Monday, November 14, 2016

Change The U.S.A.'s Electoral Process

America's methods of selecting elected officials is outdated and unfair. It needs to be changed to reflect modern realities and to make it more fair.
When the U.S.A. was brought into existence the fastest means of communication was couriers on horseback and ships propelled by wind using sails.
As a result of the slow communication and lack of technology the electoral college was conceived. Also because some of the men that contributed to the U.S. Constitution thought the common man was too stupid or uneducated enough to select someone as important as the U.S. President.
That was then, this is now. Isn't that the way the saying goes?
Even though we now have the technology needed to eliminate the electoral college enough of our rulers still hold to the elitist idea that we are either too stupid or uneducated to elect important public servants like the President. The result is that we still have the electoral college.
Our recent Presidential election demonstrates this. Hillary Clinton had more popular votes, people's votes, than Donald Trump, yet he won the election because he had more electoral votes.1
This is proof that we do not elect the President, our State governments, via the electoral votes, do.
The demand to rid ourselves of the electoral college and use the votes of the people to elect government officials has been repeated many times for many years. This demand seems to have no effect on our leaders.
It seems they would rather fight about partisan ideologies instead of working together to solve important issues. Many of them even deny facts to keep the fight going instead of trying to solve the problems the facts demonstrate are real.
Party delegates to select the Presidential nominees is just as unfair, outdated and elitist as the electoral college and should be eliminated. Let the people of that political party choose the nominee without the middle man.
People are demanding these changes more than ever. Wake up D.C., it will happen. Why wait until it slaps you in the face with the inevitability to make the changes? Try looking ahead for once and make the changes now instead of reacting (badly) to the necessities after the fact.
Make the amendments to the Constitution that are needed to make it happen while you still have time to think about it and do it right, or as right as you can, instead of rushing it later and screwing it up like usual.
Our Constitution says we are a republic and does not have the word democratic in it at all. But our government officials keep saying we are a democracy. It has been repeated often enough that it is now expected, and believed, to be so. Make it so, take my suggestions and do it.

Monday, October 10, 2016

Review: Worlds Of The Sex Gates

Worlds Of The Sex Gates Worlds Of The Sex Gates by Jeanine Berry
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Sex change abounds. Total sex change. Hormones, reproductive parts, everything. Interesting take on the roles gender can have in society when gender is not permanent.

In this third installment even more is learned about the mysterious creators of the sex gates. And more about the humans that use them.

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Review: Masters of the Sex Gates

Masters of the Sex Gates Masters of the Sex Gates by Jeanine Berry
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Sex change abounds. Total sex change. Hormones, reproductive parts, everything. Interesting take on the roles gender can have in society when gender is not permanent.

In this, the second book of the trilogy, they learn more about the mysterious race that created the sex gates.

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Review: Masters of the Sex Gates

Masters of the Sex Gates Masters of the Sex Gates by Jeanine Berry
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Sex change abounds. Total sex change. Hormones, reproductive parts, everything. Interesting take on the roles gender can have in society when gender is not permanent.

In this, the second book of the trilogy, they learn more about the mysterious race that created the sex gates.

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Review: The Forge of God

The Forge of God The Forge of God by Greg Bear
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

An ancient volcano cone is discovered in southwest USA by three geologists. It wasn't there yesterday. A dying alien is found next to it, telling of the destruction to come, the destruction of the Earth no less.

The questions are many. Is the alien lying? If so, why? Is the Earth really going to be destroyed? If the Earth is going to be destroyed, when? How? Can we stop it? If we think we can't stop it, should we try anyway? How did the ancient volcano get here?

Lots of questions. You'll have to read the book to get the answers because they are all spoilers.

Read this book. Then read the sequel "Anvil of Stars".

I consider the reading of this book to be mandatory. You must read it. You must read it. Stop reading this and read the book. ;)

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Review: Anvil of Stars

Anvil of Stars Anvil of Stars by Greg Bear
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Great book, as are all Greg Bear books I have read so far. I must now reread "Forge of God" because it has been many years since I read it and I can't recall the details to connect with "Anvil of Stars".

I reread Forge of God. So, naturally, I had to reread Anvil of Stars to keep the continuity straight (also, it has been years since I read it). I am currently rereading Anvil of Stars. Forge of God and Anvil of Stars are both just as good as they were the first time I read them.

A few details to flesh out the original review:

Spoiler Alert: the Forge of God part of this review has a few spoilers if you haven't read Forge of God, read Forge of God first then come back.

In Forge of God the Earth is destroyed by alien killer machines. Other ships show up and, warring with the killer machines, they manage to destroy them, save a couple thousand humans and start the terraforming of Mars and Venus so humans will have planets to live on.

Anvil of Stars continues with teenagers and young adults, that were children when Earth was destroyed, onboard a Ship of the Law. A Ship of the Law is a ship created by the machines of the Benefactors and crewed by children that volunteered to carry out Justice against the original creators of the killer machines.

A pair of fantastic books by a very imaginative writer. I highly recommend them both.

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Thursday, October 6, 2016

Review: Galactic Legend of Life and Death

Galactic Legend of Life and Death Galactic Legend of Life and Death by Boian Alexandrov
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A strange story overall.

I liked it, but it was somewhat difficult to follow.

The primary concept of this book is not unique but is unique in the way the author treats it.

It is a mix of spirituality, fantasy, science fiction and probably a couple of other genres.

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Review: The Descendants

The Descendants The Descendants by Nathan Wall
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Descendants Evolution of Angels Volume 2)
by Nathan Wall
I read the third one first and it was so good I bought this one and volume one.
This trilogy is intriguing. It is a unique blend of mythology, religion, and technology.

Angels that seem to depend on technology instead of being supernatural. Humans that may be supernatural under the right conditions. This is an interesting reversal of religion and mythology.

This book has lots of action, mystery, technology that's advanced enough to seem like magic, murder, mayhem, angelic revolution, betrayal, loyalty, etc.

This book is very hard to put down before finishing it.

I think everyone should read this.

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Friday, May 13, 2016

Review: The Phoenix Conspiracy

The Phoenix Conspiracy The Phoenix Conspiracy by Richard L. Sanders
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Calvin Cross is sent to find a rogue battleship and arrest or kill Asari Raidan, former Captain of the ISS Phoenix and fugitive from “justice”.

He finds himself saddled with Commander Summers Presley, former XO of the Phoenix, as his XO. There is more than a little friction between them.

A Lieutenant Commander in Intel Wing, Cross is not stranger to investigations. His research into Raidans' actions and motives gains him knowledge that makes him doubt Raidans' guilt and puts him and his crew in danger. And that's just the beginning.

Will the Empire survive? Who are the good guys? Bad guys? I don't know yet, I've only read four of the six book series but I am definitely going to read the rest.

Outstanding writing. Plenty of action, emotional interaction, conspiracies, organized criminal families, other shady and dangerous people, aliens, etc.

Mr. Sanders writes about people, and other characters, that seem to be real.

Highly recommended.

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Saturday, April 2, 2016

Review: The Quantum Brain Maximum Speed

The Quantum Brain Maximum Speed The Quantum Brain Maximum Speed by John Freitas
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I like the plot.

I got this book through Goodreads giveaways.

The characters were three dimensional which made them seem real, except that some of them had contradictory personalities. The main guy seemed very naive and slow but he is the man that created the quantum brains.

His teenage neice was apparently smarter than he was.

The writing was stiff, there were too many times that titles, first names and last names were all used together when a pronoun (he, she, it) or a first name or last name would have sufficed, and would have been more realistic.

Take the stiffness out of the characters conversations and the writing, also. Make the progression of the story flow better and make people and androids that are supposed to be smart, smart.

More maturity in the writing is needed.

I have not read the first three books. This one is written well enough to provide enough background information to make it pretty easy to understand. It stands on its own very well.

I liked the plot.

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Friday, March 18, 2016

Review: The Ascension Series, Books 1-3: Sacrificed in Shadow, Oaths of Blood, and Ruled by Steel

The Ascension Series, Books 1-3: Sacrificed in Shadow, Oaths of Blood, and Ruled by Steel The Ascension Series, Books 1-3: Sacrificed in Shadow, Oaths of Blood, and Ruled by Steel by S.M. Reine
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Ascension Series, Books 1-3: Sacrificed in Shadow, Oaths of Blood, and Ruled by Steel
by
S.M. Reine
5 stars

Elise Kavanagh, preternatural investigator and exorcist, legendary demon hunter known as the Godslayer, and the most powerful demon to ever walk the Earth is back for some more kick-ass adventures.

She and her friends, the last werewolf pack on Earth, have the unenvious job of proving a murder was not committed by a werewolf while trying to find the real perpetrator and prove his guilt.

Then Elise, who, in addition to her other supernatural qualifications, is also the only exorcist left in America, must deal with a werewolf that has gone insane because of possession by a demon.

Also, having failed to prevent the Breaking, she and rogue angel Nash Adamson might have to make a deal with the Devil to stop Hell from overrunning Earth.

So Elise has her hands full, just as in the Descent Series. Some day she may get to rest.

Ms. Reine continues to write outstanding stories with unique viewpoints. These books are full of non-stop action just as the Descent Series was, even more so.

Enjoy these, they are outstanding.

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Thursday, March 17, 2016

Review: The Girl in the Box Series Books 1–3: Alone, Untouched and Soulless

The Girl in the Box Series The Girl in the Box Series, Book 1-3: Alone, Untouched, and Soulless
by Robert J. Crane
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Outstanding books.Mix super heroes, mythology, espionage, lots of action, romance and a lot more, then you will still need to read the books because they are much more, and better, than the sum of their parts.

Great proofreading. Of all three books I only noticed one grammatical error, most self-published ebooks are full of them. Only noticed two instances of small errors like Sienna wearing boots then a couple of paragraphs later, with no possibility or reason to, she is suddenly wearing tennis shoes. Only two bloopers? Great job on that.

5/5 stars on these books. I loved them.

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Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Review: DEAD(ish) Omnibus: Books 1-5

DEAD(ish) Omnibus: Books 1-5 DEAD(ish) Omnibus: Books 1-5 by Naomi Kramer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

1. DEAD(ish)
2. (technically) DEAD
3. DEAD (as a doorpost)
4. (imminently) DEAD
5. DEAD (and hellbent)

Linda has been murdered and she thinks her boyfriend did it.

Follow the humorous adventures of Linda as she tries to find her body, solve the mystery of who is sending death threats to her friend, helps someone find why he's dead, enjoys foot massages from a hot angel boy and minimally covers her ghost body when her nudity bothers her Earthly friends (when she lets them see her at all).

On some of these adventures she is helped by the faithful detective, Trent, she hires to help find her body.

These books are one hilarious romp from Earth to Heaven to Earth to Heaven to Hell to Earth and to Heaven, not necessarily in that order.

Heads Up: These books contain strong language, sexual situations, sexual language, nudity, full frontal nudity (male and female), mild violence, vengeful dead women, one really hot blonde ghost named Linda and lots of humor.

There is also an arrogant, holier than thou angel. But, what the hell, you'll meet her for yourself, in Heaven.

Recommended for all adults.

Warning: May cause religious extremists to sustain physical or mental damage.

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Review: Prophecy

Prophecy Prophecy by T.C. Southwell
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Needs A Lot Of Work

The plot is good. The writing, however, needs a lot of work.

The character development is not very good. The characters are two-dimensional caracatures of what they should be.

The main character lived in a human hell from the age of 8 years until the story starts when she is 23. Yet she holds ideals of honor and self sacrifice that are inconsistent with her previous life. She is also extremely naïve. Innocence of this type is unbelievable in someone with her background.

This could have been a very good story but the writing falls far short of, not only what it could be, but what it should be.

I got this ebook free from Amazon. It's worth it for that price.

I can recommend this only to people that can manage to enjoy stories with unbelievable characters.

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Review: DEAD[ish]

DEAD[ish] DEAD[ish] by Naomi Kramer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A Good Read.
Good, and funny.

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Review: Caught In His Web

Caught In His Web Caught In His Web by Marc Cabot
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is not a BDSM story. What it is about is mind control. So if you like a story about a man mentally controlling a woman for sexual purposes you will like this one.

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Review: Starborn Ascension Series

Anywhere But Here Anywhere But Here, Away From The Sun, Into The Shadows
by Jason D. Morrow
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Starborn Ascension series. A post-apocalyptic tale about survival after zombie apocalypse. It includes violence, supernatural powers, zombies, love.

Good story. I didn't understand Waverly's obsessive aversion to guns considering the violent world she lived in.

I'm normally not big on zombies but they seem to fit in here.

I recommend this.

More of his books, and other good books, can be found at Smashwords, Amazon and other booksellers.


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Review: Artificial Light

Artificial Light Artificial Light by Nathan Wall
My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I received a review copy of this book.

So here is the review.

Even without having read the first two books of this series, I still found this one intriguing. It is a unique blend of mythology, religion, and technology.

Angels that are not supernatural but depend on technology. Humans that may be supernatural under the right conditions. This is an interesting reversal of religion and mythology.

This book has lots of action, mystery, technology that's advanced enough to seem like magic, murder, mayhem, angelic revolution, betrayal, loyalty, etc.

The story works even without reading the previous two books, but there is a lot of backstory that must be inferred from context or simply assumed. I recommend reading the first two books before this one.

I will remedy my failure to read the first two books, even though it is too late for me to read them first. I want to fill in the assumed, possibly incorrect, information that will be found in them.

This book is very hard to put down before finishing it.

I think everyone should read this, after the first two.

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Friday, March 4, 2016

Review: The Valley of Ten Crescents Series

The Valley of Ten Crescents Series The Valley of Ten Crescents Series by Tristan J. Tarwater
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I really liked these books. There are more and I plan on reading them, too.

These are stories about a thief (Derk) that adopts a half elf, half human girl as his apprentice. He is one of the best at his chosen occupation, yes he chose to be a thief, and he sees greatness as a thief in the young girl.

He has no children of his own so adopting her fulfills the need he feels to be a father.

This is set in a non-industrial setting on another planet or another universe or another time, I really don't know.

I suggest everyone read this unless you really hate elves.

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Friday, February 26, 2016

Review: Flare

Flare Flare by Jonathan Maas
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

FLARE
By Jonathan Maas

This is religious science fiction! There is nothing in the description to indicate that this book is religion oriented.

My opinion is that this is deceptive marketing.

I was looking for straight science fiction, not religious or spiritual fiction.

Now on to the book itself.

I found it very hard to continue reading for almost the first half of the book, but since I received it free through Goodreads Giveaways I felt obligated to review it even though it is not a requirement. To do an honest review I feel I should read the entire book if I find that possible.

It was like reading a history book, boring.

There was no character development to speak of until halfway through. The people were all cardboard cutouts almost as interesting as paper dolls.

The narrative style was to describe events with no emotion involved. Even emotions were described unemotionally. I just didn't feel someone's pain, happiness or anything.

About halfway through the book the story finally started to get interesting, but never actually got to the point that I was glad I had read it. The characters even filled out a little more but never full enough to really cause any interest in them.

Surprisingly, the most interesting character was Zeke, who never spoke a single word in the entire book.

And what was up with the fox? She was brought in like she was important to the story but there was no followup.

A couple of other story lines didn't seem to go anywhere, as well.

The science in this book, both physical and biological, seems more like pseudo- science. This book takes place in the present time but the science doesn't seem to follow what is currently known, theorized or thought to be known.

It seems like the science in this was made up to fit the story without an research or concern that it may be wrong.

I did no research to see if the science was right or wrong, it's just the way it seems to me.

The religious aspect increased as the story progressed. No particular religion was ever mentioned, but the story seemed to have as its' basis the Christian bible, both old and new testaments.

Overall, I would not recommend this to anyone unless they are interested in reading a religion based book that is written more like a history book than an actual story.

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Wednesday, February 3, 2016

Emissary by Thomas Locke - My Review

Emissary (Legends of the Realm, #1)Emissary by Thomas Locke
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Very interesting.

Hyam is pulled into a world he has no interest in. He just wants to be a farmer.

As his mastery of power develops he becomes so accustomed to it that he can no longer conceive of it not being part of him. He matures from a surly young farmboy to a powerful leader that commands respect and loyalty from his allies, as well as his followers.

In a war, mostly of magic, he is confident -- maybe overconfident.

Hyam's character could have been developed more. He is believable, but a little flat.

Overall, a good read. I will read more of this series, I want to know what further endangers the realm and how Hyam and friends will react to them.

I received this book free through Goodreads Giveaways.

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