Behind Blue Eyes

The Waste Lands by Stephen King My rating: 5 of 5 stars While this book isn't my absolute favorite of the Dark Tower series, it's pretty essential. It is here that Roland the Gunslinger's ka-tet is complete and the path to the Tower is joined in full. It's a great bridge between the first books and later ones, as it brings full circle some of the initial plot-lines and sets the characters on a course for the new plot-lines. In Book 1, we meet Roland and Jake. In Book 2, we meet Eddie and Susannah. Here in Book 3, they are joined by Oy and become more than casual acquaintances; they become ka-tet . Oh, and Blaine is a pain, and that is the truth. View all my reviews

Towers of Midnight by Robert Jordan My rating: 5 of 5 stars I'm actually pretty torn between a 4 and 5 star rating with this one. There were parts throughout the book where it dragged, where I felt this Crossroads of Twilight feeling of plot going nowhere. But those parts were relatively short, and the good parts. Wow. When it was good, it was really good. So the penultimate volume in The World of Time is here to set up the grand finale. Does it do this? Yes. It brings some plotlines to a close and sets up the action for the Last Battle, that end of time-fight the Darklord climax we've been promised for the better part of 20 years. Just one more year or so, and it will all come to a close. Towers of Midnight points us in that direction and says "Bring it on." View all my reviews

The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King My rating: 5 of 5 stars The Drawing of the Three is the novel where the Dark Tower story goes from being a cool gunslinger action adventure of the weird west to being a true epic. We still have elements of that otherworldly western flavor, but we get a huge mixture of reality when Roland, the gunslinger anti-hero of the first book, opens a door into “our” world. The three doors Roland must open each connect to our world, but at different “whens”, different eras. From each of these entry points, there are things that Roland must do in order to continue on the path to his fabled Dark Tower. With these adventures, we’re introduced to new characters, a new ka-tet that will help Roland on his quest. But before they can move forward to their goal, they each have something they must work through first. Roland’s intervention is essential to this development, for without it they would be useless to him and to his quest. This is the fourth time...

The Crown Conspiracy by Michael J. Sullivan My rating: 4 of 5 stars See my review (with spoilers) of the book itself. This re-read was for the audio version. The book itself was right on the cusp between 4 and 5 stars. I originally gave it 4, then bumped it up to 5 after I'd given it time to sink in. So why 4 now? This 4 is for the audio experience only. The story is still just as good. The reader wasn't bad, and I didn't struggle with him really, but at the same time he didn't wow me like some readers I've listened to in the past. I've also read books 2 & 3 in this series since my initial read of TCC, and they're even better than this one. So I'll be looking forward to future audio releases, as well as books 4-6 of the series. View all my reviews

The Lions of al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay My rating: 5 of 5 stars I needed a couple of days to let this sink in before writing a review. That's how powerful the book was, and its incredible ending. This is one of those books that it's very difficult to write a spoiler-free review for. I could mark it as such and go for it, but then people that haven't read the book will skip the review. The Lions of Al-Rassan is a book I will push on friends. When asked for recommendations, it will float to the top of my list every time. I won't say it's my all-time favorite, but it's on the short list. So, without spoilers, let's see what we can do. This book is a great example of what epic fantasy should be. Key on the "epic". There really aren't that many traditional fantasy elements; no elves, dwarves, magic, dragons, or forgetful wizards. But it has the passion and scope of medieval society, and the brutality of its warfare. The clash of three religions...

A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny My rating: 4 of 5 stars A very enjoyable read from Roger Zelazny , consistent with other material I've read by him. The tone is light, although the subject matter is grim. It seems that on Halloween night, unimaginable horrors will attempt to enter this world. A gathering of powers has come together, some to hold it back, and some to try to help it along. Throughout the month, these opposing forces are playing a game of positioning, alliances, and grabs for talismans to help their cause or hinder the opposition. The story is told by Snuff, the trusty dog of Jack the Ripper. He interacts with other players in the game, and the animal companions of these players. We get cameo appearances from major characters of horror stories written in the 1800's, or from movies about stories in that era. This came out as a nice mix of horror and comedy, intrigue and mystery, and a puzzle for the reader to pick up on all the outside references...

Well, I've posted a few of my recent reviews. That'll get the content of the blog started good. I'll try to put future reviews here as I write them. Right now, I'm reading The Lions of al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay. Wow! This man amazes me every single time I pick up one of his books. I know I'll like his stuff when I start out, but he still surprises me with how good his stories are. I see lots of stars in this rating, very soon. I'm almost half way done now. I'm also working on A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny. I've been reading with some friends, one chapter a day during the entire month of October. So we'll finish it up tomorrow. It's a cool story with suspense and some humor, as well as an Easter egg hunt for literary and movie references. Very enjoyable. So what's next? Towers of Midnight (Wheel of Time) . As soon as my pre-order arrives, I might disappear from the web for a few days.

Everything's Eventual: 14 Dark Tales by Stephen King My rating: 4 of 5 stars Awesome re-read. This might have even been better the second time around. Actually, I've read several of the stories more than that, from other collections or audiobooks or whatnot. Favorites: "The Man in the Black Suit", "LT's Theory of Pets", "All That You Love Will Be Carried Away", "Everything's Eventual", and "The Little Sisters of Eluria". The only story I didn't much like was "That Feeling, You Can Only Say What It Is In French". It wasn't horrible, just didn't do it for me. "The Death of Jack Hamilton" was one in particular that I wasn't crazy about the first time I read this book, right when it first came out. But this time around, I liked it a lot. It's subtle nature worked better for my more mature (read: old) self than when I was younger, perhaps. All in all, 13 out of 14 are gems, and that...

Stories: All-New Tales by Neil Gaiman My rating: 3 of 5 stars Like most short story collections, this one is a mixed bag. There were some great ones, some pretty good ones, some that were instantly forgettable, and a few that flat out stunk. Favorites: "The Devil on the Staircase" by Joe Hill; "The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains" by Neil Gaiman; "A Life in Fictions" by Kat Howard; "The Therapist" by Jeffery Deavers; "Catch and Release" by Lawrence Block; and "Loser" by Chuck Palahniuk. Absolute Favorite: "Wildfire in Manhatten" by Joanne Harris. I expected to like the Hill and Gaiman stories - I'm a fan of both authors. I was also looking forward to trying Deavers and Block. Kat Howard was a pleasant surprise, as this was her first published work, and it's shorter than most. But I really liked the imagery. I found myself grinning madly as I finished the Palahniuk story. As he did with Fight Club , ...

The Gunslinger by Stephen King My rating: 5 of 5 stars This book is something of an oddity. That being, the first time I read it, I would probably have given it 3-stars, and felt quite generous doing so. It was really "meh" and though I was a King fan, I wasn't pleased with it after the hype. I even delayed reading Book 2 for awhile because I was somewhat turned off. I didn't hate it, but it left me ambivalent for the most part. But this is definitely a book that gets better with time, with re-readings, and with the rest of the series. The second time I read it, I probably would have rated it 4-stars, and this was after reading Books 2 and 3 and preparing for the release of Book 4. By this time, I was in love with the series. I read it again just before Books 5-7 came out in fairly quick succession. And yes, by then it had earned the 5-star rating you see here. For this fourth read of The Gunslinger, I'm enchanted with it even more than before. On it...

Well, here we go. Not like I have anything interesting to say.