Tag Archives: book review

Book Review of “Error Code: 22 Tales of Robots and AI” (2025)

error code

Cover art for the “Error Code” anthology

Yesterday, I finished reading the small anthology Error Code: 22 Tales of Robots and AI by Eric Fomley and Addison Smith.

It was produced by Shacklebound Books which I gather is a small, indie publisher. They’ve got quite a collection of anthologies listed on Amazon.

Each story is quite short and the book is a quick read (130 pages in print, though it’s available only on Kindle as far as I can tell).

Like many such anthologies, the stories fall into three categories:

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Review of “Dead Beat” (2006), Book Seven in the Dresden Files Series

dead beat

© James Pyles

Yesterday, I finished book seven in Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files series Dead Beat. Like the rest of the books in this collection, the title is a play on words. This time, Harry Dresden faces the threat of necromancers, users of magic of the dead.

Harry’s life gets increasingly worse with each book and sometimes I marvel that he’s still alive.

Oh, before I go on, since this book was published in 2006, there are spoilers aplenty.

Harry’s detective friend Karrin Murphy goes off to Hawaii on vacation with a man (or being) of great power who Harry doesn’t trust. By now, the readers of this series know that at some point, Harry and Murphy are going to become lovers, but currently, he’s too noble and self-righteous to object to her plans.

He’s contacted by Mavra, his deadly vampire foe, who threatens to reveal certain illegal acts Murphy committed (all performed while helping Harry) and destroy her life if Harry doesn’t find and bring her something called the “Book of Kemmler.”

As it turns out, this book holds the secret to summoning a vast number of the spirits of the dead and focusing the energy in order to turn one necromancer into basically a god.

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Book Review: “A Scanner Darkly” (1977) by Philip K. Dick

scanner darkly

© James Pyles

Philip K. Dick’s 1977 novel A Scanner Darkly is about drug addition and the physical, mental, and legal consequences it brings about. The character Bob Arctor/Fred is prey, predator, and victim.

The book is also autobiographical since it (through fiction) chronicles Dick’s own experiences with addiction and the drug culture in the 1970s.

I’m not much of a fan of Dick’s writing. Oh, I’ve read his “big hits” including The Man in The High Castle and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? but I felt the stories didn’t live up to the hype. I know I’m probably in the minority with that opinion, but so be it.

For my money, “Scanner” is Dick’s best novel. It’s not just the writing or the story. It’s how Dick took a destroyed part of his life and turned it into something, not only useful, but reorganized and creative. I really admire him for that. I think most of us wish we could do that with the parts of our lives we see as “damaged” or (Heaven help us) “destroyed.”

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Book Review: “The Warship – Rise of the Jain, Book Two” (2019)

warship

© James Pyles

A few nights ago, I finished Neal Asher’s 2019 novel The Warship: Rise of the Jain, Book Two. I read and reviewed the first book in this trilogy a little over a year ago. That’s really too long a space between these volumes.

As with most of Asher’s novels (and there are plenty of them), the action takes place in the “Polity” universe (basically the Earth/human domain of space) and involves the primary protagonist the Prador, but they’re not the “big bads” in this story.

As with every one of Asher’s books I’ve read so far, one of the main challenges is keeping track of the numerous individual characters, their races and other things (the Spatterjay Virus for instance) that distinguishes one person/group from another.

This trilogy focuses on a species called the Jain or rather their technology and a number of mysteries that surround them.

Asher’s great at misdirection, so the Jain don’t necessarily occupy center stage through most of the scenes, even if the reader is led to believe they do.

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My Novelette “Ice” Has a Five-Star Review on goodreads (and now on Amazon)!

ice

Cover art for my fantasy novelette “Ice”

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My 2021 adventure/fantasy novelette Ice just got a five-star review on goodreads (and now on Amazon five days later).

Read the image below for the specifics.

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Book Review of “Ascension, The Ymir Trinity” (2023)

ymir

Cover art for “Ascension: The Ymir Trinity” by A.M. Leishman

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Last night I finished A.M. Leishman’s short novel Ascension, The Ymir Trinity (2023). It’s supposed to be book one in a series, but so far, no other books have been published.

I first encountered Leishman on twitter/X but he’s also on bluesky. We indie authors have to stick together.

I won’t lie. For me, it was a hard book to get into. I felt like I was walking into the middle of a movie. Cute, teenage psychopath Dawn encounters older and more reserved Alma walking into her local public library and fairly swoons over her. The two have been in contact with an entity named Ymir who has been giving them instructions about an impending interstellar war and pushing them to ally themselves specifically with the U.S. Military.

The two of them plus General David Trauger form an alliance that takes them to the highest levels of power, both on Earth and beyond.

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Review of “Blood Rites” (2004), Book Six in “The Dresden Files” series

blood rites

© James Pyles

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Yesterday, I finished Jim Butcher’s novel Blood Rites, the sixth book in The Dresden Files series.

Harry Dresden is the world’s only publicly advertised investigative wizard. He operates out of Chicago and is on contract with the Special Investigations unit of the Chicago P.D. to help solve the really weird crimes that sometimes happen thanks to ghosts, demons, fairies, and vampires.

“Blood Rites” continues the war between Harry (and by inference the White Council) and a group of vampires called the Black Court (vampires that most resemble “Dracula”). However, Harry’s life is always complicated. He is encouraged by his “White Court” vampire associate Thomas to take a job protecting the owner of a porn film company from what amounts to “the evil eye.” Two women associated with the production have already died.

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Review of “Death Masks” (2003), Book Five in “The Dresden Files” Series

death masks

© James Pyles

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Jim Butcher’s Death Masks, the fifth in his “The Dresden Files” series is the darkest and most intense story yet.

The Shroud of Turin is missing and a Catholic Priest from Rome hires wizard/investigator Harry Dresden to find it, believing the Shroud is now somewhere in Chicago. At the same time, the feud between the wizard’s White Council and the vampire’s Red Court has taken a strange turn. To resolve the “cold war” between them, a vampire lord and expert duelist Ortega challenges Harry to a duel to the death. Harry can’t refuse because if he does, vampire and mortal assassins will target and kill everyone Harry cares about.

While mortal thieves originally took the Shroud, supernatural forces known as “The Fallen,” mortals possessed by demons, are after it for their own purposes. This brings in the Knights of the Cross, lead by Michael Carpenter who we saw in a previous novel. He is accompanied by Shiro and Sanya who are more adept at fighting the Fallen than Harry ever could be.

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Review of “Summer Knight” (2002), Book Four of “The Dresden Files” Series

summer knight

© James Pyles

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After getting a nasty flu bug last Thursday, I had plenty of time to power through Jim Butcher’s fourth installment of “The Dresden Files” series Summer Knight (2002). It’s just as exciting, compelling, and funny as the previous three books which I have also read and reviewed.

Some authors tend to cut back on the quality (probably not on purpose) as a series progresses, but not Butcher. He also seems very keen on adhering to a master plan, in which the elements of this story fitting neatly into what has happened previously. There’s also plenty of new mythos and adventure to be had.

As I tell my fifteen-year-old grandson who is also a fan of “Dresden,” it’s amazing our protagonist manages to stay alive. His life just gets worse and worse with the passage of time.

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Book Review of “System Collapse” (2023), Book Seven in The Murderbot Diaries

system collapse

© James Pyles

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I’ve been reading Martha Wells’ The Murderbot Diaries for a while now and found them to be a great science fiction series. I’ve reviewed them all on this blog if you want to do a wee search and take look.

That’s why when I read the seventh and latest edition, System Collapse (2023), I thought I’d missed a step or two.

The story started out slow and I felt like I was walking in at the middle of a movie. I read the last book only four months ago, but I still had trouble following who was who (in most cases) and what the heck was going on.

Murderbot is changing. He/she/it/they had some sort of spontaneous shutdown following a false memory where its leg was being eaten. I suspect that our protagonist is becoming a bit more human all the time whether they like it or not. This may be a setup for future stories, but given how flat most of this book was, I’m not sure I’m anxious to go on.

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