Victor Hugo Kebbe
It's a Y/A book written for second graders, which is a nice initiative and a nice way to introduce the Star Wars classic trilogy to the new generations.
We'll never know what or who is the King in Yellow, but the damage has already been done. Just as Mr. Castaigne read the book in his convalescence, I read The King in Yellow during mine and now I must face the misfortune of having known the mysteries of the Yellow Sign... By the stony towers of Carcosa, by the black stars of the sky, by Hastur and the pale lake of Hali...
Excellent work by Editora Intrínseca, with excellent comments from the translator throughout the reading.
Original Review (2014): I have mixed feelings about this book. Sanderson came with such an amazing setting and, despite hating all this need to every single fantasy title to have a magic-system-mumbo-jumbo, his is very original. Nevertheless, plot is quite mediocre, with cardboard characters. It is somehow a fast read, but the writer repeats several phrases throughout the book. A fine piece of entertainment, but entertainment only.
Updated Review (2024): I've been venturing into TikTok for the past few days, mainly following booktokers. After several days following these people, I realized that, in the area of Fantasy literature, many have a great appreciation for Brandon Sanderson and the entire unfolding of his production that, now unified, he calls Cosmere. Nothing against the author, but I wonder about his quite expressive popularity there. I read Mistborn in 2013 after following several recommendations and I was quite disappointed with this particular title. At the time, everyone extolled the importance of having a “coherent magic system”. At that time, it seemed, due to the amount of articles and comments about it, that this would mark the quality of the narrative, as if we needed very well-defined rules (like the scientific method) to explain the fantastic elements such as Magic in these stories. However, this is, in my opinion, the biggest flaw in the proposal: when the fantastic elements need to be explained within a pseudo-scientific rationality, it ceases to be fantastic. The various societies of the world have never needed this Western rationality to create their stories and complex mythologies. This has always been the fight between the genres of Fantasy and Science Fiction, the latter of which, in fact, relies on this idea of scientific rationality to tell captivating stories. I understand Sanderson's appeal at the time. And I also understand the success of Sanderson and his books in our Western context, which values this specific idea of rationality. With his idea of Allomancy, he created rules that seemed important at the time. But I went back to my notes on Mistborn and came across, at the time, a finely crafted “magic system” with two-dimensional characters and a rather average narrative. A “coherent magic system” does not make a book a book.
Such a nice book, a nice and ingenious universe. I could feel some H.P. Lovecraft influences here and there, but very well diluted and very well used by the author (it's not a Horror plot, I must say). It's an adventure book, well written and, the most important, a humble and beautiful homage to all fantasy books ever written.
The Rats in the Walls is a classic tale by Lovecraft, evoking several gothic elements to create the atmosphere of Horror. While most of the famous tales of Lovecraft is located in the US (Providence), this one is in England, in an old castle built on Celtic, Roman and Saxon remains. It's interesting to see how Lovecraft uses all the clichés in his favor, bringing something totally new.
Nice ending, just like a shonen manga. But it was a little bit messy when dealing with Ramona's past, Gideon's superpowers, etc... But I enjoyed a lot all these adventures by O'Malley's and the worst thing is happening now: I'm feeling that huge void when you finish a fine book series, after developed such an incredible relationship with its characters... I'm gonna miss Scott Pilgrim's adventures...
It's a great book and such an improvement, considering the previous installment. It has several tips for novice and seasoned DMs and the best parts are the checklists for every chapter or main topic.
I do not consider myself a “Lazy DM”. I spare several hours preparing my campaigns and adventures and I really do like all the process of getting everything ready beforehand. But I believe this concept of “Lazy DM” is just a fuzzy concept of explaining the Game Mastering experience. In this sense, every RPG DM/GM should try this book. It's the kind of content I'd wished in the 1990s' and it can help a lot new DMs.
It's an interesting graphic novel, with its pros and cons. First, thinking about the main plot, it's quite similar to Sapkowski's work, but somehow inferior. I think Geralt of Rivia is more complex than depicted in this graphic novel. It's not about hack and slash. Geralt has this lonely life wandering around and not being accepted by anyone, which makes him a great character. And here, it's all about some monsters and the need to destroy them all. Kind of.
Nonetheless, it resembles a The Witcher III side quest. That's a compliment! It's a short story, with small and problematic characters and Geralt must solve a weird mystery. That's ok and quite cool, in fact. It has been a while since I don't play The Witcher III and somehow I did feel some of those strange feelings when playing this game. Geralt is some kind of paranormal detective living in a dark fantasy world... and the mystery makes everything wonderful.
About the art, well, I'm not a fan at all. Despite the cover by Mike Mignola (it was not unfair, because I was thinking I was going to read a Witcher story by Mike Mignola and, nah, not the case...), the art is kind of mediocre. Joe Querio could have done something better. In fact, I did love his sketches, what makes me think about the final inking and coloring...
It's a nice book, that keeps the reader in the same immersion and feeling you get when playing the Diablo videogames. It's not a Horror or Lovecraftian story as I was imagining earlier, but it's a fine “preparation” for those who wants to play the Diablo 3 videogame. It sets everything for Cain Deckard and Leah, introducing another two important characters that will be very important to the game plot.
It's a very interesting comic. It made me feel a little sick to be reading it in these Coronavirus times. However, although I like Mike Mignola a lot, I don't know if it's his best work. The truth is that I'm already a little tired of zombies, I think it's a pretty boring cliché.
It's a great installment of old Star Wars Expanded Universe and it was made to be an epic (with all its hits and misses included). Tom Veitch writing emulates the dialogues from the classical trilogy (episodes IV, V and VI) and the artwork by Cam Kannedy is amazing.
There are some minor loopholes here and there and some bad design choices for starships and vehicles. I must also mention Empatojayos Brand, one of the most bizarre character designs I've ever seen. The main villain is also poorly written, despite being a major villain in Star Wars universe. I can't understand why, if the great villain, who claims to predict the whole future, lets slip so many banal things.
The first two thirds of this trilogy are great, mostly because of Veitch/Kennedy collaboration. Kennedy's artwork is really remarkable and stands off everything else.
Nonetheless, despite its flaws, it has a lot of accolades. The Dark Empire trilogy was responsible to revamp the Star Wars vibe in the 1990s' altogether with Timothy Zahn's Thrawn Trilogy and it's a big deal because it launched the old Expanded Universe (called Legends nowadays). It is a must read to every Star Wars fan.
I'm so stunned by the end of this TPB that I do not even know what to say. It's one of the coolest re-readings of King Arthur's Legend I've ever seen.
A series of memorable adventures that are part of the best ever published of the former Expanded Universe of Star Wars, before the purchase of Lucasfilm by Disney. This edition is full of endearing characters, telling the adventures of the most successful X-Wing squad of the Galaxy. Wedge Antilles, Wes Janson, Hobbie Clivan, Tycho Celchu and others are members of several important missions of the group, with original stories honoring the films of the Classic Trilogy, also showing what happened to the supporting characters. It was a very enjoyable read that I made at the turn of the year, a must read to all Star Wars fans.
Amazing, amazing... Reading this book after having read almost all other books by Neil Gaiman was quite invigorating. I definitely prefer Gaiman's graphic novels (Sandman, Death and The Books of Magic, etc) than his books, especially because of the difference in format, besides, of course, the narrative combined with great artists. John Bolton, Scott Hampton, Charles Vess and Paul Johnson elevate this graphic novel to a new level, transforming it into a must-read fpor everyone who loves Comics.
I can easily remember Rowling's Harry Potter and Le Guin's Sparrowhawk when learning magic, but it's Timothy Hunter who comes close to our mundane reality. It is precisely our proximity to Hunter which gives the book one of the best qualities of the Fantasy genre, which is to establish a dialectical and quite interesting relationship between the reader and the main character when dealing with the fantastic. The Books of Magic is a masterpiece after all, easily getting alongside Sandman (unfortunately I can not say the same about the author's books).
This is, definitely, one of the best book I read in 2018. The way it's written (and how these spooky and eerie stories are told) is amazing. You feel compelled to read everything and take notes. It's also a successful podcast and an awesome TV show by Amazon Prime, so, it's a great way to learn new things, especially those related to the supernatural. I'm looking forward to read the new upcoming Lore books by Aaron Mahnke.
Another interesting story of Luke Skywalker. I finally completed this new cycle [b:The Weapon of a Jedi: A Luke Skywalker Adventure 25067044 The Weapon of a Jedi A Luke Skywalker Adventure (Star Wars) Jason Fry https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1437275021s/25067044.jpg 44751858] /[b:Smuggler's Run: A Han Solo & Chewbacca Adventure 25067043 Smuggler's Run A Han Solo & Chewbacca Adventure (Star Wars) Greg Rucka https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1437274933s/25067043.jpg 44751857]/[b:Moving Target: A Princess Leia Adventure 25067045 Moving Target A Princess Leia Adventure (Journey to Star Wars The Force Awakens) Cecil Castellucci https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1437275122s/25067045.jpg 44751859], one of the best books written for Star Wars. Lots of fan service, short-but-great adventures, even for a Young Adult book series.
Despite being a Y/A book, it has everything we love about Star Wars: action, adventure, romance and humor. It was really nice to see how Leia was portrayed, showing a three-dimensional character. Definitely one of the best of all these “Journey to Star Wars The Force Awakens” series.
It is strange to see that the best books of this new Expanded Universe of Star Wars are only those written for children and adolescents. This is a reflection of the new (disrespectful) editorial policy of Disney/Lucasfilm for the books of our beloved saga. However, this book is excellent, with the same spirit and feeling of the original films. These Star Wars Y/A books are definitely sophisticated.
A fun reading, quite entertaining. The ending is full of twists and turns, but it seems to me to be in a hurry given the information to be revealed.
I've never called Vatican City and Rome so much, but I confess that I felt like visiting the places mentioned in the book.
I prefer the Langdon presented in the Da Vinci Code. In this book he seems to me more naive and whose deeds do not interfere so much in the narrative.
An awesome story indeed. Despite playing World of Warcraft as a Night Elf for so long, the human history in Azeroth is amazing, especially after the second war against the Horde. The ending of Ashbringer disapointed me somehow...