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Sunday, December 15, 2024

Three at Wolfe’s Door (Nero Wolfe #33) 4Stars

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Title: Three at Wolfe’s Door
Series: Nero Wolfe #33
Author: Rex Stout
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Mystery
Pages: 153
Words: 71K

Another three novellas. A great way to spend your time in fact. Of course, if you’ve been reading my Nero Wolfe reviews for this long and haven’t decided to dive in, nothing I can say at this point will get you to change your mind.

Which actually brings up a very cogent blogging point.

What is the point of a review? Am I writing this review in hopes that you will take my advice and read these books? Am I TRYING to be an influencer and make a vast fortune from you all? Or am I just a hobbyist sharing his love of a something (or hatred in the case of that blasted Neuromancer) that I feel needs more time in the limelight? Or am I just an obsessed reader who HAS to chronicle everything he reads so that when I have forgotten that I read this in 10 years, I can go look at this, remember that I read it and say “Ah hah! I DID read that book 10 years ago. You cad and bounder, bow down in abject awe at my greatness”. So many options, so many reasons.

Well, I can assure you that I don’t give a fig what you think about the books I read. If you want to read them, that is great, because it means you’re going to have a cracking good time. If you don’t, it’s no skin off of my nose. This is America and it’s a free country. If you use that freedom to waste your time and poison your mind with crap, that’s your choice. A bad choice, a VERY bad choice, but you can do it. And if you’re not an American, well, that’s STILL your choice. You can’t help that you were born with that handicap after all 😉

On a serious note though, it is so easy to fall into that trap of writing a review with the end goal being to get others to read the same book. It might be from just simply wanting to share something that you love, but it also might spring from deeper, darker motives. Like a lust for control of all those who you come into contact with. So next time you post a book review, make sure to ask yourself “Self, WHY am I doing this?” and make sure you have a good answer. Otherwise you’ll bring dishonor on you, dishonor on your family and dishonor on your cow!

https://bookstooge.blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/dishonor.jpg

And Nero Wolfe wouldn’t like that one bit.

★★★★☆

Table of Contents:

Poison a la Carte
Method Three for Murder
The Rodeo Murder

Synopses from Wikipedia:

click to open

Poison a la Carte

A group of gourmets, who call themselves the Ten for Aristology, invite Wolfe’s chef Fritz to cook their annual dinner. Wolfe and Archie are included by courtesy. Twelve young women, one per guest, serve the food — they are actresses supplied by a theatrical agency, and are termed “Hebes,” after the cupbearer to the gods in the Greek pantheon (later replaced by Ganymede). A member of the Ten, Vincent Pyle, is poisoned and Wolfe quickly concludes that arsenic was administered by a server. Pyle is an investor in Broadway productions, and it’s clearly possible that he knew one or more of the Hebes.

Then the murderer is trapped into making incriminating statements at John Piotti’s restaurant, a location used for an identical purpose in Gambit.

Method Three for Murder

After discovering a body in the back seat, Mira Holt drives the taxi she has borrowed for the evening to 918 West 35th Street. She walks up the front steps of the brownstone just as Archie Goodwin is walking down — having just told Nero Wolfe that he’s quit. Archie and Wolfe solve the case, a murderess is caught and Mira and the murderess’s husband get married a year after the murderess is executed.

The Rodeo Murder

A party at Lily Rowan’s Park Avenue penthouse includes a roping contest between some cowboy friends, with a silver-trimmed saddle as the prize. One of the contestants is at a disadvantage when his rope is missing. When it is found wound more than a dozen times around the neck of the chief backer of the World Series Rodeo, Lily asks Nero Wolfe to sort out the murder. Turns out one of the organizers had been stealing money and investing it in cattle and was caught by the murdered cowboy.

All My “Nero Wolfe” Reviews

Thursday, December 12, 2024

The Gambler (The Russians) 4Stars

Title: The Gambler
Series: (The Russians)
Author: Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Translator: CJ Hogarth
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Classic
Pages: 221
Words: 60K

When I first read The Gambler in 2010, I came away more confused than not. I wasn’t used to the Russian naming conventions and the nicknaming scheme they’ve invented is worse than Cockney rhyming slang.

Now though, well, I feel comfortable with Alexei Ivanovich as much as I am with John Smith. I had no problem navigating the maze of names and who was who and who was doing what. This was really complicated. It doesn’t help that “The Gambler” refers to almost every person in the story. There are also layers of unspoken assumptions.

For example, Polina did love Alexei, the main character. But why did she never say so? Why did she treat him like dirt, like a lackey, like he didn’t matter? She ends up having a physical and partial mental breakdown and I do not understand at all why. He had confessed his love to her so it wasn’t like she had to worry about rejection. There was obviously something else going on, but I didn’t have the cultural understanding to know what I should. It would be like a guy claiming to have gotten to third base and leaving it at that. Knowing what that meant could convey a whole paragraph of information AND it could be used to convey something else without ever saying it explicitly. It’s frustrating, that’s what it is.

It was also depressing to see everyone get caught up in gambling. It’s one of the reasons I don’t gamble. The only gamble I take is when our national lottery gets to 1 billion dollars, then I’ll buy one $2 ticket, once. I’ve seen the mess people make of their lives in real life and a story like this one only emphasizes such caution in regards to gambling.

Earn your money, there are no short cuts.

★★★★☆

From Wikipedia

Synopsis – click to open

The first-person narrative is told from the point of view of Alexei Ivanovich, a tutor working for a Russian family living in a suite at a German hotel. The patriarch of the family, The General, is indebted to the Frenchman de Grieux and has mortgaged his property in Russia to pay only a small amount of his debt. Upon learning of the illness of his wealthy aunt, “Grandmother”, he sends streams of telegrams to Moscow and awaits the news of her demise. His expected inheritance will pay his debts and gain Mademoiselle Blanche de Cominges’s hand in marriage.

Alexei is hopelessly in love with Polina, the General’s stepdaughter. She asks him to go to the town’s casino and place a bet for her. After hesitations, he succumbs and ends up winning at the roulette table. He returns to her with the winnings, but she will not tell him why she is in such need of money. She laughs at him (as she does when he professes his love) and treats him with apparent indifference. Alexei only learns the details of the General’s and Polina’s financial state later in the story through his long-time acquaintance, Mr. Astley. Astley is a shy Englishman who seems to share Alexei’s fondness for Polina. He comes from English nobility and is very wealthy.

One day, while Polina and Alexei are on a walk on the Schlangenberg (a mountain in the German town), he swears an oath of servitude to her. He tells her that all she has to do is give the word and he will gladly walk off the edge and plummet to his death. Polina dares him to insult the aristocratic couple Baron and Baroness Wurmerhelm, whom they have just seen, and he does so. This sets off a chain of events that explains Mademoiselle Blanche’s interest in the General and gets Alexei fired as tutor of the General’s children. Shortly after this, Grandmother shows up and surprises the whole party of debtors and indebted. She tells them all that she knows all about the General’s debt and why the Frenchman and woman are waiting around the suite day after day. She leaves the party of death-profiteers, telling them that none of them are getting any of her money. She asks Alexei to be her guide around the town, famous for its healing waters and infamous for its casino; she wants to gamble.

Grandmother plays at the roulette table and wins a large amount of money. She briefly returns to the hotel, but she has caught the gambling bug and soon returns to the casino. After three days, she has lost over a hundred thousand roubles.

After sending Grandmother off at the railway station, Alexei returns to his room where he is greeted by Polina. She shows him a letter where des Grieux says he has started legal proceedings to sell the General’s properties mortgaged to him, but he is returning properties worth fifty thousand roubles to the General for Polina’s benefit. Des Grieux says he feels he has fulfilled all his obligations. Polina tells Alexei that she is des Grieux’s mistress and she wishes she had fifty thousand roubles to fling in des Grieux’s face. Upon hearing this, Alexei runs out of the room and to the casino where, over a few hours, he wins two hundred thousand florins (100,000 francs) and becomes a rich man. When he gets back to his room and the waiting Polina, he empties the gold and bank notes from his pockets onto the bed. At first Polina accuses him of trying to buy her like des Grieux, but then she embraces him. They fall asleep on the couch. Next day, she asks for fifty thousand roubles (25,000 francs) and when he gives it to her, she flings the money in his face and runs off to Mr. Astley (Polina and Mr. Astley had been secretly meeting; she was supposed to meet Astley the night before, but had come by mistake to Alexei’s room). Alexei doesn’t see her again.

After learning that the General won’t be getting his inheritance, Mademoiselle Blanche leaves for Paris with her mother and seduces Alexei to follow her. They stay together for almost a month; he allows Mlle Blanche to spend his entire fortune on her own personal expenses, carriages and horses, dinner dances, and a wedding-party. After getting herself financially secured, Mlle Blanche, desiring an established social status, unexpectedly marries the General, who has followed her to Paris.

Alexei starts to gamble to survive. One day he passes Mr. Astley on a park bench in Bad Homburg and has a talk with him. He finds out from Astley that Polina is in Switzerland and actually does love Alexei. Astley tells him that Grandmother has died and left Polina and the children financially secured. The General has died in Paris. Astley gives him some money but shows little hope that he will not use it for gambling. Alexei goes home dreaming of going to Switzerland the next day and recollects what made him win at the roulette tables in the past.

Wednesday, December 11, 2024

Operation: Entertainment District (Demon Slayer #9) 3Stars

Title: Operation: Entertainment District
Series: Demon Slayer #9
Author: Koyoharu Gotouge
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Manga
Pages: 180
Words: 8K

I am definitely starting to burn out on manga again, not sure it’s just this particular one. So I can’t blame it.

The gang are used by a Pillar to go into the “Entertainment” District (ie, the Red Light district), dressed up as girls, to rescue the Pillar’s three wives and sniff out a demon. The wives are all demon slayers of a sort as well and they’ve gone silent. So of course the Pillar is worried.

I had a hard time reading this mainly because I could only see the weaknesses in the planning. Just like in the last volume, there’s a distinct lack of smarts on the Demon Slayer’s upper echelon and that puts the lower demon slayers in jeopardy. The problem is, that is not a problem in this particular manga, but in all shonen manga in general. It is the idea that one can only grow stronger through conflict, that war fuels innovation, etc. So the story must be structured to give the main characters plenty of instances to fight, to “grow” as it were. I’m just tired of it, that’s all.

There is one panel that made me laugh out loud though. It is when we first see the three main characters dressed up like girls. I just laughed out loud and showed Mrs B. Good stuff!

I was also concerned about the visual side of things, as this was taking place in a Red Light District. But there was nothing to worry about. The manga-ka does an admirable job of showing the idea of “sexy” without it actually being sexy or lust inducing. I say “admirable” because I’m trying to be positive. Otherwise I’d have to say he’s just not good enough to draw that way and I am tired of being a negative nancy.

★★★☆☆

From Wikipedia

ToC & Synopsis – click to open

Operation: Entertainment District”

“Search for My Wives”

“The Chase”

“Daki”

“Various Feelings”

“In Various Places”

“Roar”

“Wriggly”

“Air Hole”

Tanjiro and his friends are drafted by Tengen Uzui, the Sound Hashira to help investigate the red-light district in Yoshiwara, Tokyo, where Daki, one of the Upper Ranks, has established herself while disguising herself as an oiran. Once learning Daki’s secret, they are forced to confront not one, but two enemies, as she shares her body and the position of Upper Rank Six with her brother, Gyutaro.

Tuesday, December 10, 2024

Technos (Dumarest #7) 3.5Stars

Title: Technos
Series: Dumarest #7
Author: EC Tubb
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages: 154
Words: 47K

At least this book wasn’t named after a woman. I was getting rather tired of that. Of course, Earl Dumarest sleeps around like a flipping clock. I mean, a space prostitute is so smitten by him that she gives him a freebie, apparently all night long. Sigh.

The story is the same as all the previous ones. Earl is trying to track down more info about Earth, goes to a hellhole of a planet, finds out it was all for naught, gets one teensy tiny clue and then goes off hunting again.While fighting off Cyclan plots.

It’s always the setting and whatever adventure is written that makes these stand out. Here Earl has to hide out on a technological planet and survive a mechanical death maze. It was pretty cool.

Once again the cover is awesome. Earl is wearing his usual 70’s disco-spacesuit with the bubble helmet. It just makes me want to do the whole Dance Fever, John Travolta thing. Oh Beeeeehaaaaave!

★★★✬☆

From the Publisher

Synopsis – click to open

“A dying man’s last words brought Dumarest to Loame, ‘the garden planet’. Its name was a mockery–Loame’s gentle citizens could only watch in horror as their fields were ravaged by a mutated vine that destroyed all it touched. They were sure the acid-dripping vine was the work of their enemy world, Technos.

Technos was not a world open to outsiders–but Dumarest is not a man who takes no for an answer. As a fugitive, as a prisoner of war, as the captive bedmate of a queen, he continues his quest, seeking an answer to the question that his his life’s obsesson: ‘Have you ever heard of a planet called _Earth_?'”

All of My “Dumarest” Reviews

Monday, December 09, 2024

The Sign of Nine (Warlock Holmes #4) 4.5Stars

Title: The Sign of Nine
Series: Warlock Holmes #4
Author: Gabriel Denning
Rating: 4.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Fantasy Parody
Pages: 269
Words: 98K

This has reignited my book hunger. While Sanditon started it and Mon Dieu Cthulhu and KTF Part II put a damper on things, The Sign of Nine has made me voracious again. Every time I put this book down, all I could think about was when I would be able to pick it back up.

Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t laughing out loud or reading horrible excerpts to Mrs B like I did with the first book, but it still fed my soul and I needed that. I was also ready to be fed. If I had read this even two weeks earlier I suspect I’d have been very “meh” about it.

It was the right book at the right time, so watch out. I suspect there will be a lot more book reviews in the coming weeks, even with my Love Saves the Day updates taking up Fridays and not posting on Sabbaths.

Once again I am impressed, and quite rightly, by Denning’s sticking to the short stories of Sherlock Holmes. Every story for Warlock Holmes is based on a story by Doyle and while they veer off, madly and wildly at times, the details included always keep us grounded in a very Holmes oriented world. If you’ve never read Sherlock Holmes, or read them so long ago as to have all the details be fuzzy for you, don’t worry, you won’t miss out on a thing. But if you DO remember the stories, you’re experience will be deeper, richer and oh so much more FUN! Denning continually riffs on the originals and you’ll miss out on all that humor, which would be a crying shame.

Watson is a complete wreck in this book. He is recovering from being poisoned by Irene Adler, he’s obsessed with her (any man who has been in love with a woman who he knows he simply cannot have will know that obsession), he’s obsessed with Moriarty, he’s taking a magical drug solution made out of his own blood and shredded Mummy and he’s got Holmes trying to “help” him. Mainly by getting him hitched to a woman so he’ll move out and stay out of Holmes’ sphere of influence, thus saving Watson’s life. That is the reason why this didn’t get the coveted 5Star Award from me.

In the originals, Watson marries one of the clients and has a happy, contented life with a wonderful woman who supports him. Here, Mary is a tyrant, who he hates on sight and she despises him just as much. Warlock intertwines their “fate” lines so they fall in love, but they still hate each other. I get why that is funny, but it didn’t work for me. Killing puppies is funny (like in the first book), but having people get married who literally want to kill the other isn’t. This is why humor is such a subjective thing. But that was my only issue and was relegated to the last chapter in the book.

Now we come to the future.

There is only one more book left in the series. Unfortunately, I have heard it ends on a cliffhanger as big as the one where Doyle killed off Holmes, but more cliffhanger’y. I’m going to read the final book, but I’m already wondering if that’ll be a mistake. While this book isn’t exactly a “great” ending, it does end on a pretty settled note. See, people who think reading has no drama are idiots. THIS is high drama.

I’d like to thank Mogsy for introducing this series to me over 5 years ago. Here is her review of this volume. Mogsy’s 2019 Review of “The Sign of Nine”.

★★★★✬

From the Publisher

Synopsis – click to open

Warlock Holmes may have demons in his head, but now Dr. John Watson has a mummy in his bloodstream. Specifically that of the sorcerer Xantharaxes, who when shredded and dissolved in a 7% solution, results in some extremely odd but useful prophetic dreams. There’s also the small matter of Watson falling for yet another damsel-du-jour, and Warlock deciding that his companion needs some domestic bliss…

Thursday, December 05, 2024

KTF Part II (Galaxy's Edge #17) 2.5Stars

Title: KTF Part II
Series: Galaxy’s Edge #17
Author: Jason Anspach & Nick Cole
Rating: 2.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Military SF
Pages: 285
Words: 117K

This series is done. I’m glad. It had sunk to disappointing levels. Even here, Anspach and Cole (the authors) do their best to get rid of every “force” user and divorce this series from its space opera roots. Not particularly happy with them as authors right now.

I do have a couple of standalone Tyrus Rex novels still to read by them. I still haven’t decided if I’ll actually read them or not. I don’t have anything else to say that won’t sent me descending into a rant and I just don’t have the energy for that right now.

★★✬☆☆

From the Publisher

IT ALL ENDS HERE.

Every decision, battle, triumph, and heartache has led the galaxy to this moment.

The Republic is spun wildly into sudden war as Gomarii slavers, in overwhelming numbers, strike on behalf of their Savage allies. The battle is fiercest on a newly rediscovered world: Earth.

But galactic war is only the symptom of an older, deeper, and far more dangerous conflict. Now Keel and Ravi must work frantically to assemble the warriors needed to withstand an ancient threat, and Prisma must wrestle to control her own inner darkness. While on the front lines, Death’s grim specter comes for Chhun and Victory Company.

For once again, a Legion stands steadfast before the void.

Wednesday, December 04, 2024

The Strength of the Hashira (Demon Slayer #8) 3Stars

Title: The Strength of the Hashira
Series: Demon Slayer #8
Author: Koyoharu Gotouge
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Manga
Pages: 180
Words: 8K

In this volume we conclude the fight on the railroad train that has been taken over by a demon. He’s pretty much destroyed by one of the Hashira, the upper ranks of the Demon Slayers. There are lots of terms tossed about, like “Pillar”, so you know there are degrees even in the upper ranks. And the manga-ka then has an upper level demon show up to show that they too have their hierarchy.

Man, I’m getting too old for manga. Once again, we have a one on one fight between a high powered demon slayer and a demon and the demon slayer dies. Of course he does! Which is why the leader of the Demon Slayers should be sending out the Hashira in pairs or even quads to take down one demon at a time with overwhelming force. Weed out the higher ranks and then go after the demon king. But it’s not happening that way; because of story conventions and expectations. It’s stupid, that’s what it is.

And that’s why I’m saying I’m too old for this. I see a possible solution, a path to victory and either the manga-ka also sees it but has ignored it for “story reasons” or he’s so young that he doesn’t have the experience to see the solution at all. Either way, watching people get killed through pure stupidity because they have to do it on their own is getting on my nerves. It’s also a VERY good indication that I’m getting my reading mojo back and am ready to dive back into a slightly more mature story telling.

And if I hear even one “Yeahhh, more mature with all that Cthulhu stuff, or that faux-Star Wars stuff, suuuuure”, I’ll stick a cherry pie in your eye. Because that is how us mature folks handle a situation like that…

★★★☆☆

From Wikipedia

ToC & Synopsis – click to open

“Ending in a Dream”

“Akaza”

“The Strength of the Hashira”

“Whose Victory?”

“Scattering Into Dawn”

“Looking for Something”

“Wielder”

“Move Forward—Even If Just a Little”

“Kidnapper”

The Mugen Train derails from Enmu’s fatal wound when Tanjiro severed his neckbone with his Hinokami Kagura. Rengoku manages to prevent any casualties. Rengoku teaches Tanjiro to use his breathing to close his wound and prevent its reopening. The victory is short lived when Akaza, the Upper Rank Three of the Twelve Kizuki, appears and targets Rengoku while making attempts to convince him into renouncing his humanity and become a demon. The battle ends with Rengoku fatally wounded as he attempts to hold Akaza down to be killed by the morning sunlight, only for Akaza to rip off his arms and flee into the woods as Tanjiro angrily called him a coward. Rengoku leaves parting words for Tanjiro to give to his younger brother and father, who may have the information about the Hinokami Kagura. Rengoku dies after seeing a vision of his mother expressing pride honoring his childhood promise. Disheartened by his loss, Tanjiro pays a visit to Kyōjurō’s family and learns some rumors about an ancient lost technique that looks too similar to his family’s Hinokami Kagura.

Tuesday, December 03, 2024

Mon Dieu Cthulhu! (Cthulhu Anthology #19) 2.5Stars

Title: Mon Dieu Cthulhu!
Series: Cthulhu Anthology #19
Editor: John Houlihan
Rating: 2.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Cosmic Horror?
Pages: 184
Words: 72K

I was really wavering about giving this 3stars instead of 2.5, but when I considered that there was at least another novella featuring the main character Dubois and I had zero desire to read it, that sealed the deal.

There was nothing particularly “wrong” with this book. It just didn’t appeal to me. The main character wasn’t appealing, the tinge of madness, while hinted at, didn’t really appear and I just never felt a shiver of “will he go stark raving mad and kill everyone around him?” like I should in a properly told Cthulhu story. It probably didn’t help that these were longer novellas too.

Live and learn I guess.

★★✬☆☆

From the Publisher & Bookstooge.blog

The Crystal Void

The year is 1810 and as Napoleon’s marshals chase Wellington’s expeditionary force to the lines of Torres Verdras, the dashing if rather dim French Hussar Gaston Dubois is astonished to encounter the love of his life. But the fragrant Odette is soon abducted by the Marquis Da Foz, a ruthless and sadistic Portuguese noblemen.

Joined by a mysterious British Major, the hot blooded Hussar is soon in deadly pursuit, but what strange horrors lurk within the shadows of Da Foz’s ancient Moorish fortress? Can the heroic duo foil Da Foz’s dark machinations, rescue the delightful Odette and ultimately prevent the opening of the dreaded Crystal Void?

Yes, yes and yes.

Feast of the Dead

Dashing French Lieutenant, Gaston Dubois, is reassigned to the 13th Imperial Death’s Head Hussars and charged with leading a detachment of these “thieves on horseback” into the Spanish interior, in search of intelligence, supplies and plunder.

Forced to take refuge in the Monasterio de St Cloud, Dubois encounters the unworldly Doctor Malfeas and the beautiful nurse, Mademoiselle Brockenhurst. Yet this former house of the holy holds many outré secrets and Dubois faces fresh battles on all fronts, including the mystery which lies at the heart of the Monasterio itself, an ancient and terrible enigma which threatens both the lives and souls of all who encounter it.

Alone, deep behind enemy lines and beset on all sides, can Dubois survive his first real command and prevent the horrible unravelling of the feast of the dead?

Yes he can, yes he does and he kills the big daddy ghul to boot.

All of My “Cthulhu Anthology” Reviews

Monday, December 02, 2024

Sanditon 3Stars

Title: Sanditon
Series: ———-
Author: Jane Austen
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Unfinished Novel
Pages: 79
Words: 24K

I really enjoyed this unfinished novel. Thoroughly enjoyed it, as it had all the hallmarks of a good Austen novel with all the stuff I love about her writing.

But it’s unfinished. I had barely gotten started when it ended. I was eating the salad, could smell the lasagna in the oven, then the restaurant owner came over, unceremoniously kicked me out of the restaurant. While I was still hungry. Oh the humanity!!!!

This is yet another unfinished novel that I would like to get my hands on a co-authored finished product. Some day!

★★★☆☆

From Wikipedia.org

Synopsis – click to open

The novel centres on Charlotte Heywood, the eldest of the daughters still at home in the large family of a country gentleman from Willingden, Sussex. The narrative opens when the carriage of Mr and Mrs Parker of Sanditon topples over on a hill near the Heywood home. Because Mr Parker is injured in the crash, and the carriage needs repairs, the Parkers stay with the Heywood family for a fortnight. During this time, Mr Parker talks fondly of Sanditon, a town which until a few years before had been a small, unpretentious fishing village. With his business partner, Lady Denham, Mr Parker hopes to make Sanditon into a fashionable seaside resort. Mr Parker’s enormous enthusiasm for his plans to improve and modernise Sanditon has resulted in the installation of bathing machines and the construction of a new home for himself and his family near the seashore. Upon repair of the carriage and improvement to Mr Parker’s foot, the Parkers return to Sanditon, bringing Charlotte with them as their summer guest.

Upon arrival in Sanditon, Charlotte meets the inhabitants of the town. Prominent among them is Lady Denham, a twice-widowed woman who received a fortune from her first husband and a title from her second. Living with Lady Denham is her niece Clara Brereton, a sweet and beautiful yet impoverished young lady. Also living in Sanditon are Sir Edward Denham and his sister Esther, nephew and niece to Lady Denham by her second husband. The siblings are poor and are thought to be seeking Lady Denham’s fortune; Sir Edward is described as a silly and very florid man, though handsome.

After settling in with the Parkers and encountering various neighbours, Charlotte and Mr and Mrs Parker are surprised by a visit from his two sisters and younger brother, all of whom are self-declared invalids. However, given their level of activity and seeming strength, Charlotte quickly surmises that their complaints are invented. Diana Parker has come on a mission to secure a house for a wealthy family from the West Indies, although she has not specifically been asked to help. She also brings word of a second large party, a girls’ school, which is intending to summer at Sanditon. This news causes a stir in the small town, especially for Mr Parker, whose fondest wish is the promotion of tourism there.

With the arrival of Mrs Griffiths at Sanditon, it soon becomes apparent that the family from the West Indies and the girls’ school group are one and the same. The visitors consist of Miss Lambe, a teenaged Antiguan-English heiress, and the two Miss Beauforts, English girls just arrived from the West Indies.[3] In short order, Lady Denham calls on Mrs. Griffiths to be introduced to Miss Lambe, the sickly and very rich young woman that she intends her nephew, Sir Edward, to marry.

A carriage unexpectedly arrives bearing Sidney Parker, the middle Parker brother. He will be staying in town for a few days with two friends who will join him shortly. Sidney Parker is about 27 or 28 years old, and Charlotte finds him very good-looking, with a decided air of fashion.

The book fragment ends when Mrs Parker and Charlotte visit Sanditon House, Lady Denham’s residence. There Charlotte spots Clara Brereton seated with Sir Edward Denham at her side having an intimate conversation in the garden and surmises that they must have a secret understanding. When they arrive inside, Charlotte observes that a large portrait of Sir Henry Denham hangs over the fireplace, whereas Lady Denham’s first husband, who owned Sanditon House, only gets a miniature in the corner – obliged, as it were, to sit back in his own house and see the best place by the fire constantly occupied by Sir Henry Denham.

Sunday, December 01, 2024

Trading Blows at Close Quarters (Demon Slayer #7) 3Stars

Title: Trading Blows at Close Quarters
Series: Demon Slayer #7
Author: Koyoharu Gotouge
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Manga
Pages: 187
Words: 9K

I think I’ve realized another reason why I like this manga. Tanjiro is big on encouraging everyone he meets with his words. That feeds MY soul.

Keep it up boy, I love it!

★★★☆☆

From Wikipedia

ToC & Synopsis

“You Are”

“Good Evening, Rengoku”

“Train of Infinite Dreams”

“Wake Up”

“Draw Your Blade”

“Good Morning”

“Insult”

“Defending 200 People”

“Trading Blows at Close Quarters”

Tanjiro and the others board the Mugen Train to assist the Flame Hashira Kyōjurō Rengoku in tracking down a demon behind mysterious disappearances on the train. Tanjiro is unable to learn anything of the Hinokami Kagura from Rengoku but the Hashira instead offers him an apprenticeship. They are unaware that the culprit is Enmu as he uses a desperate conductor to place everyone on the train under his sleeping spell. Enmu recruits other sleep-deprived passengers to enter Demon Hunters’ dreams and destroy their spiritual cores so that they can never wake up. While dreaming the Demon Hunters live out their fantasies. Tanjiro is placed in a scenario where his family is still alive and Nezuko was never made into a demon. Nezuko’s attempt to wake Tanjiro up allows him to realize he is in a dream and, advised by a vision of his father, commits suicide to wake up. Nezuko uses her power to sever the intruders’ connections to the others with Tanjiro knocking three of them before confronting Enmu, managing to snap out of his spell to behead him. However, the “Enmu” that Tanjiro fought was a construct as the real Enmu had merged into the train with the intent of eating everyone. With the other Demon Slayers awake, Inosuke and Tanjiro manage to fatally wound Enmu.

Wednesday, November 27, 2024

If Only He Knew 4Stars

Title: If Only He Knew
Series: —–
Author: Gary Smalley
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Non-Fiction
Pages: 192
Words: 53K

I read books like this, like Hedges, like Making Love Last Forever, not because I have ever felt that Mrs B and I have been on the rocks relationally, but because I want to do everything in my power to prevent us from ever getting onto the rocks in the first place. Preventative steps are always easier to take than the steps needed when divorce is a real possibility.

I feel like I could take the following quote and have it sum up the book, for me:

“If a couple has been married for more than five years, all of the husband’s emotional unhappiness is 100 percent his fault.
In other words, your feelings of unhappiness in your marriage are directly traceable to the beliefs you have placed within your own heart.”
~Chapter 5, Climbing out of Marriage’s Deepest Pit

That’s a tough statement right there. But you know what? Men NEED those tough statements. At the same time, Smalley is writing exclusively to men. This is not a book for a woman to buy her husband and casually leave it on the coffee table in hopes he’ll read it and become the man she wants him to be. Smalley has a book for women called For Better or For Best. I have no plans to ever read that book, it’s not for me. This book however, is for men who want to enrich their relationship with their wives, fix their relationships with their wives or recover their relationship with their ex-wives. The thing is, the man has to want to, or nothing in this book is going to help.

Smalley also makes it a huge part of everything that the only person you can change in your marriage is you. Do not spend the time, effort and energy to change your wife. Change yourself into the man God wants you to be and the man your wife needs. This is very much about sacrificial love on the husband’s part. I wish I could emphasize that to the heavens itself. A husband is called to sacrifice himself for his wife, just like Jesus sacrificed Himself for the Church (Christians). There is no getting around that.

If you are a list kind of guy, there are lots and lots of checklists. One chapter had over 100 things to ask/question/check. It was daunting and I must admit, I skipped it. There were smaller ones though that I assiduously read.

Reading this made more thankful than ever that I am married to Mrs B. She is a dedicated Christian, has set herself to follow Christ and because of her willingness to be more Christlike and less self oriented, has made our relationship so much better. I am reaping the rewards of her faithfulness. Some of those checklists I was like “Phhhht, Mrs B doesn’t do ANY of these issues” and I was immensely grateful. I hope I can be the husband she needs, as she is very much the wife I need. At the same time, even with 16 years of marriage under our belts, we still have a lot of learning to do. It brings to mind an instance that occurred just a couple of months ago. I am a very “Words” oriented person. I use words to show people that I love them, that I care about them, that they matter to me (which is why a “silent treatment” is the worst thing I can ever imagine doing to someone). Mrs B on the other hand is very much a touch oriented person. She likes giving hugs, shaking hands, etc. That is completely foreign to me. Well, one day I came home from work and I could tell Mrs B had had a very bad day at work. So I can began asking her how her day went, how she was feeling, if there was anything I could do for her. She finally exploded (her version of it anyway) with “Words, word, words! Just give me a hug!” Ever since then, I make sure to give her a hug when I come home BEFORE asking her all my “words” questions. Loving my wife also means knowing just what love is to my wife. I also make sure she knows I am not just going through the motions with that hug. When I hug her, she knows it! 😀

Smalley ends the book on a warning note however. Never become complacent, never coast. A marriage is not a static relationship. It is a changing thing where you are either growing closer or further apart from each other. Smalley encourages men to make sure they are doing their best to grow closer to their wives. I thought it was a great way to end the book.

★★★★☆

Table of Contents – click to open

1. How to Drive Your Wife Away Without Even Trying 9

2. Where Have All the Feelings Gone? 25

3. If Your Wife Doesn’t Win First Place, You Lose! 39

4. Your Wife Needs Your Shoulder, Not Your Mouth 53

5. Climbing Out of Marriage’s Deepest Pit 67

6. What No Woman Can Resist 97

7. What Women Admire Most About Men 107

8. If Your Wife’s Not Protected, You Get Neglected 117

9. Arguments … There’s a Better Way 129

10. A Successful Marriage … It’s Easier Than You Think 143

11. So You Want a Perfect Wife 155

12. Watch Out! It Can Happen to You 169

Resources 172

Tuesday, November 26, 2024

The Demon Slayer Corps Gather (Demon Slayer #6) 3.5Stars

Title: The Demon Slayer Corps Gather
Series: Demon Slayer #6
Author: Koyoharu Gotouge
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Manga
Pages: 195
Words: 9K

At the end of the previous volume, Tanjiro was facing down one of the Kizuki and apparently about to lose. Some of the higher powered Demon Slayers show up, clean things up and take Tanjiro, his sister Nezuko, and the Two Doofuses into custody. Tanjiro for allying himself with a demon (his sister) and Nezuko, for being a demon. The two doofuses are just kind of dragged along by association.

This is the volume where we find out a good bit about the hierarchy of both the Demon Slayers and the demons. I know we (as in Tanjiro and thus the “reader”) are finding all of this out for the first time, but for goodness sake, Tanjiro was trained by a former high ranking Demon Slayer and he was told NONE of this? This is a common trope in shonen manga, as that is based on the Warrior Mythos, ie, one man becoming stronger and stronger, all on his own! No help needed, thank you very much. It still bugs the living daylights out of me. Communication is King, you dumbasses.

We also get a special Training Montage chapter or three. Once again, it was all stuff that Tanjiro’s former master should have taught him before ever letting him even try to be a demon slayer. Arrrrghhhh, it’s fun to read about but at the same time it is frustrating as all get out as I can see ways to increase efficiency, decrease demon slayer deaths and work towards killing Big Papa Demon. The funny thing is, in the training montage sequence, Tanjiro does EXACTLY what I just said. He asks for help, and gets it. Once he masters an idea, the two doofuses see that it can be done and thus apply themselves and learn it too. I kind of hope to see Tanjiro change the Demon Slayer Corps for the better. Considering the kind of character he is, I bet that will be one of his story arcs, probably bringing him into conflict with a high ranking Demon Slayer in the process. In other words, the usual. I hope the manga-ka surprises me though and does something UN-usual. Like he has in previous volumes.

All in all, a well deserved return to a 3.5star rating.

★★★✬☆

From Wikipedia

ToC & Synopsis – click to open

“Against Corps Rules”

“Trial by Hashira”

“Master of the Mansion”

“Hmph!”

“Butterfly Mansion”

“Rehabilitation Training, Part 1”

“Rehabilitation Training, Part 2”

“The Nichirin Sword Returns”

“Cruel and Heartless”

After killing the daughter spider, Shinobu targets Nezuko with Giyū holding her back so the Kamado siblings can escape. But they are intercepted by Shinobu’s ward Kanao Tsuyuri, the girl who completed Final Selection with Tanjiro. Luckily, the Kasugai crows relay orders for the Kamado siblings to be brought before the Kagaya Ubuyashiki, the Demon Corps leader, and Hashiras, the Demon Slayer Corps elite. Despite the others’ objections, Kagaya vouches for Nezuko to be spared as both Giyū and Urokodaki vouch on her behalf promising to commit seppuku should she start eating humans. Despite his objection, the Wind Hashira Sanemi Shinazugawa relents when Nezuko refuses to attack him after he repeatedly stabbed her. Tanjiro then begins his rehabilitation with his friends at Shinobu’s Butterfly House and learns new breathing techniques while curious about the Hinokami Kagura he used on Rui. Meanwhile, Kibutsuji has Nakime summon the Lower Kizuki to the Infinity Castle. He deems them no longer necessary and kills all but one named Enmu. Enmu receives some of Kibutsuji’s blood to increase his powers and is instructed to kill the Hashira and Tanjiro. A month later, Tanjiro’s group is assigned to investigate disappearances on the Mugen Train.

Thursday, November 21, 2024

The Amulet (Groo the Wanderer #34) 3Stars

Title: The Amulet
Series: Groo the Wanderer #34
Author: Sergio Aragones
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Comics
Pages: 24
Words: 2K

Back in Issue 26, Groo was tasked with finding half an amulet for a pair of witches. Who were in turn tasked by a powerful wizard. And of course Groo found half the amulet, only it was the half the wizard already had, and Groo completely messed up everything by throwing the half everybody wanted into a lake without them know it.

In this issue, things get resolved. In a very Groo sort of way of course.

The Wizard is in some sort of war with “creatures” and appears to be losing. So once again he tasks Arba and Dakarba to find Groo so as to find the lost half of the amulet. The Sage gets involved, as does his dog. Groo gets turned into a fish (which is smarter than Groo as a human), finds the amulet and the Sage steals the amulet and sends the Wizard and all his minions to another dimension.

That is all I really want from a 24 page comic.

★★★☆☆

All of My “Groo the Wanderer” Reviews

Wednesday, November 20, 2024

Boundless (Lost Fleet: Outlands #1) 3.5Stars

Title: Boundless
Series: Lost Fleet: Outlands #1
Author: Jack Campbell
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Mil-SF
Pages: 317
Words: 124K

After reading the prequel series The Genesis Fleet and not being very impressed, I was wondering how I was going to handle Campbell’s foray into the next Black Jack Geary Adventure. It has been 8 years after all.

Thankfully, Campbell does a great job of recapping things and bringing wayward readers like myself up to speed. Thus I dived back into the Lost Fleet universe and had myself a grand old time.

This was everything that previous Lost Fleet books are. You get Jack Geary being forced to walk that impossible line between doing the right thing while corrupt politicians do everything in their power to destroy him by hook or by crook. He’s given conflicting orders, hampered by stupid citizenry, surrounded by enemies as well as crew who border on hero worship of the worst kind.

There are space battles but thankfully that plays a smaller part than usual. I have had my fill of space battles from reading the Empire Rising series by Holmes. Sadly, with Campbell being a retired Navy officer, there’s not much space marine fighting described. It’s all ship to ship, sigh.

Overall though, I had a better time reading this than the Genesis fleet trilogy and that bodes well for the rest of the trilogy.

★★★✬☆

From the Publisher

click to open

Geary believed in the Alliance. Even when he uncovered overwhelming evidence that the highest echelons of the government and fleet command were involved in secret programs and prison camps, he believed it was worth saving. And that his duty was to see that justice was served even though some factions feared that revealing the truth would cause the Alliance to crumble.

But after narrowly surviving two assassination attempts when he brings evidence of the misdeeds to the capital star system, Geary realizes that some have decided the easiest way to make the Alliance’s problems go away is to get rid of him. He finds himself ordered to undertake a perilous new mission outside of the reaches of human-occupied space while the Senate clashes over the evidence.

Geary’s warships must escort a diplomatic and scientific mission across the dangerous, disintegrating remnants of the Syndicate Worlds empire. But even if he can make it to Midway Star System, the gateway to alien-controlled space, Geary will face former Syndicate officials who have rebelled and regard the Alliance with deep suspicion. And that will be the easy part. . . .

Tuesday, November 19, 2024

To Hell (Demon Slayer #5) 3Stars

Title: To Hell
Series: Demon Slayer #5
Author: Koyoharu Gotouge
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Manga
Pages: 192
Words: 9K

Ok, well, this just got gory really fast! I know there has been violence and blood before, but it just seemed to ramp up here. There’s a typical “sliced into pieces” scene that is familiar to fans of Cube to Resident Evil, so it didn’t make me sick to my stomach, but I wasn’t expecting such graphic’ness.

Sadly, but not unexpectedly, Gotouge (the mangaka) commits the cardinal sin of Tanjiro having mercy towards demons mean that they are just poor misunderstood humans who had some bad luck by being turned into demons in the first place. We have evidence that demons CAN refrain from killing humans (Tanjiro’s sister Nezuko is one, as is the Doctor and her apprentice from the previous volumes) and thus they need to be destroyed if they are killing humans. Mercy also doesn’t mean you don’t kill the thing you’re having mercy towards. It didn’t go quite that far in this volume, but suddenly, I am concerned it will. The reason it concerns me is that it means there isn’t evil, just misunderstood “poor babies’ who need just the right coddling and magically everything will be ok and all forgiven with no consequences. I’m not feeling very charitable at the moment so that attitude irks me to no end. Not sure it would actually bother me at another time.

Blaaaahhhhh….

★★★☆☆

From Wikipedia

ToC and Synopsis – click to open

“Scattered”

“This Is Bad!”

“Broken Blade”

“Real and Fake”

“Life Passing Before One’s Eyes”

“Hinokami”

“Shinobu Kocho”

“Behind”

“To Hell”

Zenitsu enters Mt. Natagumo and kills the brother spider but is poisoned. He is saved from the demon’s poison by Shinobu while Giyū dispatches the Father when Inosuke is overpowered. Tanjiro ends up facing the real Kizuki Rui as he was disciplining a demon he forced to be his sister, revealing that assembled the spider demons to create his own familial bonds and takes an interest in Nezuko. Tanjiro is overpowered while trying to save Nezuko, causing him to remember watching his frail father dance the Hinokami Kagura. Tanjiro proceeds to use Hinokami Kagura offensively, managing to behead Rui with support from Nezuko’s Demon Blood Art. Rui survives and nearly kills the Kamado siblings when Giyū appears and kills him, with Rui regaining his memories and closure with the parents he assume did not love him.

Sunday, November 17, 2024

Robust Blade (Demon Slayer #4) 3.5Stars

Title: Robust Blade
Series: Demon Slayer #4
Author: Koyoharu Gotouge
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Manga
Pages: 192
Words: 9K

Yeah, here we go, frenemies. Tanjiro has to fight the obnoxious boar guy and beats him down with his bare hands thus ensuring that the Boar Guy (he has a name, but who cares, really? He’s the Boar Guy because he’s wearing a boars head over his own) will faithfully follow him, trying to beat him at everything. Tanjiro tries to win him over with kindness, not realizing BG only responds to strength. Thankfully, Tanjiro has that in spades too.

All three of our heroes head over to a forest where a bunch of other demon slayers have all disappeared. Turns out there is a spider demon doing nasty things like turning them into half-human, half spiders or human puppets. It was pretty gross actually. I also thought that Coward Boy (the third part of the Trio) had killed the main demon, but the book ends with Tanjiro facing off against a wicked strong looking man with a monstrously fanged spiderhead. It was absolutely disgusting! Here, you judge:

That would give a tween nightmares for goodness sake. It would give ME nightmares if I saw it on the screen (one reason I’m not tempted to watch the anime).

We also get a sliver of information about the Bad Guy, but just a tiny sliver. It would appear he’s been around for close to one thousand years, so my first thought was “Well, why hasn’t the Demon Slayers Association made a concerted effort to wipe him out?” It doesn’t make sense to me to concentrate on the weaker demons he creates and ignore him. Use the lower level demon slayers to deal with the lower level demons and get yourself a squad or five (preferably seven or eight really) of super elite fighters and go after the wretched guy. Make it a suicide mission so everyone goes all out, forget about collateral damage and just kill him. That would stop the spread of new demons in its tracks. We’ll see if the manga-ka has an answer for me in later volumes. I’m sure he does, but I don’t know if it will be one that I can accept. Its the age old warrior mindset versus the soldier mindset. But there is a reason why the soldier mindset won out in the end in the real world.

★★★✬☆

From Wikipedia

Table of Contents & Summary – click to open

“Barehanded Fight

“Inosuke Hashibira”

“Urgent Summons”

“Mount Natagumo”

“Marionettes”

“Letting Someone Else Go First”

“Pungent Odor”

“Suffering and Floundering As You Move Forward”

“Robust Blade”

Following a fist fight between Tanjiro and Inosuke, they and Zenitsu are led by a Kasugai crow to a manor with a wisteria crest to recuperate. Hilarity ensues after Zenitsu learns Nezuko is a girl and becomes smitten with her. The trio are then set to assist other Demon Slayers dispatched to Mt. Natagumo. Tanjiro and Inosuke enter the forest to face a family of Spider Demons whose mother turned most of the demon slayers into puppets. Tanjiro manages to kill the Mother, who welcomed her demise while warning him that a member of the Kizuki is on the mountain. Soon after, Tanjiro and Inosuke get separated when attacked by the Father who the former suspects to be the Kizuki. At the same time, Giyū is deployed to Mt. Natagumo along with his fellow Hashira Shinobu Kocho.

Thursday, November 14, 2024

Believe in Yourself (Demon Slayer #3) 3.5Stars

Title: Believe in Yourself
Series: Demon Slayer #3
Author: Koyoharu Gotouge
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Manga
Pages: 192
Words: 9K

With a title like that, you pretty much know where this story is going. Tanjiro fights a bigger baddie but believes in himself and overcomes all. Throw in a lot of faux-martial art terms for fighting forms and you have a formula. Thankfully, it works.

Since it is a fully known fact that demons are in fact just turned humans, Tanjiro continues to view the demons he fights as humans and not as “other”. A lot of this comes from his desire to heal his sister from her demon affliction and if he can help others, so be it. Once he defeats a demon, he tries to connect to the human side of them, and he succeeds in many cases. Usually, this can lead to the main character in a story becoming weak or all weepy and turning into a total wuss. It also leads them towards not fighting their hardest because they’re afraid of hurting something that used to be human. That isn’t the case so far in Demon Slayer. Tanjiro understands the need to put these creatures down, with extreme prejudice, but he never loses sight of what they were. He has mercy, where none is warranted and that touches my heart. He is walking the narrow path between justice and compassion and doing it well.

My only concern is the shonen style “scream your attack name while performing it” pattern that is pretty much fully developed here. I don’t find that cool any more. I find it annoying, especially since it is all fake. It would be like going grocery shopping and having your bagger scream out “Bagging Groceries: Frozen Food Form 9!” when he comes to the frozen items. And imagine him doing that for every item. Sigh. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, below is a picture from a famous anime, Dragonball, where the hero is using his special attack and yelling out its name.

I could have used a page from this manga, but Goku screaming out “Kamehameha!” while shooting out an energy beam really typifies the idea.

I was also concerned that Tanjiro’s sister Nezuko would become a non-character and just be an object used to gain reader sympathy. While she’s not exactly playing second fiddle to Tanjiro, she is being used as a secondary character. Speaking of secondary characters, this is where The Team seems to start to gather. Tanjiro meets two other Demon Slayers and both have characteristics that will play well in a group, which means there is going to BE a team and not just the standalone adventures of Tanjiro. I’m always more partial to standalone heroes than groups, but a well thought out group can provide a whole level of interaction that isn’t possible for a single hero. Of course, many times it is used lazily so the writer doesn’t have to try as hard. Since we just met the two other Demon Slayers, I don’t know how it will all shake out. Hopefully it won’t make the manga-ka go all lazy.

★★★✬☆

From Wikipedia

Table of Contents & Synopsis – click to open

“Arrow Demon”

“The Curse”

“Together Forever”

“Zenitsu Agatsuma”

“Tsuzumi Mansion”

“Rushing Boar”

“The Boar Bares Its Fangs, Zenitsu Sleeps”

“Former Member of the Twelve Kizuki”

“Believe in Yourself”

Tanjiro and the others proceed to battle Susumaru and Yahaba, who claim themselves to be members of Kibutsuji’s Twelve Kizuki. As Tanjiro manages to behead Yahaba and endure long enough for the demon to fully disintegrate, Tamayo uses her Demon Blood Art to trick Susumaru into uttering Kibutsuji’s name with his cells destroying her. Tamayo confirms from Susumaru’s remains that she was not a Kizuki, whose members have their number ranks engraved on their eyeballs. Tamayo prepares to leave Asakusa as the Kamado siblings set off southeast on their next mission, joined by the cowardly Zenitsu Agatsuma as they enter an abandoned mansion that a former Kizuki named Kyogai made his home while targeting humans with a rare blood type. They are joined by another Demon Slayer named Inosuke Hashibira, a fight-crazy maniac wearing a boar’s head who fights with chipped blades. Tanjiro manages to defeat Kyogai and acquire a blood sample for Tamayo, but gets into a confrontation with Inosuke when he injures Zenitsu as Zenitsu protects Nezuko.

Wednesday, November 13, 2024

The Web of Spider (Spider #3) 1.5Stars

Title: The Web of Spider
Series: Spider #3
Author: William Gear
Rating: 1.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages: 668
Words: 241K

This was twice as long as the first book and it was NOT twice as good.

This was very much a religious treatise as much as it was a science fiction “story”. There were pages of Gear using his characters to talk about neo-shamanism and how wonderful it is to serve a god who doesn’t know everything and who is both good and evil.

How anyone could find that desirable is well beyond me.

Gear also takes some heavy handed swipes at monotheistic religions, ie Judaism, Islam and Christianity. Unfortunately, Christianity is the one he focuses on and just ignores the other two.

I wanted to quit several times, but I was reading this concurrently with Neuromancer and that was so bad that I couldn’t tell if my desire to quit was because this book was really that unenjoyable or if Neuromancer was just sucking the reading joy from my life. Looking back now, its obvious to me this book WAS that bad and I should have dnf’d right near the start. One more mark against Neuromancer for destroying my senses in regarding other books.

★✬☆☆☆

From the publisher

Click to Open

THE FINAL CONFLICT!

The Sirian rebellion had proved the catalyst for the rise of two powerful new forces in the galaxy. Ngen Van Chow, leader of the failed rebellion, had fled to a distant world, establishing a base from which he would launch an interstellar holy war of destruction, a war fuelled by the discovery of a long-hidden technology which could transform ordinary men and women into fanatical soldiers of Deus.

While on the long-lost colony planet of World, the Romanans, known as the warriors of Spider, and their Patrol allies – formerly part of the military and police force which kept order among the worlds and stations controlled by the computer network of the Directorate – prepared for civilization’s final stand against this seemingly unstoppable conqueror.

Tuesday, November 12, 2024

It Was You (Demon Slayer #2) 3.5Stars

Title: It Was You
Series: Demon Slayer #2
Author: Koyoharu Gotouge
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Manga
Pages: 192
Words: 9K

The story actually moves forward, amazing! We find out all SORTS of interesting things. Like there is only 1 demon who can turn humans into demons (hence why the world isn’t over run by them), that this Demon King is actually living disguised as a human and has a human wife and child.

But let me back up.

We left Tanjiro fighting against a super fatso demon as part of his testing in the last book.

Ok class, one question pop quiz.

Raise your hand if you think the demon wins and eats Tanjiro?

Nobody?

Excellent, none of you are as stupid as you look then. Congrats!

Yeah, Tanjiro becomes a full fledged demon slayer, has an encounter with another newb and finds out that crows are the agents used to deliver where he’s supposed to go on missions. Brandon Lee would have been so proud.

Tanjiro demonstrates his strength on several occasions but also lets his heart show. I fully approve of that. But mainly I approve of the plot moving forward. Last time I said there were 30+ volumes. I was wrong. There are only 23. I approve of that too. In fact, I approve a lot of things about this manga. Which is why I’m going to keep on reading it.

★★★✬☆

From Wikipedia

Table of Contents & Synopsis

click to open

“Big Brother”

“Welcome Back”

“Kidnapper’s Bog”

“Suggestion”

“I Can’t Tell You”

“It Was You”

“Kibutsuji’s Wrath / The Smell of Enchanting Blood”

“The Doctor’s Opinion”

“Playing Temari”

Returning from Mt. Sagiri after passing the exam, Tanjiro learns his family’s murderer is a demon named Muzan Kibutsuji who knows how to restore Nezuko’s humanity. He departs with Nezuko after receiving his Nichirin Blade from the swordsmith Haganezuka to a town in the northwest where a demon with the ability to split into three bodies has been feeding on young girls. As Nezuko was hypnotized by Urokodaki to consider all humans her family, she helps Tanjiro kill two thirds of the demon with the remaining one forcing Tanjiro to kill him while interrogating him on Kibutsuji. Tanjiro then departs to Asakusa, Tokyo, where he has a short encounter with Kibutsuji while meeting Tamayo, a demon who escaped Kibutsuji’s control, and her assistant Yushiro. Tamayo takes Tanjiro to her tower abode and explains to him the nature Kibutsuji’s ability to place his cells in other people’s bodies to force their servitude with a “curse” added to any who utter his name. Tanjiro agrees to work with Tamayo to develop a cure for Nezuko, promising to let her study his sister’s blood and bring blood from powerful demons related closely to Muzan for her research. But they are soon attacked by assassins sent by Kibutsuji — Susamaru and Yahaba — who were ordered to kill Tanjiro (who was wearing hanafuda earrings).

Thursday, November 07, 2024

Cruelty (Demon Slayer #1) 3.5Stars

Title: Cruelty
Series: Demon Slayer #1
Author: Koyoharu Gotouge
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Manga
Pages: 192
Words: 9K

I originally saw Lashaan reviewing this (kind of) and then had someone else recommend the story via the anime. Considering I’m watching Cardcaptor Sakura, it seemed a bit much to add another anime to the mix, so I decided to read the manga instead. But with no real schedule. So don’t expect this to be a regular thing. Or maybe I’ll just binge this and read all 30+ volumes. Hahahahahaa, ahhhh, I’m so funny sometimes.

I’m know I’m getting older, but man, the beginning was totally telegraphed. I read the opening first few conversations and KNEW exactly what was going to happen. Crap, crap, crap. The main character’s whole family except one sister is killed by demons. Crap, crap, crap. Of course, I totally did not see the sister becoming a demon. That at least was original.

“The meek have no power and no options.The strong will crush them in every way.”
vs
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the Earth.”
That’s what sprang to my mind when I read the first quote.

At the same time, this isn’t about love eros, but love familia. Tanjiro, the main character, is doing everything for love of his sister, to rescue her from being a monster and to protect others from experiencing what he went through. Man, that kicked me the feelz. I also really liked that the usual “romance” angle wasn’t the main point. Awwwww man, there’s “Be a Man” talk! I think I’m in love.

And now Tanjiro’s passing his test, a literal do or die. I’m impressed. It’s been a year since I read a volume of manga and you know, I think I’m ready for this. Don’t know how long I’ll stay ready, but boy, I’m eating it up now.

It is also a great antidote to that filthy Neuromancer. Love, duty, strength, determination, hope and justice. Everything that Neuromancer wasn’t, this is. Suck it, Gibson!

★★★✬☆

From Wikipedia

Table of Contents & Synopsis

“Cruelty”

“The Stranger”

“To Return by Dawn Without Fail”

“Tanjiro’s Journal, Part 1”

“Tanjiro’s Journal, Part 2”

“A Mountain of Hands”

“Spirits of the Deceased”

Tanjiro Kamado is a teenage boy with a heightened sense of smell who lived happily with his family until one day he arrives home to find all his family murdered except his younger sister Nezuko Kamado, who has been turned into a demon. Realizing Nezuko was not the killer and retained her humanity to an extent, Tanjiro protects her from a demon slayer named Giyū Tomioka and convinces him to spare Nezuko while vowing to make her human again. An impressed Giyū instructs Tanjiro to meet a man named Sakonji Urokodaki on Mt. Sagiri while warning him to keep his sister out of the sun. Taken under Urokodaki‘s wing, Tanjiro undergoes two years of harsh training before participating in the Final Selection to join the Demon Slayer Corps and passes after defeating a demon who targeted Urokodaki’s previous apprentices.