Lair of Bones (Runelords #4) 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: Lair of Bones
Series: Runelords #4
Author: David Farland
Rating: 2 of 5 Stars
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 396
Words: 147K
Publish: 2003

This (almost) 400 page book takes place in just three days, yes, that is right, three days. I also realized that this entire end of the world epic fantasy only took about six months from start to finish. I don’t know if Farland was reacting against the time frame experienced in the Wheel of Time books. Those take years from beginning to end and the world of the Wheel has time to prepare as best they can to face the end. Here, The End is right there, in their face, bammo!

One thing about Farland’s writing, that I’ve mentioned before, is how he’ll spend an inordinate amount of time on useless descriptions of the setting but only give one sentence to big, huge, impactful things. I just found out in this book, by ONE bleeding sentence, that the planet itself was moving closer to the sun! Maybe that was obliquely referred to in the previous books, but it sure didn’t have any impact on the weather or the characters and it (insert your choice of pejorative) should have! I almost quit the book when I read that sentence because it ticked me off so bad. Besides not actually finishing this series, I can see why Farland never became a big name in Fantasy. His writing sucks. Personally, “I” think the only reason his books sold at all were because of the Darryl Sweet covers, which was the same guy who did the Wheel of Time books so everyone thought they were going to get the same kind of story. Ha, the joke is on us, poor schlubs.

I am glad I read these, just so I know what it was about. This was one of those series that I grew up with but hadn’t ever bothered to read and now that is rectified. But I’ll read no more in the series (there is another story arc of 3 or 4 books before Farland kicked the bucket) and I’ll never re-read these. I clap the dust off of my metaphorical sandals on his grave and go my way.

Grumpy Level 1000 achieved!

★★☆☆☆

From Wikipedia

In order to save mankind and all life on Earth, Gaborn is charged by the Earth to descend into the underworld and confront the One True Master, ruler of the Reavers. Taking Binnesman, Averan, and Iome with him, he seeks the Lair of Bones in the heart of the Reavers' home. As he descends, Gaborn's powers grow as he takes many endowments, vectored through his dedicates. Gaborn and his companions follow the trail of the previous Earth King, Erden Geboren, to its furthest, and when attacked by Reavers, they are forced to leave Binnesman behind and press on without him.

Meanwhile, Borenson and Myrrima venture into Inkarra in search of Daylan Hammer, only to be captured and brought before King Zandaros. The forces of Raj Ahten, fresh off their victory over the Reavers, march north to Carris once more. Erin and Celinor meet Celinor's father, King Anders, who claims to be the new Earth King after Gaborn's loss of power, and they are forced to follow him south into Mystarria. During all this, mysterious earthquakes and countless falling stars herald the very world's shifting in the heavens, as the chaotic forces of destruction seek to unmake the Earth, as the One True Master attempts to bind the Rune of Desolation with the Runes of the Inferno and the Heavens.

When Averan is captured by a Reaver, Gaborn has no choice but to leave Iome behind and press forth on his own. Eventually, he reunites with Averan, Iome, and the wylde, and he begins slaying dedicate Reavers of the One True Master. Meanwhile, Borenson and Myrrima escape Inkarra with the help of a Days named Sarka Kaul. They race towards Carris, where they find the city fortified beyond belief in anticipation of another attack by Reavers, this horde making the last look small in comparison. Also near Carris are the massed armies of Raj Ahten, Queen Lowicker of Beldinook, and King Anders of South Crowden. Right before the Reaver attack, Binnesman arrives at Carris to aid his fellow men for one last time.

In the underworld, while Averan attempts to destroy the Rune of Desolation, Gaborn battles the One True Master. With the battle raging at Carris, Gaborn, with aid from the Earth, the wylde, and Glories and with Iome slaying dedicate vectors to the One True Master, is able to defeat the Reaver queen, and Averan, instead of destroying the Rune of Desolation combines it with the four other heavenly runes, creating a perfect rune to heal the Earth.

With the One True Master's host dead, the remaining Reavers at the Battle of Carris flee to the underworld, and the Earth transports Gaborn, Iome, and Averan to the battlefield. Raj Ahten, seeing his chance to finally kill Gaborn, rejects the Earth King's guidance and is subsequently struck by an ensorcelled arrow, shot by Myrrima. Before he can recover, Raj Ahten is attacked by dozens of Runelords, who hack his body to pieces and throw him in the river, killing the man and drowning the fire spirit within him. With the Earth no longer in danger, peace comes over the land. Iome births her and Gaborn's child, a son named Fallion, and Gaborn travels the land in service to the Earth. The year is now longer by one day, which Gaborn names Brotherhood Day.

(No easy link to the whole series because Farland doesn't deserve that much positive attention)

The Return of Dr Fu-Manchu (Dr Fu-Manchu #2) 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: The Return of Dr Fu-Manchu
Series: Dr Fu-Manchu #2
Author: Sax Rohmer
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Pulp Mystery
Pages: 240
Words: 75K
Publish: 1916

This was a very weak 3star book. I almost gave it 2.5, but considering that I plan to read at least the next Dr Fu-Manchu book, I realized there was enough interesting things so it did deserve that 3stars.

Sadly, Dr Fu-Manchu doesn’t play nearly as big a part in this book as he did in the previous. This was more about Petrie and Smith (the two Brits opposing the bad Dr) and sadly, they were world class buffoons. That was mainly down to Rohmer writing them like idiots to drive the story forward or to force the plot through.

In the previous book, Fu-Manchu had given a drug to a police official and it made him forget everything between a certain time period. So when the beautiful girl that Petrie loves turns up working for Fu-Manchu again and claims not to remember either Petrie or Smith, what do you think happens? Do they think calmly and rationally and remember what Fu-Manchu had done in the past? Heck NO! They immediately push the girl away as a traitor to all mankind and disbelieve every word she says, even when she’s trying to save them. Fu-Manchu comes in for his own idiocy at times too, sadly. He has been given a great honor, a white peacock and Petrie finds it and hides it in a cab, one street away from Fu-Manchu’s lair. And Fu-Manchu can’t find the bleeping thing and is about to be totally dishonored or killed within his secret society, when Petrie trades the peacock for Smith’s life.

This story was just filled to overflowing with everybody being stupid and making irrational and bad decisions just to move the plot forward.

My respect for Rohmer (the author) plummeted. Being a bad writer is a terrible sin.

The original title is The Insidious Dr Fu-Manchu but was changed for an American audience to the one I listed. That was too bad, because I like the first title more. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find an AI generated cover for either title like I did for the first book, so I had to choose this one.

★★★☆☆

From Bookstooge

Fu-Manchu returns to England to continue his nefarious schemes to overthrow the entire western world. Karamenah is back to working for the bad dr and has no memory of either Dr Petrie or Nayland Smith.

Petrie and Smith attempt to foil various plots of Dr Fu-Manchu without understanding any of his bigger plans. Dr Fu-Manchu pursues his attempts to make Dr Petrie his protege and his attempts to kill Nayland Smith. Finally, Karamenah remembers her love for Dr Petrie and shoots Dr Fu-Manchu in the head, apparently killing him.

Blood Song (A Raven’s Shadow #1) 4Stars

 

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: Blood Song
Series: A Raven’s Shadow #1
Author: Anthony Ryan
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 570
Words: 222K
Publish: 2012

When I read this back in 2014, the biggest thing I noticed was how long this was and that took up the bulk of my review. This time around, that wasn’t an issue at all. I was feeling good and I just sat back and enjoyed the ride. There WAS a lot going on but I felt like Ryan handled things well in that regards. Each episode in the main character’s story (Vaelin) didn’t overshadow the other parts and added a necessary piece to the puzzle.

There is a lot of violence in this book. It’s not graphic, per se, but it is relentless. The story starts with Vaelin being dumped at the gates of the Sixth Order by his father and in his “class” there are 12-15 boys. By the time they graduate in 3-4 years, there are only 6 left. Most don’t leave in failure, they leave in body bags. Once Vaelin becomes a full Brother of the Sixth Order, he is sent out on missions to kill, hunt and destroy. He is very good at it too.

There is also a lot of intriguing going on. From the King of the Realm to the princess to Vaelin’s own father to a group that might be the Seventh Order (that was supposedly destroyed hundreds of years ago) to supernatural beings which are manipulating the religion that Vaelin belongs to. A lot of time is spent revealing and setting up these various intrigues and we never quite get the whole picture. I think this is why I couldn’t give it more than 4stars, the payoff wasn’t big enough for the amount of time spent on the intriguing. Now, maybe the author is setting things up for the next two books in the trilogy but honestly, it just felt like he was throwing things in to keep us interested.

This is a trilogy, but Ryan has written a sequel duology that I plan on reading as well. Why authors use the same characters in the same kingdoms but use different series names is beyond me. It makes it wicked hard for readers to keep track of what order to read these books in. It’s almost like authors don’t care about their fans and are only thinking of themselves. Huh, what a novel (hahahaha!) thought, a self-absorbed, selfish author, whoda thunkit?

★★★★☆

From Fandom.com

The framing device follows the Hope-Killer, as Vaelin is known, who is an adult prisoner of war of the southern nation, being transported to a duel at the behest of his captors. A duel to the death everyone believes he will lose. He is being transported alongside a historian who begins to chronicle his life story.

Vaelin is unceremoniously dumped by his father on the steps of the Sixth Order when he is ten and his beloved mother has just died of an illness. He endures some of the most brutal training in warfare imaginable to become a warrior monk. He must survive seven years and seven deadly tests that weed out the weak and the morally unfit to become a full Brother. Even as a novice, he survives assassination attempts, foils the attempt to murder one of the leaders of another order, falls in love with a Sister in the healing order, befriends a heretic with magical powers, and fights a crime lord with less pleasant magical powers. These trials forge Vaelin and the novices in his group into true brothers-in-arms.

Eventually, he falls under the sway of the brilliant but ruthless King, who schemes to pass on a stable and economically secure realm to his well meaning but seemingly ineffectual heir. As a Brother, he must go on campaigns against some rebellious heretics and a usurping Lord, during which he learns that he may have a magical gift himself, something that is explicitly against the national religion. That gift, the titular Blood Song, will guide him to his righteous fate if he learns to control it.

Before long the King turns his envious gaze on the rich southern nations. In the heat of battle, Vaelin kills the heir to the nation, a man known as The Hope; giving Vaelin the unwanted title of Hope-Killer for the rest of his life. He takes one of the enemy's cities and holds it, even while the rest of the realm’s forces are driven back. During this time he deals with an outbreak of a lethal plague and tries to develop his gift. At the end of the war, he surrenders the city and himself under the condition that his people, including the woman that he loves, are allowed to leave.

Throughout all this, he is confronted with two great mysteries. Does there exist a Seventh Order of their Faith, and is it good or evil? What are the malevolent spirits that throughout his life have tried to kill him? Malevolent spirits that can possess the bodies of the living, even one of his closest friends.

Returning to the framing story, the duel is being fought by the champion of the country that Vaelin's father waged a brutal war against. If Vaelin wins, a southern noble will be returned. After so many years in solitary confinement, can he really win this duel? Yes and so blindingly fast that it's hard to count the seconds. Vaelin walks away to freedom.

• Blood Song (2014 Review)

• All of My “Anthony Ryan” Reviews

Inferno - MTG 4E

 

Lord Ith was the ruler of the Conclave until Mairsil usurped his power and imprisoned him below the Conclave's citadel, installing himself as the First Among the Equals.

Later, the conclave was attacked by a Church of Tal army led by Primata Delphine. Mairsil faced the Primata directly, and after draining away her magical defenses with the Wand of Ith, he stabbed her to death. However, in the chaos surrounding the assault, Jodah freed Ith, who was almost completely mad by that point. An enraged Ith destroyed Mairsil before Jodah cured his mind.

However, Mairsil had imbued his life into a small ruby ring, and his essence survived for the next 2,000 years. The artifact was found during the Ice Age by a soldier named Lim-Dûl, who gained vast necromantic abilities thanks to the power of the ring. In the service of Leshrac, he terrorized Ice Age Terisiare with undead hordes until being defeated by an alliance between Kjeldor and Balduvia.

Magic had a rich and complicated story to go along with the cards. Bits and pieces of that story were revealed in the errata on the cards (the stuff in italics). Some people collected the cards JUST to get more info about the stories going on. It sure does take all kinds!

Mrs Pollifax and the Golden Triangle (Mrs Pollifax #8) 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: Mrs Pollifax and the Golden Triangle
Series: Mrs Pollifax #8
Author: Dorothy Gilman
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Thriller
Pages: 162
Words: 58K
Publish: 1988

Thankfully, there is no torture. Mrs P still gets in a world of trouble and it’s tense as all get out, as Cyrus (her husband) gets kidnapped and its up to Mrs P to rescue him, in the jungles of Thailand.

A romping good time with thugs, rogue military people, peaceful wise and gentle “natives” and some monk who is probably an American who gave it all up decades ago plus some hijinks going on at the CIA, those lovable scamps *heart

Hahahahahaa. I think I enjoyed this as much as I did simply because of the lack of torture. It is mentioned in this book and Mrs P is realizing she has to work through what happened to her, BUT, and I think this is why I like this series so much, she doesn’t let that incident stop her from doing what she needs to in the here and now. She watches her husband be kidnapped and instead of fainting or falling apart, she enlists the aid of a dubious man she just met and starts tracking down the vehicle. We get glimpses into her mind, so we the readers know how upset, conflicted and concerned she is, but she still takes action. Man, there are some male book characters who don’t have balls as big as Mrs P, that’s for sure! (and I wish she would karate chop them to death for the record)

When it comes to this series, I think I’m in it until the very end. As long as there isn’t any more torture in Mrs P’s future.

★★★✬☆

From Wikipedia.org & Bookstooge

This time Mrs. Pollifax's assignment seems simple: while she and her husband Cyrus Reed are vacationing in Thailand, she is to pick up some valuable information on drug smuggling from an informant called Ruamsak. Everything goes awry immediately: Ruamsak is murdered, Cyrus is kidnapped, and Emily joins forces with Bonchoo, an intriguing stranger with complex reasons of his own for wanting to find Cyrus. They meet the Akha people in the jungle. The usual phalanx of muddled but supportive CIA agents try to follow Emily through the jungles of Thailand and are seriously rattled when one of their directors abruptly vanishes, only to reappear in the Golden Triangle as the head of all illicit drug trafficking. Pollifax needs all her wiles and her considerable skills in the martial arts, not only to track her husband but also to put a serious dent in the heroin trade.

Bonchoo is Ruamsak and he gets his payment from Mrs Pollifax. Cyrus is rescued, heroin is burnt, the CIA bigwig is found out that he was covering for his brother, who is now dead, so nobody at the CIA cares, Mrs Pollifax and Cyrus make it home safe and sound and Mrs P doesn’t quit the CIA (even though she should).

• All of my “Mrs Pollifax” Reviews

A Sabbath Letter #4

 

It has been 2 1/2 years since I posted "A Sabbath Letter #3". The world is crazier, faster and filled with even more chaos than back then. Thankfully, the Sabbath has not changed and it is still available to any who would seek God's peace. Here is another weekly Sabbath email that I got recently.

A popular New England radio talk show host frequently runs an ad in which he begins, “I can’t remember crazier times than what’s going on these days,” or some such language. Then he advocates going out and purchasing precious metals. Huh?  So gold and silver are the saviors?  To me such talk sounds like something the Bible calls idolatry.

But I agree with him that the days we’re living in are really weird. Something is out of kilter in the spiritual sphere, and its impact on our spirits is not imaginary. So what are we to do about this?  Like most of you, I imagine, I find a lot of comfort in the Scriptures. One evening this week, feeling the pressure, I turned to Psalm 46: “God is our refuge.” That’s enough right there, but the whole Psalm is filled with reason for security, stability, and hope, despite the upsets in the world around us.

So this Sabbath, how about meditating a little extra on the living, timeless, up-to-date Word of God? I even got out a musical version of Psalm 46 and meditated on that for a while.  “Therefore will we not fear, though the earth do change…” What a comfort!  “There is a River” of living waters… refreshing our souls, right in the midst of tribulation. And concerning the City of God—“God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved”! Not moved, no matter what. Not shaken from our foundations, because they are built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, and Jesus is the Chief Cornerstone!

God is good; He remains omnipotent; He holds the reins; His security is not challenged—and neither is ours. Let’s rejoice, sit back, and take it in. Then—send it out by faith to people around us who are deeply distressed. We can make a difference for others.

I am praying that you will find salvation through Jesus and thus be given the peace of the Sabbath today. Christ's blessing to you when you read this.

9/11 - I Still Remember

 

Today was a normal day except inside my head and heart. I worked, just like I did 24 years ago. I ate breakfast, lunch and now dinner. Life, normal ordinary Life, continues on. But I will remember and I will for the rest of my life. A shared private grief that like a badly set broken bone, has healed but will always twinge on the date of its occurrence. I bow my head in silence.