This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: 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.
This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: The 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.
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…
This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: The 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.
This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: 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.
This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: The 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.
This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: 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.
This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
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.
This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: 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.
This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: 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).
This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: 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.
This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: Pyramids Series: Discworld #7 Author: Terry Pratchett Rating: 4 of 5 Stars Genre: Fantasy Pages: 253 Words: 88K
This is the first “standalone” Discworld novel. By that I mean that none of the characters in this book ever return as main characters nor do we ever go back to the country the main character is from. This is simply a “Discworld” novel. While having read the previous six books will give you a slightly better overall view of Ankh-Morpork, not very much of the story actually takes place there and a better knowledge of that city will not actually affect your enjoyment of this book. But just like I stated in the previous book, Discworld “should” be read in the order that Pratchett published them. It “can” be read in almost any order, but it is just better the other way.
I was hoping that more of the story would take place in Ankh-Morpork, mainly because I wanted to see more of the Assassins Guild. That didn’t happen. So I pinned my hopes that when Teppic went back to be king that I’d get assassin guild hijinks then. Still didn’t happen. Teppic sneaks around a bit, but that’s the extent of we see of his years of training. I was disappointed. Pratchett seemed more focused on taking his bile out on religion in general in this novel than in telling a fun and engaging story. It was still a fun story, but if he’d written more like some of the earlier books (the Death books in particular, where he tackles a controversial subject, but without coming across like an angry jackass), this could have been so much better. I suspect the acolytes of Scyenze would like this more, as that is/was Pratchett’s pet godling.
Now that I’ve vented MY bile, do I have anything left? That’s a good question. It colors every word in this review. Huh, just like the novel! Amazing, hahahahahaa.
I would not recommend this as a starting place for Discworld even though it is a standalone. The writing isn’t as on point, the humor isn’t as funny and this gives you a glimpse of the author Pratchett would fully turn into near the end of the series. Spare yourself. At the same time, it’s still fun, it’s still entertaining and I don’t feel bad about re-reading this. I do know I would never choose to read this for a third time on it’s own again though.
★★★★☆
From Wikipedia.org
Synopsis – click to open
The main character of Pyramids is Teppic (short for Pteppicymon), the crown prince of the tiny kingdom of Djelibeybi (a pun on the candy Jelly Baby, meaning “Child of the Djel”), the Discworld counterpart to Ancient Egypt. The kingdom, founded seven-thousand years ago and formerly a great empire which dominated the continent of Klatch, has been in debt and recession for generations due to the construction of pyramids for the burial of its pharaohs (primarily on prime agricultural land) and now occupies an area two miles wide along the 150-mile-long River Djel.
Young Teppic has been in training at the Assassins Guild in Ankh-Morpork for the past seven years, having been sent to bring in revenue for the kingdom. The day after passing his final exam by chance, he mystically senses that his father, Pteppicymon XXVII, has died and that he must return home. Being the first Djelibeybian king raised outside the kingdom leads to some interesting problems, as Dios, the high priest, is a stickler for tradition, and does not actually allow the pharaohs to rule the country.
When plans are being laid out for the old pharaoh’s tomb, Teppic (now Pteppicymon XXVIII) mentions that his father did not wish to be buried in a pyramid; in reaction to Dios’s rejection of this idea, Teppic ends up ordering the construction of a pyramid twice the size of the largest one previously built in Djelibeybi. Whilst the pyramid-building Ptaclusp dynasty work out how to build the pyramid within budget and on time (eventually taking advantage of the unfinished pyramid’s premature temporal distortions), the late Pteppicymon XXVII spends his time observing the embalming of his mortal remains and taking an interest in the lives of his embalmers, Dil and Gurn.
After numerous adventures and misunderstandings, Teppic is forced to escape from the palace with a handmaiden named Ptraci, who was condemned to death for not wishing to die and serve the late pharaoh in the afterlife (effectively on Dios’ orders since Teppic wished to pardon her). However, during the attempt, Dios discovers them and decrees that Teppic has killed the King (as the King is only recognised whilst wearing the Mask of the Sun and Dios reasons that Teppic’s actions to save Ptraci would not be those of the King) and should be put to death. Meanwhile, the massive pyramid warps space-time so much that it “rotates” Djelibeybi out of alignment with the space/time of the rest of the Disc by ninety degrees.
After Teppic and Ptraci manage to escape Djelibeybi, they travel to Ephebe to consult with the philosophers there as to how to get back. Meanwhile, pandemonium takes hold in Djelibeybi, as the kingdom’s multifarious gods (many of whom occupy the same roles, such as Supreme God, God of the Sun, or God of the Djel) descend upon the populace, and all of Djelibeybi’s dead rulers come back to life. Also, the nations of Ephebe and Tsort prepare for war with one another, as Djelibeybi can no longer act as a buffer zone between the two.
Eventually, Teppic re-enters the Kingdom and attempts to destroy the Great Pyramid, with the help of all of his newly resurrected ancestors. They are confronted by Dios, who, it turns out, is as old as the kingdom itself, and has advised every pharaoh throughout its history. Dios hates change and thinks Djelibeybi should stay the same. Teppic succeeds in destroying the Pyramid, returning Djelibeybi to the real world and sending Dios back through time (where he meets the original founder of the Kingdom, thereby restarting the cycle). Teppic then abdicates, allowing Ptraci (who turns out to be his half-sister) to rule. Ptraci immediately institutes much-needed changes, Teppic decides to travel the Disc, Death comes to ferry the former rulers of Djelibeybi to the afterlife, and Djelibeybi’s former embalmers and pyramid-builders adjust to life without the pyramids.
This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: The Old Gods Waken Series: Silver John #1 Author: Manly Wade Wellman Rating: 3 of 5 Stars Genre: Paranormal Fantasy Pages: 161 Words: 57K
First off, I have no idea what genre to call this. I was going to go with “Folk Fantasy” because it really felt like the hillbilly cousin of Urban Fantasy, but this stuff by Wellman hit the scene long before UF was ever a thing. I was looking through my tags and saw “Paranormal”. That definitely fits, as we’re dealing with druids, blood demons, ancient indian spirits and mountains demons of the Appalachia. I tagged on “Fantasy” just to make it official. None of this magical realism garbage that authors today use as a crutch because they can’t tell a good story.
Very, very, very low key. John, who plays a guitar with silver strings (hence the series name of Silver John), hooks up with an indian chief/shaman and they attempt to take down the bad guys who are bringing the bad juju to the region. But there’s no wild spell battles or fights, just John and the shaman pushing on through the various barriers erected by the two druid brothers. It’s almost more of a catalog of what is useful against Magic X, Y or Z. Considering there is pagan druidism, indian mysticism and straight up devil black magic, there’s a lot of choices to use and to counter. The ending is pretty anti-climactic too. John furrows the ground with an iron plow and that brings lightning because of some old curse and voila, all the bad guys get crispy fried to nothingness. It is like watching two fighters who are locked down and can only fight each other with their fingers. Every move is small but significant.
I remember seeing some of these Silver John books in our library back in the early 90’s and they were iconic enough to stick in my head ever since. Never read them, but I saw them. Pictures have power. So I’m including the full size cover here for your viewing pleasure.
★★★☆☆
From the Publisher
Synopsis – click to open
In the wilds of Southern Appalachia, lies Wolter Mountain—a sacred place for the Indians and for their predecessors. But the land atop the mountaintop, taken over by two Englishmen, Brummitt and Hooper Voth, is undergoing frightening changes. Strange and evil rumblings begin to happen around the mountain—man-like creatures prowling around, mysterious voices reciting evil incantations that terrorize Luke and Creed Forshay who live at the foot of the mountain. Then a wandering minstrel, known only as John, learns that the Yoths are Old World druids who are hell-bent on reawakening the pre-Indian spirits that sleep at the summit of Wolter Mountain. Armed with his own arsenal of personal powers, John and an Indian medicine man must fight their way through the druids’ sorcerous defenses to rescue their friends from certain death at the hands of the blood sacrificing priests.
This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: My Grave Ritual Series: Warlock Holmes #3 Author: Gabriel Denning Rating: 4.5 of 5 Stars Genre: Fantasy Parody Pages: 268 Words: 98K
Once again, another fabulous read.
This time around, I was bowled over at just how Denning took a Sherlock Holmes short story, parodied it AND tied it into a bigger narrative that overarched the entire book. It was impressive, especially when you consider the original short stories about Sherlock Holmes weren’t really tied to each other. Denning did a great job of twisting the original stories and stringing them altogether to make a cohesive whole without making it feel clunky.
In that regards, Dennings really shows his writing chops. I really wish he had other books I could read but sadly, it appears that Warlock Holmes was his only literary endeavor.
I guess I shall have to just savor the final two Warlock Holmes’ books that I have left all the more. That’s not really a bad problem to have if you think about it…
★★★★✬
From the Publisher
Synopsis – click to open
As they blunder towards doom, Warlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson find themselves inconvenienced by a variety of eldritch beings. Christmas brings a goose that doesn’t let being cooked slow it down; they meet an electricity demon, discover why being a redhead is even trickier than one might imagine, and Holmes attempts an Irish accent. And, naturally, Moriarty is hanging around… in some form or other. Just as Holmes and Watson are hitting their stride, a pair of ancient enemies return. James Moriarty reclaims his criminal empire and Irene Adler bests Watson with a kiss.
This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: Wyrd Sisters Series: Discworld #6 Author: Terry Pratchett Rating: 4 of 5 Stars Genre: Fantasy Pages: 210 Words: 85K
I really enjoyed this. I do wonder though if in another decade the references that Pratchett makes to such people as the Marx Brothers, Laurel & Hardy and Charlie Chaplin will be as meaningless as references to Britney Spears. A grasp of Shakespeare, while not essential, will make the read much fuller.
The humor, while not laugh out loud, felt genuine and actually funny, unlike in Sourcery. The humor of the witches is earthy and natural and springs from human nature itself. Which is why I think it feels so genuine each time and not forced like with Rincewind. That’s important for a series of book built on humor, even if elements of the sardonic are involved.
The inclusion of Nanny Og and Magrat help offset Granny Weatherwax as an irascible old woman. Nanny Og is an old nympho and Magrat is the sad sack meant to generate sympathy. Each has her strengths and weaknesses and they fit very well together as a unit. It provides a much wider variety of situations for Pratchett to work with and I think his writing will be the better for that.
People always ask where to start with Discworld. I used to give my favorite books as a starting place but this deliberate series re-read has made me realize that people need to start at the beginning and just work their way through the series as Pratchett wrote them. Sure, you will get some books you don’t enjoy as much, but you’ll also get the full Discworld experience and THAT is more important than your enjoyment of an individual book. Think of Discworld like Communism and Pratchett as Chairman Mao and you’ll get the idea 😉
Hail Comrades, may the New Order Enlighten you!
★★★★☆
From Wikipedia.org
Synopsis – click to open
Wyrd Sisters features three witches: Granny Weatherwax; Nanny Ogg, matriarch of a large tribe of Oggs and owner of the most evil cat in the world; and Magrat Garlick, the junior witch, who firmly believes in occult jewelry, covens, and bubbling cauldrons, much to the annoyance of the other two.
King Verence I of Lancre is murdered by his cousin, Duke Felmet, after his ambitious wife persuades him to do so. The King’s crown and child are given by an escaping servant to the three witches. The witches hand the child to a troupe of travelling actors, and hide the crown in the props-box. They acknowledge that destiny will eventually take its course and that the child, Tomjon, will grow up to defeat Duke Felmet and take his rightful place as king.
However, the kingdom is angry about the way the new King is mistreating the land and his subjects. The witches realise that it will be at least 15 years until Tomjon is able to return and save the kingdom, but by then irreparable damage will have been done. Granny Weatherwax, with help from the other two witches, manages to cast a spell over the entire kingdom to send it forward in time by 15 years. Meanwhile, the duke has decided to have a play written and performed that portrays him in a favourable light and the witches in a negative light. He thinks this will cause the witches to lose their power, and the people will like him. He sends the court Fool to Ankh-Morpork to recruit the same acting company that Tomjon was given to, which now resides in the Dysk Theatre on the river Ankh.
The company make their way to Lancre, and perform the play for the King as asked. However, Hwel, the playwright, maintains that there is something wrong with the plot of the play, something that just doesn’t feel right. The witches cast a spell in the middle of the play that causes the actors to portray the killing of the king truthfully, and the audience sees that the Duke and Duchess are guilty of killing Verence I. Felmet finally succumbs to insanity and stabs several people with a retracting stage dagger, before tripping and falling to his death in the Lancre Gorge. The Duchess is imprisoned but manages to escape, only to be killed by a collection of various forest animals who want revenge for the poor treatment of the land.
Granny Weatherwax explains that Tomjon is the rightful king, and he is due to be crowned. However, Tomjon does not want to be king; he is an extremely talented actor and wishes to continue his career with his adopted father, Vitoller. Instead Granny Weatherwax tells the town that the Fool is in fact the king’s son from another mother, and Tomjon’s half-brother, and he is crowned King Verence II of Lancre. Later on, Granny and Nanny reveal to Magrat that the previous fool is actually Tomjon’s and Verence II’s father. The status of Magrat and Verence II, who have been awkwardly courting throughout the story, is not fully explained at the conclusion.
This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: Conan and the Emerald Lotus Series: Conan the Barbarian #20 Author: John Hocking Rating: 3 of 5 Stars Genre: Fantasy Pages: 209 Words: 70K
This was BARELY 3stars. I really thought about knocking it down to 2.5, but it did have some pretty good action scenes, so that saved it.
Once I was done reading this, I went to find a synopsis online to use for this review and somebody seriously screwed up. The blurb from the publisher is completely wrong and/or misrepresents what actually happens in the story and if I had read it first, I’d be seriously annoyed. I’m still annoyed, but not enough to do more than write this one little paragraph about it. And it’s not even the author’s fault; it’s all on the publisher. Sometimes I despise publishers as much as I do writers.
I guess my biggest issue with this story was that the wizard, one who dealt specifically with plant based magics, somehow thinks he can use the Emerald Lotus and not get addicted to it? He experimented on two other wizards, one of who died from withdrawal symptoms for goodness sake. It was exactly like watching a heroine junkie. My issue is that he should have known better and we’re given no reason why he suddenly went “stupid” and used it with no safeguards in place. That’s just plain bad story telling right there.
There was also the distinct lack of full, heaving bosoms, luscious thighs and shapely buttocks. At this point I feel that words like those are part of the Conan lore as much as the descriptions of Conan’s mighty thews, piercing blue eyes and rough cut black hair. Conan is just as randy in this story as in any of the others, but Hocking seems to feel the need to pull a feather down blanket on his descriptions instead of the gauzy silk we’re used to. It’s not necessarily good or bad, but it is different and finding differences in style for the authors who write these Conan fan-ficts is part of why I read them 🙂
This was Hocking’s only Conan story and I’m glad of that. Means I don’t have to spend any time hunting down any more by him and since I wasn’t impressed by this, I certainly won’t be searching out any other books by him.
★★★☆☆
From Wikipedia & Bookstooge.blog
Synopsis & Real Synopsis – click to open
Having refused to enter the service of a Stygian wizard, Ethram-Fal, Conan suffers a curse which is gradually robbing him of his life. The beautiful sorceress, Lady Zelandra, offers to lift his curse if Conan retrieves for her a deadly emerald lotus which she is addicted to—currently in the possession of Ethram-Fal. To save his own life from the evil wizard, Conan must challenge Ethram-Fal again by stealing Zelandra’s prize from his desert fortress. During his adventure, Conan faces off against bandits, a demon disguised as an oasis, and zombie bodyguards. He’s aided in his quest by the dagger-throwing Neesa and a mute thief named Heng Shih.
-That is from Wikipedia and bears absolutely no relation to the actual book beyond the characters’ names.
Ethram-Fal, rejected from the Black Circle, vows to find the legendary Emerald Lotus, an unearthly plant that increases a wizards power one hundred fold. He finds it and uses two wizards to experiment with it. One of them dies from withdrawal, but not before he kills his own servant and zombifies him to chase down and kill Conan, who refused a job from him. Conan ends up with the other wizard, who is going after Ethram-Fal to kill him and gain enough of the Emerald Lotus dust to wean herself off of it.
So they go into the deepest desert to track down Ethram-Fal, who has taken over the palace of a mythological Stygian sorcerer from millennia ago. Bad things happen, Ethram-Fal is killed by the living plant of the Emerald Lotus and Conan goes on his merry way.
This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: The Hell-Hound of the Baskervilles Series: Warlock Holmes #2 Author: Gabriel Denning Rating: 4.5 of 5 Stars Genre: Fantasy Parody Pages: 251 Words: 91K
In the previous book, A Study in Brimstone, the book ends with Moriarty having possessed Holmes’ body and about to send a fireball at Watson to kill him. This book starts after that point.
Watson knew something was off with Holmes, so he poisoned his tea, shot him in the chest 4 or 6 times and then kicked the fireball back into his face, thus effectively killing Holmes’ body and hopefully displacing Moriarty. Now Watson, not sure that Holmes is actually dead, has to keep the corpse a secret while filling the place with fresh flowers every day to hide the smell of rotting corpse.
Thankfully, a case comes along that Watson can solve on his own AND has the side effect of bringing Holmes fully back to life, just not of restoring his body though. So for the whole book Holmes is in a state of corpsicle’ness that is very slowly healing. Great stuff!
Once again, familiarity with the Sherlock Holmes canon of stories will make for a fuller, richer and more enjoyable read, mainly because you’ll get just how the author is japing at the originals. Making fun of something is much more satisfying if you know WHAT is being made fun of after all.
The humor is once again right up my alley. In the second story, “Silver Blaze: Murder Horse”, Holmes is trying to get addicted to gambling so he’ll have another connection to the common man. Of course, the horse he bets on goes missing and he has to solve the case or else he can’t get addicted to gambling. In the process, he magically teraports in several dead horse corpses to the flat. I was laughing my head off and my stomach hurt. It was fantastic!
The first four stories were short stories and just like the real canon, The Hell-Hound of the Baskervilles is a novella, so it takes up the majority of the book. We find out a lot about Warlock Holmes’ origins and I must admit, the humor just wasn’t there. It was a very grim story and while Denning did try to lighten things up (Foofy the Hell-hound anyone?), there just wasn’t that bust a gut laughing experience I was hoping for. And the ending is yet another “Oh no, what have I done?” kind of thing as Watson realizes that maybe Moriarty isn’t actually gone.
I really enjoyed this and tore through it in two evenings. If rotting corpses and horse corpsicles don’t make you laugh though, you might want to avoid this series.
★★★★✬
From the Publisher & Table of Contents
Click to Open
The adventure of the blackened beryls
Silver Blaze: murder horse
The reigateway to another world
The adventure of the solitary tricyclist
The hell-hound of the Baskervilles
The game’s afoot once more as Holmes and Watson face off against Moriarty’s gang, the Pinkertons, flesh-eating horses, a parliament of imps, boredom, Surrey, a disappointing butler demon, a succubus, a wicked lord, an overly-Canadian lord, a tricycle-fight to the death and the dreaded Pumpcrow. Oh, and a hell hound, one assumes.
This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: Sourcery Series: Discworld #5 Author: Terry Pratchett Rating: 3 of 5 Stars Genre: Fantasy Pages: 197 Words: 79K
Unfortunately, this is what most people think of in terms of humor when they think of Rincewind the Wizzard. This was slightly amusing but not really funny and almost kind of sad. I didn’t dislike this story, but I really didn’t enjoy myself like I have with some of the previous Discworld books. It was like Pratchett had an off week and churned this clunker out during that time.
If I was just a teeny bit lazier, I’d end this review and not hide the synopis and call it a day. But I’m not quite that lazy, yet. I’m getting there though.
It’s been quite a while since I’ve done a food comparison for a book, but I think I have the perfect example for this book.
The Setting:
The Wilds of the Freest State in the United States of America
The Characters:
Two manly men who have worked hard all day doing Big Important Survey Things that you wouldn’t understand even if I explained it to you.
The Story:
After a hard day’s work where thousands of calories were burned doing Very Important Survey Things, McStudley and MacManly were driving back to the office. They were starving. In fact, if they had been soccer players, chances are one of them would have doused the other in bbq sauce and devoured him on the spot. Thankfully, for our story, they drove by a Wendy’s fast food restaurant. MacManly decided to get a Biggie Bag, because it had the word “Big” in it and his hunger sure was big that day. It was advertised as a double cheeseburger with bacon, fries, chicken nuggets and a drink. The chicken nuggets weren’t crispy at all. The fries were lukewarm at best. The icemachine wasn’t working so his diet vanilla coke was room temperature. The bacon was limp, the burgers overcooked, the lettuce was wilted and the bun looked like a sad clown. All in all it was a pathetic excuse for a “meal”. But MacManly still devoured it because he was starving.
The Lesson:
The ingredients can all be there but if they are not prepared right, it doesn’t matter because I was starving and I would have read a cereal box. Ok, so I mixed up my metaphors there, sue me. But you get the idea.
Faaaaaaaake!
★★★☆☆
From Wikipedia.org
Synopsis – click to open
Death comes to collect the soul of Ipslore the Red, a wizard who was banished from Unseen University for marrying and having children. Bitter over his exile and the death of his wife, Ipslore vows revenge upon the wizards through his eighth son, Coin. As the eighth son of a wizard who himself is an eighth son, Coin is born a sourcerer, a wizard who generates new magic rather than drawing it from the world, effectively making him the most powerful wizard on the Disc. At the moment of his death, Ipslore transfers his spirit into his wizard’s staff, which is passed to Coin, preventing Death from collecting Ipslore’s soul (since damaging the staff to do so would kill Coin) and allowing Ipslore to influence his son.
Eight years later, Virrid Wayzygoose, the Archchancellor-designate of Unseen University in Ankh-Morpork, is murdered before his induction by Coin, who then forces his way into the university’s Great Hall. After Coin bests one of the top wizards in the University, he is welcomed by the majority of the wizards. Rincewind, The Luggage and the Librarian miss Coin’s arrival, having fled the University shortly beforehand after the foreboding departure of all of its magically-influenced pest populations. While they are at the Mended Drum, Conina, a professional thief and a daughter of Discworld legend Cohen the Barbarian, arrives holding a box containing the Archchancellor’s hat, which she has procured from the room of Wayzygoose, and which possesses a kind of sentience as a result of being worn by hundreds of Archchancellors. Under the direction of the hat, which sees Coin as a threat to wizardry and the very world, Conina forces Rincewind to come with her and take a boat to the city of Al Khali, where the hat claims there is someone fit to wear it.
In Ankh-Morpork, the wizards are made more powerful due to Coin’s presence drawing more magic into the Discworld. Under Coin’s direction, the wizards take over Ankh-Morpork—transforming it into a pristine city and turning the Patrician, Lord Vetinari, into a newt—and make plans to take over the world. Elsewhere, Rincewind, Conina and the Luggage end up in the company of Creosote, the seriph of Al Khali, and Abrim, his treacherous vizier. The trio are eventually separated; Rincewind is thrown into the snake pit, where he meets Nijel the Destroyer, a barbarian hero in training. Conina is taken to Creosote’s harem, where the Seriph has his concubines tell him stories. The Luggage, having been scorned by Conina, runs away and gets drunk, before killing and eating several creatures in the desert.
Coin eventually declares Unseen University and the various wizarding orders obsolete and orders the Library to be burnt down, claiming that Wizardry no longer requires such things. A group of wizards then attack Al Khali, with the sheer amount of magic created by their arrival temporarily putting Rincewind into a trance and enabling him to use magic, allowing him and Nijel to escape the snake pit. They join up with Creosote and Conina, the latter immediately falling in love with Nijel, and they encounter Abrim, who had put on the Archchancellor’s hat hoping to gain power from it, only to be possessed instead. Having the experience of many previous Archchancellors, the hat proves an even match for Sourcery-empowered wizards, fighting off a group of them and enlisting others to its cause. As this takes place, Rincewind, Conina, Nijel and Creosote find a magical flying carpet in the palace’s treasury, and use it to escape the palace as it gets destroyed by the possessed Abrim building his own tower.
With the orders no longer around to keep the wizards in check, wizards across the Discworld go to war with one another, threatening to destroy the world completely. Upon hearing Creosote express anti-wizard sentiments, an angry and humiliated Rincewind abandons the group, taking the flying carpet and making his way to the University, where he learns that the Librarian has saved the library books by hiding them in the ancient Tower of Art. The Librarian convinces Rincewind to stop Coin, and he goes off to face the Sourcerer with a sock containing a half-brick. Back in Al Khali, the Luggage, blaming the Archchancellor’s hat for everything it has endured, forces its way into Abrim’s tower. Distracted by the Luggage, the possessed vizier is killed by the Ankh-Morpork wizards, with the tower and the Archchancellor’s hat getting destroyed in the process.
Despite his victory, Coin becomes concerned when he is told that wizards rule under the Discworld Gods. He traps the gods in an alternate reality, which shrinks to become a large pearl, unknowingly causing the Ice Giants, a race of beings who had been imprisoned by the gods, to escape their prison, whereupon they begin strolling across the Discworld, freezing everything in their path. Rincewind confronts Coin soon after this. The Sourcerer is amused, but unthreatened, by Rincewind attempting to fight him, prompting Ipslore to try to force Coin to kill him. Rincewind eventually convinces Coin to throw the staff away, but Ipslore’s power is channelled against that of his son. The other wizards leave the tower as Rincewind rushes forward, grabbing the child and sending both of them to the Dungeon Dimensions while Death strikes the staff and takes Ipslore’s soul. Rincewind orders Coin to return to the University and, using his other sock filled with sand, attacks the Creatures from the Dungeon Dimensions as a distraction to ensure Coin’s escape. The Gods are subsequently set free, stopping the march of the Ice Giants. As the Librarian helps Coin escape, the Luggage charges into the Dungeon Dimensions after Rincewind.
Coin returns the University and Ankh-Morpork to the way they were before he came. After Conina and Nijel travel to the University looking for Rincewind, Coin uses his magic to make them forget him and live happily ever after together. Recognising that he is too powerful to remain in the world, Coin steps into a dimension of his own making and is not seen on the Discworld again. The Librarian takes Rincewind’s battered hat, which was left behind when he went into the Dungeon Dimensions, and places it on a pedestal in the Library. The narrator states, “A wizard…will always come back for his hat”.
This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: Westmark Series: Westmark #1 Author: Lloyd Alexander Rating: 3 of 5 Stars Genre: MG Fantasy Pages: 102 Words: 44K
This is the first in the Westmark Trilogy by Lloyd Alexander, the author of the Prydain Chronicles. I classified it as Fantasy, not because there are magic spells, or talking animals, or even enchanted artifacts but because the world of Westmark is NOT our own. This goes back to the roots of Fantasy, which have been corrupted over the years to mean something quite different than how it started out. I’m quite ok with fantasy incorporating the magical, but the magical shouldn’t BE the defining aspect of Fantasy. So go into this with no expectations of prophecies and curses and you’ll be just fine.
I did not enjoy this as much as the Prydain Chronicles. While both are middle grade, this FELT more middle grade. Problems are solved with the greatest of ease (said the man on the flying trapeze!), which is fine in MG fiction, but sometimes things were just solved a little too easily. The Evil Prime Minister is overthrown with one word from the King, even though the PM has spent years consolidating his power, over the King, over the Nobles, over the entire land. Poof, he’s gone. That’s not a problem for a twelve year old reader and if this were my introduction to Lloyd Alexander, it probably wouldn’t be a problem for me either. But things weren’t quite this simple and simplistic in the Prydain Chronicles, so I as an adult reader KNOW that Alexander can write a more complex situation while still keeping it on the twelve year old’s level.
At its heart, this was a coming of age story mixed with love and adventure. I read it in my tweens and teens and I remember enjoying it quite a bit. Now that I’m re-reading this as an adult, I’m still enjoying it, but I don’t ever see myself reading it again in the future.
★★★☆☆
From Wikipedia
Synopsis – click to open
It is a complicated and politically dangerous period in Westmark. The country’s ruler, King Augustine IV, has slipped into dementia, depression and illness since the supposed death of his only child, Princess Augusta, over six years ago. Despite the efforts of the queen, Caroline, and the court physician, Dr. Torrens, the King is increasingly manipulated by his chief minister, Cabbarus, who has designs on the throne. While the ill king is kept distracted by a series of mystics and charlatans who claim to be able to speak to his dead child, Cabbarus increases his control over Westmark, restricting freedoms and abusing the king’s powers.
Young Theo, an orphan, has been raised in a small town, Dorning, by a printer named Anton. After the pair accepts a job from a travelling salesman they are investigated by Cabbarus’ men, who declare their job illegal and proceed to destroy their press. In the ensuing scuffle and chase, Theo attacks a soldier and Anton is shot and killed.
With no one else to turn to, Theo takes to the countryside, eventually meeting up with the men who hired him and Anton for the printing job: Count Las Bombas, a con artist, and his dwarf driver/partner Musket. Theo joins up with them, rather reluctantly, and ends up participating in their money-making schemes. They eventually discover a girl named Mickle, a poor street urchin, who has a talent for throwing her voice and mimicry. The count builds a charade around Mickle, dressing her up as the Oracle Priestess and putting her on display, claiming that she can speak to the spirits of the dead.
Theo, despite his growing affection for the bright but vulnerable Mickle, begins to find his new life too dishonest for his tastes and abandons the group, eventually falling in with Florian, an anti-monarchist and rebel who plans revolution with his band of loyal followers whom he calls his “children”. Meanwhile, Mickle, Las Bombas, and Musket have been arrested for fraud, Cabbarus has attempted to have Dr. Torrens assassinated and a politically minded journalist, Keller, goes into hiding to save himself from Cabbarus’ wrath.
Events come to a head when Theo plots to break his old companions out of prison, with help from Florian and his friends. Their reunion, however, does not last long; Cabbarus has tracked them down and has them all arrested. He brings the group to the Old Juliana, the palace of King Augustine IV and Queen Caroline, where reveals his plans to the group and of how the “Oracle Priestess” will be his pawn to his uprising to the throne. While in Old Juliana, Mickle comes across a trapdoor leading to a water canal, and her memories race in her mind as she remembers her childhood. This leads to her high fever and Theo’s worry of her having to act. Cabbarus presents the group to the King and Queen and the courtiers as the Oracle Priestess, and suddenly Mickle’s long-repressed childhood memories come to the surface, revealing treason, attempted murder and corruption in the heart of the Westmark government. It is later revealed that Mickle is the long-lost Princess Augusta and that chief minister Cabbarus was responsible for her disappearance.
Eventually, on the subject of Cabbarus’s punishment, Theo, on behalf of his conscience, sends him into exile, instead of killing him.
This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: A Study in Brimstone Series: Warlock Holmes #1 Author: Gabriel Denning Rating: 5 of 5 Stars Genre: Fantasy Parody Pages: 229 Words: 83K
If you know your Holmes stories, most of these parodies won’t catch you totally by surprise. That’s a good thing though, because it is the similarities that keep this book grounded and from becoming stupid. The basic premise is that Warlock Holmes is a warlock of incredible power who fights the supernatural, but he’s not very bright and he’s not good with people in general. Enter Watson, a deductive genius with the ability to analyze things from a completely normal perspective. Who needs a cheap place to stay so he won’t get thrown out into the gutter. And voila, a partnership made in Hades. Throw in that Lestrade is a vampire and some other detective is a werewolf and you have yourself a recipe for fun
I laughed my head off for the entire book. I was laughing out loud and sharing bits and pieces with Mrs B until she finally said “Yep, that’s your kind of humor” and I knew enough to let it be and just enjoy it for myself. But my goodness, this was dark humor and so delicious. It was like eating an icecream sunday. For example. The Crew (Watson, Holmes and the other two detectives) find some mysterious pills that Watson suspects are poison. Holmes kidnaps the neighbor’s puppy and uses it to test the poison. He tells Watson to relax, because the puppy’s lifeline is going to end that week no matter what. The puppy takes the non-poison pill and is romping joyfully around the room. All four of our characters leave and the last sentence is something like “and the werewolf accidentally trod on the puppy”. I went off into howls of laughter. There were several such incidents that just set me off and by the books end my sides were hurting from laughing so much. I don’t know if this humor would be to everyone’s taste but it was almost like I had decided to write a book and use all the things I would find funny.
I also am aware that the final book ends in a cliffhanger’y way and that it will probably never be resolved. I have made my peace with that and will simply enjoy this for what I can get out of it. Speaking of cliffhanger’y, the ending of this book definitely falls into that camp. Not terribly, not in a way that made me want to immediately read the next book, but basically Moriarty takes over Holmes’ body and that’s how it ends. If this had been a standalone book, I’d still be ok with that ending because the humor was absolutely pitch perfect.
I have also given this the coveted “Best Book of the Year” tag. Doesn’t mean that it IS the best book, as we still have half a year to go, but my goodness, I simply have not laughed out loud so often in a very long time and that by itself deserves a lot of praise.
★★★★★
From the Publisher
Synopsis – Click to Open
Sherlock Holmes is an unparalleled genius. Warlock Holmes is an idiot. A font of arcane power, certainly. But he’s brilliantly dim. Frankly, he couldn’t deduce his way out of a paper bag. The only thing he has really got going for him are the might of a thousand demons and his stalwart companion. Thankfully, Dr. Watson is always there to aid him through the treacherous shoals of Victorian propriety… and save him from a gruesome death every now and again.
