Reading Challenge

With four months now finish (so a third) and I've read 29 novels. That's 3/4 above my goal of 75 for the time being. I really hope to continue with this rate but I don't know. I've read less in April but I just started a new job so I had less mental disponibility... Is this a word?

So far 7955 pages read.

1 Star) - Imago Sequence, Doctor Who: An Ordinary Life; Doctor Who: The Yes Man; Books of Blood 2

2 Star) - Roadwork, Doctor Who The Bounty of Ceres, The Lost Starship (1), The Last Ritual, Lord of Spiders (2), Master of the Pit (3), Jewel of Jarhen (5), Book of Blood (3)

3) Liquidate Paris, Dead Sea Chronicles, Under the Green Star (1),The Magpie Coffin (1)

4) Terms of Enlistment, Dead Sea, Relentless (5), Labour of Hercules, Karnov Phantom -Clad Rider of the Comic Ice, Jogo Macabro, The Wrack, High Planes Drifter (1)

5) Sorcerer's Stone (1), Uzumaki, Deacon of Wounds, Skarsnik, Ender's Game, Blood and Steel

 I have some deep problem in finishing Series...

So Let us put here some series to finish, maybe that will help me concentrate on finish it:

One/Two Book to Finish Trilogies/Series

• Ursun's Teeth Graham McNeill 256 mar/04 Ambassador
• Kharn: The Red Path Chris Dows 336 mar/18 Black Crusade
• Blood of the Dragon C L Werner 256 ago/04 Blood
• The Greater Good Sandy Mitchell 416 mai/14 Commissar Ciaphas Cain
• Choose Your Enemies Sandy Mitchell 400 jun/19 Commissar Ciaphas Cain
• HonourKeeper Nick Kyme 384 abr/09 Dwarf Realms
• Savage City Robert Earl 256 jul/05 Florin d'Artaud
• Beasts In Velvet Jack Yeovil 286 mai/93 Geneviere
• Silver Nails Jack Yeovil 282 set/93 Geneviere
• Gilead's Curse Dan Abnett & Nik Vincent 416 abr/13 Gilead
• Temple of the Serpent C L Werner 416 set/10 Thanquol and Boneripper
• Thanquol's Doom C L Werner 416 out/11 Thanquol and Boneripper

More Books

• Ghostmaker Dan Abnett 315 mar/00 Gaunt Ghosts
• Necropolis Dan Abnett 316 out/00 Gaunt Ghosts
• Honour Guard Dan Abnett 318 ago/01 Gaunt Ghosts
• The guns of Tanith Dan Abnett 315 mar/02 Gaunt Ghosts
• Straight Silver Dan Abnett 315 out/02 Gaunt Ghosts
• Sabbat Martyr Dan Abnett 319 ago/03 Gaunt Ghosts
• Traitor General Dan Abnett 416 out/05 Gaunt Ghosts
• His Last Command Dan Abnett 416 nov/06 Gaunt Ghosts
• The Armour of Contempt Dan Abnett 416 nov/07 Gaunt Ghosts
• Only in Death Dan Abnett 416 out/08 Gaunt Ghosts
• Gaunt's Ghosts : Blood Pact Dan Abnett 416 out/10 Gaunt Ghosts
• Sabbat Worlds Anthology Anthology 320 out/10 Gaunt Ghosts
• Salvations Reach Dan Abnett 416 nov/12 Gaunt Ghosts
• Warmaster Dan Abnett 438 nov/18 Gaunt Ghosts
• Anarch Dan Abnett 538 jan/20 Gaunt Ghost
• Kill Team Gav Thorpe 288 out/01 Last Chancers
• Annihilation Squad Gav Thorpe 288 mar/06 Last Chancers
• Armageddon Saint Gav Thorpe 350 out/20 Last Chancers
  
  
• Blood Elves Paperback 315 1994 The Witcher
• Time of Contempt Paperback 327 1995 The Witcher
• Baptism of Fire Paperback 343 1996 The Witcher
• Sword of Destiny Paperback 374 1993 The Witcher
• The Tower of the Swallow Paperback 436 2016 The Witcher
• The Lady of the Lake Paperback 530 1999 The Witcher
• Season of Storms Paperback 358 2013 The Witcher
  
  
• Life, the Universe and Everything Else Paperback 199 1982
• So Long and Thanks for all the Fish Paperback 167 1984
• Mostly Harmless Paperback 230 1992
  
  
• The Mensch With no Name Paperback 290 2010 Merkabah Rider
• Have Glyphs Will Travel Paperback 448 2011 Merkabah Rider
• Once Upon a Time in the Weird West Paperback 467 2013 Merkabah Rider
  
  
• Children of Dune MassPaperback 407 1981 Dune
• God Emperor of Dune MassPaperback 421 1981 Dune
• Heretics of Dune MassPaperback 471 1984 Dune
• Chapterhouse: Dune MassPaperback 435 1985 Dune
  
  
• Steele Alert MassPaperback 125 1974 Cap Kennedy
• The Gholan Gate MassPaperback 124 1974 Cap Kennedy
• Eater of Worlds MassPaperback 125 1974 Cap Kennedy
• Earth Enslaved MassPaperback 127 1974 Cap Kennedy
• Planet of Dread MassPaperback 123 1974 Cap Kennedy
• Spawn of Laban MassPaperback 127 1974 Cap Kennedy
• The Genetic Buccaneer MassPaperback 130 1974 Cap Kennedy
• A World Aflame MassPaperback 124 1974 Cap Kennedy
• Beyond the Galatic Lens MassPaperback 156 1975 Cap Kennedy
• The Galactiad MassPaperback 128 1983 Cap Kennedy

That's a lot of books, not counting with RA Salvatore Drizzt which I am halfway and Vampire Hunter D.

Book Review: Skarsnik - Guy Haley

 I don't know if this happens to anyone else besides me, but at times I just don't want to finish a book. I want to revel in it. I feel so enraptured that I don't want to finish it. Maybe it's a fear of ending something that I am enjoying or fear that the ending will not be as good. I don't know. That's another reason I have some issues finish trilogies, series and so on.

Crazy...

Well this story is probably the first told in the perspective of a goblin. We've seen cultists perspectives, elves, dwarves but always this "smart" bunch (evil or good). This time we've got a goblin perspective (There is also some skaven books Thanquol's and Headtaker). This goblin is smart, it's not a dumb like all his peers. It's evil, cruel but a goblin. True be told, at times it look like some evil looking person but at times some of his actions were goblinesque.

This story is being told by a playwright who, although quite crazy, want to tell the world the tale of the Goblin Warlord Skarsnik. Two other people are investigating goblins and they know there exists some warlord in Eight Peaks but not much is known.

So, this playwright (although in the cover say poet) is telling his tale as warning and we follow the adventures of Skarsnik since birth (they are like mushrooms) until his rise. No, not downfall.

He was smart but small for a goblin, and so the first 200 pages it's basically his first take on life and how he use his wits to learn languages, actions and so on. He also deals with skaven, humans and dwarves fighting each one in turn. Then after the initial intake on the world and being betrayed he goes outside the mountain. As you might know, night goblins are not "night" oriented goblins but goblins that usually spend their entirely life under the mountains. It was also interesting to see his first take and dealings with other hill goblins which although goblins are quite different (bigger in one instance). Then after some take being in confination he rises within goblins/orc society (interesting a dialogue between him and another one where they talk that from time to time some goblins appears that are smarter than the rest - as you know in 40K some orks have a keen to me medicae (well, their kind of medicae)

The remaining part of the tale deals as I said rise and stabbing and backstabbing as he rises. There are some interesting battles by the end that made me wonder what's the reason for it all.

Unfortunately we will never know what will happen because warhammer fantasy it's dead and gone. And all these stories are now crap. Totally bulshit Black Library and Warhammer.

Book Review: Deacon of Wounds - David Annandale

 Some spoilers ahead.... nothing major but... be warned:

When I received this novel I thought that this would go on top of my to be read list because I wanted to know what 40K had in store due to covid and Alas I was not dissapointed. This is a 200 page novel (almost a novella) and it deals with the rise and fall of Arch Deacon.

So basically this is set in Theotokos where this world is getting destroyed by famine and lack of rain. It's never really told to us about rivers and so so on but lets think it's doesn't have any. They tell us there is a ocean so, why not use it by means of reduce of salinizing (?). But we are getting out of topic. So this guy is someone who really cares about the people whereas the ecclesiarch in power does not.

After the death of the Cardinal - Ambrose (the arch deacon) takes over and start making changes to help the city but of course things don't go as expected and famine free - comes a plague - Covid Grey Tears.

The second half of this quick novel it deals with Ambrose dealings and how his views change when adversity strikes. There aren't that many characters - to be true the story focus on Ambrose and other appears from time to time but they are really never flesh out. I didn't understood the purpose of the love interest Bethia. Okay so although as a priest he must not commit flesh sin but mental sins it's another story. Would love to see this story more developed but with 200 pages that couldn't happen.

The ending, it was as we all expected unless you know nothing of 40K. When Covid arrived I knew Nurgle had something to do it - and I knew Games Workshop would love to see these stories turn into papers. If the previous novel Sepulturum (Nick Kyme) had some issues with Black Lives Matter and rebel against the police which I hated; this one had to do it covid - or I am mistaking but alas this is the world I am so I associate things in fiction with reality. If this novel had been released 2 years ago, I would think ok - lets sell Plague Marines fiction (although there aren't any here).

Read 100 pages in one day and 102 in the second and that's it. 15€ for a novella lenght novel it's a bit too much. because the chapters started only on the right page and some pages were blank. I hate this kind of thing. Why hardback when others are not? To a collectionist it's boring to have some novels from Warhammer Horror be hardback and others paperback.

Oh well... overall I enjoy it. 5 stars. So far my favorite horror novel, although it's not horror at all. It's not scary - compared with other black library novels. There are more horrific novels from 40K genre out there

Movie Review: Wrong Turn (2021) Aka The Woke Turn

 If you enjoyed the wrong turn previous instalments you not gonna like these...

It's woke trash. So you've got an a racial couple, a racial gay couple, you've got rednecks everywhere. 

Interesting or not, these woke trash people, as adversity begins to rise they start pointing figures at one another. Including one of them faulting their female friend of  being white American way of life. It's very funny to see these woke trash turning their backs to one another.

One of them, a black character critizise wall street because they care about their colour & wallet size and praising non-profits because they give and receive - like their communist utopia.

And then, again, dying and killing one another it's very funny to see them turn. That's the problem with woke trash, never had an adversity  and when they have they can't deal with it.

Girl POWER!

People turn on one another and their ideolgies are soon forgotten.

The rednecks allied with the liberals fightining the foundation. 

Stick to the ending after the credits or else you will not see the full lenght movie. To be quite honest. Not that good.

Book Review: Virus - Sarah Langan

Virus by Sarah Langan
My rating: 5 of 10 stars

It's more of 2,5 stars but since Goodreads is against half things I will give 3.


I will start from the beginning...

This story is a psychological thriller with horror influence for the most part. The last one hundred pages it turn to a Zombie Apocalpyse with Crazy-People Narratives. That was it. The last hundred pages are the reason I am giving 3 stars instead of 2. That and the innovation in zombies. In this book zombies are not the same as other books. They are a collective hive (like Stephen King's Cell) with a leader that remains a individual conscience and at the same time a collective conscience. A virus with a brain. Quite good. I really like feeling Sarah Langan gives us with this book as we don't know nothing about the outside world of Corpus Christii village. What is happening to the world? What is happening in the nearer villages? What are the CDC and army doing? We don't know!

We've got some good characters. We met Lois Larkin, a school teacher who just broke off her engagement (not for own choise) and the marital life of Meg and Fendstad. And at the end we've got Danny the brother of the one who start it all

Another interesting thing was the narrative that at times becomes ramblings of thoughts of crazy people. Unreliable narrators.

My main problem is the closeness of this kind of writing with Stephen King. Unfortunally I really didn't get it. Most talks were one sided and at times they just felt wrong reading. Maybe its me but, this review is mine, right?

The other problem with this book was the lenght. There was entire chapters that could have been cut off, or at least halved, mainly the first two hundred pages.

The ending... I enjoyed but that the same time I was... what a heck? All for this? No insight on the world? Is going to be a third novel with the survivors? Maybe a third novel is on the horizont..

Another star for Sarah Langan that make me wanna puke, literally, is a particular disturbing scene of a killing of a baby rabbit...

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Book Review: The Damnation Game - Clive Barker

Here we go... This is not the first Clive Barker book I've read. I am even trying to go audiobook while I work to revisit Cabal & The Hellbound Heart.

This is not a easy book but I thought the Snipet here was a bit misleading. what I say from this is that mention the Whitehead backstory but that's less than 5% of all the book.
In this book, maybe I read a different one, we follow Strauss as he tries to redeem himself from his crime and getting a new chance at living.

Don't get me wrong this is totally Faust all over again.

One of the few complaints I've seen here was repetitive (OK True) I belive this story could have been trimmed down 50 or 75 pages. Some complains was that this was very graphic violence (don't agree at all); scary (maybe there is one or two spooky instances) ; erotic (nope - not really - there's one sex scene or so).

To me the ending was kind of unfulfilling to be honest. I expected something different. This was anticlimatic.

Comparing with all other novels I've read, this was my least favourite BUT I gave it a four so, there's that. If you wanna get in Clive Barker, start with Book of BLood (it's 6 compilations with 4 stories each). There's Cabal (I discovered it after hearing Cradle of Filth Midian) or if you enjyo the movie go Hellbound Heart (mr Pinhead eheh).

Review: The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
My rating: 9 of 10 stars

This was an interesting poetry reading material. I usually don't read poetry so bear in mind that I left my confort zone.

Written in archaic english I felt at times a bit lost but my 1912 edition was pretty good with information on the sides and some 10 pages of info about the writer and poem. Quite good.

As I read this poem, in my mind I was humming the tune from the Rime of Ancient Mariner song by Iron Maiden. Very Good.

Recommend but a version with sidenotes if you don't control archaic english.

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TV Series Review: Snowpiercer - A communist propaganda disguised as a show

 Snowpiercer it's a communist propaganda disguised of a TV Show.

So you've got the elite (the first) and the poor and common joe on the third.

In the first season the poor and common overthrow the elite and all is equal. But as soon as adversity comes barging in (in these case foreign intervation) martial law appears and some of the common become the... elite?

So how do you want to name your child asks a woman to the main character: 

Enough said or do you want me to continue?

Book Review: Omega; The Last Days Of The World

Omega; The Last Days Of The World by Camille Flammarion
My rating: 3 of 10 stars

I really don't know what to say... Let us sleep and perchance dream... and maybe a review will come.

First Part of the Novel
After sleeping on it I must say that this book will be an hard book to review. It tries to be several things at the same time. It's a scientific novel veiled by SF/Pseudohistory/philosophy/theological elements. It tries so hard to teach us that fails because of it...

At times I thought I was in:


Now the plot... Well again it's hard... The first half of the book is a serie of conferences between the great geniuses of earth as they try to discern the impact of a comet on earth. Several people have opinions and you listened to them all. And it's boring as hell. Why? Because it's full of information useless and it doesnt go anywhere.

The first chapter of this novel introduce us to the grim reality that is going to befall on earth. The comet, thirty times bigger than earth will collide with Earth and everyone will die. The comet itself is made of Carbonic-oxide.

I am no astrophysics or astronomer but I do know if that collided on earth it didn't matter what it was made off. Earth would be destroyed. But after several attempts to discern that we will die of asphyxiation or heat or cold or whatever it happens... page upon page of this:

"The hydrogen and the oxygen, combining with the carbon of the comet, will take fire. The temperature of the air will be raised several hundred degrees; woods, habitations, edifices, cities, villages, will all be rapidly consumed ; the sea, the lakes and the rivers will begin to boil ; men and animals, enveloped in the hot breath of the comet, will die asphyxiated before burned..."

"If it collided with Jupiter it would raise the temperature of that globe to such a point as to restore to it its lost light, and to make it for a time a sun again, so that the earth would be lighted by two suns, Jupiter becoming a sort of minor night-sun, far brighter
than the moon, and shining by its own light of a ruby-red or garnet color, revolving about the earth in twelve years. A nocturnal sun!"

So they thought that Jupiter was a sun... interesting.

And what was said was the absolute true: "Unfortunately, I must admit that the calculations of the astronomers are in this case, as usual, entirely correct." (The writer was an Astronomer)

Blah blah...

"We believe,that we may fearlessly accept the above estimate of 24cubic klm,as a basis of calculation;and as this figure is contained 4,166,666 times in 100,000,000,which represents the volume of the continents, we are authorized to infer that under the sole action of forces now in operation, provided no other movements of the soil occur,the dry land will totally disappear within a period of 4 milion years."

The all book is like this... tedious information... It's a new genre... it's call scientific fiction. It's harder than Hard SF... sorry the pun but that's it... It's tedious as hell.. page upon page of endless information.

After 110 pages of scientific debate of what would happen if a comet hit the earth we turn into theological debates and now the narrator tells us in a 20 page thesis "Everytime the church said that the end was near... it wasn't" ....
To say this book is apocalpytic fiction is to say I am Cristiano Ronaldo.. We are both portuguese so... --- after reading 150 pages I say:

STRIKE US OH MIGHTY COMET AND END MY PAIN!!!



"Then later statistics of the comet's victims were obtained, it was
found that the number of the dead was one-fortieth of the
population of Europe." - If a comet of that size had it earth, earth would be destroyed. Complete obliterated. Imagine something larger than the moon impacting on Earth. Goodnight everyone... But on this case....

"Scarcely a half hour had passed before people began to issue from their cellars, feeling again the joy of living, and recovering gradually from their apathy. Even before one had really begun to take any account of the fires which were still raging, notwithstanding the deluge or rain, the scream of the newsboy was heard in the hardly awakened streets."

This novel is full of entries like this...

Medical statistics, subtracting from the general total the normal mean, based upon a death-rate of twenty for every one thousand inhabitants, that is, 492 per day, or 15,252 for the month, which represents the number of those who would have died independently of the comet, ascribed to the latter the difference between these two numbers, namely, 222,633..."


But not all things are bad. At times it has some good prose or images...

"This apparent decrease in brilliancy was chiefly due to contrast, for when the eye, less dazzled, had become accustomed to this new light, it seemed almost as intense as the former, but of a sickly, lurid, sepulchral hue. Never before had the earth been bathed in such a light, which at first seemed to be colorless, emitting lightning flashes from its pale and wan depths"





Second Part of the Novel

After the first part of the novel was concluded we came to the pseudohistorical novel of Earth. From the time of the comet forward until the end of earth, galaxy and the universe...

It begins with a feminism propaganda (it was a guy who wrote the book... even with a name like Camille :) )

Now this book has turn into a feminism propaganda...

"Under the inspiration of a woman of spirit, a league was formed of the mothers of Europe, for the purpose of educating their children, especially their daughters, to a horror of the barbarities of war. So the women deprive man of sex.

"For about five years there was scarcely a single marriage or union. Every citizen was a soldier, in France, in Germany,in Italy, in Spain, in every nation of Europe. The women held their ground ; they felt that truth was their side, but their firmness would deliver humanity from
the slavery which oppressed it, and that they could not
fail of victory."

Of course man stop ... war!

And then the writer says that the future is Socialism

"It was this state of affairs which led to the great social revolution of the international socialists, of which mention was made at the beginning of this book, and to others which followed it."

"All philosophy, all religion, was founded upon the progress of astronomy."

"Humanity had tended towards unity, one race, one language,
one general government, one religion. There were
no more state religions ; only the voice of an enlightened
conscience, and in this unity former anthropological differences
had disappeared."

So this is his perfect view of the world? I think future looks boring as hell...

The evolution of mankind continues with the raise of a seven sense (electric) and eight sense (Psychic).

The last forty pages is a philosophical debate about the meaning of life and the ending of earth.... Oh.. and she destroy my beautiful city of lisbon engulfed by the Sea.

"The earth,an extinct sun, has cooled more rapidly than the sun.Jupiter,so immense, is still in its youth.The moon, smaller than Mars,has reached the more advanced stages of astral life,perhaps even has reached its end. Mars, smaller than the earth, is more advanced than the earth and less so than the moon. Our planet, in its turn,must die before Jupiter,and this,also,must take place before the sun becomes extinct."

The last chapter (about 10 pages) is resumed by All is Dust. Everything is energy and so nothing really perish. Not a person, planet or a sun. Everything is transformed. I guess Flammarions interest on life after death was a dominant theme.

"And all these things possessed nothing of the earth, whose very memory had passed away like a shadow. And these universes passed away in their turn. But infinite space remained, peopled with worlds, and stars, and souls, and suns ; and time went on forever.
For there can be neither end nor beginning."


Final Thoughts
This book is not for everyone. Heck it wasn't for me but I had to finish what I started. This book is an ode. Mainly an ode to science but also for Woman, Socialism and Evolution. In the end is an Ode to Mankind and reading the last couple of pages is an Ode to Life.

"It is sweet to live. Love atones for every loss ; in its joys all else is forgotten. Ineffable music of the heart, thy divine melody fill the soul with an ecstasy of infinite happiness ! What illustrious historians have celebrated the heroes of the world's progress, the glories of war, the conquests of mind and of spirit ! Yet after so many centuries of labor and struggle, there remained only two palpitating hearts, the kisses of two lovers. All had perished except love ; and love, the supreme sentiment, endured, shining like an inextinguishable beacon over the immense ocean of the vanished ages."

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Book Review: Stonehedge Legacy - Sam Christer

This novel is good. No doubt about it. I read the last two hundred in fifty pages in two days, which for me was very good. Unheard this last six months.

The book follows a couple of characters, a son who is trying to uncover why his father killed himself. A woman in a police station trying to connect a kidnapping, a suicide and a murder. And we also follow the main antagonist (if you can call him that) and a celebrity from the Survivor's series and daughter of the Vice President of America.

Well, this game centers in Stonehenge and the reason it was made and some secret mystery that would unveil in our days. After 5000 years it just happened to be on our days... But, okay. So we've got some people, descended from the Builders and main protectors of the site and of a Religion called the Craft.

What the author presented us was indeed a good tale, fast paced and full of thrill. The characters were alive and I felt for their miseries... BUT, and there is a big BUT... I hated, I truly hated the ending. It was dreadful. It was a pain to read the last twenty pages...

We've got a religion with thousand of years and with an influence that rivaled the Freemasons. Doctors, Lawyers, Politicians, Army, Police and other elements were in that religion and they couldn't stop a policewoman and a archaeological guy? That's ridiculous. I am sorry but I just couldn't get it. It was anti-climatic. You must read the book, so you could find so many errors from a group of guys who dominate central uk.

Anti-climatic.

Authors out there... Hear me if you please... Not all books must end with the good guys triumph. The Good guys don't always win. Thrillers is about rush, action and mystery. You know what could give more rush? Learn with Green Goblin "The one thing they love more than a hero is to see a hero fail, fall, die trying. In spite of everything you've done for them, eventually, they will hate you."

I hate that ending. I hated you (Sorry about that) because you were giving some great thrill and you take it all from me... Oh well... 

Book Review: The House - Bentley Little

This is my second review for this novel. It was one of those books that didn't work for me globally. It was really interesting the prologue, which unfortunally didn't led anywhere. The book itself had five characters and each chapter was dedicated to one character. Some characters had really interesting stories but others were almost identical (maybe that was the point).

Each character was connected to a House they lived and each one had some connection to a caretaker and to a girl. This girl in one point or another seduced the inhabitants of the house and I must say that some parts where Little depicts a thirteen year old girl saying "F*** my a**, like your dad likes to do" was kind too much but I understood the point.

I think the book tried to hard. So many characters, with so many stories were a bit too much to me. Only in the end I get to know which one was which.

Is it a good book by Little? No. I am sorry but I don't think it's his best or nearer. But it has some good points. The overlapping Houses and the war between the shadowlnand and our reality was interesting (but not that developed in my humble opinion). The girl was also an important part but I think that she was not that developed as well. It was a bit vague. I mean I really want to know more of her. Of what was her/it intentions. The ending itself was a bit weak. Vague and in my opinion didn't brought a closure.

But if you are a fan of Bentley Little read it. If you are a new, then I advice to read The Store; The Association or even The Mailman. They are way better

Book Review: Mind Riders - Brian Stableford

This book is not that easy to review. First of all I will say you this. Brian Stableford is one of my favourite writers. His Brian Craig books on Warhammer universe are quite good. Pawns of Chaos and Wine of Dreams are two of the most interesting books written in that world. More focus on characters and plot than wars and battles.

Said that, I must say that this book is weaker when comparing per example with his Hooded Swan 6 books. Nevertheless thinking that it was written over 30 years ago I think it was not that outdated.

The premises is that virtual reality was gone up a notch and now when you experience Virtual Reality not only you are the eyes of that character (or boxer) but also you feel something. You take the feelings the boxers are feeling. Basically you are a vamp.

We have a character that is brought into that world but he has some inner problems that must solve at the same time. Several parts of the books are monologues where the character (author) talks about VR; Boxing or Psychology.

The book is quite small so you can read it in a day or two. It is not the best book out there but it's interesting to know what people thought about this subjects.

This book as I said, it's character driven. Plot wise it's there, read the synopsis, and the important part is the development of our main character and how will he choose his path.

Book Review: Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? Light Novels, Vol. 2 - Fujino Omori

This episode focus on two things.

First and foremost on the meeting between our protagonist and his supporter Liliy. Basically a supporter is someone who follows around the adventurers and gather the magic stones. In the end the supporter receives a fair share of the cake... unless the adventurers beat the supporters and refuse to give them anything - that's the life of Lily.

She tries to steal Bell and clueless Bell lets her because he is trying to "save" her.... another anime character who due to is good, innocent, white heart saves someone from being a jerk and a criminal. I think this could have been done in other way because I doubt in reality there are many people like that... I know this is not reality but as a novel, anime, tv series (whatever) you have to relate to the characters or else you don't enjoy the show... Well, this is not always like this. I enjoy evil characters and I am not evil so... what do I know.

Nevertheless, a good novel, it focus more on Bell and his evolution. He learns magic and it's rapidly evolving. We get some glimpses of his goddess, Ais & the guild girl and also very interestingly some background story.

suffice to say I am buying the next volume...