Book Review: The Dead and the Damned - Jonathan Green

Title - The Dead and The Damned

Author - Jonathan Green

Year - 2002

Stand Alone or Series - Anthology of interlinked stories

Pages - 280 (Masspaperback)

Reading Time - Sep 2010 through Dec 2010

Review and General Opinion

This was my fourth book by Jonathan Green. First was Crusade of Armageddon which I yet to review and the second was Necromancer; reviewed here and last but not least Magestorm here and I've already had read a story called The Plagued Pit (review here). This book is a collection of short stories and each story follows the next and so on. (Thus the Season before the name of the story). This is similar to Gilead's Blood and Trollslayer. Each book is a collection of short stories published elsewhere.

The band is led by Torben Badenov (the captain), Stanislav Hagar (a Kislevite), Oran Scarfen (a thief), Krakov (probably a vampire or dead now), Yuri Gorsk, Alexi of Nuln (now dead) and Pieter (Since Dark Heart story). Badenov’s Band is a group of mercenaries led by Torben Badenov. Together they undertake one task after another in hopes of wealth and fame. It is rarely results in either, and instad the group is repeatedly subjected into one horrible adventure after another

Winter - The Hounds of Winter The band fights an evil curse of an ancient battle that had be fought 300 years ago. Nice tale with an interesting old tale.

Spring - Green Tide Rising (Orcs) After a group of orcs butchered a bunch of priests they are paid to find a plundered relic. In the way the find a battlepriest looking for rendemption. The end boss was too easy. Holy Bones

Dark Heart (Vampires) - After saving a maiden that tells them about her village. They go investigate (with no promise of money) and they find more that they can chew. Very good story. An Unexpeting ending.

Summer - Harvest of Souls They arrive to a strange village. Everyone if perfectly fit but there are no children. There they are attack by black riders and the villagers ask for their help.  The ending was kind of strange. Afterall they worship Slaanesh and the riders were Witch-Hunters. In this story we learn about Alexi.

Autumn - Plague Pit - Check Link

Autumn - A Murder of Crows & Winter - Sympathy of the Damned are connected. They help a lady and her entourage to escape a group of man and they arrive at a castle where the lady is marrying some noble. Then all chaos breaks loose. They are good stories.

Winter - The Dead of Winter

Ostermark. This tale is the only one that is set on a city. In this tale we learn more of Badenov band and mercenaries (and their motifs). This is the largest story and probably the better. After Dark Heart story Pieter joins the band and as each story goes he changes a bit. In this tale he flees the band after the final battle changed (that's what you deserve for fooling around with a necromantic/nurgle book in your hands thinking you can control it).

This ending leaves a door open to further tales but I think none was written aftewards. After two or three years Jonathan Green left the Warhammer World and went to Abaddon Books writing his Pax Britannia novels.

Conclusion

 This book is one of the best book that give that gothic feeling of warhammer. It's faithful yet simple. The seasons help a lot as well. It reads as a campaign in Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay. But that doesn't diminsh the book. I think this book could inspire people to try new campaigns.

The writing itself is nothingspecial but he uses adjectives to describe the eerie world it belongs. The atmospheric scenary is the best part of the novel (it happened in necromancer as well). I think Jonathan Green really understands the Warhammer World and he is one of the old guys. Books noawadays are different in writing and in stories. In all flaws and good parts this book is a nice addition to the Warhammer World and a must have if you are into the Empire 

Book Review: The Skeleton Crew - Stephen King

Title - The Skeleton Crew

Author - Stephen King

Year - 1985

Stand Alone or Series - Anthology (22 Stories)

Pages - 573 (Masspaperback)

Reading Time - Oct 2010 through Jan 2011

Review and General Opinion

The Mist - The main piece on the book and probably one of the best stories on this tale. I had seen the movie and I expect the same feelings and I got them. Even if the ending was a little different. I must say that this was one of the few times I prefered the movie. The ending in the movie (there are two endings, and I mean the ending where David killed everyone in the car to spare them from confronting the large beast.. and I mean large. Hundreads of meters high). Even so and with these more optimistic ending I give 8.5/10

Mrs. Todd's Shortcut was an interesting piece as well. It has some reminscence with science fiction and wormholes. It remind me of the series "Sliders". 8/10

The Jaunt was the masterpiece of them all. Undoubtly the best story that King has written in my opinion (for what is worth). A Father tell his family about what they are doing called The Jaunt (a kind of tele-transportation). The only difference is that you must be assleep. As the father tells his tale he ommits some parts like anyone who done it alive becomes insane or death by old age. As he tells us the several attemps by the creator the son becomes more interested on the tale. As they are waiting for the nurses to give them some drugs to sleep (there can be no risk of waking in the precise moment of the jaunt) he tells more about the ramifications and why it's so immportant. As the nurses pass the family they make the Jaunt but the son has not be asleep and as he emmerges on Mars (coming from earth after only seconds, that's the time that takes to me jaunt) his hair is completly white with shock, corneas yellowed with age, clawing his own eyes as the boy reveals the terrible truth behind the jaunt "Longer than you think dad. Longer than you think!" While physically the process occurs nearly instantaneously (two miles between two portals in 67×10⁻¹² seconds), to the conscious mind it lasts an eternity and beyond. 10/10 highly advice.

The Raft is another strong tale. It begins with two boys and two girls on a raft in a lake. A mysterious oil creature engulfs one girl. One of the boys tries to flee swimiing fast as he cans but to no avail and his consumed by it. The surviving couple try to make turns and rest without the risk of falling. After some intimid contact they make love and as they make love the girl hair touches the oil thing and it's consumed. The tale ends with the remaining boy pondering on commiting suicide. 8.5/10

Word Processor of the Gods is another masterpiece by Stephen King. With the word processor the writer can write things into existence and also delete things. The work was excelent with the writer even exchanging his wife and son by nephew and his mother which he thought they were nice than their own family. The story is excelent. 8.5/10

Surviving type - This story is gory. That's what I can say. A surgeon is smugling heroin and after an incident he is left marooned on a island. AS the story progress the writing change from a normal writing to an insane figurine. To survive he cuts and eats his own members. 6.5/10

Gramma - As I read this tale I thought it was familiar. Only after reading in wikipedia I remember where I had seen it... Twilight Zone. Very good tale. A Lovecraftian tale 7/10

Conclusion

These were the best tales on these anthology. With 22 stories I felt these tales compensate for the poorer ones. I must say that some of them I skipped because they were unappealing and uninteresting. Stephen King is like that. Either I love the tale or book or no. Even so he is a writer to check everything he writes because there are gems in them. 7/10

Book Review: Blood Ties - Elizabeth Christensen

Title - Blood Ties

Author - Elizabeth Christensen

Year - 2007

Stand Alone or Series - Series SGA8

Pages - 414 (Masspaperback)

Reading Time - Nov 2010 through Jan 2011

Rating - 5/10

Review and General Opinion

Why do I read these books? They are not all that good. The First one Risinig was the worst (here). I also read the Reliquary was the second (here) Entaglement the Sixth (here) and the seventh Casualties of War (here). They are pretty avarage and this one was no difference.

This book was a little different. Instead of adventuring in the Pegasus galaxy in these novel we get to do half the job on earth with Daniel Jackson and Rebecca Larance and Sheppard helping them out. Unfortunally that spoil the book for me. When I read these novels is for the characters. I don't care about the main series (Stargate). The characters on the Atlantis are way good and the adventures as well, not to  mention the Wraith and the ancients.

These novel Rebecca Larance is almost godlike divine being. She is a "real" wonder woman. Not only does she have the ATA gene but another rare gene which explains her own prophecy (bla bla bla).

The plot itself was far fetched even for the stargate universe and we see here the mysticism of Vampires. Yes.. Vampires are a kind of wraiths and even with all historical presentetion given by Jackson was weak. The plot in Iraq was nothing special and all the novel on earth is weak. The only good part was the dinosaurs part happenning on the pegasus galaxy. Quite good.

Critiscism

• Dr McKay is heavily portrait as a coward but as you all know, even if his words are of a coward his actions are not. He has saved the main cast dozen times and after complaining he is courageous beyond doubt. I really hope the next novels by Christensen are better.
• The plot was weak and rather far-fetched.
• Rebecca was annoying and totally unrealistic character
• Weir and Sheppard are two-dimensional

Good

The characters: Undoubtly the characters are the best part of the novels. To read again a novel with Sheppard, Teyla, Ronon and of course my favourite Dr Mckay (even if this one was awfully bad portrait, and I mean really awful.. a little brat that Weir (another weak character on the book) had to remove him from a science meeting. Awful!!! 

 

Conclusion

Would I recommend this book to anyone? No. There are so many awful things on it that I can't recommend to anyone unless they are die-hard fans as I am. And even bad canon is worth reading. I really hope the other books are far better.

Review: Shutter Island - Bennis Lehane

Title - Shutter Island

Author - Dennis Lehane

Year - 2003

Stand Alone or Series - Stand Alone

Pages - 414 (Masspaperback)

Reading Time - Nov & Dez 2010

Rating - 8/10

Review and General Opinion

The picture is from the film but the cover from the book is identical. Mind that I didn't watch the movie even if everyone talk about it. After reading the book I watch the movie and I was pleased with both. One can complete the other. Almost everything in the movie is on the book. They didn't get far from it which happens with other movies.

A couple of Marshals arrive on an isolated island that houses a federal prison for insane criminals.They were called to investigate a disapearence of a female inmate. As they start their investigation they suspect that not everything is as should be.  The staff of the prison is not as coopearative as they should be.

As the plot advances we are presented with a hard detective, psychological novel with a strong sense of a noir film. It was quite excelent book. All the investigation, the clues, the choice of words. The ending was another strong point of the book. As I said I didn't watch the movie so the ending was excelent. What a twist of events.

Conclusion

The book was a little different from what I read usually and so I was intrigue with this book. The other novels I've read with a detective is the Agatha Christie's but this was a little different. I enjoy the book with all the twists and megatwists. I would reccomend to anyone who hasn't see the movie. If you have seen the movie then I won't advice these book. Why? Because the spoilers are to great and there isn't anything new on the book. Either way you will be satisfied.

PS: I don't understand why the main character of the film (Di Caprio) didn't win a oscar. He makes a great character and the plot is solid. Oh well... that's the oscars I guess.

Book Review: War Unending - Anthology

Title - War Unending

Author - Anthology (11 Writers)

Year - 2010

Stand Alone or Series - Anthology Fantasy (Only available through Black Library website)

Pages - 318 (Softback)

Reading Time - March 2011

Rating -

• Swords of the Empire – Dan Abnett (Swords of the Empire) Review here
• The Small Ones – C. L. Werner (Way of the Dead)
• Rattenkrieg – Robert Earl (Tales of the Old World)
• Redhand’s Daughter – William King (2 Omnibus of Gotrek and Felix)
• Portrait of my Undying Lady – Gordon Rennie (Lords of Valour) Review here
• Virtue’s Reward – Darius Hinks (New Story)
• The Blood Price – Mike Lee (Omnibus Chronicles of Malus)
• Glow – Simon Spurrier (Way of the Dead)
• Three Knights – Graham McNeill (Way of the Dead)
• Seventh Boon – Mitchel Scanlon (Tales of the Old World)
• Broken Blood – Paul Kearney (Death & Dishonour) Review here

Rattenkrieg – Robert Earl (Tales of the Old World)

This tale involves around Skavens and a man with a quest. The story is good (mainly the beginning as the girl is scared of the dark) and the all the scenery and gothic feeling around the old temple of Morr and the priest. The tale its good I could see this small tale into a full lenghted book. As the "Avenger" tells his tale we get the feeling that something is lurking in the dark and the ending was my least favourite part of the novel. I also enjoyed the skaven's plan. How treachorous they are. Spoiler here: They kidnapp a girl of a important man so he could hire a team of rat-catchers and search for her in the underground with a "special" map given by someone. This way they do the dirty work of one of the clans as they wipe out three other clans. Classic Skaven Tale. 8.5/10

Redhand’s Daughter – William King (2 Omnibus of Gotrek and Felix)

When I thought that Giantslayer would be the last story I read made by William King I discover these tale. After the events of Giantslayer they end up in Araby (Where did they went and how far?). As they hitchhike a ride in Storm Hammer they encounter a large vessel belonging to Goldtusk. Of course they battle but to no avail 'cause of the damage to both ships but only after freeing Katja Redhand's daughter. She tells the dwarves about the treasure of their father and a jewel in a island and ofcourse the dwarves's goldlust kicks in. They travel to the island and there they find some ruins like the ones built by the Old Ones but different at the same time (Giantslayer references). As they go in into a ruin they find the treasure  and the jewel in a room surrounded by lava but an fire elemental appears and battles Gotrek. Felix tries to battle the elemental as well but the heat is immeasurable and he is easily defeated. As they battle Katja retrieves the stone and reveals herself as a sorceress and not Redhands daughter (a pirate king) but his wife. She then banishes the elemental and flees using magic. With the stone gone the all island is unstable and the lava begins to erupt. As the flee the ruins they battle a hundred goblins and after a brief encounter they battle Goldtusk and his bodyguards. There are some pretty good images of Gotrek battles like:

"Gotrek's axe lashed out, killing everything in it's path. It clove right through spears and shields and bodies, leaving red ruin in it's wake." - "Ahead of him, Gotrek hewed and cleaved as if possessed."

Ahh Gotrek story... Nothing like it. I really hope he will never die! (unfortunally for him) 10/10

Virtue’s Reward – Darius Hinks (New Story)
This tale is set in Mordheim and it's a rite of passage for three priestess as they are set to retrieve weirdstone. The tale is set at night in Mordheim and I tell you that's not an easy sight. There is something like a carnivale of monsters that delighted me. The tale as some twists as they encounter several foes and the ending is quite good.  I don't think they refer the name of the Sisterhood that sends them to retrieve the weirdstone which would be nice. Quite good story and a nice addition to the novel. 8/10

 

The Blood Price – Mike Lee (Omnibus Chronicles of Malus)
Another wonderful story and probably the better of this anthology. Malus Darkblade is one heck of a character and Mike Lee truly knows how to write about him and dark elves mainly. There is some rumors that he will be writing more tales of him. I really hope so. Mike Lee really knows how to write a evil character being full of treachury and hate. This tale was beautiful written and as I said before Mike Lee knows how to write. I can't remember a writer using so many "bad" adjectives in his tales. This tale itself is about how Malus meets Silar Thornblood and Lhunara (major character in Lord of Ruin) and how they raid Ulthuan for riches and slaves. It's very good. 10/10

Seventh Boon – Mitchel Scanlon (Tales of the Old World)

This tale was another interesting stroy on this anthology. Black Library choose them by finger. This tale takes us to a man who is trying to trick the devil or in these case the first daemon prince of Slaanesh. He made a bargain with the devil for an extend life (he wanted an immmortal one) and for that in the end he should have forfeit his soul to Slaanesh. For each period of 25 years (each boon) he had to made something in counterpart. Sometimes something like murder others corrupting people to Slaanesh. As the last boon approaches he makes a plan to thwart the daemon prince plans. Excelent story. It remind of some folk tales of people cheating on devils. 8.5/10

Black Library as I said choose eleven stories and I must say I am suprised of the quality of them. All of them are very good and takes this book as a starting point for anyone trying to enter the Warhammer World. There are three stories I did not read because I have on my pile list those books. I will get them eventually. I give the book 9/10