AREA 51: Area 51 Book One - Robert Doherty

When nine atmospheric crafts of unknown origin were discovered in the Antarctic in the late 1940s, the U.S. government established Area 51 to study the abandoned technology. Dr. Hans Von Seeckt, who is the only original member of the secret research committee, has observed the marvelous craft in flight and witnessed a fantastic array of bizarre, unexplained phenomena. But Dr. Von Seeckt fears that the technology of the mothership is beyond our scope and an explosive threat to the entire planet. He must race against time to unlock the secret of the ship—and to the origins of mankind itself.

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Whew! This was a humdingah of a thrill ride. It showed up as 746 pages on the Nook, but it moved fast and the pages flew with the flick of a thumb.

It's the start of a series and I can't wait to read more. Doherty writes an intriguing mixture of science fiction and thriller. There's the military, scientists, archeologists, newspaper reporters, and aliens. The action takes place all over the world and the action moves fast. Don't get attached to anyone, as they are likely to die or get abducted or have experiments done....

All of the characters are well done, both good and bad peeps. At least this time the military isn't all the way bad guy, just onesie-twosie or threesie....

All I had to do was get over some inconsistancies in military schtuff, I can't help myself after being in the Air Force for a goodly while. The inconsistancies were hiccups after a bit, so not a biggie.

I hope there will be more archeological bits in the future books. And I hope the main core of the good guys will be in the upcoming books.

Five humdingah thrill ride beans.....

AFTER HOURS: Tales from the Ur-Bar - Anthology

From the back of the book: Benjamin Tate, S C Butler, Jennifer Dunne, Barbara Ashford, Maria V Snyder, Kari Sperring, D B Jackson, Patricia Bray, Seanan McGuire, Juliet E McKenna, Laura Anne Gilman, Ian Tregillis, Avery Shade, Jackie Kessler, Anton Strout

The first bar, created by the Sumerians after they were given the gift of beer by the gods, was known as the Ur-Bar. Although it has since been destroyed, its spirit lives on. In each age there is one bar that captures the essence of the original Ur-Bar, where drinks are mixed with magic and served with a side of destiny and intrigue.

Science fiction and fantasy readers have long shown an affinity for a good "bar story". From TALES FROM GAVAGAN'S BAR and TALES FROM THE WHITE HART to the CALLAHAN'S CROSSTIME SALOON stories, bars and imaginative accounts just seem to go together.

Now some of today's most inventive scriveners have decided to belly up to the Ur-Bar and tell their own tall tales---from an alewife's attempt to transfer the gods' curse to Gilgamesh, to Odin's decision to introduce Vikings to the Ur-Bar...from the Holy Roman Emperor's barroom bargain, to a demon hunter who may just have met his match in the ultimate magic bar, to a bouncer who discovers you should never let anyone in after hurs in a world terrorized by zombies.....

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I rarely have luck with anthologies. I think that's the norm for a lot of people based on reviews I've read here and there.

That said, I saw a review for this particular anthology. Can't remember who was so in favor of it, but it was a 'trusted agent' and I put it on the WWBL. Then B&N must have been having a heckuva sale and it was put in the shopping cart and on Mt Git'r'Read.

I think it only languished for a bit before I was in the mood for this type of read.

And what a swell decision! Every single story is amazing and well-written, completely different premise from the rest with only the Ur-Bar as the single theme tying everything together.

The book seems to move in a forward pattern from the past to the future and the sort of nil.

Anything more is a rehash of the 'Back of the Book', so will stop here. I really liked this book, glad that not all anthologies are pewp and happy to 'meet' some new authors to add to the WWBL.

Five belly up to the Ur-Bar beans....

THE CHILDREN OF MEN - P D James, narr John Franklyn-Robbins

From the back of the BOCD: P D James, best-selling author of the Adam Dalgliesh mystery series, has proven herself adept at writing novels that are suspenseful without being gratuitously violent, complex without being complicated. Her characters are convincing and their plights believable, which makes THE CHILDREN OF MEN all the more compelling.

The human race faces extinction. It is annihilation brought not by disease or nuclear war, not by crashing meteorites or colliding stars. Men and women have ceased, simply, to procreate. In 1994, sperm counts hit zero; pediatrics wards were rapidly and permanently depleted. Overnight, it seemed, the human race had lost its power to breed.

The last generation of children to offer mankind a chance was born in 1995--the Omegas. Coddled and overprotected, the Omegas were the world's last, great hope. When they, too, reached sexual maturity unable to breed, everyone realized homo sapiens had become a doomed commodity.

Now, 25 years later, a pervasive lethargy blankets the world. Pornography has been legalized. Massive numbers of people have fled back to the cities, fearful of encroaching nature. Ritualistic suicides are sanctioned by the government as a means of ridding countries of their surplus elderly. Anarchy reigns in the prisons, immigrants are enslaved, renegade Omegas terrorize the land.

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I will say right now that I enjoy the Adam Dalgliesh mysteries that P D James writes, I can read those any time, watch the movies made from the books at the drop of a DVD. I really tried to bring the same enthusiasm to this book, but just couldn't get into it as much.

The premise is intriguing, but very bleak. Humans no longer reproduce due to some unknown malady. They have dolls as their babies with baby showers, baptisms, etc (creeeepy) or over-baby their pets.

A miracle occurs and the small team of rebels that becomes the center of the story is on the run.

There is death, sadness, oddities and a story that meandered. I will always love reading P D James' mysteries there is no doubt about that. It was just that this very bleak look at a possible future was not for me.

Three why does the future always seem bleak in books and movies beans....