#same with amazon and book depository and bookoutlet...

[sixofravens-reads]

Okay, semi-successful indigo order: got vol 1 of Chobits and Clover, omnibuses 1 and 2 of xxxHolic, A House with Good Bones, and an older Kelly Link anthology, Stranger Things Happen.

They didn't have White Cat, Black Dog in stock, but I'll check back later this week for it. Also, will keep my eyes peeled for more manga at the comic expo - oftentimes there will be booths with older titles. I couldn't find the first omnibus of X, the last one of Cardcaptor Sakura, and Magic Knight Rayearth was only available in the mega expensive box sets, but I'm hoping I can find those at the expo. Also MKR is apparently being re-released in paperback in September? So if I'm still interested then I'll keep my eyes peeled for it.

[the-homestead-reader]

Gemina Review

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Title: Gemina

Author: Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Series: The Illuminae Files Book 2

Pages: 659

Genre: YA Science Fiction

Rating Out Of 5 Stars: 4.5

Buy it: Amazon / Book Depository / BookOutlet                 Goodreads Page

My Other Reviews:   Tumblr   /    Goodreads

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            “Apparently she’s got revenge on her mind, and it’s really annoying when people try to talk at you while you’re feeling murderish"

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Goodreads/General Synopsis:

 The sci-fi saga that began with the breakout bestseller Illuminae continues on board the Jump Station Heimdall, where two new characters will confront the next wave of the BeiTech assault. Hanna is the station captain’s pampered daughter; Nik the reluctant member of a notorious crime family. But while the pair are struggling with the realities of life aboard the galaxy’s most boring space station, little do they know that Kady Grant and the Hypatia are headed right toward Heimdall, carrying news of the Kerenza invasion. When an elite BeiTech strike team invades the station, Hanna and Nik are thrown together to defend their home. But alien predators are picking off the station residents one by one, and a malfunction in the station’s wormhole means the space-time continuum might be ripped in two before dinner. Soon Hanna and Nik aren’t just fighting for their own survival; the fate of everyone on the Hypatia—and possibly the known universe—is in their hands.

*****My Thoughts*****

               Kaufman and Kristoff deliver another awesome installment with Gemina. The one major issue I had in Illuminae was that the hyper-stylized pages were on the hard side to follow. This is an issue that I was happy to see fixed in book two. Even the general emails and chats were much cleaner in their layouts. One of my favorite aspects about the series is the hidden bits you can find in the coding. The song lyrics on page 68 were quite fitting.

      The banter is another thing that these authors pull off well I find myself giggling quite often while reading interactions between some characters. Ella, Hannah and Nik especially.

               One issue I did have was the choice of coloring in some of the BeiTech briefings. The white was fine but the gray more often then not completely disappeared into the dark background. At several points I had to get my UV flashlight out in order to read the texts. I don’t know if this is an issue in all the books or if it just happen to be a printing error in the run that my copy came from.

               The secondary antagonists, the Lanima, at times felt like an unnecessary addition. While the peak into the minds of these creatures was interesting, I don’t feel it really added anything to the overall story.

               While Gemina I feel didn’t have the same intensity level that Illuminae did, it was still a damned good read and I can’t wait to get my hands on Obsidio.

[the-homestead-reader]

The Getaway God Review

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Title: The Getaway God

Author: Richard Kadrey

Series: Sandman Slim Book 6

Pages: 386

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Rating Out Of 5 Stars: 5

Buy it: Amazon / Book Depository / BookOutlet                 Goodreads Page

My Other Reviews:   Tumblr   /    Goodreads

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              “To the dead. Let’s think of them always, but not join them too soon"

Goodreads/General Synopsis:

       In this installment of the Sandman Slim Series Stark aka Sandman Slim finally faces off against the fearsome Angra Om Ya. But their imminent invasion is only one of Stark's problems right now. LA is descending into chaos, and a new evil-the Wildfire Ripper-is stalking the city.        No ordinary killer, The Ripper takes Stark deep into a conspiracy that stretches from Earth to Heaven and Hell. He's also the only person alive who may know how to keep the world from going extinct. The trouble is, he's also Stark's worst enemy . . . the only man in existence Stark would enjoy killing twice.              

 *****My Thoughts*****

              I could not put this installment down. Where I thought Kill City was going to be my favorite this solidly takes its places.

      The quips felt fresh while staying in the same sarcastic vein we’ve come to love and expect. I notice the fight scenes and lead up feel a lot more refined in this one. They’re still explosive and off the wall but cleaner executed. Thus, making for a much smoother read then we’ve seen up to this point.

       Our main cast of characters continue to grow and evolve in development which is nice to see this far into the series.

               There’s a couple points while reading it that made me question previous events but it wasn’t enough to draw away from the current context. Other then that I really enjoyed the book.

If Kadrey were to end the series with The Getaway God it would be a perfect place. The story lines are wrapped up rather nicely. From what I understand this is to be a twelve book series. I cant possibly imagine where he could go from here. Stark has made a lot of enemies that are still floating around. It’s quite possible we could go back and revisit those characters. We’ll have to see in the next installment Killing Pretty.

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[the-homestead-reader]

Illuminae Review

                ********************************************* Title: Illuminae Author: Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff Series:  The Illuminae Files Book 1 Pages: 599 Genre: YA / Science Fiction Rating Out Of 5 Stars: 3.5 Buy it: Amazon / Book Depository / BookOutlet                 Goodreads Page My Other Reviews:   Tumblr   /    Goodreads                  *********************************************

                  “It’s not the bullets that kill you. It’s moments like these.                                                             One piece at a time."

            The day Kady dumps her boyfriend she figures things cant get any worse. When you think things like that it's like double daring Fate to take a swing. Not only does Kady lose her boyfriend that day, she also loses her parents, her home, her planet and ends up on a defunct spaceship with a psychotic AI system. Did I mention there's a deadly viral outbreak and galactic warfar going on with all this too?  

*****My Thoughts*****           

          There was so much going on in this story. I think my favorite aspect was the "thinking" process of the AI and the way it justified its decisions.            I liked the way the way the characters interacted with eachother and how they behaved to some of the more intense situations. Some responses just leave you with an ache in your chest. You feel so bad for what some of these characters go through but you can't help but be impressed at the same time. For the age some of these characters, that they have the capacity to do the things they do after what they've all ready been through is astounding.   

          Had it not been in its unique format of reports, emails, notations and the like I honostly dont think it would have worked the way the authors would have wanted it to. That being said some of the more stylized pages could have been a clearer on where their starting and progression points were. I found my eyes drawn to parts of the sentances out of order due to how they were placed on the page. I've also had a chance to see this on an e-reader and I highly suggest using a physical format to read this series.               I'm looking forward to getting my hands on the sequel "Gemina" and seeing where this story progresses. As an added bonus the hardbacks of these are fantastically designed.