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

Barbara Cartland Buddy Read Schedule

 

Ok Folks, it is that time of the year again. That time of the year when Bookstooge, and anyone brave enough to join him, reads a Barbara Cartland romance. Cartland was known as the Queen of Romance during her life time, so we as readers know we're getting quality, classic, romantical stuff here! Just what the doctor ordered.

Last year I had some unique artwork for the chapter posts. Sadly, that is not the case this year so if anyone is interested in creating some, I'd be happy to look it over and if it works for me, give you full credit for the art work. Sadly, your only reward will be that warm feeling knowing you contributed to this beloved and cherished tradition here at Bookstooge's Reviews on the Road ;-)

This year we will be reading "A Rainbow to Heaven" originally published in 1934. The following is the schedule:

• Chapters 1-3 discussion post on Friday, December 5th
• Chapters 4-6 discussion post on Friday, December 12th
• Chapters 7-9 discussion post on Friday, December 19th
• Chapters 10-12 discussion post on Friday, December 26th
• Book Review post on Friday, January 2nd 2026

While you don't have to use that exact schedule, it will help if you at least keep to the week in question for each set of chapters. Also, please use the tag "Barbara Cartland Buddy Read" on each post (including the review) to make it easier for anyone to find your posts on the WP Reader. If you would like, I can include a link to your post each week. Just let me know what it is and I'll edit my chapter discussion post to link to yours. If you have any questions or concerns, let me know in the comments and I'll do my best to answer them.

This gives you a month to prepare. If you are like me, that is barely enough time ;-) But it should be enough. You can also schedule your posts ahead of time if that makes life easier for you. Finally, if you are having a hard time finding the book, email me and I'll see what I can do.

Peace out, Wuv Warriors!

My Week XXX: Running Silent

 

I plan on going silent until Sunday. I started the process Wednesday evening and have been going deeper and quieter as time has gone on. I'm still reading your posts and liking them, and liking any comments you leave as an acknowledgement of them, but right now, words are not my friend.

See you Sunday sometime.

Rufferto Reality (Groo the Wanderer #45) 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: Rufferto Reality
Series: Groo the Wanderer #45
Author: Sergio Aragones
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Comics
Pages: 24
Words: 2K
Publish: 1988

Groo is trying to buy some food and “compromises” with the seller for 10kopens (when the initial price is 2kopens), only to find that he has NO kopens. Which means he needs a job. He finds a job, that pays nil. Groo is sure that “nil” is a lot of kopens, so he immediately consigns Rufferto to guard his swords and off he goes to work. Only to find that he isn’t fed. He challenges the overseer to a fray, but he ends up having to use the overseer’s sword and he loses the fray. So he’s back on the chain gang. Meanwhile, Rufferto, now known as a hero to the dog community, tries to rescue a bunch of strays, gets captured himself, orchestrates his own escape, is captured, then captured by pirates, then almost eaten by a shark AND a dragon, almost sacrificed to a barbarian idol but finally makes his way back to Groo’s swords. Which he then delivers to Groo, who promptly “frays” with the overseer and accidentally sets everyone free. The issue ends with Groo realizing he won’t be paid and wondering how much money he hasn’t been paid over the last year.

I am realizing that I am not going to have a separate “thoughts” and “synopsis” section for Groo anymore. I read these and most of what I think ends up just being a synopsis anyway, so I’ve decided to just include that. It’s not like it is going to spoil everything for any of you, since none of you will be reading these :-D and honestly, putting up the one page that I find the most amusing is about all I really want to do for these comics anyway. You are welcome…

★★★✬☆

• All of My “Groo the Wanderer” Reviews

Evolution Island (Novella) 2.5Stars

 

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: Evolution Island
Series: -----
Author: Edmond Hamilton
Rating: 2.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 35
Words: 10K
Publish: 1927

This was pretty much on par with Hamilton’s previous work, so it was on track to barely get a 3star when the ending happened. The Dr has made an evolution ray that with the flick of a switch can “evolve” anything in its path. If you flick the switch down though, it “devolves” whatever it touches, ie “reverse the polarity Mr Scootykins!” and all your problems will be solved. The problem is that when the Dr and his young friend flick the switch down and “devolve” all the plant men creatures and the Dr’s helper (who had evolved himself into a brain on spindly legs), the Dr and his friend don’t devolve as well. Everything is supposed to devolve, not just what is convenient. The Dr even makes a point of only using the ray on a certain part of the island earlier in the story so it won’t affect him.

Major continuity fail.

Major authorial fail.

Major fail.

I am realizing that Hamilton and his stories haven’t survived the last 100 years for a good reason. As such, I am done with him. If you’d like to see everything I’ve read written by him, just click the following link:
“All My Edmond Hamilton Reviews”

This novellas was originally published in the Weird Tales magazine in 1927. I’m including the opening picture for it here just to add some “bulk” to this pint sized review.

★★✬☆☆

From Bookstooge

Doctor Walton posits that evolution is caused by a specific ray but his thesis on the subject is ridiculed. He goes off in a huff and buys and island. He invents a ray that does what he claims and evolves animals and plants. He realizes the danger of what he has done and so leaves the island under the care of his assistant, Brilling, while he goes to get help. Brilling of course turns the ray upon himself and evolves into a brain on legs and plans on using the evolved plant man to spread the ray over the entire Earth, “evolving” the entirety of mankind into goo and then becoming the King of the World, which will be ruled by servile plant men. Dr Walton gets the help of a friend, a young man named Stuart Owen. They return to the isle and are promptly captured. They still manage to reverse the evolution ray on the island and all the plant men and Brilling devolve back into goo. The world is safe once more.