CONTAMINATION (John Vornholt) - September 29/11

This rather underwhelming ST: TNG novel generally feels like a subpar episode of the show; it's got some good stuff in it, but on the whole, it's pretty unmemorable. It doesn't help that Troi receives much of the focus here, nor does it help that the identity of the murderer is almost unreasonably obvious. Still, it's enjoyable enough and the climax was genuinely exciting. **1/2 out of ****

THE MAZE RUNNER (James Dashner) - September 24/11

I think I've hit the wall as far as post-apocalyptic teen reads go. The Maze Runner is fine, it's well written and it features an interesting premise, but there's a sameness to the book that prevents it from becoming engrossing. Dashner's decision to keep the reader in the dark for the novel's first half doesn't help matters, although the eventual reveal is pretty interesting. Let's put it this way: I didn't hate the book, but I'm also in no rush to read the sequels. **1/2 out of ****

THE FRENCH LIEUTENANT'S WOMAN (John Fowles) - September 15/11

For a while there, this was one of the worst books I'd ever read, as John Fowles proves himself to be perhaps the most pompous author in existence. Fowles offers up long-winded and utterly dull paragraphs devoted to absolute nonsense, with his continual penchant for stepping outside of the narrative exacerbating the book's nigh unreadable feel. For about the first 250 pages, it's not difficult to envision the actual story being condensed into about 10 pages. The novel admittedly does improve towards the end, but Fowles even botches this stretch with his laughably florid writing style. Seriously, Fowles, brevity is your friend. God, what a mess and a waste of time. * out of ****

REPLAY (Ken Grimwood) - September 2/11

This one really grew on me. It kind of started out as a fairly typical sci-fi offering, with the premise leading to a number of long-winded stretches and passages. But as it goes on, Replay becomes something more; it ultimately felt like a cross between The Time Traveler's Wife and The Truman Show. It's far more romantic than I would have ever expected, and Grimwood does a nice job of exploring the novel's deep themes. The book becomes increasingly involving, to the extent that I tore through the last 20 or 30%. I'd be curious to see how it holds up on a second reading. ***1/2 out of ****