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"All roads lead to Underhill, where it's always winter, and never nice." Felix "Harry" Bodie, a struggling presenter of children's television, is the grandson of the famous Magda "Mary" Bodie - author of the beloved Underhill series of children's books. Harry has been living in Underhill's shadow his entire life and finally takes the time to look into it. Underhill, it turns out, is not a made up land, but an actual place. His grandmother wasn't inventing something - she was telling about a place she'd actually been to. But Underhill is not a nice place, and the citizens of this land have grown tired of waiting for the promised child to come to them and they've taken things into their own hands. I haven't read a lot by Adrian Tchaikovsky, but I've been wanting to turn that around, and this looked right up my alley. Harry is an unusual protagonist - his age (middle age), his accomplishments (none?), his drive (non-existen...

If you enjoy a blend of mystery and scifi, don't bother reading any reviews - just go out and buy this book right now. Cal Sounder is a detective who works with the police on special projects - generally those that need a little more discretion. When he's called in to a homicide scene at a local apartment, he's not quite sure why he's been called ... until he sees the victim, a giant of a man, over seven feet tall, who looks to be about 30 years old, though he's actually over 90. The victim, Roddy Tebbit, is a Titan. Titans are relatively uncommon. T7 - a gene therapy treatment - was discovered by Stefan Tonfamecasca and has made the Tonfamescasca family nearly untouchable royalty. T7 not only prolongs the takers' life, but distorts their proportions and increases their mass and strength in kind. A dead Titan is supremely rare. A murdered Titan is unthinkable. It makes sense then to Cal that he's been called. He's considered the Titan expert among the po...

Michael Moorcock is back (finally) with the second volume in his Sanctuary of the White Friars series (the first volume was released in 2014). These books have a real Moorcock vibe (much more evident to me now having recently read the entire Elric series) which is in some ways difficult to describe. This reads like part biography, part fantasy and throughout I wonder - where does the biography end and the fiction begin? Sometimes it seems obvious, sometimes that line is very murky. The story is about a man named Michael Moorcock ... a writer who, in the 1970's, wrote speculative fiction/fantasy and edited a genre specific magazine. His marriage is on the rocks and with hopes of restoring his family relationships, takes his wife and daughters to Paris.  One night, while having a drink in a bar, he is surprised to learn that he's drinking with heroes from history and, after maybe drinking a bit too much, he wakes up the next day on an old ship, kidnapped by the Four Musketeers wh...

 I enjoy puzzles of many different varieties. I had not heard of 'Murdle' before this but essentially this is a combination of the game of Clue and a Sherlock Holmes micro story. With suspects, possible murder weapons, potential locations, and/or motives plus some very brief hints, readers are meant to combine the logic of what's know with deductive reasoning to identify the killer (or killers?) in 100 different mystery word puzzles. I will admit right off the bat that I did not do all 100.  I didn't even do half of these, but I did so some random sampling through all the categories (Elementary, Occult Medium, Hard Boiled, and Impossible). I did not get any correct in the Impossible category (of course not ... they were impossible!) and only one correct in the Hard Boiled (of five). The Elementary puzzles were, as expected, pretty easy and the Hard Boiled only a little bit more difficult. Each mini mystery comes with a grid printed in the book to help the reader-detecti...

This is book seven in the Murderbot Diaries series by Martha Wells and I've only read the previous book. This is a series that, by all accounts, I should really enjoy. But it also seems to be a series that really requires some information that most likely came out in the first couple of books.  I really feel like I'm missing some crucial information about our primary character. The Barish-Estranza corporation has sent rescue ships to a newly-colonized planet that is having problems. They have also sent more Sec-Units, including our protagonist, Murderbot.  Murderbot has been around long enough to know that no corporation, Barish-Estranza included, does anything just to be nice. They will want payment of some kind, and if the colonization of the planet is a bust and there will be no resources on which to capitalize, they'll find  something else. And right now, the only thing on the planet with any value is the humans - they'll be good labor for the next project. ...

VAMPIRE WEEK  It is the mid-1800s in Mexico, just across the border from Texas. Nena is a rancher's daughter and she's seen plenty of terrible things in her young life already.  Her home, and the family ranch, is constantly threatened by the white men of the north looking to grab as much land as they can get. But even more frightening than the men from the north are the strange creatures that roam the ranch at night, with razor sharp teeth and sickly grey skin.  Nena was attacked by these strange beasts nearly a decade ago and she still has terrors at night when she tries to sleep. Nestor was in love with Nena and, believing she died in the attack, he's wandered, working from ranch to ranch, trying but failing to let Nena go. When the United States attacks Mexico in 1848, Nena and Nestor encounter one another again. Nena is healer or nurse, trying to prove to her father that she is independent and doesn't need to be married off. Nestor is a member of the auxiliary caval...

VAMPIRE WEEK  It only makes sense to put two of the sexiest female comic book characters (or at least the two female comic book characters with the sexiest outfits) together in one book.  Red Sonja, the bikini chain-mail clad barbarian finds herself in the future and Vampirella, the alien from Drakulon, finds herself in the past. Why? Who cares ... it's just a means to get the two of them together. It is Russia in 1969. With the help of the Generation Stone, Sonja finds herself in this strange world at this even stranger time.  Vampirella learns of this stranger cutting a swathe through the cold tundra and meets up with Sonja. The two get a long famously and go about with a mission they have in mind.  Two buxom babes in skimpy outfits under one cover! This duo story is followed up with a pair of shorts, each woman with her own story to tell. The duo story was mediocre at best.  Red Sonja dealing with the Russian space race? Ummm ... that's really reaching. ...

There's long been a rumor in the cinema world that Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff made a film together that was never released. The reasons vary slightly but it is commonly believed that there were powerful forces behind the decision and that all copies of the film were burned.  So when film researcher Sandy Allan is informed that a surviving print exists and there's an opportunity to view it, she's on board and thrilled. But shortly before the determined viewing date, the film disappears (again), but knowing it actually exists, Sandy sets out to track it down. The person who had first contacted Sandy about the film, and who was going to show it to her, is now dead and Sandy is determined to learn as much about the film as possible.  Did the contents of the film cause her friend's death? Sandy interviews everyone she can find who worked on or knew about the film. Actors, cameramen, wardrobe, make-up... even descendants of people who worked on the film - if there was any...

VAMPIRE WEEK This, my friends, is it.  If you've heard of the character of Vampirella, or seen the often reprinted classic covers, or seen cosplayers dressed as the sexy vampire, or even picked up one of the newer incarnations of the comic and wondered what all the fuss was about ... wondered why anyone would be interested in this character ... THIS is the book you need to read. From her creation story (by noted science fiction fan/writer/historian/activist Forrest Ackerman) and her outstanding outfit (created by comic book artist Trina Robbins) to love stories and adventure stories and even a meeting with the master vampire himself, Dracula, and truly outstanding black and white art by José González. Through this collection we learn that this daughter of Drakulon (her origin is more like Superman's than Dracula's), while needing blood for sustenance, prefers to drink from a specially made serum to prevent harming humans.  But give her trouble and/or withhold that serum f...

VAMPIRE WEEK There really isn't anything glamorous about being a vampire. There's no flying, there's no changing forms, the vampire community frowns on actual killing, and there's no 'converting' anyone else into a vampire. Being a vampire really only entails late nights and stealing blood bags for sustenance.  Louise Chao finds being a vampire a lonely existence. She's been estranged from her family for years and she's yet to make any close friends.  A long-time attendee of punk rock music concerts, Louise discovered she'd been 'turned' into a vampire after attending a concert, but no one was there to explain what had happened or to guide her through the experience. But that was decades ago.  Now she's just trying to find her groove and get into a band so that she can play the music she enjoys. And playing night gigs would fit nicely into her routine.   An old friend, Ian, reconnects with Louise and despite the care she takes to keep her...

Evangeline "Evan" Bright has not been a particularly good student. She's been kicked out of more private school than years she's been in school. It doesn't help that her mother has been institutionalized and she hasn't been allowed to see her, other than the occasional Zoom call, and her father ... well if her mother is to be believed (and Evan does believe her mom), her father is the King of England. And with Evan not being the daughter of the Queen of England, it's not likely she'll be meeting her dad anytime soon. But when Evan gets in hot water at her latest school and put in a jail cell, she is rescued by a very proper man with a British accent. He claims to be the King's personal attendant and that they've been looking out for Evan the best that they can.  But her latest escapade has real legal ramifications and they think she'd be safest in the palace with her father, at least until she turns 18 in a few months. The bastard child of ...

Captain Benjamin Sisko (of the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine series) has returned from his three year  entrapment in a different dimension with the mysterious 'Prophets'.  And with his return come some god-like powers. He's now commanding the  U.S.S. Theseus with a crew of mostly familiar set of faces:   Data, Beverly Crusher, Tom Paris, Worf, Lilly Sato, and even Montgomery "Scotty" Scott, as well as his son, Jake. But what good are god-like powers if they fail you when you need them most? Someone is killing gods in the most remote parts of deep space and Sisko and his crew are tasked with uncovering the root of the matter and stopping the perpetrators. But what should be a slam-dunk for someone who is omnipotent becomes dangerous and potentially deadly. Sisko will need all the combined abilities of his team to survive. It's been awhile since I've read a new Star Trek graphic novel and I was excited to get into this. While I initially had some doubt about ...

 In this 19th book in the Walter Longmire series, Walt, the sheriff of Absaroka County, Wyoming, finds a new piece of evidence to an old crime. But it's not just any old crime - this one is linked to Walt's grandfather. Back when Walt was only 15, he'd heard about an incident in which a man was shot and killed while out hunting with his friends.  The gun used to kill the man was never found and the group of hunters had each other as alibis - such as it was.  Walt believes he's found the murder weapon from this many-decades old crime. It's an unusual gun and the more Walt looks into this, the more convinced he is that his grandfather committed the murder.   Walt and his grandfather didn't get along and Walt doesn't have any good memories of the old man (Walt let his grandfather's property fall into ruin) and his objectivity in this case is in question by everyone who knows the sheriff. But Walt is nothing if not strong-willed and determined. But the murde...

 For a very long time, I had a list of five authors whose books I would buy, in hardcover, as soon as they were published.  Kim Stanley Robinson was (and still is) on that short list as his books have never disappointed. One of the aspects of his work that I like so much is his appreciation and use of nature/ecology/environment in his works. His latest book, The High Sierra: A Love Story , is a departure from his science fiction, but right in line with his love and appreciation for wilderness. The key thing to know about this book is in the subtitle, "A Love Story."  This is absolutely accurate.  This non-fiction work is part essay, part autobiography, part geology, and 100% a love story of Robinson's love of the mountains, the Sierra Nevada's in particular. I really enjoy the wilderness (one of the reasons I like Robinson so much) and though I've only spent a little time in the Sierra's myself, I can fully understand someone's passion for them. And I real...

The "Freaks" of Quapaw City, Arkansas are high school juniors now and maybe being adults is scarier than facing monsters from other dimensions. ... Nope, the monsters are still scarier. But other adults  ... such as the clandestine government group known as "The Team" ... are, if not scary, a definite threat to the teens trying to save their families, their friends, their town, and the world (in pretty much that order). The Team knows that there's something strange - extradimensional? supernatural? - going on, and they a pretty sure the Freaks are involved, but they don't quite trust the Freaks and the Freaks don't trust the team, even though they may be on the same side. But with the newest monster entering their dimension being a dragon, it's going to take all their skills, resources, and trust in one another to be successful in battle. I've been a bit underwhelmed by "The Freaks" books but I thought that there were some nice touches ...

The adult movie industry (aka 'porn') is a billion dollar industry, meaning there are a lot of people watching (and paying to watch) porn. But few people really know the industry - the ins and outs and what happens off-screen. Travis Lazar is a porn producer and Tiffany West is the hottest actress in the industry at the moment. The two of them working together could bring the industry to its knees before them. But because there's big money in porn, there are a lot of investors and would-be investors all wanting a piece of the action. And despite the money, there are laws on the books and federal agents always looking to make an example of workers in porn. But the biggest threats to both Travis and Tiffany aren't the investors or the feds - it's the other men and women (especially the women) working in the industry. And now, with the biggest awards night on the horizon, tensions are tighter than ... well, tensions are tight. The 'hook' to this book is not the...

 Chance, a three-legged dog, is the top dog in the Dogtown Shelter. The management seems to think he's pretty cute, but Chance has some concerns about Dogtown since they also keep electronic pet dogs.  Chance doesn't much care for this idea, but he does admit that the metal dogs increase foot traffic which increases the likelihood of pet adoption. Helping the other dogs get adopted is a big concern for Chance and he sees it as his job to help everyone out. He is concerned mostly for two other dogs ... Geraldine, a very old Saint Bernard, and Metal Head, a quirky, electronic dog. All the dogs go through a phase of the Boo Hoos - when they believe that their previous owners will come back to rescue them.  Chance has gone through this himself and through the course of the book we learn a little about his very uncomfortable story, which includes the tale of how he lost a leg. I am a little conflicted on this book, mostly because I'm not clear on what we are to take away from ...