The Resolve of Immortal Flesh (Collision #1) 2Stars DNF@45%

 

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 Resolve of Immortal Flesh
Series: Collision #1
Author: Rich Colburn
Rating: 2 of 5 Stars DNF@45%
Genre: Thriller
Pages: 543 / 242
Words: 212K / 95K
Publish: 2016

I really tried to give this book the benefit of the doubt, mainly because it had been recommended to me in the Book Recommendations V post. However, the guy who wrote this made that impossible. He’s a bad writer with a terrible sense of pacing, an ego that demands he blather on and on about his pet philosophy and the lack of ability to write realistic characters that are more than cardboard.

This should have been a 300 page book, tops. But we spend an inordinate amount of time following the main character as he grows up in a broken home with insane parents. Things randomly happen with no apparent connection. The main character is also an asshole. I’d have gladly chopped his self-centered head off with my Tool of the Trade.

This is bad writing by a bad writer and I’m glad to see that he hasn’t churned out any more trash after 2017 when he put out the sequel to this book. Harsh, yes, but writers like this guy are polluting the literary landscapes like microplastics are polluting our water supply. They should be ashamed of putting out such sub-par garbage. They aren’t skilled enough and they are also teaching a whole generation of readers to accept writing that isn’t good. I’m going to stop there before I start talking about their “special” place in the afterlife :-(

★★☆☆☆

From the writer

What if the spirit world was rampant with technology sophisticated beyond anything mankind
has imagined?
What if a sociopath got his hands on a powerful piece of this technology?
What if you couldn’t die no matter how much damage your body sustained?
Join a reluctant hero on his quest to discover what the heck he should do with his time now that he has unlimited power and the world as he knew it collides with the “unseen” world. Will demon-possessed biomechanical monsters kill everyone? Will there be enough coffee to last through to the end of the world? Will that play into our hero’s decision whether or not to bother saving it? These are questions we’ve all wondered about. Explore these and other important philosophical questions as you follow the adventure that was contrived to do just that.

On a more serous note:
The Collision series offers a technological explanation for the supernatural. Human psychology, questions of life and death, and the nature of the supernatural play a critical role in the story of a man who becomes aware of the technology used by beings existing in higher modes of reality. The story is filled with humorous situations and comments, fantasy machines, and philosophical discussion.
The target audience is young adult to adult. The book does include some supernatural horror and some violence.

Best of Mystery 3.5Stars

 

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: Best of Mystery
Series: ----------
Editor: Alfred Hitchcock
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Crime Fiction
Pages: 745
Words: 304K
Publish: 1976

When I started this book of short stories, my intention was to take some notes, as I had kind of, sort of, maybe’ish glanced at the page numbers and my brain registered that this wasn’t one of the normal 200-250 page collections. However, I was using this as a buffer to get through both Skitarius and Tech-Priest (of which not even this book could save Tech-Priest). That didn’t lend itself well to taking notes, so I figured I would just do that after I ended up dnf’ing Tech-Priest.

The problem then became that this beast of a book became a crashing avalanche of stories that I dared not stop lest I become crushed under its ponderous weight. There are 63 stories in this volume. That is just too much. If I had stopped to take notes on even ten of these stories, I probably would have dnf’d this collection just out of despair at so much crime and evil being portrayed. So to continue with the avalanche imagery, I had to keep racing down the literary mountain trying to stay one story ahead. I managed it and I was ok, but I don’t think I’ll try to read another Hitchcock collection that is this big again in the future (not that I have any, mind you. I just looked and the next biggest one is just a shade over 400pages, which I think I can handle). The last time I read a collection this big was Tales of Terror, which had 58 stories.

I guess I’m going to chalk this up to a lesson learned, again. Hahahahaa.

★★★✬☆

Table of Contents:

WINTER RUN—Edward D. Hoch

YOU CANT BLAME ME—Henry Slesar

A FLOWER IN HER HAIR—Pauline C. Smith

THE COST OF KENT CASTWELL—Avram Davidson

PSEUDO IDENTITY—Lawrence Block

THAT RUSSIAN!—Jack Ritchie

GALTON AND THE YELLING BOYS—Hillary Waugh

BLIND DATE—Charles Boeckman

PRESSURE—Roderick Wilkinson

THE RUNNING MAN—Bill Pronzini

THE VIETNAM CIRCLE—F. J. Kelly

SADIE WHEN SHE DIED—Ed McBain

A VERY CAUTIOUS BOY—Gilbert Ralston

A TRY FOR THE BIG PRIZE—Borden Deal

VOICE IN THE NIGHT—Robert Colby

UNDERTAKER, PLEASE DRIVE SLOW—Ron Goulart

NEVER SHAKE A FAMILY TREE—Donald E. Westlake

HERE LIES ANOTHER BLACKMAILER—Bill Pronzini

DEAD DUCK—Lawrence Treat

GAMES FOR ADULTS—John Lutz

NIGHT OF THE TWISTERS—James Michael Ullman

VARIATIONS ON A GAME—Patricia Highsmith

CHILD’S PLAY—William Link and Richard Levinson

JUST A LITTLE IMPRACTICAL JOKE—Richard Stark

MURDERER #2—Jean Potts

THE THIRD CALL—Jack Ritchie

DAMON AND PYTHIAS AND DELILAH BROWN—Rufus King

GLORY HUNTER—Richard M. Ellis

LINDA IS GONE—Pauline C. Smith

FRIGHTENED LADY—C. B. Gilford

COME BACK, COME BACK . . .—Donald E. Westlake

ONCE UPON A BANK FLOOR—James Holding

WARRIOR’S FAREWELL—Edward D. Hoch

DEATH BY MISADVENTURE—Wenzell Brown

WITH A SMILE FOR THE ENDING—Lawrence Block

TELEVISION COUNTRY—Charlotte Edwards

ART FOR MONEY’S SAKE—Dan J. Marlowe

NOTHING BUT HUMAN NATURE—Hillary Waugh

MURDER, 1990—C. B. Gilford

PANTHER, PANTHER IN THE NIGHT—Paul W. Fairman

PERFECTLY TIMED PLOT—E. X. Ferrars

#8—Jack Ritchie

ALL THE NEEDLESS KILLING—Bryce Walton

A MELEE OF DIAMONDS—Edward D. Hoch

ONE FOR THE CROW—Mary Barrett

HAPPINESS BEFORE DEATH—Henry Slesar

I DON’T UNDERSTAND IT—Bill Pronzini

NEWS FROM NOWHERE—Ron Goulart

A CASE OF DESPERATION—Kate Wilhelm

AN INTERLUDE FOR MURDER—Paul Tabori

DEATH OVERDUE—Eleanor Daly Boylan

THE BEST-FRIEND MURDER—Donald E. Westlake

PATTERN OF GUILT—Helen Nielsen

A REAL, LIVE MURDERER—Donald Honig

DOCTOR APOLLO—Bryce Walton

THE PURSUER—Holly Roth

FINAL ARRANGEMENTS—Lawrence Page

COUNTDOWN—David Ely

MURDER BETWEEN FRIENDS—Nedra Tyre

CASE OF THE KIND WAITRESS—Henry Slesar

GHOST OF A CHANCE—Carroll Mayers

THE MONTEVIDEO SQUEEZE—James Holding

THE WHITE MOTH—Margaret Chenoweth

• All of My “Alfred Hitchcock” Reviews

Currently Reading: Joshua

 

The last time I read through my Bible from cover to cover was back in 2020. Abandoning my daily reading had the predictable result of me forming some thought patterns that were definitely not Christ-like. I've addressed those earlier this year and began my daily reading again. Then I got hit with my eye palsy and I stopped. Then that stoppage became a habit (again) and I just didn't start up. So this November I decided that come hell or high water, I was going to start reading my Bible daily again. I am starting the book of Joshua, which is the 6th book of the Bible.

Joshua is one of the History books of the Bible and chronicles the following for the nation of Israel starting around 1400 B.C.

I. Entering the land  [1-5]
II. Conquering the land [6-12]
III. Allocating the land [13-24]

I originally had grand visions of tearing through the entire Bible and getting it done by year's end. Considering I have 60 more books after Joshua, that simply isn't happening. But 30minutes in the evening, every evening, should get it done by early '26, and that same schedule should see me through it again by the end of '26. That's the goal anyway. Wish me luck!

Island Sanctuary - MTG 4E

 

When I look at this, all I can think of is the TriStar company production logo. I don't know HOW Wizards of the Coast got away with this.

Daylight Saving - But Who Will Save Us?

 

yes, I fully support the sentiment expressed in this trailer. I hate daylight saving and I hate going back and forth twice a year. It royally messes me up. 

October '25 Roundup & Ramblings

 

Raw Data:

Novels - 16 ↑

Short Stories - 0 -

Manga/Graphic Novels - 0 -

Comics - 1 -

Average Rating - 3.12 ↓

Pages - 3163 ↓

Words - 1112 ↓

The Bad:

Lavondyss - 2stars of DNF

Mists of Doom - 1.5stars of me being done with Conan pastiches

Tech-Priest - 1.5stars of advertising for Warhammer 40K models Boooooo!

The Good:

The Tombs of Atuan - 5stars of yet more fantastic writing by LeGuin

The Warrior's Apprentice - 4.5stars of what I expected from Bujold

Bloodlines - 4.5stars of Correia once again delivering the goods!

Movie:

The Fifth Element is a good scifi romp as long as you don't mind the slight hokiness. Blond Bruce Willis doesn't hurt things at all either.

Miscellaneous Posts:

• Currently Reading: Adeptus Mechanicus
• Tool of the Trade
• The [Rant] I Had To Trash
• Ironroot Treefolk - MTG 4E
• Pumpkin Festival 2025
• Iron Star - MTG 4E
• Island x3 - MTG 4E
• My Week XXX
• Barbara Cartland Buddy Read Schedule
• Island Fish Jasconius - MTG 4E

Personal:

After last month and all the car drama and getting fully back to work, I was hoping that October would settle it's little self down and let me kind of coast on through. Ha! I should have known better.

It wasn't all bad, or even mostly bad. Things like the Pumpkin Festival really made things fun. But work was a real chore. One of the field crew chief's and his wife had a baby last month. He'd taken off a month and was supposed to come back at the beginning of October. Well, his poor little son was having breathing and eating issues and they ended up down in one of the big hospitals in Boston. He had to sleep in his car every night, as they only allowed one parent each night in the Nicu (neo-natal intensive care unit). But after 2 weeks things had settled down so he was back to work. But with the changing of the seasons, people were getting sick left and right and calling out every other week it felt like. Coming in each morning, you never knew what job you were going to or who you would be with. I felt REALLY bad for our office scheduler. He was being run off of his feet trying to make things work. I sure hope he's getting paid enough.

My words are starting to dry up. My journaling is becoming a chore instead of a relief and there was one week I just skipped it entirely. Writing posts is much harder now too. Usually I'm 3-4 weeks ahead in terms of scheduling. At the time I am writing this post, I am a mere 10 days ahead. 10 DAYS. I am trying to think the last time I was only days ahead instead of weeks. It has been a long time. I've got stuffed planned, just not written. This is obviously going to affect my blogging for the next month, or even two. Thankfully, I've got a plan to deal with it, but as they say, "the best laid plans of mice and men...."

Shorter days aren't helping either. This coming weekend is also the time change. Just shoot me now please.

Cover Love:

Oh, I had several to choose from. It kind of spoiled me. But I ended up going with Lavondyss. Even though I dnf'd the book, the cover was just awesome. Look at that! More books should have fantastic covers like that.

Plans for Next Month:

Well, since I'm having issues with my words, I've decided that both Wednesdays and Saturdays will now be "free" days, ie, days I don't post. I'll still be online and bothering you, but I'll not have anything going up on those days. Unless something suddenly changes, which has happened before, sigh.

Thanksgiving, REAL Thanksgiving is coming up, so it's time to see just what I am grateful for ;-)

While not directly applicable, I will be prepping for the Barbara Cartland buddy read in December.

I am also hoping to be able to participate in SciFiMonth 2025. Last year I did an Epic Hate Read of Neuromancer. I will NOT be doing anything similar to that. That left me in a funk and life is hard enough without making myself miserable ;-) Of course, it is all going to depend on if I end up reading any SF in November. My intake of that has gone almost to nil, much like what Groo was paid in Rufferto's Reality, hahahaha. The REAL reason I want to participate is that they have some wicked cool banners and buttons that I just have to use somehow!

More info can be found at Bookforager's post, Buckle Up for SciFiMonth 2025. Check it out if you're interested.

Well, that wraps up this post. See you all Sunday :-D

Tech-Priest (Warhammer 40K: Adeptus Mechanicus) 1.5Stars / DNF@40%

 

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: Tech-Priest
Series: Warhammer 40K: Adeptus Mechanicus
Author: Rob Sanders
Rating: 1.5 of 5 Stars / DNF@40%
Genre: SF
Pages: 152 / 60
Words: 54K / 22K
Publish: 2015

I DNF’d this at 40%. I just couldn’t take any more. It was more like a novel length advertisement for various models of the Adeptus Mechanicus for the miniatures game of Warhammer 40K instead of being a real novel. Each unit type was described down to an excruciating detail, which would only interest those who are playing them.

Also, and an even bigger issue for me, was how much this played out like a gaming scenario run by two teenagers. Battles happened without any strategy or forethought or repercussions. And then the next battle would happen and nothing from the previous battle would be incorporated into it, even though it really should have. There was no indication that the Tech-Priest who was the main character of this novel had actually ever fought a real life battle before. Even though according to his history, he was a great fighter and his explorer fleet had killed lots and lots of xenos and mutants and warp creatures. Zero Indication here of any of that experience. So I just quit.

Dave had been struggling with Skitarius (the book right before this one) and Mark listened to Tech-Priest on audio and was not impressed. So I guess this buddy-read showed us that this duology was not a good one. No idea if it was the author himself or the limits placed on him, but I’ll be a lot more careful if I ever see “Rob Sanders” on another WH40K book I’m interested in. Blehhhhhhh…

I am going to include the large cover, but only because I included it for Skitarius, not because I actually care.

★✬☆☆☆

From the Publisher:

The disciples of the Machine God, the Cult Mechanicus are on the front line of the Quest for Knowledge. Tech-priests lead their forces of augmented warriors and battle-automata into battle with the Omnissiah's foes in defence of His secrets. Magos-Explorator Omnid Torquora orchestrates war against the Iron Warriors for control of a long-lost forge world. With skitarii legions and maniples of battle-servitors and robots at his command - not to mention the mighty god-machines of the Titan Legions - victory is within his grasp... until treachery threatens to end his dreams of conquest.

• Mark’s Review of Tech-Priest

Skitarius (Warhammer 40K: Adeptus Mechanicus) 3Stars

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: Skitarius
Series: Warhammer 40K: Adeptus Mechanicus
Author: Rob Sanders
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages: 152
Words: 54K
Publish: 2015

Every time I read a set of novels about a new faction in the Warhammer 40,000 universe, it’s like learning to swim all over again. You get tossed in and are expected to sink or swim.

Once again, I was doing a buddy read with Mark and Dave. I was asking questions and Mark made the apt remark “I think you are expecting too much for this to make sense. It is WH40K after all!” Which fits with almost every experience I’ve had with these books. You just have to accept that “things are this way because we said so” and go from there.

The Adeptus Mechanicus is a group of people who colonized Mars back in the day and became expert mechanics. Eventually, they began worshiping the Ghost in the Machine, called the Omnissiah, and their theology taught that the mechanical was better than the biological. This of course led them to turn themselves into cyborgs and the more mechanized you were, the better. They eventually allied with the Empire of Man and jiggered their theology to say that the Emperor was an Aspect of the Omnissiah. So now they go around trying to discover lost knowledge, which will allow them to get closer to the Omnissiah. And obliterating any impure mechanics throughout the universe. Blood thirsty fellows, just like everybody else in the WH40K universe, sigh.

So this story is about a skitarii by the name of Stroika (kind of like a captain in the army I gather) as he is tasked with recovering the data banks from a world that was lost to Chaos and since recovered. The guy over him is totally unprepared but sends in the forces anyway and Stroika has to do the best he can, knowing he’s been shafted from the get-go. Then, in typical WH40K manner, there is a massive twist where everything turns out to be have been a trap anyway, so poor old Stroika gets extra shafted. And he doesn’t even get to die at the end. He is captured and tortured until he is chaos broken and totally insane.

AND IT GETS BETTER!

His mentor has been in nearby space with a hidden fleet, the whole time. But lets it play out because he doesn’t like Stroika’s new boss. How’s that for a kick in the ballz? Yeah, there’s a reason I’m careful about the number of WH40K books I read in a year. Of course, I’ve got the immediate sequel, Tech Priest, scheduled for review for tomorrow. Hold on to your biologicals or they might get stolen.

This particular book was in an omnibus called “Adeptus Mechanicus” and that is the cover I’m using in the featured image. However, each book in that omnibus was also released singly and I would like to showcase that cover, much like I did in my currently reading post at the beginning of the month. Can’t have too many cool looking covers after all!

That pistol looking thing the guy on the cover is holding? That is basically an amped up taser. Sigh. Come on guys, use bullets, or at least some sort of gauss technology that destroys matter on contact.

★★★☆☆

From wh40k.lexicanum.com & Bookstooge

The skitarii are the soldiers of the Machine God, the tireless legions of the Adeptus Mechanicus. Holy warriors, they carry the word of the Omnissiah across the galaxy, destroying the impure machines of aliens and renegades and spearheading the Quest for Knowledge. A discovery of ancient technology sends a skitarii legion, commanded by Alpha Primus Haldron-44 Stroika, into battle on a forge world overrun by Chaos. When a cataclysm cuts him off from his tech-priest overseers, Stroika must rally his forces and battle corrupt machines and Chaos Space Marines if he is to achieve victory.

Discovery of the wreck of an ancient colony ship, the Stella-Xenithica, by Magos Explorator Omnid Torquora, thrusts Stroika and his skitarii into a pitch battle with feral Orks who have settled within the remains. Finally victorious, an STC of an ancient technology, termed the Geller Device, is found and returned to the forge world Satzica Secundus. In a live test of the prototype, the lost forge world Velchanos Magna is uncovered. In their haste to recover the forge world and defeat the Dark Mechanicum, Stroika and his forces are overextended, but, despite the odds, they are on the cusp of victory when an Iron Warriors battle group under the command of Idriss Krendl and his Obliteratii arrive. The Iron Warriors flagship, Forgebreaker, destroys the Ark Mechanicus Opus Machina, isolating Stroika and the expeditionary force, forcing him to execute a daring plan.

The plan fails, only Stroika survives, but he is kept alive to be tortured and corrupted by the Iron Warriors, Chaos Space Marines. All this happens and is witnessed by Omnid Torquora, who has been hiding in the planets shadow the entire time with his own battle group.

• Mark’s Review of Skitarius

• Dave’s Review of Skitarius

Bloodlines (MHI #9) 4.5Stars

 

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: Bloodlines
Series: MHI #9
Author: Larry Correia
Rating: 4.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Pages: 307
Words: 118K
Publish: 2021

Owen Pitt has made it back from the Nightmare Dimension, Julie Pitt has rescued their son and now life goes on. Only they both know Asag the god of chaos is still out there, just waiting to destroy them in some way. Because they aren’t damned woke pansies, they decide to get proactive. They know that a wardstone, a creation of Isaac Newton, will destroy such a being and they set out to find one. They do, only to find out that a LOT of other people are also interested in it, and not just other monster hunters either. The stone is stolen and Stricken gets involved. He makes a deal with the MCB and Agent Franks, only to shaft EVERYONE. So the MCB and MHI team up to, only for Stricken to still trick them all, again. That man is pure evil. The book ends with Pitt, Chad Gardener’s daughter and Agent Franks working with Stricken in a Court of the Fay to prevent two other cosmic entities from swallowing up Earth.

Oh my goodness.

Stricken is pure evil. Even with him knowing what he knows, somebody should have just put a bullet through his head. You do not work with evil, you destroy it.

The thing I enjoyed most about this story was the supernatural bounty hunter (the Drekavac) hired to retrieve the wardstone when it was stolen. He was a Puritan judge who sold his soul to the devil to do evil, for immortality. He rides a demon horse motorcycle and uses a plasma blunderbuss. How cool is that. He has 13 lives and each time he gets stronger. On his 12^th incarnation he was 30feet tall and shrugging off missiles. The battle between him and MHI and Agent Franks was fantastic. It epitomized why I enjoy the battles in MHI so much. What I enjoyed EVEN MORE was right at the end. Stricken thinks he has blackmailed the Drekavac into doing his will only for it to say it would rather suffer the worst fires of hell than submit to such a person as Stricken. It turns its back on Stricken and walks away. Not “quite” as good as a bullet to the head, but the next best thing :-D

I originally read this in 2022 and at the time thought MHI was just going to keep on going. Since then Larry Correia has announced there will be 2 or 3 more books in the main MHI series and then the story surrounding Owen Zastava Pitt will be over. That means the main MHI story franchise will be done with. I’m ok with that. I’d much rather Correia end things on a high note than keep on going until it becomes total garbage. I’m sure there will be more standalone MHI books or trilogies, co-authored. That should keep me in the good stuff for years to come :-D

★★★★✬

From the Publisher

In a business like monster hunting, it's all about setting priorities.

The chaos god Asag has been quiet since the destruction of the City of Monsters, but Monster Hunter International knows that he is still out there somewhere—plotting, waiting for his chance to unravel reality.

When Owen and the MHI team discover that one of Isaac Newton's Ward Stones is being auctioned off by Reptoids who live deep beneath Atlanta, they decide to steal the magical superweapon and use it to destroy Asag once and for all. But before the stone can be handed off, it is stolen by a mysterious thief with ties to MHI and the Vatican's Secret Guard.

It's a race against time, the Secret Guard, a spectral bounty hunter, and a whole bunch of monsters to acquire the Ward Stone and use it against Asag. For as dangerous as the chaos god is, there is something much older—and infinitely more evil—awakening deep in the jungles of South America.

• Monster Hunter Bloodlines (2022 Review)

• All of My “MHI” Reviews

Island Fish Jasconius - MTG 4E

 

The only reason to play such a card, even back in the day, was if you were playing a monoblue deck and needed a big finisher near the end of the game to do a lot of damage to your opponent (remember, you and your opponent each have 20 life at the beginning of the game). Blue was simply not meant to have big creatures, so the creators of the game felt that if you wanted a big creature in blue, there were going to be serious drawbacks.

With that being said....

If you had 5 or 6 people over for a Saturday and you all wanted to play a massive game of Magic, and you had to create a bunch of decks quick, you just used whatever you had on hand. That was the fun of kitchen table magic, playing subpar decks and seeing what happened :-D