The Madness of Cthulhu Vol. 2 (Cthulhu Anthology #6) ★★★✬☆

 

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Title: The Madness of Cthulhu Vol. 2
Series: Cthulhu Anthology #6
Editor: S.T. Joshi
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Cosmic Horror
Pages: 194
Words: 74K

TOC

20,000 Years Under the Sea by Kevin J. Anderson

Tsathoggua’s Breath by Brian Stableford

The Door Beneath by Alan Dean Foster

Dead Man Walking by William F. Nolan

A Crazy Mistake by Nancy Kilpatrick

The Anatomy Lesson by Cody Goodfellow

The Hollow Sky by Jason C. Eckhardt

The Last Ones by Mark Howard Jones

A Footnote in the Black Budget by Jonathan Maberry

Deep Fracture by Steve Rasnic Tem

The Dream Stones by Donald Tyson

The Blood in My Mouth by Laird Barron

On the Shores of Destruction by Karen Haber

Object 00922UU by Erik Bear and Greg Bear

With this collection, Joshi steers the boat back into the Cosmic Horror side of Cthulhu instead of the Weird Fiction stream he entered with Madness Vol 1. I much prefer Cosmic Horror (as I’ve said before and I’m sure I’ll say again).

I’m realizing, as I read more of these anthologies, that a good grounding in both classic literature AND the original Cthulhu Mythos by Lovecraft make for a much richer, fuller read. The first story, 20,000 Years Under the Sea is about Captain Nemo and the Nautilus, from Jules Verne’s story 20,000 Leagues under the Sea. While Anderson does a good job (I’m surprised I’m saying that about him, as I usually think he does slip shod and crappy work) of giving us all the details we need to know for this particular story, if you know the original story it adds some depth to the characters, etc. In the same way, A Footnote in the Black Budget deals with the shoggoth and the fallout from Lovecraft’s story The Mountains of Madness. Again, you are given everything you need for this particular story, but knowing the history just adds more to your enjoyment.

I also find that the horrible works better than the strictly weird. The Dream Stones is a perfect example. That is an interview at a police station with a person who appears to have gone insane after murdering 6 couples. But if you believe in the mythos, you see that they have been driven insane by something so vast that it simply broke their mind. Why does that appeal to me? I have no idea.

Overall, I was pretty pleased with this collection. There was no snobbery or pretentiousness to ruin the stories and we went from the time of the Vikings to the Far Future, so it wasn’t all the same setting. At the same time, I gave this the same rating as Vol 1 because none of these stories quite rose to the occasion. So while I enjoyed the Cosmic Horror, it wasn’t as good as I was hoping for.

★★★✬☆

• Cthulhu Lives! (Book 1)

• Cthulhu Lies Dreaming (Book 2)

• The Madness of Cthulhu Vol 1 (Book 3)

• Pyrate Cthulhu Vol 1 (Book 4)

• Pyrate Cthulhu Vol 2 (Book 5)

In the Best Families (Nero Wolfe #17) ★★★★✬

 

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: In the Best Families
Series: Nero Wolfe #17
Author: Rex Stout
Rating: 4.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Mystery
Pages: 194
Words: 73.5K

In an earlier Nero Wolfe book I had wondered what a story only about Archie or only about Wolfe would be like. Well, I get a boatload of Archie Goodwin here. This is the third and final book dealing with the criminal mastermind Arnold Zeck. Once again Wolfe takes on a case that interferes with something Zeck is doing and Zeck gives Wolfe a final warning to stay out of his way. Wolfe disappears and Archie goes into business for himself. In the end, Wolfe had lost about 200lbs, gone undercover and infiltrated Zeck’s organization and eventually kills Zeck and destroys his organization.

I have to admit, when Archie was on his own, he was a boring bore. He wasn’t entertaining, he didn’t come across as tough but more as a bully. But that is exactly what I wanted to see. He and Wolfe need each other as literary characters and it was nice to have it confirmed that a story needed both of them for them to be at their best.

I am also very glad that Zeck is dealt with, and in such a manner that is 100% Bookstodge Approved. There is no rehabilitation for someone like him, so death is the only sentence that is justified. And there was no hesitation about carrying out the sentence either. Both Wolfe and Archie knew it and they didn’t wring their hands and cry and weep like women.

Somehow I messed up the series numbering on my kindle and so I skipped #16. I don’t think it will make much of a difference, storywise, as these are standalone stories, but it offends my personal sense of order. I just wanted to note this egregious lapse so that my future self wouldn’t be confused about why I made such a blunder in reading these out of order. If this lapse has confused you or thrown you into a maelstrom of chaos, allow this lowly one to apologize to you as well. I have brought dishonor upon myself. I have brought dishonor upon my family. I have brought dishonor upon my cow. Please allow me the honor of expiating such dishonor in the only honorable way.

★★★★✬

• All My “Nero Wolfe” Reviews

Double or Nothing (Bone #15) ★★★☆☆

 

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: Double or Nothing
Series: Bone #15
Author: Jeff Smith
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Comics
Pages: 26
Words: 1K

Gran’ma Ben overhears Thorn and Fone talking about their dreams and after scaring the crap out of them, runs off into the woods without explaining anything. They track her down and just as Fone is about to get something from Gran’ma, they realize they’re surrounded by rat creatures. And instead of following through, we immediately switch over to Group Two, which consists of Phoney, Smiley and Lucius the bar owner.

Phoney and Lucius make another bet about how to run the tavern and Lucius gives Phoney a month to prove his claims. I have to admit, it made zero sense to me. Lucius OWNS Phoney and Smiley for several months already due to the cow race fiasco, so what does he gain by gambling again? I suspect Lucius is a prime candidate for Gamblers Anonymous and is the exact kind of person Phoney preys upon with his totally messed up plans.

Reading this story one issue at a time instead of all at once via the One Volume Bone edition is a completely different experience. I know I keep saying this, but forcing myself to just read one issue a month, like how it was released (in some cases, the issues were delayed, so it was even longer between releases) makes me wonder how this survived long enough to get the story told. I am champing at the bit to read more and I can see myself losing interest if Smith just keeps dolling out the info in such small amounts. It is rather frustrating, even knowing the story is already complete and I don’t have to worry about him just stopping the story.

★★★☆☆

• All My "Bone" Reviews

Shogun (The Asian Saga #1) Unrated DNF@68%

 

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: Shogun
Series: The Asian Saga #1
Author: James Clavell
Rating: Unrated / DNF@68%
Genre: Historical Fiction
Pages: 1113 / 757
Words: 438K / 298K

When I read this in 2010, I loved it. It wasn’t perfect but the utter foreignness of the setting (1600’s I think, in Japan) made for an enthralling read.

This time, all I could read were the sailors swearing like sailors. The biggest part was that they would claim to be Christians and then take Jesus’s name in vain as part of their daily routine. I’m not blaming Clavell for including it, which is why I’m leaving this unrated, but it is not something I want to get comfortable with. It was starting to bug me and then it happened with several of the characters multiple times in just a few pages, so I decided I had had enough and dnf’d the book.

I don’t know why it bothered me so much this time and not so much back in ‘10. While I am older, I don’t feel like I can say I am more mature as a Christian, if anything I realize just how much in the shallow end of the pool I really am. My own temptation to swear at work is waaaaaay greater and thus harder to fight against. I’m less involved at church. I didn’t think much about it when I just dnf’d it, but now that I am writing, it is a puzzling aspect to me. I haven’t come to any conclusion but now I am curious. Something changed in me and I don’t know what it is. I’ll have to keep on cogitating on it.

I definitely won’t be re-reading the rest of the Asian Saga, as I remember not enjoying them nearly as much as I did Shogun back then. So another re-read that didn’t quite work out. I seem to have gone through a list of books like that in the last month or two. Good thing my tbr is close to 300!

Unrated DNF@68%

• Shogun (2010 Review)

Duty Calls (WH40K: Ciaphas Cain #5) ★★★✬☆

 

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: Duty Calls
Series: WH40K: Ciaphas Cain #5
Authors: Sandy Mitchell
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages: 317
Words: 101K

Cain gets in another scrap on some world and finds a weapon that is capable of turning regular humans into psykers. A rogue priest (? I simply can’t keep straight what various non-soldiers in the Imperium are called. There are so many!) wants to use it to turn humanity into a massive psyker fist and punch out the lights of Chaos. Of course, he’s tainted by Chaos and ignores that psyker abilities are an aspect of Chaos. Thankfully, the woman who Cain hangs out with (not a clue what her name is at the moment) is involved and she’s got some power armor. Plus a genestealer fleet is invading and the world is full of chaos cultists as well.

Cain stumbles from one hairy situation to another, always succeeding, always coming out looking good and always knowing he’s a Hero of the Imperium. It just makes me grin :-) Plus, the action, while not non-stop, is pretty intense. That always helps keep my interest in a franchise fiction story.

Mitchell (the author) continues to impress me with the workman like writing. Sometimes that can be a bad thing, but for franchise fiction, it is pretty much what I want. Get the grammar right, get the syntax correct and don’t have Cain being in two places at once in the story and I’m satisfied. I know I judge other books harder and hold them to a higher standard, but that simply isn’t done for this kind of book or series.

When I want to judge an energy drink, I compare it to a Reign White Gummy Bear and its 300mg of caffeine. When I drink an 8oz Red Bull, I know I’m only getting 80mg of caffeine and something that I imagine tastes like horse piss. I don’t blame the Red Bull for being weak horse piss. It is what it is. Hahahahahaa. So franchise fiction has its limitations and I judge accordingly.

★★★✬☆

• For The Emperor (Book 1)

• Fight or Flight (0.5 Short Story)

• Caves of Ice (Book 2)

• Sector Thirteen (0.6 Short Story)

• Echoes of the Tomb (1.5 Short Story)

• The Beguiling (1.7 Short Story)

• The Traitor's Hand (Book 3)

• Death or Glory (Book 4)

A Christmas Carol read by Patrick Stewart ★★★★★

 

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 Christmas Carol read by Patrick Stewart
Author: Charles Dickens
Narrator: Patrick Stewart
Rating: 5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Classic
Length: 1hr and 46min
(Pages: 98)
(Words: 28K)

Last year when I listened to this story narrated by Tim Curry, many of my faithful followers recommended the audio version read by Patrick Stewart. I immediately put it onto my google calendar to help remind myself for this year.

And boy howdy, am I glad I did! I will never listen to another version again and I’ll be hard pressed to even justifying reading it. Stewart does an absolutely PERFECT job here and I was completely impressed.

He also reads at a faster pace than Curry did and takes about half the time, so it’s not a big time commitment. It never felt rushed though and his stage training meant his diction and enunciation were a joy to listen to.

In short, and to end, this is now my definitive and preferred edition of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Good stuff!

★★★★★

• A Christmas Carol (2013 Novel Review)

• A Christmas Carol Read by Tim Curry (2021 Audio Review)

Galactic Odyssey ★★★★★

 

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: Galactic Odyssey
Series: ----------
Author: Keith Laumer
Rating: 5 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages: 129
Words: 37K

This, along with Sentenced to Prism, is one of my most read books. This is the fourth time I've read it since 2000 and I know I read it at least 3 times between 1990 and 2000, quite possibly 4 or 5 times. However, my recent re-read of Sentenced and my reaction to it, helped prepare me for this re-read. I had almost the same reaction, ie, a wistful disappointment but because I was expecting it, it didn't change how I viewed the book like it did for Sentenced.

At under 150 pages, this is a very short story and so much happens, that its serial roots are quite obvious this time around. I hadn't noticed it in previous reads, but this time around it was rather glaring.

While I still enjoyed this, I think, that just like with Sentenced, the time of re-reading this particular story is over. I've changed enough that this doesn't engage the same way on the emotional level like it has in decades past. Sometimes getting older and changing isn't all that it's cracked up to be :-/

★★★★★

• 
  Galactic Odyssey (2013 Review)

• Galactic Odyssey (2001 Review)

• Galactic Odyssey (2000 Review)

The Collected Stories (The Russians) ★★☆☆☆

 

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 Collected Stories
Series: (The Russians)
Author: Nikolai Gogol
Translator: Unknown
Rating: 2 of 5 Stars
Genre: Fiction
Pages: 575
Words: 166K

If peasants getting drunk and doing stupid things amuses you, if the devil being outfoxed by said peasants sounds interesting and if constantly worrying about your class status is something you do, then these short stories are probably for you.

They were not for me. Thankfully, this was the last of Gogol. There are some plays left, but I'm not going to bother.

★★☆☆☆

• The Russians

• Leo Tolstoy

• Fyodor Dostoyevsky

• Ivan Turgenev

• Nikolai Gogol

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #11 ★★✬☆☆

 

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: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #11
Authors: Peter Laird & Kevin Eastman
Rating: 2.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Comics
Pages: 41
Words: 2K

So after the last issue where Shredder is shown to be alive and attacks the group and they barely escape, this issue is all from April's perspective and takes the form of her writing in her journal while the group recovers at an old farmhouse that belonged to Casey's grandmother.

April has nightmares about losing everything, each of the boys is hurt and trying to recover in their own way and through the winter they all do their separate activities, with varying degrees of success. Finally Splinter gets involved and starts them on the healing path as a group.

April journaling was definitely something I can identify with. The act of writing (not typing mind you, but writing, not that that was readily available in 1987 in abandoned farmhouses in new england!) can be therapeutic and can act as a release valve. For me, there are lots of things I think and feel that I can't say to others, for a variety of reasons. But they are still inside of me, churning around and bubbling like a cauldron. Writing those thoughts down allows me to stop thinking about them and prevents them from festering in my mind and becoming something worse. It is also a calming exercise as I am totally focused on the act of writing and can ignore the world around me for that time. Obviously, that is me bringing my own thoughts on journaling to the comic, but from what April writes and how she writes, it seems like she uses it the same way.

I downgraded this a full star though because near the end Splinter and the boys are having a kum bai ya moment and it is so full of 80's Eastern Mysticism Cant that I literally rolled my eyes. Thankfully, the issue does end with spring coming and everyone getting back on track to be the group they were meant to. So I'll keep on reading :-)

★★✬☆☆

• All My “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” Reviews

Sentenced to Prism (HumanX Commonwealth) ★★★★☆

 

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: Sentenced to Prism
Series: HumanX Commonwealth
Author: Alan Dean Foster
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages: 212
Words: 82K

Yeah, really should have left this one alone for another couple of years. 2018 isn't long enough ago for me. I downgraded this favorite of mine down to 4stars because it is just such a simplistic story. Sometimes that really works for me but this time, it was a detriment and not a positive. I'll definitely be re-reading this again sometime in the future, but I'm guessing it will be another decade instead of 4-5 years.

That is all. Carry on with your normal daily business, citizens of Planet Earth, no need to be alarmed. All Your Cinema Are Belong To Us!

★★★★☆

• Sentenced to Prism (2018 Review)

• Sentenced to Prism (2014 Review)

• Sentenced to Prism (2006 Review)

• Sentenced to Prism (2000 Review)