I was in the local bookstore to pick something up, and what I was looking for wasn’t there. I browsed around a little since I had a 20% off coupon, and I saw this: The Wizard’s Cookbook. I made an impulse purchase. I regret nothing. This is a cookbook, but all the recipes are based on characters from modern fantasy literature and include everything from the expected Harry Potter and Wizard of Oz to the equally cool but less expected Magica DeSpell, Link, Asterix and […]
An Anatomy of Drew Hayes, but also review of Going Rogue
There are 3 kinds of Drew Hayes books: a) the novels that as complete books are 600+ pages long, have short chapters, and are fairly episodic (ie Super Powereds), b) the novels that are structured more like novels with chapter longer than 1-2 pages and not epic in length (Spells, Swords, & Stealth), and c) the novels that are average in length (under 300 pages) and set up like a series of short stories (Fred the Vampire Accountant). While some of the distinctions come from […]
Mismemory or Starting from the Wrong Place
I remember this event from about 5 years ago where participants engaged in a favorite author quote off. Basically, everyone presented a quote by their favorite author, and the audience voted on the best. Whoever got the fewest votes each round was eliminated. The final round ended up with an English professor show specialized in Renaissance drama using Shakespeare vs one of his colleagues’ tween son using R.A. Salvatore. It was hilarious even though the eventual split decision of Shakespeare as the winner seemed a […]
Games Begin and Games Continue, and All is Well.
You really can’t go wrong with Drew Hayes. While I haven’t read quite everything he’s ever written, I’ve read more than one of each of his novel series (I think). I’m working on getting caught up, but then there’s the problem or having to wait until the next thing is published. Villain’s Code, Super Powereds, and even the Fred series to some extent all deal with focusing on contemporary world hero ensembles. Split the Party though is a little different. It’s still a group of […]
Rat Queens; A Glorious Perversion of a Book
Holy gorram gosh-darnit. Oh boy. This was glorious. Heavenly, sexy, badass, emotional glory. Kick-ass and smart and I’m gonna use the word sexy again, like designers use it in that annoying way to objectify an already object existing as an object. Rat Queens is good. Admittedly, I did not think Rat Queens was something I would enjoy – it was only after a trusted recommendation that I gave it a second look. Even then the title “Sass and Sorcery” seemed crude and try-hard. Furthermore a […]