The Death of Superman (The Death and Return of Superman #1)

This review is written with a GPL 3.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot. wordpress.leafmarks.com & Bookstooge's Reviews on the Road Facebook Group by Bookstooge's Exalted Permission.
Title: The Death of Superman
Series: The Death and Return of Superman
Author/Artist: Dan Jurgens, et al.
Rating: 5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Comics
Pages: 168
Format: Graphic Novel







Synopsis:
A creature dubbed Doomsday wreaks a path of destruction towards Metropolis. Along the way he takes out the entire JLA and it is now up to Superman, alone, to stop this unstoppable monster.

My Thoughts:
This book has a lot of nostalgia built in, so my thoughts might be a bit wander'y here.

I was not much aware of the DC universe when this storyline was taking place. I accidentally picked up the next to last comic in this crossover [there are 7 comics comprising this graphic novel] and since I was used to once a month comics and not used to crossovers, I waited until the next month to pick up what I thought would be the finish, only to find that the Death arc had ended and some other storyline had started up. I couldn't afford to buy a comic EVERY week, so I pretty much gave up on this.

Fast forward about 2 years. I now had a summer job of painting and the whole Death and Return story arc had finished and was collected in 3 graphic novels. I'd been saving up all summer and on one trip to Barnes and Noble I spent my "stash" on all 3 GN's. They blew me away and made me a life long Superman fan.

So now on to my thoughts this time around.

First off, I had forgotten how garishly colored comics are. After novels and walls of text, it is kind of fun to see wicked BRIGHT primary colors.

Second, the time frame from beginning to end was less than 8hrs. I had forgotten that this was lightning fast. Doomsday just explodes onto the scene, destroys a whole slew of superheroes and then proceeds to kill Superman. He KILLS Superman.

Two titans brutally beating each other with their fists and any material on hand. While the artwork varied comic by comic [different artists obviously], the intensity just came through in each panel.

I wasn't sure if I was going to like this as much as before, but I am thankful to say that my 20+ year old paper copy, while now yellowed and slightly bent from standing cockeyed on my shelf, is just as entertaining and good as it was back then.

And I think that the following 2 pictures encapsulate the feeling of this whole book.

Fire With Fire

This review is written with a GPL 3.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot. wordpress.leafmarks.com & Bookstooge's Reviews on the Road Facebook Group by Bookstooge's Exalted Permission.
Title: Fire With Fire
Series: -----
Author: Charles Gannon
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: SFF
Pages: 490
Format: Kindle







Synopsis:
Gary Stu gets frozen, is invited to a super duper secret organization, finds aliens, loses his memory, prevents the earth from getting wiped out by aliens, makes the moves on 2 babes all while having the ethical backbone of Atticus Finch.

My Thoughts:
I liked this story. I did not like the main character.  Story stuff first.

The jumping around in time threw me off, as I almost never pay attention to the dates at the beginning of sections, because most of the time, they are meaningless. This time they weren't and I had to play catchup to figure out what was going on. I didn't like that.
The action was good and how things would work out with aliens was acceptable. It was a good story!

Then we have Caine Riordan. Sadly, his name is the best thing about him. He was perfect and that bothered me. I wasn't sure why, at first. I like "perfect" characters. Rigg from the Pathfinder series by Card is a good example of a perfect character, who I liked. I realized that the difference was we were introduced to Rigg and could see him learning. We were also shown, in snippets, some of his training and what went into the process of forming his thoughts. In short, we learned about Rigg as a person. Riordan, on the other hand, we are simply given fait accompli. He is presented to us, already finished.
And to be honest, has as much real "life" to him as a piece of cardboard. It was pretty bad.

For the first 40% of the book I thought about quitting at least 3 times. After that, the pace picked up and there was enough interaction with other characters to make me glad I read this. But I won't be seeking out any more by Gannon.

If Only They Could Talk ( All Creatures Great and Small #1) 4.5 Stars

This review is written with a GPL 3.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot. wordpress.leafmarks.com & Bookstooge's Reviews on the Road Facebook Group by Bookstooge's Exalted Permission.
Title: If Only They Could Talk
Series: All Creatures Great and Small
Author: James Herriot
Rating: 4.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Autobiography
Pages: 205
Format: Scan







Synopsis:
Jim has just graduated from Vet school in England, at a time when the tractor is literally putting the horse out to pasture.
Thankfully, he gets a post as an assistant in a small rural town and these memoirs are the various adventures, funny and sad, that he has with the animals and the owners.

My Thoughts:
Thoroughly enjoyed this. Herriot's writing style is laid back and calm and I was swept along with each story. Even in the midst of some of the sad stories, Herriot's ability to keep it light made it easier to deal with.
At the same time, the funny stories didn't have me roaring with laughter, but they had me laughing out loud and nodding when human nature shown through, the same then as it is now.

He doesn't shy away from describing some of the very nasty and gross things that a vet had to deal with. And he doesn't shy away from describing how he felt at 2am, after getting back from one call, grabbing all of 15min of sleep and then having another come in. The descriptions feel genuine. Not all shiny, not all crap.

I also connected with his love of his job. On the good days and the bad.

On a book'ish side of things, I didn't realize that this was re-released, or re-titled or something, as All Creatures Great and Small. I guess it isn't just indies who can screw their fanbase over.

The Secret of Excalibur (Wilde and Chase #3)

This review is written with a GPL 3.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot. wordpress.leafmarks.com & Bookstooge's Reviews on the Road Facebook Group by Bookstooge's Exalted Permission.
Title: The Secret of Excalibur
Series: Wilde and Chase
Author: Andy McDermott
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Action/Adventure
Pages: 530
Format: Kindle







Synopsis:
A man claiming to be a friend of Nina's parents gives Nina some important info about the sword Excalibur and then, before he can actually explain anything, is promptly killed.
This sets Nina and Eddie onto the case and into yet another whirlwind adventure, this time trying to recover Excalibur, before a nefarious, blacker than black, Agency of the United States can use it to start World War III. And they have to deal with a Russian billionaire who wants it for himself.

And Nina meets Eddie's family.

My Thoughts:
Except for one little bit, less than a page, I enjoyed this adventure the most, even while groaning.  Everything is just so neat and pat and the puzzles are revealed like nine pins and Nina knocks them down like a professional bowler and Eddie just handles everything physical beyond what even Batman could take. I need to turn off my brain so I don't ask questions and I'd enjoy these better.

The main thing that bothered me was when Nina is getting some medal from the United States President, they have a back and forth about his supporters and  how a bunch of them are Creationists. In that conversation Nina is snide beyond belief and the President pretty much throws them under the bus. It just came out of left field, smacked me in the face and then was never part of the story again. And this type of thing hasn't been in the previous 2 books, so it was weird to have it thrown in. Maybe McDermott had had a bad day or something?

Once again, the action was top notch. There was a car chase in England, somewhere, and Eddie and Nina are having a shootout with the Russians and Eddie's grandmother is in the car with them. Eddie is a habitual swearer and it was very amusing to read about him trying to turn his streaks of swearing into something more presentable for his grandmother. It just made me grin.

Magebane

This review is written with a GPL 3.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot. wordpress.leafmarks.com & Bookstooge's Reviews on the Road Facebook Group by Bookstooge's Exalted Permission.
Title: Magebane
Series: -----
Author: Lee Chane
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: SFF
Pages: 496
Format: Kindle








Synopsis: Spoilers Ahead, mateys!
A young man gets involved with a scientist, who is intent on proving that the impenetrable "Barrier" can be flown over. Unbeknownst to them, said barrier protects a society of mages, who separated themselves from the world 800 years ago.
One mage wants to bring the barrier down and will use the young man to further his aims of world domination. But a mythical being known as the Magebane might end things before they even get going.

Is Magic or Technology greater? That is the question.
But when the magic is limited and the bullets aren't, I think that is a rhetorical question indeed.

My Thoughts:
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Most of the action actually takes place inside the barrier and the young man who we are first introduced to is NOT the magebane. That was why I knocked off a half star. I just didn't like that. The magebane is the prince of the mage society and he is a created being. It completely made sense, but I'd of rather had the outsider be the magebane.

With that being said, most of the action revolves around the prince, the young outsider and a girl who is the ward of the mage who wants to rule the world. Near the end there was a hint of a romance triangle, but thankfully that was squashed faster than a fly. There was a lot of the internal issues of the mage kingdom and the Rebellion and the infighting of the mages themselves. Very little of the outside world. At the end the young man comes back with guns and does some damage from his airship and THAT was what I was expecting from the get go, not as the end.

I was going to say that I searched out all of Chanes' other books, but since it appears he writes as several people [and I'm not even sure if Chane is yet another cover], I think I'll pass. I don't need to waste time because some author has a complex.

The Argonaut Affair (Time Wars #7)

This review is written with a GPL 3.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot. wordpress.leafmarks.com & Bookstooge's Reviews on the Road Facebook Group by Bookstooge's Exalted Permission.
Title: The Argonaut Affair
Series: Time Wars
Author: Simon Hawke
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: SFF
Pages: 212
Format: Kindle









Synopsis:
The characters from our timeline are going to make a pre-emptive strike against the other timeline by creating a split in their universe. And they choose the story of Jason and the Golden Fleece to do this.
Problem is, they and the other timeline people, are all being manipulated by the crazy mad russian. Who still wants to cause multiple time splits, but now in BOTH universes.
Oy Vey!

My Thoughts:
I enjoyed this. But that was because I cut the strings from my eyes to my brain so my eyes wouldn't be rolling the whole time I was reading this.

I mean, robot amazonians, robot birds, robot Hercules?!? And don't forget the robot zombies and robot Colossus of Rhodes. It was so bad it was good. But that was only because I was in the mood for it. Objectively, I would have called this trash.

These are the kind of books I read simply to pass the time between other books. Kind of like those free bread rolls you get at restaurants while waiting for your meal. You would not pay $50 for those rolls, but since they're included, hey, why not eat one? Unless you have a gluten or wheat allergy, in which case, you'll die frothing at the mouth rolling around on the restaurant floor while the other diners look on in horror and the staff scream and run around in a panic.

Chalion (Chalion #1)

This review is written with a GPL 3.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot. wordpress.leafmarks.com & Bookstooge's Reviews on the Road Facebook Group by Bookstooge's Exalted Permission.
Title: Chalion
Series: Chalion
Author: Lois Bujold
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 512
Format: Kindle








Synopsis:
A betrayed, broken soldier comes begging for a job at the old castle where he used to be a page.
He becomes the tutor to the eldest daughter and her handmaid and when said daughter and her younger brother are called to the capital to begin their grooming of being royal heirs, Soldier Man follows along.
Right into the middle of a curse on the whole nation. Now it is up to him and a small group to try to break this curse before it devours the entire country with civil war.

My Thoughts:
This should have been a 4 or 4 1/2 star read. It had everything I wanted, in spades. A good hero with some great friends. A couple of young lassies who have and actually use their brains. Bad guys who were B-AAAAHHHHH-D. Magic. Demons and gods.
The perfect amount of romance.

But about half way through I just couldn't wait for it to be over. I don't know why and I can't pin ANYTHING down as to why this didn't do it for me. The writing was top notch as well. It isn't like I hated it [giving it 3 stars means it was enjoyable] or anything, but I simply have no desire to read any more in this series or anything by Bujold at all.

And there is one thing I can nail down, even though it makes no sense. Lois whateverhermiddlenameis Bujold. I hate it when authors use middle names. I can understand when they use a middle initial if their name is common, like John Smith. But Lois Bujold? I JUST realized, perhaps that was her maiden name? Doesn't matter. Among the hundreds of Lois Bujold's that I know, thank goodness this one distinguishes herself with another name. I am thinking of contacting Patricia McKillip and telling her that all the cool authors are using 3 names now, so she should get on the band wagon. Since this is literally the only thing I can complain about this book, it remains a mystery to me why this just didn't rise above the so-so for me.

Ah well, maybe Sherlock can solve this case someday.

Superman: Kal (Elseworlds) (Graphic Novel)

This review is written with a GPL 3.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot. wordpress.leafmarks.com & Bookstooge's Reviews on the Road Facebook Group by Bookstooge's Exalted Permission.
Title: Superman: Kal
Series: Elseworlds
Author: Dave Gibbons
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Graphic Novel
Pages: 62
Format: Paper








Synopsis:
This tale gives a historical twist to the familiar Superman origin and setting, as the rocket carrying the infant Kal-El lands in medieval England. The regular cast appear as Dark Ages counterparts - Loisse, Jamie and the evil Baron Luther.

My Thoughts:
What a difference 20 years makes. I bought, and read, this when it came out in '95'ish. The idea of a medieval Superman was almost more than my teenage soul could handle.
And I can remember the crushing disappointment that this was to me. The Kents' being such caricatures, Lois being beaten to death by Luthor on her wedding night, Kal dying. The Arthurian Legend tie-in.  It was more than I could handle and I hated it.

So imagine my surprise when I read this this afternoon and I found it to be a pretty good story. Having 14 more pages than Speeding Bullets helped the overall story, as did that they weren't telling 2 origin stories. I just enjoyed this alternate "look" at Superman. Can't say that this was top quality work, in story or artwork, but I was just looking for a quick read between the novels I was reading and this fit perfectly.

Glad my reread actually bumped this up this time around.

Superman: Speeding Bullets (Elseworlds) (Graphic Novel)

This review is written with a GPL 3.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot. wordpress.leafmarks.com & Bookstooge's Reviews on the Road Facebook Group by Bookstooge's Exalted Permission.
Title: Superman: Speeding Bullets
Series: Elseworlds
Author: J.M. DeMatteis
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Graphic Novel
Pages: 48
Format: Paper and scan








Synopsis:
What would have happened if the infant Superman had been found by the Waynes of Gotham City instead of the Kents of Kansas? That's the question this graphic novel examines, as the child from another planet witnesses the death of his parents at the hands of a Gotham mugger and grows up to become a bat-caped avenger of the night.

My Thoughts:
I have always enjoyed the Elseworlds books, long or short, as they give us a new perspective on something we already know all about. It was pretty much DC's answer to Marvel's line of What If? comics.

Technical stuff first. I read this on my new tablet first, an 8inch asus zenpad something something something. It is a 4x3 format, so it was much better suited to reading comics on that my older nexus. I had no problems reading the text or seeing any of the comic panels. There were a couple of panels that looked hideously pixelated; however, upon reading my paper copy, it was the same there so I'm guessing it was some sort of artistic "thing".
When I reread this immediately after with my paper copy, I have to admit I found it a little big. But no real noticeable difference, for which I was glad.

The story and idea. Combining Superman and Batman into one character and bringing both those worlds together [Lex Joker anyone?] was pure genius. It was fun to see worked out.
However, at only 48 pages, this was jam packed, compressed and generally just an overview. That really made the story suffer.  Big important things happen in 1, maybe 2 pages. It felt rushed, which it was. The idea was big enough to put into a 300page graphic novel.

This is probably one of the better, short, Superman, Elseworld comics out there however.

Ember and Ash (Castings #4)

This review is written with a GPL 3.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot. wordpress.leafmarks.com & Bookstooge's Reviews on the Road Facebook Group by Bookstooge's Exalted Permission.
Title: Ember and Ash
Series: Castings
Author: Pamela Freeman
Rating:     of 5 Battle Axes
Genre: SFF
Pages: 521
Format: Kindle







Synopsis:
The conflict between the peoples didn't end when the original Castings Trilogy ended.
Now the gods want in on the conflict. And they'll freeze out the whole domain, kill anyone they want to and generally act like spoiled children until they get what they want.
And only Ember and her cousin by adoption, Ash, can stop it. But instalove strikes and makes it really, really hard. Boo hoo.

My Thoughts:
I read the original Castings Trilogy back in '09 and '10. I really should have left it at that. The Castings ended a 1000 year old feud, had 6 to 10 different character viewpoints and was completely character driven. I was ok with that because of the 6-10 characters helped break things up.

This though, had 2 or 3 characters and they all were everything that I can't stand about ya  books. Ash and Ember would have fit perfectly into ANY CW network show without missing a beat. "her eyes", "his warm touch", "the smell of her hair", "his strong masculinity". Just gag me right now.

Castings did not strike me as young adult or stay focused on a doomed love. This book did nothing but dwell on that. Just about everyone, at some point in their life, will have a doomed love. But most of us grow up, get over it and move on. And find something even better. For example, what I share with my wife is so outside of what I could have imagined as a 22 year old that I probably would have rejected it when I was 22. But now? My wife fits me, complements me and generally makes my life better in ways that I wasn't even aware that I needed when we first got married. And I never would have had that if I was focused on the girl I couldn't have back in my 20's.

While I recommend the Castings trilogy, with the caveat about the character driven'ness of it, this I can't recommend. A younger group might enjoy this, but then I don't know if they'd enjoy the Castings and that was the far superior set of books.

So it all boils down to "bleh". I won't be trying anymore by Freeman.