The Goblin Trilogy, Goblin Quest, Goblin Hero, and Goblin War tell the story of Jig the Goblin and his pet fire spider Smudge. It's a humorous look at the Goblins of Middle-Earth and the world from their perspective.
Hines is an excellent storyteller, and you'll find many sly references to other Goblin / Middle Earth / Ogre / etc. stories, including Shrek and (of course) Lord of the Rings.
Jig is a reluctant adventurer, hero, and warrior who appears to more or less get dragged along by events -- and later, by expectations -- who really doesn't want to do anything except be comfortable and at home. Along the way he decides to select a mostly-forgotten god to worship (for the benefits) and somehow manages to blunder to victory.
This trilogy was an excellent read, well-told and the storyline keeps moving along. 5 of 5 bones.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
River Marked, by Patricia Briggs
The latest installment in the Mercedes Thompson series, this is another excellent book by Ms. Briggs. Mercedes and Adam finally get married (and how that happens is an entertaining romp, which I absolutely won't spoil.)
For their honeymoon, they take a huge RV (borrowed from...Uncle Mike...eeps) and go someplace recommended by another one of the fae. Huh. Of course their honeymoon doesn't go quite as planned, and they wind up taking care of another "Mythical" monster.
Along the way we get to see a lot more of Mercedes' heritage and background, which is also very interesting - and explains some things.
The thing I most liked about it -- and about this series in general -- is that Ms. Briggs continues to write interesting stories about Mercedes doing a lot of Monster Fighting without making her "Level Up" every book. It's not a treatise in "gee, what scary new power will she get this time", it's not showing us how she defeats New Scary Monster by developing New Scary Power -- she defeats them by being herself, using her brains and courage and doing her very best. Ms. Briggs is having Mercedes "Level Out" by developing a network of friends and acquaintances (yes, some of whom do have Scary Powers) that help her, but not even they are always available, and not always certain that their Scary Powers will work.
Excellent job. 5 of 5 bones.
For their honeymoon, they take a huge RV (borrowed from...Uncle Mike...eeps) and go someplace recommended by another one of the fae. Huh. Of course their honeymoon doesn't go quite as planned, and they wind up taking care of another "Mythical" monster.
Along the way we get to see a lot more of Mercedes' heritage and background, which is also very interesting - and explains some things.
The thing I most liked about it -- and about this series in general -- is that Ms. Briggs continues to write interesting stories about Mercedes doing a lot of Monster Fighting without making her "Level Up" every book. It's not a treatise in "gee, what scary new power will she get this time", it's not showing us how she defeats New Scary Monster by developing New Scary Power -- she defeats them by being herself, using her brains and courage and doing her very best. Ms. Briggs is having Mercedes "Level Out" by developing a network of friends and acquaintances (yes, some of whom do have Scary Powers) that help her, but not even they are always available, and not always certain that their Scary Powers will work.
Excellent job. 5 of 5 bones.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Where There's a Witch, by Madelyn Alt
Summary: This book is #5 in Ms. Alt's "Bewitching Mystery" series. The series protagonist is "Maggie" who is a Sensitive (apparently she can sense supernatural beings, as well as being Empathic). The series is set in a small town in Indiana, called Stony Mill. This book takes place in the summer, and Stony Mill's local Baptist Church is having a carnival to celebrate their expansion. The Groundbreaking ceremony is brought to a halt when a hidden room is discovered. A ghost that was in the room also escapes. The next day or so, the body of a young woman is found in the location of the groundbreaking. One of the construction workers, her (former?) boyfriend, is immediately suspected. The rest of the book revolves around Maggie and her fellow Sensitives trying to Solve the Mystery of The Murdered Woman as well as the Mystery of the Hidden Room.
Review: I picked this up mainly for the mystery, but also because it looked whimsical. It failed, unfortunately, on both counts. The Mystery takes a far, far distant second to the Main Issue - which is essentially Witchery. How the local Witches / Sensitives / Psychics / Whatever get along with the rest of the locals. Obviously the locals in Small-Town Indiana aren't real happy about Witches, etc. in their town. The mystery itself is given bare lip service and definitely takes a back seat to the Spooky Stuff. Oh, and Maggie's personal life.
Given the way the mystery was treated, (and since i knew from reading the back that someone would be murdered somewhere in the book) I had a pretty good idea who was the murderer even before there was a murder. Within a chapter of the murder I'd figured out who was the murderer, what was up with the Mystery Room, who the Ghost was, and why the Ghost Existed - along with What The Ghost Was Trying To Tell Them. I finished the book hoping there would be a twist at the end, but alas, no twist. I'd really figured it out halfway through the book. Had this been Ms. Alt's first or second attempt, it would've been forgiveable and I would've tried again, but since it's #5 in the series, I'm going to give it a miss. Don't get me wrong - I finished the book because it's got good characterization, and I was interested in the characters, but for me, that's not enough to carry a really weak, half-baked mystery.
If you like characterization and storyline and don't care whether the mystery is weak or not, then this is the book and series for you. For me, I give it 2.5 out of 5 bones.
Review: I picked this up mainly for the mystery, but also because it looked whimsical. It failed, unfortunately, on both counts. The Mystery takes a far, far distant second to the Main Issue - which is essentially Witchery. How the local Witches / Sensitives / Psychics / Whatever get along with the rest of the locals. Obviously the locals in Small-Town Indiana aren't real happy about Witches, etc. in their town. The mystery itself is given bare lip service and definitely takes a back seat to the Spooky Stuff. Oh, and Maggie's personal life.
Given the way the mystery was treated, (and since i knew from reading the back that someone would be murdered somewhere in the book) I had a pretty good idea who was the murderer even before there was a murder. Within a chapter of the murder I'd figured out who was the murderer, what was up with the Mystery Room, who the Ghost was, and why the Ghost Existed - along with What The Ghost Was Trying To Tell Them. I finished the book hoping there would be a twist at the end, but alas, no twist. I'd really figured it out halfway through the book. Had this been Ms. Alt's first or second attempt, it would've been forgiveable and I would've tried again, but since it's #5 in the series, I'm going to give it a miss. Don't get me wrong - I finished the book because it's got good characterization, and I was interested in the characters, but for me, that's not enough to carry a really weak, half-baked mystery.
If you like characterization and storyline and don't care whether the mystery is weak or not, then this is the book and series for you. For me, I give it 2.5 out of 5 bones.
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