Five Broken Blades Author: Mai Corland Publisher: Red Tower Books Publishing Date: 2024 ======================= REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS
Why this book: SwFive Broken Blades Author: Mai Corland Publisher: Red Tower Books Publishing Date: 2024 ======================= REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS
Why this book: Sword and sorcery, DnD feel. Korean mythology adjacent. _________________ The Feel: The introductory chapters feel off. The characters are being introduced, but they don’t feel distinct until they are all on the road to their destiny. I kept having to flip back and see who this person was or that among the focus characters. This irons itself out as they begin their quests, but still, it was almost a drop the book problem for me.
I’m at the penultimate chapters of the books. This is also the “he did it/she did it/they did it” stage where everyone is under suspicion. The idea that there is a secret agenda moving one of the party around is becoming more and more of a certainty, though very quietly.
Favorite Character: Royo. He just seems tired. Lol. Not physically, but emotionally exhausted. I can relate. You know that sound your pet makes when you don’t let it do what it wants, or tell it that it isn’t time to eat yet, or when you sing a song to it based on its name for the tenth time today, imagine that feeling…that’s Royo. Not that he is Aeri’s pet. But he’s that emotional state writ large.
We Can’t Go On Together With Suspicious Minds: Something is off with Aeri. She seems flighty…but flinty. But is it all an act and she’s a traitor to the group?
Favorite Scene: Maybe we’ll make it through the pass without any problems. Maybe the giant, predatory, carnivorous birds won’t be in the pass this close to civilization. And as the last gleam of sunlight flashes and goes behind the mountains, a bird cry breaks the silence, close by.
Favorite Concept: The Samrocs in the desert hunt and devour whatever they can find.
Five “broken” blades. There are a couple ways to take that. One is that these six people in the coach halfway through the book on their way to enact their plot to kill the king are all very, very broken people. And the other is in the 47 Ronin or the Magnificent Seven vein. None of them may make it through, or just a few…or one…there are six of them and only five broken blades, after all.
Tropes: Monster with an elephantine memory who wants revenge, the foreshadowing is strong with this one.
Hmm Moments: So…what is Aeri, really? Her being an exceptionally high level rogue, doesn’t wash with what her backstory is. But she believes her backstory. But the father whose approval she seeks seems to be determined to ignore her. Hmmm…
The piece that is missing seems too obvious. Can’t explain without giving away a plot point in the mystery, but it feels spot on. Mikhail should have tumbled to it, but he does have a crapload of irons in the fire, unless the obvious is a red herring and he is the traitor. But given his backstory, that doesn’t wash. He may be the only one who, despite being the one inside the inside, stands to get everything he wants if the plot comes off as planned.
Uhm Moments: Euyn is a coldblooded killer who hunted men for sport. But he knows what love is. And he had such a hard life growing up as the “spare”, second-in-line prince for his father, the King. I started to fall into the trap thinking “oh poor Euyn”, but you know what, F that guy. This is the dude they want to put on the throne in the plot. …this is the guy? Because his brother is so much worse. …but this is the guy…the guy who hunted men for sport? Feels like there's a hole in their plot, not the author’s the coup members’.
5 Blades, but there are six main characters. Wonder who makes the hard choice.
Meh / PFFT Moments: Say what? Prince Eyun’s mid-book secret kind of throws the plot into disarray. And if he doesn’t share that secret with his co-plotters, he may end up in ashes…or Aeri or whoever touches the Dragon Lord’s crown may. Good twist.
The Sigh: Mikhail playing both sides against the middle in service to his revenge is a great plot point, but dammit…just dammit
The Unexpected: The mysterious dark ninja dogging Sora and Ti-yung’s trail. Not sure at their connection whether it is to Sora’s past before she became a poison maiden or working for Ti’s father in some capacity, but it bears watching. …and that makes another blade unaccounted for among the five…six…no, seven characters of the Five Broken Blades.
Calling the Ball: Having three different characters in such a small main cast all have the lost love one who they are doing it all for is a bit much.
The Poker Game/DND Table: No, cause they’d all kill everyone at the table.
Still think they would kill everyone at the table, but after the fight in Oosant, they start to feel like a DND group, kinda.
Books/Movies This Was Like: It’s a lower magic world, but it kinda reminds me of Sam Sykes’ Grave of Empires trilogy. And I loved me some Sal the Cacophony. Now that was a series that I wished was more than a trilogy. _________________ Pacing: The pace is excellent. Love the short chapters where action actually happens. This story moves along.
Last Page Sound: That was unexpected. Usually I am pissed off when a book does this with the ending. But…well played. Well played indeed.
Author Assessment: I will be back for part 2. ...more
The Cemetery of Untold Stories Author: Julia Alvarez Publisher: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill Publishing Date: 2024 Pgs: 243 ======================= REVIEWThe Cemetery of Untold Stories Author: Julia Alvarez Publisher: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill Publishing Date: 2024 Pgs: 243 ======================= REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS
Why this book: A writer writing about writing without it being a non-fiction. I find this fascinating. A story about stories, the lives they have, that they live, and the limbo they continue in. _________________ The Feel: I like the story, but it is giving me the maudlins. The idea that we are all cemeteries of lost stories, stories untold, unshared. Wistful. Sad.
Least Favorite Character: El Jefe is a dick.
Favorite Quote: The First Visitor, the first storyteller, Filomena, her description hits me hard. “She has never married and is now on the achy side of middle age.” …the achy side of middle age. I feel like that meme where that guy is saying how dare you say something so controversial and so brave…thought in my head it’s “so true.”
Favorite Concept: The idea of burying your unfinished stories in the way that Alvarez has Alma talk about makes me want to reach out to my writerly friends, published, unpublished, fan fiction, original, whatever, everyone and have a discussion about unfinished stories. I have a box named Title Farm and it is full of fragments, chapters, and sometimes just a title. It’s been a long time since I journeyed all the way to the bottom of that box to look with fresh eyes at what is in there. Maybe I should. Hell, there’s a mostly complete Childrens’ book in there already, just needs art and a publisher willing to take a shot. …it may not be as complete and ready as I remember it being, but it is further along than most of the other stuff in the box. … … …you see why this book is speaking to me on a pretty deep level.
Tropes: Filomena’s story is full of cliché, to the point that it is cliché. It is well told, but as you read it, you can almost go, “and then, this happens, and then this, and then this…” This is the first place in this novel where that happens. Hopefully we don’t circle back to this and the rest breaks the bonds of trope and moves onwards. The early part where Alma was living her life and working her way along the plot towards the cemetery was better. I like Filomena’s story and the character. But it is an old story that has been repeated both in story form and in real life too often to count. It being a trope doesn’t make it unlikeable or even unreadable, it is still well told/written.
Hmm Moments: With Filomena hearing the stories, Alma has been pushed to the background. The novel begins and leads you to believe that Alma is the main character and that devolves on to Fila as you start hearing her stories. And after she takes the stage, no one else comes to the talk box and gains entrance with a story of their own which seemed to be a central precept when Alma started el cemeterio.
Meh / PFFT Moments: The wider story of Perla and Tesoro feels like an interrupter. We already know all we need to know about them as part of Filomena’s backstory. I’m doing McKayla Maroney mouth reading the chapter focused on them and Perla’s return from the Norte. Enough stories already in the cemetery, and the barrio that surrounds it, without a living story intruding.
The Unexpected: With the way this year in reading has gone, just about the point where I start thinking about the last page, or how far away it is, or this story not touching me, this started to charm me.
Calling the Ball: Calling it: Perla blames Filomena, and because of the name confusion, and Perla being who and what she is, Fila will take the fall. _________________ Last Page Sound: This was a predictable story, but it was enchanting. But it wasn’t the story I was expecting either. I didn’t get the happily ever after I wanted out of it. It’s a tragedy. It’s hopeful and full of real life and magic, but it stops well short of giving you the warm and fuzzy. It’s sad really, but it feels like real life, a writer’s life, a storyteller’s life. The stories that if they were told in full would change things. The stories that are untold. The stories that end with the storyteller…or are never finished by the storyteller. Sad. Full. Thoughtful. Not what I wanted. Still a good book.
The Real Men in Black Author: Nicholas Redfern Publisher: New Page Books Publishing Date: 2011 Pgs: 256 ======================= REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS
WThe Real Men in Black Author: Nicholas Redfern Publisher: New Page Books Publishing Date: 2011 Pgs: 256 ======================= REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS
Why this book: Because those guys, if they exist, are anything but the secret agents protecting Earth as portrayed in the movies. And I wonder at a connection with the Black-Eyed Children. Yes, I’m deep in the weeds on this stuff. _________________ The Feel: Creepy, as it should be. Redfern captures that well.
Character I Most Identified With: Albert Bender getting obsessed with the Flight 19 disappearance. I remember a time in my teenage years when I was too. Lucky for me a squirrel walked by and my OCD took another path.
Overused Phrase/Concept: Tried too hard to make every incidence of high strangeness into a Men In Black-related occurrence. We’re almost at “a black car drove past me while I had a migraine, and that’s when I knew it was the Men in Black” level of paranoia in print.
Tropes: Too many “and if you think that one was creepy, wait until you hear about this one next, or later in the book.”
Hmm Moments: The Woman in Black visitation to the Arthurian legend investigator is interesting. I was prepared to write this one off and scoff at it like the ones that claim ghosts, aliens, and ufos…and the resultant, or coincidental, MIB contacts are demonic. But this one, especially based on The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch wormhole/portal investigations, hits a note that is very interesting.
Uhm Moments: There is a simpler answer than Bender being an epileptic. His attic office probably had a gas leak. This would account for his migraines, the hallucinating, etc. Epilepsy wouldn't just affect him in his attic. He would have seizures out in the wider world too. People around him would either be informed or witness them. It's not as esoteric or hidden as some seem to think.
Meh / PFFT Moments: The whole aliens-ghosts-MIB are demonic and there to drag “us” away from Gawd! Redfern could’ve left that bit on the cutting room floor. Not really part of the narrative, but then, I guess, I have a different perspective on the narrative than he does.
The Sigh: Well, explained away part of it as hallucinating, now comes charlatanism, and then, mass hysteria.
The Colin Bennet quote about what the MIB are, “Like the UFO itself, the MIB and Bigfoot look like short media clips more than anything else. We can easily assume that any alien lifeform may well have evolved into pure media, leaving behind mechanical traces perhaps millions of years ago.” Sigh. Head desk. Double sigh. Double head desk. “...pure media…” c’mon man. This reads like someone has been online for too long. And is designed to dovetail with a belief in simulation theory, which is its own “c’mon man” in my book. Since we don’t have omnipresent awareness of the entirety of the universe the way that we see things beyond our immediate environs is through media. So, of course, everything beyond our immediate purview is observed through media. That doesn’t mean that the entirety of existence beyond our eyes and ears is pure media. Media is just a representation of live beyond your immediate senses.
Suspension of Disbelief: Stepping out of the MIB sect, some of these instances sound almost like a microwave weapons test à la the Havana incident.
Juxtaposition: In the chapter discussing Tulpas and Vampires, the author psychoanalyzes the MIB phenomena as rooted in fear. They suggest that the instant compliance of people with their dark visitors' instructions is a manifestation of this fear. However, this analysis implies that no one ever fully follows the MIB's warnings, ultimately distancing themselves from and forgetting about the cautioned circumstances.
The Unexpected: Internal FBI documents from the 1950s acknowledging that the Men In Black weren’t their agents and wondering who they were. Would be fascinating to get a look at whether similar denial documentation exists for the CIA, Air Force and Naval Intelligence, and any other governmental organizations that may have been drawn into the UFO orbit in that era.
Missed Opportunity: Sarah Key sounds very much vampire-like. The creature that accosted him on the road as well. The idea of vampires protecting the legacy of King Arthur and making sure that he can continue to hold the door to a portal beyond which are monsters, as described sounding almost Lovecraftian in nature, is a great book idea hidden in this other book..
The LOL: When Redfern, either on his own or repeating what Brad Steiger has called it, refers to Steiger’s UFO office as Steiger HQ, puts me in mind of Kevin Smith in the movie Life Free or Die Hard when Bruce Willis refers to Smith’s character’s “office” as his Mom’s basement and he responds, “It’s a Command Center.” _________________ Author Assessment: This could’ve stood a bit closer to the editor’s pen. The influence of a more strident editor could’ve brought this into a tighter narrative and pushed some of the ephemera out of the way, and the circuitous “and if you liked that, next or later in the book, we’ll talk about another even that was even stranger, more scary, etc” that seemed to close every chapter. ...more
The Violent Century Author: Lavie Tidhar Publisher: Tachyon Publications Publishing Date: 2019 Pgs: 192 ======================= REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS
WThe Violent Century Author: Lavie Tidhar Publisher: Tachyon Publications Publishing Date: 2019 Pgs: 192 ======================= REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS
Why this book: I’ve liked other stuff by Tidhar. The golden age superhero/secret agent thing is a great motif to lure in a reader like me. _________________ The Feel: The first chapters are much more a drafted, reluctant spy than superhero. And abused little boy surviving an upbringing that was thrust upon him.
John LeClare meets All Star Squadron meets X-Men.
Feels like Oblivion is holding the knife if Fogg answers wrong in the “called back from retirement” meeting with the Old Man.
Has the feel of not being the book I signed up for. But it is interesting.
Favorite Character: Oblivion. The book may have been a tighter story if it had been told with him as the primary focus and Fogg was secondary. I see why though.
Least Favorite Character: The Old Man. But even he makes sense...though his bit at the end feels off. But it too is telegraphed, when you look back at it from that end of the story perspective.
Overused Phrase/Concept: Very early Silver Age of Comics of them having real names associated with their power sets.
Uhm Moments: Skipped over Korea, and so much more, in the violent century that is the story's setting.
The Sigh: Sommertag’s appearing and disappearing that night in Paris and the seeming flightiness. Fickle or mentally ill or just a young person early in love. IDK. And Henry going from smitten to deeply in love is a bit of a jump. But young and naïve will do that to people.
Turd in the Punchbowl: We’re getting a lot of introspection from Fogg. Too much of the story seems to take place in his head as the action of the novel happens around him. We’ve got werewolf Nazis and vampire freedom fighters and Fogg seems to be trapped between his ears.
Juxtaposition: Fogg and Oblivion…Fogg and Sommertag…one an unrequited romance, the other a fraught and distant love. Though the whole “he just knew” thing is a bit much to swallow. When the same guy who “just knew” couldn’t see that the other loved him as well and always had.
Questions and Answers: Why are the bad guys the only ones who use their powers offensively?
Wonder why Sommertag didn’t hide her father away so that he couldn’t be found by the Israeli superpowered commandos after the war? And since Vomacht did what he did before the war, I wonder what he did during the war and if that question will be answered in the text of the story?
The Unexpected: I really wasn’t expecting a love story. _________________ Pacing: The Fogg character’s seeming reluctance about everything seems to drag on the flow of the plot.
It takes forever to get to the meat of the plot. Fogg isn’t much of a protagonist until near the end of the book. Honestly, I didn’t see the Old Man as the antagonist until the same part of the book. Story spends a lot of time on vignettes between the Vomacht Wave and the present.
Last Page Sound: I had a bad feeling about this going into the penultimate chapters. The payoff was well done. But I wish we had a denouement. Would’ve been nice to know what happened to Oblivion when The Powers That Be found out what went on in the basement of the Bureau of Superannuated Affairs’ black site.
Questions I’m Left With: How did Oblivion and Spit find Fogg and Dracul when they were captured since Fogg was supposed to be undercover with Dracul’s commandos without backup, but when they get captured and are going to be jarred up to be sent on to the camps, the rescue shows up perfectly on time. And then, those extra mystery men and women disappear from the story.
Why was Spit trying to kill Oblivion and Fogg when they went to the Bureau black site after Oblivion picked up Fogg from his “retirement” bar or whatever the Hole in the Wall actually was.
How did The Old Man know what Vomacht’s machine was? How did he know that there was one in Somertag’s pocket dimension?
Conclusions I’ve Drawn: Vomacht wasn’t trying to create mutates. They were just a side effect. ...more
To the Edge of the World: The Story of the Trans-Siberian Express Author: Christian Wolmar Publisher: Public Affairs Publishing Date: 2013 Pgs: 283 =======To the Edge of the World: The Story of the Trans-Siberian Express Author: Christian Wolmar Publisher: Public Affairs Publishing Date: 2013 Pgs: 283 ======================= REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS Genre: History Nonfiction Railroads Russia
Why this book: I love a good travelog, build-it-and-they-will-come story. Found this while looking for something else. _________________ Hmm Moments: Wonder if all these foreign loans and partnerships coming due is a contributing factor to the specter of the Russian Revolution?
Surprising, based on Russian isolationist policies, that they would consider running part of the Trans-Siberian Railway through Chinese Manchuria. Just seems like giving away too much control of a Russian enterprise. Even in a situation where they are taking loans and giving subsidies to foreign interests, the actual concrete construct not being wholly on Russian soil seems to go against the idea of Russianness.
Using the building of the southern, easier, route of the Trans-Siberian through Manchuria as a de facto annexation of the land from China is very with the imperialism of the era. The agreed to in treaty, Railway Guard, made up of Russians, growing to over 25,000 members is a army on site under another name.
Admiral Aleksandr Kolchak, the eventual leader of the White Russians in the Russian Civil War, via coup, being described as, despite calling himself Supreme Ruler of All the Russias, “an unsuitable candidate for high political office, neurotic, quick to lose his temper, and with no idea of the hard realities of life, no plans of his own, no system, no will; like soft wax from which his advisers and intimates can fashion whatever they like.”
Uhm Moments: It’s surprising that from a freight standpoint that the completion of the Trans-Siberian Railway didn’t bring with it an influx/outflux of trade with the Americas via Vladivostok. Which was one of the promises floated by the many, many who tried and failed to get a construction contract and lease, or subsidy, on the line on completion.
Calling the Ball: Guarantee that the “real” body count for the construction crews is far, far higher than reported, between prisoner and immigrant labor “not counting” and supervisors and managers committing fraud by saying that someone was still working when they were actually dead so that they could continue to receive their pay and rations, that reported number is far lower. Yes, the Russian authorities wanted to micromanage the project, especially the Finance Ministry, but the sheer distance and inadequate communications made this difficult.
Turd in the Punchbowl: Vysnegradsky, the Russian Finance Minister who held sway before Witte, may have been right in his reticence to build the Trans-Siberian Railway, considering what happened to the Tsar and his people when the bills came due on the rail line. …and the heavy price paid at the time in taxes and lives.
Wisdom: Short shrift is given to the idea of the Trans-Siberian’s unifying mission. Yes, it’s military implications being able to move military more efficiently was important. But unifying the Siberian territories more fully into Russia proper. Once it was open and in operation, fitful though it was, it succeeded magnificently in that role.
Juxtaposition: The building of the Trans-Siberian Railway makes an interesting trichotomy between proto-Soviet planning and control and capitalism in an absolute monarchy.
The settlers vs nomads paradigm was there in the Trans-Siberian Railway migration. It was clamped down tight by the attempts of the absolute monarchy trying to control the populace in the same way that it always had. These people had only escaped serfdom 40 years earlier, but the society and culture hadn’t evolved much from that point due to the government, the commune, and the commune elders using that system to maintain control. In the case of the migrants, any travel beyond their local area required an internal passport. Many went without one and due to the maelstrom of people coming in got lost in the shuffle on the other end in Siberia, effectively an illegal emigre problem in the Russian Far East. The book doesn’t mention how the internal passport system worked with the nomadic people living in Siberia before and after the railway.
Missed Opportunity: Surprised that the Allied victory in the Crimean War didn’t lead to British adventurism/colonialism in Siberia since they coveted Siberian resources.
If the Japanese had kept their attention to the north and away from Pearl Harbor, especially when Stalin pulled Zhukov and the majority of his army back west to face Hitler’s Germany, we would probably be living in a much different world today. _________________ Last Page Sound: Trying to give the Trans-Siberian Railway an uplifting picture in the denouement doesn’t ring true with the story told here. Awesome as the achievement was, this is a tragedy writ in blood. And we’ll likely be deep, deep into the next century before it pays for itself. With the seeming determination of the Russian government to shoot itself in the foot, one has to wonder if the container traffic making use of the railway is safe. If the sea ice clears to a point in climate change to allow an Arctic Ocean trade route, the railway may find itself bypassed. The Trans-Siberian and the BAM are already littered with ghost towns. That could become worse.
Why this book: Because it finishes Aaron’s run on the book and it’s all connected.
Also, I’m chasing a feeling. When I read comics, I want that moment, that second, that image, that scene that gives me that feeling of wonder. Too many comics don’t have that, or hide it at the end of 11 issues of filler. Aaron and company are pretty good at giving that moment to their work. Some misfires along the way in their run, but when they hit it, they hit it well. _________________ The Feel: Hmm…suspect I know who Avenger Prime is. But you know how assumptions go.
Plot Holes/Out of Character: There’s a pretty damned big hole here. We’ve got everybody, but it seems like we’re missing two foundational Avengers who should be part of this show since they are at the end of all things…beginning of all things…you know what I mean. Though I guess the Red Hulk Starbrand who sacrificed it all was a good stand-in for Hulk. But no Wasp???
All of those Dooms would never follow another Doom. It goes against everything in his nature, multiversal variants or not. Doom is Doom.
The Avengers Prime reveal. That’s good stuff, even if I did expect it.
When you eliminate the Avengers, who is going to fight all the other bad guys that the Avengers fight? Great image.
The Steve and Steve issue, not what I expected. Aaron and company have gotten pretty good at dropping that on me.
Cover and Interior Art: The art is incredible throughout. Very well done.
Tropes: Odin as belligerent dickhead, nail on the head there, in seemingly every incarnation.
Tony fighting his father has become a trope over the years. It’s well done here. But still.
The Unexpected: First, the expected, Doom not even being there. The unexpected, Doom riding a Doombot-enslaved version of Ego off to attack his true target. Knew there was no way that he was all in on Mephisto and was just waiting for his chance to do his double heel turn and be the Doom that Doom is supposed to be. …I know that’s a lotta doom. In my defense, it is the only word on this page…9 times. And still well done. …correction, they aren’t all Doombots, they’re all Dooms from other timelines, variants. _________________ Last Page Sound: Good stuff.
Questions I’m Left With: Wonder if we’ll ever see that Avengers team that Avenger Prime gathered who didn’t have multiversal homes to go back to?...more
Old Man Logan: Past Lives (Part 5) Author: Jeff Lemire, Filipe Andrade, Eric Nguyen Publisher: Marvel Comics Publishing Date: 2017 Pgs: 136 ===============Old Man Logan: Past Lives (Part 5) Author: Jeff Lemire, Filipe Andrade, Eric Nguyen Publisher: Marvel Comics Publishing Date: 2017 Pgs: 136 ======================= REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS Genre: Marvel Comics TPB Superhero
Why this book: Because I’m fascinated by the idea of OML. _________________ Favorite Character: Asmodeus, Mr. I Once Faced The Avengers…Twice…but I keep my magical talismans in Jersey.
Tropes: I love that this is playing with the flashback/this is your life trope.
Hmm Moments: So now Logan has been around since the early 1800s. His memory keeps filling in places further back. But if Namor is the “first” mutant, doesn’t the continual march backwards of Logan’s birth mean that Namor’s is segueing into the past as well?
Uhm Moments: Bad form on Illyana calling around and scotching the deal before he even has a chance to ask all the others who could help him. Course with the way these things go, she’s probably right. Time travel and, especially, the X-men never seems to work out right.
Calling the Ball: Oh no. Got his ideal…give a little bit and snatch it away. Man, comic book writers are sadists. It’s a horror story that unfolds along those pages. Poor man.
WTF Moments/RUFKM Moments: Strange has to know Logan purloined Asmodeus’s stuff, wouldn’t you think?
The Sigh: Asmodeus…really. Cause instead of running and hiding and getting on with your whatever, this is your big plan.
The Unexpected: It showed Logan get six or eight people deep trying to find someone to help him. But it seems like there should’ve been even more before he got far enough down to Asmodeus. Course, how many people saying no to him would be too many to show? _________________ Last Page Sound: Harsh, yet beautiful. Well written, drawn, presented…just good....more
Spare Author: Prince Harry Publisher: Random House Publishing Date: 2023 Pgs: 663 ======================= REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS Genre: History Royalty BiSpare Author: Prince Harry Publisher: Random House Publishing Date: 2023 Pgs: 663 ======================= REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS Genre: History Royalty Biography _________________ The Feel: Harry tells the story of his mother’s passing and the aftermath, and even now, all these years later, the story makes you want to give that young man a hug.
The way this is written it breaks the show don’t tell rule. But upfront, Harry tells us that he is a detail person instead of a conversationally eidetic person. He’ll tell us what happened as he remembers it, but don't expect him to get the conversations right. His brain just doesn’t work that way.
Pulls you in well. You are very invested in Harry Wales’s inner monologue.
Favorite Character: Harry.
Favorite Scene: The heartbreaking pages where he tries to convince himself that his mother is just hiding from the paparazzi instead of actually passing away.
Jumping the fence from boarding school and picking strawberries with Henners.
His father tells him the story of visiting an institution, and the mental patient who thought he was Prince of Wales and trying to convince the person that he couldn’t be. But the patient responds in similar fashion trying to convince Charles that the patient is really the Prince and Charles the imposter.
Hmm Moments: Everyone in the family certainly got all dodgy on him when he started dating Meg.
Calling the Ball: For the man and woman who would be king and queen, there is a lot of jealousy rampant from William and Kate. Pretty obvious that’s the thing that Harry couldn’t put his finger on. I mean really he’s going to be King and he’s jealous of his little brother. Ridiculous.
And the sniping after Harry and Meg’s wedding is juvenile. The Heir being jealous of the Spare is ignorant. I guess Harry was supposed to be like Andrew, carry Granny’s purse and be invisible, unless they need a scapegoat or someone to draw attention away from something else, usually in an embarrassing way to the beard.
Charles seems unaware. Bet Camilla wasn’t. Her people were driving the train on the spin doctoring. Though claims that she hired the first palace spin doctor are ludicrous. If you look, there was spin doctoring going on behind the scenes by bureaucrats who thought themselves the real power behind the throne, a horrid love child of Oliver Cromwell and Rupert Murdoch.
Juxtaposition: His finding his place, his inner peace in Africa and in wartime after a youth spent in the paparazzi’s flashbulbs and the royal fishbowl.
The Unexpected: A frostbitten wee as a souvenir of an abortive attempt to trek to the North Pole. Not something that seems to be common knowledge as a possibility when arctic and antarctic adventurers set forth. That has got to be horribly uncomfortable. I wonder if he was hesitant to include that bit in the book. He does seem to have thrown away the filter of royal life and stepped out of the fishbowl in the book. There’s not great detail of all the goings on throughout the book, but he does put it out there in an unwriterly person writing a book way. _________________ Pacing: Very well paced.
Last Page Sound: That’s a helluva book. Sad at the events, yet happy that he’s found himself.
UFOs: Generals, Pilots, and Government Officials Go on the Record Author: Leslie Kean Publisher: Harmony Books Publishing Date: 2010 Pgs: 335 =============UFOs: Generals, Pilots, and Government Officials Go on the Record Author: Leslie Kean Publisher: Harmony Books Publishing Date: 2010 Pgs: 335 ======================= REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS Genre: Conspiracy Theories UFOs Government Cover Ups Unexplained Mysteries
Why this book: UFOs…I’m in. _________________ Favorite Character: Lots of familiar names here from years of Ancient Aliens, UFOs, and science programming on multiple cable networks.
Favorite Scene: The Iranian Air Force encounter over Tehran and the Peruvian Air Force encounter over Arequipa are fascinating. I do wonder if the Peruvian pilot is the only one to have ever shot at a UFO from a fighter plane or if there are other examples that are still classified. Of course, there is the UFO flap called the Battle of Los Angeles where anti-aircraft guns fired at a UFO repeatedly. But that one is the classically discounted and derided weather phenomena or balloon.
Hmm Moments: The Belgium UFO flap beginning in late 1989; the described vehicle sounds surprisingly like the so-called Phoenix Lights vehicle. Add the Ohio and the Hudson Valley UFO waves or flaps or whatever the term is for multiple sightings. The Cosford, UK incident appears to be the same type vehicle.
The idea coming out of the Belgian Air Force and the 1989+ flap that the reason there aren’t any good pics of “real” UFOs is that they emit a lot of UV light which messes with optics is interesting. Someone get in touch with Travis Taylor and the Skinwalker Ranch guys and let’s see what they find.
Uhm Moments: “I believe that a demand for the release of yet more files—even in the United States—is no longer a useful focus. It’s an interesting sidetrack, but it does not speak to the heart of the problem. Undue emphasis on seeking further release of documents could even prolong the international stalemate we now face, and give governments a way out through claims that they have done their part by declassifying files or will be doing so in the near future.” …uhm, no. This plays into the hands of the deniers, debunkers, and Men In Black. This book came out before Luis Elizondo surfaced into the media spotlight whose oeuvre puts the lie to the idea that the US, specifically, have released and declassified everything without national security aspects.
Wisdom: The Peruvian Air Force pilot’s story could’ve had a much worse ending similar to the one where the American pilot chased a UFO too high, too fast and lost his plane and his life. _________________ Last Page Sound: When the book talks about incidents, it shines. When it spends its closing chapters on the cover-up and denial in the U.S. as compared to the test of the world, it drags.
Conclusions I’ve Drawn: UFO research should be turned over to an independent United Nations connected research group. Many in the US chain of command would happily wash their hands of involvement and leave it to the “powerless” within the international community. They’ll continue their above top secret research and investigation free of a public facing component. Their current public facing has been dragged out of the deep shadow by Elizondo, Podesta, and former Senator Harry Reid. ...more
Signs Over the Pacific and Other Stories By RJ Astruc Publisher: Upper Rubber Boot Books Published In: Nashville, TN, USA Date: 2013 Pgs: 135
REVIEW MAY CONSigns Over the Pacific and Other Stories By RJ Astruc Publisher: Upper Rubber Boot Books Published In: Nashville, TN, USA Date: 2013 Pgs: 135
REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS
Summary: The intersecting life tales of an engineer, a thief, a terrorist, and a superpowerful artificial intelligence makes up the series of stories in this collection. Throw in blimps, Interpol, genetics, mutants, holograms, and runaway virus laden computer intelligences and the stories live on the edge of the new Pacific tomorrow. The Pacific Century is dawning. Will Man survive the experience?
Why this book: The descriptions of the stories drew me in.
This Story is About: survival of the fittest, techno cannibalism,
courage, working hard, doing the right thing, greed, friends, jealousy, love, caring, happiness, sadness, family
Propagation: Favorite Character: VINK2, the vagabond, virus AI, comes across as much more likable than the AI RESYS who is chasing her...him...it.
Least Favorite Character: RESYS is an ass and a cannibal.
Character I Most Identified With: I thought I was identifitying with RESYS and then realized that it was VINK2 who was the most...human character in the bunch.
The Feel: The power behind our connectivity is watching us and acting in its own interests.
Favorite Scene: When VINK2 blows through the Hong Kong intraweb and is raising hell all across the island.
Pacing: The pace of this story is excellent. A real page turner.
Hmm Moments: When RESYS describes Hong Kong as a wired rats nest, cyberwise. Hunting in the Hong Kong interweb was like playing Pacman due to how it was/is connected. A world where wireless signals are being choked out by the volume of other traffic forcing the AIs to chase one another wire to wire through a interlocking board of nodes.
Story made me think that we’ve all been engaged in techno cannibalism for awhile. Ever since the internet became as all invasive as it is, we’ve been devouring each others intellects at a more and more precipitate manner.
Why isn’t there a screenplay? Maybe this could make a Metal Hurlant Chronicle episode. And I’m sure someone could turn it into a feature length presentation. But with all of the exposition, this seems like it would play better in a short format in visual media.
Casting call: I often hear computers in stories speak in Terrence Stamp’s voice. Kneel before RESYS!
Signs Over the Pacific: Favorite Character: Val. He is the narrator. The whole story is from his perspective. It’s all happening to him.
Least Favorite Character:
Character I Most Identified With: Val. Does what needs to be done.
The Feel: This felt quick. Val’s confrontation with destiny whipped at him quickly and he charged in to meet it.
Favorite Scene: Chubby guy dancing on the deck of a broken down airship short of the hangar at the sky city, trying to get the attention of passersby to catch a ride or a tow into the hangar.
Pacing: The pace was great. Though it swept me through the short story at a fast clip. Could have easily been a much longer story.
Hmm Moments: The scene with the Angel and the Devil costumed MILFs picking up Val and his sister from their broken down...up...dirigibile could have easily been a...uhm...bigger scene.
Why isn’t there a screenplay? This story would make a cool entrant into The Metal Hurlant Chronicles on Syfy.
Casting call: Jonah Hill could have been Val in the years immediately following when he did Superbad.
Faceless in Halukan: Favorite Character: Bink Ottoman. Bink is a tragic character just trying to survive.
Least Favorite Character: Sutchi is a shark using everyone and everything to feed his appetites.
Character I Most Identified With: Bink Ottoman forced into acting against his own best interest by circumstances beyond his control.
The Feel: There is a sharp feeling of sadness in all things Bink, especially in his interactions with Laan Ve.
Favorite Scene: Holoworld sounds both awesome and superficial at the same time.
The identity theft of Laan Ve comes across as very sad. The way its done. The way it is forced on them. The way that Bink sees something human in the artist and di-hydra addict that could save him before being the scorpion that he is and stinging the frog.
Pacing: This story moves along at a good pace.
Plot Holes/Out of Character: It’s never said in the text, but I’m almost certain that Sutchi set Bink up. Set him up for getting robbed by the dude hiding inside the cute blonde holo and for being duped in the holo artist’s lounge and, then, offered up as a free sample of his true face for the sundry populace to parade around the terraces and bridges of Halukan in.
Hmm Moments: The cute blonde being revealed in the mirror that under her holos is a fat middled aged perv with man boobs, moobs, and cold sores. The holographs that people wear isn’t just a masquerade, it’s also camouflage. The description of the guy under the cute blonde artifice is so gross, down to the tufts of black hair.
The holo identity theft routine is awesome...and horrible.
The way that the interlocking stories of the book seem to take place in and around airships and skyhouses makes me wonder what the problem with the ground is far below and worlds away.
Why isn’t there a screenplay? Spun into a screenplay, this would be a tragedy. But it could be lengthened into a feature.
Casting call: With the holos playing such a large part in this, many actors could play the same character over the course of the movie.
Ma-Ma: Favorite Character: Katya Sushi, the carrier
The Feel: This one feels close and on the edge. The main character is all in and then not. She has that invincible edge to her to start with and you can feel it wear off over the course of the story as her true situation is revealed.
Favorite Scene: When Katya has her dawning in the customs office in India, as she stands on solid ground, a rarity in this world of high houses and floating cities, as she realizes what kind of carrier she truly is.
Pacing: The pace of this one is awesome.
Plot Holes/Out of Character: We’re left to ponder whether Bouboucar had Katya watched the entire way or not. The only agent of his that we are sure of is Lucian when he confronts Katya in the lobby-lounge on Ma-Ma 2
Hmm Moments: When the customs officials throw the Genku C plague ridden woman out the door of the transport to her death in the waters far below even though she claims that it is non transmissible.
Why isn’t there a screenplay? This one with it’s tenor and subject matter could totally play in a Metal Hurlant, Twilight Zone, or Heavy Metal context.
Casting call: Lucy Liu as Bouboucar, the big bad terrorist who doesn’t get her hands dirty.
Nemutaph: Favorite Character: Del aka Delphine Desangua
Least Favorite Character: Nemutaph, the opera singer who made himself into a castrati after spending time in an insane asylum and beginning to cut and bit off his appendages.
The Feel: This one feels like a CSI episode...a bit...in a through the looking glass kind of way.
Favorite Scene: When Del hits on the solution.
Pacing: Well paced.
Why isn’t there a screenplay? The bones of this could be adapted for CSI, NCIS, et al.
Katya in Quarantine: Favorite Character: Katya Sushi
Favorite Scene: Messing with the witch doctor.
Hmm Moments: Katya is an evil creature of circumstance. She is an ultimate bio weapon. Infected with whatever her employers want her to carry, either to infect the local populace or to get a pathogen passed customs and bio filters, she can get it there...regardless of the consequences. Her seeing herself in brotherhood with the Angel of Death walking London at the time of the Bubonic Plague is a telling bit. Her feeling pride in the fear that she is fomenting among the populace is more telling. She is as big a monster as Bouboucar, her employer and used to be a more famous terrorist than she is.
I find it interesting that in the earlier story in which Katya appeared, I was thinking of her as an antihero. Now, I can only consider her a villain. She has gone over to the darkside, assuredly. Though with the type of work she was wanting to do, how I saw her in that other light. Shrug. Sympathy for her condition and the feeling that she was being left high and dry, I guess. That’s all gone. She is a monster.
She may be a monster, but she isn’t very smart. Revealing herself and what she is to the “dream girl” and, then, going out and getting into the middle of that voodoo parade was just stupid for someone trying to lie low.
Course how smart is someone who allows themselves to be infected with all kinds of plague and virus to transport it and trusting that the criminals that you work for and the criminals that they do business with are going to give you the medicine to fix you up on the other end of the journey or the job. Just not smart.
The Future of Lole San Paulo: Favorite Character: Bink Ottoman, though I’m not sure if this is the same Bink Ottoman from the earlier story or if this is a clone of that Bink Ottoman. The origin of this one is fascinating. The other version seemed older.
Least Favorite Character: You just knew that there was betrayal in the works here. But until the end you can’t be sure if Bink is going to betray Lole or the other way around or if they are both going to end up afoul of Mr. Sutchi.
The Feel: This has a great sci fi, gladiator pit feel to it.
Favorite Scene: The monster fight reminds me of Return of the Jedi. Although, Lole doesn’t have any love for his creations.
Pacing: The pace of this was excellent.
Hmm Moments: The regrowing limbs and organs of the clone is a great touch.
Why isn’t there a screenplay? This could make a full length feature.
Casting call: Love to see Hugo Weaving as Lole.
Maybe Chandler Riggs as this version of Bink Ottoman.
How You Make the Straight: Favorite Character: Mink is a good character. The ability to look into the minds of those around you when their guards are down would be cool. Though there are probably some things that you wouldn’t want to know.
Favorite Scene: The rat hunt at the poker game in the floating, hi-town, pirate haven, airship casino.
Pacing: Best paced story of the collection through this point.
Hmm Moments: Okay. Ottoman isn’t a family name. It’s the Ottoman sky pirates clan or whatever they call their gang. Jean is a pirate king. Bink is a thief and a organ bank
Why isn’t there a screenplay? This one could make a movie as well. The elements here could lend themselves to a longer form easily.
Mother and Daughter: Least Favorite Character: Bouboucar. She is something else. This whole series of stories was largely her story. She was a facilitator and a terrorist and evil. You learn more about her and her daughter in the moment that she realizes that her daughter had pushed the little girl off the boardwalk of the floating city.
The Feel: This was too short. But I guess it’s purpose was to show us that Bouboucar was a mother and that her daughter was a chip off the old block.
Last Page Sound: Hmpf! These aren’t as interconnected as advertised. The stories feature many of the same characters, but what happens in one story doesn’t necessarily have any continutity with another. The only one that really seemed to have cross continuity was the ones featuring Katya Sushi.
Author Assessment: I’m digging the prose and style of RJ Astruc. Nice flow and action mixed with just the right amount of exposition. Might take a look at more stuff by this author.
Editorial Assessment: The quality between the stories is very wide. Some good, some horrible. Author should have been pushed on some of these shorts to either rewrite them or dump them from the story and if they plot points of the story were necessary to figure out a way to include them in one of the others.
The Thing in the Snow Author: Sean Adams Publisher: William Morrow - HarperCollins Publishers Publishing Date: 2023 Pgs: 268 ======================= REVIEW The Thing in the Snow Author: Sean Adams Publisher: William Morrow - HarperCollins Publishers Publishing Date: 2023 Pgs: 268 ======================= REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS Genre: Fiction Horror Psychological Horror Mystery Thriller Suspense _________________ The Feel: In the early chapters, as they are testing the doors, I almost want the Thing in the Snow to eat one of them just to stop the pedantry.
At first I wanted to know what the Thing In The Snow was, but after a hundred or more pages of bureaucratic nonsense and busy work, I want the Thing In The Snow to eat these bastards.
Not sure how I kept reading. The flow and pace of this are horrid. And not in a King anxiety driven horror way, but bureaucracy over life.
Least Favorite Character: Gilroy is nuts. Was he intentionally left at the Institute?
Cline and Gibbs are cardboard NPCs. The narrator never introduces themselves as we ride along on their internal monologue and interactions with the other characters.
Plot Holes/Out of Character: The characters don't feel real at all.
Favorite Concept: I like that we get right to “Do you see that? Out there? In the snow?” Rather than having to do the “it’s your imagination” or “you’ve just been here staring into the snow for too long”. It’s there. They’ve all 3 seen it. Here we go…nice.
Cover and Interior Art: The cover blurbs lie. This story doesn't resemble what they are describing at all. The blurbs are almost as bad as the text. Saw this referred to as witty…nope, not at all. This isn’t even funny strange. Office satire... ... ...nope.
Hmm Moments: It’s almost like Gilroy is researching the Backrooms. The Northern Institute is big, empty, and isolated. And he’s doing his research and measurements without instruments. Just wanders the Institute and records his observations. Hmmm.
The Sigh: How did I keep going in this? Am I doing busy reading? Just reading to keep reading? It is making me feel something, but I don't like it at all. My bullshit alarm is going off, but there are only 50 pages or so left... sigh. _________________ Pacing: The pace is slow. It’s a locked room mystery…kind of, so it would by necessity have to be that way.
Last Page Sound: It is a bit like staring out at snow in a heavy snowfall. IYKYK.
I thought about moving this to DNF and moving on. I finished it, but I'm still really not sure what this was about.
It did keep me turning pages, but I'm disappointed that I didn't follow my instincts and put this down 100 pages in.
Questions I’m Left With: With the Jack French character as a character in a book within the book who Mary Sues his way to all the answers with management skills, is the author mocking Dirk Pitt, James Bond, both? Or Cussler, Fleming, et al? Those are the ones I immediately thought of when Jack French came up.
Author Assessment: I won't be returning for other stuff by this author....more
Aliens, UFOs, adn Men in Black Author: Michael Burgan Publisher: Capstone Press Publishing Date: 2011 Pgs: 48 ======================= REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPAliens, UFOs, adn Men in Black Author: Michael Burgan Publisher: Capstone Press Publishing Date: 2011 Pgs: 48 ======================= REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS Genre: Children’s Literature Aliens UFOs Space Conspiracy Theory
Why this book: On a bit of a kick here. Ended up with 5 or 6 alien-centric books on my pull list at the library at the same time. A couple of them Children's lit, but I’m not a snob. I’ll read a good children’s book on occasion. _________________ Favorite Scene: The scenes are presented in nice bite sized chunks.
Hmm Moments: Definitely not a theo-centric book, since it didn’t shy away from the idea that angels and flying chariots in the Bible may have been aliens. Wins points with me for that.
Hmmm, I wonder when the first hot air balloons crossed the United States. Possible that some of the Wild West UFO reports were hot air balloons.
The story of the Hills always gives me pause. Considering society at the time, they were not going to go out of their way to draw attention to themselves, even in New England.
Calling the Ball: Congdon was a plant. His purpose was to the public facing official investigation of UFOs and possible alien connections behind closed doors that wouldn’t be opened, even a little, for decades.
Logic Gaps: Listed as a FACT:...but it’s not. Refers to NASA’s Kepler craft as going near to stars to scan for life. ...more
Searching for UFOs: An Isabel Soto Investigation Author: Aaron Sautter, Cynthia Martin, Barbara Schulz Publisher: Capstone Press Publishing Date: 2010 PgsSearching for UFOs: An Isabel Soto Investigation Author: Aaron Sautter, Cynthia Martin, Barbara Schulz Publisher: Capstone Press Publishing Date: 2010 Pgs: 32 ======================= REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS Genre: Children's Literature UFOs Space Mystery Aliens Time Travel
Why this book: On a bit of an alien/ufo bent and this popped up on the library search page, so I requested it. _________________ Tropes: Ozzy Osbourne’s favorite explanation on The Osbournes Want to Believe.
The Unexpected: Appreciate this not going tongue-in-cheek and making fun of the subject matter. Too much of that.
What Do WE Know About The Roswell Incident? Author: Ben Hubbard Publisher: Penguin Workshop Publishing Date: 2023 Pgs: 107 ======================= REVIEW MAWhat Do WE Know About The Roswell Incident? Author: Ben Hubbard Publisher: Penguin Workshop Publishing Date: 2023 Pgs: 107 ======================= REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS Genre: Children’s Literature Aeronautics Space Aliens Mystery
Why this book: While searching for other books, I went down the rabbit hole of UFO and aliens books at my local branch library and…well, here we are. _________________ The Feel: Informative.
Favorite Concept: “It’s all fake. It’s all fake.” But then, you have people, believable people, telling the story, not the UFO or alien or flying saucer story, of how they were told to shut up and not say anything ever, either because it would be unpatriotic or because “something bad will happen to them.” Seems like a lotta work for a weather balloon in the New Mexico desert.
Tropes: The photographer being brought in to take the photos, then having his camera and film taken from him, and finding himself on a transfer to Antarctica immediately afterwards is classic. That is exactly the type of thing that the Army/Army Air Corps were notorious for in that era. Friend’s brother went through a similar no notice transfer, his to an Alaskan outpost, though this was because he danced with an officer’s wife, not aliens.
Uhm Moments: The nurse, Naomi Self, isn’t real. But a refuation of what she saw is mentioned in the Air Force’s Case Closed file that was supposed to be their final word on the subject. :/
The Sigh: The nurse story was debunked.
Labeling Bob Lazar a security guard is erroneous too. He was decidedly more than that.
Suspension of Disbelief: Much is expected of something that tries to explain conspiracy theories. This leaves its facts in a bad light with limited research and bad reporting.
Confirmation Bias: This plays hard to my confirmation bias.
Marvel has been overdoing the vampires for the last 6-8 years. If it isn't vampires or Venom symbiotes, it's some variation of infinity stones, or mutMarvel has been overdoing the vampires for the last 6-8 years. If it isn't vampires or Venom symbiotes, it's some variation of infinity stones, or mutants living separately from humanity. They've forgotten the faces of their fathers. Every story doesn't have to be the end of the world.
The art in the first part, the vampire story, is so bad. I guess it could be an aesthetic, but I'm not part of the movement. Just doesn't look good to me.
The Puck-Brood story as a set up for the next arc is much better than the Dracula arc. As good as it was, it can't drag a 3rd star though. Just not satisfied with this. Will be back for the next volume, but I'm starting to get that maybe I'm done with this concept feeling. ...more
Infidel Author: Kameron Hurley Publisher: Night Shade Books Publishing Date: 2011 Pgs: 351 ======================= REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS Genre: ScienceInfidel Author: Kameron Hurley Publisher: Night Shade Books Publishing Date: 2011 Pgs: 351 ======================= REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS Genre: Science Fiction Bugpunk Sword and Sorcery Dark Fantasy Thriller Suspense
Why this book: I read other of the adventures of Nyx and her cadre and definitely wanted more. _________________ The Feel:
Favorite Character: Nyx. She’s rough. She’s a bastard. She’s a scarred up hero who doesn’t want to be a hero, in a world that teeters on the edge of livability and in the bared teeth of people who want to burn it all down and rule over the ashes, regardless of the body count.
Favorite Scene: A mother’s rage. Things can never be the same. But get my revenge. Yeah. That was well done.
Favorite Concept: A Bel Damme civil war??? Wow. That’d be like a Jedi civil war…if everybody was a Sith…so, a Sith civil war with no Rule of 2. There has to be a cadre of them within the Bel Dammes who don’t want this. Nyx can’t be the only one with a conscience…buried as it may be.
Tropes: Was worried that our time skip since the last book was too big and we were going to lose the other characters and just be Nyx’s story, which since she is the main character wouldn’t be bad, but I’m glad the others are still in there, even with the years between. Course with the way the previous team is acting screw them. Let the fire take them. I had forgotten that they had rode away, betrayed her, and left her for dead.
Calling the Ball: Nyx fighting for the preservation of the monarchy…probably not. Fighting to stop the killing or keep the killing from getting worse, that I can see. And those who think she’s a weapon to be aimed at their enemies fail to realize that she is more than capable of aiming herself at her enemies…all of them. And considering that they have used her bounty hunter/assassination services before, they should know better.
Logic Gaps: Suspecting that the addict magician/hedge witch would sell them out…and then she does, but you didn’t prepare for the eventuality that she would. Nyx is smarter than that, even with whatever bug infection was swimming inside her.
Khos not figuring out that they’re marked whether they stay with Nyx and help her finish this or not. Figure Inana knows or is a lot closer to figuring it out than he is.
Movies and Television: Would love to see this, but I seriously doubt they could do it justice. Maybe as an anime. _________________ Pacing: Well paced. ...more
Revolutionary Science: Transformation and Turmoil in the AGe of the Guillotine Author: Steve Jones Publisher: Pegasus Books Publishing Date: 2017 Pgs: 353Revolutionary Science: Transformation and Turmoil in the AGe of the Guillotine Author: Steve Jones Publisher: Pegasus Books Publishing Date: 2017 Pgs: 353 ======================= REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS Genre: Non Fiction Science History France French History
Why this book: I love history. And this is roughly contemporary to the biography of the Marquis de Lafayette that I read a year or so ago. _________________ Favorite Quote: “The Republic has no need for geniuses.” Attributed to the judge who sentenced Antoine Lavoisier, the father of chemistry, to the guillotine.
Meh / PFFT Moments: After a chapters long deviation, the author returned to the wider group of scientists, artisans, and politicians of the Revolution. Almost seemed like he wanted to write 3 books and conglomerated them into one, one on the science and scientists of the Revolution, one on chemistry, and one on the rise of the potato, the famine(s), and the culprits that cause them. All of these were part of the same basic era of history, but the deviation shows a change in tone as if they were written at a different time.
Confirmation Bias: I knew the Terror had torn through the aristocracy and the peasantry both. I never tracked the impact it had on science. How many discoveries were stillborn in the basket at the guillotine’s base?
Juxtaposition: Looking at this after the way segments of American society treated scientists during the height of the COVID pandemic definitely puts you in mind of what happened during the French Revolution.
Anachronism: Paris, in literature and history, is basically described like it was the Vegas of its day. But then, they get into the nitty gritty, and it was a hellhole. One in four women between the ages of 15 and 40 being prostitutes due to no opportunities and little hope. A graveyard, the Cimetiere des Innocents, being mounded up above ground level by almost two meters and having such a composting effect that it devours flesh from bones in mere days, and occasionally bursts into neighboring basements. Des Innocents collapsing in on itself was the reason that bones and skulls began to be moved to the catacombs, which I had always assumed were from before the Terror. Tenement squares as far as the eye can see. Yeah…sounds delightful. And I don’t know as much about Parisian history as I thought. The Lafayette biography that I read a year ago touched on much of this, but damn. It was a tinderbox awaiting a match.
The Unexpected: I don’t know why, but I thought that Bastille was still standing, Tower of London style as a monument to the Revolution and the Terror and the inhumanity of the system that existed before and the inequities of the system during. And the way the story is told in history sounds like the Storming freed the prisoners, which appears to be true. But instead of being a huge prison population freed from injustice, it was like seven people: four forgers, two mental inmantes, one of whom thought he was Julius Caesar, and an aristocrat committed by his family for sexual excesses. _________________ Last Page Sound: Despite wandering off the track a bit, it kept my interest.
Sandman Slim Author: Richard Kadrey Publisher: EOS Harper Collins Publishing Date: 2009 Pgs: 388 ======================= REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS Genre: UrSandman Slim Author: Richard Kadrey Publisher: EOS Harper Collins Publishing Date: 2009 Pgs: 388 ======================= REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS Genre: Urban Fantasy Fiction Supernatural Paranormal
Why this book: Cause I read one of the other books in the series and it was great. _________________ Favorite Character: Stark is a great anti-hero protagonist.
Favorite Scene: The walk into Mr Muninn’s labyrinth…library…lair.
Hmm Moments: Thought Lucifer, et al, couldn't leave hell? ...more
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