It’s time to get to the book version of Shadows of the Empire.
Read moreShadows of the Empire: Book Review
Book Review: The JRPG Book
A while back I reviewed The CRPG Book, a book from Bitmap Books covering the history of Computer RPGs through various eras of titles in the medium, with write-ups from various authors. The book has since received a follow-up, The JRPG Book, written by Kurt Kalata with contributions by other authors. I’ve finished reading that, so it’s time to give my thoughts on the book.
Read moreLegends & Lattes: Book Review
This month’s pick for the Sword & Laser Book Club, and the winner of their Madness In March Tournament was Legends & Lattes, a book that had been on my recommendations list for quite a bit, so it’s time to take a look at it.
Read moreBook (Video) Review: Final Fantasy XV – Dawn of the Future
It’s time to look at the book adaptation of the DLC for Final Fantasy XV that we didn’t get (and a little bit that we did)
Read moreBook Review: Weird of the White Wolf
Weird of the White Wolf is the fourth part of the first of the current set of Elric omnibus volumes, and undoubtedly, this is where things get serious. I mean – there were serious things before, but this is where Elric gets shoved headlong into his destiny (the “Weird” in the title referring the Old English use of the word – Wyrd – meaning destiny) – like it or not (tending towards “or not”). And this is helped by the fact that here is where we encounter the first stories in the publication order, even if they’re not the first in Elric’s internal chronology.
Read moreUnder Fortunate Stars: Book Review
A time travel fiction concept that definitely falls under the category of “things I didn’t quite realize was a sub-sub-genre” until recently is the “Don’t Meet Your Heroes” story (with the alternative addendum of “Or do, I’m not your parental figure”). Basically, a story where the main characters travel back in time, either intentionally or unintentionally, and end up meeting someone (whether a singular person or multiple people) who are on the eve of doing some thing instrumental to the timeline, and who one or multiple of the protagonists idolizes, with the grand reveal being that they aren’t quite the kind of person that history has remembered them as being. Under Fortunate Stars by Ren Huchings – March’s Sword & Laser book club pick – is a really great example of this kind of story.
Read moreSlayers – Book 1: Book Review
Recently, the first volume of the Slayers novels – which had been translated twice in the past (once by Tokyopop & now by J-Novel Club) received an audiobook review. This was ultimately the impetus I needed to get around to reading this, and this case, listening to the audiobook, read by Lisa Ortiz – the actress who voiced Lina in the English dub of the TV series.
Read moreFinal Fantasy XV: The Dawn of the Future – Book Review
Final Fantasy XV had a lot of DLC planned, to expand on the game’s story by providing additional plot details during the big time skip before the game’s final act, expanding on the game’s backstory, and even providing an alternate ending. We got… some of it. We got the backstory expansion. We got some elaboration on what characters were doing when they were off-camera at certain parts of the game. However, we didn’t get the whole story – we didn’t get the expansion discussing the time skip, and we didn’t get the alternate ending. However, the game’s writers wanted to make sure that story was told, leading to The Dawn of the Future – which adapts one released episode, and the plots of a bunch of unreleased ones, to give an alternate ending.
Read moreBook Review: Sailor on the Seas of Fate
When I reviewed Fortress of the Pearl, I was partway through the next book in the first of the more recent Elric omnibus collections, and I came to the realization that book was written less with the thought of “How do I fit this story within the larger Elric saga?” and more “I have an Idea for an Elric story – where do I put it?” By contrast, Sailor on the Seas of Fate, which was published soon after Elric of Melnibone, feels like Moorcock continuing with the concepts he had with that first story – setting up the chain of events that lead to where the first published Elric story – “The Dreaming City” – picks up, and in the process further building up the concept of the Eternal Champion Mythos, based on the other incarnations that had been published at this point.
Read moreBook (Video) Review: City in the Autumn Stars
We get to the second of the Von Bek books I’ve read (and the last of them I’ll be reading for a while).
Read moreThe Runestaff Review
We get to the conclusion of Dorian Hawkmoon’s story this week, with the final book in his series – The Runestaff.
The Fortress of the Pearl: Book Review
The Fortress of the Pearl is Michael Moorcock, in 1989, writing a book set between Elric of Melnibone (1972) and Sailor on the Seas of Fate (1976). The current Elric omnibus collections put this in that space in the chronology in their reading order, while my previous video on the Elric reading order recommended reading it significantly later. Re-reading the book now, in its place at the timeline – I think my assessment is accurate, but not necessarily for the reasons that I thought originally.
Read moreBook Review: The Warhound and the World’s Pain
It’s time to get back to Michael Moorcock (in the video reviews) with the first of the Von Bek novels.
Read moreNettle & Bone: Book Review
Nettle & Bone was this month’s Sword & Laser Book Club pick, and was a tremendously brisk, and very enjoyable read. It also introduced me to a variety of fantasy fiction I hadn’t encountered before – the “Grimcozy”
Read moreBook Review: Brightness Falls from the Air
Of the past few Sword & Laser picks, Brightness Falls from the Air, by James Tiptree Jr./Alice Sheldon ended up being a bit more of a controversial pick – and I definitely get why, as it gets into some squicky subject matter, and not necessarily in an elegant way.
Read moreBook Review: Rivers of London Books 8 & 9
It’s time to give my thoughts on the remaining 2 novels in the Rivers of London series.
Read moreMurderbot Diaries To Date (2022): Book Review
I’ve finally gotten caught up on the Murderbot Diaries series of novellas (and one novel), by Martha Wells – after taking far too long to read them. Frankly, I honestly think I should have read the books much sooner.
Read moreLegends of the Force Episode 43: Young Jedi Knights – Jedi Sunrise
We return to Young Jedi Knights, where the Shadow Academy Arc is coming to a head.
Read moreThe Elusive Shift: Book Review
In writing my review of The Game Wizards, I came to a horrifying realization – I hadn’t given my thoughts on the other previous sequel by Jon Peterson to Playing at the World that I’d read – The Elusive Shift. Considering that all three of these books kind of form a full narrative, I realized I really needed to rectify that situation. So I’m rectifying that situation.
Read moreBook Review: Rivers of London Books 1-7
I’ve kinda fallen behind on the Rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovitch (at least as far as the video reviews are concerned), so it’s time to get caught up.
Read moreThe Jasmine Throne: Book Review
With The Jasmine Throne, by Tasha Suri, I’m finally getting back to being caught up with the Sword & Laser Book Club picks – more or less (November’s pick is Six Wakes, which I read a while back, so I’m using this month to catch up on some other books). While I liked the novel, my thoughts on The Jasmine Throne are complicated in ways that somewhat intersect with my views on She Who Became The Sun, and in ways that don’t.
Read moreBook Review: She Who Became The Sun
It’s time to review the last of the Hugo Nominees that were on my shortlist – She Who Became The Sun By Shelly Parker-Chan
Read moreBook Review: Vampire Hunter D, Vol. 1
For the Spooky Season, I decided to do something a little different from my usual string of horror films – having picked up the Vampire Hunter D audiobooks from Audible, and since I have a commute again, I decided to get started listening to those on my way to work – and having finished re-reading the first one, it would be appropriate to give my thoughts.
Read moreBook Review: Amongst Our Weapons
Lies Sleeping, the seventh book in the Rivers of London series, left a lot of open questions about the world of the setting while it wrapped a bunch of the threads around the Faceless Man. Probably the biggest one was around the Sons of Weyland – a group of practitioners who were also powerful magical craftspeople – having made various battle staves, along with the magical wards in and around The Folly. On top of that – The October Man also built up some more groundwork for various magical practitioners and organizations outside of England. Well, Amongst Our Weapons decides to pick up both those threads and runs with them. There will be some minor spoilers below the cut.
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