Coyote’s Little Brother plays a big role in the book, Unclean Spirits. But this novella tells you how he came to lose it in the first place. Expect hu Coyote’s Little Brother plays a big role in the book, Unclean Spirits. But this novella tells you how he came to lose it in the first place. Expect humor, silliness, and crudeness, and you will like this book just fine. I did and I did!...more
Told in typical Gaiman style, this is a tale of a boy, Odd, who meets the Asgardians, and even helps them send the Frost Giants back to where they cam Told in typical Gaiman style, this is a tale of a boy, Odd, who meets the Asgardians, and even helps them send the Frost Giants back to where they came from. It is beautifully illustrated by Chris Riddell and Gaiman’s humor sparkles throughout the story. It’s a short book and entertaining enough to keep you reading. But it isn’t a very memorable one....more
I requested this book on Netgalley and I'm so glad that I did!
In this case, it was a good thing that I haven’t read the first book. Several reviewers I requested this book on Netgalley and I'm so glad that I did!
In this case, it was a good thing that I haven’t read the first book. Several reviewers on GR have remarked that this was a weak addition to Mr. Fry’s series about Greco-Roman mythology. And since, I really enjoyed reading this one, it can only get better from here!
Having said that, don’t begin reading this book, expecting a novel-like structure. It’s not a novel and has a lot of mileage to cover, which is why the author doesn’t go into too many details. Mainly, we get a whole lot of Hercules and Jason and bits about many others.
But then, this is Mr. Fry we’re talking about — have you heard him talk about Georgette Heyer? So, you can expect in-depth research and flawless recounting of the material that’s available. We also get some Fry-esque humor, which made me laugh out loud in many places.
So to conclude, I had a lot of fun reading this one....more
Don’t you just love it when Book Bingo makes you pick something you’d normally never read and it turns out to be awesome? Yeah, this was one of those Don’t you just love it when Book Bingo makes you pick something you’d normally never read and it turns out to be awesome? Yeah, this was one of those times! This book is a novel in verse and something that I’d normally look at from afar and never reach out for. But it also retells the myth of the Minotaur for young adults. And it’s humorous and sad in turns like all the best books are. It contains swear words and an explanation about the various styles of verse the author uses for each character and why. Since it’s a short read, you’ll be done in no time, too.
Sure, this has been done before and is still a trope that’s in play. However, reading it in Chuck Wendig’s voice and with his choice of words, made th Sure, this has been done before and is still a trope that’s in play. However, reading it in Chuck Wendig’s voice and with his choice of words, made the whole thing even better. If you haven’t yet subscribed to his email newsletter, you should!
Back to the book: The gods have been kicked out of the heavens. They’re here on Earth and still doing what they do best, i.e., play with human lives. But someone’s killing them and then there’s our protagonist, Cason, who was serving a deity and sees them being slain. As things like why his wife and son hate his guts and just how many gods there are running around, Cason, is dragged into the fracas, albeit unwillingly. Every god has a plan and they all hunger for power.
The story only became funnier when the gods of chaos and mischief, Loki and Coyote, decided to step in. All in all, a really fun read!...more
**spoiler alert** Icarus A father-son team on a space voyage; guess which one doesn’t survive the trip?
Theseus and Metrotaurus Theseus needs to board a **spoiler alert** Icarus A father-son team on a space voyage; guess which one doesn’t survive the trip?
Theseus and Metrotaurus Theseus needs to board a train to meet his beloved. The metrotaurus isn’t having any of it!
Pandora [image]
The Slaying of the Pseudors (Odysseus) Odysseus returns home to find aliens have taken over and turned his family into pterodactyl-like creatures. The rest, as they say, is history!
Footsteps (Hermes) The divine messenger cannot survive going digital. Or can he?
Arachne [image]
Persephone An alien heroine tries to convince her mother she loves Hades. A sad ending!
Hyperion [image]
Flying Horse Style (Pegasus) Why even a chimera isn’t a match for Pegasus!
Aphrodite [image]
Daphne Even a modern-day Zeus doesn’t know when to give up!
Minotaur [image]
Hades [image]
Andromeda Andromeda isn’t going home and Perseus can go hang himself.
Eurydice He tries to bring Eurydice back with a software.
The Muses [image]
Game Changers (Athena and Poseidon) Game developers try to bring back their creation to order.
Away Mission (Actaeon) A friendship that survives several alien transformations until it doesn’t!
The Twelve Labors of Mech-Detective Heracles She doesn’t know how to give up!
Pygmalion The classic tale, except this time, Galatea returns the favor!
A Heavy Stone for all the Peoples (Sisyphus) A tale as old as time, but with a twist!
Eros [image]
Jason and the Argonauts Gang wars break out over the golden fleece err jacket.
Metal Illiad Achille’s exploits at the Battle of Troy turned into a comic strip.
Cerberus [image]
Cosmogony (Uranus) The dominant species always ends up wrecking the world!
Ares [image]
The Long Bow (Telemachus) Is it set in Ancient Greece or the modern times, who can tell? But Ulysses comes through for his son!
Zeus at Large A comic strip about Zeus’ sexcapades.
Riddle of the Sphinx [image]
I loved all the illustrations and most of the stories in this comic compilation.
**spoiler alert** With this book, Kate and Curran are back to what made them so great in the first place–solving real-life problems as a couple should**spoiler alert** With this book, Kate and Curran are back to what made them so great in the first place–solving real-life problems as a couple should. They aren’t perfect, they argue, and then they make up. I like that much better than the needy thing Kate had become in one of the books or the shiny can-do-no-wrong couple the two had become in another. The humor and Kate’s struggles with divinity made up for one fast-paced book. I don’t think I put it down even once.
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Roman blinked again and smacked Aspid’s nose with his hand. “What did I say about kisses? No kisses unless invited.” Aspid’s tongue contracted. He pulled Roman into his mouth. I sprinted. “Yes, I love you, too,” Roman said from inside the forest of teeth. “I need to go now. Come on.” The dragon opened his mouth and put Roman back into the mud....more
**spoiler alert** Don’t you just love it when a favorite author of yours quotes/alludes to the work of another favorite author? Here are the opening w**spoiler alert** Don’t you just love it when a favorite author of yours quotes/alludes to the work of another favorite author? Here are the opening words:
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a human assassin in possession of an important mission must be in want of a target.
As you can expect, I got a chuckle out of it.
While Vlad spends his life acting like an idiot, what makes these books worth reading are two things:
The repartee between Vlad and his familiar, Loiosh. I find it really funny. Consider this scene where they have spotted a huge white monster disappearing around a corner:
Are we going after it, Boss? After it? Are you nuts? What if we caught it? I love it when you break out in common sense. (I kept walking.) Boss, you said… We aren’ going after it. We’re just going in the same direction.
Vlad believing that he is a tough guy who doesn’t stick out his neck for anyone and yet that is exactly what he manages to do every time! He gives a damn, which is why he is a likable character.
So, the series came to an end. I was sorry to say goodbye to the idiots — by which I mean Percy and Grover because Annabeth is too smart. But I am als So, the series came to an end. I was sorry to say goodbye to the idiots — by which I mean Percy and Grover because Annabeth is too smart. But I am also glad that it ended on the right note. The source of all the trouble on Earth and the reason why the Titans had been able to tap into the demi-gods’ insecurity was because the kids’ parents refused to acknowledge their existence — or even claim them, in some cases. Percy finds a way to improve matters once he is done saving the world that is. The humor and the daring that only teenagers possess has made all the books in this series really shine. This one wasn’t different!
There is a scene where the main baddie, Kronos, gets sat upon: Stop running, you fools!” Kronos yelled. “Stand and ACKK!” That last part was because a panicked Hyperborean giant stumbled backwards and sat on top of him. The lord of time disappeared under a giant blue butt.
And there’s this one where Percy dares to sit in his Dad’s, Poseidon, chair on Mount Olympus: The throne rumbled. A wave of gale-force anger slammed into me. WHO DARES- The voice stopped abruptly, The anger retreated, which was a good thing, because just those two words had almost blasted my mind to shreds. Percy. My father’s voice was still angry but more controlled. What-exactly-are you doing on my throne? “I’m sorry, Father,” I said. “I needed to get your attention.” This was a very dangerous thing to do. Even for you. If I hadn’t looked before I blasted, you would now be a puddle of seawater....more
"A half-metre-long dragonfly, red from bulbous eyes to the vein lacework of transparent wings, took o**spoiler alert** My Thoughts as I read the book:
"A half-metre-long dragonfly, red from bulbous eyes to the vein lacework of transparent wings, took off from the leather bracer on Jaume's forearm and shot forward." Lends authenticity to the environment that the author is setting us up in. After all:
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and a more artistic view:
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What intrigued me was their use in falconry. However, as you will continue to see throughout the books, wonderful ideas are mentioned once and then abandoned. There is no inclusion of them afterwards. I know that is a lot to expect but if you are going to build a new universe...
"The docks teemed with ships of every size. Its streets, from capillary alleys to boulevard arteries, pulsed with traffic, human, dinosaur, and vehicular."
Maybe it is the biologist in me but I loved the description. Also, reminded me of this video, so I thought I'd share:
"Of course, you're too kind to point out the Parasaurolophus in the parlor..."
It got me wondering if including more modified idioms like that would have made the book's world seem more real or not.
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Btw, this is the dinosaur that the character was talking about.
The book did suffer from the usual maladies, such as everybody knowing something was seriously wrong with the king's advisor and yet not doing anything about it:
"When she'd encountered Jeronimo, she had felt a strange unease, in the pit of her stomach and beneath her skin, as if sensing wrongness somehow."
*sigh* If this character turns out to be bad news in the sequel...
One of my favorite quotes from the book:
"But if he had loosed at you, you'd have just knocked the arrow out of the air, right? Or snatched it with your hand like those ninja blokes in Zipangu, I shouldn't wonder. Karyl shrugged. "Or died, he said."
It also made me think why the author used the word, ninja, in the book. The world is quite different from our own and the word just stood out. It might have been because the world the book is set in has an old feel to it. However, as I looked it up, I came across this page that said the word had been in use as early as in the 1600s. It had other interesting things to say about ninjas too.
This description about a species of dinosaurs simply called Titans was lovely:
"They had no voices: they couldn't force cries down the tremendous length of their necks."
That got me to start looking up animals without a voice and most links mentioned Giraffes. However, San Diego Zoo says Giraffes do have vocal cords but they make a limited number of sounds with them.
[image] Brachiosaurus vs. Girraffe
This quote that was amazingly ironic:
"Whether we humans are or not, the dinosaurs endure."
Reminded me of the destruction humans have caused as detailed by the book, The Sixth Extinction.
This is another example of how good the world building is:
"Frequently ridden in battle by light-riders, as well as, occasionally by knights and nobles too poor to afford war-hadrosaurus."
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This is the Hadrosaurus and here is a video where its fossilized remains were discovered.
There are small excerpts from different "books" at the beginning of each chapter. Some of them mention deities that are worshiped in that world. The descriptions go so far to include an aspect that the deity favors. However, they are never mentioned in conversations (except for battle cries). I mean, so many of our expressions could have been modified and used:
By Jove, Jeez, Jesus, and so on.
Another thing that I found hard to believe was how naive Melodia, the king's eldest was. If you are a princess, you are definitely going to be trained in court intrigue etc. You won't go spouting off things that can be twisted later and have you framed for sedition. Especially, if you have a father who only deigns to remember that he has daughters at certain times. Even more so, if you could never inherit the throne and thus, do not have the security that an heir would. She behaves like a spoiled teenager, which even if she is one, she cannot afford to be.
Another favorite quote:
"And then, with what struck Melodia as completely necessary enthusiasm, her noble ladies-in-waiting set about burying the Princess Imperial in shit.
The treachery wasn't unexpected when it did come. The swiftness of the events was fun though!
The Grey Angels are something that I am curious about. One of the theories about them says:
My guess is that we must have colonized some planet and maybe started a fun experiment, people and dinosaurs together to see what would happen? It seems like the Gray Angels are some kind of super powered protectors who keep the people at a certain level."
All in all, I liked the book a lot. I read it slowly, enjoying every part. Some of the dinosaur battle scenes were really good. The book could have done with a little more of them.
All this talk about dinosaurs would not be complete without a mention of this guy:
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