Movie Review: The Sorcerer and the White Snake (2012)

Movie Review: The Sorcerer and the White Snake (2012) Fahai (Jet Li) is a Buddhist monk and abbot of a monastery who goes about the countryside with his bumbling apprentice  Neng Ren (Wen Zhang) defeating demons who harm humans and imprisoning them until they reform.  (Effectively forever for most of them.) Meanwhile, white snake demon… Continue reading Movie Review: The Sorcerer and the White Snake (2012)

Book Review: Trafficking in Magic, Magicking in Traffic

Book Review: Trafficking in Magic, Magicking in Traffic edited by David Sklar & Sarah Avery Disclaimer:  I received this book as a Goodreads giveaway on the premise that I would review it. This fantasy anthology has a dual theme, as indicated by its title; magic as transaction, and magic while traveling.  The former theme brings… Continue reading Book Review: Trafficking in Magic, Magicking in Traffic

Book Review: The Elfstones of Shannara

Book Review: The Elfstones of Shannara by Terry Brooks Disclaimer:  I received this book as a Goodreads giveaway on the premise that I would review it. Long ago, before even the rise of the old humans, the good and evil faerie creatures had a great war.  At the end of it, the evil beings who… Continue reading Book Review: The Elfstones of Shannara

Book Review: To Ride Hell’s Chasm

Book Review: To Ride Hell’s Chasm by Janny Wurts The small, isolated Kingdom of Sessalie is about to celebrate a wedding.   Princess Anja is about to marry the High Prince of Devall, which is not only politically advantageous, but a love match.  But on the eve of the wedding, Anja goes missing. It falls… Continue reading Book Review: To Ride Hell’s Chasm

Manga Review: Soul Eater

Manga Review: Soul Eater by Atsushi Ohkubo On a very alternate Earth, humanity has several different subspecies that do not exist on ours.  The most notable of these are Witches, who have the inherent ability to use magic, and Weapons, humans who can shapeshift into…weapons…that can then be wielded by more standard humans known as… Continue reading Manga Review: Soul Eater

Book Review: Splatterlands

Book Review: Splatterlands edited by Anthony Rivera and Sharon Lawson Disclaimer:  I received this book as a Goodreads giveaway on the premise that I would review it. According to Wikipedia, “splatterpunk” was a movement in horror writing between roughly 1985 and 1995,  distinguished by its graphic and often gory descriptions of violence and attempts to… Continue reading Book Review: Splatterlands

Manga Review: Weekly Shonen Jump (USA)

Manga Review: Weekly Shonen Jump (USA) It’s the first anniversary of my blog!  To celebrate, I thought it would be nice to update the very first review that appeared here.  http://www.skjam.com/2012/12/09/manga-review-shonen-jump-alpha/ Shounen Jump is still Japan’s number one best-selling manga anthology title.  Although the primary market is still middle-school through high school boys, people of… Continue reading Manga Review: Weekly Shonen Jump (USA)

Comic Book Review: Jack Kirby’s The Demon

Comic Book Review: Jack Kirby’s The Demon by Jack Kirby and Mike Royer In the 1970s, the Comics Code eased up a bit, and horror comics again became a viable subgenre.  At DC Comics, most of their horror output was in short story anthologies like Ghosts or House of Secrets.  But as DC happened to have comics legend… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Jack Kirby’s The Demon

Comic Book Review: Demon Knights Vol. 1 (Seven Against the Dark)

Comic Book Review: Demon Knights Vol. 1 (Seven Against the Dark) by Paul Cornell, Diogenes Neves & Oclair Albert When DC Comics rebooted their mainline universe in 2011, this left them free to rearrange the past of that universe .  To fill in part of that timeline, we have this title. After a brief moment… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Demon Knights Vol. 1 (Seven Against the Dark)

Manga Review: Shonen Jump Alpha

Manga Review: Shonen Jump Alpha Let’s start with something hefty, shall we?  Shounen Jump is the #1 manga anthology magazine in Japan, selling in the millions of copies.  Its emphasis on the themes of “friendship, struggle, victory!” have made it a favorite of both its primary demographic of teenage boys (“shounen”) and the general public.… Continue reading Manga Review: Shonen Jump Alpha