Can't agree with you more Jim.

 All valid points, and I have numerous other reasons to add on to that for my dislike of this latest DL fare.

I don't wanna read a DL book where Krysty is reduced to babysitting and Ryan is now a house builder. How would a baron's son turned DL warrior learn to all the sudden build quality homes?

DL fans don't want mundane, we want blazing action with solid stories of travels to new and interesting environments. Beekeeping? How is that interesting in a world chock-full of much more mutated strains of beings, or creepy bioweps that have been either already introduced, or waiting to be created by an awesome writer.

I feel that this Rik Hoskin, although trying his best, with his heart in the right place, just is not suited for this genre. He has proven to be a good writer at times, but it seems his writing - in both series - seems rushed and not well thought out. Maybe not writing so many books at a time would help? Maybe that is what makes Helfers and Rogers' books that much more superior. They don't throw out just anything to be published. Hoskin needs to pay attention to detail. Perhaps slow down a bit, cultivate that awesome story that I know he is more than capable to write.

And don't become a Andy Boot or one of those other writers of the past we have all lambasted.

* And speaking of... the doors are vanadium steel, not titanium. And... if "someone had gone to a lot of trouble to bend the thick titanium door so that it would not snap back", how did they get it closed again?
* Krysty summoning her Gaia power almost instantly (and repeatedly).
* The companions didn't do anything to prevent anyone else from using the mat-trans after they left, beyond closing the door (the door, I might add, that the locals forced open in the first place...). I figured they were going to use the LD button and send a bomb back, but I guess not.

And a couple other things:
* It was noted that JB kept the safety on Jak's Python, which is a revolver. Revolvers don't have safeties.
* Krysty's pistol is mentioned (twice) as having .158-grain slugs. Those must be really tiny bullets...

But Kerrick, you just demonstrated illustriously, i might add, why we had so many issues with this latest fare.

You mentioning numerous other solid points is why we should not have to trudge through so much sludge to find a diamond in the rough. For me, though, there never appeared a diamond. 

If any given author doesn't know his stuff about DL's weaponry, or how the characters act, then they need to study the better written books for the right answers.

True. The idea behind plot was good, but yeah... it needed some work. I mean, the Regina could have used a bit of development - who was she? Did she know about the honey, or was she a dupe like the rest? Was she a mutie (seems like she had some kind of empathy)? He could've spent more time on this and less on the mundane stuff. I say it was "good" because I actually read the whole thing. There were some definite "WTF?? moments, and a few places were I just laughed out loud, but it was entertaining.

I am currently over halfway through Larry Correia's Monster Hunter Alpha, the 3rd book in his series.

If you haven't read this author, then you are truly missing out. Like James Axler books, Larry writes action-packed sci-fi/horror/fantasy books, replete with detailed weaponry like the Axler books always have. The author KNOWS his guns! Perhaps it is superior authors like this that KNOW how weapons work, feel, etc...that make the writing much more believable, with engaging characters of different types.

This author would make a great addition to ANY of the Axler series. Yeah, it ain't gonna happen, but I can see through his books that he has a mix of Magistrate-like Monster Hunters who hunt and kill monsters that come across as solid muties at times, instead of the typical vampire and werewolves.

What i am trying to say is, when you read bestselling authors like this, then try to read certain cover authors in these series, I can't help but hope and expect that level of writing in them. Paying attention to detail, having the DL companions and/or the Cerberus group ACT like the original authors created them to be.

 Hey, everybody has their opinion and tastes.  

That's right, Jim. You cannot.

And yes, as soon as I got my copy, I did notice right away the major typo in back to wrong book, wrong series.

Just shows you how much GE pays attention to detail out there.

Posted By Maximus on 2/9/2014 12:13:34 PM

And yes, as soon as I got my copy, I did notice right away the major typo in back to wrong book, wrong series.

 

Just shows you how much GE pays attention to detail out there.

There is something funky going on there that's for sure. In the back of Hanging Judge a panel showing the list of  series GE has includes Room 59 with the word "new" in front of it. That series came and went long ago.

Posted By Kerrick on 2/9/2014 3:52:16 PM
Jim: They didn't replace the panels... they patched them back together (which, in my mind, is the worse offense). I still can't believe that bomb was somehow powerful enough to shatter armaglass without completely obliterating the chamber itself.

Sorry Kerrick but it does say on p207

"...Inside the floor had been patched... ...damaged tiles replaced with new ones... ...located somewhere in the redoubt, maybe plucked off the walls of another room."

Jim

******SPOILERS*********

This has to be the best goof though...

 Doc and J.B decide to split up to go and talk to the other group members  near the books conclusion...

page 260 J.B goes to talk with Mildred and Ricky, things go wrong and he pulls Jaks pistol out to stop them.

Meanwhile...

page 274 Doc goes to speak with Jak and pulls out Jaks pistol once more to hand it back...

 Jim