Cockatrice - MTG 4E

The World Awakening (Gateways to Alissia #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: The World Awakening
Series: Gateways to Alissia #3
Author: Dan Koboldt
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 286
Words: 89K

CASE Global, the big bad business, sends in hundreds of armed mercenaries to take over Alissia and use its resources for themselves. And said mercenies are armed with the latest technology and weapons. No more fake bows and arrow, we’re talking guns, grenades, etc. So I was wondering how Koboldt was going to wrap up what was the start of a World War and he does it by destroying the gateway so the mercs get zero reinforcements of both personnel and equipment. Kind of takes the teeth out of things that way.

Quinn wasn’t as selfishly juvenile this time around AND he starts to use real magic and not use any fake tricks. But he was very much just a cog in the machine instead of being the main character. There wasn’t one person I could point to in this and call them THE main character. It kind of was spread all over, which was ok but I was hoping for more from Quinn to show a Hero’s Journey. Oh well.

I do like that Koboldt pretty much states that this was the end of his journey into Alissia. I like it when an author makes a clear cut ending and doesn’t come crawling back. Of course, this was only published in 2018, so there’s still plenty of time for him to do some crawling, but I really hope not. This series ended well and I would like my memories of it to stay positive.

★★★☆☆

---

From the Author and Bookstooge.blog

Quinn Bradley has learned to use the magic of another world. And that world is in danger.

Having decided to betray CASE Global, he can finally reveal his origins to the Enclave and warn them about the company’s imminent invasion. Even if it means alienating Jillaine…and allying with someone he’s always considered his adversary.

But war makes for strange bedfellows, and uniting Alissians against such a powerful enemy will require ancient enmities—as well as more recent antagonisms—to be set aside. The future of their pristine world depends on it.

As Quinn searches for a way to turn the tide, his former CASE Global squad-mates face difficult decisions of their own. For some, it’s a matter of what they’re willing to do to get home. For others, it’s deciding whether they want to go home at all.

Holt dies, the woman who was in love with him takes over as the ruler, one of the mercs makes it back through the gates, the magician is able to destroy the gate, thus cutting the link between our world and Alissia. Overall, all the good guys get a semi-happy ending and Quinn ends up with the girl. The end.

• The Rogue Retrieval (Book 1)
• The Island Deception (Book 2)

Taran Wanderer (The Prydain Chronicles #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: Taran Wanderer
Series: The Prydain Chronicles #4
Author: Lloyd Alexander
Rating: 5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 130
Words: 57K

This was a coming of age story in the fullest sense of that idea. Taran wanders Prydain trying to find out who his parents were because he wants to marry Eilonwy and thinks he has to have royal blood to marry her. So he sets out and has many adventures and sees the variety of the people of Prydain, the good, the bad and the just plain stupid. He settles disputes, learns a lot of skills and by the end realizes that he is simply Taran and that is good enough.

This is the kind of story that I think every tween and teen boy should read. Unless they are a sports jock type of guy, in which case they won’t be reading anyway, so it doesn’t matter in their case. But even then, they should be forced to read this. Boys need examples of what a man is. A boy does not grow up and mature into a man all by himself. Without the guidance of a man, he will probably grow up to be a big boy. Seeing another boy having adventures and becoming a man is one of the best ways for a boy to realize that he can be something more than just a boy. But it is a choice on his part. Taran is put in circumstances beyond his control for almost all of the story but in each episode he chooses how to react and what to do. He’s a great example and I think that is wonderful.

Part of my enjoyment of the story was just seeing that idea written out. Part of my enjoyment was the nostalgia of re-reading a favorite story from my own teen years. And part of my enjoyment was simply the fact that I was enjoying this re-read so much.

I chose this cover because it is the one I remember getting from our public library in ‘90 or ‘91. It has that scary yet not “too” scary vibe. Perfecto!

★★★★★

---

From Wikipedia.org

Taran and Gurgi have returned to Caer Dallben after leaving Princess Eilonwy at the royal court of Dinas Rhydnant for education in the ways of a princess. Taran has come to realize that he loves Eilonwy; but although he has proven his worth as a man, he is restless and determined to know his parentage, partly in hopes that noble birth will support a marriage proposal. Dallben the enchanter tells him nothing about his heritage, but gives his approval for Taran and Gurgi to travel on their own in search of an answer. Taran and Gurgi travel first to the Marshes of Morva to ask the witches Orddu, Orwen and Orgoch. Taran has nothing of great value to give in exchange, so Orddu merely tells him of an alternative: that the Mirror of Llunet in the far east Llawgadarn Mountains will show him who he is.

Taran sets out to Cantrev Cadiffor to be outfitted by King Smoit. After a border patrol of Smoit’s vassal, Lord Goryon, steals his horse Melynlas and Gurgi’s pony, they spend the night with the farm couple Aeddan and Alarca who have lost their son and livestock. Taran is welcomed to remain, but he gently declines and leaves with new respect for common farmers. Taran and Gurgi recover their steeds at Goryon’s fortress because Melynlas will have no other rider, and Goryon is relieved to escape the burden of mastering him. At the neighboring stronghold of Lord Gast, they meet their old friend Fflewddur Fflam, who has returned to wandering as a bard, and together they go on to Caer Cadarn, where Smoit welcomes them.

Goryon and Gast have been feuding over their cattle stock for years, especially over Cornillo, an exceptional cow. When their dispute breaks out again the next day, Cornillo and the combined cattle herds of the two lords run off. After they recover the herd, Taran persuades King Smoit to resort to a wiser judgment to settle the continual dispute: The rival cantrev lords shall resow the fields of Aeddan, which have been ruined by their feud, and Cornillo is given to Aeddan as further compensation, although the lords shall have her next calves. The childless widower Smoit later offers to adopt Taran as his son and future King of Cadiffor. Taran declines, but says he will gladly accept if he discovers noble birth.

Continuing eastward, they cross the river Ystrad. Taran’s pet crow Kaw reveals the hiding place of a polished bone the size of a toothpick, which has been stashed high in a tree. Fflewddur’s mount Llyan, a giant cat, brings a green and yellow frog, who is really their old friend Doli the dwarf. Doli has been transformed during his investigation of a deadly threat to the Fair Folk: A human wizard named Morda has attained the power to enchant them, and to raid their underground realms. Taran, Gurgi and Fflewddur investigate Morda’s abode, but are all captured. Morda begins to boast to his captives, explaining that during a winter many years ago, he was sought out by the enchantress Angharad, who was searching for her kidnapped daughter Eilonwy, but left her to die from exhaustion. Among her possessions, Morda found an amulet, a gift to her from the Fair Folk which became the primary source of his power, and an empty book, which he gave to Glew when the latter begged him to make him a sorcerer.

Morda turns Fflewddur and Gurgi into a hare and a mouse, respectively, but fails to transform Taran. Taran deduces that the bone splinter Kaw found is Morda’s little finger, in which he has stored his own life force to attain immortality and then cut off of his hand to keep it safe, and that Morda is unable to harm Taran so long as he possesses it. As Taran and Morda struggle over the bone, Morda inadvertently snaps it, causing his own death and ending the spell which transformed the companions. After recovering Angharad’s amulet, Taran reflects that it could make him powerful, but decides to return it to Doli’s people, the Fair Folk, who made it. Just before they part ways, Doli identifies the ceremonial horn Eilonwy recovered from the ruins of Caer Colur, which Taran still carries with him, as a magical item with which Taran can issue one single call for aid from the Fair Folk.

Taran, Gurgi, and Fflewddur camp next with the ruffian Dorath and his band. Their hosts suspect a quest for treasure and offer guidance to Llunet, in exchange for a share. The guests try to slip away early next morning, but Dorath prevents it and extracts a wager on hand-to-hand combat with Taran. He cheats and takes Taran’s sword, then departs.

An old shepherd with decrepit holdings, Craddoc, welcomes the companions next. From Taran’s account of the mission, Craddoc reveals that Taran is, in fact, his son. Fflewddur departs, but Taran and Gurgi remain and labor beside Craddoc. Taran and Craddoc develop a bond, but Taran also resents the end of his dream of noble birth. During the next winter, however, Craddoc suffers a bad fall down a mountain gorge and Taran is unable to rescue him. Near death, Craddoc reveals that he merely posed as Taran’s father to gain himself a son. The gorge and the weather threaten Taran as well, and he finally summons the Fair Folk, who are able to save only Taran and Gurgi.

After burying Craddoc, Taran and Gurgi continue eastward, across Little Avren to the Free Commots, and stay for a while with lucky Llonio and his family on the banks of the river. Next, Taran assists and learns the trades of three great craftmasters: Hevydd the smith, Dwyvach the weaver, and Annlaw the potter. He learns enough that he would be welcome to remain as an assistant, and gains a new sword, a new cloak, and a new bowl, but still cannot find fulfillment. While ferrying the wares of Annlaw to Commot Isav, he leads the poor farming village in resistance of a raid by Dorath, killing half the band at no loss of life on the farmers’ side.

Upon Taran’s return, Annlaw tells him the way to the Mirror of Llunet, which he knows about, but has never visited. After a short journey, Taran and Gurgi find the Mirror: a pool of water at the mouth of a cave beyond the Lake of Llunet. Taran gazes into it, but Dorath interrupts and defiles the pool. He and Taran meet in a swordfight, in which Taran’s old sword shatters on his new one and Dorath flees. Taran does not pursue but returns to Annlaw, whom he tells that the Mirror showed his own reflection and nothing more. He does not feel cheated by Orddu, for he has seen what he has become by his own labor and all he has learned on the way. With new confidence in himself, he and Gurgi depart back to Caer Dallben.

• The Complete Prydain Chronicles (2006 Review)
• The Book of Three (Book 1)
• The Black Cauldron (Book 2)
• Castle of Llyr (Book 3)

Through a Mythos Darkly (Cthulhu Anthology #11) 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, & Librarything by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: Through a Mythos Darkly
Series: Cthulhu Anthology #11
Editor: Glynn Barrass & Brian Sammons
Rating: 2.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Cosmic Horror
Pages: 257
Words: 98K

The title of this anthology is a rip off of the Bible verse from 1^st Corinthians, Chapter 13, verse 12 which starts out “For now we see in a mirror, darkly;” so I knew going in that this might very well be quite blasphemous. Thankfully, it wasn’t.

But it wasn’t that good either. I have built up my expectations about Glynn Barrass as an editor and he really let me down this time. I think a large part of that was the inclusion of a bunch of woke buzz words and ideas that shaped the stories into more political screeds than actual good story telling. Plus, several of them were using very modern terms (health care practitioner in the 1920’s, I don’t think so!) in stories where said words weren’t used that way. It just threw me out of the story every time it happened and damped down my enjoyment.

Plus, several of the stories had that “man is evil, man is a monster, man should just destroy himself to make the world a better place” mentality which has nothing to do with cosmic horror and more to do with the author’s thoughts and feelings about humanity. Which if they really believed that, they would put a gun in their mouth and blow their brains out. And we would all be better off not having to put up with their stupidity. But what they MEAN is that everyone ELSE is a monster and should destroy themselves, obviously not them!

The short story “Fate of the World” had a tie in with the King in Yellow in that Carcosa is a real place on Earth and is at war with the rest of world who are under the sway of various elder gods. But that was it and was barely there. The King doesn’t even appear. So it wasn’t what I expected or wanted.

Overall, I was pretty disappointed with this collection. While not egregiously bad like The Black Wings of Cthulhu, I am actually rating this lower because there wasn’t even one story that really rose above the rest. Everything was grey, mediocre pablum. That is the very antithesis of Cosmic Horror.

★★✬☆☆

---

Publisher’s Blurb & Table of Contents:

In this Cthulhu Mythos inspired anthology, editors Glynn Owen Barrass & Brian M. Sammons invited their authors to Take a steampunk world, fill it with giant steam powered robots, and have them herding shoggoths for the betterment of mankind. Have them rebel, and have do-gooders set about trying to free them. Fill a world with Deep Ones or Ghouls, or create a world where magic is a part of everyday life, or where America was never discovered because something kept eating the ships, or the Nazis won WWII thanks to outside influences. Perhaps the Chinese built the Great Wall to keep something out other than Mongol hordes. So, how did they do? Fantastically of course.

TOC:

Introduction (Through a Mythos Darkly) • essay by Glynn Owen Barrass and Brian M. Sammons

The Roadrunners • short fiction by Cody Goodfellow

Scrimshaw • short fiction by Jeffrey Thomas

Sweet Angie Tailor in: Subterranean Showdown • short story by John Langan

An Old and Secret Cult • short fiction by Robert M. Price

Stewert Behr—Deanimator • short fiction by Peter Rawlik [as by Pete Rawlik]

To Kill a King • short fiction by Don Webb

The Last Quest • short story by William Meikle

Fate of the World • short fiction by Christine Morgan

Red in the Water, Salt on the Earth • short fiction by Konstantine Paradias

The Night They Drove Cro Magnon Down • short fiction by D. A. Madigan

Sacrifice • short fiction by Sam Stone

Get Off Your Knees, I’m Not Your God • short fiction by Edward R. Morris

Excerpts from the Diaries of Henry P. Linklatter • short fiction by Stephen Mark Rainey

Plague Doctor • short fiction by Tim Waggoner

Amidst the Blighted Swathes of Grey Desolation • short fiction by Lee Clark Zumpe

Cognac, Communism, and Cocaine • short fiction by Nick Mamatas and Molly Tanzer

Kai Monstrai Ateik (When the Monsters Come) • short fiction by Damien Angelica Walters

• All of My “Cthulhu Anthology” Reviews

Rock Jaw: Master of the Eastern Border (Bone #28-32) 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: Rock Jaw: Master of the Eastern Border
Series: Bone #28-32
Author: Jeff Smith
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Comics
Pages: 128
Words: 5K

My goodness, what a lot of back and forth. Between Roque Ja, locusts, Dream Kingdok, REAL Kingdok and various rat creatures, Fone and Smiley are on the run the entire time. If I had had to read this in five individual comic issues, I would have quit for sure. As it was, lumping these together gave me “just enough” of a story to feel like I hadn’t wasted my time.

But barely.

I have to admit, I really preferred the beginning of the series when it was just the Bone cousins having little mini-adventures in a new place and meeting new people. This whole “ancient battle between mega-powerful forces” is not what I want. At this point though, I simply don’t remember enough of the story to stop and I DO want to see how things end. Now that I’m not hobbling myself with an issue a month, I can bypass Smith’s stupidity and total jackassery at pacing and read at a clip that suits me better.

I do wonder if I’m going to see Roque Ja again or if Smith just used him as a one off character to write a side story. A gigantic mountain lion is pretty cool so I do hope we see him again, even if he isn’t necessarily one of the good guys.

On the funny side, there was another “stupid, stupid rat creatures” moment involving Roque Ja and the two rogue rat creatures. I just laughed my head off at Roque Ja’s expression here 🙂

★★★☆☆

---

From Bookstooge.blog (because the Boneville.fandom.com people are a bunch of pissant losers)

Fone and Smiley and Bartleby (the baby rat creature) escape the two rat creatures who want to turn them into quiches. In the process they run into a giant mountain lion named Roque Ja. He is against the dragons and the rat creatures but hates the dragons more. Fone, Smiley and Bartleby are rescued from him by the possum kids who get the two rat creatures into Roque Ja’s sight. All three go over a cliff. An enraged Roque Ja chases the Bones and various small orphan creatures into a cave.

The cave leads to an abandoned temple. Everybody starts to head down the mountain away from Roque Ja. Only to be discovered by the two rat creatures. Who are then in turn discovered by Kingdok the lord of the rat creatures. Everybody ends up on a ledge trying not to get eaten by Kingdok. A bunch of locusts show up and try to kidnap Fone. A medallion falls out of his backpack and banishes them. It also banished Kingdok, who was only a dream manifestation from the old temple they passed though.

Roque Ja finds them all and delivers them to the real Kingdok, who betrays Roque Ja by trying to kill him. In the scuffle the group of Bones and orphans escape to the treeline. Bartleby ends up with the rat creatures and the Bones begin the journey back to the village to figure out what is going on.

• All My “Bone” Reviews

Mobsmen on the Spot (The Shadow #9) 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 WordPresss & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: Mobsmen on the Spot
Series: The Shadow #9
Author: Maxwell Grant
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Crime Fiction
Pages: 190
Words: 60K

We are introduced to yet another new agent for the Shadow. A former mob member who has spent time in jail for robbing a bank and killing a cop. Only the Shadow knows the truth about it all and uses the man to bring down a mastermind behind a bunch of protection rackets.

I thought this was really good. The Shadow maneuvers various levels of mobsters against each other and lets them spill their own blood. Things don’t go all his way though, as one good business man is murdered and the daughter of another is kidnapped.

The mastermind once again is pretty obvious once it becomes apparent that there IS a mastermind. That type of thing used to bother me, and under the right circumstances still might, but overall, I like a nice simple story where I don’t have to use my brain much. Working 9hrs in the heat and humidity really fries my mental capacity and I can appreciate a well told story that entertains me yet doesn’t expect me to turn into Sherlock Holmes to figure out what is going on.

If this was a Sandwich Rating, I would have probably given it the Toasted Tomato Sandwich rating. But it was missing the 1/2lb of black pepper that I usually dump on mine, hence the half star downgrade. Black Pepper makes a toasted tomato sandwich really pop and gives it that extra zing that makes me go “Yuuuuuuuum!”.

★★★✬☆

---

From the Publisher

Who KNOWS WHAT EVIL LURKS IN THE HEARTS OF MEN?

Who calls the shots for the country’s toughest gangsters? Who makes them dance to an offer they can’t refuse? Who is the invisible power behind the scenes of Manhattan’s billion-dollar protection rackets?

THE SHADOW KNOWS only that the criminal mastermind who controls the waterfront, the warehouses and the garages, is about to invade the theaters of the world’s most volatile city, where the root of crime flourishes, gangland-style.

THE SHADOW stalks his man with cunning, stealth and brilliance, and the eerie laugh that is his hallmark. The laugh that aims to chill all who have ever tasted the bitter fruit of the weed of crime: The Underworld, whose secrets belong to this Master of Darkness!

• All of My “The Shadow” Reviews

Choose Your Enemies (WH40K: Ciaphas Cain #10) 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: Choose Your Enemies
Series: WH40K: Ciaphas Cain #10
Authors: Sandy Mitchell
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages: 338
Words: 107K

We get introduced to the Eldar Reavers here, or Raiders, or whatever. They’re Space Pirate Elves. That’s all we really need to know. Because Cain fights them, helps them unknowingly and with their help takes down a full Chaos Demon. Meanwhile, Chaos Cultists are taking over the leadership of a Forgeworld with the usual results, hence the demon.

I enjoyed this quite a bit. It was bittersweet knowing this was the last Cain book for some time. Supposedly there is a new novel due out this year and an omnibus of short stories due at the same time, but there is no actual release date, so I’ll believe it when I see it. Choose Your Enemies was published in 2018, so even if a new Cain book comes out this year, chances are good it will be another 5 years before the next one. So this is the last Cain book in my opinion.

One thing I have liked about the Cain books is the little glimpses, usually VERY little, of various non-Empire of Humanity beings. We’ve seen chaos cultists, demons, orks, necrons, tau, tyranids and now eldar. While I would have liked to see a bit more of each, the little glimpse I had felt like enough to give me familiarity with them so I at least knew their name and what kind of creature they were.

These books are not great literature and I don’t expect that. I just want a cracking good adventure story and for the most part, Sandy Mitchell (or whatever his real name is, I simply don’t care if a stupid author uses a stupid pseudonym for some stupid reason because he’s stupid) has always written fast paced, exciting boom boom, shoot shoot, chop chop stories. Kind of like those tasty baskets of bread and butter that restaurants give you before your appetizers and entree can be cooked and served.

★★★✬☆

---

From Wh40k.lexicanum.com

Commissar Ciaphas Cain and the Valhallan 597th are in the thick of it again, putting down an uprising of Chaos cultists on an Imperial mining world. Though their mission is a success, they find evidence that the corruption might have spread to other planets, and that the forge world of Ironfound could now be at risk. The munitions Ironfound produces are vital to the Imperial war effort in the subsector; its safety must be assured at all costs. As battle explodes across the planet, Ciaphas Cain and his regiment come up against allies and enemies old and new in their fight for victory against the forces of Chaos.

• All My “Ciaphas Cain” Reviews