I just don’t know what to do with this series. The Glass Magician is a followup to The Paper Magician, with which I had significant problems but mostly forgave it based on the strength of the concept. It is that same strength of concept that led me, some time later, to read the sequel, despite my misgivings. And now? There’s just not a lot here, and it is so frustrating. There is no sophistication to the plot or characters, and the whole concept (a magician […]
“The Young Adventurers take a lot of killing.”
Secret Adversary is my first foray into Agatha Christie books. My only regret is that I didn’t discover Ms. Christie sooner. While it is nearly a century old, the book is (relatively) quickly paced, entertaining, and witty. Plotwise, it had me guessing until the very end! Since it was written in 1922, there is no copyright on the book and therefore you can legally download it for free. Although, for CBR purposes, consider buying a paperback version! Adversary revolves around a witty couple of members […]
Treason and Syphilis During the 7-Years War
This is Gabaldon’s first book in a new trilogy following her highly successful Outlander series. The “Lord John” series is based on the relatively minor character from the Outlander books Lord John Grey, who is a young and fiercely patriotic military officer and second son of a wealthy and prestigious family. Lord John is also a secret homosexual, a practice which was seen as akin to treason in these tumultuous days of the Seven Years War between England and France, and which causes him no […]
Hail, Hail, the Gang’s All Here!
A year or two I got back into comic books, and spent many a Saturday morning browsing garage sales and used book stores for anything that tickled my proverbial fancy. I bought a sealed grab bag of comics (gambling for collectors) and opened it up to find a few stray issues of Camelot 3000, a 1980s maxi-series written by Mike Barr and illustrated by Brian Bolland of The Killing Joke fame. The comic looked bananas, so in my weekly trips to the used book stores […]