Behind Blue Eyes

The Monster Realm by Nara Duffie My rating: 4 of 5 stars A delightful adventure into a hidden realm that's all magic and wonderous creatures. I loved the Harryhausen references and the Shakespearean insults. Medusa was portrayed brilliantly - I could easily see the Clash of the Titans (original) version of her pulling back on that bow.. So ominous and bada$$! It probably helped that I loved those Harryhausen movies so much as a kid. Really helped me visualize the creatures... View all my reviews

Brandon Sanderson's White Sand Vol. 1 by Brandon Sanderson My rating: 4 of 5 stars I was given an ebook version of this graphic novel by the publisher through NetGalley. Again here we are with Sanderson and of course the talk will go to worldbuilding. Yes, he does it again. This time it's his story and idea, but an adaptation by Rik Hoskin with art by Julius M. Gopez. While not quite as epic or satisfying as Sanderson's novels, this story was very compelling. It was also just getting going when it was time to wrap up this first volume, but I can tell that over time this should be a really good graphic side to Sanderson's Cosmere universe. View all my reviews

Vicious Grace by M.L.N. Hanover My rating: 3 of 5 stars Still great narration, though I didn't connect with the actual story here as well as I did the first two books. View all my reviews

Central Station by Lavie Tidhar My rating: 3 of 5 stars I received an ebook copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. Well then. That was interesting. I'm a little torn on my rating after finishing this. I mean, some of the concepts were brilliant and the world-building was quite phenomenal. But for most of the book I felt like the scene was being set but there really wasn't much happening. Then a lot of the stuff was beyond my comprehension, like so much science fiction that I've read lately seems to be (Peter F. Hamilton, Alastair Reynolds, and Iain M. Banks, I'm looking at you). But like those SF giants, Tidhar has a voice for story and it's well done even through the parts that bored me. So would I recommend this book? To fans of Banks, Reynolds, and Hamilton, surely. To people that want more Star Wars in their Sci-Fi, not so much. For those, I'd point them towards James S.A. Corey or Ian McDonald, both of w...

Perusing Portland by Jason R. Koivu My rating: 4 of 5 stars Disclaimer: Jason Koivu is a friend that I met on Goodreads several years back, so there might be some slight positive bias here. That said, I really enjoyed this short overview of the Portland area. I was fortunate enough to go to Portland last week for a work conference, and I happened to find out I was going right about the time Jason released this. So heck yeah, $1.00 or two later (I can't remember), I snatched this baby right up. I did set it aside so I could read it closer to the time of my trip. Well, it sure came in handy. I didn't get to it until I was actually on the trip, so there is a mix of suggestions that I used from the book with some things I'd already seen by the time I saw them mentioned. But all told, this made for a fun read while I was there. Jason's sense of humor made me laugh out loud a few times too. It's not the most thorough or complete guide t...

Red Hood/Arsenal, Vol. 1: Open for Business by Scott Lobdell My rating: 3 of 5 stars I received a preview eARC of this title from the publisher through NetGalley. Yeah, so my only experience with Roy Harper was the version of him on Arrow , and I'm still binging that to get caught up. So I see he has a new title, partnered up with one of the former Robins, Jason Todd. Great! I'm actually thinking it will be great to see Red Hood break away from Green Arrow and get his own action going.. Except. I was confused. Based on the above exposure, I somehow thought Roy was Red Hood. Because well, he wears a red hoodie on Arrow . Silly me to assume that. Now, as I said I'm not caught up, so no spoilers if the Arsenal thing happens or doesn't happen on the show. So Roy Harper is Arsenal, wearing a red outfit and toting a bunch of arrows. Alright, I had the idea right, just the name flipped. The Red Hood is actually the other dude wearing a red...

Quag Keep by Andre Norton My rating: 1 of 5 stars So, back in my much younger days I was part of a subculture that got into a game called Dungeons & Dragons. You might have heard of it. Well, back then I was aware of some novels that were based on the game and published by TSR, the company that put out the game books and all the other stuff. I read some of them, and I enjoyed the hell out of them. So now I find that the very first novel written about the Greyhawk campaign world was actually penned by a Science Fiction Grand Master. Yeah, I was all in. I jumped in, with plenty of 70s and 80s music in the background (RIP Prince), and was ready to go.... And then...after. I feel like I've been walking through the Sea of Dust because seasonal allergies are a bitch and my mind kept wandering to anything but this book. Except...when I made myself read it. I was all 'huh?' much of the way. It started out kinda cool, with these mysterious di...