Behind Blue Eyes

We Men of Ash and Shadow by H.L.Tinsley My rating: 5 of 5 stars I reviewed this last year when it first came out: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... But after winning a copy of the audiobook, I had to give that a shot as well. It didn't disappoint. A great audiobook is a nice way to revisit a series book before the next volume comes out, acting as a refresher and a different perspective as we can immerse ourselves in the world again from a different angle. R.J. Bayley was excellent and carries the story nicely. We Men of Ash and Shadow is also a finalist for this year's SPFBO contest, so the release of such a good audio version sure didn't hurt its chances... View all my reviews

Small Magic: Short Fiction, 1977-2020 by Terry Brooks My rating: 4 of 5 stars I received an eARC from the publisher through NetGalley. This was an interesting assortment of stories, some really good and others average. It's more a 3-star output, but I'm giving another as it is a good way to have compiled all of Brooks' short stories in one place. Another caveat is that I wouldn't really recommend this to readers that aren't already fans of Brooks' work. Most of the material brings up series and characters already well-established and while they might be enjoyable on their own, someone with a familiarity with his work will get much more out of it. View all my reviews

A Brightness Long Ago by Guy Gavriel Kay My rating: 4 of 5 stars I was provided with an electronic copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. Since it took me so long to get to it, I decided to buy the audiobook and listen to it, thus pushing it up my TBR to a place I could actually get to it. And once again, Kay hits a home run with this novel. It has a slow pace, but like an excellent meal that's a good thing, as it allows the reader time to savor every moment and concentrate on each flavor. This is what makes Kay special, his beautiful crafting and marvelous character development. Then he'll throw in some plot surprises that you might not see coming, and break your heart in the process. View all my reviews

Rainbow in the Dark: The Autobiography by Ronnie James Dio My rating: 4 of 5 stars I was given an advance copy of this audiobook from the publisher through NetGalley. I've always enjoyed music memoirs written by the artists themselves, especially after listening to Scar Tissue by Anthony Kiedis , so when I heard that this was coming out, I immediately added it to my ever-growing TBR pile. I've been a fan of Ronnie James Dio ever since he was fronting Black Sabbath in the very early 80s, and one of the concert highlights of my late teens was seeing him with his own band, Dio. The man was an epic singer and had one of the most powerful voices in rock. This was a nice trip down memory lane, though admittedly most of these memories belonged to RJD himself and were significantly before my time. It did take awhile to get going good, as RJD seemed to go into great detail on his early years. This was a foundation for the artist he'd become, but ...

Secrets of the Force: The Complete, Uncensored, Unauthorized Oral History of Star Wars by Edward Gross My rating: 4 of 5 stars I was provided with an e-copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. I think "complete" might be the most apt word in that long book title. That's certainly not a bad thing, but it lead to a very long read. The writing was rather dry as well, with the main narrative from the authors being little bridge paragraphs to connect the quotes from directors, authors, actors, writers, critics, and production crews. That said, there were fascinating bits throughout this book. The insights from Lucas and the primary players (on camera as well as behind the scenes) were invaluable. This is a great tribute to the body of work that is Star Wars , covering the phenomenon from its earliest draft beginnings to the present day Disney Plus productions. No stone was left unturned. I can just think of two things I would ...

The Ancient Minstrel by Jim Harrison My rating: 3 of 5 stars I was provided with an ecopy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. That said, the formatting gave me fits, so it wasn't until I found this on Audible Plus that I actually finished it. Three novellas by a literary author most famous for Legends of the Fall . This was an odd assortment that was very well written as for the turn of phrasing, but meandered a bit in the telling. Overall it was pretty interesting but not as engaging as I'd hoped. View all my reviews

Zombie CSU: The Forensics of the Living Dead by Jonathan Maberry My rating: 4 of 5 stars I received an audio copy of this title from the publisher through NetGalley. This was all it was advertised to be: A great analysis of the zombie craze that's been taking over popular culture in recent years. More specifically, it digs deep down, looking into the extensive police procedures and forensics in a sample case of a zombie outbreak. This gives a realistic approach to how a plague might begin and the likelihood of it raging out of control. All in all we got some great perspectives from the professionals and experts, and their results were equal parts reassuring and frightening. This made for a great audiobook too, as it was a very interesting listen that I could take with me while driving or doing other tasks. The only thing I could add is that as this was originally written in the 2010-11 timeframe, it would have been useful to get an update on worl...

Fate of Madness by Jesse Teller My rating: 4 of 5 stars Review now live at Grimdark Magazine Here we go, the final doorstop of a volume in the massive tetralogy by Jesse Teller, Fate of Madness. After the first three tomes, Onslaught of Madness, Wrath of Madness, and Plight of Madness , the reader is definitely invested and past the point of backing down. We’re in it to win it, or to be crushed into pulp by the Drine war machine. Rextur is still leading the Drine forces in their conquest of Tienne, but it’s taking too long. And while he’s winning the overall conflict, the boy king Peter Redfist is still a thorn in his side, constantly turning up and sparking little victories here and there, even when he should have been killed long ago. The Madness, as Rextur is also known, is starting to feel that it’s time to push through before the tide turns. “’Those are Lunatics out there,’ Gralton said. ‘Those are the elite of the elite. The worst, most devas...

The Slanted Gutter by S. Craig Zahler My rating: 5 of 5 stars I received an ebook copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. What a wild ride! If you've seen any of Craig Zahler's films (and enjoyed them), this is the book for you. I've seen two, Bone Tomahawk and Dragged Across Concrete , and I do hope that Zahler makes a film out of his latest novel, as I could picture the scenes in my head. View all my reviews

Norylska Groans by Michael R. Fletcher My rating: 4 of 5 stars Review live at Grimdark Magazine Grimdark steampunk Russian influenced fantasy set within an industrial city in a Russian flavored fantasy world with mob families competing over magical memory stones? I’m in! Norylska Groans is a fine fantasy collaboration between Snyder and Fletcher, mixing these great story elements together and creating a story that’s unique. “The city moaned, the creak of shrinking wood. Off to the north the furnaces rumbled like sleeping dragons. Never silent. Noryslka groans.” Norylska Groans is told through the perspectives of two characters, with the chapters alternating between their views. Genndy Antonov is an ex-soldier, struggling to acclimate to life after his military service, becoming disgruntled with the feeling that he’s been discarded by the system he served. He’s currently making ends meet with his heavily taxed pension and his current job as a cutt...

She Dreams in Blood by Michael R. Fletcher My rating: 4 of 5 stars Review now live at Grimdark Magazine She Dreams in Blood is the sequel to the excellent Black Stone Heart , book one of The Obsidian Path . The first novel is a finalist in the 2021 Self-Published Fantasy Blog Off (SPFBO), and with good reason as it’s an excellent book. The sequel continues the first-person narrative of Khraen, once and (future?) Demonist Emperor. He has a few more shards of his obsidian heart and the memories that come with each piece, but still searches for the remaining pieces. He’s becoming more powerful with each shard, but also increasingly frustrated as his memories are just shy of completion. “If my soul-devouring empire was all that stood between humanity and utter destruction, I wasn’t the villain. Maybe I wasn’t the hero, but stories of dashing heroes doing noble deeds are horseshit.” At the heart of Kraen’s partially restored memories are two wom...

The Part About the Dragon was (Mostly) True by Sean Gibson My rating: 5 of 5 stars Review now live at Grimdark Magazine A bard’s job is to tell a story. Beyond that, whether the story is true or not is relative. While most good bards will want some element of truth in the tales to give them legitimacy and garner respect, a learned tale spinner also understands that a little bit of spice will sometimes make the difference between a story and a tale to be remembered. The Part About the Dragon Was (Mostly) True is such a tale, and we can tell immediately from the title that our narrator will be using a bit of embellishment. “(Mostly) True” gives that away and is a subtle admission that there will be some flavoring to make the story more enjoyable. With that in mind, our narrator wants her story to be believed as well as enjoyed. Or at least, mostly believed. “I’m all in favor of using the people’s vernacular, but sometimes the people should get a bi...

Pawn's Gambit by Rob J. Hayes My rating: 5 of 5 stars I received an eARC of this book from the author. This book is (not) a sequel to Never Die , but was set in the same world and continues with the awesomeness that started in the (not) first book in the (not) series. See my review of the (not) first book. Whether its a sequel or not, this book had just as many stars for me as the (maybe) first. We do see some of the names pop up from the earlier book, including the main character of this one, the Art of War. Yuu is, or was, the Art of War, but avoids wearing her trademark mask in order to conceal her identity. She's wanted for the murder of the Steel Prince. She didn't murder him but feels responsible for his death, but at any rate she is trying to exist outside of the shadow of her fame by low stakes gambling. Low stakes in comparison to the level she'd played at before, as the chief war advisor to the Steel Prince. Seems that th...

The Sandman by Dirk Maggs My rating: 5 of 5 stars Review now live at Grimdark Magazine Neil Gaiman is one of today’s most beloved and well-known fantasy authors, with good reason. Dirk Maggs is a force in the industry too, having developed many popular properties from comics and prose and movie universe tie-ins into successful audiobooks. Bring these two creators together for The Sandman , and you’ve got a recipe for a successful and entertaining few hours of listening. The Sandman audiobook is the first in a developing series of adaptations of the famous Sandman DC comic series, as written by Neil Gaiman. It’s one of the most successful “graphic novel” series out there, serving as a benchmark for dark fantasy comics ever since. It was also the series that launched Gaiman into a highly prolific career as an author in multiple formats. The series is currently in development over at Netflix, so this audio serves as a wonderful bridge between comics a...

Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman My rating: 4 of 5 stars It seems only fitting that I closed out 2020 by listening to an account of Ragnarok... View all my reviews