This one was a let-down. It felt very forced and hastily-put-together. The characters weren’t nearly as engaging this time around and even the plot twists seemed a little stale. Certainly leaves the door wide open for a sequel though, which hopefully will be an improvement.

Overblown and confusing; and for the most part mediocre writing. Explanations are maddeningly vague; you have a hard time figuring out who is who and what they’re trying to do, and the ending left me saying, “huh?”. Would have been better if the sorcery bits had been left out altogether and this was pure military fantasy; a story focusing mainly on Paran and the Bridgeburners would be much more intriguing.

“Breathe Into Me” and “Already Over” (and possibly “Let Go”) are the only tracks that really stand out on this album. The remaining tracks are the typical, same-old same-old hard rock that’s been done countless times before. It’s OK for background listening but it’s not anything that’s going to really grab your attention and make you say, “Wow, this is a great song”. “Pieces” and “Gave It All Away” are downright cringe-worthy. All in all, a mediocre debut. Hopefully Red will experiment with their style and get a little more adventurous with their next release.

I made very certain before I borrowed this from a friend that “Twilight” wasn’t just a teen chick-lit romance novel. The friend, a guy, assured me that it wasn’t. So I willingly delved into it (I’d already read the first few pages on Amazon.com; I’d also read the scores of reviews that called this as much a suspense novel as a romance).

Well, as it turns out, “Twilight” is just a teen chick-lit romance novel. Whoever called this a “suspense novel” must have been reading a different book. The first three-quarters of the story simply establish the fact that Edward is handsome, and not just handsome, but flawlessly, perfectly, wonderfully handsome (did I mention that he is handsome? It’s repeated ad nauseam) and Bella is hopelessly (and pretty stupidly) in love with him. No plot advancement at all. I got so sick of Bella and Edward as characters; both were so Mary-Sueish it was nauseating. Finally we get around to what I suppose is the “suspense” part, which is resolved in a matter of about twenty pages, and then we go back to reading about how handsome Edward is. I guess the book is supposed to be character-driven rather than plot-driven (at least, I sure hope so) but “character-driven” simply doesn’t work when the characters grate on you like lemon zest.

I find it discouraging that books like this are what’s on the New York Times bestseller lists. I can’t imagine recommending this book to anybody.

It took me a while to get into this one. Usually with Zahn I’m sucked in by about page four. “The Green and the Gray” is a bit different from Zahn’s usual fare (set in present-day Earth with the protagonists being normal everyday humans), but thankfully I stuck with it and got rewarded in the end. As always with Zahn’s work, there’s at least one character that becomes an instant favorite (in this case, Detective Fierenzo). And, though it’s a little late in coming, the edge-of-your-seat suspense so typical of Zahn is still firmly there; the last hundred pages or so went by in a frenzy. Spoiler alert! I greatly enjoyed the twist when it turned out this was a time-travel story rather than space-travel one. End spoiler.

There are a few plot points that are a bit far-fetched even for a sci-fi/fantasy novel (specifically, Caroline’s vague notes to Roger, the meanings of which Roger is somehow able to decipher precisely; I found that a bit unbelievable). The end could have been more satisfying; as it was I felt it needed more closure. Still, there are too many positive elements for me to dwell on the few-and-far-between negative ones.

All-in-all highly recommended, especially if you’re already in the Zahn camp.