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
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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]
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.
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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.
Well, it's been a full week and I've been busy as usual saving the World from Bad Books and Bad Authors. It's a necessary job, but rather thankless and at times, like around midnight when the moon is rising and I'm sitting on the rooftops overlooking the Big Town of X which is under my protection, I wonder. Is it really worth it? Do the citizens of X, or the World for that matter, appreciate the sacrifices I make on their behalf? Do they even CARE? Maybe they DESERVE those bad books. But then my sacred duty as a Gatekeeper comes to the fore and I remember that I chose this life as the Dark Book Crusader. Resolve strengthened, I can continue on with my job. And every once in a while, there is some appreciation.
I was talking with Nancy about this subject in one of my recent posts and she was kind enough to send this wonderful award. It is my first TAGA and I will cherish it deeply. It's the little things like this that keep me moving forward instead of curling up in a ball like a little soiboi. Nancy, while the Big Town of X will never know how close they came to being over-run by bad books and how close to utter destruction they were, this award was the edge I needed in my secret war and I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
After something as momentous as that, it's kind of hard to transition back into talking about my regular secret identity life, you know? But secret wars hidden in the shadows of midnight don't come cheap and I have bills to pay. So onward to the humdrum and ordinary, da da dum!
Deary Diary, Sunday it was almost 90degrees and it was sooooooo hot. But because I'm a cheap yankee, I refused to turn on the air conditioner. Instead I turned on the little window fan and felt good about the 3dollars I saved on our electrical bill. Mrs B told me to turn off the fan and stop being a drama queen, because, in her words "it was only 90 degrees'. Well I never! I totes would have unSpaced her on my Instatokagram account, but neither of us have that, so I couldn't. But I would have! That'll teach her a lesson. Ooohhhh, burn! After not talking to each other for like, you know, FOREVAH, 5minutes later we made up and decided to go eat at Teriyaki Madness. I was like all "Girl, you know you'll like it" and she was all like "Boy, you know I will". How can I stay mad at someone who gets me and so deeply understands the secrets of my heart? Its like we are soulmates, destined to be together FOREVAH!!! Love is rice, chicken and tofu.
Captain's Log, Monday, month Centurion in the Year of the Cylons
*blaring alarms *red flashing lights
Captain Bookie: "Number One, are the Cylons attacking? Prepare the warp torpedos and reverse their polarity! They'll never know what hit them!"
First Mate: "Captain, it's just your alarm, it's time to wake up."
Captain Bookie: "You know, land surveying would be a whole lot easier if I could just warp torpedo all of nature and pave the whole planet."
First Mate: "But Captain, think of the little squirrels!"
Captain Bookie: "Oh, I am!" *insert laugh track
*fast forward several hours
Captain Bookie: "First Co-Worker, reverse the polarity on your machete and chop down that tree. It will never know what hit it!"
First Co-Worker: "Aye aye El Capitan!"
Captain Bookie: "Wut, wut!? This is Space America!!!! We only speak Space American here!!! None of your filthy space commie lingo around here!"
First Co-Worker: "ha. ha. ha. I kid Captain Bookie, I kid."
Captain Bookie: "What a jokester! What will these wacky kids do next?"
*pan back, show Captain Bookie, First Co-Worker and four random people all patting each other on the back and laughing uproariously
and thus ends this episode of "As the Total Station Turns". Tune in tomorrow when Captain Bookie gets an ouchie and swears for 10minutes straight.
"Is it Tuesday? I can't tell, I've lost track of time, I'm so confused!"
*looks into camera
"I'm hot on the trail of the Cursed Sub Sandwich. I've heard that if you eat it, on a very hot day, it will either kill you or make you invincible. Just yesterday I met someone who claimed to have eaten one and they weren't dead, so the legend must be true, it just must be!"
*camera jiggles all over the place, the words "Market Basket" vaguely appear in the background, muttered whisperings are barely audible
"I've DONE IT!!!!!!!!! It has taken me all week, but I ATE THE SANDWICH!!!! And I'm not dead. I am INVINCIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
*camera crashes to the ground a grotesquely swollen head appears in view and then explodes battery symbol glows in red and then there is nothing but static....
Dear Sir or Madam, I am writing to you today, Wednesday May 10th, and hope this letter finds you well. Now I realize you don't know me from Adam, but let me hasten to assure that this is not a spam letter (no, I am NOT a Nigerian Prince) nor is it a form lettre (see that mispelling? Pure human did that) and finally, this is not a chain letter (nobody has to die, I promise). What this letter is is an opportunity, for you! An opportunity to impress your neighbors, your friends, even your coworkers. Do you have a hobby that you talk about? You do? Well, stop it. Nobody cares about your *bleeping Corvette and the solenoid this and the clutch that. Seriously. I realize this might sound not quite like an opportunity, but if you want to stay alive, which seems like a great opportunity to me, please follow these steps: 1) Shut. Up. Yes, it is that simple. Just shut your flipping mouth. Sincerely, The Imperator formerly known as the Prince of Nigeria
*carnival music & lights flashing Thursday! Thursday! All Day, Every Day! Thursday! Thursday! Thursday!
Come one, come all, today's your lucky day! Roll the golden dice and see what you win! Could be a yacht! Could be a penny. Could be anything in between! Roll the dice and see what Fate has in store for you this evening.
*middle aged Sweet Summer's Child walks by
Sir, yes, you sir! You look like a cunning and discerning man of the world. Would you care to roll the golden dice and see what fate has in store for you? Just sign on this dotted line and away you go, the whole world ahead of you.
*middle aged Sweet Summer's Child rolls the dice around in his hand, the pulls out a gun and shoots the suspicious looking carnival barker's hat off, revealing a set of horns
"Sorry, old Scratch. I've already had dinner with my wife and two dear friends from church. I have everything I need right now. But I'm always willing to spread the love of lead if you'd like some!"
*the devil disappears in a puff of smoke
The moral of this story? Be content with the little things you have and you won't have to worry about being tempted by the things that will just make you miserable. ~from Bookstooge's Fables
"The Sabbath is coming, the Sabbath is coming!" ~Bookstooge Revere informing the Colonists that the Sabbath was coming
The only thing that got me through the day was knowing that the Sabbath was coming and that I could just stop then. It's been in the 90's and muggy all week and I finally caved and turned on the A/C, just to dry out the air. Work has sucked the life out of me in this weather, but even though I've been going to bed early, I then tend to wake up early (3-4am) and that makes for a very long day. I have no plans this evening and if I'm lucky, I'll be asleep by 8pm and stay asleep until 7 or 8 tomorrow.
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 White Rose Series: The Black Company
#3 Author: Glen Cook Rating: 4 of 5
Stars Genre: Fantasy Pages:
314 Words: 99K Publish: 1985
Once
again, I thoroughly enjoyed this re-read, to the point where I was
looking forward to my down time so I could pick this up. But once
again, I didn’t remember a blessed thing from my initial read in
2015. I was worried that maybe my brain was starting to go, but I
didn’t write this review for over a week once I finished the book
and by the time I went to write this, I had completely forgotten the
plot almost completely again. It took reading the Grokipedia entry to
bring me up to speed. Which means it is not me but something about
these Black Company books that just slide off my mind as soon as I’m
done with them, even while I really enjoy them. Crisis Averted!
At
the end of the previous book, Shadows
Linger, the Black Company was reduced to a much smaller
company, under 100 people. By the end of this book, they are down to
under 10 people and they “officially” disband with the end goal
being to return The Annals back to Khatovar, the Black Company’s
point of origin back in the misty past. It makes for a good tying off
point for the series if you weren’t wowed but at the same time gave
Cook the necessary loose threads if he wanted to write more, which is
what ended up happening. Many more Black Company books came into
being and even to this day, he is pumping them out. I just hope he
finishes the current series before his own pump gives out. The guy is
old after all.
The
other thing stood out to me, was the inclusion of a past storyline
about Bomanz the Wizard, It took me a while to realize it was
happening in the past. I don’t think that incomprehension was
Cook’s fault this time, it was squarely on me. I am writing this
little bit because I believe that Book 10 is about Bomanz and by the
time I get to book 10 I have a feeling I’m going to have forgotten
who he is, hahahahaa :-)
To
end this review, I’d like to talk about the cover. For the past
couple of books I’ve been able to find alternate covers (even as I
chose to go with the original one for the first book) but for this
one, this is the only English cover I could find. There was one other
one, but it was ugly, enough so that I didn’t even consider it. I
guess I’m spoiled. First World Book Problems...
★★★★☆
From
Grokipedia
The novel is set six years after the events of Shadows
Linger, with the surviving members of the Black Company having
taken refuge in the Hole, a network of caves beneath the Plain of
Fear, where they form the core of Darling's New White Rose
Rebellion.[10] The Plain of Fear's magical inhabitants—such as
windwhales, mantas, talking menhirs, and the sentient Father
Tree—provide protection against the Lady's forces, while Darling's
expanding null field suppresses magic in its vicinity, offering the
rebels a strategic sanctuary.[10] [11] The Lady surrounds
the Plain with armies commanded by the Taken, including the vengeful
Limper, whom the Company believed they had killed years
earlier.[10]Croaker, the Company's annalist, receives mysterious
packets narrating the story of Bomanz, the wizard who unleashed the
Lady decades ago, along with a summons to travel north into Imperial
territory.[10] Darling authorizes Croaker to lead a small
group—including wizards One-Eye and Goblin, the enigmatic Tracker,
and his hound Toadkiller Dog—on the journey, traveling aboard a
windwhale and witnessing Darling's successful strike against
Whisper's headquarters at Spit.[10] In the Barrowland, the group
discovers that Raven, a long-deserted Company member, sent the
packets and now lies in a coma after a failed attempt to probe the
Great Barrow using sorcery.[10] Flooding from the Great Tragic
River erodes the Dominator's prison, threatening his awakening and
release.[10] [11]After evading initial Imperial capture and
fleeing the Barrowland garrison, Croaker is seized and delivered to
the Lady at the Tower at Charm.[10] Recognizing the Dominator as
the greater threat, the Lady proposes an uneasy alliance with
Darling's forces, withdrawing her troops from rebel areas and
accompanying Croaker back to the Plain of Fear disguised as his
companion.[10] There, revelations surface that Tracker and
Toadkiller Dog are ancient demons bound to the Dominator, freed by
Raven's actions; Father Tree intervenes to subdue them and thwart an
assassination attempt by Taken Scorn and Blister.[10] Darling
and the Lady forge a truce, enabling their combined forces—including
the Company remnants, Plain creatures, and Imperial troops—to march
north to confront the Dominator.[10]At the Barrowland, the alliance
revives Raven and Bomanz while systematically releasing and
destroying the Dominator's lesser demons.[10] The Dominator
breaks free but is confined within Darling's null field, where his
powers are neutralized; when briefly freed, he unleashes devastating
sorcery, killing several Company members including Elmo and the
Lieutenant.[10] [11] Tracker battles the Dominator in a
brutal melee, and One-Eye and Goblin drive a silver spike into the
Dominator's head, binding his essence and planting the spike in a
sapling grown from Father Tree.[10] The Limper attempts to
betray and kill the Lady with a crossbow bolt bearing a false True
Name, but Croaker beheads him in retaliation.[10]In the battle's
immediate aftermath, the Lady betrays the alliance by naming
Darling's True Name, destroying her null field forever.[10] Silent
speaks for the first time in the Annals, naming the Lady and
stripping her of her sorcery.[10] The Black Company, reduced to
six surviving members, departs the field and heads south toward
Khatovar, accompanied by the now-powerless Lady.[10]
Major characters
The major characters in The White Rose include
the remnants of the Black Company and key figures on both sides of
the conflict against the Lady and the looming threat of the
Dominator. Croaker, the Company's physician, historian, and primary
narrator, emerges as a central leader of the depleted group, guiding
its survivors and developing a nuanced, personal relationship with
the Lady that reveals her more human aspects. [12] [11]Darling,
the deaf-mute prophesied White Rose, serves as the symbolic leader of
the New White Rose Rebellion and possesses a powerful null field that
cancels nearby magic, positioning her as the prophesied counter to
sorcerous domination. [12] Her true name is Tonie
Fisk. [13]The Lady, the Empire's formidable sorceress ruler,
displays increasing humanization through her interactions with
Croaker while facing significant challenges to her power, including a
temporary alliance against a greater evil and a reduction in her
magical dominance. [12] [11]One-Eye and Goblin, the
Company's veteran wizards, provide essential magical support and
endure dramatic changes during key events, contributing crucially to
rituals aimed at containing ancient threats. [12]Raven, a former
Black Company member who deserted years earlier, returns with actions
that nearly free the Dominator and complicate the rebellion's
efforts. [12]Tracker and Toadkiller Dog appear as enigmatic
companions to the Company, with Tracker's dumb strength and
affability masking their revealed nature as demonic entities bound to
the Dominator. [12]The Limper, a resurrected Taken and the
Company's longstanding nemesis, commands Imperial forces with
boundless hatred toward the mercenaries and meets his final death at
Croaker's hands. [11]Supporting figures include Silent, a quiet
Company wizard skilled in finger speech; Bomanz, a wizard whose
historical actions in the Barrowlands prove vital to the story's
resolution; and Old Father Tree, the ancient sentient entity ruling
the Plain of Fear and offering cryptic guidance amid the conflict.
This looks like the kind of apple that the evil stepmother fed to Snow White. Doesn't say very much for Snow White's observational skills though does it? Tsk, tsk, tsk...
