Book Review: Descendant Machine by Gareth L. Powell

Descendant Machine by Gareth L. Powell is a smart science fiction adventure filled with witty dialogue. Descendant Machine is the second book in the Continuance book series. It is a very loose sequel to Stars and Bones the first book in the series, where no characters return and the events in the book are light years away and not mentioned. The only thing tying the books together is the set up for how humans currently live and what happened to Earth. You do not have to read the first book, Stars and Bones, to read Descendant Machine. The genre for this book is science fiction but I think of it as a deep dive into science fiction. This book explores subjects like AI, blackholes, and quantum physics. I do not have a brain for science at all but was able to understand these high levels of science that the book laid out. The opening scene was confusing me but I don’t know if it will be for new readers. I was trying to find out the connection between this book and to the last book, Stars and Bones. It took me a while to realize there was no connection. The book opens with chaos as the AI ship and their captain is getting fired upon during a sanctioned mission with some double crossing. The scene ends with a dire decision that will be the catalyst to the novel’s direction. The story is told through 4 perspectives which works well and keeps it fresh; 3 are with the main action while the other perspective keeps the tension of the ticking clock scenario. The pace of the novel is pretty fast. There are twists all throughout. There’s double and triple crossing from characters. The standout of the novel is the witty sharp dialogue that makes every scene enjoyable. The humor is across the novel that really helps with the pace. I was asked to join the Book Tour for Descendant Machine by Titans Books who provided me with a free copy via Netgalley. Descendant Machine by Gareth L. Powell is published on April 11 2023.

Plot Summary: 75 Years in the future the Earth will be at war and on the verge of armageddon, but as the missiles flew, the entity was watching and stepped in. A scientist just hours before had found the substrate, a way of which to travel from place to place over distance. Years after this event all earthlings are placed on giant arks called the Continuance, traveling through the substrate searching light years in the future for a new home. Nicola Mafalda works in transport, moving both people and things. She has just picked up a passenger that a Jzat, a four armed humanoid, does not want her to join the Continuance or seek out Ran’nah Abelisk, a Jzat that has knowledge of the Grand Mechanism, a device as big as a planet that is believed to block a worm hole. The Grand Mechanism has been up for centuries and the debate on how to get it open and what is behind it is the reason for war. Nicola is caught in the middle and her only tie is her former boyfriend, who is a Jzat. There’s a secret that some one doesn’t want out after Nicola is almost killed to keep it a secret. She takes it upon herself to seek out Ran’nah Abelisk and find out what he knows. She takes her ex-boyfriend, her AI ship “the Frontier Chic”, and ex military buddy with a grudge.

What I Liked: The humor in this novel is very funny and a theme throughout. The plot is complex, but once I figured everything out, it made sense and I thought it was really smart. The frog in the milk jug dialogue is such good writing and it is a hilarious observation. The second part of the book is so great, really good pace and high stakes adventure. I liked the way the Jzat were described and how their four arms worked. There’s another interesting bug-like creature that is named based on what their greatest weakness one is called Allergic to Seafood . I would love to see this species get explored more in future books. The twists and reveals added a lot to the story, there are some pretty great ones. The dialogue is very witty and fun, one of my common critiques in science fiction novels is bad dialogue, which makes this book stand out even more for its cleverness.

What I Disliked: The confusion at the beginning was a callout from the the first book Stars and Bones, when you write into chaos in your first line it makes it interesting, but you lose some connection to why we should care about these characters. Powell makes it up later but it was a little too much right at the beginning. The description setting up the scene was sometimes lacking, I would get confused which ships were in the vicinity of the others. There’s a battle where characters escape in a hatch, that took me a while to figure out which ship they got on to.

Recommendation: Descendent Machine by Gareth L. Powell is solid science fiction that is both smart and fun. When I described Stars and Bones I said it was like 3-4 really good concepts of Star Trek episodes combined and the same goes with Descendant Machine. Stars and Bones took its self a little more serious than Descendent Machine. I rated Descendant Machine by. Gareth L. Powell 4 out of 5 stars.

Book Reviews: Batman: Knightfall Volume 3 – Knightsend by Chuck Dixon

Batman: Knightfall Volume 3 – Knightsend by Chuck Dixon is the final chapter in the epic series that covered 2 years of comics. Knightfall started with the super villain Bane breaking every inmate of Arkham Asylum. Where Bruce Wayne – Batman works tirelessly to arrest every criminal, Bane then confronts a weakened Batman and breaks his back. Bruce must make a quick decision to find a replacement and pick Azrael – John Paul Valley a former brainwashed assassin Bruce and Tim Drake – Robin have been working with. He takes down Bane but shuts Robin out as he slowly starts to go insane, which lead us to this chapter with Bruce Wayne’s back now heeled can he take down his former protege that is besmirching the Batman name. The story is split into two parts Knightsend and Prodigal Son. Both parts are good and have a clear beginning and end to each. This book was the easiest to read and the story had a clear vision on where it was going. At 642 pages this was one of the longest book but the best paced by far. The main villains are Killer Croc, Catwoman, Two-Face, Scarface, The Tally Man, and Lady Shiva, but the big fight is Batman vs. Batman. This is the first book that really starts the Bat family as Dick Grayson/1st Robin now Nightwing is brought back and confronted about why he left being Robin and Why Bruce did not choose him to be the new Batman.Batman: Knightfall Volume 3 – Knightsend collects issues Batman #509-510, #512-514, Batman: Shadow of the Bat #29-30, 32-34, Detective Comics #676-677, #679-681, Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #62-63, Robin #8-9, #11-13 and Catwoman #12-13.

Plot Summary: Bruce Wayne is healed after breaking his back in a fight with Bane, he’s decided to give up being Batman, but when he’s what Azrael has done as the new Batman purposely letting a criminal die to make a point. Bruce Wayne decides he must retake the mantle, but his body and muscle memory are not up to the task. He gets Lady Shiva to help him, after a couple of weeks she thinks he’s ready, for what he doesn’t know. Lady Shiva murders a master and pins it on Bruce Wayne who sends all his students on a mission to avenge his death. Bruce must beat all these student who are now masters themselves who are all set to kill. After each one he takes down his strength and confidence increase until he’s ready to fight Azrael as Batman. He has enlisted the help of Nightwing and Tim to track him as Bruce takes him down. Azrael is convinced that a Gotham gunrunner is the man who killed his father and is out for blood can Batman stop Batman before he kills again. This story has two parts the summary is just part 1.

What I Liked: The Batman and Nightwing conversation about why he didn’t get asked to take over the role of Batman is great. The conversation borders on both love and hate. The Batman vs Batman fight on top of the bridge was pretty epic. I liked the Azrael solo story after the big fight. I liked how many nods to the murder of Jason Todd and how everyone missed him and he was a big part of the missing family. The Two Face storyline started out ridiculous but was one of the better stories and ended really well. I really like the return of the Tally Man, and we see the damage Azrael did to him as the unhinged Batman. The master reveal was interesting and very 70’s shaolin movie. The Shadow of the Bat has hands down the best art. I like the new Batsuit at the end which looked the closest to the Tim Burton Batsuit.

What I Disliked: The ending of the Batman vs. Batman in the Batcave, it was too easy and Azrael got off way too easy. Two Face getting released on a name technicality was really hard to believe, number one is was a former District Attorney and number two half of his face is covered in acid burns. The name is Harvey Kent it was pretty ridiculous.

Recommendation: Knightsend had the best Volume 1 and 2, my favorite single volume is Knightfall Part 1, But this is the best of the Knightfall graphic novels. As a kid I started reading the series but fell off, it’s a lot of comics on a 12 and 13 year-old allowance. It has been fun to revisit as an adult. I rated Batman: Knightfall Volume 3 Knightsend by Chuck Dixon 4 out of 5 stars. This book was really close to 4.5 stars but not enough to push it up to 5 stars. The series as a whole I would give a 4 out of 5 star, there was only one volume in the series that was 3 stars with the rest being 4 stars.

Descendant Machine Blog Tour

Dear Readers, I have been asked to join the Descendant Machine Blog Tour by Titan Books. With my review date set on April 14th 2023.

Descendant Machine by Gareth L. Powell is a new Science Fiction novel. Where 75 Years in the future the Earth will be at war and on the verge of armageddon, but as the missiles flew at the and entity was watching and stepped in. A scientist just hours before had found the substrate a way of which to travel from place to place over distance. Years after this event all earthlings are placed on giant arks traveling through the substrate searching light years in the future for a new home. The meet new creatures in distant lands as the arks try to maintain a piece of home. This book is labeled as Continuance #2 but you do not have to read the first book to enjoy this one it is just from the same world I have just described.

I read the first book in Continuance series called Stars and Bones, here’s some of my initial thoughts on it. Stars and Bones by Gareth L. Powell is a science fiction with about the worlds survival after earth has already blown up. The novels plot is half the science fiction horror movie Life meets half of 2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke. This novel gets pretty brutal and no one is safe. The pace of the novel is good as you and the character’s race for time and answers. The big Science Fiction ideas get a little heady but I felt I was able to follow along pretty well. The backstory for the plot and how the earthlings got to this moment in time was the highlight. Stars and Bones was brutal and gory at times as bodies are broken apart and reformed not always in the right way making them nightmare creatures.

Stars and Bones was on my best of list for books published in 2022, So I’m really hoping Descendant Machine lives up to it.

This is my first book tour in my 5 years of book reviewing so thank you to Titan Books for including me.

Book Review: Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage

Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage is a crazy psychological thriller about the most dysfunctional relationship between a mother and a child ever. The plot will get compared to The Omen, the Richard Donner film from the 1970’s, but where that plot involved a supernatural presence this book does not which makes it a little scarier. The writing in Baby Teeth is really great with a lot of really clever metaphors and passages. The pace of the book is really fast and very hard to put down. The theme and meaning running through the book is selfishness which all main characters have and is manifested in different ways: selfishness in career, selfishness in alone time, and selfishness of love. You could make arguments for which character was the most selfish. The psychological aspect of the book is done really well and is explained that even this C student in Psychology can understand. Hanna is a 7 year-old mute and a big part of the book relies on reading her gestures, which are described so well. I was never lost on what she was trying to convey. The ending was a little underwhelming I think it worked for the story but I was left wanting a little more. This story is crazy in a good way and goes to shocking places. Baby Teeth is no holds barred in its’ brutality but it works and seems plausible in the narrative that Zoje Stage has set up. I can totally see the character of Suzette on the am I the asshole reddit forum for what Hanna is doing to her. I think this book would be an interesting study for a Psychology class discussion. Baby Teeth was published by St. Martin’s Press in August 9 2018.

Plot Summary: Hanna is 7 and a mute by choice which would drive any parent a little crazy. Suzette is the mom that is losing her identity and having a hard time connecting to her daughter. She worries more about failing as a parent then connecting with her child, but Hanna doesn’t make it easy. Hanna thinks her mom is her mortal enemy and in competition for her daddy’s love. There is no sharing his love in her eyes; she needs it all. The only way she can achieve that is by removing her mother by any means necessary. Hanna’s dad is totally oblivious to all of this, as he is focused on his career and likes being a part-time dad. Hanna imagines herself in a fairy tale that must kill her evil mother to gain the love of her father. This book is crazy and this summary just scratches the surface of the plot for this book.

What I Liked: How crazy this book goes, and it just keeps ramping it up. I like the fairy tale aspect of the book and how it can get twisted by Hanna who thinks of herself as the hero and an innocent victim. The humor in this book is wicked but there’s a good deal of uncomfortable and awkward humor like Hanna walking in during sex. I really like how selfishness was explored in the book. The book took time to explain the psychology so the reader can grasp what is going on. The tension is all the way through this novel, and rarely lets up. The writing is so good, I was really impressed with a number of passages that were so brutal but also beautiful. The main characters are all well developed, and at various parts of the book you really care and sympathize with all of them.

What I Disliked: The ending while I will say the ending worked it is a whimper of an ending when I was expecting a bang. I was left slightly satisfied but still wanting more. Like a flash forward into the future or if this was a true horror one more chance to enact revenge.

Recommendation: This book is crazy and I totally recommend you check it out. This book will not be for everyone and is a true horror story to expecting mothers. But maybe this book can be a litmus test for bad children, like you think your kid is bad read this. I can not say enough about the writing and narrative. I rated Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage 5 out 5 stars. This was my first read for Zoje Stage and will not be my last. I was given a free copy of Mothered through Netgalley and intend to read it soon.

TBR: April 2023

April 2023 TBR list: last month I read 5 books 1 under my average of 6 books. I feel like I have been in a reading slump and it is finally over. I hope to read more than 6 but don’t want to jinx myself by listing more.

Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage is a crazy book about a dysfunctional relationship between a mother and daughter.  One is determined to kill the other for daddy’s love.  Hanna is 7 years-old and wants her mother Suzette dead. This novel is the a psychological version of the Omen, where it is not the devil making her do but something real and deeply emotional.  A crazy psychological thriller like never before. I did get a free copy of her next book Mothered by Netgally but wanted to read this one first.

Descendant Machine by Gareth L. Powell is a fast paced science fiction adventure.  Trying to prevent a galactic devastation a woman must do it by sneaking aboard an alien mega shift with her ex and an AI ship she’s at odds with.  Last year Stars and Bones by Gareth L. Powell was on my top ten books of the year, so I’m really looking forward to this book.  I was emailed by the publisher and given an advanced copy of Descendant Machine thanks to Titan Books through Netgalley. Descendant Machine by Gareth L. Powell is Published on April 11 2023.

In the Life of Puppets by TJ Klune is a futuristic take inspired by Pinocchio.  Instead of Pinocchio being a puppet it is about robots.  It’s about three robots instead of one. Those that follow my blog know how much I love TJ Klune especially The House in the Cerulean Sea which I think is a fantastic perfect love story.  This book like all his books feature characters and love from LGTBQ community.  TJ Klune is a gifted storyteller an I look forward to reading the advanced copy given to me from Tor Books and Netgally. In the Life of Puppets by TJ Klune is published on April 25 2023.

Chainfire by Terry Goodkind is Book 8 in the Sword of Truth Series.  This time after a tough battle Richard gets injured and when he wakes up he looks for his wife Kahlan who nobody else can still remember. This is a fun epic fantasy that I have been reading with my Mother-in-law and my Father–in-law.

Batman: Knightfall Volume 3 – Knightsend the epic conclusion to the major batman story of the 90’s where Batman Bruce Wayne is has ad his back broken by Bane and has to find another successor, but the successor he has found John Paul Valley Azrael is his own kind of monster than doesn’t do the no kill thing that Batman is based on. He must be stopped but is Bruce Wayne ready for that fight with the younger Batman that is now in an armored suit and wants to kill.

Goosebumps – The Abominable Snowman of Pasadena by R. L. Stine is Goosebumps book 38 in the original series order.  2 kids that live in hot Pasadena dream of a real winter, their father is going to Alaska for work and the kids want to come too, but there’s a catch they have to film the Abominable Snowman. A fun series that I read with my 3 nephews.

Wrap Up: March 2023 Book Reviews

Dear Readers, March was a pretty good month I feel like I broke my reading slump spell at the end as I’m reading two book currently and almost finished for a good start to April. I did not complete my goal of 6 books this month, I read only 5. I read 2 horror, 1 mystery, I science fiction and 1 new release thanks to Netgalley. I read 4 books from a book series Goosebumps ,Harry Bosch Universe, Batman Knightfall. And Star Trek Vangaurd I read one 5 star book, two 4 star books, and two 3 star books.

Five Star Reviews:

Goosebumps – The Headless Ghost by R. L. Stine is a good old fashioned ghost story. The Headless Ghost is Goosebumps book 37 in the original series order. The story of the ghost and how he became headless is really great and scary, reminded me of a good campfire ghost story. The story takes place at Hill House which is an homage to the Shirley Jackson ghost story The Haunting of Hill House. This story is focused from the beginning and one of the best paced Goosebumps. The story is spooky and the danger feels real. The two co-leads Stephanie and Duane felt like good friends that really cared about each other. The twist at the end was pretty good and went with the story pretty well. This story is a personal one for me, as I can remember reading this story to bed for one of my little sister.

Four Star Reviews:

A Darkness More Than Night by Michael Connelly is a team up novel of 3 of Michael Connelly’s characters that have had their own books. A Darkness More Than Night is part procedural and part court room drama. The book is an interesting team up between Mc Caleb who sees the world more black and white and Bosch who sees the world more grey. The morality of the two is tested when all signs point to Harry Bosch having stepped over the line, and murdered a horrible person that escaped justice based on a technicality. The pace of the book is a little slow Terry McCaleb is a very detailed investigator and goes over stuff more than Bosch which slows down the pace, once Harry Bosch is involved the story moves faster. The ending was fairly satisfying. There’s a really good reveal at the end with some of Connelly’s best writing.

Star Trek: Summon the Thunder by Dayton Ward and Kevin Dilmore is the second book in the 9 book Star Trek Vangaurd series. This book takes place very soon after Harbinger by David Mack ended. This book does not feature anyone from the Star Trek the Original series, like the last one did, but with events that happened in this book Kirk, Scotty, Chekov, and Uhura will all return in the series soon. The event of this book take place in the far reaches of space between The Klingon Empire and Tholian space on Starbase 47 also called Vangaurd. The Starfleet mission is set up to look like a peace keeping mission, but really the Starfleet Federation is looking at a higher life form and a potential weapon. The first book had a lot of internal conflict and character development, this book continues the conflict but loses some of the character development. This book had more action than the first.

Three Star Reviews:

All Hallows by Christopher Golden is a Halloween horror that takes place in 1984. The story is slow paced for about 70% of the story then goes at rapid pace and doesn’t stop until the end. The horror and the gore when we finally get there is intense and no holds barred. The narrative of the story consist of 15 perspectives which for the most part is families parents and children. This was an element I did not care for it was too much too soon, I had a real hard time keeping up with who was related to who and who was friends with who. It was pretty messy, until the 50% mark then I was able to put it together. I felt the parents were a lot more memorable than the kids, and generally liked most of their stories over the kids who at the beginning only one kid really stuck out. I felt the lore was lazy and missing a lot for me to by the premiss. This book was almost a do not finish but the last half was actually good and finally caught my interest. The finale has some good moments and gets pretty intense. Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin Press for giving me a free copy to review. All Hallows was published on January 24 2023.

Batman: Knightfall Volume 2 -Knightquest by Chuck Dixon continues the long saga of Knightfall the big Batman DC Comics event of the 90’s. Batman -Bruce Wayne has been broken by Bane and he handed the reigns over John Paul who was Arzael a conflicted hero. John Paul turns the batsuit into a dangerous weapon with a full redesign, he beats Bane and starts his crusade to take Gotham back all the while not using the same rules. This starts Knightquest! The comics are all leading to something but it is really unfocused, and when it gets to the end I don’t know if it was totally earned. It reminds me of the current MCU, the first phases were so focused all leading to a big event like the first volume of Knightfall, then phase 4 was a mess with no direction like the second volume of Knightfall. I did like where the volume ended up and think this is the best direction for the final volume of the series. This volume was missing a lot of notable villains, it featured Joker, Catwoman, Clayface III and Lady Clayface.

Book Review: A Darkness More Than Night by Michael Connelly

A Darkness More Than Night by Michael Connelly is a team up novel of 3 of Michael Connelly’s characters that have had their own books, Harry Bosch who has had 6 books so far (The Black Echo, The Black Ice, The Concrete Blonde, The Last Coyote, Trunk Music, and Angels Flight), Terry McCaleb was previously in Blood Work, and Jack McEvoy from The Poet. This is more of a Terry McCaleb book than Harry Bosch who is more of a supporting cast or Jack McEvoy who is like a guest star. A Darkness More Than Night is part procedural and part court room drama. The book is an interesting team up between Mc Caleb who sees the world more black and white and Bosch who sees the world more grey. The morality of the two is tested when all signs point to Harry Bosch having stepped over the line, and murdered a horrible person that escaped justice based on a technicality. The pace of the book is a little slow Terry McCaleb is a very detailed investigator and goes over stuff more than Bosch which slows down the pace, once Harry Bosch is involved the story moves faster. The ending was fairly satisfying. There’s a really good reveal at the end with some of Connelly’s best writing. Since this book is a team up I would recommend reading The Last Coyote, The Poet, and Blood Work to get you caught up on the characters both instances in the books are brought up. A Darkness More Than Night’s plot was used in Season 3 of Bosch the TV show on Amazon Prime. A Darkness More Than Night by Michael Connelly was published on March 1 2002 by Warner Books.

Plot Summary: Three Years After Terry McCaleb solved his last case in Blood Work he has continued to retire from the FBI and to police work in Catolina Island and has a charter business with Buddy and has a brand new baby. Jaye Winston who was a big help in solving the blood work case is stuck on a new case the murder of Gunn and needs a second set of eyes. Terry agrees and is struck the sight of a stuffed owl in the crime scene photo, even more curiouser when he looks at the crime scene in person it is missing. In Terry’s work one of the last people to see the deceased was Harry Bosch a detective Terry has worked with years ago when he was in the FBI, he knows Bosch is a good detective but often skirts the rules. Harry has been perusing the victim Gunn for years, and believes he escaped justice years earlier. Terry find the Owl and finds it is an omen to justice in a famous painter work Hieronymus Bosch which is Harry’s real name. Has Bosch stepped over the line too far.

What I Liked: The Dynamic of Terry and Harry being opposites the of law and order. I liked the Climax both the action and the court room battle. I liked the court room scenes especially the cross examination. The final confrontation between Terry and Harry is one of the best scenes that Connelly has written so far, such a good character review of Bosch. I liked the connection Terry and Bosch have with the name of Terry’s new born. I thought the research on the painter Hieronymus Bosch was really interesting with how it fit with the case. I like Harry admitting to a murder he feels deeply responsible for in The Last Coyote another person that was not a lover. I liked where the title quote comes from “A Darkness More Than Night”.

What I Disliked: Jack McEvoy was really different from his character in The Poet a reporter that would go to extreme lengths to report the truth, hardly digs on this case just accepts too much. I think his character wasn’t even needed at all. The slow pace at the beginning was really slow for a Connelly book. I really don’t like the way Terry treats Buddy, a guy that has always been there for him.

Recommendation: This book started off slow but has a really strong finish. This book is a better of the series and really ask good questions to the reader about which justice is right, where the criminal gets arrested but goes free or the one where the criminal gets murdered just like the crime he committed. The series is so great and have not read a bad book so far. This is my 9th Connelly book, as I’m reading the the Harry Bosch Universe order, and the series is so intriguing and has such great moments where it exceed the mystery genre. I give the Harry Bosch Universe series a 4 star rating out of 5 so far. I rated A Darkness More Than Night By Michael Connelly 4 out of 5. Harry Bosch Universe Book reading book order so far 1) the Black Echo, 2) The Black Ice, 3) The Concrete Blonde, 4) The Last Coyote, 5) The Poet, 6) Trunk Music, 7) Angels Flight, 8) Blood Work and A Darkness More Than Night. The order in which I rank them from best to worst is 1) The Poet, 2) Angels Flight, 3)Concrete Blonde, 4) The Black Ice, 5) A Darkness More Than Night, 6) Trunk Music, 7) The Last Coyote, 8) Blood Work, and 9) The Black Echo.

Book Reveiws: Goosebumps – The Headless Ghost by R. L. Stine

Goosebumps – The Headless Ghost by R. L. Stine is a good old fashioned ghost story. The Headless Ghost is Goosebumps book 37 in the original series order. The story of the ghost and how he became headless is really great and scary, reminded me of a good campfire ghost story. The story takes place at Hill House which is an homage to the Shirley Jackson ghost story The Haunting of Hill House. This story is focused from the beginning and one of the best paced Goosebumps. The story is spooky and the danger feels real. The two co-leads Stephanie and Duane felt like good friends that really cared about each other. The twist at the end was pretty good and went with the story pretty well. This story is a personal one for me, as I can remember reading this story to bed for one of my little sister. I have read the Goosebumps stories in order and can say this story is one of the best, at the end of this review I have a full ranking of the Goosebumps books I have read so far. The Headless Ghost was published by Scholastic Inc. on November 1 1995.

Plot Summary: Duane and Stephanie are best friends because of their love of horror and scaring others. There favorite place to go is Hill House that has a ghost tour and is rumored to be haunted by a headless ghost. We hear the story of how the ghost lost his head and is still searching for it today. Stephanie and Duane get the idea to break away from the tour and find the head, but when they do they learn that ghost are real and they might just loose their own heads.

What I Liked: The ghost story with in the story is R. L. Stine best writing, it was super spooky and a good story. The pace of the story is nonstop and a hard book to put down, I read it in one setting I think I have only done that 7 times out of 37, so the story is good. The friendship was really good and worked really well. The empty room with all the voices was never explained but pretty spooky. I felt the descriptions were really good and the story was easy to picture. This story had nothing that could date it, some of Stine’s story’s are so 90’s but this one was pretty timeless. The only thing of pop culture mentioned in a Minnie watch but their still around.

What I Disliked: There’s about 4 pranks in this story and most of them work but the first one is a little lame. But that is it this story is really solid.

Recommendations: This story is one of the best Goosebumps that I have read it is scary, very atmospheric, and claustrophobic, you and the kids feel trapped in the haunted house. The story is great and Stine’s writing is at it’s best. I recommend you seek out this story. I rated The Haunted Ghost by R. L. Stine 5 out of 5 stars. Here’s my full ranking of the 37 Goosebumps books that I have read in order to my favorite to least favorite: 1) A Night in Terror Tower, 2) Stay Out of the Basement, 3) The Headless Ghost, 4) Ghost Beach, 5) Piano Lessons Can Be Murder, 6) The Haunted Mask, 7) The Horror at Camp Jellyjam, 8) One Day At Horrorland, 9) Night of the Living Dummy, 10) Welcome to Camp Nightmare, 11) A Shocker on Shock Street, 12)The Phantom of the Auditorium, 13) It Came From Beneath the Sink, 14) The Curse of the Mummy’s Tomb, 15) Say Cheese and Die, 16) Let’s Get Invisible, 17) The Scarecrow Walks at Midnight, 18) Welcome to Dead House, 19) Monster Blood II, 20) The Girl who Cried Monster, 21)Deep Trouble, 22) The Ghost Next Door, 23)Night of the Living Dummy 2, 24) My Hairiest Adventure, 25) Be Careful What You Wish For… , 26) Return of the Mummy, 27) Why I’m Afraid of Bees, 28)The Haunted Mask II, 29)Attack of the Mutant, 30) Go Eat Worms!, 31) Revenge of the Lawn Gnomes, 32)The Werewolf of Fever Swamp, 33) Cuckoo Clock of Doom, 34) Monster Blood, 35) The Barking Ghost, 36) You Can’t Scare Me!, and 37) Monster Blood III.

Book Review: Star Trek: Summon the Thunder by Dayton Ward and Kevin Dilmore

Star Trek: Summon the Thunder by Dayton Ward and Kevin Dilmore is the second book in the 9 book Star Trek Vangaurd series. This book takes place very soon after Harbinger by David Mack ended. This book does not feature anyone from the Star Trek the Original series, like the last one did, but with events that happened in this book Kirk, Scotty, Chekov, and Uhura will all return in the series soon. The event of this book take place in the far reaches of space between The Klingon Empire and Tholian space on Starbase 47 also called Vangaurd. The Starfleet mission is set up to look like a peace keeping mission, but really the Starfleet Federation is looking at a higher life form and a potential weapon. The first book had a lot of internal conflict and character development, this book continues the conflict but loses some of the character development. This book had more action than the first but did not always do the best job describing it. This story had a great beginning but lost momentum in the middle a little bit and pulled out a decent ending that made me want to read more. The Shedai Wanderer has some great action scenes and seems like a really interesting character that could be the enemy or really misunderstood. Star Trek: Vangaurd 2 Summon the Thunder was published by Pocket Books on July 1 2006.

Plot Summary: The spaceship the Endeavour is on a mission to check out a power source and possible weapon that was discovered in the last book on the ice planet Erilon. The surface team thinks they are investigating a dormant planet with a power source beneath the planet until they are attacked both on the surface and in the air. The Klingons are searching the same thing on another planet as they are attacked on the surface and in air, but this time the end result is different with the Shedai against the battle hardened Klingons. Also to make things more interesting the Romulans curious abut what is going on see the power of the weapon first hand. Things get messy as the Vanguard sets up peace talks while hiding what they know of power of Shedai.

What I Liked: The political intrigue was told really well and made more interesting by the Romulans join the fight. The Quinn and Pennington adventure was fun and I liked a twist element that was in the story. Both these characters were my favorite of the last book, they are not in too many scenes but make the most when involved. I liked Reyes finally letting his lover and second in command know the truth. I like the science of the crystalline material. I liked the Shedai and how it operates, it is not explained really well until the second battle. I liked the Romulan involvement and really liked all the scenes they were in. The Reyes and Pennington scene really good writing in that scene.

What I Disliked: The first battle on Erilon was a mess and I feel was not described well at all. I had a real hard time picturing it. There is no line break or anything when the narrative switches characters with in the chapter, it was really annoying and done at least 3 times. T’Prynn knows someone is a spy but did not seem to know this in the first book and doesn’t include the reader in how they found out or how long they have know it kind of came out of nowhere and didn’t even act like it was a big deal, when to the narrative it is a really big deal. Dropped the ball a bit in character development for this novel, when it was really excellent in the first.

Recommendations: This is a solid second novel in a series, that adds onto what was started in the first book. This book had a lot more action 2 big battles and one smaller one. The character were rarely developed further but David Mack did such a good job in the first I noticed it more than I perhaps would’ve. The story overall was good and made me want to read more of the series. The next book David Mack returns which makes me really excited for the series. I rated Star Trek: Summon the Thunder by Dayton Ward and Kevin Dilmore 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Book review: Batman: Knightfall Volume 2 -Knightquest by Chuck Dixon

Batman: Knightfall Volume 2 -Knightquest by Chuck Dixon continues the long saga of Knightfall the big Batman DC Comics event of the 90’s. This volume is loaded with 694 pages of comics. Batman -Bruce Wayne has been broken by villain Bane and he handed the reigns over John Paul Valley who was Arzael a conflicted hero an ex-assassin. John Paul turns the Batsuit into a dangerous weapon with a full redesign making him look like an angry robot, he beats Bane and starts his crusade to take Gotham back from the Darkness all the while not using the same rules. This starts Knightquest! The comics are all leading to something but it is really unfocused, and when it gets to the end I don’t know if it was totally earned. It reminds me of the current MCU, the first phases were so focused all leading to a big event like the first volume of Knightfall, then phase 4 was a mess with no direction like the second volume of Knightfall. I did like where the volume ended up and think this is the best direction for the final volume of the series. This volume was missing a lot of notable villains, it featured Joker, Catwoman, Clayface III and Lady Clayface, the rest of the villains are throw away villains with the creators having fun one group of villains is a punk spoof on the Three Stooges, the other is two twin gunslingers. The tension between John Paul and Tim Drake -Red Robin is interesting but over too soon. The pace moves okay, though the long storyline involving the villain Abattoir gets played out really fast and the story should not have been 9 issues long. Batman: Knightfall Volume 2 – Knightquest collects Detective Comics #667-675, Shadow of the Bat #19-20, #24-28, Batman #501-508, Catwoman #6-7 and Robin #7. Batman: Knightfall Volume 2 – Knightquest was published in May 1 2012.

Plot Summary: John Paul has just defeated Bane and cemented his role as the new Batman. Bruce is off on a mission to bring Tim Drake’s father back that maybe Bane’s people took and he has left Red Robin to watch over, only the new Batman works alone and nearly kills Robin to keep him away and has started fortifying the Bat Cave so only he has an entrance. Batman’s first test is a twin gunslingers that come to town to cause trouble and rob the money train, The new Batman prefers to travel by a new Batmobile that runs on subway and incline rails. Batman has drawn the attention of the Joker who knows the new Batman is a fake and wants to kill him for a movie he is directing. Catwoman is back in Gotham and part of a nerve gas plot. This story is the best as the new Batman sees only Catwoman as a criminal and not how the original Batman came to see here as a petty criminal but not someone who would harm others. Abattoir who kills mostly his family and does a blood ritual to gain more power escaped from Arkham and is a relative to the Mayor of Gotham that he wants dead, Batman must stop this plot using any means necessary. One of the relatives who is in prison and father to the mayor makes thinks more crazy as he puts a hit on Abattoir. Batman is pushed to his limits and starts seeing visions of his father who wanted to turn him into an assassin before the original Batman stepped in start leading his thoughts on his quest to take Gotham out of the darkness by any means necessary making himself the villain in some peoples eyes.

What I Liked: I like how the title Knightquest works since John Paul Valley is on a crusade much like his Templar ancestry Saint Dumas and the order he serves. I liked the visions and how the ghost of John Paul Valley’s father has a different view then the original Saint Dumas who end up fighting for control of Batman’s quest. The tension between the new Batman and a robin that he clearly does not want was great I felt this moment could have been stretched, but I like where the tension eventually ends up in a pretty good fight. I liked the Catwoman story and the story where Commissioner Gordon stands up and wants nothing to do with the new Batman that he knows is not the same person. I like that John Paul only lives in the Batcave and let Wayne Manor go to pieces. The Twin Shooters won me over I did not like them at first but ended up enjoying their 3 issue arc. I did really like the end of this volume and what it means for the final volume of Knightfall.

What I Disliked: Abattoir as this volumes big bad, he stinks and was not interesting at all. He was worthy of an issue or two not 9 issues. I was happy to see this villain on the worst villains of Batman list. Batman needed more established villains to go wait this is not the same Batman I’ve been battling for years he’s different and to see how that played out. The dropped story line of Catwoman went to South America on Bruce Wayne’s private plane to learn more about Bane and is back in Gotham with no mention, maybe it was explained somewhere else but not here. Bane even though he’s defeated should have still been involved in the story some how since events that were involving him are still playing out.

Recommendation: This book could have been better, but the whole Knightfall story is still worth it. I don’t think reading all the comics included in this collection are necessary, some barely move the main story along at all. I rated Batman: Knightfall Volume 2 -Knightquest by Chuck Dixon 3 out of 5 stars. This book has been the weakest in the series so far with Volume 1 and the Prelude being better and more focused.