The Redoubt (Warhammer 40K: Astra Militarum) 3Stars

 

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Title: The Redoubt
Series: Warhammer 40K: Astra Militarum
Author: John Sollitto
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages: 18
Words: 6K
Publish: 2025

This short story was about some of the Astra Militarum on some contested world fighting the Tau and their human allies with no reinforcements coming.

It is short, brutal and you know at the end, ultimately futile, since there are no reinforcements on their way. We follow Captain Mazzon as he attempts to hold out at a Redoubt (hence the name of the story) against the Tau war machine. He knows it is futile, that it would be better to fade away and carry out a guerrilla warfare style fight, but he has his orders. So they fight.

A lot of the short stories/novellas in this Death and Duty anthology have been published before and hence have their own covers and everything. This story was written just for this anthology and so there is no entry at Devilreads nor is there an official cover for it. That set me down the path of making my own cover for it. I used the logo of the Astra Militarum and then used the Bleeding Cowboy font to write in the title and the author. It looked rather plain, and gave zero info that it was in the Warhammer 40K universe, so I added that little subtitle There was still a lot of black space at the bottom and I realized that in 10 years, I might not remember this was in the “Death and Duty” anthology, so I added that to the cover as well. Then I decided I’d done enough and that was that. Now, the bleeding cowboy font isn’t the easiest to read and it really doesn’t fit into the WH40K universe but I think it looks cool. I did consider trying some sort of blocky, chunky font to give it the same aspect I imagine the people in the Astra Militarum all have, but that wouldn’t have looked as cool, so I didn’t. I know there are a couple of more original short stories in the Death and Duty anthology, so maybe with those I’ll try some other font.

★★★☆☆

From the Publisher:

There is nothing from the publisher because Black Libary is a scumbag filled company with lazy, no-good, greedy money grubbers who have sold their souls to chaos and eat babies for breakfast.

• All of My Warhammer 40K Reviews

Magnetic Mountain - MTG 4E

 

I get the Bluehate from a red card, but magnetic mountain, affecting creatures? I'd expect this to affect artifacts, not creatures. Red is famous for destroying or negating artifacts. Well, if all Magic cards made sense, we probably wouldn't have the game at all. Go figure!
:-D

[Art] Maiden of Summer 2026

 

A Summer Day

I:
The dawn laughs out on orient hills
And dances with the diamond rills;
The ambrosial wind but faintly stirs
The silken, beaded gossamers;
In the wide valleys, lone and fair,
Lyrics are piped from limpid air,
And, far above, the pine trees free
Voice ancient lore of sky and sea.
Come, let us fill our hearts straightway
With hope and courage of the day.

II:
Noon, hiving sweets of sun and flower,
Has fallen on dreams in wayside bower,
Where bees hold honeyed fellowship
With the ripe blossom of her lip;
All silent are her poppied vales
And all her long Arcadian dales,
Where idleness is gathered up
A magic draught in summer’s cup.
Come, let us give ourselves to dreams
By lisping margins of her streams.

III:
Adown the golden sunset way
The evening comes in wimple gray;
By burnished shore and silver lake
Cool winds of ministration wake;
O’er occidental meadows far
There shines the light of moon and star,
And sweet, low-tinkling music rings
About the lips of haunted springs.
In quietude of earth and air
‘Tis meet we yield our souls to prayer.
~by Lucy Maude Montgomery

Trying to find a poem about Summer that fit my expectations of this drawing was pretty hard. I think Stanza II of this fits best, but I liked the symmetry of Dawn to Dusk and so included the whole thing. 

The Arana (Groo the Wanderer #52) 3.5Stars

 

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 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, by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: The Arana
Series: Groo the Wanderer #52
Author: Sergio Aragones
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Comics
Pages: 24
Words: 2K
Publish: 1989

Well, Chakaal is here to stay, apparently. It’s been three issues and she’s on the little picture in the upper left of the cover where the price tag and all the info is. That is usually reserved for the main character of the comic. And since Groo doesn’t want to get away from her (as shown by that picture above), I don’t see her stay being a short one. Pooo.

Anyway, Groo and Chakaal come across a village that is about to offer a human sacrifice to Arana, a gigantic spider that has been preying on the town. There’s some shenanigans with another village, Groo gets completely drunk, drunk Goo and Chakaal get the Arana drunk and then kill it. Of course, there’s a lot more in between nor is it as simple as that, but that’s the gist. Of course, while fighting the Arana, drunk Groo sees something that he later can’t remember. He dismisses it as unimportant after the battle but the last panel of the comic shows a little cave off of the Arana’s lair, just filled with tiny Aranas, so you know one of them will become top spider again.

Despite the seriousness of the problems (human sacrifice, warring villages, a giant monster spider), Aragones keeps the one very light and dispels any darkness with panels of humor, usually of Groo doing or being very dumb. It is quite effective. And Aragones knows it is effective, because in one panel Chakaal is going off against human sacrifice and uses Groo as an example of a dumb person who doesn’t mind it and convinces all the villagers to give it up :-D

★★★✬☆

• All of My “Groo the Wanderer” Reviews

A Matter of Taste (The Dracula Files #6) 3Stars

 

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 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 by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: A Matter of Taste
Series: The Dracula Files #6
Author: Fred Saberhagen
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 213
Words: 81K
Publish: 1990

This was much more enjoyable than the previous Dracula Files book (Dominion), which almost made me stop the series altogether. Don’t get me wrong, this book was no masterpiece of enduring literary quality, but at least I enjoyed what I read.

Ol’ Drak gets poisoned, has to have his greatx100 nephews/nieces protect him and then kills the badguys. We also get another storyline about Drak’s creation and what drove him as a newly minted vampire. The history part was boring, per usual while the modern storyline was decent.

My biggest gripe is actually the cover. The only one I could find was this one that shows the skyscraper. I wanted the cover by TOR: Fantasy/Horror which shows a big jawboned Dracula looking all macho in the background, like some of the previous editions. I couldn’t find it though, so it might not exist. Which is dumb, because I’ve seen later books in the series with that motiff, so I know it was continued for at least some of them. Why are publishers so stupid like that? A question that will never be satisfactorily answered I suspect. Well, that’s all you get for a 3star book. Adios.

★★★☆☆

From Grokipedia

A Matter of Taste opens in contemporary Chicago, where Matthew Maule—known to the Southerland family as Uncle Matthew—is the alias used by the vampire once called Dracula, an old ally who has repeatedly protected the family at risk to his own existence.[8] When Maule is poisoned and left comatose in his upscale condominium through a cunning scheme originating five centuries earlier, the Southerlands rally to safeguard him from persistent assaults by both living adversaries and undead opponents.[12] John Southerland, along with his fiancée, discovers Maule's dire condition and summons ex-policeman Joe Keogh, his brother-in-law, who arrives prepared for supernatural threats to aid in the defense.[5][12]Family members, including John's fiancée Angie Hoban, become actively involved in investigating the attacks and fortifying their position against the relentless enemies seeking retribution for long-past grievances.[12] As the group works to revive Maule and repel the incursions, they locate a tape-recorded autobiographical account by Maule detailing his transformation into a vampire and his historical interactions with Cesare and Lucrezia Borgia during the Italian Renaissance, which illuminate the motives behind the current vendetta orchestrated by forces tied to those figures.[12]The narrative alternates between the urgent modern-day struggle in Chicago and vivid flashbacks to the Renaissance era, revealing how the Borgias' schemes from centuries ago fuel the revenge plot against Maule.[12] The Southerlands and their allies, bolstered by their loyalty to Maule, confront the converging threats from past and present in a climactic showdown that resolves the ancient conflict and secures Maule's safety.[8][12]

Major characters

Matthew Maule, the alias under which Count Dracula lives in present-day Chicago, is the central figure of the novel. He appears as a handsome, vigorous, and charming man who looks no older than forty despite being over five hundred years old. The Southerland family affectionately refers to him as "Uncle Matthew" in recognition of his long-standing role as their protector. In this installment, Maule is depicted in a comatose state that leaves him vulnerable and unable to defend himself.[13][8]Joe Keogh, an ex-police officer who has married into the Southerland family, serves as a primary ally to Maule. With prior experience confronting supernatural threats associated with Maule, Keogh takes a central role in defensive actions and arrives prepared with specialized weaponry, including lead-cored wooden bullets. His practical skills and familiarity with Maule's adversaries make him essential to the family's efforts.[13]John Southerland, a member of the Southerland family and descendant of Jonathan and Mina Harker, maintains close ties to Maule as part of the family's ongoing relationship with him. His fiancée, Angie Hoban, meets Maule for the first time and becomes involved in the family's circle. The Southerland family collectively demonstrates unwavering loyalty and actively participates in protective efforts to safeguard Maule during his period of vulnerability.[13][8]The antagonists are ancient enemies of Dracula who have harbored grudges against him for centuries. Their motivations stem from historical conflicts and past encounters spanning five hundred years, driving their determination to exploit his current weakened condition.[8]

Magical Hack - MTG 4E

 

This guy's work would go a lot faster if he used a computer. What a schlub! Of course, maybe I could hire this guy to destroy AI data centers across the world. About time Magic does something useful.

Diamonds Are Forever (James Bond #4) 3Stars

 

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 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 by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: Diamonds Are Forever
Series: James Bond #4
Author: Ian Fleming
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Thriller
Pages: 205
Words: 72K
Publish: 1956

There is a reason why the movies have overshadowed these books. For about 75% of the book, it was just boring, boring, boring.

Bond gets involved with the American Mob and diamond smuggling and one train blows up after Bond gets beaten up. That’s it. I know I’m jaded in terms of thrillers and adventures, but seriously, that’s it. Cold War thrillers are just so slow and move/countermove and then counter/counter/countermove. Blah, blah, blah. It’s not bad story telling or anything, it’s just a style that has, thankfully, passed.

If I was still doing my food comparisons for books, I’d liken this to a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on white bread.

★★★☆☆

From Grokipedia

James Bond is assigned by M to infiltrate and dismantle a major diamond smuggling pipeline that is costing Britain millions in lost dollar earnings, running from the mines of Sierra Leone through London and into the United States. [3] The pipeline begins in Sierra Leone, where African miners conceal rough diamonds in their mouths during staged dental visits to a corrupt Afrikaner dentist, who extracts the stones and transports them by motorcycle to a remote thorn bush rendezvous; there, a German helicopter pilot collects the diamonds (worth around £100,000 per shipment) and flies them toward Dakar, from where they are forwarded through cut-outs to London. [3] In London, the stones are handled by the House of Diamonds, a front for Jack Spang (alias Rufus B. Saye), who packages them for couriers to smuggle to the U.S. end operated by his brother Seraffimo Spang. [3]Bond impersonates Peter Franks, a known diamond courier arrested by Special Branch, and meets Tiffany Case, the organization's American go-between, at the Trafalgar Palace Hotel in London. [3] She briefs him on smuggling the diamonds concealed inside six Dunlop 65 golf balls in his golf bag and provides expense money before he departs. [3] Bond flies to New York via BOAC Stratocruiser, clears customs without issue, and checks into the Hotel Astor as instructed. [3] He meets Shady Tree, a hunchbacked intermediary for the Spangled Mob, who pays him part of his fee and directs him to Saratoga Springs to collect the remainder by betting on the fixed horse Shy Smile in the Perpetuities Stakes. [3]In Saratoga Springs, Bond reconnects with Felix Leiter, now a Pinkerton's detective investigating the same mob, and they collaborate to sabotage the fix. [4] Shy Smile, a ringer substituted for the original horse, appears to win but is disqualified after its jockey deliberately fouls another horse, thwarting the payout. [3] Bond is then rerouted to Las Vegas to win his fee at the rigged blackjack tables of the Tiara Hotel and Casino, owned by Seraffimo Spang. [3] Tiffany Case, dealing blackjack, arranges for Bond to win $5,000 legitimately, but he defies orders by continuing to play roulette and winning more, drawing the mob's attention. [3]Bond is captured by the killers Wint and Kidd, taken to the ghost town of Spectreville, and severely beaten by Seraffimo Spang's men after his imposture is discovered. [3] Tiffany Case, disillusioned with the mob, helps Bond escape; they flee on a hand-pumped rail car while setting Spectreville ablaze. [3] Seraffimo pursues them in his antique steam locomotive, the Cannonball, but Bond shoots him through the cab window, causing the train to derail and crash in flames, killing Seraffimo. [3] Bond and Tiffany escape with assistance from cab driver Ernie Cureo, who is wounded during a violent car chase in Las Vegas. [4]They travel to New York and board the Queen Elizabeth for England, but Wint and Kidd follow aboard with orders to assassinate them. [3] Bond confronts the pair in their cabin, kills Wint with a thrown knife and Kidd with his Beretta, then stages the scene as a murder-suicide stemming from a gambling dispute. [3] Bond then flies to Freetown, Sierra Leone, where he ambushes the pipeline's African end. [3] Jack Spang, piloting the helicopter himself after murdering the regular German pilot, arrives at the thorn bush rendezvous, but Bond fires a Bofors anti-aircraft gun, striking the tail rotor and causing the helicopter to crash in flames, killing Spang and destroying the smuggling operation. [3]

Main characters

The main characters in Ian Fleming's Diamonds Are Forever revolve around James Bond and the key figures he encounters in his investigation of the diamond smuggling network.James Bond, the seasoned British Secret Service agent designated 007, adopts an undercover persona as a criminal to infiltrate the smuggling operation. [5] His usual detachment gives way to rare emotional vulnerability in his evolving relationship with Tiffany Case, where he assumes a supportive role and develops genuine concern for her well-being. [5]Tiffany Case is a tough, quick-witted American woman serving as a professional diamond courier for the Spangled Mob. [5] Her backstory includes profound trauma: at sixteen, she was gang-raped by mobsters after her mother's San Francisco bordello failed to pay protection money, prompting her to run away, struggle with alcoholism, and later enter the criminal world under Seraffimo Spang's influence. [5] Tiffany projects a cold, self-reliant demeanor marked by sharp dialogue, defiance, and competence, yet her psychological complexity reveals melancholy, mood swings, and a protective wariness toward men rooted in her past. [5] She forms an eventual alliance with Bond that blossoms into a romantic relationship characterized by cautious intimacy and mutual trust. [5]Felix Leiter, Bond's longstanding American ally, has left the CIA after debilitating injuries in a prior case and now works as an operative for the Pinkerton detective agency. ) He provides crucial assistance to Bond in Saratoga Springs and maintains a loyal partnership. )The Spang brothers, Jack (known as ABC) and Seraffimo, lead the Spangled Mob, the U.S.-based syndicate orchestrating the diamond pipeline. Jack oversees operations strategically, while Seraffimo handles more direct enforcement.Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd are homosexual professional assassins working for the Spang organization, distinguished by their contrasting physical builds—Wint tall and ginger-haired, Kidd shorter and dark-haired—and their methodical, unconventional killing techniques.Supporting figures include Shady Tree, a crooked comedian functioning as a key contact and fence in the smuggling chain; Ernie Cureo, a Las Vegas taxi driver who becomes Bond's reliable local ally; and M, the head of MI6, who assigns Bond the diamond smuggling investigation.