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REVIEW: THE BURRIED GIANT

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INTRODUCTION The tricky thing with fantasy is that it tends to be a bit of a hit or a miss for most. There is just a lot of risk in spinning a tale of wild adventure and in spite of what Literature "experts" would have us believe, there really is not a single winning formula to tell the "hero's tale." Sometimes fantasy is too complicated or extravagant, others it is convoluted and dull, but sometimes a story fails to entertain simply because it lacks a certain magic or thrill. Kazuo Ishiguro's THE BURRIED GIANT fell into the third category for me. It came recommended to me by a fellow indie author (the book itself is not indie) and the premise, along with this gentleman's review of it intrigued me. It is a relatively charming tale starring a lovely elderly couple who are on a quest to reunite with their son whom they have not seen in many years. Along the way they will meet a brave warrior, an old knight of King Arthur's court, and a cursed boy.

UPDATE: A MARVELous DECEMBER

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This post comes a little later than I intended and in truth, things are a bit backlogged for this blog in general. There are books I've read and need to review, a book I meant to read last month that has spilled over into this one, and plenty more I need to start up before the end of 2015. I have a lot of reading (and writing) planned for December so here are the things I am looking at covering. THE MARVEL IN MARVELOUS I've spent a lot of time reading through DC comics even though I claim to enjoy both DC and Marvel. With only a month left in the year and a whole bunch of Marvel comics lent to me by a friend, this seemed like the time to remedy that. Mainly I will be Reading THE IMMORTAL IRON FIST, a five volume series as well as the spin off volume which follows The Immortal Weapons (a group that is heavily featured in Iron Fist's series). Rounding off my Marvel Reading List is MARVEL 1602 , a Neil Gaiman special which features eight issues of marvel heroes in an altern

REVIEW ROUNDUP: NEW 52 NOVEMBER!!!

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As I mentioned in my eBook haul post I have amassed a humble collection of DC comics from The New 52 reboot. I purchased four first volumes each featuring a different character. In this lineup are The Flash, Batman, The Green Arrow, and Aquaman. Most of these were on sale during the time that I bought them hence why I bought more than I could read all at once. During the month of November, I am hoping to read and potentially review these four volumes. Why November - because alliteration that's why. As the month continues on, I will be making updates to this post to reflect my reviews of the individual volumes and The New 52 initiative in general. These reviews will be done a little differently than they have been in the past since this is partially a review of The New 52 universe being written alongside the actual book reviews.  THE FLASH VOLUME 1 MOVE FORWARD (THE NEW 52) 3/5  Overall, this was a very fun and entertaining read for me. I've been a fan of T

REVIEW: SIXTH OF THE DUSK

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INTRODUCTION I've heard a great deal about Brandon Sanderson's writing through various sources - all of it wonderful. While I've certainly been tempted to try something of his for a while now, he is also known best for his much longer pieces of writing and I really couldn't motivate myself to dive into one of his large novels. So as part of the BookTube SFF read alongs, I saw one of his novellas on the shortlist and took the opportunity to sample his widely beloved writing style. HOW I RATED IT 5/5 This may not be the most original or particularly exceptional pieces of modern literature, but it is by far one of the most enjoyable narratives I have read in a good long while. Intriguing characters, a bizarre setting and a compellingly weird narrative make this little novella one that had a big impact on me as a reader. CHARACTERS There are really just two characters to speak of here - it is a piece of short fiction after all. Our main protagonist is a man named

REVIEW: WHITE WIND RISING (GUNPOWDER AND ALCHEMY BOOK 1)

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INTRODUCTION  I'm not generally a huge internet creep. If something doesn't show up on my Facebook or Twitter feeds, then I don't see it. I rarely add people on social media sites unless they show up as a recommendation and I generally don't post a ton of stuff online (aside from this blog). But in this particular instance, I happened to find a book by creeping on Goodreads. What happened was I wrote a review of a book by an indie author which then got 'liked' by someone I'd never heard of before. For some reason, I felt so inclined as to click on this person's name and discover that he too was an indie author (in my defense I half suspected that he might be which is why I clicked his name in the first place). Turns out he had several books he self published so I gave one of those a look. My first impression of WHITE WIND RISING (GUNPOWDER AND ALCHEMY BOOK 1) by Dan Davis was that it was a charming fantasy novel with a delightfully crafted cover whic

REVIEW: DAY OF THE FISH-ZOMBIES

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INTRODUCTION I've always been a fan of interactive fiction in terms of how it relates to video games. There are some that allow you to make a choice right at the end that deliver different outcomes such as Star Wars The Force Unleashed . There are some that have different endings depending on your actions during the game as with Bioshock . Then there are those that allow players to shape the story to their liking through a series of smaller decision points that help make the overall experience feel more personal - just about any Bioware game ever is a good example of this. One thing that I've yet to really get into however is interactive fiction within the context of literature. I've heard of and even played text adventures in the past and I am familiar with the concept of a choose-your-own-adventure book, but would definitely not call myself an expert in that genre. When offered a free advanced review copy (ARC) of DAY OF THE FISH-ZOMBIES by the author, Tom Shutt, I

REVIEW: BATMAN THE LONG HALLOWEEN

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INTRODUCTION  As part of my Batman Day eComic haul , I picked up BATMAN THE LONG HALLOWEEN . I knew going into it that it was an older work and definitely looked the part, but I also know it's quite famous. I've heard it referenced by a number of people who are more up on the comic world than I am and I have played Batman video games where there are alternate costumes based off of this graphic work. Most notably was Rocksteady's ARKHAM CITY where players who have the Catwoman pack can play as her using the bright pinkish costume which she sports in this comic. Other than the visual side of things, I really didn't know much about the story at all, other than that it's famous so I figured I'd give it a shot. HOW I RATED IT  4/5 There are some things that definitely make this a little rough around the edges, but overall, it is one of the most compelling and engaging graphic works that I have read to date. I had a really good time with this and definitely