There are 2 problems with Rick Riordan’s latest: you have to be familiar with both of his previous Greek-myth based series for everything to make sense, and the narrative viewpoint of Apollo turned human gets annoying too often. I have only read the Percy Jackson series, not the Heroes of Olympus books, so there were a lot of references to previous events and character relationships that I’m pretty sure I was supposed to understand but did not. Making a god spend time as a mortal […]
Meh: The Book
Welcome to Night Vale the book is the same but different from its original medium (the podcast). There are 3 main perspectives that tell the story: Jackie the eternally 19-year old pawnshop owner, Diane, mother of shape-shifting Josh, and the local public radio host, Cecil. In addition to learning some of the ways in which Night Vale works (mostly from Cecil’s reports), there are way 3 mysteries/problems that Jackie and Diane eventually realize concerns them both. First, Josh wants to know who his father is; […]
Did you know the Hound of the Baskervilles was half mechanical?
The final volume (#3)of The Baskerville Affair series, A Study in Ashes, opens about a year after the events of the previous volume A Study in Darkness. Volume 2 was awful. It was almost entirely angsty romance with slight paranormal and steampunk colorings. Blech. I hate it when a story sets me up with expecting adventure or mystery, but turns out to be a romance in the end. This even ruins the expanded roles for Sherlock and Mycroft, and explanation for Jack the Ripper. Jack […]
Holmes in a Skirt without much Sherlock
A Study in Silks can’t seem to decide if it wants to be a mystery, a steampunk adventure, a comedy of manners, a drama, or a romance. The main character is Evelina Cooper, daughter of a circus performer and a lady from country gentry. From her father’s family she inherits magical abilities and on her mother’s side she is niece to Sherlock Holmes. In her world, magic is illegal in England, and while Victoria rules in name, London is really controlled by a group of […]