Behind Blue Eyes

Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman My rating: 4 of 5 stars 4.5 stars, really. What a delightful collection of Gaiman's short stories! I was very impressed, liking this even better than I expected. It very nearly got a full 5-stars, but I honestly have a hard time giving that rating to a collection of short stories. They have to really 'wow' me for that. Most of the time the stories, being short, don't really capture the full suspension of belief that's required to become fully absorbed and lost. The more lost I get, the more big stars it'll get. That said, this is still an excellent work. I had some hesitation, not to read it but certainly in prioritizing it, after I'd read Smoke and Mirrors a couple of years ago. I liked that collection, but it didn't grab me. Certainly not like I was grabbed by American Gods , Neverwhere , or the Preludes and Nocturnes (Sandman) series. But this one certainly did the trick and belongs in the Gaiman canon with those oth...

Warriors by George R.R. Martin My rating: 4 of 5 stars The book as a whole is a good, solid 4.5 star anthology. As with most collections, it has its hits and misses. Happily, more of the latter. "Stories From the Spinner Rack" - introduction by GRRM. A nice look into the early reading habits of GRRM and his early influences. Reminds me of Dreamsongs I. I need to go back and read Dreamsongs II. 4 stars for the intro. "The King of Norway" by Cecilia Holland. Nice Viking story that was pretty interesting. The characters seemed pretty good too, or would have with more development. Her style is dry though. If she'd liven that up, I'd be more interested in what happens. 2.75 stars. "Forever Bound" by Joe Haldeman. Set in the Forever War universe, which I haven't read. But I loved this story, so I'm sure I'll rectify that eventually. His writing is excellent and his universe seems very interesting. 4.5 stars. "The Triumph" by Rob...

Wizard and Glass by Stephen King My rating: 4 of 5 stars This is really a 5-star book, and a personal favorite. This 4-star rating is for the audio edition. Frank Muller is a good narrator and I've enjoyed journeying with Roland's ka-tet with Muller covering the story. His voices feel true for Roland, Susannah, Jake, and especially Eddie Dean. Even for Oy. But I was disappointed when the tale took us back to Mejis. Here, Muller took an approach with the regional dialect that made all of the residents of Hambry sound like uneducated, ignorant, rubes. Some of them are, so they is, but not all of them. I love the Western drama of the tale of Susan Delgado and Roland's youth. I'm often reminded of the tension from the movie Tombstone , where every move is like one in a game of chess. Like any wrong move will bring it all crashing down in a hail of bullets and gunsmoke. Muller makes it sound like an episode of "Mama's Family". Well, the story is still timele...