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REVIEW: DESCENDER VOLUME 5: RISE OF THE ROBOTS

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War erupts as humes fall and robots rise... The fifth entry in this series keeps with the momentum that's re-established in VOLUME 4 . The war between flesh and metal officially kicks off and there'll be no turning back. HOW I RATED IT  5/5  High quality art, high octane pacing, and some fulfilling payoffs make this one of the strongest volumes in DESCENDER to date.  CHARACTERS Tim-21, Telsa, Quon, Andy, Eff, Driller, and the rest of the gang are back as Psius pulls the final strings to send the universe into chaos. As with before, perspective jumps around to the different parties: with Telsa and Quon struggling against the unhinged Tim-22, Tim-21 trying to escape Psius's ship to rescue them, Driller exploring a strange planet with his new friend, and Andy, Eff, and co. brought aboard Nagoki's flagship. It was cool to finally see Telsa's stern father in action as fleet commander as well as rewarding to have a brutal confrontation with Tim-22. I also enjoyed

REVIEW: THE FINAL EMPIRE (MISTBORN #1)

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Of metals and men... As a big fan of Sanderson's short fiction, it was high time I dove into one of the landmark series that put him on the map as one of the big names in Science Fiction and Fantasy.  HOW I RATED IT  4/5  With the minor (yet, for me, bothersome/distracting) gripe of how often passive verbiage is used (ex: had told vs. told ), this is by far one of the most gripping fantasy novels I have ever read.   WORLD/SETTING  Normally, I start a review with the characters in the story, but in this case, the setting of MISTBORN is so monumentally important that it deserves to come first (an impressive feat even for an author that's well known for his world building skills). Part of what helps here is that there is no major exposition dump and while the inner workings of the world are intricate, nothing is so complex that it distracts from the events within it. The core premise is that this is a world where a chosen one went to do battle with a daunting force for

REVIEW: MARVEL'S SPIDER-MAN: HOSTILE TAKEOVER

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Does whatever a Spider-Novel can... Serving as a prequel to this year's highly anticipated MARVEL'S SPIDER-MAN , a game exclusive to the PS4 console, this little novel serves as much more than a pre-release cash grab. I actually picked this up after completing the main portion of the game and enjoyed reading through it while waiting for the DLC chapters to be released.   HOW I RATED IT  4/5  Although the prose itself lacks any sort of distinct style or flare, this tie-in not only manages to do justice to the characters that appear in the video game, but also introduce a couple that exist solely within this story as well as surprise readers with sudden twists and interesting turns.  CHARACTERS The titular Spider-Man and his alter ego, Peter Parker, are naturally the central duo of this narrative, but there are a number of other characters who get some quality time with readers as well. Mary Jane, and Wilson Fisk (A.K.A. Kingpin) get chapters dedicated to shaping their p

REVIEW: THE BEAR AND THE NIGHTINGALE (WINTERNIGHT TRILOGY #1)

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Magic in the cold of winter... Set in the unforgiving Russian landscape during a time where a newly established Russian-Catholic Church clashes with the mystical beliefs of yore, a young woman comes into her own as an unlikely hero.  HOW I RATED IT  4/5  Deeply creative, un-apologetically raw, and packed with unique cultural perspective, this pseudo fairy tale is sure to delight a wide range of readers.   CHARACTERS The story primarily focuses on Vasya, the young heroine of this tale, but the perspective will shift back and forth between other characters as well such as her father, stepmother, Dunya, her brother, Alyosha, and Father Konstantin who serves as one of the narrative's antagonists. Vasya is a bright and wild girl that has trouble fitting into a society where girls are expected to grow into polite, obedient, and loyal homemakers who bear lots of children for their husbands and keep their houses warm (something easier said than done in this landscape). None of

MINI REVIEW: ALL SYSTEMS RED (THE MURDERBOT CHRONICLES #1)

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4/5  An enjoyable, albeit brief science fiction romp that keeps readers guessing as to what comes next.  The story follows a part-human but mostly robot service bot that offers support to his team of specialists on their outpost. The story spends a bit of time developing the different members of their crew and their relationships with each other. As this is happening, the Murderbot, as he calls himself (though the team doesn't know he's killed people), is also fleshed out. It seems he's somehow broken through his security protocols which has led to him keeping some entertaining secrets. He has an affinity for downloading and streaming media, often binge-consuming it while on the job (definitely a violation in his code). We also get some insight into how estranged he feels from human interaction. There are even some funny moments where he's purposefully awkward so that he can avoid prolonged conversation with his crew.  Things take a turn for the more dire when other

REVIEW: INJUSTICE GODS AMONG US YEAR FIVE VOLUME 3

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All Hail Superman... The thrilling prequel comic to the INJUSTICE: GODS AMONG US video game concludes with the third volume of the fifth and final year which reminds readers that although the series has enjoyed plenty of spectacle, it's always really been about the characters.  HOW I RATED IT  5/5  While not as sweepingly spectacular as previous volumes, this one still has plenty of action that propels the story forward those final few steps to where players found things at the start of the game.  CHARACTERS Batman and Superman again take their place at center stage. The tension between them continues to be the main staple of the series and it's as good as it's ever been here. Damien Wayne has some great development as he descends even further into darkness while Catwoman comes to Superman, vouching for Batman's life. Harley Quinn completes her transformation into Harleen - a persona that is both a return to who she was before The Joker as well as someone brand

UDATE: GOT SANDERSON?

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For the month of February, I decided to dive into two of Sanderson's shorter works of fiction: FIRSTBORN , a short story/"novelette" about the officer of a space fleet, and SNAPSHOT , a futuristic detective story where the main characters are the only "real" people in the whole world. For my thoughts on each of them, just click the images below:    

REVIEW: SNAPSHOT

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This isn't CSI... INTRODUCTION  Detective dramas are nothing overly special to anyone who's a fan of contemporary novels, television, or film. Shows like CSI have formularized this kind of story to an extent where it sometimes feels like the genre that's all about mystery has very few surprises left to share. Brandon Sanderson takes some of these expectations and tropes and plays with them in some interesting ways in his novella, SNAPSHOT . HOW I RATED IT  5/5  Part cop drama, part science fiction, and arguably part speculative fiction as well, this piece of short fiction makes the most out of it's bizarre concept and toys with some interesting ideas about life and how our choices affect it. CHARACTERS Detectives Davis and Chaz are the only real people in a simulated world where all of the people and events of a particular day play out just the way they would have in real life unless the detectives create "deviations" through actions that they take

MINI REVIEW: FIRSTBORN

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5/5  A little bit of STAR TREK , a little bit of ENDER'S GAME , and some GAME OF THRONES style politics thrown in for good measure makes for a short story that's entertaining, bright, and to the point. Technically this would be categorized as a "novelette" (a story that is about 15,000-20,000 words in length), but I've always had a hard time recognizing this category of fiction just because it really feels like a longer short story whereas a novella distinctively sits between a story and a full novel. For all intensive purposes, what you really need to know is that this is a very brief read which is great if you're like me and try to balance reading time against a very busy schedule. There's a fair bit of substance packed  into this smaller package which I've found to be a trademark of Sanderson's shorter works of fiction which keeps me coming back for more.  The story stars a young officer named Dennison who, in spite of how hard he stud

REVIEW: REDISCOVER JESUS: AN INVITATION

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Though religion is not a huge part of this blog, it does have a significant spot in my life. Like many trying to live a life of faith, I often find myself stumbling along the path I'd like to walk. It's easy to forget the basics and loose perspective on the things that should matter most to me. The world is a noisy place with lots of noisy people who want to impose their values upon you which can make things hard for Christians (really people of any faith). This is why I picked up REDISCOVER JESUS: AN INVITATION  by Matthew Kelly. I'm not a huge connoisseur of faith-based self-help or even theology books, but they gave free copies of this one out at church so I took the invitation . 5/5  Short, simple, and frankly, not too preachy or pretentious, this honest and earnest examination of how to reground yourself in your faith was well worth the first as well as future readthroughs. BEST AUDIENCE(S) This book is definitely targeted towards people who are already act

REVIEW: THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO DRAWING COMICS

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As someone who enjoys drawing a great deal, I am always looking for ways to improve my current skills as well as to pick up new ones or just expand the styles I feel comfortable working with. A good learn-to-draw book can be far more useful than any art class, but they can also be very difficult to find. Some are too fancy, others too specific, and some just don't actually contain any great step-by-step guides for how to do what you're trying to do.  4/5 While not truly all-encompassing, and sometimes a little inconsistent in the tutorial sections, this how-to guide does cover a variety of comic book styles and serves as both a great starting point for those learning to draw cool characters, vehicles, and scenes as well as a valuable reference for those who are simply trying improve upon the skills they've already started to develop.  BEST AUDIENCE(S) This book can definitely service two different types of artists-in-training: (1) Beginners Each secti

UPDATE: SELF-HELP JANUARY

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Depending on how you look at it, January is either famous or infamous for being a month in which everyone wants to set a resolution to do something they are not doing today. While I don't want to put that down, I usually prefer to simply improve upon something that I am already doing or get back into something I've been away from for a little while. This reflects itself in my reading choices for January, which hone in on two very different areas of self-improvement.  The first is THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO DRAWING COMICS which I picked up because I can never really get enough drawing resources.  The second is Matthew Kelly's REDISCOVER JESUS: AN INVITATION which was given out as a gift to anyone interested at the church I go to. It was an invitation that I didn't intend to pass up on.  The selection may seem a bizzarely random, but my faith and my artistry are two things I take very seriously, yet somehow don't give as much attention to as I should