I usually post book reviews when I finish them, but these were so good that I read all three (Hounded,Hexed, andHammered) pretty much back-to-back. The Iron Druid Chronicles is a series about the last surviving druid, now living in modern day Arizona, and dealing with all sorts of supernatural problems. And by problems I mean power struggles between angry gods from various pantheons, werewolves, vampires, witches, demons, and more. If you’re a fan of the Dresden Files, you’re probably going to enjoy these books too. From the author’s site it looks like books 4 through 6 got picked up so new ones will be on their way starting this summer.

Do you like 1930s detective stories? Do you like the Dresden Files? What about a little action like Sky Captain or Kill Bill? Then get over to Amazon and pick up Hard Magic, the first book in the Grimnoir Chronicles series by Larry Correia. Have fun reading about magic using ninjas, gangsters, pirates, and soldiers. Blimps? Got ‘em. John Moses Browning? Yep, he’s there too! This is a seriously fun book!

Diverging from the sci-fi/fantasy fare a little, and because I picked up a signed copy from Uncle Hugo’s, I just finished reading Dead Six. It’s a collaboration between Larry Correia and Mike Kupari, and is more along the lines of an action thriller than his previous offerings. If you liked John Ringo’s Ghost series, you’ll like this one.

It tells a single story from two different points of view, and kept me guessing until the end. The action is well written, with lots of firearms references throughout. You can read the dust jacket notes on Amazon for a better plot teaser than I could write. But like I said, if you like military thrillers, you’ll probably enjoy this one.

The Demon and the City is the second book in Liz Williams’s Detective Inspector Chen series. It follows the demon Zhu Irzh’s investigation of the killing of the child of a rich family and the plot to really screw the world up that she had gotten involved with. I really like these books because they’re a quick read, with well written characters and plots that aren’t transparent. It’s also nice to see a different (read non-western) theme, instead of always drawing from european legends and mythos.

I’m still getting caught up on the ginormous to be read pile, though much slower due to school work taking priority. I just finished Kim Harrison’s Black Magic Sanction, one of the books in the Rachel Morgan series. I’m not caught up on this series yet, but getting closer. I’m really liking the way this series is going, there’s a lot more complexity, some more history and exposition, and a good bit of action. Rachel’s still in a really bad situation and trying to dig her way out, though not everything goes according to plan. She does get a chance to clean things up, but still has some hoops to jump through, and knowing how the author likes to throw in twists, they’ll be flaming hoops. But in the process of that she’s made some more enemies and found out some things that might actually put her in more danger. Too bad I’ve got over 40 books left to read before I buy any more. It’s going to be a while before I get back to this series…

The conclusion to John Birmingham’s Axis of Time alternative history trilogy, Final Impact, feels a little more fast paced than the previous two installments. Activity is spread between the European and Pacific theaters, the Zone, Moscow, and D.C. but without the transitions being jarring. While this book does wrap up the major plot points, it’s left enough open to hopefully hint at another series. There are plenty of loose ends left that could make for another great set of books.

Neil Gaiman’s Stardust was a really, really good book. I picked it up after seeing the movie, and I’m glad I did. The further in to the book I got the more it diverged from the movie (or actually the more the movie diverged from the book). But that’s ok because both were entertaining in their own ways. I have to say that I liked the book’s ending a lot, it was definitely poetic. While the book is technically classified as young adult, some salty language is used and there are some sexual situations, so use your best judgement if you’re giving it to someone’s kid.

I started Darkship Thieves on the way out to Las Vegas and finished it off once we got back. It was a fun little book to read, and I got through it pretty quickly. The story revolves around the daughter of one of Earth’s rulers getting rescued/kidnapped by a member of a semi-mythic group. Hilarity ensues and there are some rather interesting revelations as the story progresses. I really enjoyed it and am going to pick up a few more of the author’s books once I get my out of control pile under control.

My summer reading plans went seriously bust due to lots and lots of home improvement work, but I still managed to finish off another book in the ever growing stack.  Relentless is the fifth book in Jack Campbell’s Lost Fleet series.  The action picks up right where book four ended, with the fleet getting closer to home but still fighting the Syndicated Worlds for every bit of progress.  The enemy in the shadows makes a slightly more visible appearance this time, which sets the stage for maybe another series?  I was surprised that he brought them home this early, but I see where the series and universe is going and will be putting book six on the stack soon.

With everything else going on over the summer, my aggressive reading plans were too aggressive.  But I did finish Semper Human, the third book in Ian Douglas’s Inheritance Trilogy this evening.  I think he wrapped everything up nicely, but I am wondering if there might be some more to come, because the ending was a little open ended (and no, that doesn’t contradict what I said earlier).  Either way, he’s got another series that I’m working through once I get ahead on the books I’ve already got.  The book buying moratorium is still in effect.