Attack of the Deranged Mutant Killer Monster Snow Goons (Calvin and Hobbes #7)

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Title: Attack of the Deranged Mutant Killer Monster Snow Goons
Series: Calvin and Hobbes #7
Author/Artist: Bill Watterson
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Comics
Pages: 128
Format: Kindle digital scan

My Thoughts:

Another fine collection by Watterson. I found myself laughing a lot more in this collection than in the previous one. I don't know if that is because this was truly funnier, or if it was because more time had elapsed since my last C&H read.

I've got a few more collections left. Once I'm done with those, I don't know that I'll ever plan on re-reading these. As a teen, C&H enthralled me. As an adult, they're amusing me. I suspect that as a mature adult, they will come across as tedious or shallow. I don't want that and I'd rather never read them again and keep the good memories.

Finally, is that title a mouthful or what? I had to go to Wikipedia and just search out Calvin and Hobbes and then copy/paste the title or else I would have gotten it wrong.

Red Son (Superman: Elseworlds)

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Title: Red Son
Series: Superman: Elseworlds
Author/Artist: Mark Millar, et all
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Comics
Pages: 160
Format: Kindle digital edition

Synopsis:

Superman lands in the Ukraine and a Communist Collective instead of in Smallville, USA.

The Man of Steel promotes communism and once Stalin dies, takes over as President Superman. Lex Luthor, last hope of the Free World, makes it his mission in life to bring down the Man of Steel, even at the sacrifice of his marriage to Lois Lane. Superman is being guided by Brainiac and can Wonder Woman, Boris Wayneski, a newly minted core of Green Lantern US Marines and even Superman himself stop Brainiac from completing his nefarious plans?

My Thoughts:  Spoilers

I enjoyed this the first I read it but I never recorded that I read it, so this is my first time rating and reviewing it.

I always enjoy the Elseworld stories because they do what all the phracking ridiculous and completely unnecessary reboots attempt, and miserably fail at, doing. IE, bringing us the characters we know in new ways with new stories and new variations. In fact, I would say that is the main fun of these, seeing the familiar turned at a 37° angle, just enough to skew everything but still the same enough for you to recognize.

First off, lets get through the bad. Stalin. For all that Hitler is vilified and made the devil incarnate, Stalin was truly worse. He was a butcher, plain and simple. So, for Superman to admire him was a bit of a let down. I'm not talking about Superman and communism, but Superman and Stalin.  Then there is Boris Wayneski. I don't even know if that was his name in the book, he was simply the Russian Batman. He was almost a caricature and I would have enjoyed the story more if it had been someone else. However, the frenemy status between Supes and Batman goes way back, so it makes sense why it was included.

The good stuff.

Superman looked good. He looked good in his suit and with the hammer and sickle on his chest. I'm pretty picky about my Supes, as I liked Dan Jurgens version from the 90's, but this was a creditable job and the art didn't detract from my enjoyment.

Lex Luthor. He is portrayed as the smartest man alive here. While his quest to overcome Superman takes the lead, the advances he makes in doing so drags humanity upward, in all ways. In fact, his name becomes so great that his descendants take on his name, as L, or eL. You can see where that is going.

And that brings me to the ending. I loved it. I can see it pissing people off though. Superman is NOT from Krypton. He is from Earth, sent back in time to try to change the future created by Lex Luthor and the House of L. Of course, the story ends with his little craft landing in the Ukraine, hence beginning the whole cycle again.

Black Mountain (Alex Hunter #4)

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Title: Black Mountain
Series: Alex Hunter #4
Author: Greig Beck
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Action/Adventure
Pages: 312
Format: Kindle digital edition

Synopsis:  Spoilers

Alex Hunter has recovered physically while in Israel. Unfortunately, his mind has not and he can't remember who he is or who anyone else is either. Upon realizing he has been lied to and with some of his powers returning, Alex returns to the United States seeking out his mother.

At the same time, "Something" has come out of the Black Mountain and people are missing. Matt Kearns, a scientist from the first book, is roped into investigating.

One Night. One Black Mountain. Many disparate and dangerous groups. And one monster. All come together in one explosive orgy of violence and death.

My Thoughts: Spoilers

This was fun, and probably more so because Alex Hunter isn't as big a part of things. That does seem to be the formula Beck likes. Ramp the tension up and THEN bring in the Arcadian.

There were a lot of different threads here. Alex and Israeli Commando Lady. Scientist Matt and his pals and the cops. Mossad Hit Squad going after Alex and Lady. HAWC's commander Hammerson seeking out Alex and Lady. Cops seeking out the lost people. A slightly successful version of the Arcadian formula being field tested against Alex. And then the monster/s killing people, taking people, eating people. It all worked together pretty good and I never felt like POV was ever too short or too long. It was a skillfully woven tapestry of a story.

It did have it's eye rolling moments though.
The monsters have supposedly been underground for 13,000 years living by the light of lichens and they're just acclimating to the light fine and being super de dooper killers? Guns have little effect on their hides but knives stop them? They don't blink at modern tech at all or feel confusion at it? Finally, the whole "oh, they're not really the bad guys, we just treated them badly" bullshit. That turned my stomach.
Then there is the people side of things.
One of the scientists with Matt refuses to go into the cave but then they find the boot of a missing little girl and suddenly said scientist can't be stopped from going in and all they have is a hand gun? Cops disobeying direct orders from the Chief of Police, to his face?

Some of the good stuff. The 3 experiments of the Arc-044 formula. They're as strong as Alex and even more determined but completely gone round the bend and literally rotting away. Super soldiers indeed. We'll definitely be seeing more of them. Alex and another HAWC fighting the bigfoots. That was just cool. Alex taking out a group of terrorists in Egypt before coming to the U.S. He throws a terrorist out a window, who has explosives strapped to his body, and shoots him so he blows up in the air, 3 stories up. Now is that cool or what?

By the end of the book though, Alex is wanted by the Israeli's and the United States more as a lab specimen than anything else. He disappears but I wonder how he'll survive on his own or if Hammerson will covertly supply him. I guess I'll just have to wait and see.

Spiderlight

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Title: Spiderlight
Series: ------
Author: Adrian Tchaikovsky
Rating: 2.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: SFF
Pages: 304
Format: Kindle digital edition

Synopsis:

A new dark lord has risen in the land and it is up to one intrepid group to fulfill the prophecy. Unfortunately for these said servants of the light, the means of their salvation is a servant of darkness, a spider transformed by arcane magics into a humanoid form.

Beset by fears and doubts within and without, what will this group do once they confront the dark lord and find out the secret of the ages.

My Thoughts: Spoilers

This was a greatly written book. If you want to try Tchaikovsky's writings without dipping into his Shadows of the Apt Decalogue, this would be a great way to experience what he has to offer.

This is a very biting satire on the "Righteous" & the "Evil" tropes in fantasy and Tchaikovsky really turns things on their heads.  More than that, he seems to be trying to advocate for a completely grey world, where there are no standards and no Law Giver. That might amuse, entertain and be in line with a lot of his reader's thoughts, but for me, I hew to a different line.

God exists. All standards are set by what He has revealed in the Bible. They are not arbitrary but aspects of His character.

Now, some might be thinking "Goodness, Bookstooge, it is JUST a book" and I concur. But ideas are where the battle for this world are fought and won or lost and as such when an idea sets itself against God, I take it very seriously.  This is obviously not some Theological Tome but neither is it just an Escapist piece of literature. I know I'm not conveying this very well and I'm struggling to quantify the "Why".  I think that it comes down to the Idea that there is No Perfect Being, not just in humanity, but in any Supernatural form either.  Which means that God is just a big meany with lots of power and THAT is what I take exception to. That debate is for another time and place and probably not on a post online. Face to face.

With all of that being said, I didn't hate this book. If I just took it as satire on some fantasy tropes I probably would have enjoyed this much more and rated it higher and not given it the Theological tag. But it pushed a wrong button for me. It has not dissuaded me from reading any more by him however and I look forward to see what other Ideas he puts on paper in his other books.

Heirs of Empire (The Scourwind Legacy #1)

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Title: Heirs of Empire
Series: The Scourwind Legacy #1
Author: Evan Currie
Rating: 4.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: SFF
Pages: 352
Format: Kindle digital edition

Synopsis:

The leading general of the Special Forces of the Empire commits a coup. The only survivors of the Scourwinds are the 2 youngest. With help from another rogue Special Forces agent and remnants of those loyal to the Scourwind name, the Scourwind youngsters must go from children to a man and woman in charge.

The general's reasons for the coup are only hinted at and much greater threats seem to be looming in the wings. This world is enclosed by the God Walls. But that only means that there are things OUTSIDE the walls that those within should be afraid of.

My Thoughts:

For whatever reason, this just hit ALL the right buttons for me. It is one of Currie's better books, as he seems to be getting better with more experience.  This wasn't deep, it wasn't emotionally moving, it isn't something that I plan on re-reading multiple times, if even once.  But as I was reading along, I just had a blast!

If you've read Card's Pathfinder trilogy, the whole God Wall thing is pretty transparent. However, since I loved that trilogy, that just boosted it up in my eyes. It was only mentioned in this book along with some vague mutterings about "threats" but it is patently obvious that things are just ramping up.

The special forces agents are pretty cool. Half jedi, half super-soldier, half wild cards. That is a lot of halfs :-) The rogue Agent that helps the Scourwind kids is a cliche for Currie, ie, a strong woman that takes no prisoners and gets the job done.  Several ideas from previous series are used as well but it didn't come as recycled, but just little pointings back. Kind of like how an artist will use the same color palette for certain subjects.

While this novel tells a particular story, ie,the Fall and Return of the Scourwinds and only takes a couple of months, it is still very much a setup book. I'm looking forward to the rest of this series.

The Servants of the Storm (Pillars of Reality #5)

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Title: The Servants of the Storm
Series: Pillars of Reality #5
Author: Jack Campbell
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: SFF
Pages: 320
Format: Kindle digital edition

Synopsis:

The Great Guilds are trying harder than ever to get rid of Mari and have joined hands with the Empire, even though that will probably spell their demise. Guilds and Empire both realize that Mari has a source of hidden tech and they all want it for themselves. Mari, Alain and 3 others must make a daring journey back to Marandur to rescue the texts.

Mari must also balance her presence in Tiea by making it her base of operations but without taking over the monarchy. It doesn't help that another Heir to the Throne shows up and starts taking over.

But in the end, all roads will lead back to Dorcastle and Alain's visions.

My Thoughts:

My least favorite of the books so far. Not to say this was bad in any way, it just didn't keep me riveted like the previous books. I'd find myself putting the book down and checking my feed or something.

Part of that was the continued reiteration of Alain's "mage'ness". I get it, he doesn't show emotion. Or, he sees emotions in others that isn't easily visible to non-mages. There were a couple of other things as well that Campbell has repeated since book 1 that just started to bother me. I'm guessing part of it is that I've read this much closer to book 4 than book 4 was to book 3, etc. You follow me there?

The final "meh" was the cover. They changed the format. It used to be all brown with a square of the characters in the center. It was very striking. With this one, while keeping the same cover artist/style,  they've added that big blue swathe and "Jack Campbell" that just overpowers the other stuff.  Phracking publishers!

Ok, on to the good stuff.

The action continues strong. There is a fantastic submarine/gun/ship/crossbow/magic/river battle as they escape from Marandur that is as good as any of the battle scenes so far. There was also a memorable one on one fight scene between the royal siblings that really showed off their different upbringings since the fall of Tiea.

Overall, a good penultimate book in the series. Nothing here dissuaded me from wanting to read the final book or from highly recommending this to any lovers of SFF.

Who is the Real Eyeshield 21? (Eyeshield 21 #13) (Manga Monday)

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Title: Who is the Real Eyeshield 21?
Series: Eyeshield 21 #13
Author: Riichiro Inagaki
Artist: Yusuke Murata
Rating: 4.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Manga
Pages: 216
Format: Digital Scan

Synopsis:

All the games from the second up until the semi-finals are shown, usually in 4 pages and just enough to show the strengths and weaknesses of various teams.
There is a lot of non-game stuff, which was just what I was looking for.

My Thoughts:

This was a great volume. There was a lot of emotional drama going on as teams lost and people watched their last chance at the Christmas Bowl go down the drains. There was one particular scene between Hiruma and the quarterback of the Chameleons that boiled down the hopes and dreams of all the 3rd Years. It was very touching.

It has been a tough day, so this is all I feel like writing.

Mission to Moulokin (Icerigger #2) (Project Reread #10)

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 Wordpress, Blogspot, Booklikes & Librarything by  Bookstooge's Exalted Permission.
Title: Mission to Moulokin
Series: Icerigger #2
Author: Alan Dean Foster
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: SFF
Pages: 280
Format: Kindle digital edition

Project Reread:

I am attempting to reread 10+ books in 2016 that I have rated highly in the past. I am not attempting to second guess or denigrate my younger self in any way but am wanting to compare how my tastes have changed and possibly matured. I am certainly much more widely read now [both in the good and bad quality sadly] than then. 

I will hopefully be going into the reasons for any differences of opinions between then and now. If there is no difference of opinion, then it was a hellfire'd fine book!
Links may link to either Wordpress, Booklikes or Blogspot, depending on when the original review was.

Synopsis: Spoilers

Having survived Tran-ky-ky for a year, Ethan Fortune isn't that keen on going right back to his planet to planet sales job. He does refuse Collette DuKane's proposal of marriage but more because he realizes that he'll resent her power and constant on-the-go lifestyle than because she is fat.

 

This book is about Ethan, September, Milliken, Hunnar and the Slanderscree trying to put together a Trannish coalition so that Tran-Ky-Ky can be given membership into the Commonwealth. Unfortunately for them, greedy humans, self-serving tran and one particularly insane tran, stand in their way.

 

 

On their journey, they discover information that makes it imperative that Tran-Ky-Ky joins the commonwealth, for the good of all Tran the world over.

My Thoughts:

 

Well, this held up to my previous reading

[11 Year Old Review]

and stayed at 4 stars. 

 

I used the link to my review at Booklikes because my original review on blogspot, which has been transferred to wordpress, was a Year by Month list. I wasn't keeping track online yet and was just using a paper notebook. Once I started online, I had to copy out everything since 2000 and it was easier to do a year at a time instead of each individual book. Just goes to show how my reviewing style has changed and grown over the years:

Original Review Post

 

This was much weaker than Icerigger both in terms of adventure and interesting characters. The already existing characters are pretty static and the new characters who show up are there to either cause problems, be killed off or act as allies, nothing more, nothing less.

 

On the adventure side of things, it just didn't grab me the same way. There is a battle at Moulokin that wasn't nearly as good as the battle between the Horde and the Settlement in Icerigger and the Slanderscree's overland journey didn't nearly match up to the journey to Brassmonkey from the previous book. There is still a lot of action, it just wasn't as good. I can't pin it down any further than that, sadly.

 

Overall, while I enjoyed this read and am glad I made it part of my Project Reread, I don't think I'll be reading it again. It is time to let this sit and relax with all the other books I've read.

Emperor of the Eight Islands (The Tale of Shikanoko #1)

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Title: Emperor of the Eight Islands
Series: The Tale of Shikanoko #1
Author: Lian Hearn
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: SFF
Pages: 274
Format: Kindle digital edition

Synopsis:

A young man is driven from his rightful village, an emperor is deposed, his young son is on the run under the "protection" of a young woman, magicians plot and magic abounds. Clans, brothers and wives scheme and nobody knows the end of the matter.

My Thoughts:

This is a story of change, of life and death, of magic both kind and cruel. While not as brutally depressing as the Tales of the Otori series, it is about kingdoms falling and rising. Whole clans overthrown, killed, dispossessed.

In many ways this felt like a Japanese fairytale. In line with a fairytale, this was shorter and not complete. A good start and I hope it gets better.

The Blood Mirror (Lightbringer #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 Wordpress, Blogspot, Booklikes & Librarything by  Bookstooge's Exalted Permission.
Title: The Blood Mirror
Series: Lightbringer #4
Author: Brent Weeks
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: SFF
Pages: 704
Format: Kindle digital edition

Synopsis:

The Chromeria is under attack by the White King, the former Color Prince. Andross Guile and Kara, the Iron White, unite in the face of satrapies falling away. Kip is married and besides leading attacks on the White King and learning to be a leader, he is dealing with some serious marital issues.

Gavin/Dazin [I've given up by now trying to figure it all out, he's Gavin to me] is captured by Andross and kept in the same prison he kept his brother in. Lots of things about magic, and theology, are revealed.

Teia, now playing a triple role as Blackguard, the Iron White's assassin AND as a double agent in the Broken Eye group, comes ever closer to her breaking point.

And so much other stuff that a synopsis is pointless. Just read these books.

My Thoughts:

Much like the previous books, I had a hard time getting into this one. I didn't feel like I WANTED to read this book. That lasted for until about the 10% mark and then a switch flipped and wham, I was racing along again. This exact same thing has happened in all 3 other books, so something about how Week's writes is the culprit. When I do my re-read of his Night Angel trilogy next year I'll see if happens with that as well.

I was all over the place while reading this. So the good first.

This is epic fantasy with some hardcore action. Battles, invisible assassins, magic prisons, people growing up, people realizing that they're not done growing up, tying this into a Christian world view. If you aren't looking for that though, I don't know if one would see it. Weeks uses a Bible verse or two. He also ties Orholam, and mythical fallen creatures, to God and the devil in our world. I thought it was quite cleverly done and not all shoving preachiness down the readers' throats. Kip and Tisis growing together as a married couple. It was wicked nice to see them CHOOSE to love instead of letting their feelings set the tone. Feelings do follow, but they make that choice and it impressed me. You don't see that much nowadays, with all the teen/YA angst romance crap.

Unfortunately, that leads me into the less than good.

Tisis had some sort of condition that prevented her from having sex. Weeks actually addresses the condition in an afterward, but I didn't want to read about it. I'm a pretty private person about some things and intimate matters definitely falls into that area. So to read about those issues just made me very uncomfortable. It really added to the relationship but I didn't like it.

The other thing was the continued profanity. It has bugged me since Book 1 and it will until the end.

The final problem is that now I have to wait who knows how long until the next book. Thankfully, I've got a boatload of good books to keep me distracted. Weeks tells the kind of stories I like to read and I trust he'll keep putting out good stuff for years to come.