Bookstooge's Reviews On the Road: August 2020

Sunday, August 30, 2020

The Winter's Tale ★★☆☆½

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Title: The Winter's Tale
Author: William Shakespeare
Rating: 2.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Play
Pages: 256
Words: 74K

Synopsis:

From Wikipedia

Following a brief setup scene the play begins with the appearance of two childhood friends: Leontes, King of Sicilia, and Polixenes, the King of Bohemia. Polixenes is visiting the kingdom of Sicilia, and is enjoying catching up with his old friend. However, after nine months, Polixenes yearns to return to his own kingdom to tend to affairs and see his son. Leontes desperately attempts to get Polixenes to stay longer, but is unsuccessful. Leontes then decides to send his wife, Queen Hermione, to try to convince Polixenes. Hermione agrees and with three short speeches is successful. Leontes is puzzled as to how Hermione convinced Polixenes so easily, and so he begins to suspect that his pregnant wife has been having an affair with Polixenes and that the child is Polixenes'. Leontes orders Camillo, a Sicilian Lord, to poison Polixenes. Camillo instead warns Polixenes and they both flee to Bohemia.

Furious at their escape, Leontes now publicly accuses his wife of infidelity, and declares that the child she is bearing must be illegitimate. He throws her in prison, over the protests of his nobles, and sends two of his lords, Cleomenes and Dion, to the Oracle at Delphos for what he is sure will be confirmation of his suspicions. Meanwhile, the queen gives birth to a girl, and her loyal friend Paulina takes the baby to the king, in the hopes that the sight of the child will soften his heart. He grows angrier, however, and orders Paulina's husband, Lord Antigonus, to take the child and abandon it in a desolate place. Cleomenes and Dion return from Delphos with word from the Oracle and find Hermione publicly and humiliatingly put on trial before the king. She asserts her innocence, and asks for the word of the Oracle to be read before the court. The Oracle states categorically that Hermione and Polixenes are innocent, Camillo is an honest man, and that Leontes will have no heir until his lost daughter is found. Leontes shuns the news, refusing to believe it as the truth. As this news is revealed, word comes that Leontes' son, Mamillius, has died of a wasting sickness brought on by the accusations against his mother. At this, Hermione falls in a swoon, and is carried away by Paulina, who subsequently reports the queen's death to her heartbroken and repentant husband. Leontes vows to spend the rest of his days atoning for the loss of his son, his abandoned daughter, and his queen.

Antigonus, meanwhile, abandons the baby on the coast of Bohemia, reporting that Hermione appeared to him in a dream and bade him name the girl Perdita. He leaves a fardel (a bundle) by the baby containing gold and other trinkets which suggest that the baby is of noble blood. A violent storm suddenly appears, wrecking the ship on which Antigonus arrived. He wishes to take pity on the child, but is chased away in one of Shakespeare's most famous stage directions: "Exit, pursued by a bear." Perdita is rescued by a shepherd and his son, also known as "Clown".

"Time" enters and announces the passage of sixteen years. Camillo, now in the service of Polixenes, begs the Bohemian king to allow him to return to Sicilia. Polixenes refuses and reports to Camillo that his son, Prince Florizel, has fallen in love with a lowly shepherd girl: Perdita. He suggests to Camillo that, to take his mind off thoughts of home, they disguise themselves and attend the sheep-shearing feast where Florizel and Perdita will be betrothed. At the feast, hosted by the Old Shepherd who has prospered thanks to the gold in the fardel, the pedlar Autolycus picks the pocket of the Young Shepherd and, in various guises, entertains the guests with bawdy songs and the trinkets he sells. Disguised, Polixenes and Camillo watch as Florizel (under the guise of a shepherd named Doricles) and Perdita are betrothed. Then, tearing off the disguise, Polixenes angrily intervenes, threatening the Old Shepherd and Perdita with torture and death and ordering his son never to see the shepherd's daughter again. With the aid of Camillo, however, who longs to see his native land again, Florizel and Perdita take ship for Sicilia, using the clothes of Autolycus as a disguise. They are joined in their voyage by the Old Shepherd and his son who are directed there by Autolycus.

In Sicilia, Leontes is still in mourning. Cleomenes and Dion plead with him to end his time of repentance because the kingdom needs an heir. Paulina, however, convinces the king to remain unmarried forever since no woman can match the greatness of his lost Hermione. Florizel and Perdita arrive, and they are greeted effusively by Leontes. Florizel pretends to be on a diplomatic mission from his father, but his cover is blown when Polixenes and Camillo, too, arrive in Sicilia. The meeting and reconciliation of the kings and princes is reported by gentlemen of the Sicilian court: how the Old Shepherd raised Perdita, how Antigonus met his end, how Leontes was overjoyed at being reunited with his daughter, and how he begged Polixenes for forgiveness. The Old Shepherd and Young Shepherd, now made gentlemen by the kings, meet Autolycus, who asks them for their forgiveness for his roguery. Leontes, Polixenes, Camillo, Florizel and Perdita then go to Paulina's house in the country, where a statue of Hermione has been recently finished. The sight of his wife's form makes Leontes distraught, but then, to everyone's amazement, the statue shows signs of vitality; it is Hermione, restored to life. As the play ends, Perdita and Florizel are engaged, and the whole company celebrates the miracle. Despite this happy ending typical of Shakespeare's comedies and romances, the impression of the unjust death of young prince Mamillius lingers to the end, being an element of unredeemed tragedy, in addition to the years wasted in separation.

My Thoughts:

These Ancient History plays, based on Greek history stuff, bore the stuffing out of me. Plus, the characters act completely nonsensical.

Leontes going into his jealous rage for no reason, then suddenly repenting, it just pissed me off. Of course, he repents after his wife and son die and he has sent his newborn daughter to be killed by exposure. What a bastard.

While I'm always a sucker for a Redemption story, simply changing your mind about some extremely horribly bad behavior is NOT redemption. Gahhhhh, I'm really disliking this Shakespeare fellow at the moment.

★★☆☆½

All My Shakespeare Reviews

Friday, August 28, 2020

Whispering Nickel Idols (Garrett, PI # 11) ★★★☆½

Title: Whispering Nickel Idols
Series: Garrett, PI # 11
Author: Glen Cook
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 311
Words: 90K

Synopsis:

From Wikipedia.com

Things seemed to be going pretty well for Garrett one morning until he finds a strange kid named Penny Dreadful hanging around his house, gets summoned to a meeting by Harvester Temisk, Chodo Contague's lawyer, and nearly has his door knocked down by an ugly thug wearing green plaid pants. Garrett meets with Temisk, who fears there are unnatural events occurring associated with Chodo Contague, who may not be as paralyzed as he appears. Garrett agrees to look into the matter that evening, at a birthday party being held by Belinda Contague for her father.

At the party, when Chodo is introduced to the guests, a number of people mysteriously burst into flames, and in the confusion that follows, Belinda and Chodo somehow get separated. The whole mess seems to have some connection with the Ugly Pants Gang, who continues to harass Garrett at his home and on the streets. In addition, Garrett is getting more attention than he likes from subordinate underworld bosses who suspect that Garrett knows where Chodo Contague is hiding. Garrett can only escape the warring mafia factions for so long, and eventually he is captured, poisoned, and blackmailed by one aspiring leader named Teacher White.

With the help of his friends and the psychic powers of the Dead Man, Garrett survives the worst of the ordeal. While he rests and recuperates at home, the Dead Man organizes efforts geared towards unraveling the mysteries of the Green Pants Gang, the criminal factions, and the spontaneous combustions. Compiling the efforts of Garrett's many friends, the Dead Man deduces that the Green Pants Gang is actually a religious faction from outside of TunFaire, and Chodo Contague had at one point worked with the gang to help him rise to the top of the Outfit.

With some clues from the Dead Man, Garrett, Morley, and company track down and capture Harvester Temisk, who had been hiding out with Chodo Contague. More clever deductive reasoning by the Dead Man reveals a few final plot twists: Penny Dreadful is in fact Chodo Contague's daughter, Chodo was partially responsible for the previously unexplainable spontaneous combustions, and the Green Pants Gang actually knows the secret to drawing dark emotions out from within the body. With the help of Garrett and the Dead Man, Chodo's condition improves, so that he is no longer completely physically and mentally impaired.

As a finale, Morley Dotes drops by Garrett's house, with none other than Mr. Big, Garrett's much-despised parrot which had gone missing for some time, perched on his shoulder.

My Thoughts:

Another good Garret PI read, with the usual caveats about him being a womanizing scumbag. Cook does seem to be trying to “mature” Garrett, as things are getting serious between him and Tinny Tate, but Garrett still balks at the word “marriage”.

The city has changed, as has Garrett in many ways, to the point where it seems obvious that Cook is trying to wrap up the series in a few more books. It obviously helps that I know that the series ends, but if I had been reading these as they came out, I would like to think I could see the hand writing on the wall. Law and Order are becoming entrenched in Tun-Faire and even those Up on the Hill are starting to feel the affects of it. The need for a PI is shrinking. Garrett is also becoming involved in bigger business issues, so he's financially secure, with no need to do private investigating to earn his beer money. So between the city becoming more orderly, Garrett having no need to be a PI and things getting serious with Tinny, yeah, the end is in sight.

Cook also makes it apparent how much Garrett's reputation has grown throughout Tun-Faire. With him having had all his adventures with various big names from the Underworld to those Up on the Hill, he's earned a name as a Power to Be Reckoned With. Of course, Garrett tries to ignore all of it, as he just wants to wench, drink and sleep 24/7. What a jackass.

So, a pretty average Garrett PI story alround. If you've liked the previous books, you'll like this one. I'm just glad this didn't nosedive like I thought it would.

★★★☆½

All My "Garrett, PI" Reviews

Thursday, August 27, 2020

Big O, Vol. 6 ★★☆☆☆

Title: Big O, Vol. 6
Series: Big O #6
Author: Hitoshi Ariga
Rating: 2 of 5 Stars
Genre: Manga
Pages: 208
Words: 7K

Synopsis:

These 4 chapters deal with Dorothy's memory disk being stolen by Angel. It is revealed that Angel is part of a group that lives outside of Paradigm City. Roger attempts to get back Dorothy's memories and fails.

The book ends with Roger and Dorothy both accepting that lost memories aren't as important as the possible future.

My Thoughts:

This was a really sad letdown to the end of this manga. By sad, I do not mean emotionally sad, as in “My grandmother died, I'm sad”, but as in “Dude, your pink, heartshaped skateboard is just sad”.

I have to admit I raced through this as fast as possible just to get to the end. Overall, I found this manga to be poorly done. There were little to no actual story arcs, but proto-stories without any kind of resolution.

As much as I enjoyed the anime, the manga version of Big O has been nothing but a big disappointment from start to finish for a variety of reasons. I won't be sad to get rid of these. Just not sure if I should simply trash these or not. After the Book (un)Haul post next month I'll make a decision about whether to throw these away or if there are any other options.

Don't read this manga. That is my Official Verdict and Judgement.

★★☆☆☆

All of My "Big O" Reviews (Manga and Anime)

Wednesday, August 26, 2020

The Well at the World's End DNF@9% (Unrated)

Title: The Well at the World's End
Series: ----------
Author: William Morris
Rating: Unrated
Genre: Fantasy/Classic
Pages: 449/ DNF@9%
Words: 228.5K/21K

Synopsis:

From Wikipedia

Using language with elements of the medieval tales which were his models, Morris tells the story of Peter, King of Upmeads, and his four sons, Blaise, Hugh, Gregory, and Ralph. These four sons decide one day that they would like to explore the world, so their father gives them permission, except for Ralph, who is to remain at home to ensure at least one living heir. From that point on, the plot centers on the youngest son, Ralph, who secretly departs contrary to his father's orders.

Ralph's explorations begin at Bourton Abbas, after which he goes through the Wood Perilous. He has various adventures there, including the slaying of two men who had entrapped a woman. That woman later turns out to be the Lady of Abundance, who later becomes his lover for a short time.

In one episode Ralph is staying at a castle and inquires about the Lady of the castle (the so-called Lady of Abundance), whom he has not yet seen. Descriptions of her youth and beauty suggest to him that she has drunk from the well at the world's end. "And now in his heart waxed the desire of that Lady, once seen, as he deemed, in such strange wise; but he wondered within himself if the devil had not sown that longing within him ..." A short time later, while still at the castle, Ralph contemplates images of the Lady and "was filled with the sweetness of desire when he looked on them." Then he reads a book containing information about her, and his desire to meet the Lady of Abundance flames higher. When he goes to bed, he sleeps "for the very weariness of his longing." He fears leaving the castle because she might come while he is gone. Eventually he leaves the castle and meets the Lady of Abundance, who turns out to be the same lady he had rescued some weeks earlier from two men.

When he meets her this time, the lady is being fought over by two knights, one of whom slays the other. That knight nearly kills Ralph, but the lady intervenes and promises to become the knight's lover if he would spare Ralph. Eventually, she leads Ralph away during the night to save Ralph's life from this knight, since Ralph had once saved hers. She tells Ralph of her trip to the Well at the World's End, her drinking of the water, the tales of her long life, and a maiden named Ursula whom she thinks is especially suited to Ralph. Eventually, the knight catches up to them and kills her with his sword while Ralph is out hunting. Upon Ralph's return, the knight charges Ralph, and Ralph puts an arrow through his head. After Ralph buries both of them, he begins a journey that will take him to the Well at the World's End.

As he comes near the village of Whitwall, Ralph meets a group of men, which includes his brother Blaise and Blaise's attendant, Richard. Ralph joins them, and Richard tells Ralph about having grown up in Swevenham, from which two men and one woman had once set out for the Well at the World's End. Richard had never learned what happened to those three. Richard promises to visit Swevenham and learn what he can about the Well at the World's End.

Ralph falls in with some merchants, led by a man named Clement, who travel to the East. Ralph is in search of the Well at the World's End, and they are in search of trade. This journey takes him far to the east in the direction of the well, through the villages of Cheaping Knowe, Goldburg, and many other hamlets. Ralph learns that a maiden, whom the Lady of Abundance had mentioned to him, has been captured and sold as a slave. He inquires about her, calling her his ‘sister’, and he hears that she may have been sold to Gandolf, the cruel, powerful, and ruthless Lord of Utterbol. The queen of Goldburg writes Ralph a letter of recommendation to Gandolf, and Morfinn the Minstrel, whom Ralph met at Goldburg, promises to guide him to Utterbol.

Morfinn turns out to be a traitor who delivers Ralph into the hands of Gandolf. After some time with the Lord of Utterbol and his men, Ralph escapes. Meanwhile, Ursula, Ralph's "sister", who has been enslaved at Utterbol, escapes and by chance meets Ralph in the woods beneath the mountain, both of them desiring to reach the Well at the World's End. Eventually their travels take them to the Sage of Swevenham, who gives them instructions for finding the Well at the World's End.

On their journey to the well, they fall in love, especially after Ralph saves her life from a bear's attack. Eventually they make their way to the sea, on the edge of which is the Well at the World's End. They each drink a cup of the well's water and are enlivened by it. They then backtrack along the path they had earlier followed, meeting the Sage of Swevenham and the new Lord of Utterbol, who has slain the previous evil lord and remade the city into a good city, and the pair returns the rest of the way to Upmeads.

While they experience challenges and battles along the way, the pair succeeds in all their endeavors. Their last challenge is a battle against men from the Burg of the Four Friths. These men come against Upmeads to attack it. As Ralph approaches Upmeads, he gathers supporters around him, including the Champions of the Dry Tree. After Ralph and his company stop at Wulstead, where Ralph is reunited with his parents as well as Clement Chapman, he leads a force in excess of a thousand men against the enemy and defeats them. He then brings his parents back to High House in Upmeads to restore them to their throne. As Ralph and Ursula come to the High House, Ralph's parents install Ralph and Ursula as King and Queen of Upmeads.

My Thoughts:

I am not rating this because while I DNF'd this, it was because it was all on me. I don't blame Morris for what is obviously my issue alone. I'll add a quote and then discuss further.

So when he had eaten and drunk, and the damsel was still there, he looked on her and saw that she was sad and drooping of aspect; and whereas she was a fair maiden, Ralph, now that he was full, fell to pitying her, and asked her what was amiss. "For," said he, "thou art fair and ailest nought; that is clear to see; neither dwellest thou in penury, but by seeming hast enough and to spare. Or art thou a servant in this house, and hath any one misused thee?"

She wept at his words, for indeed he spoke softly to her; then she said: "Young lord, thou art kind, and it is thy kindness that draweth the tears from me; else it were not well to weep before a young man: therefore I pray thee pardon me. As for me, I am no servant, nor has any one misused me: the folk round about are good and neighbourly; and this house and the croft, and a vineyard hard by, all that is mine own and my brother's; that is the lad who hath gone to tend thine horse. Yea, and we live in peace here for the most part; for this thorp, which is called Bourton Abbas, is a land of the Abbey of Higham; though it be the outermost of its lands and the Abbot is a good lord and a defence against tyrants. All is well with me if one thing were not."~Page 51

This was published in 1896, so the choice of using a medieval era voice is deliberate on Morris' part. I hated every second of it and I do mean every single word. I was ready to DNF this at 1% but wanted to make sure I wasn't just being extra crabby so I persevered for another eternal 8%. While I “might” have been extra crabby, that didn't change that I simply hated the archaic writing as a style.

While Wikipedia claims that this influenced both Tolkien and Lewis, even that isn't enough for me to keep on slogging. Sorry Cleo, but I couldn't deal with this.

Monday, August 24, 2020

[Manga Monday] Big O, Vol. 5 ★★☆☆½

Title: Big O, Vol. 5
Series: Big O #5
Author: Hitoshi Ariga
Rating: 2.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Manga
Pages: 216
Words: 7K

Synopsis:

We get a chapter about Norman where he shows he's so familiar with firearms that he can fire a machine gun around a whole group of punks and not hit them once. They were in the act of trying to pull a coup but with Norman's “demonstration” on how to use a machine gun, they're to afraid to try. Dorothy also helps out by doing cleaning chores around the house while Norman fixes Big O.

Beck ends up making a HUGE score and becomes so rich that he buys an entire Dome. Of course, he does it through proxies so the Military Police can't touch him. He finds a gigadeus (the equivalent of what a megadeus is to humans) that somehow gives him a LOT of memories. Big O destroys the gigadeus but it is unclear whether Beck is caught or not.

The final chapter of this volume deals with a little girl who apparently can tell people their true pasts. Crowds of people end up driving her into an icy river, where Major Dastun attempts to rescue her. He tells the crowd they killed her and then Big O shows up and takes the girl and Dastun away. The girl is alive and Dastun moralizes on looking to the future and not the past.

My Thoughts:

My goodness, someone put this manga out of its misery, please! I feel like I'm reading this out of duty more than anything. And it is true. If I had just picked up this series without knowing about the anime, I'd have abandoned it after the 2^nd volume for sure!

There is nothing of coherence here. Even the art and the battles leave me feeling baffled about what I'm supposed to be seeing or trying to get. The stories are just as bad.

One more volume and then I can ditch this. I might do a Book (un)Haul post on these, as the covers are really good looking.

★★☆☆½

All of My "Big O" Reviews (Manga and Anime)

Friday, August 21, 2020

John Ovington Returns ★★★☆☆

Title: John Ovington Returns
Series: ----------
Author: Max Brand
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Western
Pages: 20
Words: 6.5K

Synopsis:

John Ovington returns to his ancestral home in Connecticut, to find a series of letters between his Great Grandfather and his fiance. Great Grandfather goes to war, the girl marries someone else and Great Grandfather vows he'll get the girl in the end.

John Ovington finds out he has a new neighbor, who looks exactly like Great Grandfather's fiance and that she is running off with a beau. She writes a series of letters exactly the same as the Great Grandfather's fiance and history begins to repeat itself.

John Ovington gets the girl and breaks the cycle that Fate had ordained for him.

My Thoughts:

For some reason, almost all the editions show this as being a full novel at over 500 pages. It is just a short story at 16-20 pages and I sure do feel bad for anyone who bought it (even for 99cents) thinking it was a full book.

The synopsis pretty much says it all. This is some sort of love, ghost, thingy, story. I tagged it western, but considering it takes place in Connecticut, probably “frontier” might have been more appropriate. I'm guessing this was for a magazine back when it was first published. It has 3 chapters and that fits with a serial short story in a magazine spread over 3 issues.

It was actually nice to read something so short and then be done. I spent 30 minutes or less reading it and then bam, finished. Truth be told, I've probably spent more time searching out the correct page number and writing this little piece than I did reading. While it feels like cheating (I'll including this as a “book” in my monthly roundup numbers), I think that including my Page Count numbers more than makes up for it.

Giddy'up!

★★★☆☆

All My "Max Brand" Reviews

Wednesday, August 19, 2020

A Werewolf Among Us ★★★☆☆

Title: A Werewolf Among Us
Series: ----------
Author: Dean Koontz
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF/Mystery
Pages: 211
Words: 53K

Synopsis:

Baker St Cyr is a detective, a Cyber-Detective! He can plug a portable computer into his chest and have it integrate within himself, thus giving him an edge of logic that most humans don't have. It also nags him about his dreams, dampens his emotions and can affect his actions.

St Cyr is hired by an extremely rich man on a pleasure world to find out who killed some of his family. With no clues whatsoever, the local constabulary are baffled. Several more murders occur while St Cyr is there and an attempt is made on his life. All clues point to a local animal that supposedly can turn humans into werewolves. St Cyr must also battle the deadening of his emotions and the awakening of said emotions when he falls in love with his client's daughter.

In the end, St Cyr figures out that the “butler” did it, is prevented from destroying said robot by his own cyber-unit (because it isn't logical as all robots must adhere to the 3 Laws) and almost dies. The love interest saves the day, saves St Cyr from himself and saves herself from a stifling family relationship.

My Thoughts:

Koontz turns his hand to future murder mystery with rather predictable results. Just looking at the cover should tell you who the murderer is. As soon as the main character noticed that the robot butler went around on an anti-grav plate, I knew it was the robot. There was no mystery. It would have been cooler if there HAD been a werewolf.

The main reason I knocked off some stars is because of the final fight scene. St Cyr refuses to accept that his cyber-unit is deliberately affecting him by not allowing him to shoot the killer robot, that is trying to kill everyone right then, right there in full view. So he wastes half the fight trying to shoot down Robo-Butler and missing, while his love interest is screaming at him to throw the gun to her so she can turn Robo-Butler into Robo-Scrapmetal. He ignores her until it is almost too late. That isn't logic but plain stupidity.

The overall story was a fun little tale, even while being completely predictable. I'd probably have notched it up to a 3 ½ star rating if it weren't for St Cyr acting like a complete idiot in the fight.

Well, another old Koontz under my belt (I believe this was published in 1973?).

★★★☆☆

All of My "Dean Koontz" Reviews

Tuesday, August 18, 2020

Much Obliged, Jeeves (Jeeves Omnibus #5.1) ★★★☆½

Title: Much Obliged, Jeeves
Series: Jeeves Omnibus #5.1
Author: P.G. Wodehouse
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Humor
Pages: 256
Words: 40K

Synopsis:

From Wikipedia.com

Jeeves types a report of Bertie's latest misadventures for the club book of the Junior Ganymede Club, in which the club's members are required to record information about their employers, to inform those seeking employment about potential employers. Bertie worries that his embarrassing information will fall into the hands of his judgmental Aunt Agatha and asks Jeeves to destroy the pages about him, but Jeeves asserts that the book is secure and refuses to defy the rules of his club.

An old school friend of Bertie's, Ginger Winship, is standing for the House of Commons in a by-election at Market Snodsbury, near the home of Bertie's Aunt Dahlia, Brinkley Court, on the wishes of his strict fiancée. Aunt Dahlia persuades Bertie to come to Brinkley to assist in the canvassing. Before departing, Bertie has drinks with Jeeves at the Junior Ganymede. They discuss how Ginger's chances for election will be hurt if the public learns about his rowdy past (mild by Bertie's standards but potentially offensive to the traditional rural populace of Market Snodsbury). At the club, they see an uncouth ex-valet that Bertie once employed, Bingley, who greets Jeeves in an overly familiar fashion, calling him "Reggie".[4]

At Brinkley, he discovers Ginger's fiancée is the overbearing Florence Craye, who has previously been betrothed to several people, including Bertie. Florence mistakenly believes that Bertie still wants to marry her, and Bertie's personal code prevents him from telling her otherwise. The intimidating Roderick Spode, 8th Earl of Sidcup has come to deliver speeches for Ginger, and he has brought his fiancée, Madeline Bassett. Like Florence, Madeline thinks Bertie wants to marry her and Bertie is too polite to correct her.

Also present is L. P. Runkle, a financier and collector, who is visiting Brinkley to sell a silver porringer worth nine thousand pounds to Bertie's uncle Tom Travers (who has fled Brinkley Court to avoid the guests). Runkle was the employer of the late father of Bertie's friend Tuppy Glossop, and profited from Tuppy's father's invention, leaving little for Tuppy and his father. Dahlia wants to soften up Runkle and get him to pay Tuppy his due so Tuppy can finally marry his fiancée, Angela, Aunt Dahlia's daughter.

Ginger's chances for election (and thus his engagement to Florence) are threatened by Bingley, who has purloined the Junior Ganymede club book. Bingley intends to sell its pages about Ginger to his opponent or to the local newspaper. To prevent this, Jeeves pays Bingley a social visit, taking the opportunity to slip him a Mickey Finn and recover the book.

Surprisingly, this does not please Ginger. After disappointing Florence in his performance at the Council meeting, he no longer wants to marry her, and has fallen in love with his secretary, Magnolia Glendennon. Like Bertie, Ginger is prevented by his personal code from telling a woman he does not want to marry her. To spur Florence to break the engagement, Ginger wants the local newspaper to print the club book's pages about him, but Jeeves is unwilling to part with the book. Meanwhile, Spode is entranced by the reception he is getting at his speeches for Ginger, and thinks of renouncing his title and running for the Commons himself. This upsets Madeline, who wants to become a Countess. Madeline considers marrying Bertie instead of Spode.

Aunt Dahlia, failing to convince Runkle to give Tuppy any money, has stolen the silver porringer he wished to sell to Tom. Bertie tries to return the porringer, but is caught, and hides the object in his bureau drawer. At the candidate debate, Ginger, following Jeeves's advice, endorses his opponent and resigns the race. Havoc ensues between the opposing sides, and those present, including Spode and Florence, are pelted with produce. Florence breaks her engagement with Ginger, and he promptly elopes with Magnolia.

Bingley (in Runkle's employ) discovers the missing porringer in Bertie's drawer, and Runkle accuses Bertie of the theft. While Bertie faces jail time, this has the positive effect of keeping Florence from trying to marry Bertie. Spode realises he would prefer to stay in the produce-free House of Lords and chooses to keep his title. He and Madeline reconcile.

Finally, Jeeves reveals secrets about Runkle written about him by Bingley in the club book, preventing him from pressing charges against Bertie, and also forcing him to give Tuppy his legacy. Noting that Bingley was able to steal the club book, Bertie again asks Jeeves to destroy the eighteen pages that Jeeves wrote about Bertie. Jeeves states that he has already done so.

My Thoughts:

I don't know what it was, but while this was still quite enjoyable, the “zest” seemed not to be there for me. Part of that is because I watched the BBC production with Frye and Laurie and the final episode took a lot of the story from this book, so everything wasn't all shiny and new. I also am wondering if Wodehouse was simply running out of steam for this Dynamic Duo. This is the 13^th book in the series for goodness sake.

There was no chortling on my end. A slightly raised eyebrow and a quirk of the lip were about the limits my expressions of joy and delight while reading this. I felt very Jeeve'ish.

The lesson I learned from this? If there is a movie/tv version of a book, read the bleeding book first so you don't ruin it for yourself with the boobtube version. Once you've read the books, then I HIGHLY recommend the Frye & Laurie rendition of Jeeves & Wooster.

★★★☆½

All My "Jeeves" Reviews

Monday, August 17, 2020

[Manga Monday] Big O, Vol. 4 ★★★☆☆

Title: Big O, Vol. 4
Series: Big O #4
Author: Hitoshi Ariga
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Manga
Pages: 176
Words: 7K

Synopsis:

Roger Smith is hired to find an old bar. What he doesn't know is that the old bar has an enormous safe with a vast amount of memories in it. What the client doesn't know is that those memories are all old letters between his father and and old lover. Roger keeps having flashbacks to a woman who he claims he'll never forget, but he's never seen her before. The chapter ends with Dorothy telling Roger that since she's an android, she'll never forget him.

2 mad scientists find a machine for extracting forgotten memories and end up kidnapping Roger. His memories overwhelm the machine and then he and Big O destroy the machine.

The final chapter deals with the return of Schwarzvald and his megadeus, Big Duo. Looking like Big O, but red and with the ability to fly, Schwarzvald claims that the power of the Bigs is for destruction only and sets out to destroy Paradigm City. Roger and Big O stop him but their battle has brought them to the attention of Alex Rosewater, the CEO of Paradigm Co and the de facto ruler of Paradigm City.

My Thoughts:

No scantily clad or uncovered women this time. Hence the high water mark of 3 stars.

Other than that, mediocre. Nothing is revealed, nothing interesting happens, the characters barely appear. Flat and lifeless is what this seems to be going for. Almost like it was a project that the manga-ka didn't care about but had to do anyway.

Whatever. It doesn't matter. I am going to finish this series since I own it, but my goodness, it is like eating stale crackers while sipping on tepid tap water.

★★★☆☆

All of My "Big O" Reviews (Manga and Anime)

Friday, August 14, 2020

The Screwtape Letters ★★★★½

Title: The Screwtape Letters
Series: ----------
Author: C.S. Lewis
Rating: 4.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Non-fiction/Theology
Pages: 138
Words: 37K

Synopsis:

From Wikipedia

In The Screwtape Letters, Lewis imagines a series of lessons in the importance of taking a deliberate role in Christian faith by portraying a typical human life, with all its temptations and failings, seen from devils' viewpoints. Screwtape holds an administrative post in the bureaucracy ("Lowerarchy") of Hell, and acts as a mentor to his nephew Wormwood, an inexperienced (and incompetent) tempter.

In the 31 letters which constitute the book, Screwtape gives Wormwood detailed advice on various methods of undermining God's words and of promoting abandonment of God in "the Patient", interspersed with observations on human nature and on the Bible. In Screwtape's advice, selfish gain and power are seen as the only good, and neither demon can comprehend God's love for man or acknowledge human virtue.

My Thoughts:

This is a very short book at only 138 pages. With there being 31 chapters, it is easy to read one here, read one there and go from there. I read this in one sitting, as I hadn't read this since my teen or Bibleschool days, and I wanted to eat the thing in one go.

I found this easy to assimilate. The ideas behind what Screwtape was talking about are easy to reverse to get the correct message. Lewis does an admirable job of presenting the wrong view to showcase just what the right view should be. I don't envy him though, trying to write a book by a demon.

One thing that did stick out to me was Screwtape saying how they wished all humans were either atheists or magicians (occultists in my terminology). To either not believe in the devil at all or to believe in him so much that one becomes entrapped. I wonder if Lewis put that in there so that anyone reading this wouldn't be tempted to dig deeper into the occult to “learn” about demons and such. Lewis didn't write this so people could learn about demons, but so that they could learn about Jesus. In that regards I simply disregarded everything whenever Screwtape started talking about hell and anything related to that subject. I differ enough from Lewis anyway in how we think of hell so it wasn't a problem for me.

This would be a great study book, as each chapter is so short. Read one chapter, take notes and then discuss with others. Next time I read this, I certainly won't be rushing through it in one sitting. As I'm sitting here, I'm actively considering reading it again next year and making it a Project.

★★★★½

Thursday, August 13, 2020

Big O, Vol. 3 ★★☆☆½

Title: Big O, Vol. 3
Series: Big O #3
Author: Hitoshi Ariga
Rating: 2.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Manga
Pages: 200
Words: 7K

Synopsis:

Beck is broken out of prison by Angel and given his own megadeus, the Super Beck. He disguises it as another Big O and goes on a rampage. He's determined to reveal that Roger Smith is the operator of Big O. Roger, with help from his butler Norman and Dorothy, take down the Super Beck without revealing Roger's secret.

Dorothy has an encounter with an artist, who falls in love with her. He is leaving in a condemned building however and almost dies when it is destroyed. Dorothy saves him and the artist ends up in a hospital, where he becomes infatuated with a nurse. Dorothy learns a valuable lesson about male artists.

Some bio-weapon beast that eats metal is released in the city and only the Big O can stop it. It does.

Roger, Beck and Angel all separately come upon an older geezer living outside the dome who has access to genuine alcohal and tobacco and a huge stash of memories. Angel brings in troops from the Paradigm Company, Beck shoots his way out and Roger drunk drives the Big O and ends up burning the whole place down.

My Thoughts:

Once again there was ONE scene where Beck is bathing and it shows a woman with him and it is an R rated picture, so I dinged a half star. It made me mad, because now I know I can't give this manga to any young person. What a way to waste an entire volume. Way to go, manga-ka.

The stories are pretty boring, Beck is still a 2bit loser villain and yet he still is the main badguy. Roger pretty much just punches him in the face with Big O every encounter and wins. That really isn't good story telling. My memories of this being mediocre at best are definitely being justified.

Which has led me to adding the “Mediocre” tag to this review and the rest of the series most likely.

★★☆☆½

All of My "Big O" Reviews (Manga and Anime)

Wednesday, August 12, 2020

The Fires of Heaven (The Wheel of Time #5) ★★★★★

Title: The Fires of Heaven
Series: The Wheel of Time #5
Author: Robert Jordan
Rating: 5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 867
Words: 355K

Synopsis:

From Tarvalon.net & authored by Toral Delvar

In the Tower, Elaida is struggling to hold on to power, while her advisors are struggling to cope with the idea of Rand. Fain is counseling Elaida. He steals the Shadar Logoth dagger back before leaving the Tower. He gets past Alviarin only by convincingly bluffing that he stands high as a Darkfriend. Rahvin is visited by Lanfear, Sammael and Graendal. They make plans to get Rand. Morgase flees Gaebril after he shames her in front of others. She takes Lini, Tallanvor, Basel Gill and Lamgwin with her. Breane goes with Lamgwin.

In Rhuidean, Rand is living under the roof of the Maidens, the first man ever allowed there. Moiraine loads the various ter'angreal gathered in Rhuidean onto wagons. Rand discusses plans with the clan chiefs, where he learns of what is known as "the bleakness".

Egwene and Moiraine start ganging up on him and he begins to experience Lews Therin's memories. Moiraine finds another of the seals, which is extremely fragile. Mat picks up a Shaido woman, Melindhra, who has come to join the Maidens. Isendre irritates Aviendha and the Maidens by constantly attempting to bed Rand. Melaine decides to wed Bael, chief of her clan. Moiraine argues with the Wise Ones about Rand's plans to take them out of the Waste.

Rand and the Aiel are attacked by Shadowspawn, including Darkhounds. Rand destroys the Darkhounds with balefire. Rand kills a Darkhound which was attacking Mat with balefire. Moiraine Heals Mat after he removes his amulet, and tells Rand balefire is dangerous. Rand agrees not to use it unless he must. The sense of trust between them breaks down so much that Moiraine swears to obey Rand and to not try to manipulate him. Rand is once more visited by Lanfear, who tells him that Rahvin has Morgase.

The Shaido leave the Waste, forcing Rand to follow. Trollocs attack again. Rand and his followers leave the Waste and see a town that has been attacked. One of the survivors says it was a message to Rand, from Couladin. They learn Couladin had been taking Wetlanders as gai'shain.

Aviendha gives Rand Laman's sword to even out the bracelet he had previously given her. He discovers it was made with the Power, so he gives her the hilt and scabbard back, as they are jewel-encrusted and useless. As a result, she unintentionally makes a huge profit. Trollocs and Darkfriends attack again; Rand believes it is Sammael, trying to goad him, as he remembers him doing the same in the Age of Legends; Rand's memories from the Age of Legends frighten Asmodean. Rand tells the clan chiefs he will hang anyone who murders or burns anything, even in Cairhien.

Egwene sees Elayne and Birgitte in Tel'aran'rhiod. Moghedien tries to trap her there, but Egwene escapes. Kadere murders Isendre when she refuses to continue to try and bed Rand because of her fear of the Maidens.

Rand and the Aiel move on to Cairhien, which is under siege by the Shaido. A week away from the city, they meet lordlings from Tear that Rand had sent north, as well as Cairhienin soldiers. They tell him Couladin has the city under siege.

Rand accidentally catches Aviendha naked after taking a bath. Aiel customs in this area are considered a little odd; she flees, using the Power to Travel. Rand follows her to a winter landscape, holding her gateway open, and eventually catches up with her, finding her unconscious. He removes his clothes as well and holds her, to keep her warm. Aviendha awakens and admits her love of Rand. They consummate their relationship. The following morning, they come across a Seanchan patrol outside the gateway, which is now invisible. They shield and bind the Seanchan and head through, and as Rand lets the doorway dissolve, a spear is thrown through. He decides to keep the remaining piece of the spear.

Rand decides to attack the Shaido after coming up with a plan with the clan chiefs. Mat also comes up with the same plan after studying the map for a minute. Mat decides to leave for safety and heads south, where he sees a group of soldiers about to wander into an Aiel ambush. He goes to simply warn them, but ends up leading them throughout the battle. He also kills Couladin. Other Aiel who have not agreed to follow Rand hang back and watch.

Rand uses the One Power to influence the battle, aided by Aviendha and Egwene. Someone, presumably Sammael, tries to interfere. They eventually drive the Shaido from Cairhien, leaving Rand completely exhausted. The other Aiel, which remained apart from the Shaido, send their Wise Ones to discuss joining with Rand. Rand enters Cairhien, seeing siswai’aman for the first time. Tairen High Lords and Cairhienin Lords swear fealty to him. Weiramon arrives from Tear.

Colavaere sends young women, including Selande, to try and bed Rand. He puts a stop to it when he claims to prefer more mature women, and invites Colavaere to his chambers, where Aviendha beats her for trying to get near him. Berelain joins him in Cairhien. Moiraine brings letters from the Tower, from Elaida and Alviarin. Alviarin's is full of flattery.

Mat hears of Morgase's supposed death and tells Rand, who resolves to kill Rahvin. Moiraine first takes him to the docks where they meet Lanfear, who is in a rage because she has been told by Kadere that Rand has been bedding Aviendha for months. She kills Kadere, then attacks Aviendha and Egwene, who are saved by Rand. She decides to kill him when he says he will never love her. Unfortunately, he cannot bring himself to kill Lanfear. Instead, Moiraine takes Lanfear through the doorway to the realms of the Eelfinn, which melts, thus severing her bond with Lan, who is compelled to go east. Rand learns in a letter that Moiraine knew these events would take place. Mat is attacked by Melindhra, who is a Darkfriend, when he reveals he is off to Tear to lead the assault on Illian. He accidentally kills her.

That afternoon, Rand Skims to Caemlyn with Mat, Aviendha, Asmodean and a group of Aiel, but without Egwene, who is too injured. They are immediately attacked by Rahvin. Aviendha, Mat and Asmodean are all killed in that first attack. Rand chases Rahvin into the World of Dreams.

Siuan, Leane and Min are arrested by Gareth Bryne after Logain burns down a barn. Leane practices her flirting on Bryne. Giving false names, they swear to work off their debt, but decide to sneak off at the first opportunity, as they never said when they would repay the debt. Logain rescues them anyway, showing concern for the man he injures in the process. Bryne follows them; he says it is because of Siuan's eyes.

They discover the Aes Sedai opposing Elaida have gathered in Salidar. Siuan and Leane pretend to barely be able to tolerate each other and convince those in charge of who they are, and manipulate them into choosing their own Hall and Amyrlin. Siuan is allowed to run the spy network, and tells them Logain was set up by the Red Ajah. After being captured, Bryne agrees to build an army to take Tar Valon on his own terms. Siuan is set to work for him.

Elayne, Nynaeve, Thom and Juilin leave Tarabon to return to Tear, but come across a woman, Ronde Macura, who drugs the girls to prevent them from chaneling and ties them up. She says there is a message: "All sisters are welcome to return to the Tower. The Tower must be whole and strong". Thom and Juilin rescue them. They realize the Tower has split and set out to find the rebels. Elayne constantly flirts with Thom. Nynaeve and Egwene discover that Elaida is Amyrlin. They meet Galad. In Tel'aran'rhiod, Egwene chastises Nynaeve, telling her to cover herself up.

They head into Ghealdan, where they join a traveling circus and act as performers. While travelling with the circus, they take an a'dam from a Seanchan woman. Elayne says she thinks she could make one. They meet up with the Shienarans they left in Falme.

Moghedien takes over the members of the Black Ajah who left the Tower, giving them different tasks and splitting them up.

Birgitte takes Nynaeve to spy on Moghedien and the other Forsaken in Tel'aran'rhiod. Moghedien spots them and follows. They overcome her after Birgitte shoots her with an arrow, but Birgitte herself is severely wounded. She appears in the real world, and Elayne bonds Birgitte as a Warder to save her life.

Moghedien has one of the Black Ajah Heal her. Liandrin fails to persuade the remaining Black Ajah to gang up on Moghedien. She tries to use Compulsion on Moghedien, but she isn't quick enough or strong enough. She fails, and Moghedien leaves her shielded in such a way that Liandrin is never likely to channel again. Moghedien uses Compulsion on her to make sure she doesn't give up and take her own life, though. The other Black sisters are sent off with various tasks.

Elayne and Nynaeve learn that the rebels are in Salidar, and arrange with both Masema and Galad, who has joined the Whitecloaks, for a boat to take them out of Ghealdan. This results in conflict at the docks between the Prophet's mobs and Whitecloaks. The girls flee to Salidar with Uno and the Shienarans. They are also accompanied by three women: Moghedien, posing as Marigan, Nicola and Areina. Min tells Elayne she loves Rand. The leaders in Salidar decide to talk to Moiraine through Egwene and the Wise Ones. Siuan also forces Nynaeve to teach her about the World of Dreams. Nynaeve makes Siuan agree to let her study being stilled.

Moghedien almost captures Nynaeve in the World of Dreams, but Nynaeve tricks her and captures her with an a'dam. Nynaeve makes her take them to Caemlyn, to try and help Rand. She sees Rahvin and encases him in a sheet of fire, almost killing him, before Rand does kill him with balefire. Nynaeve tells Moghedien she knows where she is and that she's coming to get her.

Aviendha, Mat and Asmodean are alive again because Rahvin was killed with balefire, but Asmodean is killed for good a short while later. Rand meets Davram Bashere, who had been hunting Mazrim Taim. Rand tells him Taim is off limits and that there is an amnesty for men who want to channel.

My Thoughts:

Whooooowheeeeee! Holy Shazboticon Batman! This was feth'ing, frak'ing, frel'ing awesome (if any of you happen to know any more sf/tv show alternate words, leave a comment please. I'm always willing to expand my fake vocabulary).

This is where the cast of characters begins to get so big that the book doesn't contain everyone. There is NO Perrin. I didn't particularly care, but with the addition of the Queen in Exile Morgase and her small band, it just became obvious that things were bloating up. A character like Morgase should not have pushed out someone like Perrin. The fact that she does nothing but escape the Forsaken enthralling her doesn't help any. Yes, it adds a reason for Rand to attack, but that could have been accomplished without adding her and her retinue with their very own POV chapters. They weren't bad, just seemed unnecessary, that is all. And that is about all the bad stuff I have to say.

When I read this back in '11, I noted how angry everyone was. This time around, it became apparent to me that there was a lot of growing out of that anger for several of the characters. Elayne, Aviendha and Egwene all show definite signs of growing up and maturity. It was great to see. Nynaeve, on the other hand, seems to double down on the angry schtick and her being contrasted to the other woman shows her to a great disadvantage in that regards. Of course, Jordan does use that to show a bunch of inner stuff going in Nynaeve, so even she isn't the hateful harpy I thought of her as back in '11. Still don't like her this time around though. Understanding is very different from liking.

Where Perrin was the side character who did a lot of growth in the previous book, Matt gets his chance here. Of course, it isn't until near the end and isn't nearly as a big a section as Perrin had but it is there. He's pretty much told to just grow up and stop fighting his fate. Rand also tightens the reins once he really realizes what a treasure trove of military knowledge is in Matt's head. Even Matt begins to accept that he has to grow up when he can't seem to escape fighting battles and winning them, even if against his will.

The big boss battle at the end is just as awesome as before. I'd forgotten how big a part Nynaeve played in determining the outcome of that. While I remembered Moraine's fate, I hadn't remembered that she'd taken one of the Forsaken with her. So many details that make these stories so good. While not quite like reading a completely new book, there were enough gaps that I never felt “been there, done that”. Jordan can write and I really like what I'm reading.

With what happens to Moraine in this book, it seems proper that the next Wheel of Time book will be the prequel New Spring.

On a closing note, I'd just like to point out how boring, blasé, uninteresting, uninformative and generally pathetic these recently released ebook covers are. I've been using the old covers but wanted at least one example so the future me could see what kind of crap the publishers pull. I've heard theories that the publishers did this so as not to interfere with the possible visuals from the upcoming Wheel of Time tv show from Amazon. Of course, that means when the tv show does release and if it isn't a hot mess of a flopping bomb, that we'll be getting movie actor covers. Oh Lord, preserve us from such an awful fate. I preemptively SMITE those covers!

★★★★★