Is There A Loser in the House? (Eyeshield 21 #10) (Manga Monday)

This review is written with a GPL 3.0 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 Bookstooge.booklikes. blogspot.wordpress.com by  Bookstooge's Exalted Permission.
Title: Is There A Loser in the House?
Series: Eyeshield 21 #10
Author: Riichiro Inagaki
Artist: Yusuke Murata
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Manga
Pages: 208
Format: Digital Scan

Synopsis:

The Devil Bats begin their 1200mile training course from Texas to the city of Las Vegas. Along the way Sena meets a cute roller blade girl and her brother, who are wrapped into the storyline. Sena accidentally tries out for the NFL. The team as a whole gets a lot stronger [duh, pushing an 18 wheeler 1200 miles tends to do that].

Meanwhile, back in Japan, Shin begins extra training at Mt. Fuji. Panther shows up to test himself against Shin and realizes that he is an ant compared to Shin. Shin continues his non-ability to interact with electronics.

My Thoughts:

Another solid read. I found this volume to be very balanced between "Inspiration!" and humor.  Shin training himself and rating Panther's ability in an eyeblink was the former. The 3 clowns from the Devil Bats pawning ALL the clothes so they could gamble [and being escorted from the casino by burly guards whilst unclothed] was very much the latter.

At Las Vegas we see Mamori in a cocktail gown and while it was just one little frame, it made it very obvious that Mamori is a young woman, not a girl. Not fan service'y at all but more that she could carry it off. Part of her emerging maturity is the fact that she is seeing how hard Hiruma is pushing the team, and himself. She is seeing beyond the "psycho gun toting madman" facade to the hardcore dedicated player and can appreciate it without making a big deal of it. It is also shown up with the emergence of Suzuna, the roller blade girl. She's Sena's age and is presented as such. I hope that the 2 of them have larger roles in the future.

The book ends with them winning all the money they need at the casino and getting ready to head back to Japan. The volumes about America have made me laugh because it is a view that is distorted yet just recognizable enough that I know where the distortion is coming from. Like looking in a fun house mirror.

Riotous Assembly (Piemburg #1)

This review is written with a GPL 3.0 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 Bookstooge.booklikes. blogspot.wordpress.com by  Bookstooge's Exalted Permission.
Title: Riotous Assembly
Series: Piemburg #1
Author: Tom Sharpe
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Historical, Humor
Pages: 258
Format: Kindle digital edition

Synopsis:

The misadventures of the Afrikaaner Van Heerden, head of the police force in Piemburg, South Africa, as he investigates the killing of a Zulu cook by the local (socially) ruling British matron.
Along the way there are police ambushes, latex fetishists, hand to paw combat with a doberman, hangings and a play by the local madhouse which ends with the shooting of some artillery that blows up.

Madcap

My Thoughts:

A bit of context was necessary before I got very far into this. Sharpe was in South Africa during apartheid and was a very vocal opponent of it. Eventually he was deported for his writings against it. Once you have that in mind you realize that what you are reading is not a raging rascist going for the humor angle, but a satirist at his most biting.

This was hilarious. I was wheezing in several places and my wife had to ask me if I was ok. I was more than ok in fact.

Every character was incompetent, looking out for themselves and bumbling. It made for some serious misadventures. One such was when one police underling is told to guard the gate and he takes an elephant gun with him. He hides in a bunker, it is dusk and some other plainclothes policemen are coming onsite. He starts shooting, they start shooting, armoured cars get involved and in the end 21 policeman are dead and the underling is desperately trying to figure out how he can spin it so it isn't his fault. That sums up this book.

There was a lot of crassness involved [anything to do with latex fetishists seems to go that way] and some unnecessary sexual details. Other than that, this was an uproariously fun read.

Demelza (Poldark Saga #2) DNF@6%

This review is written with a GPL 3.0 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 Bookstooge.booklikes. blogspot.wordpress.com by  Bookstooge's Exalted Permission.
Title: Demelza
Series: Poldark Saga
Author: Winston Graham
Rating: Unrated
Genre: Historical Fiction
Pages: DNF
Format: Kindle digital edition

My Thoughts:

This DNF was definitely a "me" thing and not because there was something truly wrong or outrageous with this book.

I tried at least 4 times to get into it and each time I found myself simply not caring one whit about any of the characters or the situation they were in. Not a dislike but a complete apathy that you could drown in. So I gave up. Forcing myself to read something is just going to waste my time and I'll end up writing a completely scathing review and wasting emotional strength that I need to save for something real.

 

Superman: Doomed (Superman)

This review is written with a GPL 3.0 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 Bookstooge.booklikes. blogspot.wordpress.com
Title: Superman: Doomed
Series: Superman
Author/Artist: Greg Pak, et al
Rating: 2 of 5 Stars
Genre: Comics
Pages: 544
Format: Paper graphic novel

Synopsis:

Taking place in the New52 timeline. Doomsday has been kept in the Phantom Zone and somehow is allowed out by somebody. He is literal poison to the world and his very presence kills. Superman tears him in half, gets infected and begins a battle with Doomsday over who will control his body. And it all turns out to be a masterplan by Brainiac to get control of everyone's minds so he can "change the perception of the universe" and hence, change the universe. Because he misses his dead wife and son. Who he killed.

Yeah...

My Thoughts:

This was first foray into the New52 reboot universe and I didn't like it. It also relied on the reader knowing the storyline from Reign of Doomsday. At least to explain why Doomsday is still around. Goodness, I hate these reboots.

This was a very messy read for me. The characters I knew were suddenly completely different. Superman and Wonderwoman? Superman and Lois Lane are just friends, not married? I felt like I was reading one huge Elseworlds storyline. Sadly, I wasn't and this is where things are.

This is a big, glossy book with some gorgeous art. Unfortunately, I had a hard time reading the text and trying to follow the action. There were so few panels used that I had to guess where I was supposed to look next to follow what was happening on ONE SINGLE PAGE. And half the time I couldn't tell if I was looking at a 2 page spread meant as one, or if I was actually supposed to read it as 2 pages. 

The storyline itself just went all over the place and made me wonder WHO was in control at the helm of this idea. Superman and Doomsday argue with each other, Clarke gets angsty, Supes and Wonderwoman are all lovey dovey while making promises of mutual destruction, Brainiac is putting the whole world in a coma while whining about his dead family and there is so much more. It wasn't a clear, concise storyline. It was a soup with about 67 different cooks all trying to make it "their way".

It took me 6 months to finally finish this. I just didn't want to read about it. If this had been from the library I probably would have abandoned it very near the beginning. However, I bought this in February so I was going to get my money's worth, even if I had to suffer for every page of it. Yankee thrift and all that.

I could probably write a bunch more but it would just be more complaints. To end, I didn't like this, I didn't like my foray into the New52 and it will be quite some time before I try out new comics again. 

The Siege (The Return of the Archwizards #2) (Forgotten Realms)

This review is written with a GPL 3.0 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 Bookstooge.booklikes. blogspot.wordpress.com by  Bookstooge's Exalted Permission.
Title: The Siege
Series: The Return of the Archwizards
Author: Troy Denning
Rating: 2.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: SFF
Pages: 356
Format: Kindle digital edition

Synopsis:

The Netherese are playing hardball with all the kingdoms, trying to dominate them under the guise of helping to stop the phaerim incursion.
Melegaunt died in the previous book but somehow his knowledge of the phaerim lives on in Galaeron and the Netherese are willing to do just about anything to get that knowledge, including abandoning Evereska and allowing Galaeron's dark shadow to control him more and more.
Battles and mayhem ensue and while the phaerim are weakened, so are the Netherese and the surrounding countries, as they all fight each other and betrayals abound.

My Thoughts:

i enjoyed this quite a bit more than the previous book but there were still points in the story that just left me scratching my head trying to figure out WHAT Denning meant or how he got from Point A to Point B. It is like what he thinks is obvious is completely opaque to me.

The big battle at the end was pretty cool and pretty much made up for none of the characters really being likable. I'd like to place an order for One Hero in the final book but I think that the menu is already prepared and that that option wasn't included.

Hell is for Devil Bats (Eyeshield 21 #9) (Manga Monday)

This review is written with a GPL 3.0 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 Bookstooge.booklikes. blogspot.wordpress.com by  Bookstooge's Exalted Permission.
Title: Hell is for Devil Bats
Series: Eyeshield 21
Author: Riichiro Inagaki
Artist: Yusuke Murata
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Manga
Pages: 208
Format: Digital Scan

Synopsis:

The Devil Bats lose. But only by 1 point. So the American team has to stay in Japan, which leads to Hiruma taking their plane tickets and taking the Devil Bats to Texas. Where they promptly win a game of beach football, win $1000, spend $1000 on snacks and run across Hiruma's old coach.
He challenges them to accept the Death March, a grueling 40 day training period where they will pack in 1 years worth of training on the way to Las Vegas, where they will get enough money to fly back to Japan. Everyone accepts and thus begins a time that has killed all who have attempted it, da da dum!

My Thoughts:

The humor was in your face in this volume. As soon as Hiruma gets to Texas, he immediately heads to a gun store, where the owner tells him that he can't take the guns back to Japan, to which Hiruma responds "I'll be smuggling them". Then Sena and Monta try to shoot some handguns and go ass over teakettle. I was laughing my head off.

The beach game was a fun little interlude leading into the training. In classic shonen style, the training is shown as powering/leveling up instead of the boring,hard work it really is.

One thing to note is that everyone, but Mamori of course, now knows that Sena is Eyeshield 21. The team spirit begins to coalesce and the Devil Bats truly start becoming a team instead of just a group of individuals that Hiruma is tricking into working together.

And that's it for this week's Manga Monday.

Death's Messenger (Blood on the Reik #1) (Warhammer)

This review is written with a GPL 3.0 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 Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot. wordpress.com by  Bookstooge's Exalted Permission.
Title: Death's Messenger
Series: Blood on the Reik
Author: Sandy Mitchell
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: SFF
Pages: 416
Format: Kindle digital scan

Synopsis:

Rudy, the poor orphan who has been raised by the local forester, discovers signs of Beastmen near his village. At the same time, rot begins to afflict the crops and towns people as well.
A witch hunter comes to the village and a lot is revealed. A bunch of the villagers were chaos worshippers, including Rudy's adopted father. They had some plan in store for Rudi but the beastmen's attack changed things. The witch hunter is now after Rudi and a childhood acquaintance who is the daughter of a the local healer.
Once out of the village, things happen and the two young people have adventures until they are caught by the witch hunter. And the book ends.

My Thoughts:

I still don't know the difference between Warhammer and Warhammer 40k. I assume W is a fantasy series like the Forgotten Realms series and that the W40K is a scifi of the same. I tried some of the W40K and it didn't work for me, so I was hesitant to try plain old Warhammer.

It was alright. Not great, but not terrible. The first half of the book was all setup with very little happening and then whammo, once things got rolling, the 2 youngsters just couldn't stay out of trouble to save their lives. And the ending that was a complete cliff hanger? Nahhh, that didn't impress me.

Since I don't know anything about Warhammer, I don't know the significance, if any, of the title or the series. What is a reik? A person, a place, a thing?  Is Death a personification in the Warhammer world? Does he have agents sowing chaos out in the world? If so, why? And really, so what?  I have a bunch of options to choose from for series to read in the Warhammer so I am literally just pointing my finger and saying "I'll read YOU" and hoping for the best.

If anyone is a Warhammer fan, and has some advice, please feel free to chime in. I can use anything right about now.

Sasha ( A Trial of Blood and Steel #1)

This review is written with a GPL 3.0 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 Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot. wordpress.com by  Bookstooge's Exalted Permission.
Title: Sasha
Series: A Trial of Blood and Steel
Author: Joel Shepherd
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: SFF
Pages: 426
Format: Kindle digital edition

Synopsis:

Sasha is a princess. A princess who gave up her family rights to become the apprentice of the greatest swordsman and tactician of the country. Now her country is being torn apart by politics and religion and Sasha must decide what course to take.

Seeing ancient accords broken, Sasha must defy her family and the most powerful houses of the nation but in doing so she will unleash civil war and tear apart what she is trying to preserve. But when your own brother is trying to kill you to further his own power, does national unity matter?

My Thoughts:

I was expecting something a bit more from Shepherd. After reading his Drysine Legacy series I was prepared for full frontal fantasy awesomeness.

What I got was a spoiled woman, a self-centered and self-absorbed king/father, siblings who were friends, enemies and allies, sometimes all at the same time. Political powers that were willing to kill off their own heirs, religious leaders willing to lend credence to any act if it furthered their power. In fact, everything in this book seemed to be about power. It wasn't that pleasant really. The only good thing was the big battle at the end.

I'll be trying the next book but if it flows in the same vein as this one, I won't be going farther. It is just odd because I liked his scifi series SO much. Oh well, you can't win them all.

The Pirates of Pacta Servanda (Pillars of Reality #4)

This review is written with a GPL 3.0 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 Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot. wordpress.com by  Bookstooge's Exalted Permission.
Title: The Pirates of Pacta Servanda
Series: The Pillars of Reality
Author: Jack Campbell
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: SFF
Pages: 322
Format: Kindle digital edition

Synopsis:

Mari and Alain must gather a group of mages, mechanics and skilled commons so they can begin fixing the world, by fixing the place where it truly began to break: The Kingdom of Tiae.
But Mari must not only convince other mages and mechanics to work together but she must convince those still in Tiae that she is not just some rogue, upstart mechanic trying to be a warlord. All the while the Mechanics Guild and the Mages Guild are both still hunting her and Alain, using any means possible to stop them, including pirates and dragons.

My Thoughts:

Thoroughly enjoyed this. I continue to be impressed. Mari and Alain make a very dynamic duo but they aren't perfect nor does their love "conquer all".  The romance between them isn't sappy and it really strengthens the tension in the story.

The action continues strong. Fighting pirates on the sea, yet another magical dragon, assaulting a Mechanic's Armoury and finally a warlord's host. It just never lets up.

I think that Campbell can write a duo more convincingly than he can a single character. The Lost Fleet series and the Lost Stars series are a very compelling first case and this series backs that up. It is like he can allow his characters greater leeway by bouncing off of another character, all the time, instead of being a pillar of Heroism all on their own. Even if I'm completely out to lunch on this, I still like the series where Campbell uses dual main characters.

I also just found out that the rest of the series [2 more books] is out. So I'll be getting those pronto and putting them into my High Priority list on my kindle. Which means that maybe I'll be done with those 2 books by February? What a tough life, eh?

True Warriors Seek Out Strong Foes (Eyeshield 21 #8) (Manga Monday)

This review is written with a GPL 3.0 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 Bookstooge.booklikes. blogspot.wordpress.com by  Bookstooge's Exalted Permission.
Title: True Warriors Seek Out Strong Foes
Series: Eyeshield 21
Author: Riichiro Inagaki
Artist: Yusuke Murata
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Manga
Pages: 208
Format: Digital Scan

Synopsis:

Japan versus America in a game of American Football. Can the Devil Bats even hope to compete against a team that is made up of some of the toughest Americans out there? It is American Brute Force and Power versus Japanese strategy and speed.
But when Panther enters the game, can Sena up his game against a fresh opponent who isn't intimidated by Eyeshield 21's speed? In fact, can Sena keep up with Panther?

My Thoughts:

Another GREAT volume. This had my adrenaline up and running even as I sat on the couch and just read this volume. That is good story telling.

There was a lot of back and forth between strategies, point scoring, etc during this one. It wasn't one team dominating or the other pulling sneaky tricks to edge by by 1 point. This was all out war and the tides of fortune rose and fell appropriately.

I did have to roll my eyes at the coach's back story. It explained a lot but my goodness, it just showed him for the shallow guy he was. And his little "connecting" moment with Panther's desire to play had me groaning. However, the little montage with him getting kicked off the "46'ers" made me laugh, mainly because it was the "46'ers" instead of the 49er's. Just one of those things that strikes you funny at the right moment.

Hiruma is a freaking genius. I know that he is the quarterback but he's competing with the coach of the Alien's and coming out ahead. Coach and QB and doing a good job at both at the same time.  I really hope that his character is given more serious attention in future volumes. He might be providing a lot of comic relief but there is a good amount of depth to be explored.

I do continue to be disappointed by Mamori's lack of a role. Even as a potential love interest. She shows up and is shown in various panels, but that is it. I sure do hope she takes a bigger role by the end of the series.