Welcome to this week’s Reading Roundup! These Wednesday posts are about the books that I have finished reading since the previous week’s Roundup. I am a member of Goodreads, where I have been tracking my reading for a few years. For these posts, I include each book’s blurb and my review from Goodreads. Usually, I expand a bit on my review. Since I had a stroke in September 2019, I have to read ebooks as my eyesight was affected. Also memory issues mean that I have to write my reviews very soon after finishing each book as I often forget what I have just read! Apologies for the brevity of my reviews, but you can usually find much more detailed ones on Goodreads and other such sites. Mine are usually quick responses to the book and are not always in tune with other people’s!

Right, let’s begin…

OK, so I swamped you all with the first three Vorkosigan Saga books in last week’s post! I have to admit that I read a fourth before tearing myself away from this brilliant series. This one is The Vor Game by Lois McMaster Bujold, #06 Vorkosigan Saga.

Here is the blurb:

“Together, they can get into a lot of trouble. Trouble only the combined forces of the Free Dendarii Mercenaries can get them out of. At least, that’s what they’re hoping…

In this latest adventure with the galaxy’s craftiest mercenary leader Miles, starts out by so shaking up the High Command on his home planet of Barrayar that he is sent to the other side of the galaxy – where who should he run into but his old pals the Free Dendarii Mercenaries. And a good thing too, because it turns out that Miles’ childhood chum, that’s Emperor Gregor to you, has been the victim of foul play, and only Miles – with a little Dendarii muscle – can save him. This is very important to Miles; because if Gregor dies, the only person who could become the new emperor is Miles himself – and that he regards as a fate worse than death.”

And this is my quick response on Goodreads:

The Vor Game by Lois McMaster Bujold
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Another great read in a great series. I love the ingenious solutions to complicated situations and the sneaky humour of the whole book. Miles is such a great character and very unusual for the time that the book was written.

My only negative is that I really missed Cordelia, Miles’s mother. The first two books that I read were based on her and I really grew to love her. Now that we have moved on to the next generation, it is a shame that such an interesting and strong character is sidelined.

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I am sure that I will return to the series very soon. For my next book I went to one of my other favourite series…

The Nameless Ones is the 19th book in John Connolly’s Charlie Parker series. I think that I have read the entire series to date, but will have to check (checked and, yes, I have read them all). This is the blurb:

“From the international and instant New York Times bestselling author of The Dirty South, the white-knuckled Charlie Parker series returns with this heart-pounding race to hunt down the deadliest of war criminals.

In Amsterdam, four people are butchered in a canal house, their remains arranged around the crucified form of their patriarch, De Jaager: fixer, go-between, and confidante of the assassin named Louis. The men responsible for the murders are Serbian war criminals. They believe they can escape retribution by retreating to their homeland.

They are wrong.

For Louis has come to Europe to hunt them down: five killers to be found and punished before they can vanish into the east.

There is only one problem.

The sixth.”

Once again, my response might be considered to be unexpected:

The Nameless Ones by John Connolly
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I am struggling more and more with this series. It used to be one of my favourites and I found the characters and events intriguing and interesting. It was always pretty gory, but now the bloodletting seems gratuitous in the extreme.

Parts of the book were exciting and gripping, but the whole idea of concentrating on Louis and Angel, with Charlie Parker only having a bit-part was disappointing. I remember the war in the Balkans quite well, but found the explanations of this became very repetitive. The worst aspect for me was the constant and almost salacious mentions of rape. In all of the bloodshed and horror this was a step too far.

So, this leaves me very unsure about reading any further books in the series, which is a shame because Connolly is such an excellent writer. This is a real dilemma!

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Well, after that I have turned to a library ebook by a new-to-me author. I will give you my thoughts next week.

Until then: Happy Reading to you all!

Love and best wishes,

Anne

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