An Excellent Mystery (Brother Cadfael #11)

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Title: An Excellent Mystery
Series: Brother Cadfael #11
Author: Ellis Peters
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Mystery
Pages: 253
Format: Kindle Digital Edition

Synopsis:

A wounded Crusader has become a monk who has been befriended by a mute young monk. In the power plays between the royalty, an abbey is destroyed and the monks therein scatter.

The aforementioned Crusader makes his way to Shrewsbury, where it is found out that the young woman he was to marry but forswore to become a monk, went to become a nun. Only she never arrived at the Abbey. Now a young man who was with the Crusader monk must track her down to press his own suit for her hand, if she is alive. If she is dead, then he'll pursue vengeance.

Caught in the middle of it all, is Cadfael. Seeing more than others, caring for all, trying to make everything work out without destroying a man, a name, a legacy or a young woman.

My Thoughts:  Spoilers

If you aren't as dull as dullard, you'll have figured out what is going on at probably about the same time as Cadfael. If you are that dull, here's a Pro Tip: young women can disguise themselves as boys.

And honestly, that is what made me shake my head over and over.  How does a woman disguise herself so thoroughly that nobody in a bloody Abby discovers it? She has to bathe sometime. She has to have her period sometime. It gets hot in the summer and she can't wear the monk's habit ALL the time. I get that a young woman can pass as a young man for a time, among strangers. But among a cloistered community? It just beggared my belief.

Apart from that, this was a half decent Cadfael story. He actually plays a rather small part. There is also a lot of "Historicalness" going on and those goings ons are what actually drive the story. Kind of like getting a history lesson on the sly.

Robin 3000 (Elseworlds: R3K #2)

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Title: Robin 3000
Series: Elseworlds: Robin 3000 #2
Author: Byron Preiss, et al
Rating: 1.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Comic
Pages: 53
Format: Digital Scan

Synopsis:

Tom Wayne begins chasing down some of his robot clones to prove to the rebellion that he isn't collaborating with the Skulp. During the process he allows himself and his group to be captured by the head honcho of the Skulp intellligence. Who has a time machine.

Tom escapes, visits just desserts upon the head skulp, gets visited by a robot Robin from Earth [which has been teleporting around the galaxy looking for Tom] who convinces him to take on the costume of Robin and continue the fight against the Skulp.

The End. Or is it?

My Thoughts:

Ok, I knew going in this was going to be a mess. Vol 1 was a great disappointment and this did no better. Once again, this was not a Robin story. This was a Super Smart Science'y guy has adventures, In Space! Tom just jets around, as Tom, and does things and what not.

The way things were presented on the back covers was cool and made it sound like this would be a kick butt action comic. But it isn't.

And the stupid Robin robot teleporting all over the galaxy looking for Tom just to give him the costume? That made NO sense nor did Tom's taking of the costume. He's the last Wayne. He should be taking on the Batman mythos.

But nothing about this 2 part series really made sense. And that "or is it?" ending. That reeked of desperation to get this turned into a regular series. Thank goodness it failed and we weren't subjected to more of this pablum.

Ugh.

Dawn of the Time-Out (Eyeshield 21 #16) (Manga (non) Monday)

^{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 WordPress, Blogspot, Booklikes & Librarything by  Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission.}
Title: Dawn of the Time-Out
Series: Eyeshield 21 #16
Author: Riichiro Inagaki
Artist: Yusuke Murata
Rating: 4.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Manga
Pages: 200
Format: Digital Scan

Synopsis:  Spoiler

It is the Devil Bats versus the Gunmen. Two super aggressive teams battling it. Unfortunately for the Devil Bats, the Gunmen are simply more aggressive and Kid's quick snap throw speeds up to compensate for blitz after blitz after blitz. To add more bad news to the mixture, Sena can't seem to compete with his old friend Riku and in fact Riku steals the ball from Sena and scores a touchdown.

This is all being televised and Musashi is at the hospital with his dad. Musashi's backstory is revealed and his reason for quitting football and highschool are shown. His dad beats him and tells him to get over himself and go help his team mates. Now with a kicker on the team, Hiruma has options.

But with a 20-6 deficit, is even Musashi going to be enough?

My Thoughts:

Wow, wow, wow!!! That is exactly how I started my review for #15 and it continues here. The game between the Devil Bats and the Gunmen starts with each team scoring a touchdown against the other by running the kickoff. Which means that there are 2 touchdowns within 1 minute of the game starting. I found that pretty exciting.

The Gunmen are just plain good and their quarterback, the Kid, is olympic quality. Hiruma is simply outclassed and his tricks aren't enough. Sena doesn't have the willpower to counter Riku and each member of the Devil Bats encounter their opposites and fail.

The return of Musashi is done pretty well. You can see where he gets his fire from. Also, his return re-energizes the Devil Bats and gives Hiruma another whole set of options to play with. Thus the volume ends and we have to wait until the next volume to see if the Devil Bats can come back from a 14point deficit.

Vet in a Spin (All Creatures Great and Small #6)

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Title: Vet in a Spin
Series: All Creatures Great and Small #6
Author: James Herriot
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Non-Fiction
Pages: 224
Format: Kindle digital scan

Synopsis:

James completes his pilot training and is all set to do his part in the RAF when a minor bit of surgery removes his A+ health rating and he loses his rating to fly. After kicking about, the RAF sends him back home to be a vet again.

Stories from his vet days are once again interspersed and make up the bulk of the book.

My Thoughts:

Another good edition of the Vet series. I really wish he'd done more about his actual time in the RAF though, as the little tidbits he doles out shows that he can tell much more than just animal stories.

The ending with him entering Darrowby, for the first time again, to start over and wondering if his vet skill have atrophied in the time he spent in RAF training is a good look at a young man who has done a lot but just isn't sure.

Soldiers Live (The Chronicles of the Black Company #10) (Final)

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Title: Soldiers Live
Series: The Chronicles of the Black Company #10
Author: Glen Cook
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: SFF
Pages: 528
Format: Kindle digital edition

Synopsis:

The Final Chapter of the Black Company. The Company has made their home in the new world, but nobody wants to stay. Not the company, not the people of the world. So between Sleepy and Croaker, the Black Company once again invades their "homeworld."
But Kina, Shivetya and the Lady's Sister are still around and still plotting. Is the Black Company the people we have come to know in the last 10 books, or is the Black Company an idea that mutates and changes across time and across worlds?

My Thoughts:

What a fitting end to this series.  All of the characters we have come to know meet an appropriate end for the Black Company. Which means that about 9/10th's of them die.
That brings up the first thing that I appreciated about this series. Cook walks the razor thin line of making us care for and like particular characters and still making them meet the problems that they face without the assurance that they will survive. Cook doesn't introduce characters JUST to make them die but neither is anyone a Luke, Han or Leia.

The worlds go on. I like a happily ever after, but until the End of Days and the Judgement Day, I know that just won't happen. It is good to see how humans strive and continue to fight. I wouldn't like a steady diet of this bleak outlook but I do appreciate the reminder that life is tough and people we love do die.

Cook is also very deft with his philosophizing through his characters. Instead of being beat over the head, we get quick slaps to the back of the head. A little sting just to remind us.

Finally, the story. Cook took us through a journey that spanned worlds where we were only expecting towns. Powers and Prophecies came and went, people rose and fell and through it all the Black Company existed. In different shapes, in different forms, with many purposes but always surviving. I loved reading this series and thoroughly enjoyed the time I spent in this world.

Robin 3000 (Elseworlds: R3K #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 WordPress, Blogspot, Booklikes & Librarything by  Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission.}
Title: Robin 3000
Series: Elseworlds: Robin 3000 #1
Author: Byron Preiss, et al
Rating: 2 of 5 Stars
Genre: Comic
Pages: 59
Format: Digital scan

Synopsis:

It is the year 2999, Earth has been taken over by the Skulp and Bruce Wayne's descendant continues the fight for freedom using the Batman mythos. Unable to escape the Skulp, Wayne passes on the torch to his nephew and assistant, Tom Wayne, aka Robin.

Escaping from the Skulp, Tom must hook up with the resistance. The Skulp however, have created a cyborg of Tom and have it publicly collaborating with them and decrying the Wayne name.

My Thoughts:

This was a big disappointment. Batman the 30 eleventieth talks for  2 pages about being a martyr, then gets blown up. But he has enough time safely set Tom down.

Tom is not Robin. He gets a cyborg hand part way through this volume, but he's not a detective, he's not martial and he certainly hasn't been trained by a Batman, any Batman. He's just the Wayne heir. And no costume.

This was simplistic in the bad way. Things just happened, because. Meeting the scientist who gave him his new hand was the perfect example.

Tom's pilot friend:"My friend needs a new hand, here's our crashed spaceship in payment."
Dr: "Ok"
Tom upon awakening: "I am Tom Wayne, I can figure this hand out easily".
Dr: "Drat, a Wayne. But don't worry, I won't turn you in to the Skulp, because I don't feel like it."

That is a slight exaggeration, but not much and the whole tone of the book felt like a Hardy Boys in space. And no costume.

There are 2 volumes to this little Elseworld story, but after making it through this volume, I need a week before I want to tackle the next volume.  I'm disappointed in the simplicity of the story [with all the attendant weaknesses and lack of full bodied thinking] and the fact that "Robin" doesn't show up in his phracking costume!

Even this guy would have been better:

 

Stalking the Zombie (John Justin Mallory #3)

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Title: Stalking the Zombie
Series: John Justin Mallory #3
Author: Mike Resnikc
Rating: 2.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: SFF
Pages: 222
Format: Kindle digital scan

Synopsis:

A collection of short stories about John Justin Mallory, a private investigator who has been transported to an other worldly version of Manhattan.

Solving mysteries with an old fat lady who hunted monstrous creatures in the deepest jungles and taking care of a spoiled cat girl, Mallory also has to put up with the East Coasts most powerful demon. Who never tells a lie. Odd that.

My Thoughts:

This was ok. While it is the 3rd book in the series [something I didn’t realize when I started reading this], being a collection of short stories it fills in everything you need to know to feel right at home. Certain aspects were extremely repetitive, which once again, is because of it being short stories that were written at widely varying times and for widely varying publications. I found I could skip about 3 paragraphs per story once I’d read the first story.

Mallory was supposed to be a hard bitten PI but he came across a gambling addict who relied too much on his own perceived smarts instead of working hard. One short story was ok but more than that and it just wasn’t fun any more. Too bad, because Resnick has a pretty good track record with me.

Abaddon's Gate (The Expanse #3) DNF@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 WordPress, Blogspot, Booklikes & Librarything by  Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission.}
Title: Abaddon’s Gate
Series: The Expanse #3
Author: James Corey
Rating: 1/2 of 5 Stars
Genre: SFF
Pages: DNF
Format: Kindle digital edition

My Thoughts:

Due to a Christian pastor living in a homosexual relationship and that being portrayed as acceptable [by the writers, the readers and the Bible by inference], I will not be finishing this book or continuing with this series.

Grunge (Monster Hunter Memoirs #1)

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Title: Grunge
Series: Monster Hunter Memoirs #1
Author: John Ringo, Larry Correia
Rating: 2 of 5 Stars
Genre: SFF
Pages: 320
Format: Kindle digital edition

Synopsis:

Oliver Gardenier, aka Gary Stu, is a boy wonder with some seriously messed up parents. He joins the marines in defiance of his mother and ends up talking to St Peter and given a mission back on Earth: to hunt Monsters. Joining up with Monster Hunters International, Oliver details his adventures.

He also details his seriously messed up theological thoughts on Jesus and God. And just in case you forget, he also states, over and over and over, how successful with women he is.

My Thoughts:

If this had been just an MHI story, it would have been awesome. 4stars easy, pushing 4 1/2.

First thing that pushed it down was Gardenier’s continual references to his womanizing. He justifies it by saying he doesn’t want to leave a widow and orphans behind when he inevitably dies on the job, but that is so much BS. He’s probably leaving a trail of byblows who are growing up without a dad and string of woman who wanted more than a night. Those excuses lead into the second, and bigger, reason.

Theology. Ringo, and he is the author of this book, not Correia, presents sin as something just kind of ‘meh’ and that Jesus is our Dude who tells God to chill out on our behalf. In fact, Ringo/Gardenier states that you have to do something REALLY bad to go to hell now. Ringo threw around enough biblical names, terms, etc that it is obvious he’s at least familiar with Scripture but simply choosing to twist it to allow him to do whatever he wants.

Once past those, like I said,  it is a tremendous MHI story. I’ll be reading the next book but with some serious reservations.

The Toughest Warriors in Tokyo (Eyeshield 21 #15) (Manga Monday)

^{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 WordPress, Blogspot, Booklikes & Librarything by  Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission.}
Title: The Toughest Warriors in Tokyo
Series: Eyeshield 21 #15
Author: Riichiro Inagaki
Artist: Yusuke Murata
Rating: 4.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Manga
Pages: 208
Format: Digital Scan

Synopsis:  Spoiler

In a surprise move, Sena carries the ball through the Poseidon wall and it looks like he’s home free, until he gets tackled on the 1 yard line! With 2 seconds on the clock, Sena is blocked and it is up to short Komusubi to literally use all his strength and push the whole group of players into the end zone. Hence winning the game for the Devil Bats.

Sena meets an old friend and it turns out they’re going to be arch-rivals in the next game, as Riku is the secret weapon for the Gunmen in the next match. Master and Apprentice matchup!

Deimon High has a field day and Hiruma blackmails those in charge so he can run it as he sees fit. He then proceeds to use it as a training day for his players. What a sneaky guy!

My Thoughts:

Wow, wow, wow!!!

The conclusion to the Devil Bats/Poseidon game was fantastic. That is how a sports manga should read, in doubt of who will win right up until the last second. Even while knowing that the series continues up to 37’ish, I was still wondering who was going to win. That is the kind of experience I want.

The Field Day chapters lent the humorous air that I’ve come to expect and was executed perfectly. Hiruma and his plans. The manga-ka must have a blast coming up with such silly and fun ideas.

The ongoing story line of Musashi and why he’s not on the team continues and we see that without a kicker the Devil Bats can’t possibly win against the last couple of teams. 1 or 2 points will decide the games to come. Things are obviously being setup for a dramatic return at the last deciding moment of one of the games. Rather good drama.