Audiobook Review: Doctor Who and the Horns of Nimon by Terrance Dicks

Fan opinion on “The Horns of Nimon” is fairly divided — there are those who adore it and then there are those who consider it the low point of its era.

It’s been a hot minute since I rewatched the story and it’s not a Target adaptation that I have strong memories of either way. With the story coming out as an audiobook, it feels like this is the publisher trying to finish out the range with a novelization that isn’t regarded as one of Terrance Dicks’ more stellar efforts.

And yet, listening to this audiobook, I was immensely entertained and felt like I was hearing the story again for the first time. Now, this doesn’t mean this story has jumped into my top ten stories of all time, but listening to it and experiencing it for the first time in a decade or more, I found myself more than entertained by it. Dicks starts the story off with a prologue that establishes the rise and fall of the empire and the Nimon’s arrival with promises of glories to come if only the Sconons will follow the Nimon’s instructions.

If the entire novel had shown as much care as this early chapter did, this one might be remembered as one of the better entries by Dicks. Instead, from that creative high, we get a fairly straightforward adaptation of what we got on-screen (at least as far as I can recall). Your mileage will vary on which camp you fall into for this one — though I will admit that removed from some of the acting choices made by certain thespians in this story, the overall story and threat work a bit better (at least for this fan).

The audiobook is an interesting experience. Performed by Geoffrey Beavers (who is (apparently) the go-to reader these days if Jon Culshaw isn’t available), he makes some different choices than the actors who memorably brought this to life on screen. I will admit that not having Soldeed as over the top helps make him a more sympathetic figure (when you realize the Nimon is using him) and a bigger potential threat. Again, I could listen to Beavers read the take-out menu and he’d do a solid job on it, so I shouldn’t be too surprised that his work here is, once again, exemplary.

Listening to this, I find myself curious to revisit revisit “Nimon”. I’m working on a pilgrimage through classic Who and I’m a good chunk away from getting this one. But I will admit, part of me is really looking forward to it….

Review: Star Trek: Mutiny on the Enterprise by Robert E. Vardeman

My quest to read or re-read the Star Trek novels published in 1983 continues with Robert E. Vardeman’s Mutiny on the Enterprise. While I’d checked this one as read in the past, I couldn’t recall any details about it before or while reading it. This may be my memory trying to protect me from an extremely disappointing novel.

Mutiny on the Enterprise plays a lot like a late third-season episode of Star Trek. The characters and settings are all there but something seems just a tiny bit off.

Pulling into a starbase for repairs and R&R, Kirk and the crew are quickly informed that isn’t happening since the Enterprise is the least banged up ship in the quadrant. But the mission should be a fairly straightforward one, racing an ambassadorial trio to negotiate with the planets of Ammdon and Jurnamoria before war can break out and the Romulans can swoop in. Never mind that one of the ambassadors is a Tellarite, who wants to pick a fight at every turn with anyone who will speak to him.

So, the Enterprise heads off, but along the way, the crew encounters a derelict ship with a woman named Lorelai aboard. Beaming her on board only begins a lot of Kirk’s troubles — surprisingly few of them come from attempting to strike up a romantic relationship with Lorelai. (Though we are treated to numerous times when Kirk can’t stop thinking about her). Seems that Lorelai is committed to the cause of peace up to the point of never firing a phaser or photon torpedo, ever. She keeps warning the crew that if the Enterprise warps into the system with Ammdon and Jurnamoria, both sides will be at war before you can say “Beam me up, Scotty.”

Review: The Spare Man by Mary Robinette Kowal

A couple of years ago, I decided I’d read all the nominees for the Hugo Award from that year and see which novel I’d choose. This tradition continued for several years for me, with mixed results. After a while, it felt like certain novels were picked less for their merits and more based on who the author was. Get nominated once and it felt like you had name recognition to carry you for a couple of years, no matter whether your book was worthy of the award or not.

So, my annual project to read all the nominated best novels fell by the wayside. Until last year, when the short list came out, I decided to give it a try again (it helped that I’d already finished one of the novels from the year). Based on the list, I hoped to visit a few old friends again and maybe discover a new author or two that I could do a deep-dive into their works.

I’d read Scalzi’s entry and my local library had a copy of Mary Robinette Kowal’s The Spare Man easily accessible, so I started there. The idea of a Thin Man type of mystery set in outer space intrigued me and I found myself eager to dive in.

That enthusiasm lasted about fifty pages.

I am probably spoiled by how much I enjoyed Issac Asimov’s Robot novels and how well they straddled the line between mystery and science-fiction. But with The Spare Man, I found myself not engaged by the story, the mystery, or the continued setting. I couldn’t shake the feeling I get when I read a lot of Dean Koontz’s works — that feeling that I’ve read this before, even though I know it’s a new (to me) book.

It feels like this one was written on autopilot. There’s never any real hook for me and I never became invested in the central mystery enough or the main characters to feel invested enough to want to race to the finish. I finished more out of a sense of — well, I’ve come this far, might as well see where it all goes.

A disappointing entry from a usually reliable author.

Review: Starter Villain by John Scalzi

The moment Starter Villain introduced talking dolphins who swear like most thirteen-year-old boys who have discovered the f-word, it had me.

But given that leading up to that we’d had a funeral in which everyone showed up to make sure the deceased really was deceased (including stabbing the body) and cats who can communicate by typing out their thoughts, I guess you could pretty much say I was into John Scalzi’s novel early. It helps that his latest novel taps into the same absurdist fun as his Hugo-winning Red Shirts did.

After being laid off from his journalistic job, Charlie struggles to make ends meet as a substitute teacher while living in his deceased father’s home. After he’s turned down for a loan to purchase his local bar and run it, Charlie finds himself at loose ends, until he gets news that is rich uncle has passed away and wants Charlie to take over his business. What Charlie doesn’t know is that business is the villain business and Charlie’s uncle was a major player.

Oh yeah, and there are sentient cats who can communicate via keyboard and he’s got to negotiate a labor dispute with the dolphins who, again, like to swear a lot.

I found myself laughing out loud at multiple points during Starter Villian. And yet in the laughter, Scalzi takes time to make a few interesting points and observations about the world and the people we’re putting in charge of things, the state of technology, and multiple other issues I won’t necessarily delve too far into here. But what Scalzi does so well is entertain first and foremost — the scene where various wannabe villains present their evil plots and are either rewarded with the thumbs up or sent flying via a giant spring into the sea is just one example of this in a book packed full of them.

And in a world where it feels like far too many genre entries are going for a multi-book saga, it’s nice that Starter Villain can be enjoyed on its own. I wouldn’t necessarily mind spending more time with the various players in this story (again, the dolphins) but the novel wisely ties up everything by the time the final page is turned.

One of the more satisfying novels I’ve read lately and highly recommended.

In the interest of full disclosure, I received a digital ARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Audiobook Review: Diary of a Wimpy Kid: No Brainer by Jeff Kinney

It’s pretty much a No Brainer that I’m going to listen to each new installment in Jeff Kinney’s Wimpy Kid series. At this point, I’m eighteen books in and there’s still enough in each offering that I enjoy spending a few hours with Greg Hefley and his family.

The eighteenth installment of the series is one of the most amusing in quite some time. With low test scores, a name from a notorious used-car dealership, and their claim to fame being the newly invented fudge dogs (a tofu dog dipped in chocolate), Greg’s middle school is facing budget cuts and possible closure. Kinny’s observations about school cutbacks and the faculty having to stretch the budget will amuse kids but adults will recognize an element of truth as they laugh along as well. This installment hits close to home and reality in a lot of ways.

Overall, a solid entry in the series.

Audiobook Review: Same Time, Next Year by Tessa Bailey

Looking for something light to ease me into the new year exercise regiment, I decided to give Tessa Bailey one last try with her novella Same Time Next Year.

All I can say is, three strikes and she’s out.

The premise of the novel is fairly decent — boy marries a girl for the sake of a green card and to continue pursuing his dreams in our fair country. Add in that both the boy and girl are both already attracted to each other and you’ve got what could be a fun take on certain rom-com tropes.

The devil is in the details.

Bailey gets so many details just absolutely incorrect — things that it would be easy to research via Google in less time than I’m taking to write this review. One particular detail that stood out (given the recent news) is the arrival of a certain swimsuit issue of a particular magazine. Bailey has it arrive in September after our two heroes have spent two months apart, pining for each other and getting all hot and bothered. This is one of many details that Bailey doesn’t quite get right or just overlooks at the service of her story, such as it is.

I suppose I could get past the little things if the big things all work. But the book falls apart there as well. Our heroes, Britta and Sumner tie the knot as a business arrangement. He gets to stay in America and try to get picked up for the NHL (because there’s no hockey in Canada…seriously, that’s the argument) and she gets a lump sum that she uses to buy into the local sports bar she works at because it has a sentimental attachment to her mom. And the crux of Sumner’s being allowed his green card all hinges on their assigned governmental assessor seeing them making out in the parking lot and deciding you can’t fake that kind of attraction.

If I hadn’t listened to this as an audiobook, I think I would have thrown it at the wall multiple times. I found myself switching to a podcast or two simply to escape the latest absurdity piled on top of an absurdity.

I get it — romance books probably live or die based on the level of attraction between the leads and just how far PG-13 or R-rated the author wants to take readers. This one definitely hits into the R-rated territory. But at some point, an author has to do his or her homework for fear of those little details taking a reader right out of the book. And it’s the little details that become a huge stumbling block for this one.

Review: The Body Farm by Patricia Cornwell

As a graduate of the University of Tennessee, I was intrigued when The Body Farm came out because it included a fictionalized version of Dr. William Bass’s infamous research institute house at my alma mater.* So, like many in Knoxville, I picked up Patricia Cornwell’s fifth installment in the Kay Scarpetta series to see just how my beloved UT was translated to the printed page.

*This was before Dr. Bass created his own fictionalized series based on himself, which I read faithfully for a half dozen or so books.

Cornwell does well enough, referencing the Vols beating South Carolina and enjoying dinner at Calhouns on the River. However, picking this one back up a decade or more after I first read it, I seem to recall her fictionalized version of Dr. Bass having a larger presence in terms of the page count. It seems my old memory is playing tricks on me — because I’d completely forgotten the solution to the central mystery of the story.

Scarpetta is called into a case in North Carolina, where a little girl was brutally murdered while taking a shortcut home from a church meeting. The small community she’s part of was rocked by this, though there are hints that this crime could be linked to a larger running thread* from the novels about a serial killer named Gault. Scarpetta is brought in to investigate while juggling the latest drama in her niece’s life and some family issues.

*Or so I assume

Given that I am missing four novels of character set-up, it’s on me that I felt a bit confused by most of the character development bits of the story. And being the context person I am, these tended to throw me right out of the novel at times.* The overall mystery of how murdered the little girl and why and the connections in the small town in North Carolina work well and are interesting enough that I did stay up a bit later a couple of nights to just read one more chapter. Or two.

*Though they did send me to my library to check out a few earlier books to catch-up, so I guess that’s something.

As a mystery fan, I recall some of my fellow mystery buffs being dismissive of Cornwell and the Scarpetta series. I don’t necessarily see why with this one because The Body Farm‘s central mystery is a solid one that hooked me in and kept me guessing. I’m guessing that the later books delve a lot deeper in Scarpetta’s personal side, which could be a big disconnect. I found there was a balance enough of the personal and mystery plots to keep my interest sustained, despite having dropped in cold five books into the series.

As for the Dr. Bass character, he works well enough and it’s nice to see my alma mater shine on the printed page here. I hope that if I read more, we’ll see more, though I wonder of Cornwell steered clear with Dr. Bass began his books. Looks like I could have a little fun finding out.

Review: “The Exchange” by John Grisham

Like many readers, I consumed John Grisham’s The Firm in its initial paperback run. The novel put Grisham on the map of authors I’d willingly read anything they publish — a trend that has continued for the last couple of decades.

So, when I heard the news that Grisham was going back to the world of The Firm, I was intrigued and hopeful. I found myself looking forward to seeing what Mitch and Abby McDeere might be up to these days and if the events of the original story were still having an impact on them.

And while I didn’t expect a beat-for-beat repeat of the original, I at least expected that Grisham would serve up some connection to his debut novel beyond one single chapter that quickly wraps up Mitch’s feelings on Memphis and his connection to that world.

The first few chapters find Mitch at a new, prestigious law firm in New York, toiling away again as a lawyer and enjoying life as a father to he and Abby’s sons. When a pro-bono case involving the death penalty arises in Memphis, Mitch is assigned the case and heads back there for the first time since he and his family fled in the middle of the night. Unfortunately, this case proves a complete red herring, serving only to get Mitch to Memphis so his flight can be delayed and he can check on his buddy from the first novel in one chapter.

After that, Mitch and Grisham put Memphis firmly in the rearview mirror and the story heads in an entirely different and far less satisfying direction.

Mitch takes on an international case centering on a bridge built in the Libyan desert and the government’s refusal to pay for it. Globe hopping, Mitch’s team meets up with obstacle after obstacle from governmental roadblocks to food poisoning to members of the team’s kidnapping and execution. The Exchange takes a grim turn and then stays there for far too long as one of Mitch’s colleagues is held prisoner and Mitch must find a way to ensure she’s safety returned to her family and the law firm.

As the story unfolds, there are hints that Mitch wants to stay under the radar in the press and I couldn’t help but wonder if this might have some connection to his role in Memphis from the original and perhaps certain parties who are seeking revenge on Mitch and his family for his role there. I guess I was thinking about it in a different light than Grisham was because nothing ever comes of Mitch’s coverage in various media outlets.

The Exchange feels more like a stand-alone novel Grisham or his publisher would sell, so they decided to change some names, add a few early chapters, and declare it a sequel to The Firm. I found myself turning pages in the hopes that something would happen to spark the story and get it moving more than out of the need to find out what happens next, as was the case with the original.

Grisham has been a consistently entertaining storyteller for close to three decades. But this isn’t one of his better offerings.

Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite and Least Favorite of 2023

Welcome, 2024, and the first Top Ten Tuesday of the New Year (hosted by That Arsty Reader Girl). This week’s literary prompt asks what were your favorite books you read last year. 

I will include my favorite books I read last year and a couple that just didn’t connect with me. 

My Favorite Books Read in 2023:

1. Attack of the Killer Tomatoes by Jeff Strand — When the audiobook started with the narrator singing the infamous theme song to this cult classic, I knew this would be fun. But the further I got, the more this screenplay adaptation turned out to be everything I wanted/needed it to be and then some. Sure, there were other great tomes of literature published last year, but none satisfied me like this one did.
2. Being Henry: The Fonz…and Beyond by Henry Winkler – It’s no secret that I love Happy Days and I love the Fonz. So, this autobiography was going to be a hit with me out of the gate. What pleasantly surprised me was the level of honesty from Winkler. Felt like a long conversation with an old friend.
3. Surely You Can’t Be Serious: The True Story of Airplane! by David Zucker, Jim Abrahams and Jerry Zucker – The oral history of one of the funniest movies ever made is insightful and funny. It made me go back and rewatch Airplane with a renewed sense of appreciation.
4. The Quiet Tennant by Clemence Michallon – An unsettling, creepy novel that really stuck with me long after the last page was read. 
5. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie — Fun to revisit this classic murder mystery, especially knowing the solution. It held up very well. 
6. Fairy Tale by Stephen King — Read two King novels this year. I liked his take on an epic fantasy story a great deal in the first half though I feel like the second half dwindled a bit. But I still like that King is willing to take chances and challenge himself and his readers.
7. Doctor Who: The Romans by Donald Cotton — I missed this Target adaptation in my Target collecting days and I’m kicking myself for not enjoying this for the past 30 years. Told in epistolary fashion, this novel is hysterical at times. Extra points to the Target audiobook line for assembling the narrators for this one. 
8. Star Trek Novels I Revisited — I spent a good chunk of 2023 revisiting some old friends from my avid Trek novel days. Some of them held up splendidly. This includes Strike Zone and Vendetta by Peter David, The Wounded Sky by Diane Duane, Federation by  Garfield and Judith Reeves-Stevens, and Yesterday’s Son by A.C. Crispin.
9. Prom Mom by Laura Lippman — Amber Glass has spent her adult life trying to get away from the events of prom night. That is, until she returns to Baltimore, and starts making a lot of decisions that will tie her back to the night and her teenage years. As with much of Lippman’s recent works, this is a standalone character story that delves into the whys and hows of things instead of just the facts of the case. There’s a deep, dark side to this book that stayed with me.
10. A Great Disturbance in the Force: How and Why the Star Wars Holiday Special Happened by Steve Kozak — As much as George Lucas may hate to admit it, the Star Wars Holiday special is a real thing and it happened. While I can’t recall seeing it, I have heard about it over the years. But this story of the steps that led to its creation is compelling and also tells us a lot about the Lucas of then and now. 

My least favorite reads of 2023:

1. The Exchange by John Grisham — Grisham’s sequel to The Firm was wholly unsatisfying. Grisham revisits Mitch and Abby in a story that misses so many great opportunities. Indeed, this one felt like a manuscript he couldn’t sell until he inserted one chapter with Mitch going back to Memphis and then telling a completely different and far less interesting story.
2. Anything by Tessa Bailey — So, I listen to rom-com stories while running because they’re fun and help pass the miles. Except for the stories I tried from Ms. Bailey this year that just annoyed me more than entertained me. This includes Wreck the Halls and Secretly Yours. I think she’s just not my cup of tea.
3. No Plan B by Andrew & Lee Child — I think I need a break from the Reacher series. It feels like too often, the stories that would be great as novels are short stories and the stories told as short stories are stretched to novel length. 
4. Hallowe’en Party by Agatha Christie — The big reason I revisited Roger Ackroyd was because I read this Poirot story ahead of the new Poirot movie — and found it a bit too much like Christie going through the motions. 

Review: “Opposable Thumbs: How Siskel & Ebert Changed Movies Forever” by Matt Singer

If you grew up in the ’80s, odds are you decided whether or not to see at least one movie based on whether or not Siskel and Ebert gave it a thumbs up or a thumbs down.

And while I was aware of the reviewing duo from the movie ads and VHS covers at my local rental outlet, I will admit that I wasn’t as aware of just how big an impact they had on movies. Well, at least not until I saw down and read Matt Singer’s Opposable Thumbs.

Chronicling the lives and careers of Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel, this book examines how each critic built his reputation and then how they formed an unlikely alliance on television that dramatically changed movie criticism. The biggest takeaway was that Siskel and Ebert took movie criticism from esoteric to the living room — and that the duo later used their combined influence for good to begin the process of movie restoration and preservation. Along the way, they butted heads (a lot), but it was their mutual love of movies and their ability to verbalized why that dramatically changed the media landscape. After reading this book, I’d argue that these two helped make reviewing fun and entertaining and on some level, they trained a lot of us who like to offer our opinion on artistic output in just how to do it and do it well.

Opposable Thumbs was a delightful surprise and it helped me gain a deeper appreciation and respect for these two. I even got choked up reading the chapters on each man’s final days.

And yes, like many others, I feel a need to surf over to YouTube and watch some of the referenced moments from their television career now.

Thumbs up and highly recommended.

In the interest of full disclosure, I received a digital ARC of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.