In some ways, Uprooted is a very typical fantasy novel. The heroine lives in a village where every 10 years the local wizard Dragon takes a village girl, and keeps her for 10 years. The wizards protects the village from The Woods which is full of evil spirits and general badness. The girls are allowed to leave after 10 years with enough money to support herself for a long time, and always say he never laid a hand on them. When the girl leaves though, […]
Captain Jack Sparrow’s World of Pirates
The Republic of Pirates explores the early 18th century of the American colonies and the Caribbean, which was the era of pirates like Samuel “Black Sam” Bellamy, Charles Vane, and Edward “Blackbeard” Thatch. Although told in narrative style, most of the information comes from newspapers, letters, journals, etc. from the time, place, and people presented. According to a note on the cover of my edition, this book was the inspiration for the NBC mini-series “Crossbones”. I liked the tv show, so I picked up the […]
The Girl Genius works in a machine shop in her underthings
The tag line for the book Agatha H and the Airship City is “Adventure! Romance! Science!” In this steam-punk twist, there are people who are Sparks, meaning individuals with the talent of a mad-scientist. Sparks of the past and some of the present are of the deranged evil scientist variety, and they tend to rule the world or at least part of it. Almost 20 years before the current story, a pair of Spark brothers from one of the most notorious Spark families, the Heterodynes, […]
Shape-shifter, Golden Loin, and Black Heart Mix it Up
The graphic novel Nimona has 2 main threads, both of which are interesting, but that don’t always work well together. Thread 1 follows Lord Ballister Blackheart and his struggle against the Institution of Law Enforcement and Heroics. The main hero of the Institution, Sir Goldenloin, and Lord Blackheart have some personal history that makes this part of the story more interesting than just villain-hero antagonism. Thread 2 is Nimona herself. She somehow became a shape-shifter (her origins are mysterious, even to her), she has a […]