Category: Book review

Abe Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

abe lincoln vampire hunter

Seth Grahame-Smith: a man who has made so many eye catching WTF titles, I damn near found it impossible not to pick up just on premise alone. I mean let’s be serious for a second, Abraham Lincoln- one of the most fascinating presidents of U.S history and arguably one of the greatest…and we’re supposed to imagine him slaying through the fiends of the dead. I admit, I thought it was going to be a ridiculous comedy but I was pleasantly surprised.

The story flips back and forth between Lincoln’s personal diaries and third person narrative discussing his life, his personal demons and his years hunting down vampires while trying to keep a family and keep to the path we know of in history.

I was impressed how grounded the book was and even creepy at times. There is a great sense of tension when Abe is around vampires, and he does get his ass kicked. He’s not a damn superhero as he is portrayed in the film. The book is well paced and as a general reader, the historical context isn’t unreasonable. There really wasn’t anything that made me call Bullshit or anything. I think it’s worth a read and may the gaming gods bring you glory and safe from vampires.

Project Nemesis

project nemesis

First of all, a shout out to my friend Autobot who loaned me the book to begin with. Also, I want to showcase some lesser known or some upcoming authors if I can because I am one myself.

Project Nemesis is the story of an experiment gone horrifically wrong. To save a ruthless General, he commissions a murdered girl to be cloned for her heart. When it seems impossible, he presents the lead scientist with a DNA sample that not only makes it possible but has her rapidly grow. The DNA was not human. In early development, she appears almost perfect. But then reptilian features develop. Surgery time comes and the girl awakens, strong and murderous, mutating and growing. What began human sized grew to the size capable of leveling cities, each time it changes losing it’s human shape but resurfacing it’s human memories. To try stopping the beast are paranormal agent Jon Hudson and his team, Sheriff Ashley Collins, and pilot Woodstock. But can they stop the incarnation of justice and vengeance…

Nemesis is a cool book that channels a old Godzilla- Kaiju spirit I admit I haven’t seen in much literature. While Kaiju aren’t really my thing, I found the story fun with simple but likable characters and a badass monster. It’s not a long read and the sections of the book are illustrated with some really epic drawings of Nemesis’s transformations. I was a bit jarred at first by the use of first and third person perspective but it’s done well enough. In the end, Project Nemesis by Jeremy Robinson is a fun thrill ride I recommend picking up and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

The Sandman: volume 1

sandman vol 1

Since I first came into the expansive world of comics, The Sandman’s reputation lingered as one of the best ever written. It took me a while, entrenched in the caverns of DC’s and Marvel’s heroes to expand my mind. Years later and I’m thrilled to say the praise is well deserved.

Sandman is a epic following Morpheus, the god of dreams, as he is  mistakenly captured and imprisoned by a madman for decades who originally wanted his sister, Death. After decades and lives of innocents ruined by his entrapment, he finds freedom and takes revenge on the sole surviving son of his captor, leaving Dream with a task: obtain what was pilfered from him. His pouch of sand, his helm, and his ruby derived from his essence. To retrieve these things he will walk amongst other worlds, coming across John Constantine and the psycho formerly known as Dr Destiny, challenge a denizen from hell, and travel through the world of reality, hell, and dreams as he must inevitably search for purpose after his revenge is done and his power restored…

This is one of those rare stories you can’t put down because you feel something original within it’s pages. Between Neil Gaimen’s fantastic writing and the talented artists, all of which put there hearts into this, are addictive to the eyes and heart. It is very abstract and the beginning is a bit vague so I can’t recommend this to people who want something action heavy or simple. I’d call this a thinking man’s kind of story. In the end, I will call Sandman one of the best pieces I’ve ever read and recommend giving it a shot. May the gaming gods bring you glory and sweet dreams.

World War Z

Wwz

There are some ideas that are brilliant, some that are maddeningly dumb, and some that can only be done once. This is one of my favorite books and least favorite movies.

World War Z, as the rest of the title suggests, is a oral history of the zombie war. Basically the book is written interview style with multiple survivors of different cultures, creeds, ages, and social standings We get traumatic accounts of epic battles, tearful goodbyes, and get a cool view of how others outside ourselves would deal with such a catastrophic event. The book never feels repetitive in tone or character arcs and that is what makes it so damn enthralling: genuine feeling characters around the world dealing with classic, simple zombies- a threat most wouldn’t take at face value but Max Brooks demonstrates how endearing and dangerous they are.

The movie ditches almost everything but the zombie apocalypse. We get an obscene amount of fast, kinda green looking, Pg-13 28 knockoff zombies overruning the globe as Brad Pitt goes through action set piece after action set piece trying to find a cure and get back to his family. Watching this hurt. Bad. The stories and characters I loved in the book were striped and replaced with a Emmerich wannabe action movie. I admit, I may be hard on the movie; many folks I know that really enjoyed it never read it at all.

I’m going to say pick one, and whatever you pick, don’t go to the other because chances are you will get royally bent out of shape. I favor the book’s variety and emphasis on strong characters, setting, and simple zombies. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

The Zombie Survival Guide

zombie survival guide

Hello everyone. I have been really sick for a week, hence why I haven’t posted and well, tis the season for runny noses, hoarse coughs, and ZOMBIES! Ok, not really zombies. Zombies don’t do well in the frigid cold, although beware because those cadaverous bastards could be buried beneath the snow. This is something I learned from Max Brooks’s Zombie Survival Guide.

Now there is no narrative but the book is rather an actual survival guide heavily based in actual fact. Wilderness survival, weapons, and home defense tactics are some things that can learned from the book. As for the zombies, Brooks goes out of his way to add a layer of depth to the creatures both physically and contextually you rarely see in fiction. Seriously, they feel pretty damn real when you start getting into there inner workings, origins, and capabilities. If you love zombies and want something different that will make you feel safer come the inevitable zombie apocalypse, definitely pick it up. Best wishes and may the gaming gods save you from zombies…which I’m not..it was a stomach flu…I promise.

5 books that scared the s$it out of me

monster book

People underestimate the raw power of books sometimes. I once did until I found one that scared the shit out of me. It was a different feeling than getting scared by a movie, more intimate somehow. here’s a list of books that genuinely creeped the shit out of me and made me want to bring the joy to others, in no particular order, lets dive in with…

cujo book 1. Cujo by Stephen King- ok, this was a tough call because many of King’s stories freaked the hell out of me but Cujo left a weird impact on me. I’m nervous around dogs as it is, so the idea of being at the mercy of a massive, rabid, death tank of a dog just…no, hell no. Cujo

let me in bk Let the Right One In (aka Let Me in) by John Ajvide Lindqvist- besides being a freaky ass vampire story with interesting lore and characters behind it, it’s a deep tale of friendship and vulnerability that I will cover after I watch the film, but I can tell you it won’t let you down if you’re scared of vampires.

good happy child 3. A Good and Happy Child by Justin Evans- I’ve never been religious or brought up with strong religious beliefs but this possession story caught me off guard.  Rather than heavy theatrics we get a much more quiet and more unsettling series of mind games through the 1st person perspective of someone possessed by the devil. If you like smart, thoughtful horror, this is for you.

Hbh1  4. The Hellbound Heart by Clive Barker- if you loved the movie Hellraiser, this is the book that Barker directly turned into the film but his master of giving the diabolical Cenobites a presence the movie can’t match, this novella is worth a hit for the true fans of the movie. The Hellbound Heart  Hellraiser Movie review

1984 5. 1984 by George Orwell- this book is debatable as horror but once you read it and take a look at the world around us in 2017 where we always have eyes on us and Big Brother is everywhere, you may feel differently. Before reading 1984 however, I recommend reading Animal Farm first, to which here’s yet another link to check out my review. Animal Farm

This has just been a small list of books that scared the shit out of me, but there are more but those are for another time. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Mockingjay

mockingjay

Happy Thanksgiving again, one and all from me and Savior. We come to the conclusion of the Hunger Games trilogy. Arguably Mockingjay ties with the first for my favorite of the series and it is one of my favorite conclusions in all of fiction. I tip my hat to you Suzanne Collins.

So Katniss is in a fucked up place after being decisively rescued at the end of Catching Fire. District 12 was burned to the ground; Peeta and a few of the surviving tributes were taken captive by the Capitol; she discovers District 13, which we are told was destroyed by the Capital during the last rebellion since book 1 still exists under the ruins and is trying to unite the other districts in full out war. Katniss is on the brink of sanity after 2 rounds of murder and mayhem, her and fellow survivor Finnick are trying to cope. Snow still finds to psychologically torment her. President Coin, head of 13, starts pushing Katniss to become the Mockingjay as others have started calling her, to be the poster child of rebellion. Katniss agrees if only to make things a lil less shitty for her and her family and to make rescuing Peeta and the others higher priority. Katniss is suited up in a fancy combat suit with a new high tech bow and is sent out to make connections with real people after failing hard at making TV promos. These trips, while damaging her further inside, are helpful. In a daring move, the other tributes are rescued, but all is not well. Peeta violently attacks Katniss and damn near kills her.  He’d been tortured and brainwashed. Everything comes together in a last ditch effort to finally capture Snow, but it turns out to be one last game…

Writing this review was hard for me because I want to get into spoilers but I want anyone who never saw the movies or read the books to pick them up and experience them as I did. I will say the ending is ballsy, especially for a YA book and I respect that much darker, realistic ending than some bullshit Hollywood happy ending. As for the movies, both were really done well but I prefer 1 over 2. Somehow the ending feels watered down to me on film than the book. Overall, it was a great end to a pretty great trilogy. I have a special friend who seemed interested in the series, so I’ll list them order below. Happy Thanksgiving and may the odds be ever in your favor

Hunger Games- Catching Fire- Mockingjay

mockingjay2

Catching Fire

catching fire

Catching Fire is the second story of the Hunger Games trilogy, for which I’m covering Mockingjay on Thanksgiving. So to get us in the mood, let’s get into the book and movie.

Picking up almost a year after Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark won the 74th Hunger Games, the pair is about to set off on there victory tour, still pretending for the cameras they are madly in love. Unfortunately, President Snow is not convinced. He shows up to Katniss’s house, telling her that there stunt at the end of the games triggered problems in the other Districts, unrest was beginning and the people were rebelling. If she wants to bring peace, he tells her they’d better act more in love so the public would think they were just lovesick teens and weren’t trying to spit in the Capitol’s face. As hard as they try though, the other Districts are already riled up. The fire is catching. As the 75th Hunger Games approaches, the third quarter quarrel, snow delivers the special rule of this special game: the tributes would be limited to the past champions of games past. Being the only female winner from District 12, Katniss is selected by default. This time it’s Katniss and Peeta against the old champions, being forced into uneasy alliances to survive a game Snow will make damn sure they can’t win…

Both book and movie are really good sequel; the movie was a major improvement over the first. The book is a bit slow at first but racks up tension really well, leading to a epic oh shit ending. My favorite part of the book are the backstories of the other tributes. As for the movie, the acting and action improved a lot as well as the special effects. This time they add some humor to it but it surprisingly works well and well placed. In the end I think the book and movie are definitely worth checking out. Best wishes and may the odds be ever in your favor

Hunger Games

hunger games book Something about the upcoming holiday made me think of the amazing book and the lame ass movie. Yes, I said it, the first movie sucked. Seriously, I almost got me and a friend kicked out of our local movie theater because I was that pissed. I’m going to predominately focus on the book, but oh I will get to the movie at the end.

Katniss Everdeen is a pissed off, quiet, depressed seventeen year old girl living in District 12 in the post-apocalypse of Panem.  Each district provides a service to the tyrannical Capitol that reigns supreme and every year, to prove there might and superiority, they hold the Hunger Games. Two tributes, one boy and one girl from each district are placed in a game for all to see where the only victor is the child who manages to kill and outlive the others. Prim, Katniss’s little sister is chosen but Katniss takes her place alongside Peeta Mellark, a handsome, kind young man who showed her mercy years before in her darkest days. Katniss is a survivor though and skilled with a bow, but will that be enough to survive?

Ok, so I am a huge fan of the book trilogy. I seriously devoured the book page to page when I first read it and still held up after a few rereadings which is impressive. Here is two reasons why I hated how it was adapted: the book was in first person and almost nothing was as I imagined it. As I said above, Katniss is a quiet, introverted young woman so the first person perspective added depth and melancholy where needed; during the movie there were times she acted bizarrely. If you read the book, it may make sense but as a casual movie goer it may make you ask WTF? Next, a lot of this wasn’t how I imagined. Much like an experience with the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre, the story in the first Hunger Games gave me hard, visceral images without really giving them to me, making me imagine them rather than washing the page in fictional blood and guts. The movie doesn’t show you jack shit but you get a nice assload of shaky-cam. Two huge gripes I have is that for a district riddled with poverty, coal dust, and starvation, our lead actors look pretty damn well fed and ugh- Peeta your damn family can barely afford food but you can gel your hair, bullshit ahoy!  And the second thing, the final monsters got WAY bitched down from the book and on top of that, the CGI effects for them look like shit. I do enjoy the music in the movie and Woody Harrelson is awesome as Haymitch but that’s about all the good I got to say. Please read the book trilogy. Best wishes, may the gaming gods bring you glory and may the odds be ever in your favor.

 

5 great stories from DC new 52

jla

The new 52 comic run brought us some cool new ideas as well as introduced me to a lot of new characters I feel in love with and even helped reshaped the way we viewed some of them. Working my way to number 1, here’s my list of 5 favorite DC new 52 stories starting with…

new 52 shazam 5. Shazam (volume 1)- I’m not a magic fan but I do love Black Adam, who stole every panel he appeared in for me. Menacing, intelligent, and powerful, he was a great way to start Shazam’s origin. After reading this, Adam became a favorite of mine.

new 52 suicide squad 4. Suicide Squad: Kicked in the teeth (volume 1)- I borrowed the first 3 volumes of the new 52 a year before the movie came out and absolutely devoured them. I loved a story based primarily of villains kicking ass and spouting dark 1 liners. Also, King Shark rules!

new 52 flash 3. Flash: Gorilla Warfare (volume 3)- I love Grodd. I love the Rogues. This book boils down to Flash and the Rogues teaming up to stop Grodd and his ape army. It’s badass and ends with a awesome fight and a Easter egg I loved.

new 52 aquaman 2. Aquaman: The Trench (volume 1)- Like many people, I never thought into Aquaman much. To quote Batman, “Arthur Curry, I hear you can talk to fish.) But the gorgeous artwork and epic fight got me on board instantly. 1 superhero vs a army of mutated piranha people, what’s not to love?

new 52 batman 1 1. Batman: Court of Owls/ Night of the owls (volumes 1 and 2)- It’s not everyday a great Batman story comes out that has nothing to do with Joker. In fact, this story brings the history we thought we knew deeply into question and not only is Batman and the Bat-family at match by these creepy, damn near unstoppable assassins but they truly test what Batman stands for and that is the sign of a great story.

Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.