Tag: Fantasy

The Board Continues To Be Set – Review of “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” Episode 4 “The Great Wave”

The 4th episode of Amazon Prime’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, titled “The Great Wave”, is not what I would consider a great episode of television. It’s a good episode, in so much as it moves some of the plots forward, but at the halfway point of the season, I was … Continue reading The Board Continues To Be Set – Review of “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” Episode 4 “The Great Wave” →

The Quest Begins – Review of “The Sandman” Episode Two “Imperfect Hosts”

When your world has crumbled around you, the decisions you make can be both necessary and heartbreaking. That is the place Dream finds himself in during the events of the second episode of Netflix’s The Sandman, titled “Imperfect Hosts”. The Dreaming has been torn asunder by the absence of its master and Dream must consult … Continue reading The Quest Begins – Review of “The Sandman” Episode Two “Imperfect Hosts” →

A Collection of Horrors – Review of “Love, Death + Robots” Volume Three

Love, Death + Robots Vol. 3 Poster Art. Source The new volume for Netflix’s Love, Death + Robots is out and it’s definitely a marked improvement over Volume 2. While not all of the animated shorts in this volume are up to snuff, the majority of them are interesting enough on their own to merit … Continue reading A Collection of Horrors – Review of “Love, Death + Robots” Volume Three →

Childhood Wonder and Terror – A Review of “The Ocean at the End of the Lane” by Neil Gaiman

As a child, the world can be filled with wonders and terrors in equal measure. When an adult recalls their childhood there’s a haze over the recollections, a thick mist where only specific memories can be discerned but not with perfect clarity. The memory of a man as a boy serves as a starting point … Continue reading Childhood Wonder and Terror – A Review of “The Ocean at the End of the Lane” by Neil Gaiman →

His name is Kane – A Review of Karl Edward Wagner’s “Darkness Weaves”

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KAEXVQG/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=thekingssquar-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=B00KAEXVQG&linkId=9d04ad3f7809e573f072aa9db9a42b84      As I read Karl Edward Wagner’s Darkness Weaves, I was struck by the familiarity of the setting. The pre-industrial (or possibly post-apocalyptic) world of Kane, the Mystic Swordsman, is classic sword and sorcery with malevolent witches, blood-soaked battles, and a plethora of anti-heroes. This is not “high fantasy” of the Tolkien or Brooks … Continue reading His name is Kane – A Review of Karl Edward Wagner’s “Darkness Weaves” →

The First File – Review of Jim Butcher’s “Storm Front”

Cover Art for "Storm Front" Consider for a moment that magic is real, as real as science, in fact. Now consider the type of person who could or would wield such a power. Such a character would need to be nearly saint-like to avoid abusing such immense abilities. In Jim Butcher’s "Storm Front", we are … Continue reading The First File – Review of Jim Butcher’s “Storm Front” →

The Gods Among Us – Review of Neil Gaiman’s “American Gods”

Cover Art for "American Gods" You can conjure anything based on belief, especially gods and monsters. The central conceit of American Gods by Neil Gaiman is that because humans believe in the gods, the gods exist. Fairies, kobolds, immortal queens and kings, and so forth are real simply because humans sought explanations for their world. … Continue reading The Gods Among Us – Review of Neil Gaiman’s “American Gods” →

Going on an Adventure – A Review of “The Monster of Marnmouth Valley” by Charlie J. Greene

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/519nIKgE75L.jpg Cover art for "The Monster of Marnmouth Valley" I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve not read much children’s fiction as an adult. Growing up, I read voraciously on whatever I could get my hands on (and that my mother would allow me to read). “The Monster of Marnmouth Valley” is a book … Continue reading Going on an Adventure – A Review of “The Monster of Marnmouth Valley” by Charlie J. Greene →