adult market, which he calls Page Turners, first with his Maximum Ride series, and now with his new series following Daniel X, Alien Hunter. Based on the extra material in the back of the book, Patterson is working very hard to create books to get young adults, in particular boys, reading. This is a very worthy goal, and one that has been a gap needing to be filled for quite a while, so it is great to see a well-known, successful author tackling it. I entered into it with very high hopes, both for my own enjoyment as well as for the need of a good book to help his cause. After reading The Dangerous Days of Daniel X, I think that Patterson is definitely on the right track.

Daniel is an orphan, having witnessed his parents’ murder at the age of three. A very dangerous alien, called The Prayer, comes looking for The List, and murders them in his quest to find it. However, Daniel is in possession of great abilities, to include the power to create. He escapes, and uses his life from that moment on as an Alien Hunter, continuing his parents work and hoping to one day be strong enough to avenge their murder. As the book begins, Daniel has worked his way up his list of most dangerous aliens, arriving in the top twenty. However, after his current threat, he moves to the alien listed as number 6 on his most dangerous list, and heads to L.A., where he starts high school, falls in love, and learns the value of friendship.

The novel contains a couple of contradictions, from actions that Daniel does that are instantly shown as being bad so that the young adult audience doesn’t mimic them, to his knowledge of a certain animal being from his planet, when he says a few pages earlier he thinks, not knows, that he might be an alien. Also unexplained is Daniel’s limitless money supply, as he can rent houses, buy food, and have fun without needing a job.

Yet, despite these shortcomings, the book is fun. It isn’t necessarily deep, but it maintains a very light, enjoyable tone throughout, one that I know I would have loved as a kid. Daniel has action-packed adventures and travels the cosmos, and he never goes out of character. The book moves fast. This seems to be a great step in Patterson’s plan to get kids reading, and I applaud him. I look forward to Daniel’s next adventure.

8/10

The Lord of the Sands of Time by Issui Ogawa

While we all get tons of science fiction and fantasy from the western world, with works from America and Britain taking the dominant focus, tales from the eastern cultures are far less common. Much of the very well written works in the speculative fiction genre that are from these areas never see the light of day over here, with the small exception of manga, which has never been my thing. So, when the new imprint Haikasoru started releasing Japanese science fiction and fantasy in the United States, I jumped at this opportunity, picking up the first of their books I could find: The Lord of the Sands of Time by Issui Ogawa. My first step into the world of Japanese science fiction was far from disappointing.

Roughly 1800 years ago, Queen Himiko, or Miyo to her friends, rules a Japan that seems a little out of whack with the real Japan in 248. Monsters are real, and as Miyo is out walking one day with her protector Kan, she runs into a large creature that Kan cannot stop. As their deaths seem imminent, out of the sky drops the mysterious Messenger O, a member of the race of Messengers who brought the Law to Miyo’s people long ago. He dispatches the creature with no problems, and the mystery of who he is and why he has traveled back in time begins to unfold.

In alternating flashback chapters, we learn about Messenger O’s past, from being “born” as the cyborg Orville, to learning all about the humanity he is sworn to protect. Orville falls in love, and faces what all soldiers must: the trauma of leaving a loved one behind. He then sets out on an odyssey through the past to stop the alien ET from destroying humanity in the past, where they are weaker than in Orville’s 26th century.

Ogawa creates strong bonds between characters that are quickly ripped apart, and uses the smallest of incidents to ratchet up the emotional tug. The quick changes of setting sometimes give the time periods they are in a bit of a short stick, but overall the settings are well fleshed out, and Ogawa picks interesting times to jump back to, from the dawn of mankind to World War II. Orville and Miyo become very human characters that are easy to relate to, and when they are in danger’s way, suspense fills you over their well-being.

The sense of familiarity is present throughout this novel, as it doesn’t feel too far from the western novels I’m used to, yet it had a sort of lighter flavor that felt distinct in its own right. The translator did a wonderful job of bring the words into English, while retaining the appropriate moods and getting the meanings across. It was done with great skill. This translation of Ogawa’s novel is well worth a look.

8/10

Killer Summer by Ridley Pearson

While the focus of this site is simply books that are fun to read, that you can escape into for a few hours before having to return to the real world, it seems as though all of the books are gravitating towards science fiction, fantasy, and horror. So, when I heard about Ridley Pearson’s newest novel, Killer Summer, I jumped at the change to add another thriller to the few that are already on here. I first ventured into Pearson’s fiction with The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer: My Life at Rose Red (see review), but this was my first opportunity to venture into his non-tie-in fiction, diving into his series of novels following Sherriff Walt Fleming.

Walt Fleming seems perpetually busy, exemplified as his fishing trip with his nephew Kevin is interrupted by a grand theft auto in progress. As they chase down the criminals, Walt falls into something far larger than he thought, and as one man dies, the complex web expands into a heist of epic proportions. Famed crook Christopher Cantell is at the head of a plot to steal a case of Thomas Jefferson’s wine, worth millions, and no one can stop him except Walt.

However, things fly away from Walt’s plans, and his nephew and the daughter of a rich wannabe film producer are kidnapped, upping the stakes substantially. Walt has to deal with his brother’s suicide, his wife’s desertion, and raising his two daughters, all while hoping to catch a mastermind thief.

Pearson creates a small kernel of a story that explodes in all directions, with characters’ stories moving as far apart as they possibly can, before, in one deft stroke, he wraps it all back together, creating a conclusion that is both satisfying and believable. His characters are spot on, accurate beyond most authors’ abilities, and the story is tight, with no baggage.

There is little not to like in this novel. Pearson delivers a thriller that left me with the unshakable feeling of returning to home, as he fills his book with a sense of warmth and comfort that would seem completely counter to his goal of a deadly, rough crime world, yet he does so with aplomb. It is rare to connect so fully to a story that you don’t want to leave it, yet as the pages fly by you can’t stop turning. Pearson achieves this, leaving you with lasting thoughts, and begging for a sequel to follow up soon. One hopes that Walt’s life with settle down a bit, but at the same time you don’t, just so that you have an excuse to return to see him once again.

9/10

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J. K. Rowling

Harry Potter has become a cultural phenomenon unrivaled in recent times. After bestselling novels, record-breaking movies, and a legion of miscellaneous products, Harry is everywhere. However, this reviewer at least has never finished the series. I read through the first four books, and the long lag between novels just made me lose the momentum.

After watching the sixth movie with my girlfriend, however, I got excited about it all over again, and want to finish the series before the final movie comes out. Since it has been a long time since I read the first four novels, now seemed like a good time to start from the beginning, and get the whole experience all over again.

Harry Potter is a wizard, but he doesn't know it yet. He lives a miserable life with the Dursleys, and hopes for a brighter future that just doesn't seem to be in his grasp. Then one day, he receives a very mysterious letter, and this sets off a chain of events that culminates in Harry's arrival at Hogwarts, a school of witchcraft and wizardry, where he, along with his friends Ron and Hermione, learn all about what being a witch or wizard means, and have adventure after adventure.

Rowling has attained vast celebrity with her novels of the boy wizard Harry Potter, but through all of this she has taken fire as not being a great writer. In Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, she proves that, despite the claims (and I am certainly not the best authority on whether she is a good writer or not), she is an excellent storyteller. The novel soars along at a very fast pace, as Rowling mixes her wonderful plot with vast amounts of action, wrapping it all together with very personable characters that it is impossible not to care about.

While the Harry Potter fad may be on its way out, the magical joy of these novels is not. I cannot wait to jump into the second novel.

9/10

A Hint of What's to Come

As Luke Reviews has moved a little past the half-century mark (cue the celebration!!), I thought you all might appreciate a look at some of what is ahead.  This is my tentative reading list, but I guarantee that it will change a bit.  So why am I sharing a list I know will change?  Because, sooner rather than later, all of these books will be appearing on Luke Reviews, and all that might change would be the order, as well as the inclusion of other books into the list.  So keep checking back, as more than just these will be arriving!

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J. K. Rowling

Killer Summer by Ridley Pearson

The Lord of the Sands of Time by Issui Ogawa

The Dangerous Days of Daniel X by James Patterson & Michael Ledwidge

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling

Bad Things Happen by Harry Dolan

Hunt Through the Cradle of Fear by Charles Ardai

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J. K. Rowling

Devil May Care by Sebastian Faulks

Passage at Arms by Glen Cook

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling

The Colorado Kid by Stephen King

The Cellar by Richard Laymon

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J. K. Rowling

I know the above is a bit Harry Potter heavy, but I just saw the sixth movie (it was a lot of fun) and decided that now was the time for me to read the last three books, before the seventh movie comes out.  I hope to have a few more publishers jump on board and want me to review books for them, so this should flesh out more, I would imagine.  If anyone has any thoughts, or any publishers or authors have books they would like me to review, please leave a comment or email me at the email address above!

Ravenor by Dan Abnett

I had always thought that Warhammer 40,000 was all about Space Marines and the Imperial Guard, but Henry Zou showed me differently, with his novel Emperor's Mercy (see my review). Zou introduced me to the world of the Inquisition, and I loved it. I couldn't wait to take another step into this territory, and Dan Abnett, Warhammer 40,000 author extraordinaire, was the place to go, especially with his new collection, Ravenor: The Omnibus just out from the Black Library. Sadly, I was more than let down.

Ravenor is an Inquisitor of the Imperium of Man, and he, along with his squad of crack operatives, arrives at a new planet to investigate a new psychic drug, flects. Ravenor has the feeling that it is more than just a drug, but a heretical substance that must be rooted out. His squad tracks down leads, while Ravenor pulls strings behind the scenes, while at the same time we are introduced to Zael, a flect addict, who is far more than meets the eye.

Abnett plays with genres, mixing the obvious science fiction setting of Warhammer 40,000, while throwing in a mystery that Ravenor must solve, and flinging things along with thriller-like pacing and style. Pulled off well, this would have been an incredible book. Sadly, Abnett bungled them to the point that I couldn't finish the novel.

The story begins with a vast number of characters, all chasing down people, with lots of violence and action characteristic of Warhammer 40,000. However, unlike all of the other Warhammer 40,000 novels I've read, the intelligent plot that weaves the action together is absent for at least the first third of the book, with pointless chase scene, meaningless deaths, and absolutely no motive, no rationale behind what the characters do.

The lush settings available in the Warhammer 40,000 environment also work against this novel. With each change of setting we are giving excessive amounts of setting description, along with long descriptions of festivals and activities that, is a good novel, we would be shown, not told about. I came to dread each new locale change, as it meant story-halting descriptions for pages. Any momentum the story could build, it killed.

Many of the characters felt very fake. Very little depth was given to them, and while some of that may have been addressed in Abnett's Eisenhorn, as a new reader to his Inquisitor novels, they felt flat, and left me not caring much about them. Ravenor's dues ex machina ability to "ware" his teammates also meant that they survived everything, making any tension disappear.

I could not finish this novel. It did very little for me. I tried over and over, and it failed on me every chance it had. I had high hopes for this one, as I liked both the previous Inquisition novel, and the previous Abnett novel, I had read, but after this flop, I don't look forward to either more Inquisition or more Abnett with the same zeal. One day I will give this omnibus another shot, but it will be awhile.

I read a full 3/4 of this novel, and based on that, I give Ravenor, part of Ravenor: The Omnibus, the following rating:

4/10

Wolverine: Tales of Weapon X by Fred Van Lente and Marc Sumerak

In honor of the new movie X-Men Origins: Wolverine (which I thought was a lot of fun) I picked up this compilation graphic novel from my shelves to peruse.  It seemed like a nice, easy prelude to diving into the very thick Ravenor: The Omnibus, which I am currently reading.  As it is more of a collection of a few stories, below are mini-reviews, a la a collection or anthology.

"Weapon X: First Class" by Marc Sumerak: In a retelling of the classic Barry Windsor-Smith Weapon X, but in an all ages variant, we are introduced to the entire gruesome history behind Wolverine, as Professor X helps Wolverine delve into his deep, forgotten past.  While the all ages factor limits some of the dark story's potential, it still was well done.  However, of exceptional note are the three very short back-up stories included with this main tale, "The Recruit," "No Class," and "The Job," all of which were very well done vignettes that really seemed to be the cream of the crop.

"The Buddy System" and "Surprise" by Fred Van Lente: Continuing the all ages focus of the book, we move to two stand alone stories from the new ongoing series Wolverine: First Class, which pair Wolverine with Kitty Pride, back when she had just joined the X-Men.  Both of the tales have a great focus on character interactions without hurting the story or taking away action, and they both really use the all ages format well, avoiding excess violence or adult situations without making it obvious.  Very well done.

"Kickin' It Old School" by Marc Sumerak: The second story in the series Wolverine and Power Pack, this one doesn't really fulfill the claim on the back of "tales from Wolverine's mysterious past," as this one is rather modern, but it was still a fun, light way to wrap up the collection, and certainly introduced me to a series I would have avoided like the plague before.  I still don't know if I will pick up any collections of Wolverine and Power Pack, but it was fun enough.

Overall, Sumerak and, especially, Van Lente do great jobs of playing with the all ages format, pulling out stories that have emotional depth while not ratcheting up the violence or excessive gore.  A good collection for X-Men fans of any age, this was a fun way to relax before a much larger venture.

8/10