Eragon

Since the movie is coming out and there has been so much buzz about it I figured I’d give it a try. It’s a pretty good book, following a pretty classic Tolkienesque structure but with some interesting twists. The world the story is set in is consistent and believable and the book as a whole is a good freshman work from a really promising author.

In a nutshell, without spoiling anything, it is the story of Eragon, a country boy with a mysterious past, and the dragon egg that he discovers. Unfortunately for him that discovery throws him head first into a much more complicated situation than he ever imagined.

Bent Axles

After noticing some really bad tire wear, I decided that I’ve got to figure out what’s really wrong. The wear pattern on the front tires indicated a camber problem because the insides of the front tires are worn almost flat while the outsides have plenty of treat left. The problem is that Wranglers have solid front axles so there is no camber adjustment like on independent suspensions. So I took the Jeep to Dallas Frame & Alignment to have them look it over. It turns out that both axle housings were bent, the front worse than the rear, but still both bent. They’ve been straightened now and all I’ve got left is to replace the tires a few months earlier than I would have.

I’m thinking that the damage was caused when I took that trip to Clayton because I was doing stuff I really shouldn’t have been attempting with a stock Jeep. But what’s done is done and I know better now.

The Stinking Rose

While in San Francisco for business a bunch of us went to The Stinking Rose for dinner. They bill themselves as a garlic restaurant and they’re not lying. The food was excellent with nice, heavy garlic notes in everything. I had the 40 clove chicken and they weren’t exaggerating one bit. While it was a little pricey I’d definitely go back the next time I get out to San Francisco.

Semper Mars

This was another one of my gee whiz purchases because it sounded interesting. It’s the not too distant future and the United States, Russia, and England are the last holdouts from a UN dominated world government. Tensions are high when the explorations of some 500,000 year old ruins on Mars turn up a discovery which threatens to force mankind to reevaluate everything we know about ourselves. Some people are intent on making sure that discovery never sees the light of day and all that stands between them are 30 Marines who are over 100 million miles from home.

It’s a well written book with great attention to detail and good character and plot development. It’s a great way to spend a few evenings.

A Fistful of Charms

Having nothing but free time on the flight back from San Francisco I got to finish A Fistful of Charms, the latest in the Rachel Morgan books. I’m really impressed with the series because they keep getting more interesting and detailed with each new volume. In this one we follow Rachel, Jenks, and Ivy out of the city to save her ex and retrieve a missing artifact. True to form there’s more going on than that simple plot description would seem to indicate. As the story comes to a close more problems have been created than solved, which is saying a lot.

Every Which Way But Dead

The bike time at the gym gave me just enough time to finish off this book. Kim Harrison has kept up the good work with this installment of her Rachel Morgan novels. Rachel’s got a huge debt to pay back and more trouble brewing with some of the recurring characters and situations related to events both before and after the Turn.