Review

Book Review: Ghost by John Ringo

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Ghost starts off like a Tom Clancy novel meets post-9/11 revenge fantasy. Mike, the main character, is on a college campus pretending to be mysterious by scaring college girls while standing in the shadows. He observes a girl get snatched by kidnappers and immediately goes after them. Unfortunately for those criminals, they don’t realize he’s a former Navy SEAL who hates terrorists.

The book is in basically three parts: Mike stops human traffickers by accident, Mike stops terrorists in the Caribbean, and Mike tracks weapons dealers in Eastern Europe. At least, for the last part I think that’s what his goal is. He kind of meanders and lies a lot so it’s hard to tell.

John Ringo is a solid writer and his prose really shines, however the dialogue can often be eye roll inducing. There’s also a lot of over the top fantasy-fulfillment moments. At one point in part one, Mike saves a room full of naked trafficking victims who in turn exhibit obvious lust towards their savior. Mike also actually kills Osama bin Laden (this is post 9/11)!

I would say this is the most sexual of Ringo’s work (that I’ve read so far). I was a big fan of both his Poseleen War work and the Troy Rising trilogy. However, one of the major themes of this work is how sexually frustrated Mike is. There’s a few long sex scenes as well. There’s a section in part two from page 211 until around page 345 where Mike is meeting, talking to, and seducing two college girls. I read through it… but man it was a lot. It’s a bit excessive, but that’s John Ringo.

The best thing John Ringo does is action, and boy is there some solid action scenes in all three parts. If you’re looking for an edgier Tom Clancy or Brad Thor novel, this is perfect for you. If you’re expecting deep political thinking or complex character development you won’t get it here.

On the subject of characters, Mike comes off as a bit unlikeable. For lack of a better term, he forces himself on someone late in the novel. It’s set up earlier but it still comes off as a shocking scene. It also makes Mike seem unredeemable.

Personally, I enjoyed the story, but you need to know what kind of story it is before you get into it. If you like military action, sex, and early 2000’s escapist fantasy, then this is the book for you. If you shy away from work of a sexual nature, then I would definitely recommend avoiding this one.

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Story Review: The Repairer of Reputations by Robert W. Chambers

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The King in Yellow is a collection of stories with the tied in element being the titular King in Yellow, which at times is a symbol, a mythical being, or a play/story. The King in Yellow is often symbolized by his sign, which is also an element in some of the stories.

Before I break down the first story in some minimal detail, let me tell you that I think all the stories in this book are great. Some are better than others, and some barely even feel like they fit the theme (if there is a theme). Ultimately, the book is a good read and I recommend it if you like Lovecraft or weird fiction in general. If you don’t know what weird fiction is, read my article describing my thoughts on it. If you’re already a fan, I recommend my friend Matthew Pungitore’s work if you’re a fan of that kind of literature.

The book I had was a 2018 reprint by Minerva Publishing, featuring eight stories. Anyways, the story I wanted to talk about is the first one in that set, “The Repairer of Reputations”.

This story begins with the author reading the play The King in Yellow as he recovered from a head injury. He’s bothered by the play, but reads it anyways. Once he gets to a certain point he tosses it into a fire, but immediately grabs it and rereads it like a mad man. The author explains its was the 1920s and the first scene afterwards is him visiting a blacksmith named Hawberk. He sees there Constance Hawberk and discusses a man named Mr. Wilde, who is the “repairer of reputations”. He also has an interaction with a Dr. Archer.

The author of the story is named Hildred. He goes to find Mr. Wilde and attempts to use Mr. Wilde’s long stories about conspiracies to take over the United States as a king. It’s an obviously false story Mr. Wilde is telling, but Hildred isn’t in the right state of mind. He thinks his cousin Louis, who is Constance’s fiancé, is in his way. So he tells Louis that he killed Dr. Archer, but when Hildred returns to Mr. Wilde’s he accidentally hurts Wilde with a knife. At least, I think that’s what happens. The end of the story is confusing because Hildred has lost the plot.

As Hildred is taken away by the police Constance is crying in the doorway. Did Hildred actually kill anyone? What exactly happened?

This story was excellent, and probably the best of the bunch. It’s confusing at times, but that’s because the author is losing his grip on reality. He’s constantly talking about becoming king and the Yellow Sign. At one point he puts on a crown, and Louis sees it as something cheaper than he said to the reader. The real question is: was he losing his mind because of the head injury he received or because he read the play The King in Yellow?

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Book Review: Long Live the Pumpkin Queen by Shea Ernshaw

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I bought this book on a whim as a fan of A Nightmare Before Christmas. I’ve always loved the look of that film, and thought this book would be an interesting read. However, I immediately regretted my decision. No, it wasn’t the book itself… it was more having to carry the book through the store and parking lot to my car. It almost felt like the entirety of the area locked onto my book and were judging me harshly for wanting to read a Sally-focused sequel to a children’s movie about Halloween and Christmas.

But I bought it. And honestly, it wasn’t bad.

Now right off the bat, this might not be for you. Honestly, my audience is a mixed bag on this site, anything from poetry enthusiasts to pulp story lovers. If you fall into that niche of people who liked A Nightmare Before Christmas and enjoys Young Adult books, this might be right up your alley.

So the story is a direct sequel to the movie. It picks up shortly afterwards with Sally and Jack getting married. However, that means she’d be the Pumpkin Queen, a royal figure over Halloween Town. This is, of course, not in the movie, but it adds an interesting royal aspect to an otherwise familiar environment. The fan favorite characters reappear from the witches, vampires, the mayor, and others.

On their honeymoon, Sally and Jack travel to several places, but prominently is the Valentine’s Town with its own Queen Ruby Valentino. However, it doesn’t last long and soon Sally must return and prepare for her duties. It’s this aspect that shows us Sally’s main motivation in the story: she’s nervous about being a queen. This leads Sally to attempt to run away, but end up in one of the doorways and release something (I suggest playing Metallica at this part). Now all of the holiday residents end up falling under a spell and it’s up to Sally to figure out what’s going on. The story progresses perfectly fine, but there’s a few revelations I thought were a bit unnecessary.

I have a few issues with the story. Jack sort of drifts in and out of the story as the plot needs, without much explanation, then he disappears altogether. There’s also the addition of the royalty element which seemed like, in the movie, it was only a title given to Jack for being the best Halloween planner in the entire town. However, it’s now a literal king and queen.

However, there’s a lot that I like. The way it’s told from Sally’s perspective gives the story a better grounding than if it was from Jack’s. She just wanted to marry Jack, not be a queen. Likewise, the world and environments are so interesting that it ties the whole story together. There’s a suggestion of Ancient Realms that predate the holidays, and gives the whole story some interesting worldbuilding.

Overall this story is good. A lot of people complain online that it reads like a fanfiction, but what would you expect from a book sequel to a hit film? The author does her best to nail the feeling of the original, and even through it feels like a Hot Topic kid’s daydream, I like it.

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Book Review: Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy

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I have no idea where to start with this book. It’s horrible, cruel, mean and twisted and may be the best novel I’ve ever read. Blood Meridian is considered the magnum opus of Cormac McCarthy, the prolific novelist behind No Country for Old Men. McCarthy doesn’t use much punctuation, so his book reads like a folk tale told by a campfire, but the imagery and harrowing scenes control the reader on a level I’ve never experienced before.

Where do I start on the plot? The story takes place between the Mexican War and the Civil War. The protagonist (because I certainly can’t call him a hero) is known as “The Kid”. He’s from Tennessee and makes his way South. While on his way, he gets into fights, gets shot, heals and leaves, and eventually finds himself in a big tent revival. It’s there he meets a horrible monster of a man, Judge Holden. He’s often just called “The Judge” and is introduced to us by his accusations against the revival preacher of pedophilia, thievery, and other terrible things. The congregation bursts into a fight, with guns being shot and knives pulled out. During the fight the Kid runs away and eventually finds himself in a bar where he hears the Judge tell people he had never met the preacher before. He simply accused a man of crimes to cause chaos.

I can’t say much more. The Kid joins a crew going to Mexico to attack Mexicans, but then he joins another group to gather Indian scalps. There’s horrible things that happen in just about every chapter and eventually you just get used to it. But that’s kind of the point. There’s no heroes, only villains. Sometimes, though, some villains are so bad that they stand head and shoulders above others as being nearly supernaturally bad.

So what should I say about this masterpiece? McCarthy’s prose is phenomenal. Here’s a few lines from the Judge late into the book:

A ritual includes the letting of blood. Rituals which fail in this requirement are but mock rituals. Here every man knows the false at once. Never doubt it. That feeling in the breast that evokes a child’s memory of loneliness such as when the others have gone and only the game is left with is solitary participant. A solitary game, without opponent. Where only the rules are at hazard. Dont look away. We are not speaking in mysteries. You of all men are no stranger to that feeling, the emptiness and the despair. It is that which we take arms against, it is not? Is not blood the tempering agent in the mortar which bonds?

Notice the lack of an apostrophe in “don’t”, and the way the judge is reacting to the movements of the Kid so the reader can imagine it. It’s fascinating.

I recommend this book for anyone who loves American novels. It’s worth your time. However, I caution you that there’s awful imagery and terrible things throughout. There’s racism, slurs, near-constant death, sexual abuse, pedophilia, and much much more inside of it. If you can’t handle that in fiction, don’t dive into it.

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Book Review: I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy

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I know I normally cover fiction, but I had to review this book. I’m Glad My Mom Died is an autobiography by Jennette McCurdy, an actress best known for her portrayal of Sam Puckett on Nickelodeon’s sitcom iCarly. She’s also been a singer and writer. McCurdy details throughout the book her experiences trying to get into the industry, difficulties she faced while performing, and her overall distaste with acting due to the overbearing influence of her mother. Like the title says, Jennette’s mother died of cancer and its after this that Jennette tries to deal with the life she’s found herself in.

This book is fantastic. McCurdy’s writing is clear and purposeful, mentioning details that stuck with her decades later. There’s awful details about how her mother flipped out on her when she lied about a boy to her and her struggles with being a “good Mormon”. The email (or letter?) her mother sends her in that is downright horrific.

Jennette suffered through bulimia and anorexia, eating disorders caused by her mother’s over-restrictive meddling in her daughter’s consumption. A normal parent would simply not buy chips or soda to try to encourage their kids to eat better, but Jennette’s mother taught her about calorie restriction in order to delay her puberty and keep her looking young. At one point, Jennette’s friend Miranda gave her some candy and her mother basically growled at her not to take it.

During her time at Nickelodeon, she mentioned a person she calls “The Creator”. It isn’t clear in the text who this is, but it’s probably the iCarly showrunner Dan Schneider. The Creator is abusive, encourages underaged actors to drink, and touches his actresses inappropriately. At one point, Jennette had been given her own spinoff show and there were problems at Nickelodeon. She described how behind the scenes The Creator wasn’t allowed to be on set and give feedback due to complaints about abuse. He had several allegations against him so the network took minor attempts at addressing concerns. Eventually, when her spinoff ended, the media ran a story about her being jealous of Ariana Grande (yes, the now well-known singer) who was her costar on the spinoff. Reporters tried to say that Jennette was being paid less than Ariana and that set off a rivalry. That wasn’t true, and even at the time these reports got pushback. In reality, the show ended because the allegations against The Creator were getting out of control.

She also mentioned how her time at Nickelodeon was fine as a child but looking back it wasn’t even something she was proud of in her teens. She went from a respected child actor known as “the girl who could cry on queue” to a comedic teenager known as “the girl with the butter sock”. It’s a fascinating story, and she’s done some work in recent memory with both a stage show and short film about her experiences. This book itself was her life’s work up to this point, pouring all of her experiences in the entertainment industry into its pages.

One of the standout characters is Miranda Cosgrove, who is an actress who performs the titular character in the iCarly sitcom. Miranda is shown to be thoughtful and caring, giving Jennette the support she needed at times while also providing a friendly face for her during difficult times. She kept in touch with Jennette even after iCarly ended, but as with all adult friendships, they grew a little distant over time.

I would recommend this book for anyone who either grew up with the shows mentioned or who has an interest in the entertainment industry. This is a great book and I wish Jennette McCurdy well in all her endeavors!

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Light Novel Review: Loner Life in Another World by Shoji Goji

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When I first heard about this story, it sounded something like “Battle Royale meets isekai fantasy”. For a little bit, it seems like the story is going that direction with the delinquent kids having magic powers and fighting the others, but this one is a mostly laid-back tale of a guy who wants to chill in his house in the woods and the people who keep bothering him.

A classroom of Japanese students are summoned to another world and find themselves before the god of that world. He offers them skills and abilities from a list of possible ones, and students take the ones that sound best until only a few weak sounding ones are left. The problem is, one student named Haruka panicked when he saw what was happening and tried to escape. He ended up being summoned after everyone else. This means he doesn’t get to pick the good skills or abilities and has to rely on “Cane Mastery” and “Walking”! The world’s god grants him all the remaining skills out of guilt, and Haruka begins to experiment with them alone in the wilderness, exactly how he likes it.

The best element of this series is the main character. Haruka is a moron who doesn’t understand social queues or girls. Likewise, he doesn’t realize his skills make him level slowly but also make him stronger than pretty much everyone else. The other characters are his classmates and people from the world they arrived in. Mostly, his classmates are good people who just sort of fall into cliques. The “nerds” seem to be Haruka’s closest friends, with the “Class Rep and girls” being the second closest. The Class Rep is one of the better characters and she seems to understand Haruka better than the others. There’s some betrayal, danger, and interesting ideas in this series. If you like isekai fantasy with the level up and skill systems, this is a decent take on that. I found it wasn’t as obsessed with skills as the Spider Isekai series, but it has a good shared focus between that and the characters. Haruka pretty much just wants to be left alone, and I feel that.

When you get to Volume 2, my favorite character Angelica is introduced. I don’t want to spoil too much, but the way the story progresses with her is better in the light novel than in the manga, in my opinion.

If you liked Reincarnated as a Sword or Farming Life in Another World, you’d probably like this one.

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Book Review: The Moon Pool by Abraham Merritt

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It’s been some time since I reviewed a pulp-era book. I love the early 20th century genre literature (before the genre shift in the 50’s/60’s) and A. Merritt is an almost forgotten name among those early authors. Which is a shame! I encourage everyone who likes 20th century fantasy to check out Merritt’s work. I previously reviewed his book The Ship of Ishtar, which I loved. His work tends to skew towards adventure romance with a scifi/fantasy twist. Given that most early pulp authors wrote adventure or romance stories, this isn’t unusual.

Originally published as a short in 1918 through 1919, it was later turned into a book in 1919. This story is often referenced as the inspiration for H. P. Lovecraft’s own “The Call of Cthulhu” which he wrote in 1926, published in 1928, though I could find no actual evidence from Lovecraft for this connection.

This is another of the “lost world” type stories from the likes of Edgar Rice Burroughs or Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. It’s framed like any other story of the time period, where one character is meeting with his friend, who is regaling him with the tale of what happened to him. To be honest, it has fantasy elements but bears more in common with adventure stories of the time than anything.

The big star here is the cast of characters. From Larry O’ Keefe the singing half American half Irishman, the cruel and argumentative Russian scientist Marakinoff, to Olaf Huldricksson the hulking Scandinavian who seeks his wife and child, the cast is full of memorable and interesting characters.

Another thing I love is how the different characters interpret their experiences in their own cultural contexts. Olaf is Nordic and sees the old Norse myths in everything in the other world. Larry goes so far as to see the Shining Ones as the Tuatha De, the old stories of Ireland.

I also admit I confused Lakla and Yolara. It was difficult to keep straight which one was which. Lakla was the handmaiden to the Silent Ones, while Yolara was the evil servant of the Shining One. It was difficult keeping straight which one of those two groups were evil, since they all had something they were after.

The book culminates in a confrontation between the two groups, with the visitors at the focal point. All in all it’s a decent ending but it felt pretty abrupt to me with little explanation of what happens after the fact; it could have benefitted from a sort of epilogue.

The character Dr. Goodwin would show up in Merritt’s The Metal Monster later. Honestly, I kind of prefer The Ship of Ishtar over this one, the horror/dark elements of The Moon Pool were not particularly interesting to me. Overall it feels like Merritt is hit or miss with his longer stories, but if you like this older style that’s great; Burroughs is probably more my style.

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One Minute Review of The Moon Pool (1918) by Abraham Merritt #bookreview #amreading

♬ Chill Vibes – Tollan Kim

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Light Novel Review: Tearmoon Empire by Nozomu Mochitsuki

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(I have read through volume 4 of this one)

Honestly, this one is kind of a “guilty pleasure” for me. No, there’s nothing graphic or disgusting in it, and it is well-written, but the premise is weird and the plot progresses towards something absurd.

The premise begins like many other stories like this: the female protagonist is about to have her head cut off and as she dies she’s transported back in time to her body from years ago. In this case, she was never really a villain, just more of an airhead Marie Antoinette type character (at one point she actually asks if the peasants are upset about not having wheat, “why don’t they just bake cakes for everyone?”).

Mia is the only princess of the Tearmoon Empire, and when she’s transported back in time she retains her memories and a journal of her events leading to her death. As such, this second chance allows her the ability to make things right. She intends to avoid dying at a guillotine and saving herself. If she should happen to save everyone else as well, then all the better.

The main character is selfish and kind of stupid. She’s only good at dancing and lying, but she’s so good at it that she can basically convince everyone around her that she’s a mastermind at strategy and thinking 4 moves ahead of everyone else. The truth is that she simply has the memories from her past life and knows who is trustworthy and what major events will happen. Eventually, she gets the moniker “Sage of the Empire” and is known for her wisdom, though Mia clearly lacks it.

These books are fun with great art and an interesting cast of characters. The best part of everything is how Mia can screw something up and still turn it into a historical achievement that future generations venerate her for. The flash forwards are especially great.

If you like lighthearted fantasy stories, especially of the “reformed villainess” light novel genre, this is for you. There isn’t a lot of conflict and most of the tension comes from knowing something silly is going to happen that Mia needs to deal with. Ultimately, I recommend it if you like goofy stories with some heart.

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Book Review: The Man of Bronze (Doc Savage #1) by Lester Dent/Kenneth Robeson

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Kenneth Robeson is a pseudonym used by the publisher. In this case, this first Doc Savage book was by Lester Dent. Dent had his own method for writing stories, and it must have worked for him since he pumped out something like 159 Doc Savage novels. These novels were originally published in Doc Savage Magazine starting in March 1933. However, most readers know Doc Savage from the republication of these stories by Bantam Books starting in 1964.

Who is Doc Savage? For the uninitiated, Doc is almost the perfect man. He’s super strong, a martial artist, intelligent, rich, and an adventurer who seeks to right wrongs the world over. He works out two hours a day, studies various topics, and keeps tabs on information around the world. Doc is joined by five men he met in World War I: “Ham”, a great attorney who got his name when “Monk” played a trick on him using hams; “Long Tom”, an engineer; “Johnny”, both a geologist and archaeologist who wears a kind of monocle over an injured eye; “Monk”, a chemistry expert with thick red body hair that makes him look like a monkey; and finally “Renny”, a construction expert who looks depressed. Their leader is Clark “Doc” Savage, Jr.

This first book is an interesting adventure story. From the outset we have Doc’s father murdered by someone using a disease as a weapon and a Mayan person with red-painted fingers as a culprit. Many questions hang over the characters as they attempt to figure out what to do. The story progresses well and we see Doc and his friends travel to Central America to get to the bottom of it. Obviously the fictional country of Hidalgo has something to hide.

The story ends well, but given that it’s the first of 181 stories using these characters, it doesn’t really conclude. There’s an ending, sure, but it’s more of a wink and a closing of a minor arc. The villain gets his in the end, but that’s about it. If I had one complaint it’d be that.

Doc as a character is interesting. He’s designed to be that way by Dent, using every trick in the book. Women love him, yet he shows no interest in romance; men admire his strength and intelligence; and he’s given over to a singular mission: to right the wrongs of the world. However the real star of the show is two-fold: 1. the interaction between Doc and his five comrades, and 2. the action. Ham and Monk have a fun rivalry and the reactions Johnny has to Doc’s intelligence are funny as well. However the action is incredible. Doc jumps out of a skyscraper to land on a criminal, stands on a car while they pursue villains, and fights a whole room full of men.

(It should be noted there’s a 1975 movie of the same name based on this book. I’ve heard it’s fairly accurate to the novel, so it may be worth a watch. Though the production was plagued with issues and the budget wasn’t much.)

All in all I’d recommend this book. It’s worth a read though it’s an obvious product of its time. I think it’s dated in all the right ways and held my attention fairly well. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the influences this series had on other works, specifically Superman. Doc is often called a superman, has a “Fortress of Solitude” in the North Pole, and is called the “Man of Bronze”. The influences are obvious.

It’s also worth mentioning Lester Dent’s writing advice called the Master Plot. He divides up a 6000 word story into four parts and specifies his formula for action and character. It’s worth a read if you’re a writer! I also previously wrote about Misha Burnett’s Five Pillars of Pulp, which bears some similarity.

On a personal note, I hope to have more old school reviews on this site instead of mostly light novel reviews. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but I feel it’d be nice to have more older scifi/fantasy.

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Light Novel Review: Demon Lord 2099 by Daigo Murasaki

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(Art by Kureta) The story centers around Demon Lord Veltol, defeated at the beginning of the story by the hero Gram. After he is defeated, he swears to come back one day and sure enough he keeps his promise. Only, Veltol was asleep while a huge catastrophe his his world. The fantasy world he once knew merged with a world called Earth, and his area merged into a city named Tokyo, specifically Shinjuku. After this merge, Earthlings used magic and fused it with their technology, creating a world with a blend of fantasy and science-fiction.

This is honestly unlike any other light novel I’d read. Most that use magic use it as a computer system or programming, but this one goes a step further to make a unique system of ancient magic with more sophisticated techniques managed by computers on top of it.

The demon lord’s one faithful assistant is Machina, who remained vigilant in protecting his tomb for five hundred years. Likewise, she has her own apartment and allows Veltol to crash at her place. Machina is an interesting character, who serves as an almost moral backbone to the story. She’s fairly strong herself, having been one of the immortals who served Veltol, but now she finds herself in a world with magic processed by computer technology.

Veltol initially finds himself to be rather weak. Like other beings like him, almost god-like, he is powered by negative emotions towards himself. In this bizarre future, barely anyone knows he’s real let alone has negative emotions towards him. It isn’t long before he figures out how to get attention and money at the same time… by becoming a video game streamer. He grows quickly, amassing a decent following for playing a knock-off of Dark Souls. Using his own name for this provides him enough recognition that he’s able to gain back a portion of his power.

There’s also a few mysteries and antagonists in the story. It progresses well and has a good blend of setting and characters. There is some hacking and unique ideas that Veltol comes up with to circumvent some of his weaknesses, but ultimately he turns into the over powered demon lord that most light novels have in them. The one big difference is his change at the very end (without spoiling anything).

Ultimately, this is an interesting story with some real stakes, great plot, and fantastic characters. The setting sells it, with a magical kind of cyberpunk, but the idea of a demon lord in a futuristic setting is a fun one. I highly recommend it!

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