Brazen is the final book in the Gilded series. It combines Korean mythology, fantasy, and thriller. I thought the third book had some horror thrown in too. The heroine, Jae Hwa, does some really smart things, does some really stupid things, and in general handles her very difficult circumstances very well. At the start of the story, she has placed herself in the hands of Kud, the god of darkness, in order to protect her loved ones. Her situation looks pretty bleak, and she needs […]
The more I read these books, the more I like to think it’s an adult Harry Potter.
I hope it goes without saying that, if you haven’t read these books, beware the spoilers that follow. I’ve tried to not give away major plot points for each book, but if you’re on book three, you may not want to read the following reviews. Harry Potter was one of those foundational stories, for me. It laid the groundwork for what I deem good in this world. To some degree, everything I’ve read since has been weighed against the mark left on my soul by […]
Rick Riordan does his thing.
I guess I don’t really have much to say about this book, except that it was exactly what I was expecting it to be, and that ended up being an okay thing. I have come to accept that Riordan is now a one-trick pony. He just happens to be very good at that one trick. You pretty much know all the beats of this story ahead of time if you’ve read his other demigod books, but that doesn’t stop you from enjoying yourself anyway, and […]
That is the tale; the rest is detail.
I’ve been looking forward to re-reading “American Gods” since the moment I finished it the first time around. And this first re-read is definitely not going to be the last. For me, this book is a joy and a delight. It’s imaginative. It’s forward-thinking. It’s honest about how we relate to one another and see-but-can’t-see each other. It works literally as well as as metaphor. It takes itself seriously enough to be perfectly constructed and pure in tone and style, but doesn’t take itself seriously at […]
Let’s Do The Time Warp
Who among us has not thought about what we would tell our younger self if we could go back in time? If we’re honest, we acknowledge that our younger self, after getting over disbelief and the resulting freak out, would not listen to a damned thing we had to say. That’s the challenge for Cal Leandros in Nevermore, the tenth installment in Rob Thurman’s urban fantasy series, and it goes about as well as you might expect.
I can’t wait to see what Bryan Fuller does with this source material
Shadow is serving time in prison, patiently keeping his head down and counting the days until his release. He longs to get home to Laura, his travel agent wife and passes the time learning coin tricks and dreaming of what they will do together once he’s out of jail. Only a few days before he’s due to be released, Shadow is told that Laura was killed in a car accident, along with Shadow’s best friend Robbie, whom Laura was apparently having an affair with. As […]