Bookstooge's Reviews On the Road

Monday, September 04, 2023

Sunday, September 03, 2023

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Title: Gone for Good
Series: ———-
Author: Harlan Coben
Rating: 2.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Fiction
Pages: 319
Words: 120K

My goodness, this was more jam packed than a mexican soap opera. Let me see if I can summarize the utter madness.

We start out with the Main Character’s mother dying from cancer.
The main character’s brother, 12 years in the past, sleeps with his girlfriend and then either kills her or is killed and removed from the scene. The main character thinks he is innocent and alive, but has no proof.
MC’s current girlfriend disappears without a trace.
Her fingerprints are found at a double murder scene
Her body is subsequently found by the side of the road and identified by her parents
When the MC goes to the funeral, the body in the casket is not his girlfriend
the Girlfriend is alive but somebody else
The MC investigates things with the younger sister of his murdered previous girlfriend (12 years ago GF)
they uncover that the brother is alive and that some of his associates are high rollers and one is a big time assassin.
Witness Protection is involved
The older brother cut a deal, then ran to protect his current girlfriend and newborn baby
The assassin is after the older brother
WitSec is after the older brother
The Mob Boss is after the older brother
MC just wants to see and protect his older brother
MC and younger sister girl are kidnapped but escape, thus crushing the plans of both the Assassin and the Mob Boss
Everyone is happy
Everyone meets up for a secret meeting to welcome back the older brother.
IT’S A TRAP!!!!!!
The older brother turns out to be a murdering rapist
Who stole the MC’s baby from the old girlfriend
it was all witnessed by the younger sister
Assassin was in love with Older Sister and had vowed to protect her
Assassin then kills Older Brother
MC has a girlfriend who he doesn’t know much about and a 12 year old daughter who thinks he’s her uncle

TADA! No hablo burrito taca el grande mucho. Mucho mucho mucho grande taco burrito!!!

See, more drama than you can shake a big taco at. I was ready to quit this about 10 times, every time a new revelation happened. It didn’t help that the main character was a fething pansy. He couldn’t protect himself, much less anybody else. But he still kept bleating platitudes about protecting his girlfriend or the younger sister, while failing spectacularly every time. When it’s revealed at the end that he has a 12 year old daughter, maaaaaan, did I feel bad for her. Her daddy is a big fat wuss and she better learn to protect herself real quick!

And yet I will read more by Coben. Of course, if he keeps using pansy wussies for main characters, I suspect I won’t last many more books. He better write some better characters pronto. Mucho pronto in fact.

★★✬☆☆

From Wikipedia.org

As a boy, Will Klein had a hero: his older brother, Ken. Then, on a warm suburban night in the Kleins’ affluent New Jersey neighborhood, a young woman—a girl Will had once loved—was found raped and murdered in her family’s basement. The prime suspect: Ken Klein. With the evidence against him overwhelming, Ken simply vanished, spending the next decade as the elusive subject of rumors, speculation, and an international manhunt. When his shattered family never heard from Ken again, they were sure he was gone for good.

Now, eleven years have passed. And Will, who always believed in his brother’s innocence, has found evidence that Ken is alive—even as he is struck by another act of betrayal. His girlfriend suddenly disappears, leaving behind compelling evidence that she was not the person Will thought she was. As the two dark dramas unwind around him, Will is pulled into a violent mystery, haunted by signs that Ken is trying to contact him after all these years. Will can feel himself coming closer and closer to his brother… and to a terrible secret that someone will kill to keep buried. And as the lies begin to unravel, Will is uncovering startling truths about his lover, his brother, and even himself.

Saturday, September 02, 2023

The High King (The Prydain Chronicles #5) 5Stars

Title: The High King
Series: The Prydain Chronicles #5
Author: Lloyd Alexander
Rating: 5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 152
Words: 56K

Ahhhhh, a great ending to the series. Arawn Deathlord is defeated, the Sons of Don leave the land for the Summer Land and Prydain is now fully in the hands of regular humans. This was quite the logical conclusion to what we read in Taran, Wanderer.

Since I have read this before, and since the series is predictably middle grade, there was no surprise about Taran. That’s no slight on the book or the writing. It is just something for any adult reader to take into consideration if they were going to read this for the first time.

I don’t have a lot of words right now. I enjoyed this just like I’ve enjoyed all the previous books.

The End.

★★★★★

From Wikipedia.org

The story begins only days after the conclusion of Taran Wanderer. With winter approaching, Taran and his companion Gurgi return from their wanderings to Caer Dallben after getting news from Kaw the crow that Princess Eilonwy has returned from the Isle of Mona. Indeed, they find her at home, along with her escort King Rhun of Mona and the former giant Glew, who had been magically restored to human size by a potion from Dallben.

Before Taran can propose to Eilonwy, the bard-king Fflewddur Fflam and his mount Llyan arrive with a gravely injured Gwydion, Prince of Don. Servants of Arawn had assaulted them and seized the magical black sword Dyrnwyn. Fflewddur also states that Taran was involved in the ambush, baffling everyone. With Achren’s help, the truth is determined: Arawn himself has come from Annuvin to the verge of Caer Dallben in the guise of Taran, in order to lure Gwydion into the ambush.

Because Dyrnwyn may be pivotal as a threat to Arawn, Dallben consults the oracular pig Hen Wen to determine how it may be regained. During the reading, the ash rods used to communicate shatter and the two thirds of Hen Wen’s answer are discouraging and vague. When Gwydion heals sufficiently, he sets out with Taran and others to meet with King Smoit. Gwydion insists that he alone should enter Annuvin to seek the sword, but Smoit’s Cantrev Cadiffor is on the way. The small party divides, as Rhun and Eilonwy intend to visit the ships of Mona en route.

When Gwydion, Taran, and others reach Caer Cadarn, they are imprisoned by Magg, the treacherous former Chief Steward of Mona, who has entered service with Arawn and taken over the fortress. When Eilonwy approaches with the other party, she detects something amiss and they cautiously send Fflewddur Fflam to the fortress as a bard. After entertaining the soldiers for a night, he returns with the bad news. Then the companions encounter Gwystyl of the Fair Folk outside the stronghold, en route home after closing the waypost near Annuvin, personally bearing final observations to King Eiddileg about preparations for war by Arawn’s forces. With Gwystyl’s assistance and store of magical smokes, fires, and concealments, the companions break in and free the prisoners. The plan goes awry, however; King Smoit and his men are finally able to regain control only by Rhun’s intervention, which costs his life.

Learning from Gwystyl of the activities in Annuvin, Gwydion turns from the quest for Dyrnwyn to planning for battle at Caer Dathyl. Gwystyl, Fflewddur, and Taran leave to gather support, respectively from the Fair Folk, the northern realms, and the Free Commots. Kaw, sent out by Taran to reconnoiter the enemy, is attacked by Gwythaints while spying near Annuvin, but manages to reach Medwyn, who asks all the creatures of air and land to oppose the forces of Arawn. Taran, Coll, Eilonwy, and Gurgi muster the Commots, who rally to their friendship with Taran, and sends them marching in groups to Caer Dathyl while the smiths and weavers rallied by Hevydd and Dwyvach work day and night to equip them.

Soon after Taran and the last Commots reach Caer Dathyl, King Pryderi arrives from the western realms. In council he announces his new allegiance to Arawn, for the good of all, because “Arawn will do what the Sons of Don have failed to do: Make an end of endless wars among the cantrevs, and bring peace where there was none before.” He is rejected utterly but permitted to return unharmed to his army, and at the next day the battle begins. Although the Sons of Don and allies initially have the best of it, the Cauldron-Born arrive en masse before evening, overwhelming the allies and razing Caer Dathyl to the ground.

With High King Math killed, Gwydion is proclaimed the new High King. With the bulk of the Cauldron-Born deployed outside of Annuvin, Gwydion determines that the best chance is to attack while it is guarded by mortal men alone. He will lead the Sons of Don to waiting ships on the north coast and attack by sea, while Taran leads the Commots to delay the Cauldron-Born’s return march, as their power wanes with time and distance from Annuvin.

Taran and his army are able to hold the tired Cauldron-Born warriors beyond arm’s length by brute force, and turn the march from a straight and easy route into the rugged hills, although Coll dies in battle. Thanks to a company of Fair Folk, and to the animals sent by Medwyn, they destroy most of the Huntsmen who accompany and lead the undead. At last the Cauldron-Born break free of the hills and return to the lowland route. Regaining strength as they near Annuvin, it would be futile for the exhausted allies to meet them head-on again, so inevitably they take the long, easy route to Arawn’s stronghold.

Taran and the remainder of his army finally reach Annuvin by a combination of the direct route, a mountain path of Doli’s, and a secret pass over Mount Dragon shown to them by Achren. Taran sees that victory is nearly in Gwydion’s hands, but also that the Cauldron-Born are about to reach Annuvin. In his alarm, Taran nearly falls off Mount Dragon, but is saved by the now-grown Gwythaint he had rescued so many years ago (The Book of Three). In a desperate attempt to fight off a group of Cauldron-Born who have discovered him on the mountain, he rolls a rock at them, and discovers Dyrnwyn in the hollow the stone occupied. Wielding Dyrnwyn, Taran slays the undead warrior who approaches to slay him, and at that instant all of the Cauldron-Born die as one.

Taran’s group enters the fray, and the battle continues through the halls of Annuvin. Taran is almost deceived by Arawn – who has taken the guise of Gwydion – into giving up the sword. After the chaotic defeat of Arawn’s forces, the companions gather before the Great Hall. Achren identifies Arawn in the form of a nearby serpent preparing to strike Taran and grabs him. He strikes her fatally, but Taran kills him with Dyrnwyn. With the death of Arawn, the stronghold of Annuvin bursts in flame and falls in ruins, destroying all of the magical implements inside; only Gurgi manages to save several scrolls containing knowledge of farming, smithing, and other crafts. The sword Dyrnwyn begins to fade, losing its magic.

The allies travel to Caer Dallben, where Gwydion tells them that in victory the Sons of Don, with all kinsmen and kinswomen, must return to the Summer Country. Indeed, all those who still have magic will depart, and the Fair Folk and Medwyn have closed their realms to outsiders. Dallben and Eilonwy must also go, and others who have served well, Taran among them, are given the chance to accompany them. Taran proposes to Eilonwy at last, and she accepts.

The Sons of Don plan to leave the next day. However, Taran becomes uncomfortable about his decision overnight. The witches Orddu, Orwen and Orgoch appear before him and reveal that they too are departing, and leave him with an unfinished tapestry depicting his life. He realizes there is much work to be done to rebuild Prydain, and he has made many promises; so he determines to remain behind. Eilonwy is able to willingly give up her magical nature in order to remain with him, and the two are married.

Dallben reveals that with this last quest, Taran has completed a path prophesied in the Book of Three whereby an orphan of “no station in life” would succeed the Sons of Don as High King. Dallben had traveled to seek such a one and try to hasten the day of Arawn’s defeat; on this journey, he found a baby, hidden in the trees beside a battlefield and without any token of parentage, and took it in under the name Taran. Taran receives many gifts, including The Book of Three itself, although its powers, like all magic in Prydain, have also faded away with Arawn’s demise, leaving it only as a mere chronicle of Taran’s life. With Eilonwy by his side, Taran accepts his new responsibility and is hailed by his friends and battle companions as the new High King.

Friday, September 01, 2023

Childhood (The Russians) 3.5Stars

Title: Childhood
Series: (The Russians)
Author: Leo Tolstoy
Translator:
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Fiction
Pages: 135
Words: 41K

I gave Boyhood 3stars for a variety of reasons (mainly because I didn’t like the character as a teen) and so I was expecting to do the same for this volume. Thankfully, it was a bit nicer as he was still a child just entering the teen years so the hormonal urge to be a total jerk hadn’t manifested just yet.

The mother dying and the father being accused of not loving her were tough to read about. It would certainly have shaped a young man’s life to have those experiences happen to him.

It was also nice that this was only 135 pages so I didn’t have to wallow for hundreds of pages in despair. I don’t need that in my life right now 🙂

★★★✬☆

From Bookstooge.blog

We explore the life of Nikolenka as a young boy living out in the country until his father takes him and his brother to Moscow. His mother dies back in the country and the family returns to bury her. The book ends where Boyhood starts up, with the family returning to Moscow.

Thursday, August 31, 2023

August '23 Roundup & Ramblings

Raw Data:

Novels – 20 ↑

Short Stories – 0 ⭤

Manga/Graphic Novels – 1 ↓

Comics – 2 ⭤

Average Rating – 3.15 ↓

Pages – 5416 ↑

Words – 1756K ↑

The Bad:

Children of the Mind – 1star of Card navel gazing even harder than ever

Silver Queendom – 1Star DNF for the usual reasons

The Good:

Taran Wanderer – 5Stars of growing up

Golden Spiders – 4Stars of Nero Wolfe

Movie:

X2: X-Men United was a fun romp but not quite as good as the original. I think almost all movies in a series follow that pattern though, so it didn’t come as a surprise.

Miscellaneous Posts:

Personal:

Meatbag Intern is GOOOOOONE. I am so sad. He was a good worker and intelligent. Great, now I’ll probably get saddled with somebody like myself 😉 (oh the horror!)

Our mattress finally arrived. We have slept so much better. Not exactly a miracle cure, but neither of us now wakes up feeling like we didn’t sleep. That is such a nice change.

My eye has stabilized. Not all better, but getting it stabilized is the first big step in getting it better. That news made me very happy.

With how many books, etc I read this month I have decided to start reading some web comics to help slow my pace. Since they are individual strips, I feel no need to blog about them at all, so that helps with both slowing my book reading down AND my blogging. Started reading Schlock Mercenary this past week and man, I had forgotten just how funny that comic is. Good stuff!

Part way through the month drove up to Maine with Mrs B, WC. Bombfunk and Mrs Bombfunk to visit the maternal pod. She was up visiting for her sister’s 80th birthday. It was a LOT of driving and made for an 11hr day. But it made mom happy, so it was worth it.

Cover Love:

Smoke by Ivan Turgenev. The cover just conveys the emotional turmoil that the story contains. All that red, it totally unsettles me. A good cover should never leave the reader unmoved, for good or for bad. It turns out this is actually a painting by some guy called Charles Hermans and is called “Circe the temptress”. It is extremely apt given the story.

Plans for Next Month:

Going to ease back into the manga game again. I feel like a 2 month break was enough. But I’m not doing a volume every week like I had been. That became too much. I’m thinking of reading one volume of One Piece and one volume of Fullmetal Alchemist each month. Not a lot, but enough.

9/11 is coming up. Again.

Our 15th Wedding Anniversary is this September, so we’re going to be celebrating that. Don’t know if I’ll be blogging about it, but chances are good. I am a blogaholic after all and I’m not too proud to admit it. But I don’t need help, not yet anyway.

The word “movie” is now no longer verboten in the comments. Either WordPress really cleaned up the spam or the filter worked. Either way, I’m not getting a bunch of spam comments linking to pron movies now. So write “movie” all you want to. Nobody will care, hahahaha.

Wednesday, August 30, 2023

Siege of Earth (Empire Rising #6) 4Stars

Title: Siege of Earth
Series: Empire Rising #6
Author: David Holmes
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages: 475
Words: 184K

DASTARDLY SPACE COMMIES!!!!!

Yeeehaawwwwwww! Watch as the evil SPACE COMMIES try to starve Earth into submission. Watch as the heartless SPACE COMMIES try to kill a beautiful woman and new space ensign! Experience thrills and chills as SPACE COMMIES try to throw ice comets at earth while the stalwart defenders are run ragged. Shudder in terror as filthy traitors show their true colors AND get their just desserts! Weep as brave men and women sacrifice all so that their stalwart comrades can kill MORE SPACE COMMIES! Fear not, there are plenty of SPACE COMMIES to kill. Just send in your 5 box tops from Sugar Frosted SPACE COMMIES and we’ll send you your very own SPACE COMMIE to kill at your convenience! (shipping and handling is extra)

I DIDN’T KNOW I WANTED SPACE COMMIES BUT BY GUM, I GOT THEM, I WANTED THEM AND I WANTED THEM DEAD!!!

Holmes gave me what I didn’t even know I wanted and that takes genius and a lot of chutzpah. Because we all know how picky I am. My hat is off to you, sir. Thanks for not screwing this up. Of course, with space commies, you would be hard pressed to mess that up and annoy me. Mak’em evil, kill’em and I’m happy as a pig in mud.

Four Mudbaths out of Five!

★★★★☆

From the Publisher

The Flex-aor invasion fleets have been stopped, but at great cost. Human colonies lie in ruins, fleets have been decimated and the economies of the major space powers have been stretched to breaking point. Yet one nation stands unaffected. Hidden behind their borders, the Russian Space Federation is stronger than ever. Still enraged by the harsh peace terms forced upon them more than thirty years ago, the Federation sees its chance for revenge. Led by an Admiral with the tactical capabilities to rival any from the Allied space powers, the Russians have only one goal in mind; humanity’s homeworld will be theirs.

With the swiftness of the Russian attack, James, Suzanna, Lightfoot and many others find themselves isolated and cut off from one another. Worse, they are surrounded by allies that may no longer be trustworthy. Forced to fight with whatever forces they can muster, victory seems all but impossible.

Once again, the stakes are as high as they can get, for defeat would see the homeworld they sacrificed so much to protect falling under a new Russian tyranny. And if Earth falls, so too will the British Star Kingdom.

All of My “Empire Rising” Reviews

Tuesday, August 29, 2023

Silver Queendom 1Star DNF@60%

Title: Silver Queendom
Series: ———-
Author: Dan Koboldt
Rating: 1 of 5 Stars DNF@60%
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 350/ 210
Words: 114K/ 68K

DNF’d at 60% for the usual reasons, sigh.

★☆☆☆☆

Monday, August 28, 2023

Control Magic - MTG 4E

Sunday, August 27, 2023

Hands in the Dark (The Shadow #10) 3.5Stars

Title: Hands in the Dark
Series: The Shadow #10
Authors: Maxwell Grant
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Crime Fiction
Pages: 187
Words: 55K

Ha! Proof positive. The Shadow wears his girasol jewel on his left hand. It was stated explicitly in this book. This matters because Riders and I had a conversation about which hand it was on and neither of us could show a book which proved right or left. So here we go, the question is settled for all ages, or at least until I forget and forget that I answered the question here. So 2-3 months should do it!

And poop.

Apparently, our conversation centered around which FINGER it was not, not which HAND. Sigh. The Quest for Knowledge must continue then. And back to the unimportant stuff like talking about the book I read. Man, this book reviewing thing isn’t all I was led to believe. However, it has allowed me to read TWO The Shadow books this month, so that’s definitely a check on the positive side of the life column.

This was a pretty gutsy book in that a regular joe schmoe gangster (well, he is pretty smart but still, he’s not super villain league smart) goes up against the Shadow on purpose. And he doesn’t do a bad job of it either. Millions of dollars in loot are at stake and a Great Love between Boyman and Girlwoman is at stake too. And the Shadow cleans house like the vigilante he is. Booyah!

That is why I keep reading these. Bad guys do really bad guy things and the Shadow puts a stop to it and bad guys usually die in droves. If that doesn’t count as a happy ending, I don’t know what does.

I’m just glad there’s no Vicki Vale kind of character. That would have ruined things completely.

★★★✬☆

From the Publisher:

WHO KNOWS WHAT EVIL LURKS IN THE HEARTS OF MEN?

It was a message from a dead man. A small piece of paper worth a fortune in blood. Eight mysterious symbols that marked the beginning of a chain of violence executed by gangsters willing to kill for a code they did not understand. Only one man called the shots for this riddle: The Chief, whose reputation made any further identification unnecessary–and lethal.

Obviously a case for THE SHADOW–a cryptic message, a series of baffling murders, seemingly unrelated, and an invisible mastermind who choreographed killings for the highest stakes in town. THE SHADOW was on a trail leading straight to a brilliant trap–and a face-to-face encounter with a criminal genius determined to beat him at his own game!

All of My “The Shadow” Reviews

Saturday, August 26, 2023

Blogshido: Likejitsu

Likejitsu, silent but deadly. The Art of Likejitsu is wildly divisive art because it can be used in so many ways. From a non-verbal “I acknowledge your presence” to a full blown “I LOVE YOU AND EVERYTHING YOU DO IS PURE AWESOMESAUCE” (I know most of you use it that way, and no worries, no offerings or worship needed), Likejitsu is one of the most versatile weapons in the arsenal of all Blogshido practitioners.

LikejitsuAs Practiced by a Master of Blogshido

I use Likejitsu as an all purpose weapon. Sometimes I use it to acknowledge that someone wrote the post, or comment. Sometimes I just don’t have the words for what you wrote. While I might be a very wordy person, even I sometimes either run out or simply don’t have things to say. When you write a post about the accidental romance book you read, what am I supposed to say? I hate romance. But you read it and blogged about it. I think that deserves an acknowledgement.

Some people will take that to the extreme. You all know the type. The blogger who goes through and “likes” about 30 of your posts in 30 seconds. Most of those aren’t real people anyway. They’re just scumbags or bots. Either of those deserve to be chopped in half with a big fat ninja sword.

Other bloggers eschew likejitsu entirely because they feel it is too easy, entirely misused. I don’t blame them at all. I understand their viewpoint entirely. Of course, if they don’t ever comment, I don’t even know that they show up because they are invisible. So if that’s you, leave a flipping comment once a year or so, okay? Thanks.

However you use Likejitsu, just make sure you’re not expecting everyone else to use it in the exact same way as you do. Down that road lies madness 😉