Hurr Jackal - MTG 4E

 

He'll not only eat your liver, but your face as well! THEN he'll steal all your chickens ;-)

Evil Triumphant (Dark Conspiracy #3) 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: Evil Triumphant
Series: Dark Conspiracy #3
Author: Michael Stackpole
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 269
Words: 95K
Publish: 1992

A very whimper’y end to this trilogy. It wasn’t even necessarily bad, it just was Stackpole writing a story he felt nothing for and so it was just a book he wrote to pay the bills. Sometimes you can’t tell when an author does that, but Stackpole shows his heart on his sleeve when it comes to his writing.

Overall, I am glad to have finally read this trilogy by Stackpole but I do wish it had had more heart.

Well, I can’t win them all I guess.

★★★☆☆

From the Publisher & Bookstooge

In this concluding volume of the Fiddleback Trilogy, the old saying that "the enemy of my enemy is my friend," is sorely put to the test. Pygmalion, apprentice to the Dark Lord Fiddleback, has rebelled against his master and has established himself as a Dark Lord. To defeat him, Coyote and Fiddleback must join forces.

Pygmalion is not without his own allies. He has taken an apprentice, the god-man Ryuhito, grandson of the Japanese Emperor. Through him, Pygmalion horrific power is amplified. But the fires of betrayal burn within Ryuhito's heart, and his grandfather will spare no expense to get his grandson back.

Deceit, treachery and revenge boil together in this war of Dark Lords and their minions. Coyote and his aides, mere humans all, go to war with the Dark Lords to prevent the nightmare of... Evil Triumphant

Dead Lions (Slough House #2) 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: Dead Lions
Series: Slough House #2
Author: Mick Herron
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Thriller
Pages: 286
Words: 104K
Publish: 2013

Another enjoyable ride on the Screwup Train. Herron (the author) kills off another character and I was rather surprised. I guess it means that none of the sub-characters are safe and I should expect somebody from Slough House to die in each story. That has the added benefit, for the author, of allowing him to bring on new screwups in each new book, even if they don’t play a big part. They are new fodder.

Also on the plus side, River Carter also plays a much smaller part. He’s just one among the 5 or 6. I was able to handle that.

★★★✬☆

From the Publisher

Now the slow horses have a chance at redemption. An old Cold War-era spy is found dead on a bus outside Oxford, far from his usual haunts. The despicable, irascible Jackson Lamb is convinced Dickie Bow was murdered. As the agents dig into their fallen comrade's circumstances, they uncover a shadowy tangle of ancient Cold War secrets that seem to lead back to a man named Alexander Popov, who is either a Soviet bogeyman or the most dangerous man in the world. How many more people will have to die to keep those secrets buried?

Conan at the Demon’s Gate (Conan the Barbarian #33) 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: Conan at the Demon’s Gate
Series: Conan the Barbarian #33
Author: Roland Green
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 198
Words: 78K
Publish: 1994

This was much more enjoyable than the previous Conan adventure by Green, Conan the Relentless. I compared that to store brand rice crispies. This adventure felt more like the Real Thing and I enjoyed all the magic and fighting.

★★★☆☆

From Wikipedia

In a first-person prologue set during the sixth year of Conan the Second's (formerly Prince Conn) reign over Aquilonia, a soldier, Nidaros, tells of his company's harrowing experiences during a frontier war with the Picts. The prologue culminates when Nidaros, his companion, Sarabos, and their followers are trapped by the enemy inside a cave. The Picts seem to fear the place, understandably, since it shows signs of having once been a site sacred to Set, the serpent god of Stygia. Oddly, the Aquilonians also discover a great stone statue in the image of the former king Conan the First (or Conan the Great, as he is also remembered). Should they doubt it, they need only look at Sarabos; it's an open secret that he is a bastard son of the first Conan, and hence a half-brother of Conn.

The tale then shifts to events many years earlier in the life of Conan the First, well before he became ruler of Aquilonia, in the wake of "Queen of the Black Coast". Following the death of his lover, the pirate queen Belit, Conan ventures inland into the jungles of Kush. He encounters and joins forces with a band of Bamula tribesmen. Aiding the Bamulas in their conflict with an enemy tribe, he rises to a position of precarious authority among them.

Suddenly, creatures alien to the Bamulas begin invading their territory, including a dragon and a polar bear. They turn out to have been transported through a magical portal. Entering the portal with his warriors in an attempt to end the threat, Conan finds himself teleported to the far-distant Pictish Wilderness. The portal, known as the Demon's Gate, turns out to be the creation of an exiled wizard. He intends on sacrificing both Conan and the Bamulas, so he can animate the statue of an ancient warrior for his own evil purposes.

Plot complications present themselves in the form of the wizard's beautiful daughter and the native Picts, who are violently hostile towards all strangers. All of Conan's prowess and craft are needed to deal with the impossible situation as one threat follows another in rapid succession.

Much of the concluding portion of this story is narrated to Nidaros and Sarabos by their comrade in arms, Vasilios, a half-Pictish Aquilonian warrior who had heard it in turn from his Pictish mother. The tale gradually unfolds of how Conan eventually defeated his enemies, before transporting himself and the Bamulas safely back to their country—and how the statue took on his aspect.

An epilogue returns the scene to Nidaros, Sarabos, and their companions listening to the end of Vasilios's tale. The company is rescued from the besieging Picts by a relief force who had been informed of their plight by a mysterious messenger the very evening they were trapped in the cave. According to Vasilios, it's said that the statue will aid the blood-kin of the warrior it is fashioned after at need, and the three speculate that the messenger was a magical sending from the statue, prompted by Sarabos's presence. They decide to keep silent about it.

• The “Essential Conan” Trilogy

• All of My “Conan” Reviews

Jane Austen: Scraps 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: Scraps
Series: ----------
Author: Jane Austen
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Juvenilia short story
Pages: 7
Words: 2K
Publish: 1790

This section of the Juvenilia was literally labeled “Scraps” because that is all these stories were. There are five “stories” but it only takes up about seven pages. They are not even as brief as some of the “Letters” from before. There is no proto-story, just some writings that were obviously Austen just having that itch to write and this is the stuff that she scribbled in the margins of her notebook, literary doodles as it were.

There isn’t really even enough to talk about any particular “Scrap”. As a Jane Austen fan, this is the kind of thing I am glad to read to give me a fuller picture of her as an author but it’s not something I plan on ever re-reading or to wax eloquent on.

★★★☆☆

Table of Contents:

• Scraps to Miss Fanny Catherine Austen

• The female philosopher

• The first Act of a Comedy

• A Letter from a Young Lady

• A Tour through Wales

• A Tale

• All My “Jane Austen” Reviews

• Reading Austen 2025 Master Post

See Them Die (87th Precinct #13) 2Stars

 

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: See Them Die
Series: 87^th Precinct #13
Author: Ed McBain
Rating: 2 of 5 Stars
Genre: Crime Fiction
Pages: 337
Words: 52K
Publish: 1960


I’ve mentioned in previous reviews how dark these books are, in a very real world way. I’ve been uncomfortable with that in several books and noted it. That feeling again happened to me reading this book and so I’ve decided that I’ll be done with the 87^th Precinct novels.

I don’t feel that the shame, degradation and brokenness of humanity as it is in real life should be something for our casual entertainment. While events happen in real life just like McBain chronicles in these police procedural stories, reading about such things as my “entertainment” cheapens them and jades me. That is simply not right and I will not do something that darkens my soul.

★★☆☆☆

From the Publisher & Bookstooge

“Kill me if you can.”

Local thug Pepe Miranda’s open challenge to the police has pushed July’s heat to a boiling point. His latest crime elevated him to the top of the 87th Precinct’s most wanted list, and now his dare is earning him street cred as well. With the city’s most dangerous gangs mobilized for an epic showdown, the fate of the precinct hangs in the balance.

But Lieutenant Peter Byrnes and his detectives are ready for anything. They certainly aren’t going to let a challenge like that lie—not from someone like Miranda and not when a tip puts them hot on his trail. As the men of the 87th close in, they could be heading into a deadly gunfight that blows their city apart.

At the same time, a group of youths are in a struggle to define who they will be, killers or defenders of their city. Miranda is the end game if they choose one path and the cops of the 87^th are the results if they choose otherwise.

• All My “87^th Precinct” Reviews

A Wizard of Earthsea (Earthsea Cycle #1) 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: A Wizard of Earthsea
Series: Earthsea Cycle #1
Author: Ursula LeGuin
Rating: 5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Fantasy / Middle Grade
Pages: 123
Words: 61K
Publish: 1968

This is one of those books that I’ve read since childhood. My first memory is reading the first couple of chapters in a fantasy anthology when I was still in my single digits. I have no idea what that anthology was but I suspect it was a collection of chapters from full books to whet the interest of the readers. If I cared more, I could probably track it down, but I don’t care enough, not this year anyway.

I loved this book as a kid, I loved this book as a teen, I loved this book in my 20’s, I loved this book in my 30’s and now, I’m loving it just as much in my 40’s.

Now, I don’t know how this would go over with me if I was approaching this for the first time, but I have a feeling I’d still love this. This is a coming of age story about a young man who grievously screws up and then has to take responsibility for that mess and fix it.

LeGuin writes an entire world with just a sentence. A hint here, a brushstroke there and and the world of Ea comes to life. I know I am always going on about writers who aren’t wordsmiths but my goodness, when I see an author being an AUTHOR, it just brings joy to my heart. It also brings rage when other people don’t appreciate that, kind of like a food connoisseur sneering at people who think a Big Mac from McDonalds is the height of food goodness. It has its place, but it is NOT good food. I will wear my Book Snob badge proud and loud!

★★★★★

From Wikipedia

Earthsea itself is an archipelago, or group of islands. In the fictional history of this world, the islands were raised from the ocean by a being called Segoy. The world is inhabited by both humans and dragons, and most or all humans have some innate magical gift, some are more gifted sorcerers or wizards.[18] The world is shown as being based on a delicate balance, which most of its inhabitants are aware of, but which is disrupted by somebody in each of the original trilogy of novels.[19] Earthsea is pre-industrial and has diverse cultures within the widespread archipelago. Most of the characters are of the Hardic peoples, who are dark-skinned, and who populate most of the islands.[20] Four large eastern islands are inhabited by the white-skinned Kargish people, who despise magic and see the Hardic folk as evil sorcerers: the Kargs, in turn, are viewed by the Hardic people as barbarians. The far western regions of the archipelago are the realm of the dragons.[20]

Plot summary

"Only in silence the word,
only in dark the light,
only in dying life:
bright the hawk's flight
on the empty sky."

From the Creation of Éa, with which A Wizard of Earthsea begins.[21][22]

The novel follows a young boy called Duny, nicknamed "Sparrowhawk", born on the island of Gont. Discovering that the boy has great innate power, his aunt, a witch, teaches him the little magic she knows.[15] When his village is attacked by Kargish raiders, Duny summons a fog to conceal the village and its inhabitants, enabling the residents to drive off the Kargs.[16] Hearing of this, the powerful mage Ogion takes him as an apprentice, and later gives him his "true name"—Ged.[15] Ogion tries to teach Ged about the "equilibrium", the concept that magic can upset the natural order of the world if used improperly. In an attempt to impress a girl, however, Ged searches Ogion's spell books and inadvertently summons a strange shadow, which has to be banished by Ogion. Sensing Ged's eagerness to act and impatience with his slow teaching methods, Ogion asks if he would rather go to the renowned school for wizards on the island of Roke. Ged loves Ogion, but decides to go to the school.

At the school, Ged meets Jasper, and is immediately on bad terms with him. He is befriended by an older student named Vetch, but generally remains aloof from anyone else. Ged's skills inspire admiration from teachers and students alike. He finds a small creature—an otak, named Hoeg, and keeps it as a pet. During a festival, Jasper acts condescendingly towards Ged, provoking the latter's proud nature. Ged challenges him to a duel of magic,[16] and casts a powerful spell intended to raise the spirit of a legendary dead woman. The spell goes awry and instead releases a shadow creature, which attacks him and scars his face. The Archmage Nemmerle drives the shadow away, but at the cost of his life.[15][20]

Ged spends many months healing before resuming his studies. The new Archmage, Gensher, describes the shadow as an ancient evil that wishes to possess Ged, and warns him that the creature has no name. Ged eventually graduates and receives his wizard's staff.[16] He then takes up residence in the Ninety Isles, providing the poor villagers protection from the dragons that have seized and taken up residence on the nearby island of Pendor, but discovers that he is still being sought by the shadow. Knowing that he cannot guard against both threats at the same time, he sails to Pendor and gambles his life on a guess of the adult dragon's true name. When he is proved right, the dragon offers to tell him the name of the shadow, but Ged instead extracts a promise that the dragon and his offspring will never threaten the archipelago.

Chased by the shadow, Ged flees to Osskil, having heard of the stone of the Terrenon. He is attacked by the shadow, and barely escapes into the Court of Terrenon. Serret, the lady of the castle, and the same girl that Ged had tried to impress, shows him the stone, and urges Ged to speak to it, claiming it can give him limitless knowledge and power. Recognizing that the stone harbors one of the Old Powers—ancient, powerful, malevolent beings—Ged refuses. He flees and is pursued by the stone's minions, but transforms into a swift falcon and escapes as Serret, having taken the form of a gull, is killed. Ged also loses his otak to the shadow.

Ged flies back to Ogion on Gont. Unlike Gensher, Ogion insists that all creatures have a name and advises Ged to confront the shadow.[16] Ogion is proved right; when Ged seeks out the shadow, it flees from him. Ged pursues it in a small sailboat, until it lures him into a fog where the boat is wrecked on a reef. Ged recovers with the help of an elderly couple marooned on a small island since they were children; the woman gives Ged part of a broken bracelet as a gift. Ged patches his boat and resumes his pursuit of the creature into the East Reach. On the island of Iffish, he meets his friend Vetch, who insists on joining him.[20] They journey east far beyond the last known lands before they finally come upon the shadow. Naming it with his own name, Ged merges with it and joyfully tells Vetch he is healed and whole.

• A Wizard of Earthsea (2005 Review)

• A Wizard of Earthsea (2012 Review)