While I was a little disappointed with Book #4, this next title really stepped up its game. The Forbidden City starts off with Annja helping a young Chinese man try to find the remains of one of his ancestors, who came to America during the gold rush years of the mid 19th century. But the man's true motives are revealed in a hail of gunfire, and Annja finds herself on the run (once again) with an ancient belt plaque, possibly the key to a lost city of thieves and an immense fortune that has been lost for over a thousand years.
This book features both Garin and Roux in prominent secondary roles, and of course, their interests are diametrically opposed to one another. It turns out that there is a mysterious artifact of great power hidden in this lost city; Garin wants the artifact for the power it contains, while Roux wants the artifact to keep it out of the hands of people like Garin. This book goes a long way to deepen the mystery of Roux's past (just how old is he, anyway?), and it reveals to Annja a little more of the mysterious, magical shadow world that she is now involved with since re-forming Joan's sword.
We also find ourselves meeting a bunch of new secondary characters. Some of them make it through to the end of the book and some don't, but I would like to see a couple of them re-appear in later books if at all possible. One of the great things about a series like RA is that secondary characters can come and go from book to book and help enrich the feel of the RA-verse as much more complex and interactive. Whether that happens or not remains for me to discover, but I have my fingers crossed.
All in all, this was a very solid offering, and it is clear that the Rogue Angel series has come into its maturity. If you like history, mythology, and a healthy dose of action-adventure, this series is for you. Fans of adventure games like D&D will especially enjoy this book, I think, because of the "treasure hunt" aspects of the plot and the journey into the subterranean "forbidden city", filled with traps and treasures, will be enjoyably familiar to any veteran dungeon-crawler. Where's a ten foot pole when you really need one?
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Showing posts with label rogue angel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rogue angel. Show all posts
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Book Review: The Chosen - Rogue Angel #4 by Alex Archer
I hate to admit it, but I was a little disappointed with this book. There are plenty of interesting characters, especially the mysterious and deadly Father Godin, but I think this book was begun without a really strong grasp of how it was going to end.
Essentially, this book takes place in the American Southwest, but Annja winds up traveling all over the world in the quest for her answers. She is attacked in Mexico City, in the Philippines...really everywhere she turns, someone's trying to kill her. While this makes for a lot of cool battle sequences (Annja's body count in this book is insanely high, easily the highest so far), it makes for a very disjointed novel that seems like it is just that - a series of battle sequences.
The overall "monster" of the book is also very weird. A series of black, ominous creatures with red eyes and a strange screaming cry are popping up all over - are they demonic, extra-terrestrial, or what? There is an explanation at the end, but it is something of a non-explanation. I really do think the author wrote himself into a bit of a corner and wasn't sure how to end the book.
As mentioned in the beginning, the saving grace of this novel is Annja's rival / partner in crime, Father Godin. A real Inquisitor for the Vatican, he hunts down all things demonic, evil, or just plain in need of an old fashioned killing. He comes off as one of those older, veteran warriors who are so cool if done right in an action novel, and his interplay with Annja makes for a great story.
In summary, if you want to read this book for the sake of completion, it's not awful, it just isn't as good as the others in the series. If you don't really care about being consistent in which volumes you read, I would skip The Chosen and read the next volume in the series, which I found to be a lot better.
Essentially, this book takes place in the American Southwest, but Annja winds up traveling all over the world in the quest for her answers. She is attacked in Mexico City, in the Philippines...really everywhere she turns, someone's trying to kill her. While this makes for a lot of cool battle sequences (Annja's body count in this book is insanely high, easily the highest so far), it makes for a very disjointed novel that seems like it is just that - a series of battle sequences.
The overall "monster" of the book is also very weird. A series of black, ominous creatures with red eyes and a strange screaming cry are popping up all over - are they demonic, extra-terrestrial, or what? There is an explanation at the end, but it is something of a non-explanation. I really do think the author wrote himself into a bit of a corner and wasn't sure how to end the book.
As mentioned in the beginning, the saving grace of this novel is Annja's rival / partner in crime, Father Godin. A real Inquisitor for the Vatican, he hunts down all things demonic, evil, or just plain in need of an old fashioned killing. He comes off as one of those older, veteran warriors who are so cool if done right in an action novel, and his interplay with Annja makes for a great story.
In summary, if you want to read this book for the sake of completion, it's not awful, it just isn't as good as the others in the series. If you don't really care about being consistent in which volumes you read, I would skip The Chosen and read the next volume in the series, which I found to be a lot better.
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Book Review: The Spider Stone - Rogue Angel #3 by Alex Archer
In this third Rogue Angel book, I think the series finally hits its stride. Don't get me wrong - the first two books were good and I really enjoyed them. But this installment of the series feels very solid. I think Mel Odom (this book's ghost writer) has Annja's personality and how she would react in various situations firmly zeroed in, and the story weaves together a good blend of history, mythology, action, and mystery to give us a very interesting read.
In brief, the bodies of a number of escaped Civil War-era slaves are found in the basement of a long-abandoned warehouse. Annja Creed, our heroine, is asked to come and investigate the scene from an archaeological perspective along with a local professor and a handful of eager college students. But what gets the ball rolling on the whole mystery is that one of the slaves was in possession of The Spider Stone, an African artifact of the Hausa people, a tribe favored (supposedly) by Anansi, the Spider God. The Stone supposedly represents a promise from Anansi to the Hausa people that as long as their tribe is in possession of the stone, they will never die out.
Even more interesting, and what really kicks things off, the Stone is supposedly a map to a fabulous treasure hidden somewhere in the Hausa people's ancient tribal lands. A number of factions - some good, some definitely not good - begin moving to find the Stone and therefore find the treasure. An African warlord, a Homeland Security investigator, Annja, her archaeological entourage, and a number of other people get sucked into the mix, eventually traveling to Africa in search for this treasure. Some of Annja's old acquaintances make an appearance, and some new ones come along - this book definitely has a full and flavorful cast of characters.
Of the three Rogue Angel titles so far, The Spider Stone feels the most like an Indiana Jones movie. If you blended together elements from Raiders of the Lost Ark and Last Crusade, you'd get a very good feel for the sort of treasure hunting vibe this book radiates, and it makes it a lot of fun. Thrown into the mix is a lot of interesting history and folklore, some no doubt manufactured for the novel, some based on actual mythology. But it is the interweaving of fact and fiction, story and myth, that makes this book work. This is the sort of thing that The X-Files would get "just right" in its best episodes, and I hope that this trend continues in future Rogue Angel installments.
In brief, the bodies of a number of escaped Civil War-era slaves are found in the basement of a long-abandoned warehouse. Annja Creed, our heroine, is asked to come and investigate the scene from an archaeological perspective along with a local professor and a handful of eager college students. But what gets the ball rolling on the whole mystery is that one of the slaves was in possession of The Spider Stone, an African artifact of the Hausa people, a tribe favored (supposedly) by Anansi, the Spider God. The Stone supposedly represents a promise from Anansi to the Hausa people that as long as their tribe is in possession of the stone, they will never die out.
Even more interesting, and what really kicks things off, the Stone is supposedly a map to a fabulous treasure hidden somewhere in the Hausa people's ancient tribal lands. A number of factions - some good, some definitely not good - begin moving to find the Stone and therefore find the treasure. An African warlord, a Homeland Security investigator, Annja, her archaeological entourage, and a number of other people get sucked into the mix, eventually traveling to Africa in search for this treasure. Some of Annja's old acquaintances make an appearance, and some new ones come along - this book definitely has a full and flavorful cast of characters.
Of the three Rogue Angel titles so far, The Spider Stone feels the most like an Indiana Jones movie. If you blended together elements from Raiders of the Lost Ark and Last Crusade, you'd get a very good feel for the sort of treasure hunting vibe this book radiates, and it makes it a lot of fun. Thrown into the mix is a lot of interesting history and folklore, some no doubt manufactured for the novel, some based on actual mythology. But it is the interweaving of fact and fiction, story and myth, that makes this book work. This is the sort of thing that The X-Files would get "just right" in its best episodes, and I hope that this trend continues in future Rogue Angel installments.
Monday, August 8, 2011
Book Review: Solomon's Jar - Rogue Angel #2 by Alex Archer
I read this second installment of Gold Eagle's Rogue Angel series literally as soon as I finished the first (go Kindle!). Written by Victor Milan (who wrote the post-apocalyptic series The Guardians as well as a bunch of FASA's Battletech media tie-in novels and a number of other works), Solomon's Jar has a somewhat different, grittier feel than Destiny.
For one thing, the body count is substantially higher for Annja Creed. In the opening couple of chapters - which don't really connect to the overall plot of the book - our heroine kicks some major butt and winds up killing quite a few bad guys with her sword, rather than just using it to knock aside guns so she can punch and kick people a la Xena: Warrior Princess. While there are times in this novel where she will use her magical blade in a non-lethal manner, Milan definitely upped her kill quotient this time around. This isn't to say Annja has abandoned guns, either; she still gets in a few gun kills, continuing to show that her character can shoot, punch, kick, stab, and slash with the best of them.
In addition, unlike the first novel, which took place largely in one geographical area, Solomon's Jar jet-sets us around to a number of different exotic locales. I think this is going to be one of the series' biggest strengths, taking the reader around the world where we can dip our toes into a lot of different cultures, the same way the James Bond books and the classic Gold Eagle books would spotlight one country after another during our hero's adventures.
Another thing I liked about this book is that we can see how Annja uses her semi-celebrity status, and how it can sometimes backfire against her. I enjoy how her character is being portrayed living this double life of television starlet / wandering hero, and how it seems to pull in a large rogues gallery of secondary characters. And while Garin doesn't make an appearance in this book, Roux does have a cameo; as I have read the third book, I can say that it appears one or the other character seems to pop in every novel, either to drop off a tidbit of information or to lend a helping hand.
According to the Wikipedia entry for the Rogue Angel series, Odom and Milan trade off for the first eight books, at which time a number of other authors step in. It's going to be cool to see how each author takes a crack at the series in true Gold Eagle fashion. The more I read of the Rogue Angel series, the more highly I recommend it as a solid action / adventure line, definitely something new and different compared to yet another "elite cadre of anti-terror specialists".
For one thing, the body count is substantially higher for Annja Creed. In the opening couple of chapters - which don't really connect to the overall plot of the book - our heroine kicks some major butt and winds up killing quite a few bad guys with her sword, rather than just using it to knock aside guns so she can punch and kick people a la Xena: Warrior Princess. While there are times in this novel where she will use her magical blade in a non-lethal manner, Milan definitely upped her kill quotient this time around. This isn't to say Annja has abandoned guns, either; she still gets in a few gun kills, continuing to show that her character can shoot, punch, kick, stab, and slash with the best of them.
In addition, unlike the first novel, which took place largely in one geographical area, Solomon's Jar jet-sets us around to a number of different exotic locales. I think this is going to be one of the series' biggest strengths, taking the reader around the world where we can dip our toes into a lot of different cultures, the same way the James Bond books and the classic Gold Eagle books would spotlight one country after another during our hero's adventures.
Another thing I liked about this book is that we can see how Annja uses her semi-celebrity status, and how it can sometimes backfire against her. I enjoy how her character is being portrayed living this double life of television starlet / wandering hero, and how it seems to pull in a large rogues gallery of secondary characters. And while Garin doesn't make an appearance in this book, Roux does have a cameo; as I have read the third book, I can say that it appears one or the other character seems to pop in every novel, either to drop off a tidbit of information or to lend a helping hand.
According to the Wikipedia entry for the Rogue Angel series, Odom and Milan trade off for the first eight books, at which time a number of other authors step in. It's going to be cool to see how each author takes a crack at the series in true Gold Eagle fashion. The more I read of the Rogue Angel series, the more highly I recommend it as a solid action / adventure line, definitely something new and different compared to yet another "elite cadre of anti-terror specialists".
Friday, August 5, 2011
BookReview: Destiny - Rogue Angel #1 by Alex Archer
I've been interested in this series since I saw it debut in 2005, but as I am mostly buried under paperbacks already, and I was worried about what exactly the series was going for and how well it would last, I let it pass by me.
Fast forward a good six years. There are now over 30 Rogue Angel titles out, and they're all available as Kindle books for less that five bucks apiece. So hey, why not give it a shot?
Overall, I found the book rather entertaining. One part Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (Annja Creed, the heroine, even makes an oblique jab at the video game character in this book) and one part Witchblade, with some vibes from Alias thrown in (at least, in my mind), Rogue Angel - Destiny was a pretty solid action novel.
Annja Creed is an investigative archaeologist who works for a cable television "history" series that's about as serious as anything you'd find on the History Channel at 3 o'clock in the morning. But it gives her the freedom to roam the world and stick her nose into various little-visited areas of the globe. On one such trip in France she gets mixed up in the hunt for an ancient amulet, the Beast of Gevaudan, and the search for Joan of Arc's sword.
A mysterious old man named Roux who is definitely more than he appears, adds a great deal of mystery to the mix. As well as the son of a deceased burglar, a maniacal criminal mastermind, and a cabal of unsavory monks hiding a centuries old secret. Combine all this with a five-hundred year old broadsword that lives in a pocket dimension of its own, and you've got quite the modern fantasy / mystery novel.
Mel Odom (the ghost writer for this book) did yeoman's work in setting the stage for future installments. I'm already reading the next book, Solomon's Jar, and it doesn't disappoint either.
Most importantly, neither does our heroine. Annja Creed is smart, she's tough, she's skilled, and while she is lithe and beautiful, these assets are used sparingly, if at all. In my mind, she's a good combination of Sydney Bristow and Sara Pezini, both tough and capable heroines who use brains, brawn, and beauty in deadly combination.
If you're a history buff, you might squirm a little now and then while things are bent for the purposes of entertainment. I was a little annoyed reading this story when they kept referring to "knights in armor" in the time period of The Beast, which was the mid 1700s (around the time of the French and Indian War). While there were certainly knighted individuals going to war and having adventures during that time, any mention of armor just seems silly - if such is used, perhaps a cavalryman's cuirass or a "lobster tail" helm, or a pair of armored gauntlets, it should be specifically labeled as such to keep it from seeming silly, otherwise the idea of an armored knight riding about a decade before the American Revolution puts a fork in the historical crediblity of the story.
But ultimately, this is an action novel, and I'm willing to forgive a bit of mis-handled research. The book was a fun, fasts read, and I hope to enjoy many more.
Fast forward a good six years. There are now over 30 Rogue Angel titles out, and they're all available as Kindle books for less that five bucks apiece. So hey, why not give it a shot?
Overall, I found the book rather entertaining. One part Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (Annja Creed, the heroine, even makes an oblique jab at the video game character in this book) and one part Witchblade, with some vibes from Alias thrown in (at least, in my mind), Rogue Angel - Destiny was a pretty solid action novel.
Annja Creed is an investigative archaeologist who works for a cable television "history" series that's about as serious as anything you'd find on the History Channel at 3 o'clock in the morning. But it gives her the freedom to roam the world and stick her nose into various little-visited areas of the globe. On one such trip in France she gets mixed up in the hunt for an ancient amulet, the Beast of Gevaudan, and the search for Joan of Arc's sword.
A mysterious old man named Roux who is definitely more than he appears, adds a great deal of mystery to the mix. As well as the son of a deceased burglar, a maniacal criminal mastermind, and a cabal of unsavory monks hiding a centuries old secret. Combine all this with a five-hundred year old broadsword that lives in a pocket dimension of its own, and you've got quite the modern fantasy / mystery novel.
Mel Odom (the ghost writer for this book) did yeoman's work in setting the stage for future installments. I'm already reading the next book, Solomon's Jar, and it doesn't disappoint either.
Most importantly, neither does our heroine. Annja Creed is smart, she's tough, she's skilled, and while she is lithe and beautiful, these assets are used sparingly, if at all. In my mind, she's a good combination of Sydney Bristow and Sara Pezini, both tough and capable heroines who use brains, brawn, and beauty in deadly combination.
If you're a history buff, you might squirm a little now and then while things are bent for the purposes of entertainment. I was a little annoyed reading this story when they kept referring to "knights in armor" in the time period of The Beast, which was the mid 1700s (around the time of the French and Indian War). While there were certainly knighted individuals going to war and having adventures during that time, any mention of armor just seems silly - if such is used, perhaps a cavalryman's cuirass or a "lobster tail" helm, or a pair of armored gauntlets, it should be specifically labeled as such to keep it from seeming silly, otherwise the idea of an armored knight riding about a decade before the American Revolution puts a fork in the historical crediblity of the story.
But ultimately, this is an action novel, and I'm willing to forgive a bit of mis-handled research. The book was a fun, fasts read, and I hope to enjoy many more.
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