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: Troilus and Cressida Author: William Shakespeare Rating: 2.5 of 5 Stars Genre: Play Pages: 315 Words: 91K
Yawn.
It appears that 4 of Shakespeare’s play in a monthly row is about all I can handle. Troilus and Cressida was the 5th and it was pure drivel and misery for me. I simply could not get into the flow or anything. It might have been the play itself but whatever the reason, I was within an inch of just skipping it and reading the Wikipedia entry. That’s not a good place to be in.
So I’m taking off from Shakespeare, yet again. I have no clue if I’m going to come back this time. I’ll give it a couple months of thought and make a decision then. I’m in no frame of mind to think rationally about these plays right now.
★★✬☆☆
From Wikipedia:
Troilus and Cressida is set during the later years of the Trojan War, faithfully following the plotline of the Iliad from Achilles’ refusal to participate in battle to Hector’s death. Essentially, two plots are followed in the play. In one, Troilus, a Trojan prince (son of Priam), woos Cressida, another Trojan. They profess their undying love, before Cressida is exchanged for a Trojan prisoner of war. As he attempts to visit her in the Greek camp, Troilus glimpses Diomedes flirting with his beloved Cressida, and decides to avenge her perfidy.
While this plot gives the play its name, it accounts for only a small part of the play’s run time. The majority of the play revolves around the leaders of the Greek and Trojan forces, Agamemnon and Priam, respectively. Agamemnon and his cohorts attempt to get the proud Achilles to return to battle and face Hector, who sends the Greeks a letter telling them of his willingness to engage in one-on-one combat with a Greek soldier. Ajax is originally chosen as this combatant, but makes peace with Hector before they are able to fight. Achilles is prompted to return to battle only after his protege Patroclus is killed by Hector before the Trojan walls. A series of skirmishes conclude the play, during which Achilles catches Hector and has the Myrmidons kill him. The conquest of Troy is left unfinished, as the Trojans learn of the death of their hero.
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: Groo and the Siege Second Try Series: Groo the Wanderer #20 Author: Sergio Aragones Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars Genre: Comics Pages: 24 Words: 2K
Hahahahahaa! Oh man, I totally did not see the final part coming. I knew the Sage was going to be able to help Groo, but I just didn’t see him misunderstanding the whole situation. Oh, it took Groo’s level of destruction to a whole new level. If I lived in a world with a Groo, I’d try to figure out a way to harness his contrary-luck (it’s not necessarily “bad”, it just doesn’t work for anyone but Groo).
Of course, the enemies of Grooella do just that. Well, maybe not quite “harnessing” it, but they figure out how to make it work for them. Which is more than Grooella has ever done, hahahahahaa.
I’ve included the final panel where the enemies make use of Groo’s particular disability 😉
★★★✬☆
From Bookstooge.blog
Groo tries to help Grooella again and just makes things even worse. As always. To the point where the enemy uses Groo. Finally Groo decides to get help from the Sage, who helps Groo destroy the castle, because Groo forgot to tell him that the castle belonged to Grooella. The comic ends with both the Sage and Grooella chasing Groo down so they can kill 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: Firestorm Series: Empire Rising #5 Author: David Holmes Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars Genre: SF Pages: 324 Words: 124K
MUCH more enjoyable than the previous book. Over 20K of words less and it showed by being a tighter, leaner story and I think we all benefit from that. There were no letters, thank goodness.
There is still the “they fire X missiles” and the countdown to how they all get destroyed or not. But I was reading an older review of one of Doug Dandridge’s books and he did the exact same thing, so I guess that’s a “feature” of indie milsf writers.
We are also introduced to the next Somerville, Captain Happypant’s illegitimate niece. Since Happypants is pretty much now a commodore and the next step for him will be sitting behind a desk getting fat and reminiscing about “back in my day the Navy was blah, blah, blah”, and Mighty Niece is just entering navy school, I fully expect the next book to be a transition from Happypants as the main character to Mighty Niece.
Also, now that there is evidence of the Master Alien Race that really is setting lower races against each other, I expect them to take more of centerstage as the villainous, gloating, rubbing of hands (or whatever appendage that translates to for them) bad guy. There have been hints from the beginnings of each chapter (where it is the year 3000’ish and the Empire is at the height of its power) that is a War of Doom where humanity takes a tremendous beating and almost loses the survival war. I suspect the new MAR’s have a hand in that.
Unlike the last book, I didn’t notice any awkward dialogue. Nothing that threw me out of the book at all. Doesn’t mean it was Nero Wolfe / Archie Goodwin banter, but it was solid dialogue that didn’t make me wince. That’s a big step in the right direction and I’m happy about that.
★★★✬☆
From the Publisher
Four peaceful years have passed since the liberation of Haven. Captain James Somerville has taken his command, the heavy cruiser Titan, to Earth for a much-needed refit. As he is there, shocking news arrives from the American colonies. Unknown ships have attacked a remote colony. Nuclear missiles have devastated the planet’s surface leaving almost no survivors. Suddenly, the human nations find themselves thrust into a war for the very survival of their species. Old rivalries must be set aside if this new threat is to be confronted. Once again James finds himself thrust into the midst of battle. This time, the stakes are as high as they can get.
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: Golden Spiders Series: Nero Wolfe #22 Author: Rex Stout Rating: 4 of 5 Stars Genre: Mystery Pages: 175 Words: 58K
This was a tough one because right near the beginning a boy gets killed after coming to Nero Wolfe and Archie lets him in the house as a way to get revenge on Wolfe for his bad attitude. It wasn’t their fault but it happened. Several other people are killed too but the death of the child is what makes Wolfe do his utmost this time around.
Whooooo, what a great cast of characters this time. Sometimes Archie and Wolfe dominate a book and the side characters are very small side characters. But sometimes, like here, the side characters really pop and stand out. There is a lawyer and a public relations guy and man, they are both as slimey as Cthulhu’s tentacles, and they’re probably just as evil, whether willfully or through deliberately ignoring what is going on. I loved to hate on them and every time Wolfe put either of them into their place I was super happy and felt good about myself. Childish and immature, yes, but also very, very, very true.
I always rave about how good Nero Wolfe stories are and what a wordsmith Rex Stout is and it remains true. That is part of why my reviews of these books are so short. When something is good, I simply read it and enjoy it and my review consists of a lack of problems. I don’t necessarily enumerate all the positives but the lack of negatives is how I roll.
I am about at the halfway mark through the series. I started with Fer-de-lance in March of 2021. Here I am, 2 ½ years later, still reading, still loving, still going strong. To me, the fact that I still look forward to reading a Nero Wolfe book every 4-6 weeks speaks absolute volumes about not only the entertainment value but also the quality. I’ve dropped indie SF authors before simply because the quality of writing was mediocre and I could only stand it for a couple of volumes. Stout puts out quality stuff each and every time and I am proud to say that I can appreciate that fact. I suspect Stout is pretty proud that such an esteemed personage as myself is not only reading his books, but reviewing them too. But don’t worry, there is plenty of room on this bandwagon, so jump on and have yourself the ride of a lifetime.
★★★★☆
From Wikipedia:
After Nero Wolfe reacts petulantly to a change in one of his favourite meals, Archie Goodwin plays a prank on him by allowing Pete Drossos, a neighbourhood child, to enter and ask for Wolfe’s help on a case. Pete claims that while he was washing the windows of car at a stop light the driver, a woman wearing distinctive golden earrings in the shape of spiders, silently asked him to summon a police officer, and Pete believes she was being threatened by her male passenger. To indulge Pete, Wolfe has Archie pass Pete’s information on to the police, but the next day they learn that the same car, now driven by a man in a brown suit and hat, has struck and killed Pete. Matthew Birch, an agent of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, was also struck and killed by the same car, apparently on the same day that Pete approached Wolfe. While this suggests Birch was the man Pete saw in the car evidence at the scene proves Birch was killed before Pete, ruling him out as Pete’s murderer.
Wolfe is visited by Pete’s mother, who gives them his savings of $4.30 and asks them to use it to find his killer. Archie, angered at Wolfe’s reluctance to get involved, puts an advertisement in the newspaper, asking the woman in the car to contact Wolfe. Laura Fromm, a wealthy widow, responds to the advertisement and arrives at Wolfe’s house wearing the golden spider earrings. Wolfe and Archie quickly determine that she is not the person they seek, but she is horrified on learning of Pete’s death and claims that she may know who was driving. Fromm refuses to reveal the information, but the next day Wolfe and Archie receive news that she too has been struck by a car and killed. Infuriated by the fact that two people who came to him for help are now dead, Wolfe decides to solve the murders.
Archie learns that the last people to see Fromm alive are all directly or indirectly connected to a charity for displaced persons that Fromm supported with sizeable donations. While Wolfe assigns his operatives Saul Panzer, Fred Durkin and Orrie Cather to pursue various leads, Archie approaches those present at a dinner attended by charity officials – including Fromm’s secretary Jean Estey, the charity’s attorney Dennis Horan and his wife, and the charity’s director Angela Wright – and offers to sell the details of the conversation between Wolfe and Fromm in an attempt to flush out the guilty party. Before he can approach Paul Kuffner, the charity’s public-relations director, Kuffner approaches Wolfe and offers to pay for the information. Realising he has been tipped off, Wolfe rejects the offer.
Saul, who has been posing as a displaced person seeking help from the charity, reveals that after he had approached Horan for help he was subsequently visited by a man who tried to blackmail him out of $10,000. Meanwhile, Fred has tracked down two hoodlums who claim to have been working with Birch. On discovering that Fred is a private investigator they attempt to torture him for information, but Archie, Saul and Orrie — who have been independently following either Fred or the hoodlums — manage to rescue him. Saul confirms that one of the hoodlums, “Lips” Egan, is the blackmailer, and a notebook in his pocket reveals the existence of a blackmail ring targeting poor, illegal immigrants.
Before the investigators can interrogate the hoodlums further, Horan arrives unexpectedly at Egan’s base of operations. Archie takes Horan and the hoodlums to Wolfe’s office, where they are held for questioning by Wolfe and Inspector Cramer. Horan tries to distance himself from the two hoodlums, but Egan confesses to the blackmail and implicates Horan as well. Egan reveals that Birch was one of the ringleaders of the operation, but that he in turn took orders from an unknown woman. This confirms to Wolfe a flawed assumption made by the police: that the driver of the car that killed Pete was a man, when in fact it was a woman disguised as a man.
With the principals and several police officers assembled in his office, Wolfe reveals the identity of the murderer: Fromm’s secretary Jean Estey. Estey was the true mastermind of the blackmail ring, but Fromm had begun to suspect her and, after overhearing the codeword she used – “said a spider to a fly” – had given the spider earrings to Estey as a subtle way of confronting her. Estey murdered Birch when he demanded a larger share of the blackmail proceeds, then killed Pete and Fromm to hide her connections to Birch and the illegal operation. When a clothing store owner brought in by Orrie identifies Estey as having purchased the suit and hat worn by the driver who killed Pete, she is arrested for the murders and Horan and Egan are arrested for the blackmail.
Wolfe burns Egan’s notebook to prevent the identities of the blackmail victims from being exposed, leading Archie to worry that he may be charged with destroying evidence, but all three defendants are convicted even without it.
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 World Awakening Series: Gateways to Alissia #3 Author: Dan Koboldt Rating: 3 of 5 Stars Genre: Fantasy Pages: 286 Words: 89K
CASE Global, the big bad business, sends in hundreds of armed mercenaries to take over Alissia and use its resources for themselves. And said mercenies are armed with the latest technology and weapons. No more fake bows and arrow, we’re talking guns, grenades, etc. So I was wondering how Koboldt was going to wrap up what was the start of a World War and he does it by destroying the gateway so the mercs get zero reinforcements of both personnel and equipment. Kind of takes the teeth out of things that way.
Quinn wasn’t as selfishly juvenile this time around AND he starts to use real magic and not use any fake tricks. But he was very much just a cog in the machine instead of being the main character. There wasn’t one person I could point to in this and call them THE main character. It kind of was spread all over, which was ok but I was hoping for more from Quinn to show a Hero’s Journey. Oh well.
I do like that Koboldt pretty much states that this was the end of his journey into Alissia. I like it when an author makes a clear cut ending and doesn’t come crawling back. Of course, this was only published in 2018, so there’s still plenty of time for him to do some crawling, but I really hope not. This series ended well and I would like my memories of it to stay positive.
★★★☆☆
From the Author and Bookstooge.blog
Quinn Bradley has learned to use the magic of another world. And that world is in danger.
Having decided to betray CASE Global, he can finally reveal his origins to the Enclave and warn them about the company’s imminent invasion. Even if it means alienating Jillaine…and allying with someone he’s always considered his adversary.
But war makes for strange bedfellows, and uniting Alissians against such a powerful enemy will require ancient enmities—as well as more recent antagonisms—to be set aside. The future of their pristine world depends on it.
As Quinn searches for a way to turn the tide, his former CASE Global squad-mates face difficult decisions of their own. For some, it’s a matter of what they’re willing to do to get home. For others, it’s deciding whether they want to go home at all.
Holt dies, the woman who was in love with him takes over as the ruler, one of the mercs makes it back through the gates, the magician is able to destroy the gate, thus cutting the link between our world and Alissia. Overall, all the good guys get a semi-happy ending and Quinn ends up with the girl. The end.
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: Taran Wanderer Series: The Prydain Chronicles #4 Author: Lloyd Alexander Rating: 5 of 5 Stars Genre: Fantasy Pages: 130 Words: 57K
This was a coming of age story in the fullest sense of that idea. Taran wanders Prydain trying to find out who his parents were because he wants to marry Eilonwy and thinks he has to have royal blood to marry her. So he sets out and has many adventures and sees the variety of the people of Prydain, the good, the bad and the just plain stupid. He settles disputes, learns a lot of skills and by the end realizes that he is simply Taran and that is good enough.
This is the kind of story that I think every tween and teen boy should read. Unless they are a sports jock type of guy, in which case they won’t be reading anyway, so it doesn’t matter in their case. But even then, they should be forced to read this. Boys need examples of what a man is. A boy does not grow up and mature into a man all by himself. Without the guidance of a man, he will probably grow up to be a big boy. Seeing another boy having adventures and becoming a man is one of the best ways for a boy to realize that he can be something more than just a boy. But it is a choice on his part. Taran is put in circumstances beyond his control for almost all of the story but in each episode he chooses how to react and what to do. He’s a great example and I think that is wonderful.
Part of my enjoyment of the story was just seeing that idea written out. Part of my enjoyment was the nostalgia of re-reading a favorite story from my own teen years. And part of my enjoyment was simply the fact that I was enjoying this re-read so much.
I chose this cover because it is the one I remember getting from our public library in ‘90 or ‘91. It has that scary yet not “too” scary vibe. Perfecto!
★★★★★
From Wikipedia.org
Taran and Gurgi have returned to Caer Dallben after leaving Princess Eilonwy at the royal court of Dinas Rhydnant for education in the ways of a princess. Taran has come to realize that he loves Eilonwy; but although he has proven his worth as a man, he is restless and determined to know his parentage, partly in hopes that noble birth will support a marriage proposal. Dallben the enchanter tells him nothing about his heritage, but gives his approval for Taran and Gurgi to travel on their own in search of an answer. Taran and Gurgi travel first to the Marshes of Morva to ask the witches Orddu, Orwen and Orgoch. Taran has nothing of great value to give in exchange, so Orddu merely tells him of an alternative: that the Mirror of Llunet in the far east Llawgadarn Mountains will show him who he is.
Taran sets out to Cantrev Cadiffor to be outfitted by King Smoit. After a border patrol of Smoit’s vassal, Lord Goryon, steals his horse Melynlas and Gurgi’s pony, they spend the night with the farm couple Aeddan and Alarca who have lost their son and livestock. Taran is welcomed to remain, but he gently declines and leaves with new respect for common farmers. Taran and Gurgi recover their steeds at Goryon’s fortress because Melynlas will have no other rider, and Goryon is relieved to escape the burden of mastering him. At the neighboring stronghold of Lord Gast, they meet their old friend Fflewddur Fflam, who has returned to wandering as a bard, and together they go on to Caer Cadarn, where Smoit welcomes them.
Goryon and Gast have been feuding over their cattle stock for years, especially over Cornillo, an exceptional cow. When their dispute breaks out again the next day, Cornillo and the combined cattle herds of the two lords run off. After they recover the herd, Taran persuades King Smoit to resort to a wiser judgment to settle the continual dispute: The rival cantrev lords shall resow the fields of Aeddan, which have been ruined by their feud, and Cornillo is given to Aeddan as further compensation, although the lords shall have her next calves. The childless widower Smoit later offers to adopt Taran as his son and future King of Cadiffor. Taran declines, but says he will gladly accept if he discovers noble birth.
Continuing eastward, they cross the river Ystrad. Taran’s pet crow Kaw reveals the hiding place of a polished bone the size of a toothpick, which has been stashed high in a tree. Fflewddur’s mount Llyan, a giant cat, brings a green and yellow frog, who is really their old friend Doli the dwarf. Doli has been transformed during his investigation of a deadly threat to the Fair Folk: A human wizard named Morda has attained the power to enchant them, and to raid their underground realms. Taran, Gurgi and Fflewddur investigate Morda’s abode, but are all captured. Morda begins to boast to his captives, explaining that during a winter many years ago, he was sought out by the enchantress Angharad, who was searching for her kidnapped daughter Eilonwy, but left her to die from exhaustion. Among her possessions, Morda found an amulet, a gift to her from the Fair Folk which became the primary source of his power, and an empty book, which he gave to Glew when the latter begged him to make him a sorcerer.
Morda turns Fflewddur and Gurgi into a hare and a mouse, respectively, but fails to transform Taran. Taran deduces that the bone splinter Kaw found is Morda’s little finger, in which he has stored his own life force to attain immortality and then cut off of his hand to keep it safe, and that Morda is unable to harm Taran so long as he possesses it. As Taran and Morda struggle over the bone, Morda inadvertently snaps it, causing his own death and ending the spell which transformed the companions. After recovering Angharad’s amulet, Taran reflects that it could make him powerful, but decides to return it to Doli’s people, the Fair Folk, who made it. Just before they part ways, Doli identifies the ceremonial horn Eilonwy recovered from the ruins of Caer Colur, which Taran still carries with him, as a magical item with which Taran can issue one single call for aid from the Fair Folk.
Taran, Gurgi, and Fflewddur camp next with the ruffian Dorath and his band. Their hosts suspect a quest for treasure and offer guidance to Llunet, in exchange for a share. The guests try to slip away early next morning, but Dorath prevents it and extracts a wager on hand-to-hand combat with Taran. He cheats and takes Taran’s sword, then departs.
An old shepherd with decrepit holdings, Craddoc, welcomes the companions next. From Taran’s account of the mission, Craddoc reveals that Taran is, in fact, his son. Fflewddur departs, but Taran and Gurgi remain and labor beside Craddoc. Taran and Craddoc develop a bond, but Taran also resents the end of his dream of noble birth. During the next winter, however, Craddoc suffers a bad fall down a mountain gorge and Taran is unable to rescue him. Near death, Craddoc reveals that he merely posed as Taran’s father to gain himself a son. The gorge and the weather threaten Taran as well, and he finally summons the Fair Folk, who are able to save only Taran and Gurgi.
After burying Craddoc, Taran and Gurgi continue eastward, across Little Avren to the Free Commots, and stay for a while with lucky Llonio and his family on the banks of the river. Next, Taran assists and learns the trades of three great craftmasters: Hevydd the smith, Dwyvach the weaver, and Annlaw the potter. He learns enough that he would be welcome to remain as an assistant, and gains a new sword, a new cloak, and a new bowl, but still cannot find fulfillment. While ferrying the wares of Annlaw to Commot Isav, he leads the poor farming village in resistance of a raid by Dorath, killing half the band at no loss of life on the farmers’ side.
Upon Taran’s return, Annlaw tells him the way to the Mirror of Llunet, which he knows about, but has never visited. After a short journey, Taran and Gurgi find the Mirror: a pool of water at the mouth of a cave beyond the Lake of Llunet. Taran gazes into it, but Dorath interrupts and defiles the pool. He and Taran meet in a swordfight, in which Taran’s old sword shatters on his new one and Dorath flees. Taran does not pursue but returns to Annlaw, whom he tells that the Mirror showed his own reflection and nothing more. He does not feel cheated by Orddu, for he has seen what he has become by his own labor and all he has learned on the way. With new confidence in himself, he and Gurgi depart back to Caer Dallben.
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, & Librarything by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: Through a Mythos Darkly Series: Cthulhu Anthology #11 Editor: Glynn Barrass & Brian Sammons Rating: 2.5 of 5 Stars Genre: Cosmic Horror Pages: 257 Words: 98K
The title of this anthology is a rip off of the Bible verse from 1st Corinthians, Chapter 13, verse 12 which starts out “For now we see in a mirror, darkly;” so I knew going in that this might very well be quite blasphemous. Thankfully, it wasn’t.
But it wasn’t that good either. I have built up my expectations about Glynn Barrass as an editor and he really let me down this time. I think a large part of that was the inclusion of a bunch of woke buzz words and ideas that shaped the stories into more political screeds than actual good story telling. Plus, several of them were using very modern terms (health care practitioner in the 1920’s, I don’t think so!) in stories where said words weren’t used that way. It just threw me out of the story every time it happened and damped down my enjoyment.
Plus, several of the stories had that “man is evil, man is a monster, man should just destroy himself to make the world a better place” mentality which has nothing to do with cosmic horror and more to do with the author’s thoughts and feelings about humanity. Which if they really believed that, they would put a gun in their mouth and blow their brains out. And we would all be better off not having to put up with their stupidity. But what they MEAN is that everyone ELSE is a monster and should destroy themselves, obviously not them!
The short story “Fate of the World” had a tie in with the King in Yellow in that Carcosa is a real place on Earth and is at war with the rest of world who are under the sway of various elder gods. But that was it and was barely there. The King doesn’t even appear. So it wasn’t what I expected or wanted.
Overall, I was pretty disappointed with this collection. While not egregiously bad like The Black Wings of Cthulhu, I am actually rating this lower because there wasn’t even one story that really rose above the rest. Everything was grey, mediocre pablum. That is the very antithesis of Cosmic Horror.
★★✬☆☆
Publisher’s Blurb & Table of Contents:
In this Cthulhu Mythos inspired anthology, editors Glynn Owen Barrass & Brian M. Sammons invited their authors to Take a steampunk world, fill it with giant steam powered robots, and have them herding shoggoths for the betterment of mankind. Have them rebel, and have do-gooders set about trying to free them. Fill a world with Deep Ones or Ghouls, or create a world where magic is a part of everyday life, or where America was never discovered because something kept eating the ships, or the Nazis won WWII thanks to outside influences. Perhaps the Chinese built the Great Wall to keep something out other than Mongol hordes. So, how did they do? Fantastically of course.
TOC:
Introduction (Through a Mythos Darkly) • essay by Glynn Owen Barrass and Brian M. Sammons
The Roadrunners • short fiction by Cody Goodfellow
Scrimshaw • short fiction by Jeffrey Thomas
Sweet Angie Tailor in: Subterranean Showdown • short story by John Langan
An Old and Secret Cult • short fiction by Robert M. Price
Stewert Behr—Deanimator • short fiction by Peter Rawlik [as by Pete Rawlik]
To Kill a King • short fiction by Don Webb
The Last Quest • short story by William Meikle
Fate of the World • short fiction by Christine Morgan
Red in the Water, Salt on the Earth • short fiction by Konstantine Paradias
The Night They Drove Cro Magnon Down • short fiction by D. A. Madigan
Sacrifice • short fiction by Sam Stone
Get Off Your Knees, I’m Not Your God • short fiction by Edward R. Morris
Excerpts from the Diaries of Henry P. Linklatter • short fiction by Stephen Mark Rainey
Plague Doctor • short fiction by Tim Waggoner
Amidst the Blighted Swathes of Grey Desolation • short fiction by Lee Clark Zumpe
Cognac, Communism, and Cocaine • short fiction by Nick Mamatas and Molly Tanzer
Kai Monstrai Ateik (When the Monsters Come) • short fiction by Damien Angelica Walters
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: Rock Jaw: Master of the Eastern Border Series: Bone #28-32 Author: Jeff Smith Rating: 3 of 5 Stars Genre: Comics Pages: 128 Words: 5K
My goodness, what a lot of back and forth. Between Roque Ja, locusts, Dream Kingdok, REAL Kingdok and various rat creatures, Fone and Smiley are on the run the entire time. If I had had to read this in five individual comic issues, I would have quit for sure. As it was, lumping these together gave me “just enough” of a story to feel like I hadn’t wasted my time.
But barely.
I have to admit, I really preferred the beginning of the series when it was just the Bone cousins having little mini-adventures in a new place and meeting new people. This whole “ancient battle between mega-powerful forces” is not what I want. At this point though, I simply don’t remember enough of the story to stop and I DO want to see how things end. Now that I’m not hobbling myself with an issue a month, I can bypass Smith’s stupidity and total jackassery at pacing and read at a clip that suits me better.
I do wonder if I’m going to see Roque Ja again or if Smith just used him as a one off character to write a side story. A gigantic mountain lion is pretty cool so I do hope we see him again, even if he isn’t necessarily one of the good guys.
On the funny side, there was another “stupid, stupid rat creatures” moment involving Roque Ja and the two rogue rat creatures. I just laughed my head off at Roque Ja’s expression here 🙂
★★★☆☆
From Bookstooge.blog (because the Boneville.fandom.com people are a bunch of pissant losers)
Fone and Smiley and Bartleby (the baby rat creature) escape the two rat creatures who want to turn them into quiches. In the process they run into a giant mountain lion named Roque Ja. He is against the dragons and the rat creatures but hates the dragons more. Fone, Smiley and Bartleby are rescued from him by the possum kids who get the two rat creatures into Roque Ja’s sight. All three go over a cliff. An enraged Roque Ja chases the Bones and various small orphan creatures into a cave.
The cave leads to an abandoned temple. Everybody starts to head down the mountain away from Roque Ja. Only to be discovered by the two rat creatures. Who are then in turn discovered by Kingdok the lord of the rat creatures. Everybody ends up on a ledge trying not to get eaten by Kingdok. A bunch of locusts show up and try to kidnap Fone. A medallion falls out of his backpack and banishes them. It also banished Kingdok, who was only a dream manifestation from the old temple they passed though.
Roque Ja finds them all and delivers them to the real Kingdok, who betrays Roque Ja by trying to kill him. In the scuffle the group of Bones and orphans escape to the treeline. Bartleby ends up with the rat creatures and the Bones begin the journey back to the village to figure out what is going on.
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Title: Mobsmen on the Spot Series: The Shadow #9 Author: Maxwell Grant Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars Genre: Crime Fiction Pages: 190 Words: 60K
We are introduced to yet another new agent for the Shadow. A former mob member who has spent time in jail for robbing a bank and killing a cop. Only the Shadow knows the truth about it all and uses the man to bring down a mastermind behind a bunch of protection rackets.
I thought this was really good. The Shadow maneuvers various levels of mobsters against each other and lets them spill their own blood. Things don’t go all his way though, as one good business man is murdered and the daughter of another is kidnapped.
The mastermind once again is pretty obvious once it becomes apparent that there IS a mastermind. That type of thing used to bother me, and under the right circumstances still might, but overall, I like a nice simple story where I don’t have to use my brain much. Working 9hrs in the heat and humidity really fries my mental capacity and I can appreciate a well told story that entertains me yet doesn’t expect me to turn into Sherlock Holmes to figure out what is going on.
If this was a Sandwich Rating, I would have probably given it the Toasted Tomato Sandwich rating. But it was missing the 1/2lb of black pepper that I usually dump on mine, hence the half star downgrade. Black Pepper makes a toasted tomato sandwich really pop and gives it that extra zing that makes me go “Yuuuuuuuum!”.
★★★✬☆
From the Publisher
Who KNOWS WHAT EVIL LURKS IN THE HEARTS OF MEN?
Who calls the shots for the country’s toughest gangsters? Who makes them dance to an offer they can’t refuse? Who is the invisible power behind the scenes of Manhattan’s billion-dollar protection rackets?
THE SHADOW KNOWS only that the criminal mastermind who controls the waterfront, the warehouses and the garages, is about to invade the theaters of the world’s most volatile city, where the root of crime flourishes, gangland-style.
THE SHADOW stalks his man with cunning, stealth and brilliance, and the eerie laugh that is his hallmark. The laugh that aims to chill all who have ever tasted the bitter fruit of the weed of crime: The Underworld, whose secrets belong to this Master of Darkness!
