Hellboy (Vol. 10): The Crooked Man and Others by Mike Mignola (writer), Richard Corben (artist), Duncan Fegredo (artist), Joshua Dysart (artist), & Jason Shawn Alexander (artist)

The first story,“The Crooked Man,” is an Eisner-winning comic and the first Hellboy tale to take place in the Appalachian woods and is based on the folklore of that region (though, in an introduction to the story, Mignola makes clear that this story is not an adaptation of any existing story). He also lets us know in this introduction to the three-issue comic that he wrote this tale with artist Richard Corben specifically in mind. Opening in 1958 in Virginia, “The Crooked Man” is about Tom, who comes home after twenty years to find the two women he knew in childhood indebted to the devil, and only one of them, Cora Fisher, wants release. The other woman, Effie, enjoys being a witch and laughs at their suffering. Hellboy goes along on the journey with Tom and... Read More

Destiny’s Conflict by Janny Wurts

The wait for each installment in Janny Wurts’ THE WARS OF LIGHT AND SHADOW series can be pretty long and grueling. Wurts is a Mastercraftsman and the amount of labor she puts into telling her story is evident in the finished product. She never fails to find the perfect (and often uncommon) adjective to paint a vivid and precise picture of what is happening in her story. Each of Wurts' meticulously-crafted novels is absolutely worth the wait!

Please note that Destiny’s Conflict is the tenth book in the WARS OF LIGHT AND SHADOW series (the second book of Arc IV: SWORD OF THE CANON). New readers will want to start at the beginning of THE WARS OF LIGHT AND SHADOW with The Curse of the Mistwraith Read More

Andromeda's Fall by William C. Dietz

Andromeda's Fall is the start of a new prequel trilogy related to William C. Dietz’s LEGION OF THE DAMNED and it’s a fine place for someone to enter this good military science fiction series.

Catherine Carletto is Empire nobility. Her family is incredibly powerful and wealthy and Catherine is on a sort of debutante tour after finishing college. She's pretty, she's rich and so everyone on the planets she visits wants to meet her. In the midst of a social event she is attacked by a Synth, a sort of highly advanced robot. Cat manages to evade the Synth, but in the process many people are killed and she gets wounded as well. Fortunately for Cat, her family and education have not left her without skills to survive.

After running for her life through a strange city, Cat realizes that serious resources have been set to exterminate her. The ... Read More

Narcissus in Chains by Laurell K Hamilton

Like an addiction to pain, I have kept reading Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter despite having some serious issues with what Laurell K Hamilton has done with her characters. She seriously pisses me off with the way that she is developing the Richard-Anita relationship.

Anita has turned from a virtuous woman into a tramp. She just keeps getting worse and her apparent ability to get past becoming a whore is just ridiculous. Her ability to remain a true believer despite all the dark forces at work has been one of her truly redeeming characteristics.

This series is turning into a soap opera and if you are ok with that, then cool. Anita is changing, so if you liked her in the first books you may not care for her now. I know that I don't, but I keep reading just hoping that she will get hers in the end. Read More