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Art is so often a product of the artist's surroundings.  Throughout history, still lifes and the natural world are probably the most common subjects for artists. Where an artist lives and to where an artists travels is likely to be represented in the art.  Author Travis Elborough picks up on this and provides a brief biography and travelogue for thirty influential artists to reveal "the repercussions of those travels on the painters’ personal lives and the broader cultural landscape" with the intent to bring "each of these trips to life with fascinating insights into the stories behind the creation of some of the world’s most famous paintings" (quotes from the book description on Goodreads). The brief narratives are well researched and nicely presented though you probably need to have some knowledge of the artist and their background to understand what their journey meant to them. Elborough does a rough sketch of this background, but for me, it definitely made m...

Jian had been The One. The Prophecy had proclaimed that a 'chosen one' would rise up, powerful and skillful enough to defeat the Eternal Khan - the immortal god-king. All signs pointed to Jian, and despite a seeming ineptitude for combat, he was taken on and trained by Taishi - an old woman whose greatness on the battlefield is legendary. But Jian is proving to be more difficult than even Taishi can train and so she has recruited a band of elderly grandmasters to come out of retirement to whip him into shape. Then there is Qisami - an assassin who was meant to to kill Jian but failed.  She's relegated to low-paying jobs since her disgrace but now has an opportunity to redeem herself. She must take on a new identity and finds that it gives her friendship and family - neither of which she's experienced before. And there is also Sali who is suffering a soul-rot. If she can find a cure, then the Khan's soul would be returned and he could return. I looked forward to this...

I really liked this book. I've been interested in reading more graphic novels lately, but have been somewhat disappointed by the offerings. This looked interesting, but I know that graphic novel covers are often not what the interior art looks like.  Not so in this case. The artwork inside is just as nice as this cover. Humans and orcs are all that remain in the known land and they remain bitter enemies. But an alliance may be necessary when a humanoid race called the Vangol arrive on the shores. There are little enough resources for orcs and humans and now these interlopers want to take it for themselves ... and they have the power to do so. The powerful orc overlord, Troth Icemane, sends his cousin, Tara (a high ranking healer), to fight alongside the human commander Callum Battlechild. Putting aside their differences and generations-old hatred toward one another will at first be difficult ... until Tara and Callum get to know one another better.  But will they hav...

Electra "Ellie" McDonnell was once a safe-cracking thief.  Now, while London is constantly on edge with Germany's WWII Blitz, Ellie agrees to use her skills to help her country. She's given an assignment by British Intelligence and, under an assumed name, travels to the port city of Sunderland to wait for further orders. Before she can even get her orders, a man falls dead at her feet, a note clutch in his fist. Ellie is confident that this is going to play into her mission. The British Intelligence agent that Ellie is to work with is Major Ramsey and he's been keeping the mission quite secret, even from his primary, undercover agent, Ellie. Now the two of them would be working together and rushing to uncover a new, deadly enemy before they become the next victims. They'll also be trying to uncover who's behind a Nazi counterfeiting ring - a scheme which, if successful, could be even more devastating than the bombing blitz. Once again I've stepped late...

I have no idea what it means that this is "A Zombicide Invader Novel" except that is must be part of a series or from a video game or tv show.  I wanted to read this because author Tim Waggoner is one of my newer favorite authors - and he hooked me right away with his dedication...  This one's for Robert Bloch, who, in his Star Trek episodes "Wolf in the Fold", "Catspaw", and "What Are Little Girls Made of?" created perfect fusions of science fiction and horror. Having read a fair bit of Waggoner, I can understand his appreciation for these episodes and Bloch's work.  But anyone who mentions three Star Trek episodes in a dedication is okay by me! The story: A mercenary crew of misfits, scoundrels, and military personnel work for the guild Leviathan.  They have been sent to a planet, Penumbra, to raid it of a strange new fuel source.  They are pursued by a ship that appears to want to prevent the mercenaries from exploring the planet, and...

Zoe Thorogood is an artist, author, creator and one of her main means of output is the graphic novel.  But Zoe has some severe issues with self confidence. Over the course of six months, Zoe battles severe depression, the terrifying fear of interacting with others - or worse, opening up to someone - and the only thing that keeps her going is her artwork - even though she's feeling very insecure about it! I knew nothing about Zoe Thorogood before going into this book, but the idea of an autobiographical graphic novel was really interesting to me.  What I didn't know was that it was going to be so depressing.  I don't feel as though this book shares any great perspective on the issues (depression or self-imaging) and is much more a cathartic release for Ms Thorogood.  That's great for her, but what does it do for us? Perhaps readers who are facing similar issues will find this relatable.  Sometimes just knowing that someone else has gone through this can be helpfu...

Mike Brink, once a rising football star who suffered a traumatic brain injury, now has a rare medical condition due to that injury: acquired savant syndrome. He is now a genius when it comes to seeing, solving, and creating puzzles. But he is now socially awkward and isolated, as well. Brink is invited to meet with Jess Price - a woman sentenced to thirty years in prison for murder. She hasn't spoken in five years - since she was incarcerated. But she has created, by drawing, a complex and confounding puzzle. Price's psychiatrist has invited Brink to meet with Price and to try to solve the riddle of her puzzle - a puzzle with links to an ancient mystery. He can't stop himself from exploring the meaning of the puzzle, but it's his obsession with Jess herself that might get Brink into his deepest trouble. Although I'm not particularly good at puzzles myself, I do enjoy the challenge of them, which is what drew me to this book. The first third of the book or so was ful...

 Bounty hunter Stephanie Plum is offered a job that seems almost too good to be true - track down Andy "Nutsy" Manley who until recently had been employed as a security guard at a local jewelry store. The store had recently been robbed and Nutsy went MIA immediately after the robbery, leading the owner to be convinced that it was an inside job. The job should be easy because Stephanie has known Nutsy since their school days and he's been a creature of habit. Sure enough, he's easy to find, but not all is at it seems.  Nutsy has a story that is even nuttier then he - Martin Rabner the jeweler stole his own diamonds, killed a homeless man in the process and is after Nutsy because he knows the truth. It's almost too much for Stephanie to believe as the Rabner jewelry store has been a fixture in the community for decades with Martin being at least the third owner in the long family line. Meanwhile, Stephanie's boyfriend Morelli is out of town on a business trip an...

Special Agent Alexandra "Alex" Martel has had a remarkable career in the U.S. Army - as a medic and as a well-decorated sniper.  Now she works for the FBI and is currently on assignment, loaned to Interpol when she learns of the death of a friend, an MI5 agent, who died under mysterious circumstances. Alex feels a duty to investigate her friend's death and partners with a CIA agent (who is actively trying to recruit her) to dig deeper into the circumstances around the woman's death. Their investigation takes them around the globe and puts them in danger at every turn. Alex's reputation has made her a target for everyone who might be considered a terrorist. Alex will need to defy direct orders for her own superiors when she strongly believes she knows where a stolen nuclear warhead has been placed.  No one seems to take her 'hunch' seriously but if it should detonate, it would kill millions and wreak havoc internationally for decades. She'll risk her ca...

STAR TREK WEEK  There was a time that I read every Star Trek novel as soon as they were published.  Until the mid-1980's, these all featured Captain Kirk, Spock, and the rest of the crew from the original series and with only two or three a year, it was easy to keep up with the releases.  But then, particularly around the time Star Trek: The Next Generation hit stations, books were being released at a rate of 6 or more per year.  Aside from the financial strain of trying to buy that many books, I simply couldn't read that many Star Trek books (there are so many other books to read, too!). Early on (this book, Strangers From the Sky , was one of the earliest original novels) the books varied greatly in quality and length. Sometimes the character didn't sound or act like the characters we'd come to know through the television series.  But fans like me read them because at the time it was the only way to get new adventures with these old friends. Margaret Wander B...

STAR TREK WEEK  A rare, purebred corgi is on its way to DS9 when the Ferengi Quark procures it for a wealthy buyer. But the dog comes with a little something extra - some Borg technology that could become very useful in the war. Much of this comes to light when Bashir and O'Brien are looking to use a holosuite for one of their adventures but Quark informs them that he needs the suite to take Latinum (the corgi's name) for a walk.  Bashir and O'Brien offer to take the dog with them. Everyone on the station is completely enamored with the cute K-9 and are reluctant to let Quark sell him but Quark is a Ferengi, after all, and it's all about a financial win for him. Will cute and useful win out over money? I was honestly a little hesitant to get in to this, but I was in the mood for a Star Trek 'fix' and this was what was most available to me.  The main source of my hesitation was the 'cuteness' factor.  A story about dogs on Star Trek ?  That cover, as dep...

STAR TREK WEEK In 1977, when this book was first published, we Star Trek fans were still hungry for anything we could get that was Star Trek related. We had the original series, and we'd already seen the animated series come and go but we were only just starting to get the books (this was only the fourth Star Trek novel to be published) and this was our only way to keep the adventures going. I would have read this when it first came out (I was 16) but as I was looking it over, I couldn't remember anything about it.  Now I know why ... it's not particularly good. The story ... ? Kirk is dead.  Maybe.  And the Enterprise crew is coming to retrieve him.  When Spock confronts the ruler (Omne) on the planet where Kirk has died, Omne informs the Vulcan that he has developed the 'phoenix process' - a variation of the Federation transporter technology that creates an exact duplicate of a person - and there is such a duplicate of Kirk (who Spock will call 'James'...

I am one of those faithful Star Trek fans who will gladly read stories (stories, novels, graphic novels) featuring the original Star Trek cast/crew.  When you add in an author such as D.C. Fontana, who wrote for the original series, and the excitement level for a book like this is high. The book reads like a classic Trek episode. Here, while the Enterprise is testing a new cloaking device (having stolen such a device from a Romulan ship) Kirk and Spock find themselves boarding the ship from a shuttlecraft  only to discover that they are out of 'phase' with the rest of the ship's crew. Only Lt. Arex is slightly visible to Kirk and Spock (due to some technical, fortuitous accident). It is during this time that the Romulans arrive, with Ambassador Sarek, and an old-fashioned pistol (phaser pistol) fight may ensue in the corridors. I will almost always have fun reading new adventures from my favorite starship crew, and I definitely enjoyed this, but scribe Fontana does some...

STAR TREK WEEK Commander Benjamin Sisko is still struggling over the death of his wife, Jennifer, at the battle known as Wolf 359 (where the Borg nearly wiped out the entire Federation fleet), but he needs to put forth his best efforts in order to raise his young son, Jake. Commander Sisko is assigned the position of commanding a space station, Deep Space Nine, on the far edge of the Alpha Quadrant. The station, built by the Bajorans (as slaves) and once known as Terok Nor had, until very recently, been occupied by the Cardassians. The result of negotiations has the Cardassians retreating from Bajoran space and the station. What Sisko couldn't anticipate was discovering a stable wormhole that appears within sight of the station. He chooses to investigate (he's the ranking officer in the region and he is just getting to know his station crew after all) and has a very unusual meeting with the wormhole creators ... alien beings who live outside of normal time. Upon returning to t...