Book Review - Gen 13: A Christmas Caper

Back in college I saw a small ad in the back of a WildStorm comic where writer and artist Tom McWeeney described the wonder and magic of Christmas specials (like Santa Claus is Coming to Town, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and other) growing up before the days of home video and cable television. They were only shown once a year so you had to check the TV Guide carefully and plan accordingly, or you would miss it and have to wait a whole other year. It reminded me of

Gen 13: A Christmas Caper by Tom McWeeney, Richard Friend, Jeromy Cox, and Todd Klein is a full-color 48-page Prestige Format comic book. It is available in print. I don't know why this isn't available digitally. It's a CLASSIC!!

The Good

Concept. The concept is Gen13 as small children used to lure Santa Claus to a black-ops base to punish him for the coal he delivered to a certain Director of IO. The purpose of the comic was to capture the magic of the classic Christmas specials from the 60s, 70s, and 80s. The writer/artist said he wanted to create something that would be classic, that readers would pull out and read every year, because it just wouldn't be Christmas without it. He succeeded. This book perfectly captures the feeling of those Christmas Classics.

Art. The art is beautiful. It looks very modern while incorporating elements of classic children's storybooks.

Writing. The writing is part classic poetry and part modern prose. There's humor, angst, fear, cheerfulness, romance, danger, and excitement. Even after nearly 20 years, it's still as fun and enjoyable as ever.

The Bad

Ummm...

What I Would Like to Have Seen

Tom McWeeney do more specials.

Overall

Gen 13: A Christmas Caper by Tom McWeeney, Richard Friend, Jeromy Cox, and Todd Klein is Christmas classic I pull out and read every year. It just wouldn't be Christmas without it. The writing, the art, and the overall presentation is as good as it gets. This is a true classic. I give this book 5 out of 5 eReaders.

    

Book Review - Dead Men Can't Complain and Other Stories by Peter Clines

I am a huge lover of short stories, especially science fiction short stories. I buy and read a lot of anthologies, but find myself disappointed by a good number of stories in almost any collection (Edmond Hamilton collections being an exception). The two books I've read by Peter Clines were both excellent and original, so I thought I'd give his short fiction a whirl.

Dead Men Can't Complain and Other Stories is a science fiction short story anthology by Peter Clines. It's an Audible original and exclusive.

The Good

Mulligan. This story involves time travel and changing history so different species become the dominant species told thru a police interrogation.

The End of the Experiment. This is a time travel story in England.

Flesh Trade. This is a monster story mixed with a slave trade.

The Apocrypha of Gamma 202. This is an android story that explores deity.

Dead Men Can't Complain. This is another zombie story about what life is like for the undead.

Forged. This is a very short story about magic and immortality.

Contraption. This is a story about the dangers of an addictive game.

The Not-Quite-As-Good

Bedtime Story. This story is a dark version of Superman showing what would happen if he decided to make everyone safe.

The Long, Deep Dream. This story is a detective story where the private eye finds out about a secret the whole world is controlled by.

Red Neck Romancy. This is very short horror story.

The Hat Box. This is a zombie story.

What I Would Like to Have Seen

More stories!!

Overall

Dead Men Can't Complain and Other Stories by Peter Clines is an incredible anthology of science fiction and horror stories, each taking an original angle on a tried-and-true troupe of the genres. Even though the stories are short, they don't feel rushed or cut short. Each feels fully realized and left me satisfied while wanting a sequel. Even the not-quite-as-good stories are well done. I give it a solid 5 out of 5 eReaders.

      

Movie Review - Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald

I am not a Harry Potter fan, but I saw all of the films and found a couple of them entertaining. I had no interest in seeing the first Fantastic Beasts film, but the trailer for the second one made me curious.

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald is a 2018 fantasy adventure film based on the Harry Potter franchise. It is rated PG-13 for mild violence and is appropriate for most ages.

The Good

Visuals. The film was visually beautiful, especially the scenes of the main character's animal sanctuary in his home and the circus in Paris.

Story. The story was solid if a little thin. It made sense and progressed fairly logically.

The Bad

Characters. The characters were not interesting, nor developed. I had a hard time feeling anything for them. I never felt invested in their story or fate.

Lack of Wonder and Fun. The Harry Potter films had a sense of wonder and fun. This film lacks the same fun with magic for most of the story.

Twist. There were a few twists in the story and "mystery", but none of them were shocking or surprising. I actually rolled my eyes at the last one surprised the filmmakers went for such an obvious connection.

Pacing. The pace of the film was very slow. The Harry Potter films had so much going on (until the last two) that they moved. This one didn't have enough story or action to fill the time, so everything was stretched out.

What I Would Like to Have Seen

I with this film had more going on, more fun with magic, and more interesting characters.

Overall

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald lacks the fun and wonder of the Harry Potter films. The characters aren't as interesting, and I had a hard time caring about what happened to them. The film is visually beautiful to watch with a few interesting scenes, but most of the movie moves slowly and the story felt thin. The final battle at the end and the "big reveals" were small, obvious, and disappointing. I give this film 3.5 out of 5 boxes of popcorn.

   

Book Review - Fight and Flight, Magic 2.0 Book 4 by Scott Meyer

I've been reading this series since it debuted and have enjoyed every installment. Somehow the author has found a way to bring something new to the saga without changing the basic premise or any of the things that make the stories so much fun. When I reached the fourth book, I read a lot of negative reviews about this story, so I hesitated to pick it up. Would it be an epic fail like so many readers had reported?

Fight and Flight, Magic 2.0 Book 4 by Scott Meyer is a satirical, comedic, science fiction fantasy. It is available as an eBook, Audiobook, and those paper things your grandparents used to read.

The Good

Premise & Execution. The author has a really clever premise--there is a text file that dictates the makeup of the universe, and altering that file alters reality. People that find the file end up going back to Camelot and pretending to be wizards. The author has also done a masterful job of executing the premise. It's fun, it's clever, it's enjoyable. And four books later, the author hasn't spoiled the stories nor repeated himself.

Characters. The characters are so enjoyable and so likable. They are well developed and while they grow and learn things, they stay basically the same so the stories never drift from what we like.

Narration. The narrator does a brilliant job giving each character a unique voice and reading the stories in the appropriate tone of voice. He's as responsible for the success of the series as the author.

The Bad

Content. This story was as long as others, but very little happened. The story is about dragons. I think the author could have spent a little more time thinking up cool thinks to do with them.

What I Would Like to Have Seen

I wish more had happened.

Overall

Fight and Flight, Magic 2.0 Book 4 by Scott Meyer continues a fun, clever series with lots of pop culture references and video game like adventures. The author has managed to once again bring something new to the saga without changing the basic premise or any of the things that make the stories so much fun, something. The story does not feel like a remake or version of any of the previous stories while still retaining everything about them that made them so much fun. This one didn't have quite as much story or adventure as previous stories. I give this book 4 out of 5 eReaders.

   

Book Review - Two Kinds of Truth by Michael Connelly

I love mysteries, but it's really hard to find a good mystery novel. Too often they are slow paced and so long that I've figured out who did it long before the end.

Two Kinds of Truth by Michael Connelly is a mystery crime thriller. It is available as an eBook, Audiobook, and those paper things your grandparents used to read.

The Good

Twist/Whodunit. This story had a twist at the end I hand't seen before. I really enjoyed the original idea.

Side Story. This novel actually contained two stories that really didn't have anything to do with each other than the main character. Normally that would annoy me being little more than filler, but the secondary story was actually more interesting than the main story, so I enjoyed it.

The Bad

Pace. The pace was a little slow.

Writing. The writing was proficient, but nothing special. I won't be rushing out to find more titles by this author.

What I Would Like to Have Seen

I wish the characters had been more interesting and the writing stronger.

Overall

Two Kinds of Truth by Michael Connelly is a well written mystery with a twist I hadn't heard before. The side story, while having little to do with the main story, was actually more interesting that the main story. The characters weren't interesting enough for me to read a sequel, nor was the writing anything special. I give this book 4 out of 5 eReaders.

   

Book Review - The Aviators: Eddie Rickenbacker, Jimmy Doolittle, Charles Lindbergh, and the Epic Age of Flight by Winston Groom

I'm a big fan of history, especially from the gay 90s thru the roaring 20s and into the 30s and early 40s. I also love early aviation. So how could I not pick up this book.

The Aviators: Eddie Rickenbacker, Jimmy Doolittle, Charles Lindbergh, and the Epic Age of Flight by Winston Groom is a satirical, comedic, science fiction legal thriller. It is available as an eBook, Audiobook, and those paper things your grandparents used to read.

The Good

Stories. The stories the author chose were incredible, and while the men mentioned didn't really work together or have the same background, their stories parallelled in interesting ways.

Writing. The stories were so well told. The writing didn't get in the way of the narrative. The author was very objective presenting the stories as history and not trying to push a particular view or political position.

The Bad

Narration. The narration was good, but it wasn't great. It didn't take away from the story, but it certainly didn't add anything to it.

What I Would Like to Have Seen

I'd love for this to be adapted to film.

Overall

The Aviators: Eddie Rickenbacker, Jimmy Doolittle, Charles Lindbergh, and the Epic Age of Flight by Winston Groom tells the story of three incredible pioneers of early aviation and their lifetimes of contributions even after their initial fame and history-making exploits. The three men didn't work together or even follow the same path, yet their stories have several parallels that I wasn't aware of. The writing was strong, the storytelling masterful. I couldn't put this down. I give this book 5 out of 5 eReaders.

    

Marvel's Daredevil Season 3 (2018 Netflix Series)

The first two seasons of Daredevil have been about as good as TV can get. And Daredevil: Born Again is one of my favorite comic book stories. So I was so excited for seasons 3.

Marvel's Daredevil Season 3 is a 13-episode Netflix original series based on the comic book by Frank Miller and Dave Mazzucelli. It is rated TV-MA for language, violence, and blood and is appropriate for older teens and up.

The Good

Bullseye. I've never really liked Bullseye in the comic. He just seemed too silly and flat. But this show gave his such a great origin story and made him such an interesting character. The actor nailed the portrayal. The action scenes with him using ordinary objects as deadly weapons was so well done.

Story. Once the story got started with the fourth episode, I was hooked and by episdode eight I couldn't stop watching.

Action. The action scenes got better as the story progressed. The first half of the season was disappointing, but the second half delivered everything I was hoping for.

Sound Design. Sound was so effectively used in this show. The sound is used to illustrate Matt's abilities unlike the visual "fire" of Season 1. It was subtle but so effective. And the sound of buzzing to show Bullseye's madness illustrated that perfectly without going too far.

The Bad

Pacing. The first two episodes were sooooo slow I almost couldn't get thru them.

Depression. I understand why Matt was so down and depressed and doubting his faith, but it got old fast. That's not what's interesting about the character. That's not why I watch the show.

Visuals. The first two seasons had a really unique look. For some reason this season lost that and looked like every other show on TV. I really missed the unique look.

What I Would Like to Have Seen

I wish they had cut moping Matt to just the first episode and then get on with the story instead of waiting for episode 4. I also wish they had started out with an announcement that Kingpin had been released and then investigated to find out what happened instead of building to it.

Overall

Marvel's Daredevil Season 3 started out slow, boring, and weak, but got better with each episode until I couldn't stop watching. The new villain Bullseye was so well cast and done with a great origin story and brilliantly filmed powers. The action scenes in the first half were terrible, but by the second half were were as good as in the first two seasons. I got tired of mopey hopeless Matt, but I loved seeing the old team get back together at the end. I give this show 4.5 out of 5 remotes.