Calvin and Hobbes (Calvin and Hobbes #1)

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Title: Calvin and Hobbes
Series: Calvin and Hobbes
Author/Artist: Bill Watterson
Rating: 5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Comics
Pages: 128
Format: Digital scan



Synopsis:
We are introduced to Calvin, a 6 year old and how he captured his best friend, Hobbes, a stuffed tiger.
A weekly comic strip from the late 80's and 90's, Calvin and Hobbes is about youth, pure and simple.

My Thoughts:
Since I had no money when these started coming out, being but a stripling myself, I would request these for my birthday and once a year I would revel in the adventures of Calvin and his best friend, Hobbes.

Having embarked upon a reread, I found these just as delightful, just as fun and just as wonderful as I remembered. Which goes to show that Bill Watterson was not only a good comic artist, but a genius when it comes to seeing life through the eyes of a young boy.

I have to say, a mere 128 pages sure seems a lot less than it did back then though...

Synthetic Soul (Yu-Gi-Oh! R #3) (Manga)

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: Synthetic Soul
Series: Yu-Gi-Oh! R
Author/Artist: Akira Ito
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Manga
Pages: 216
Format: Kindle







Synopsis:
Yako isn't interested so much in who wins or loses, but simply that the cards are being used to duel. All part of his plan to bring Pegasus back.
Jonouchi and Honda duel to a dead end while Yako asks Seto to join forces with him against Yugi.
It is now up to Yugi and Gekko, Yako's twin brother, to end this charade and save Anzu before it is too late.

My Thoughts:
Seto's duel, where he once again uses the Blue Eyes White Dragon was exactly a Seto Kaiba duel. He was in control the whole time and he knew it.

Jonouchi ends up dueling a defensive girl and tries to engage her so she'll actually be a duelist with a duelist's fighting spirit. It doesn't hurt that this allows him to win as well.

Yugi and Gekko take on the top Card Professors, and while not exactly wiping the floor with them, do overcome them. I have to admit, I was kind of hoping for a 4 player multi-duel with them.

I am still enjoying these and am glad I did eventually get around to reading them. They fit right in with the Duelist series and I am enjoying them more than the Millennium World series. It makes me actually consider reading some of the Yugioh GX series. I'll keep considering that for now.

Deeply Odd (Odd Thomas #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: Deeply Odd
Series: Odd Thomas
Author: Dean Koontz
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Pages: 352
Format: Kindle







Synopsis:
Odd has a vision of a mysterious cowboy burning 3 children alive. To prevent that is the adventure that this book portrays.
Odd meets a variety of people, some really good, some really bad. He also realizes that the supernatural world that he has a limited access to is much wider and has a greater impact on our world than he previously realized.

My Thoughts:
Odd Thomas takes on a Satanic Cult.

I haven't added the horror tag onto this series until now. But this one certainly deserves it. Koontz takes a very broad based Judeo-Christian world view and throws the demons full on onto Odd. Thankfully, unlike Stephen King, Koontz also emphasizes the side of Good, no matter how peculiar they might be. It is made abundantly clear that Odd couldn't have taken on this adventure, and succeeded, without the help of many other Good people.
I like that.

Several things made me uncomfortable with this read though. I suspect it was Koontz's intent, but I still want to note them.

The children. Anytime a story revolves around the pain, suffering and possible death of children, it puts me on edge. I do not subscribe to the belief that children are "innocents". I was a child, once. I remember. I have also seen children through my adult eyes. Anyone who thinks children are innocent has never seen two 5 year olds fight over a toy and then lie like a politician about it when one of them gets hurt and the adults have to intervene. But I am a strong believer that children must be protected until such a time as they can take care of themselves, mentally, physically and emotionally. So it just makes it a hard read when children are the object of a satanic ritual.

Which brings me to the second thing that made me uncomfortable. The satanism and demons. I am a Christian and hence believe that the supernatural world is real. I believe in God. I believe that Satan is a fallen angel and that demons are other fallen angels. I believe that the devil hates God and His creation so much that he'd rather see it destroyed than exist and not be under his, Satan's, control. I believe that the devil is immensely powerful and can give some of that power to humans to further his own aims. So to just casually write about this subject sets off alarm bells in my head.

Like I said above though, I think Koontz included both those subjects as uncomfortable subjects and not just because it was convenient for the plot. Or maybe it was. Either way, while they made me uncomfortable, I liked the way Koontz handled them.

There is one more book in this series, Saint Odd. While I'm sad that this series will end, as I'm enjoying the whole of it so far, I am glad that Koontz will finish this.  A good story needs an ending and a good author will not allow said story to be the story that never ends and to have it wither on the vine, so to speak.

Atlantis Endgame (Time Traders #7) DNF@5%

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Title: Atlantis Endgame
Series: Time Traders
Author: Andre Norton, Sherwood Smith
Rating: 0.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: SFF
Pages: DNF
Format: Digital scan







My Thoughts:

The following quote from the book epitomizes why I abandoned this piece of betraying filth.

"Ross took her face in his hands so he could gaze down into those lovely brown eyes flecked with tiny bits of gold. I could swim in those eyes, he thought..."

The first 4 Time Trader books, by Norton alone, were wonderfully fun adventure stories. These previous 3 books were romance stories that hijacked the characters I had come to like and turned them into romantic caricatures of themselves. The Ross Murdoch of the Time Traders I liked would NEVER utter or think such things as the above. He was a man on a mission.

The Time Traders were betrayed by these collaborations and I for one am sick because of it. These last 3 books have now tainted the first four books for me. Good job Smith, you Chamberlain; Hitler would be proud.

A World Ruled by Fear! (Yu-Gi-Oh! R #2) (Manga)

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: A World Ruled by Fear!
Series: Yu-Gi-Oh! R
Author/Artist: Akira Ito
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Manga
Pages: 200
Format: Kindle







Synopsis:
Yugi and Jonouchi's battles advancing them into Kaiba Corp continue. The Card Professors are folding like a house of cards before them, but that is all according to Yako Tenma's plan.
Who is insane, twisted by the Jashin, the evil god cards, that even Pegasus never dared to create.
So Yugi and Jonouchi must save Anzu from the top protege of Pegasus, who wants to reincarnate Pegasus in Anzu's body.
And finally, Seto shows up to take back his company. He might be an arrogant ass hat, but he's a hardcore duelist through and through and nothing is going to stop him.

My Thoughts:
Holy smokes! While book 1 was all lightning fast battles, this was some real drama, plot reveals and some hardcore duels.
This book typified what I like about Yu-Gi-Oh!.

Given, having played both Yugioh and Magic the Gathering, I know that you don't always get the cards you want/need. So put that aside and the battles here are just flat out fun.

It was also good to see what Yako's real agenda is and how insane it is. What a nut job! It wasn't until near the end of the book that Seto and Mokuba show up to take back their company.  Seto is drawn with an intensity that just jumps off the page and the duel he's in crackles with energy. As for poor little Mokuba, that kidnap bait, he is drawn really weirdly. He reminded me of a demon monkey and his part is negligible as always. I'm just waiting for Yako to kidnap him, hahaha!

Overall, I was really pleased with this book. If the rest of the series keeps to this level, I'll be buying the paper copies for sure.

The Violent Streets (The Executioner #41)

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Title: The Violent Streets
Series: The Executioner
Author: Mike Newton & Don Pendleton
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Action/Adventure
Pages: 185
Format: Scan







Synopsis:
Toni Blancanales, one of the members of the new Able Team investigators, is raped and almost killed while on the job. Her brother calls in Mack to find the sicko who did this.
But it looks like the killer is being protected by some of the Men in Blue. Bolan might have to cross a line that he has never crossed before. Can he kill a cop?

My Thoughts:
I only have 3-5 more of these left on my kindle and I have to say, I won't be sad to see them go.

This wasn't quite what I was expecting. Instead of Bolan drawing down on a serial murderer/rapist, he gets involved with some high level dirty cops and blackmailed politician. The violence level was way down and my thrillometer barely got beyond the 1TPM [thrill per minute] threshold.

It was interesting to see him debate with himself about taking out dirty cops now. He realizes his war has changed but isn't exactly sure what the new ground rules are. Between that and the whole thing happening to a friend, this was a very "personal" Executioner book.

I'm hoping the next book has more ♪lawyers♪, ♪guns♪ ♪and money!♪

A Wicked Shadow! (Yu-Gi-Oh! R #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: A Wicked Shadow!
Series: Yu-Gi-Oh! R
Author/Artist: Akira Ito
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Manga
Pages: 216
Format: Kindle







Synopsis:
Being the King of Games means that Yugi has enemies. At the top of that list is Pegasus' protege. Who now wants revenge for Yugi's destruction of that megalomaniac!

My Thoughts:
This 5 book series takes place between Duelist Kingdom and Millennium World. It is also by the original Yu-Gi-Oh's creator's protege. So I didn't know what to expect.

This first volume lives up to the previous storylines. However, the battles were lightning quick. I think Yugi and Jounouchi have over half a dozen battles. In fact, in one battle, on the first turn, Jounouchi's opponent goes defensive and Jounouchi complains about how slow the battle is going. It made me laugh. It also was the format for all the battles. Details were sketchbook thin and Yugi just steamrolls over every and all opponents.

It all starts with Anzu getting kidnapped and the 3 boys going to rescue her at the Kaiba Corp headquarters. So not only does the Protege want to destroy Yugi, he's pretty much taken over Kaiba Corp. Not sure where Kaiba is during all of this.

Anyway, I didn't want to review this series as a whole as I've done for the previous Yu-Gi-Oh! books. It seemed fitting to do each volume. So here's to hoping they can each stand out enough on their own.

Way-farer (Kensho #1) (Project Reread #2)

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: Way-farer
Series: Kensho
Author: Dennis Schmidt
Rating: 5 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages: 277
Format: scan








Project Reread:
I am attempting to reread 10+ books in 2016 that I have rated highly in the past. I am not attempting to second guess or denigrate my younger self in any way but am wanting to compare how my tastes have changed and possibly matured. I am certainly much more widely read now [both in the good and bad quality sadly] than then.
I will hopefully be going into the reasons for any differences of opinions between then and now. If there is no difference of opinion, then it was a hellfire'd fine book!
Links may link to either Booklikes or Blogspot, depending on when the original review was.


Synopsis:
A group of colonists from Earth, led by Cpt. Nakamura, have found the planet Kensho. A veritable paradise according to all and every scan that they perform.
Only Paradise holds a nasty secret, the Mushin. Ravagers of the mind, who destroy 80% of the colonists.
Now, 400 years later, one young man seeks the answer to Nakamura's koan, which promises freedom from the Mushin.


My Thoughts:
Since this is the second book in my Project Reread, I read it not only to see if I enjoyed it today as well as I did 10 years ago but also with the thought of contrasting my own changed viewpoints from back then.

This is my 5th or 6th time reading this book. I've recorded it in 2003 and 2006, I believe, but I read it at least once in college and 2 to 3 times between jr high and highschool. I probably first read this in '91 or '92.

5 Stars again. Now that is because I have such fond memories and it is a fun story. It is a great story about a young man learning to become a sword master and freeing humanity from the mind killers, the Mushin. I think my favorite part still remains the training by the Old Master [and yes, it is the type of book where the old master's name IS Old Master] and how he beat the living daylight out of Jerome. It was enjoyable to see Jerome grow, but not without making many mistakes along the way. He's no Gary Stu. Getting a facefull of a pot cover definitely keeps him humble :-) Or getting hit with a wooden sword in the balls. The Old Master was not gentle.

On the philosophy side, while my views haven't changed, I have a much deeper understanding and so the primer on Zen thought was childish and annoying. Not only do I disagree with it, but now I know why I disagree with it. I suspect if I read this again I'll be taking a star off next time for it.

How it compares to years past. It still holds up very well. As I was reading along, I could understand exactly why this appealed to me as a teen and later on in life. There is something necessary in taking action and Jerome would have been me and I would have been Jerome. It was uncanny how earnest, naive and single minded we both were.
Not that I have completely changed, my personality shape is still the same, but I am mellower and I have a longer view now. So the appeal isn't quite the same.

This book ends on a complete note. It was a standalone as far as I knew for many, many years. It wasn't until 2000 that I found the sequels. I found each successive book to be less enjoyable. However, this book is good enough that I am tempted to go read the rest of the series, just because.

Well, only if I can't find enough other books I want to re-read.

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.