Book Review: The Rebels

Book Review: The Rebels by John Jakes Philip Kent, nee Phillipe Charboneau, would much rather be at home, caring for his pregnant wife Anne.  But after he was forced to kill his murderous half-brother in self-defense, Philip has gone all in for the cause of the rebels against British rule.  Thus it is that on June… Continue reading Book Review: The Rebels

Book Review: A Storm of Swords

Book Review: A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin Note:  This review will contain SPOILERS for the first two volumes in the A Song of Ice and Fire series. The Battle of King’s Landing is over, and the forces loyal to King Joffrey are triumphant.  But the War of Five Kings rages on, with no… Continue reading Book Review: A Storm of Swords

Audio Review: If We Were Villains

Audio Review: If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio Eleven years ago, seven drama students entered their fourth year at the prestigious Dellecher Classical Conservatory.  Now, a decade after the end of that school year, one of those students, Oliver Marks, is being released from prison.  Former police detective Colborne has never entirely bought the official… Continue reading Audio Review: If We Were Villains

Book Review: Life Is Beautiful

Book Review: Life Is Beautiful by Sarah M. Johnson In 2008, an airplane carrying humanitarian workers to a remote village in Guatemala, where they were to build a school, crashed and burned.  The crew and most of the passengers were killed; one young woman survived relatively unharmed, though she had lost half her family, and… Continue reading Book Review: Life Is Beautiful

Book Review: Classic American Short Stories

Book Review: Classic American Short Stories compiled by Michael Kelahan This book is more or less exactly what it says in the title, a compilation of short(ish) stories written by American authors, most of which are acknowledged as classics by American Lit professors.  The stories are arranged by author in roughly chronological order from the… Continue reading Book Review: Classic American Short Stories

Manga Review: Vampire Princess Miyu Volume Two: Encounters

Manga Review: Vampire Princess Miyu Volume Two: Encounters by Toshiki Hirano & Narumi Kakinouchi The Shinma (“god-demons”) are supernatural creatures that come from a place known as the Darkness, which many of them have escaped from to the bright and warm Earth.  It is the fate of Miyu, born of the union of a vampiric… Continue reading Manga Review: Vampire Princess Miyu Volume Two: Encounters

Book Review: The Woman Who Breathed Two Worlds

Book Review: The Woman Who Breathed Two Worlds by Selina Siak Chin Yoke This is the life story of Chye Hoon, a Nyonya (Malaysian woman of Chinese heritage) who lives between 1878 and 1941, a time of great change in her homeland.  Initially a willful child who wants to break out of her culture’s tradition… Continue reading Book Review: The Woman Who Breathed Two Worlds

Manga Review: Samurai Executioner Omnibus 2

Manga Review: Samurai Executioner Omnibus 2 written by Kazuo Koike, art by Goseki Kojima Yamada “Decapitator” Asaemon is the o-tameshiyaku, sword-tester for the shogun and official executioner of criminals.  It’s not a pretty job, but at least he has one in Edo-era Japan, during a time of peace.  Without wars to fight, many of the samurai… Continue reading Manga Review: Samurai Executioner Omnibus 2

Comic Book Review: Essential Tomb of Dracula, Volume 2

Comic Book Review: Essential Tomb of Dracula, Volume 2 mostly written by Marv Wolfman and art by Gene Colan. When the Comics Code restrictions on horror were loosened in the 1970s, DC primarily went in for horror anthology comics, while Marvel Comics based entire series around horrific heroes and villains.  One of these was the… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Essential Tomb of Dracula, Volume 2

Anime Review: The Rose of Versailles

Anime Review: The Rose of Versailles In the Year of Our Lord 1770, Empress Maria Theresa of Austria and King Louis XV of France decided to seal an alliance between their countries with a political marriage.  Thus it was that Louis-Auguste (later Louis XVI) and Marie Antoinette were married.  So it was in our world… Continue reading Anime Review: The Rose of Versailles