Book Review: Minnesota Vice

Book Review: Minnesota Vice by Ellen & Mary Kuhfeld As I have mentioned before, Minnesota has many fine mystery and crime writers.  Mary Kuhfeld is probably best known under the pen name Monica Ferris, under which she has written nineteen Betsy Devonshire Needlework Mysteries.  (Thus the subtitle “Monica Ferris Presents” for these self-published books.)  Ellen… Continue reading Book Review: Minnesota Vice

Book Review: A Clash of Kings

Book Review: A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin Note:  This review contains spoilers for the previous book A Game of Thrones; if you haven’t read that one yet, check out the review here. Westeros has too many kings.  In the south, the King on the Iron Throne is Joffrey Baratheon, heir to the late King… Continue reading Book Review: A Clash of Kings

Book Review: Goblin Quest

Book Review: Goblin Quest by Jim C. Hines Jig has always lived in the mountain, only hearing third-hand stories about the outside world.  Even stepping outside the goblin warrens is dangerous, why risk going any further?  Still, he dreams of being promoted from his lamplighter duties (a child’s job) to a patrolling warrior.  Jig’s smart,… Continue reading Book Review: Goblin Quest

Book Review: A Game of Thrones

Book Review: A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin About three centuries ago, the land of Westeros was known as the Seven Kingdoms.  Then Aegon Targaryen and his sisters came from the collapsed civilization of Valyria with their dragons and conquered six of the Kingdoms.  (The seventh Kingdom joined up later semi-voluntarily.)  Eventually, the… Continue reading Book Review: A Game of Thrones

Comic Book Review: The Immortal Iron Fist: The Last Iron Fist Story

Comic Book Review: The Immortal Iron Fist: The Last Iron Fist Story written by Ed Brubaker & Matt Fraction, primary artist David Aja When Daniel Rand was nine years old, his father Wendell Rand took him, his mother Heather, and business partner Harold Meachum on an expedition to the mystical city of K’un L’un, which appears… Continue reading Comic Book Review: The Immortal Iron Fist: The Last Iron Fist Story

Book Review: Father of Lies | Mirror Image

Book Review: Father of Lies | Mirror Image by John Brunner and Bruce Duncan, respectively. Belmont Books was a minor publisher of paperback books with a specialty in speculative fiction, which lasted from 1960 to 1971.  Apparently in an effort to mimic the success of Ace Doubles, they produced a series of “Belmont Doubles” that… Continue reading Book Review: Father of Lies | Mirror Image

Movie Review: Bender’s Game

Movie Review: Bender’s Game Futurama was a science-fiction cartoon created by Matt Groening (The Simpsons) for the Fox Broadcasting Company.   It starred Philip J. Fry, a New York City pizza delivery worker who is “accidentally” cryogenically frozen for a thousand years.  In the bizarre future world, Fry has trouble fitting in at first, but… Continue reading Movie Review: Bender’s Game

Book Review: The Art of the Dragon

Book Review: The Art of the Dragon edited by Patrick Wilshire & J. David Spurlock One of the most enduring symbols of the fantasy genre is the dragon.  It evokes a primal response and is really fun to draw and paint, so it shows up all the time in fantasy art and sometimes manages to get… Continue reading Book Review: The Art of the Dragon

Comic Book Review: Roy Thomas Presents: Planet Comics, Vol. 1

Comic Book Review: Roy Thomas Presents: Planet Comics, Vol. 1 Comic books were still a very new thing in 1940, and the publishers were still trying to figure out what there was a market for.  Science fiction themes seemed popular, so Fiction House created the pulp-inspired Planet Comics to appeal to fans of rockets and aliens.… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Roy Thomas Presents: Planet Comics, Vol. 1

Comic Book Review: The Shadow Hero

Comic Book Review: The Shadow Hero Story by Gene Luen Yang, Art by Sonny Liew It is the 1930s, and Hank Chu lives in the Chinatown neighborhood of San Incendio.  He wants a simple, quiet life, working with his father in the family grocery store.  Hank’s mother, on the other hand, has bigger plans.  She’s… Continue reading Comic Book Review: The Shadow Hero