Adam DreeceBesprekingen

A great Middle Grade book. Inventions, adventures, and growing up are just some of the themes young readers will enjoy. Well written and appropriately paced, with a solid cast. The Yellow Hoods are an endearing bunch and a great series.

The author mentioned in his preface that he was influenced heavily from the serialized format of his enormous comics collection and decided to have fun here.

It's obvious that he had a lot of fun, too, because each tiny chapter propels all the action forward in what might look like one long book of nothing but action with tiny sequences of dialogue that was just another pretext for more action.

And far from complaining, this was a light action read with magic that keeps flipping itself on and off in really cool ways that make the battles fun and dangerous and chaotic. Post-apocalyptic in nature and setting, with western-type elements of the Hero's Journey, our MC is without memory or home, in mortal danger.

This is a real crowd-pleaser, a popcorn adventure, and a fast-paced romp through death and discovery with only gentle inclusions of world-building.

The point is to have fun, and this is accomplished in spades. :)

Season 2 of this serialized magic dystopian adventure actually appealed to me more than the first.

Maybe that's just because I am truly getting into the main character now instead of just relying on action and a few measly reveals about his past.

Indeed, in this season, we get a ton of his past, his returning memory after coming back from the dead three times, the reasons for his revenge, and some really cool baddies.

The world-building is explored in greater detail, too... and I cannot complain! :)

Like the first one, this feels extremely fast-paced and there's still a ton of cool action. What reveals we do have hardly slowed the tale down. Even the memories are full of action and cool events.

Anyone looking for a fast and furious magic adventure that feels like an old western serial only with mana guns, lightning shotguns, and short swords that can bring you back to life really out to check this out. :)

ya-only-means-no-gratuitous-erotica, fantasy, short, action

How could I have slipped this into a TBR pile! I totally enjoyed the first two but that was a few months ago, yet even though I didn't reread them I had no trouble getting into this one. No point in doing recap or spoilers as this is a short but intense action read filled with very interesting characters. See publisher's blurb for further clues.

action-adventure, sci-fi-fantasy, dark-fantasy, suspense, serial
Nice and short with so much action and rapid pacing it's like watching a swashbuckling old movie at double speed. But you don't get lost, only whine for more. But when I read it again I want it to be an audio, hopefully with the same narrator as Season One. Don't miss this series just because you're not usually into this genre, I'm not either but I really like this writing!

**I received a free copy of this book through a goodreads giveaway.**

I love fairy tales and adventure stories so this book was definitely my type of story. It starts fast with plenty of action and continues the same way. It did seem to be written for a younger age than the books I generally read (I'm well into my 40s but still enjoy YA novels most of all) but I wasn't overly bothered by that. At times it had an almost Lemony Snicket feel to it -- explaining ideas and terms that might be new to a younger reader without breaking the story flow. I truly enjoyed the way many different fairy tales were twisted into a new story world. It felt much like an explanation of where those tales came from, as if this world came first and the stories that were told of the events that happen in Adam Dreece's creation are the genesis of some of our more well-known fairy tales. I do wish the story had been a bit longer and had included some more description of the world and the characters but there are more books so I suppose I'll just have to read those now and see if I can get some answers to questions raised by the first one. I can't say I absolutely loved this book, there were some characterizations and story events that I didn't enjoy as much as others, but I can say that I did not at all regret reading the book and that I do look forward to continuing to read about the world the author has created.

audiobook, sci-fi-fantasy, dark-fantasy, serial, action-adventure, suspense
Not my usual preference, and I'm not sure where I got exposed to it, but I certainly enjoyed it! Lots of action and without the usual recognizable cuss words. Being written in serial format makes it more affordable and easier for reading in travel or waiting areas. A good read!

The Wizard Killer, Season 1
A Post-Apocalyptic Fantasy Serial
By: Adam Dreece
Narrated by: Justin James
This is an audible book I requested and the review is voluntary.
I have been wanting to start this series for a long time and when I saw this opportunity, I jumped for it. It didn't disappoint. It is a short book but it packed a punch. It outlined characters, world building, and more as it dove into the story. The main character wakes up from the dead, that's right..for the third time too...and we as readers get to experience how and what he remembers. We learn as he learns. We know he has magic, he is a wizard killer, and boy is he durable! He gets hurt a lot! LOL. It is a great fantasy read to introduce us to the series and I am glad I got started.
The narrator could not have been better. Perfect voice and performance for the many characters that the wizard came in contact with (and the strange languages).

Wow, I absolutely loved this book! Rene Auberjonois was right, this is a unique and insightful story with a fantastic take on the future world grounded in modern technology and very realistic! I absolutely loved following Niko in his visionary ventures dealing with a world that had become afraid of technology and had banned certain lines of development because of their fear.

Adam Dreece creates a very realistic future dystopia where technology has been halted in many aspects because we grew faster than we were ready, got burned, and were afraid to take further risk. Being the wife and mother of tech heads, I really appreciated Niko's frustration with "regular people" and his desire to keep his worlds separate. The crazy risks he took because he believed so inexplicably in what he was doing, his single-minded focus, and even in the way that his behaviors alienated him from those around him and put everything at risk, all rang true.

One of my frustrations with a lot of stories is that the plot is often based on lack of communication (and yeah, it's realistic, but at the same time the characters don't demonstrate why they are inefficient) and I find myself yelling at these characters because the problem is so obvious that even they must know that it is their own darn fault and should stop doing that stupid thing. (For example: If Gibbs would just take 2 seconds to explain, instead of expecting everyone to just trust him, we would lose half of NCIS!)

But in Man of Cloud 9 we understand Niko so well and even though he knows he is creating a lot of his own problems, we actually "get" why he does it. (And no, it isn't just because he is a techno geek and lacks social skills. It is so much more deliciously complex!)

This story was so delightful in its depth and focus that I could not wait to give it to my eldest son (the tech head) for Christmas. Dreece expertly weaves a story with multiple layers. The technical struggle is enough to excite any Sci-fi enthusiast, the moral dilemma is a teasing thriller throughout to draw us forward, and the complex relationship struggles are enough for any fan of drama to stay hooked.

On a side note, I got a glorious tickle when he mentioned "The Yellow Hoods" a couple of times in passing, as this is actually another series that Adam Dreece wrote that falls in the Fantasy realm. I also got a laugh when he mentioned a fellow author friend, Angela B. Chrysler. It was fun seeing how he pulled from his real world and added it into The Man of Cloud 9!

I must mention that the editing did suffer a bit towards the end, but not to the point that the story lost understanding, and not really enough to pull me out of the story.

This book was pretty good. I loved the way it was like The Three Little Pigs, Little Red Riding Hood and Robin Hood all rolled into one story. Tee is a very adventurous girl who apparently sometimes gets a little ahead of herself in her exploring. She ends up getting into trouble that she has nothing at all to do with. She goes on innocent enough journey to deliver something for her grandfather and gets caught up in fight between her grandfather and a man who wants to steal something he doesn't even possess.

I finished the book in just over a day and it was fantastic. I loved it and I can't wait to read the second book in the series and find out what is going on with all of the characters. I kept forgetting that it was set in 19th century style, with the way they were doing everything. I loved the characters and the style it was written in. It was well done. This book is fantastic on all counts when I read.


I gave it a 4/5 over all because I was not impressed with the inclusion of the first three chapters of the next book in the back. Normally it is only one chapter. This cut 15% of the book out when I was reading it because I don't like reading the 'preview' of the next book. Other than that it was great.

(ARC was provided to read and review.)

The three friends Tee, Elly and Richy form the Yellow Hoods. Yellow Hoods because of the interesting cloak they are wearing which has a few tricks up its sleeve. Their advantage is Tee's grandfather, the famous inventor Nikolas Klaus, who provides the group regularly with useful and fun inventions. There's the sail-cart, which is like its name suggests, a normal cart fitted with a sail for extra speed and luckily the necessary brakes, as they can turn into real life savers during their adventures.

And there are quite a few adventures ahead for the group as Nikolas works together with a befriended inventor on some steam engine plans and the evil St. Malo wants to lay his hands on them and he has sent the nasty Monsieur LeLoup to steal them.
But LeLoup isn't off to a good start, as his first encounter on his way to Nikolas' cottage in the forest are the Cochon brothers, who try to rob him. Tee is able to interfere and save LeLoup, something she will come to regret a lot later on.
LeLoup does stop at nothing to achieve his goal and it's gripping to follow him and the Yellow Hoods to see who will win at the end.

Along came a Wolf is a highly entertaining mixture of fairytales, steampunk, adventure and there's also a bit of romance going on.
The story is fun, inventive and bursts with imagination. Just take a look at the character's names, as it's well worth it.
There's the villian LeLoup (le loup is french for the wolf) and the three "pigs", the Cochon brothers (cochon is french for pig). The given names of the three Cochons were a complete hit with me, Squeals, Bore and Bakon and because Bakon lays his eyes on one of the female guards, Egelina-Marie, we got Bakon and Eg going on a date.
The start of the story reminded me strongly of Red Riding Hood, when the Yellow Hood (Tee) takes a red box (maybe in a basket) to her Grandfather's house in the woods and has her first encounter with the "wolf". I just loved the way the author integrates fairytales into the story.

The other thing I really liked, there's a lot of action and there's fighting with swords and guns and even explosives, but nothing is bloody or gruesome, which makes the book very suitable for a younger age group.
The short chapters often come with fun headers like Huff and Puff, which even the otherwise reluctant reader will enjoy.
The character I loved most is Nikolas, he is warm hearted and always comes up with the most exiting ideas and he's just the perfect grandfather, always kind and encouraging. Tee is a strong willed and clever girl, but I felt there wasn't enough about her.
All of the Yellow Hoods form a strong bond and risk their life for their friends and I'm looking forward to read more of all of them.

Towards the end, the story picks up immense pace when a new character, the HOUND, is introduced and you can't help, but just want to continue with the second book of the series to find out what's happening next.

The Yellow Hoods are certainly off to an excellent start. Highly recommended.