I was contacted by the author and I received a copy of this book in exchange of a honest review.
DISCOVERING THE BOA strange reading experience.
I was contacted by the author and I received a copy of this book in exchange of a honest review.
DISCOVERING THE BOOK
This is interesting reading which combines several genres in a fairly way. It's like Treasure's Island meets The Mysterious Island with far less pirates substituted by archaeologists.
The cover of the book is very well done guaranteeing a professional writing work.
The novel indeed is very well written with an entertaining rhythm. Creating colorful characters with ambivalent personalities which makes unpredictable their reactions on each scene.
Also, the author developed an alternate world where things are not the same as in our world's history, but with taste and not trying to overwhelming with too much differences. Just the right amount of details to establish that you are in a parallel dimension.
Maybe one of the criticisms is that while it's clearly that the storyline is expected that the main characters will engage in a journey by boat to some unknown island, well, the story took too much time to reach that point, overdetailing how they are able to acomplish that even narrating dead ends in those efforts. I think that a quicker starting point to the journey to the island could increase the possitive impact of the reading.
There are some elements that remain unexplained on the island after the ending of the book and certainly that it's kinda dissapointing since the whole point of the novel is the expedition to the island to discover the mysteries there.
But in general, is an entertaining novel written with style and good taste.
Merged review:
A strange reading experience.
I was contacted by the author and I received a copy of this book in exchange of a honest review.
DISCOVERING THE BOOK
This is interesting reading which combines several genres in a fairly way. It's like Treasure's Island meets The Mysterious Island with far less pirates substituted by archaeologists.
The cover of the book is very well done guaranteeing a professional writing work.
The novel indeed is very well written with an entertaining rhythm. Creating colorful characters with ambivalent personalities which makes unpredictable their reactions on each scene.
Also, the author developed an alternate world where things are not the same as in our world's history, but with taste and not trying to overwhelming with too much differences. Just the right amount of details to establish that you are in a parallel dimension.
Maybe one of the criticisms is that while it's clearly that the storyline is expected that the main characters will engage in a journey by boat to some unknown island, well, the story took too much time to reach that point, overdetailing how they are able to acomplish that even narrating dead ends in those efforts. I think that a quicker starting point to the journey to the island could increase the possitive impact of the reading.
There are some elements that remain unexplained on the island after the ending of the book and certainly that it's kinda dissapointing since the whole point of the novel is the expedition to the island to discover the mysteries there.
But in general, is an entertaining novel written with style and good taste....more
I bought the single comic book issues, but I am choosing thiss TPB edition to be able to make a better ovThe Ultimate Universe is born again…kinda
I bought the single comic book issues, but I am choosing thiss TPB edition to be able to make a better overall review about the storyarch.
Creative Team
Writer: Jonathan Hickman
Illustrators: Marco Checchetto (issues #1 to #4, #6), David Messina (issues #4 & #5)
WITH GREAT MARRIAGE COMES GREAT RESPONSIBILITIES
The Maker (aka original ultimate Reed Richards) decides to make the Ultimate Universe lives again, but since the original one was destroyed, he took another universe (Earth-6160) and turned into a new versión of “ultimate universe” obviously on his own design…
…and part of that design was to avoid the origin of several key héroes, including Spider-Man! However, Tony Stark aka Iron Lad took the work of his father, Howard Stark about trying to stop the insidious plans of The Maker and send several spheres with the means to create those héroes, but almost everyone didn’t take the offer or died trying, almost everyone but…
…PETER PARKER!!!
However, Peter Parker was already an adult (with even a beard!), married with Mary Jane Wason and having two children: Richard & May Parker, still already having those great responsibilities, when he got the offer of Tony Stark, he took it and became Spider-Man, getting yet another great responsibility.
I had some doubts about this, since it’s not the same when you are bitten by accident by a radioactive spider and you are a teenager that being a superhero wasn’t his first idea, and now when he is adult with wife and children and he decides to get superpowers to become a superhero, still in this first volume nothing really bad happened, but he is now Spider-man and with his powers always comes tragedy, so I am truly fearful about what would happen in following volumes of this great new comic book.
In this first six months, his career as new superhero came with several mistakes and refining his hero image, but also getting unbelievable allies, and trying to figure out a way to fit his family into this hero gig.
Kingpin is a secret subject of The Maker and he isn’t happy about the existence of this Spider-man, along with other unsuspecting threats, also he is owner of the Daily Bugle, forcing J. Jonah Jameson and other surprising friend to look for an independent option to publish news on their own terms. Kingpin will prove to be a menace that you mustn't take lightly.
This is brave new universe and certainly you can’t take anything granted as previously worked in the original ultimate universe or even the primal Earth-616…
…expect the unexpected! Totally amazing! Certainly ultimate!...more
This a prose novel of “The X-Files” set after the eleventh season.
THE X-FILES ARE OPEN AGAIN!
I was real excited wheMulder and Scully are back!
This a prose novel of “The X-Files” set after the eleventh season.
THE X-FILES ARE OPEN AGAIN!
I was real excited when I found out about this prose novel following the series after its final (so far) season, the eleventh one, in fact this prose novel is setting the bases about who is who and what’s going on, in this “eXpanded” prose universe, that I don’t how canonical is, since there are talkings for developing a new The X-Files series that depending how they’d doing it, both projects could co-exist without bothering each other.
We find Fox Mulder and Dana Scully after the events of the eleventh season, they’re mourning the death of “their son”, William aka Jackson Van De Kamp, but also living a little less preocupied since The Cigarette Smoking Man is no more and also The Syndicate is past history, and even the insidious Deputy Director Kersh took a sabbatical absence from the FBI…
…but the paranormal cases are erupting in an incredible speed, therefore the higher bosses in the FBI decide…
…TO RE-OPEN THE X-FILES ONCE AGAIN!
Meanwhile Mulder and Scully are trying to live a “normal” life together including the fact that Scully is expecting a child from Mulder (and now they are sure that indeed is a child of theirs!), Mulder is appearing in some paranormal TV shows and Scully is working in a genetical clinic for pregnant women that it helps her too to control her unusual pregnancy due her age.
The new Acting Assistant Director Ruth Morrison contacts Mulder and Scully to offer them to re-activate their special agents status and taking charge once again of the X-Files department, that after some talking, they accepted.
ENTER: AVATAR
Obviously, you can’t have the X-Files without a mysterious informant that this time is a young geek woman nicknamed “Avatar” (the cool one not the one with blue people (in her own words)) by Mulder due a t-shirt wore by her in their first shadowy meeting. Avatar told Mulder that while The Syndicate is indeed dissassembled, now there is a new insidious group known as The Inheritors but with different goals since while The Syndicate was looking for global control, the Inheritors are more interested about getting monetary profit from any available paranormal individual, and that it won’t be much difficult to find since The Syndicate infected a lot of humans, animals and event plants with Alien DNA and that’s the reason of so much paranormal cases appearing now.
I don’t know if I am thrilled about this concept that the new x-files would be due The Syndicate’s Alien DNA, since I think that’s a too easy path to explain why people is doing weird stuff, it’s like first two seasons of Smallville where every single villain was due Kryptonite contamination (I am fan of Smallville but I certainly appreciate when they started to introducing other reasons to have metahumans in the TV series).
Mulder & Scully first new case is too close for confort since it’s about a serial killer murdering pregnant women (and since Scully is pregnant herself, Mulder isn’t too thrilled about the risk) and the x-files factor in the cases is due some weird electrical surges occuring during the incidents, and the things aren’t as they think initially and Scully won’t the same after that!
AD Morrison assigned them a second case to deal along with the first one, in this second case, there is a mysterious assassin killing remnants people from The Syndicate and the x-file factor in the case is due the ability of dissapearing in a smoke cloud, and this mysterious assassing will prove to be a recurring opponent even more dangerous than the good ol’ Alien Bounty Hunter!
Along the way, they’ll meet Cherish Craddock, a gorgeous blond woman able to channel the dead, and Mulder and Scully will have shocking revelations, some from unexpected sources.
I never read anything by Claudia Gray but I was aware that she had been doing good stuff specially in Star Wars and after my eXcelent eXperience reading this The X-Files novel, certainly I’ll do my best to read in the near future some other novels by her.
Dean Koontz is one of my favorite authors and I’ve read quite a bunch of his novels, specially the firFun and entertained
BENNY, HARPER & SPIKE
Dean Koontz is one of my favorite authors and I’ve read quite a bunch of his novels, specially the first ones, but lately I haven’t engaged much, for no reason in special, I just didn’t, I read the premise of this novel and I felt compelled to read it, since the idea of some monster taking care of the character avoiding that he suffered any harm was cool.
Certainly I received that, but since it’s Dean Koontz, I was expecting a horror story, and I didn’t feel that it was the case (I clicked the tag “horror” for this book because I think it was marketed in that way, but honestly I didn’t feel to be reading a horror story).
Benny Catspaw is really, really, REALLLY, nice guy, but one bad day started to suffer very bad things, losing his job, losing his girlfriend, etc…
Benny received a really, really, REALLY odd heritance in the form a giant humanoid (not quite human but enough for passing as one in the street), named Spike the Craggle (craggle is the name of his species) and they are inmortal beings dedicated to guard a particular person for the entire lifetime of that person and later, he is passed to guard another person (usually a family member chosen by the late person that had the craggle).
Spike is the “bad weather friend” since he explains that anybody can be friend when you have good weather but a real friend is there for you when there is bad weather.
Maybe something key that avoided to feel this as a horror story, it’s that Spike doesn’t kill (he can intimidate, even break several bones, but no killing) and nothing that Spike met was any difficult to deal, so there aren’t real threats to worry about, since you realize that nobody can beat Spike, and Spike is reallly loyal to Benny (since I thought that at some point Spike would get out of control and Benny would need to escape from him, BUT it wasn’t the case either).
Therefore, the novel is about Benny, Spike (that he doesn’t appear until the novel is almost reaching the half of it) and Harper (a smart & gorgeous waitress (romantic interest for Benny), all three in a trip to get payback from all people that harmed Benny in some way.
I enjoyed A LOT MORE the novel, also by Koontz, Life Expectancy (actually it’s my second favorite novel by Koontz, right below of Phantoms) which it’s quite similar in the style of humor, but quite more compelling in the area of horror, since there is a homicidal psycho clown (you can’t compete with killer clowns) right behind the main couple in that book.
So, this novel at hand, it’s fun and entertained, but hardly what you’d consider a typical horror novel.
This is the first novel of “The Light-Whisperers of Kalevala” book series
SPECIAL BOOK
This is a Once you get to Pohjola, you won’t wanna leave!
This is the first novel of “The Light-Whisperers of Kalevala” book series
SPECIAL BOOK
This is a very special book to me, since it’s the first published novel by author Grace E. Robinson, and certainly I was thrilled to read it and even more of having it in my hands, since I ordered the paperback edition.
You can find this wonderful book in Amazon in its paperback form, but also you can buy it as e-book on several sites: Kindle, Apple, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Everand, Thalia, Smashwords, Angus & Robertson, Vivlio and Palace Marketplace.
You can contact her (here on Goodreads or in Facebook as “Grace E. Robinson – StorytellerGirl” and she’ll be delighted to tell you the options and links to buy the book.
You will enjoy the reading experience, I can assure you.
This novel is an outstanding epic adventure using the Finnish and Sami cultures, that they are wonderful and rich cultures, but not much known outside of Finland, so, this is a great opportunity of having an epic adventure that it doesn’t have anything to envy to popular sagas like Narnia or Lord of the Rings.
Another cool thing is that while the book is part of a series, the story in this novel is self-contained having a proper closure, in that way you can read it and later to decide if you wish to continue with the series.
The book includes maps of Finland and the magical land of Pohjola, along with an appendix explaining terms of Finnish and Sami cultures, including pronunciation (and I recommend to read the appendix before engaging with the story).
AWESOME ADVENTURE
In this adventure, you’ll travel not only to the farthest frozen regions of Finland, but also to the magical land of Pohjola, meeting wonderful characters, honorable heroes and ruthless villains.
One hundred and thirty of reindeer have dissappeared and the local authorities have no clue, therefore, they call for help of capital police, where Detective Lyylia Niiranen will manage the case, once there contacting American scientist Shaun Abernathy, part of a research post studying the northern lights, and also the owner of the missing herd of reindeer, Ávgos Heikkilä…
…but they never imagined that a police investigation will take them to a magical land, full of mythical creatures, good and evil…
…where Lyylia’s sister and Ávgos’ cousing will follow their trail, finding themselves in dangerous regions of Pohjola…
…but they won’t be exactly totally strangers to Pohjola’s people, since Earth is known there as Kalevala, and they will find out that magic isn’t totally strange to them!
Meet wise Queen Kuu, sorceress ruler of the good lands of Pohjola, populated by the noble Menninkäinen and the Gentle Beasts…
…opposite to the vicious King Hiisi-Hiisi, regent of Ice-Dark, the evil regions full of hissi and Näkki…
…but you will meet a lot of more great characters in thie epic aventure…
...where you will sing and dance along with the lights and...
…where the greatest mystery is what happened to the reindeer and why....more
This is the comic book issue #8 of the event “Batman: White Knight”, which it will be a miniseries of 8 issueBatman: White Knight comes to an end!
This is the comic book issue #8 of the event “Batman: White Knight”, which it will be a miniseries of 8 issues.
Creative Team:
Writer & Illustrator: Sean Murphy
Colorist: Matt Hollingsworth
Letterer: Todd Klein
ONE BIG EPILOGUE
Joker might have been responsible for terrorizing Gotham, but you weren’t necessarily making it better.
Due Batman: White Knight has been such a rush during the previous months, I expected something better for the final issue…
…since it was like an “automatic pilot” issue, where everything runs as expected according to how the story was left in the seventh issue…
…also it was dissapointing that the conclussion was forced to get back to the status quo, at least about The Joker…
…but I have to admit that there were some good changes in how the things were being done in Gotham City from now on (in this parallel universe)…
…and certainly, due stuff exposed in previous issues and a key sentence here, you can figure it out about what will be about, the next volume…
…since I am sure that Sean Murphy (the author) will return to his great new Batman universe, that I read that it will be included into the incoming DC Black Label line of stories.
Don’t get me wrong, since Batman: White Knight is without a doubt one of the best things that you can read about Batman.
My complain isn’t about the whole storyline, but about the necessity of this eighth issue that I think it could be fit (with some editing) and making the miniseries in a seven-issue thing.
Merged review:
Batman: White Knight comes to an end!
This is the comic book issue #8 of the event “Batman: White Knight”, which it will be a miniseries of 8 issues.
Creative Team:
Writer & Illustrator: Sean Murphy
Colorist: Matt Hollingsworth
Letterer: Todd Klein
ONE BIG EPILOGUE
Joker might have been responsible for terrorizing Gotham, but you weren’t necessarily making it better.
Due Batman: White Knight has been such a rush during the previous months, I expected something better for the final issue…
…since it was like an “automatic pilot” issue, where everything runs as expected according to how the story was left in the seventh issue…
…also it was dissapointing that the conclussion was forced to get back to the status quo, at least about The Joker…
…but I have to admit that there were some good changes in how the things were being done in Gotham City from now on (in this parallel universe)…
…and certainly, due stuff exposed in previous issues and a key sentence here, you can figure it out about what will be about, the next volume…
…since I am sure that Sean Murphy (the author) will return to his great new Batman universe, that I read that it will be included into the incoming DC Black Label line of stories.
Don’t get me wrong, since Batman: White Knight is without a doubt one of the best things that you can read about Batman.
My complain isn’t about the whole storyline, but about the necessity of this eighth issue that I think it could be fit (with some editing) and making the miniseries in a seven-issue thing....more
This is the TPB collecting the issues #1-8 of the comic book event “Batman: Beyond the White Knight” plus the two-parter of “BatmIt’s Beyond Time!
This is the TPB collecting the issues #1-8 of the comic book event “Batman: Beyond the White Knight” plus the two-parter of “Batman: White Knight presents Red Hood”.
Creative Team:
Writer & Illustrator: Sean Murphy
Writer for Red Hood two-parter: Clay McCormack & Sean Murphy
Illustrators for Red Hood two-parter: Simone Di Meo & George Kambadais
Colorist: Dave Stewart
Colorists for Red Hood two-parter: Dave Stewart & Simone Di Meo
Letterer: Andworld Design
STILL A MASTERPIECE BUT…
While this third entry of the White Knight is still a masterpiece compared with many other stuff in the comic book market, and as you could see I gave it a full 5-stars rate, it’s the one that I found more stuff to critize or that I’d like to be handled differently.
This is where Batman Beyond (the Murphyverse version) enters and I was expecting that Terry McGinnis would shine to the top but the story (including the complementary two-parter) keeps wasting time on Jason Todd and frankly that doesn’t add anything of value to the main story, even you can take out Jason Todd of the equation and basically you get the same story.
On the side-story book about Harley Quinn, set between Curse and Beyond, Bruce Wayne shows that not matter he was on prison, he still keeps tabs on anything relevant happening on Gotham City, however, here Bruce Wayne is totally ignorant that Derek Powers took over Wayne Enterprise and even rename it, along with not knowing about how the lives of his “family” were doing all this time, and I felt that it was like a continuity issue, since not matter he asked that nobody would visit him anymore at the prison, he is Batman after all, and Batman always knows what is happening in Gotham City.
Derek Powers is one of the best managed characters in the story, but I didn’t need that he’d become Blight, while logical to the evolution of the character, he was more interesting and intimidating as a ruthless and smart CEO than a radioactive monster.
Duke Thomas took the mantle of Robin and while it was an idea of Sean Murphy since the first book that he didn’t implement then, I think that now in the third book where the character is way old, it’s kinda weird to be a Robin, in my humble opinion and it’s not like he is cooler just because becoming a Robin, since Duke Thomas is a cool character on his own.
And while Jackie, Harley and Jack’s daugher has a prominent role in the story, Bryce is left aside not doing anything relevant here.
WELCOME TO THE FUTURE
Bruce Wayne has been on prison for like 10 years and now the GTO is keeping the peace using police state protocols even causing a separation from the GCPD, putting Commander Dick Grayson and Commisioner Barbara Gordon in opposite sides of how to uphold the law, there wasn’t a Batman for all that time…
…and now Gotham City will have TWO!!!
Terry McGinnis is being manipulated by Derek Powers to find a special Bat-suit, the “Beyond” suit, that Powers need for “The Project”, and once Bruce Wayne found out that what was his company now it’s managed by Powers, he got out from prison using another Bat-suit (one that uses low-tech and not electronics becoming kinda invisible for the city’s futuristic sensors).
However, Bruce Wayne won’t be alone…
…since a microchip on his brain will bring it a holographic Jack Napier!!!
That it will be quite useful in this now high-tech Gotham City, since this new Jack is having one heck of hacking habilities.
In the middle of that, Harley’s daughter, Jackie found out the truth of how Jack died and she goes in a teenage rampage that it will be stopped soon enough by Derek Powers, manipulating her for his own agenda.
And Sean Murphy already set key elements for the fourth entry of this White Knght saga, expanding the Batman universe to the rest of DC universe but in Murphyverse style.
This is the TPB collecting the issues #1-8 of the comic book event “Batman: Curse of the White Knight” plus the one-shot oThe Murphyverse expands!
This is the TPB collecting the issues #1-8 of the comic book event “Batman: Curse of the White Knight” plus the one-shot of “Batman: White Knight presents Von Freeze”.
Creative Team:
Writer & Illustrator: Sean Murphy
Illustrator for Von Freeze one-shot: Klaus Johnson
Colorist: Matt Hollingsworth
Letterer: Andworld Design
THE LIGHTNING STRIKES TWICE!!!
After the huge success of The White Knight by Sean Murphy, opening the path to the new line of DC Black Label and fans talking about a “Murphyverse”, it was only logical to have a sequel and due the first one was so good, it was understandable if the second one wasn’t that good…
…BUT…
…it was the same as good!
Sean Murphy showed in the first White Knight his love for Batman, the Animated Series and Batman ‘89, still keeping that, in this second volume of the saga, he showed his influences of the rest of 90’s Batman films but also the 90’s comic book event of Batman: Knightfall, clearly showing his modern influences about Batman, making him a banner in a new generation of writers/artists for the universe of Batman.
Which one is better? Well, I think that’s losing time and enjoy both stories, since it’s like saying that “Empire Strikes Back” is better than “A New Hope” but you can’t have “Empire” without “New Hope”, you need one for the existence of the other, and while it’s clear that the whole Jack Napier thing in the first White Knight was managed awesome and you could say that the new antagonist isn’t that well psychologically developed, the bets in the second story are higher, Sean Murphy isn’t afraid of doing what’s needed for the whole picture of the story, taking true advantage that he has his own comic book universe, and the status quo in the Murphyverse is shaken so much that you have to recognize that Curse of the White Knight is as enjoyable and well written than the first entry of this modern masterpiece of the comic book industry.
KNIGHTFALL REIMAGINED
The Joker is back in prison and Jack Napier is inside of clown’s mind again, however Jack Napier did so much and exposed so much in the first entry of the story that Gotham City can’t be the same anymore…
…and that’s something that the rich elite can’t afford so The Napier Initiative needs to be stopped and if Batma doesn’t cooperate…
…well, he will need to be stopped too!
ENTER: AZRAEL aka Jean-Paul Valley
However, Sean Murphy reimagined this and offers a better solution to the eternal problem of Knigthfall…
…why Bruce Wayne chose a total stranger like Jean-Paul Valley as his successor over better choices like Dick Grayson?
And Sean Murphy did it quite easy, since the idea of a new Batman isn’t taken by Bruce Wayne but the very rich elite that needed a better pawn to keep Gotham City under their leash.
However, that it will the peak of the iceberh since the very existence of Jean-Paul Valley means to Bruce Wayne more than he ever imagined since in this reimagination, Jean-Paul Valley isn’t a stranger to the legacy of Gotham City!
Bruce Wayne, Harleen Quinzel, Jack Napier, James Gordon, Barbara Gordon and the entire Gotham City won’t be the same after the shaking events of this monumental story.
Also, you’ll get in this TPB a great chapter about the past of Victor Fries’ father under the regime of the Nazi Third Reich.
I read the Jane Austen novels in separate books but I choose this editiLove is in the air, dear fellow readers!
JANE AUSTEN, SYNONYM OF ROMANCE
I read the Jane Austen novels in separate books but I choose this edition to have a focused item to show in my “favorites” shelf, since I didn’t want to leave some of her core six finished novels out of the selection. I could choose Sense and Sensibility as my option to show in the “favorites” shelf, but I still wasn’t comfortable leaving out the other five books, since I believe that each one of her core six completed works is a relevant and significant part of her soul and each one is as worthy to be read as the rest.
Jane Austen’s work is key in the genre of romance, but also in the field of Victorian novels since she lived there and she was brave to show without any regard how was life at England in that particular age of history, how men behave and how women was treated by society.
Therefore, I felt that it was relevant to put them in my “favorites” shelf that I didn’t want to expand more of ten books or series, since obviously I have loved many more books, but I think that it was useful to reduce to ten my options there, selecting like the best examples of each of my favorite book genres.
This is a stand-alone prose novel which is part of the “Fear Street Super Chillers” book series
LOVE, FAMILY & FRIENA Bloody Valentine indeed!
This is a stand-alone prose novel which is part of the “Fear Street Super Chillers” book series
LOVE, FAMILY & FRIENDSHIP
In this horror novel set on Valentine’s Day (actually covers two Valentine’s Days) you’ll get to know how intense are the feeling involving romance, family and friendship, where they’re put to the test just too much while dealing with a difficult situation.
The McClain sisters, Josie, Rachel and Erica, along with her good friend Melissa went to a horse stable and there was a terrible horse accident leaving Rachel with a mental problem where she needs to be attended at all times, even more troubling since Josie just doesn’t do her part to take care of Rachel.
Josie isn’t popular due her hard temperament which leaves the field to start to receive Valentine’s Day cards with awful threats, and the suspects are everywhere since Josie isn’t an easy person to treat.
I have to say that I didn't feel any empathy for Josie during the reading since while she tries to jutify why she isn't never around to take care of Rachel, I just didn't buy her.
I totally liked this novel and certainly is already one of my favorites by R.L. Stine since it’s quite entertained, and certainly isn’t easy to know who the culprit is, since there are several characters showing odd behaviors.
If you’re looking for a different kind of Valentine’s Day story to read on the season, definitely this one is a winner.
This is the fifth and final novel of the “Lockwood & Co.” book series
EVERYTHING COMES TO AN END
Lucy Carlyle iThe epic solution to The Problem!
This is the fifth and final novel of the “Lockwood & Co.” book series
EVERYTHING COMES TO AN END
Lucy Carlyle is once again working with Lockwood & Co., along with A.J. Lockwood and George Cubbins, keeping on payroll to Holly Munro and even adding now Quill Kipps.
In the last book, the story leaves a cliffhanger where they need to check out the grave of Marissa Fittes, a legendary heroines of the early days about The Problem, but as the book’s title hints, the Marissa Fittes’ coffin is empty.
However, our heroes now have to deal with Penelope Fittes but she and Marissa’s fate is tighter than they ever suspect.
Therefore, the humble Lockwood & Co. will have to fight against the Fittes Agency and all its resources and influence in London, so they soon will have to look for the possible allies even the unpredictable Whispering Skull.
Easily the darkest novel in the series (that after all, the series is quite dark already) and our heroes will have to be alert because the perils are the highest here!
Everything you wanted to know about how The Problem originated, and the foggy family past of A.J. Lockwood will be revealed here, so definitely, if you were reading the previous entries in the series, you need to read the epic conclusion!
In this 22nd volumen, the story arc about Peorth, the FourtHild’s michief!
This 22nd volume covers chapters 136-141.
OTHER OPTIONS AND MISCHIEF
In this 22nd volumen, the story arc about Peorth, the Fourth Goddess wanting to grow up back continues.
Previously, Hild, the big boss of hell and mother of Urd, is the only one able to get back Peorth to her former self, but Urd didn’t agree with the terms of Hild that it implies that Urd would go to hell (literally) with Hild.
Without making spoilers, Hild offers an alternative option that Urd accepts and even the other goddesses participate in the end. Hild, however, asks Urd to say "Mother" to her, but Urd isn't thrilled about it.
Hild even so will help them to avoid that Welsper would make any new curse. Welsper won't be the same anymore!
So, everything is good again, right?
Wrong!
Since, while Hild returns to hell…
…she leaves behind a small part of her who makes contact with non other than our favorite demon, Mara, and both are up to a new mischief to the bunch of goddess at Keiichi Morisato’s residence!
While I have clear that Oh My Goddess! is a Japanese manga story, I've read it sPeorth is back!
This 21st volume covers chapters 130-135.
NEW FORMAT
While I have clear that Oh My Goddess! is a Japanese manga story, I've read it so far in its American re-published format by Dark Horse Comics, and that was kinda better, not because of the language but because in the American format you have kinda TWO Japanese volumes covering the double of story...
...why is that better beyond of having more story?
Well, it was it seems that sometimes in the Japanese format, a storyline was parted in two volumes, so you have to read two volumes to understand a whole single story...
...since it's hard to rate a volume like this one at hand if the story isn't complete.
PEORTH HAS A SMALL TROUBLE
Peorth, the fourth goddess is back but she isn't like she used to be, now she was de-aged to look like a small child, but retaining her adult memories. You can guess that she's not happy about it and she wants to get back to normal.
Peorth goes to Keiichi Morisato's home and asks for assistance to your favorite trio of goddesses, Belldandy, Urd and Skuld but none of them are able to revert the condition of the fourth goddess.
The solution would come out for an unlikely character (present during the whole process) pointing out to a new character (but having old roots in one of the trio of goddesses).
However, the trouble is far from being resolved since the conditions of the new character aren't accepted, leaving us to a cliffhanger to be solved (I hope so!) in the next volume....more
This is the screenplay of the film of the same title, which is the third entry in the saga.
TO BUY OR NOT TO BUY THE BOOK
I willCould be better!
This is the screenplay of the film of the same title, which is the third entry in the saga.
TO BUY OR NOT TO BUY THE BOOK
I will saying kinda several elements from the movie since after all, this isn’t a novelization of the story but basically the screenplay of the film.
I wasn’t sure to buy the book since the movie didn’t impress me much but since it isn’t clear if Fantastic Beasts will continue as film saga and this could be the last entry of it, well, I already had all the previous books of Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts, it could be odd to miss the very last book. I really do hope that the saga would go on, but if not, at least I have all the books so far.
I had to wait quite a bit to buy it since at least in my country, Costa Rica, the book didn’t arrive until several months after its release, and even so, the Spanish translated edition arrived first, and I had to wait a lot that the English edition would be available here (since I have on English all the previous books).
I am grateful that at least this screeplay includes some additional value having several sketches of costumes, scenarios and props of the movie, along with insight comments from key people of the production like David Heyman, David Yates, Eddie Redmayne, Jude Law, Mads Mikkelsen, etc…
...therefore I am not just reading the dialogues of a movie that I already watched but having interesting information giving some extra context to the story and characters.
ELECTED BY AN ANIMAL?
I think that something that mainly bothers me about the story was that while there is an election with votes by people, at the end, the preference of an animal would be recognized to appoint the new leader of the whole wizarding world community.
It’s illogical that a race that even practice slavery (domestic elves) would respect that an animal would know the kind of leader that he or she would rule over them.
I understand that since this second saga of the Wizarding World is about Fantastic Beasts, J.K. Rowling need to include animals on relevants roles in the story, but having one “electing” the leader of all the magical world is indeed absurd.
Even more absurd if you think that that animal almost “elected” a character that he’s one of the most popular characters in the whole franchise, but hardly I’d think that he is pure of heart, since he has done questionable things here and there, maybe for the good reasons but still I don’t think that he is pure of heart, but…
…I do think that he could be a great world leader, so that helps me to question if a person pure of heart can be the best choice to be a leader, since obviously can’t be a malignant character but the leader of many people will have to make hard choices here and there, so I don’t know if a person of true pure of heart would be able to make those hard choices.
In any case, that “electing system” of the wizarding world doesn’t work, at least from my point of view.
THE SAGA IS ON FREE FALLING
It doesn’t help to the story that Newt Scamander doesn’t have at hand his case, therefore, he only has two fantastic beasts with him (already too exposed in the two previous movies) during the most of the plot.
The first movie was really good but it’s clear that it was like a stand-alone experiment without expecting to be expanded into a multiple entries saga, and while the second one wasn’t that good, at least I was entertained a lot and even I understood that J.K. Rowling needed that second movie to make the foundation to be developed in the rest of the second saga, but here, when I was expecting more content, more evolution, the story is quite simple and even absurd, where…
…isn’t helping the big loss of Tina Goldstein in the story (I don’t know if there was some agenda problem with the actress but I don’t care, I needed Tina in the movie) for not saying the change of casting in Grindelwald (don’t get me wrong, I like Mads Mikkelsen and he did a good job but I didn’t like the re-cast was only because Warner was afraid that the legal problems at the moment with Johnny Depp would alienate the audience (that at the end resulted in positive light to him) (even more illogical since it seems that Warner still plans to premiere The Flash with Ezra Miller who is still a lot more polemic).
However, not matter the recast of someone and the missing of another, still the story isn’t that good and the saga seems to be drowing at the point that there isn’t any clear plans to make a fourth entry, which I found sad and losing the opportunity of watching the wizarding world involved in WWII and the rise of Voldemort, just to mention a couple of cool things to explore…
…for not saying that I was hoping that Jacob Kowalski and Queenie Goldstein could be resulting past relatives of some character of the original saga.
BUT…
…in a positive light I can say that new characters like Lally and having more exposition of Bunty was something that I enjoyed a lot, since certainly J.K. Rowling knows how to create charming characters that helps to balance the lack of a better solid story.
This harcover TPB edition contains “Batman ‘89” #1 - 6.
Creative Team
Writer: Sam Hamm
Illustrator: Roberto Quiñones
BATMANIA
BaBatmania is back!!!
This harcover TPB edition contains “Batman ‘89” #1 - 6.
Creative Team
Writer: Sam Hamm
Illustrator: Roberto Quiñones
BATMANIA
Batman from 1989 was a pop culture revolution that year, people made lines to buy a t-shirt with Batman logo and certainly was the most popular movie then. People read articles in newspapers, months before its premiere, telling about the development of the film.
Polemic risen about if Michael Keaton should portrait Batman…
…and then the movie opened…
…and the polemic died and a pop culture icon was born.
I was lucky to watch that movie at theaters twice in a week. A friend got me from USA, the original soundtrack in cassette (yes, I still have it) and eventually I got the 90s Batman’s film collection first on DVD and later on blu-ray.
When I bought this TPB I thought that it was a following from the first film only, but it resulted that Batman Returns also ocurred, so the graphic novel is set after the events of the first two films giving an alternative continuation keeping Michael Keaton as Batman and Billy Dee Williams as Harvey Dent/Two-Face.
In the case of Pat Hingle’s James Gordon, you’ll find a dramatic change, showing a haircut and moustache to make him to look more like a comic book James Gordon. I would preferred having him to look more like in the live-action films, after all, the whole idea reading this kind of comic book projects is to watch the characters to look like their movie counterparts.
HOLY ROADS NOT TAKEN, BATMAN!
A real treat for this story is having Sam Hamm as writer since he was the screenwriter of precisely the first two Batman films, and he wrote this graphic novel adapting ideas that he discussed with the very Tim Burton and those ideas could be indeed a third movie if Tim Burton would remain as director, so this TPB is a priceless chance to read what may looked like.
In this story is introduced an adult Barbara Gordon who is a GCPD Sergeant Detective (that at least in my opinion she has the lookalike of Sean Young (who was initially casted as Vicky Vale for the first movie but she had to quit due an accident while filming an early scene)) but it seems that the thought model for the character was Winona Ryder. I don’t know, the drawing for me still it looks like more like Sean Young.
Also, you have Robin, but it’s a new character named Drake Winston and drawn to look like a young Marlon Wayans. I think that if they were creating a new Robin, they should think in a whole different name (like Miles Morales in the case of Marvel’s Spider-Man). Tim Drake is the comics’ third Robin and even he was created in 1989. I don’t know, maybe, just maybe, it was initially a joint project, but since Robin didn’t get to appear in the first Tim Burton film at the final cut, the two ideas took different paths.
At the end, this TPB is highly recommend to all fans of Batman films since it’s a priceless opportunity to read an elseworld scenario of how may looked like a third Batman film if Michael Keaton and Tim Burton would remain for a third entry in the film saga.
I didn’t realize until I had the book in my hands…
…that I had it once before!
I think and think where I watched An engaging reading
FATE READING
I didn’t realize until I had the book in my hands…
…that I had it once before!
I think and think where I watched that cover before and…
…back then, in 1994, I visited some magazine store, where besides, obviously selling magazines, you could find pocket novels of recent release, there I bought Star Wars: The Courtship of Princess Leia (my very first Star Wars novel) and it was published in 1994, the same year of the release of The Midnight Club…
…so I am convinced that I had that very pocket novel in my hands but I opted to buy the Star Wars novel (since I hadn’t money for both!) and later I forget about it.
However, due the Netflix premiere of the TV adaptation of the novel, I chose to read the book, without knowing that I almost read it back then.
But it seems that it was fate for me to read this novel.
ARE YOU AFRAID OR HAVING GOOSEBUMPS TO READ THIS NOVEL?
In this novel, you have a group of teenagers, all having terminal illnesses, that as a type of support therapy, they decided to share spooky stories at night, calling themselves “The Midnight Club”.
Christopher Pike admited that he was inspired with the TV series Are You Afraid of the Dark? where there is a “Midnight Society” doing the same, a group of teenagers sharing spooky stories late at night, but without the element of terminal illnesses.
Moreover, I found curious that some months later of the publication of The Midnight Club, the author R.L. Stine published The Thrill Club where a group of teenagers are involved with spooky stories ((only I think that only one girl there is telling the stories but later they became real) I am planning to read real soon that book too), that I guess that Stine wasn’t too thrilled about competition in the genre of young adult horror literature, and he wanted to keep clear who was boss in the genre.
Without reading it, I believe that I will enjoy a lot more The Thrill Club than this novel, not because it was bad written, actually it possess a great narrative style and interesting characters with flaws, but because at the end, I was expecting a horror novel (just like the TV adaptation is giving me) and it wasn’t the case.
But, don’t get me mistaken, the book is really good, the stories are compelling (curiously, there is one very much like City of Angels movie released 4 years later BUT there is a German film from 1987 with the same storyline so…) and the whole deal of terminal illnesses is managed in a powerful way, making a good drama novel.
I just wasn’t prepared for this kind of book, while expecting a horror novel, but definitely I recommend it....more
This a self-contained prose novel which is part of the “Fear Street Relaunch” book series
BACK TO CHEER AGAIN AT Gimme a R-E-A-D! Go R.L. Stine!
This a self-contained prose novel which is part of the “Fear Street Relaunch” book series
BACK TO CHEER AGAIN AT SHADYSIDE HIGH
I was reading since last year the book series of Fear Street Cheerleaders and after five novels I thought that that was it, no more cheerleaders at Shadyside High, but I was amazed when I found out that there was a sixth book, of course this novel isn’t part of the original Fear Street Cheerleaders but actually a solo book set in Shadyside High with cheearleaders as main characters, so it was close enough for me and I decided to read it too.
This is a totally different book, since there isn’t any paranormal elements and there isn’t any mention to previous characters (which I’d find cool to mention at least the main character from the Cheerleaders in some casual conversation stating her as a former cheerleader in the past).
While I enjoyed a lot the Fear Street Cheerleaders book series, I think that this novel resulted in a more robust product with better prose and engaging narrative, therefore at the end I enjoyed a lot more this novel, even more than I’d expected when I started to read it.
Gretchen Page is a transfer student at Shadyside High and since she is a top cheerleader, she decides to try out there, but that decision put her in direct clash with Debra Dalby, a rich girl used to get anything she wants and right now, she wants to be cheerleader too, with only one spot in the squad, you can expect some tension but…
…what Gretchen finds is serious injuries and murder around her!
HOLY DOUBLE TWIST, STINE!
I enjoyed a lot trying to find out the culprit, since there were several suspects.
And while I had several theories, I didn’t expect that more than one theory would resulted kinda true!
The book has an awesome double twist which convinced me to give 5 stars to the novel instead of 4 stars that I was considering before reading about the impacting double twist.
I'd prefer not having some scenes where you can read about the prime suspect without the protagonist around, therefore is quite evident that the prime suspect isn't that suspicious at all.
The book has a final sentence as a manner of the typical impacting ending once you think that everything is over, it was so awesome that final sentence that I even investigate just in case, the novel would have a sequel, but so far I didn’t find anything about it.
What I found out quite odd, iy was that in some internet wikias and even here in Goodreads editions, this book has a different name to the protagonist, however at least in Amazon has the same name than in my book. Even I had to choose an edition here on GR where the name of the protagonist is different than in my book since I didn't find any edition matching the character's name in my book. I guess that some editions changed the name of the protagonist for some unknown reason.
Anyway…
…if you are fan of R.L. Stine and horror cheerleaders’ tales, I highly recommend this wonderful novel. ...more
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