Bloodmatch (Batman versus Predator #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: Bloodmatch
Series: Batman versus Predator
Author/Artist: Doug Moench, et al
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Graphic Novel/Comic
Pages: 144
Format: Digital scan







Synopsis:
A rogue Predator comes to Gotham to take on Batman. A group of Rule Keepers [for lack of a better word] is after the Rogue Predator.
At the same time, a group of Super Mercs have been hired to take out Batman.
So you have Predator versus Predator, Predator versus Batman, Predator versus Mercs and Batman versus Mercs.
If that isn't complicated enough, the Huntress is hunting down the criminal who hired the mercs and gets involved herself.

My Thoughts:
This wasn't as enjoyable as the previous battle. Part of it was the novelty was gone but part was the story itself. The Huntress just didn't fit in and it made things awkward.
Also, I had forgotten just how sexualized women usually are in comics. My goodness, talk about a lot of cleavage, leg and butt.

The "bad ass" rogue Predator wasn't. He just kills a lot.
*wave hands and make scary ghost noises*

This was just 'meh' for me. It didn't appeal. I didn't hate it, but I sure wasn't loving it.

A Call to Arms (The Damned #1) (Project Reread #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: A Call to Arms
Series: The Damned
Author: Alan Dean Foster
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: SFF
Pages: 343
Format: Kindle digital edition







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: (Copied wholesale)
For eons, the Amplitur had searched space for intelligent species, each of which was joyously welcomed to take part in the fulfillment of the Amplitur Purpose. Whether it wanted to or not. When the Amplitur and their allies stumbled upon the races called the Weave, the Purpose seemed poised for a great leap forward. But the Weave's surprising unity also gave it the ability to fight the Amplitur and their cause. And fight it did; for thousands of years.

Will Dulac was a New Orleans composer who thought the tiny reef off Belize would be the perfect spot to drop anchor and finish his latest symphony in solitude. What he found instead was a group of alien visitors; a scouting party for the Weave, looking. for allies among what they believed to be a uniquely warlike race: Humans.

Will tried to convince the aliens that Man was fundamentally peaceful, for he understood that Human involvement would destroy the race. But all too soon, it didn't matter. The Amplitur had discovered Earth...

My Thoughts:
Originally read this back in 2005. Enjoyed it enough that I went out and bought the whole trilogy in hardcover. It has since sat on my bookshelves for over a decade. So it was a prime candidate for Project Reread.

Thankfully, I liked this just as much this time around as I did last time.  Which means I had awesome taste back in '05 and still have it today :-D

The biggest surprise to me, this time around, was how much time was spent dealing with the Amplitur and the Weave before ever coming to Earth. I had remembered the Weave/Human interaction as the starting point, and it wasn't.

The other main thing I noticed was Foster's idea that killing non-humans, for humans, was something that they could deal with without guilt or side effects. It forms the whole philosophical basis of this book, ie, Humans are killing machines but hadn't found the proper outlet yet. I think that he is wrong this time around. I concur that humans can fight [not just killing, but the conflict] and in many cases enjoy it. However, seeing how war [Gulf II, Irag, Afghanistan, etc] has affected our soldiers [even the ones who keep it together], I am not so blithely sure that humanity can engage in conflict without consequences. Most of the difference, I know, stems from the fact that I am a Christian and I'm pretty sure Foster is an atheist.

In '05 I noted that I stayed up until midnight to finish this. This time around I stayed up until 3am. And did I pay for that the next day! 3hrs of sleep is nowhere near enough for me these days. I find it interesting to note my physical changes in my book reading habits. Ha.

Finally, the cover of this Gateway edition is butt ugly. I liked the hardcover edition covers that were all colorful and showed aliens and weapons. I would WANT to read those. This one, not so much based on the cover alone.

Kingfisher

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: Kingfisher
Series: -----
Author: Patricia McKillip
Rating: 4.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 352
Format: Kindle Digital Editions




 


Synopsis:
A fairy tale taking place in a modern world similar to Maine. Magic, motorcycles and cooking all collide.
A young cook, a young bastard prince and an evil rogue magician king duel it out for this world's version of the Holy Grail. And because it is McKillip, it is like reading a dream, a wonderful silky dream.

My Thoughts:
I read McKillip's last book, Bards of Bone Plain, back in '11. She had moved from a fantasy era to a 1920'ish style of era while keeping the magic. In Kingfisher she moves on to a fully modern world. Cell phones, motorcycles, personal lasers [!] and limos abound. But McKillip, in her inestimable way, weaves it effortlessly into a magic fairytale dealing with King Arthur, his knights [on motorcycles no less] and the Holy Grail.

There is nothing new in this book that will draw you to McKillip if you don't already like her style. If you do like her lyrical poetry, then this offers more of the same. I was mesmerized, after I got into the rhythm of her writing, and was quite surprised when I looked down and saw I had read 95% of the book. That was a good "surprised", just to be clear.

I like her writing, I like her stories and so I don't have much else to say. This did make me want to re-read all the other stuff of hers that I read years ago. We'll see.

The Return of Superman (The Death and Return of Superman #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 Return of Superman
Series: The Death and Return of Superman
Author/Artist: Dan Jurgens, et al.
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Comics
Pages: 480
Format: Paper Graphic Novel




 


Synopsis:
4 Supermen have appeared in Metropolis. One is a young clone with all the attitude and haircut of the 90's. One is a man encased in steel who makes no claim to be Superman. One is a violent vigilante who has Superman's powers but not his heart. Finally, one is a cyborg who claims to have been mysteriously rebuilt from kryptonian tech.
One of these is a traitor bent on the destruction of Humanity. Can they figure out which one of them is the traitor and stop him?
Only the real Superman can stop the destruction of the world [again].


My Thoughts: Spoilers Ahead Matey!
A fitting conclusion to the whole story arc.

The first thing that struck me when I pulled this book off my shelf yesterday was just how the garishly primary colors dominated everything. Nothing but Blue, Red and Yellow. That is one thing that makes comics stand apart from graphic novels.

My second impression was just how fast things developed. Now given that I read this in one afternoon from one book definitely helped that along. But all the pretenders are revealed and while the world is still reeling from trying to figure out which, if any, are the real Superman, the Cyborg suddenly is about to turn the world into a new War World?

Third, the utter ridiculousness of it all. The pure absurdity. However, that level is needed to pull something this big off. This story arc spanned multiple comics for months. It HAD to be over the top to keep the teens interested and wanting to spend their money.

Fourth, I still enjoyed this. It was fun, it was explosive, it was garish, it was high octane. It was everything I expect a comic book to be in other words. I don't expect comic books to be on the same level as The Count of Monte Cristo. Reading this also brought me one step closer to reading Superman: Doomed which I bought back in January. I have not read that before. It is just as big and I think I'll be able to judge it more objectively than I did Return of Superman.

In conclusion, this was just as big as I remembered while definitely belonging to my younger days.

Madame Bovary (Classic)

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: Madame Bovary
Series: -----
Author: Gustave Flaubert
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Classic
Pages: 365
Format: Ebook digital edition






Synopsis:
Emma Bovary is married to Dr. Bovary and is the "Madame Bovary" of the title. The story starts out with the Dr though and gives us in a chapter or 3 his history until he marries Emma. Once married, we get the story from Emma.
And what a story it is. A story of discontent, selfishness, betrayal, greed, lust and the ultimate end of all of those things.

My Thoughts:
I read this on my phone, so it was read a page at a time, here and there, now and then. I did not read large chunks at a time. I suspect that helped my enjoyment of this immensely.

If you had told me that reading about Emma's self-destructive spiral leading to her suicide would be enjoyable, I most likely would have drummed you out of whatever establishment we both were inhabiting at the moment and made sure that you weren't drunk, high or mistaking me for somebody else.  But I did enjoy this a lot. Part of it was the writing. Flaubert handled words like a master wordsmith. When somebody is skilled at something, it shows and it makes it easier to watch/read/partake of whatever they are offering.

Like I said at first, reading this in tiny chunks just worked out really well. I got a taste of how horrible Emma was, and let me tell you, a shallower, vainer, stupider and down right pleasure seeker was never written but it was never overwhelming or despair inducing because it was read in manageable chunks. Most classics I plow through and this would have been like getting dumped on by a manure tractor. But instead I simply got splashed by a car passing by and then went home and changed clothes. It made all the difference.

It also made a difference that Flaubert didn't glorify what Emma was doing. He simply let the results of her actions catch up to her. I'm a big advocate of moral cause and effect and while some of that can be seen on a personal level, more of it is on a macro level and not seen for a generation or two on a national level. So seeing it work out the way it did was actually encouraging instead of discouraging.

On a personal level, reading this book has made me even more grateful that I have learned to be content and that I have a wife who loves me and is content as well. It doesn't mean I don't dream or want to improve our lot in life but it means that if I can only afford a 20 year old used car, then so be it. Reading this also reminded me that thoughts lead to actions and have consequences.

I think I have said enough. I'm not sure I'd want to read this again because I probably wouldn't enjoy it as much.

The Bands of Mourning (Mistborn #6)

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.blogspot.com & Bookstooges Reviews on the Road Facebook Group by Bookstooge's Exalted Permission.
Title: The Bands of Mourning
Series: Mistborn
Author: Brandon Sanderson
Rating: 1 of 5 Stars
Genre: SFF
Pages: 448
Format: Kindle digital edition




 


My Thoughts:

I have known since 2007, what Sanderson's personal views on homosexuality are. Until now, he had kept that viewpoint out of his books, at least as far as I could tell.

With this latest Mistborn book Sanderson has joined the ranks of modern authors to fully embrace homosexuality as something normal and ok. Not as a sin but as a viable lifestyle. This idea has been roaring into SFF more and more and it is something that I cannot allow into my entertainment.

I've had this happening more and more and at each instance I have to wonder, do I need to stop my wholesale reading of SFF?  At what point will this inundation of wrongful thinking affect my own thoughts and views? I try to avoid authors of this viewpoint, but it feels like a minefield.  Reading along for books and books and then suddenly, bam, 1 paragraph, a page, a chapter, whatever.

I feel like I am on a cusp. I have to decide.  I just don't know how to proceed. Giving up SFF entirely seems almost like an over reaction, but is it if I keep filling my mind with ideas that are contrary to God's commands?  If I do give up SFF, what do I fill my reading time with? Do I cut down my reading time overall? If so, what do I fill my time with instead?

I LIKE SFF but not enough that I'm willing to compromise. I do enough of that already. I've been thinking about this since Monday when I finished this book. I don't want to take any rash actions but neither do I want to do nothing.

Myth-ion Improbable (Myth Adventures #11)

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: Myth-ion Improbable
Series: Myth Adventures
Author: Robert Asprin
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: SFF
Pages: 198
Format: Kindle







Synopsis:
Taking place quite a while, chronologically, before the previous book.
Skeeve buys a magic treasure map and with help from Aahz and Tananda pursues it across the dimensions.
Little does he know that vampire cows, a shapeshifter and some serious amounts of gold are all involved.

My Thoughts:
I was pretty confused at first, since when I'd read my latest Myth book back in '14, Skeeve was practically king of Possiltum.

Overall, this was ok. It wasn't super funny but it was a good filler read. I don't have much else to say.

The Covenant of Genesis (Wilde and Chase #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: The Covenant of Genesis
Series: Wilde and Chase
Author: Andy McDermott
Rating: 2 of 5 Stars
Genre: Action/Adventure
Pages: 594
Format: Kindle







Synopsis:
Nina is kicked out the UN agency at the instigation of the President of the US because of her actions retarding his progress in the previous book.
At the same time she uncovers ancient artifacts that could drastically change what people think about the beginning of humanity.
And she runs afoul of a Super Secret, Super Powerful, organization called the Covenant of Genesis.
Without backing, without funding, Nina and Eddie must save the Garden of Eden.

My Thoughts:
This book is where I part ways with McDermott.

He pretty much pummels monotheistic religions and then once they're down, stomps on their hands and ribs. With a few kicks in the balls for good measure.  I get enough of that in real life without having it be part of my entertainment.

I must also mention the violence. I have a very high tolerance for violence in books. But this got the ultra-violence tag and really should have had an "ultra ultra ultra violence" tag. Pirates attack Nina and Eddie and it is brutal. Heads cut off, spearings, guts, etc, etc. Then Eddie hunts the pirates down and offs them all, once again graphically. I noticed this before the religious ball stomping began by the way.

The End of the Battle (Yu-Gi-Oh! R #5) (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: The End of the Battle
Series: Yu-Gi-Oh! R
Author/Artist: Akira Ito
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Manga
Pages: 296
Format: Kindle







Synopsis:
Jonouchi duels it out with the resurrected Bandit Keith, as this whole thing was instigated by Keith as revenge for his death at Pegasus' hand.
Yugi continues his duel with Yako. It is god card against evil god card. Can Yugi and the power of the cards break through the evil god cards' influence on Yako?
Either way, there are some great duels ahead.

My Thoughts:
This was a long volume. At almost 300 pages, it allowed for 2 duels that were both book length in and of themselves.

Neither duel had the impact on me that previous ones had. Part of that was that the ending of each duel was the typical Yu-Gi-Oh ending. Lots of friendship and caring and heart of the duelist. I'd actually say that Ito took this further than his predecessor, Takahashi the creator of Yu-Gi-Oh.

Anzu always played a very small part in this franchise but in this series it felt like Ito didn't know how to make use of her and so relegated her to a non-existence. Someone with that short a skirt should definitely have more page time!

Overall, I really enjoyed this series. Enough so that I'll start saving up to buy these in paper.  If you liked the original series or the Duelist series, you'll definitely like this.

March '16 Roundup & Ramblings

Another strong month for 2016.

21 books, although I had 3 DNF's. I also only read 4 comics [manga, graphic novels and comics] where I was hoping for close to twice that number.

Project Re-read went on a Hiatus, as one week was so busy that I didn't read at all and I wanted to concentrate on new reads. Definitely going to be making that a priority this coming month though.

My most enjoyable book of the month was Dead Six.

My average rating was 3.14, if you include the 2 dnf'd but unrated books. If you take those out, it goes up to a whopping 3.47.

My idea from last month of adding books to a draft post as I read them didn't work out. Not sure if I want to try it for April. So lets all read some more good books in April!