[Kinda Book Report] Jeanne La Male Reine Vol 2

Continuing the story of Jeanne. Following the death of Philippe The Fair, Jeanne now goes from being a relunctant manipulator to a full-on schemer. She does horrible things to work to get the throne.

I mean... horrible...

Now several points presented here are conjectures and accusations that were leveled against her. Still, they are presented here in the most natural of ways. Namely the fate of Charles IV's son (the only legitimate grandson of Philippe Le Bel).

This book also presents the situation of the Salic Law, wherein the French Crown may only be passed through the male line, skipping females. With several strong cadet branches of the royal family, many of whom had decent claims to the throne - Valois, Artois, Bourgogne. The situation is primed for conflict.

In the 1314-25 period, Philippe had 3 sons, who would each succeed to him on the throne, none of them having a legitimate son to succeed him. They died in strange circumstances - leading to a famous French series of books "Les Rois Maudits" by Maurice Druon (The Cursed Kings).

That period would see the end of the Capetian Dynasty (which ruled for ~340 years) and see the rise of the Valois Dynasty (which would rule for another ~270). Even though the Comte de Valois was Philippe Le Bel's brother, this was a massive shift in the power dynamics of the kingdom.

Orchestrated by... Yup. Jeanne.

Wherein tome 1, she may come across as someone forced by circumstances, this is not longer the case. We find a woman in full control of herself, who makes all the men around her dance to her tune.

I really like France Richemond's treatment of history (which brought me to this series). Making this tale interesting and exciting. Jeanne is a plotter, but so are the many great matrons of the era, and they play for and against each other with a finesse that is delightful.

For those who thought women were useless dainty little flowers... They can be... Jeanne.

The Art and the storytelling... 5/5!

[Kinda Book Report] Jeanne La Male Reine Vol 1

Jeanne La Male Reine translate to Evil Queen Joan

The English-speaking world knows about the War of the Roses. A similar dynastic drama happened in France 150 years before, when King Philippe IV Le Bel (the Fair), a harsh man by all accounts ruled. The House of Valois had ruled for ~340 years at that point. The King had 3 sons, and a daughter (who would be Queen of England), his rule and continuation assured.

Played against the events that led to the Avignon Papacy, the arrest and trials of the Knights Templar, the imprisonment of the Princesses (where Philippe's daughters-in-law were accused of adultery, all three of them!), and the death of the king and rise of his son Louis X le Hutin (the Quarrelsome).

Our story focused on Jeanne who is born with a foot defect that leaves her lame her whole life. Intelligent and charming, her family has a hard time finding her a husband because of her condition.

Then one day, she meets Philippe de Valois, Philippe Le Bel's nephew (by his brother).

Our story has her make a pact with the devil's envoy to marry Philippe de Valois. And the two have a very loving relationship - something most other noblewomen admit jealousy towards her as they love. Jeanne embraces her role as an agent of the devil.

We close the story on Jeanne admitting to her husband that she wants to be Queen. He doesn't refuse, saying that "We are happier and freer as we are now..."

If I have one criticism of this story is that it sometimes go by REALLY quickly with major elements advancing time really quickly. But the art and the story is quite interesting and draws you in.

This is a clear 4.5/5, but due to math, I have to round up to 5/5.

[Kinda Book Report] Marvel Spider-Woman Essential Vol 1

I got the book at a sizeable discount about a character I knew only through her appearance in Freedom Force in the 80s. Turns out it wasn't even the same Spider-Woman! Oh well...

This is a strange book with a character that doesn't seem to know what she's about.

The first five-ish issues deal with her being a former Hydra agent, a girl injected with spider DNA and evolved. She deals with things, but isn't the one doing most of the work.

Then she gets involved with several magic stories - Morded (no R), Morgana le Fey, and a Merlin-like figure, while she has no magic abilities herself. We follow up with a "slice of life" story, until she becomes a bounty hunter, chasing random criminals. Each time, the cast around her changes completely.

Unlike Ms Marvel who had a life, a love life, and villains. Spider-Woman has none of these. Her life changes completely every 5-ish issues. The major villains - the Brothers Grim - are dealt with and done once revealed.

This is a character in search of a reason to exist. Were it not for the competent art, this would be a pile of hot garbage.

I will settle on 2/5 mostly because the art is nice. And Spider-Woman is a hottie...

[Kinda Book Review] Dragonlance: The Inheritance

I picked up a several cheap book in the bargain bin of my local library.

It tells the tale of the meeting of Tanis Half-elven's parents. It's not an adventure novel. It's a romance.

It is full of filler Did you know the stonelands were dry? Because there's no water. There are rocks. No rivers. Because it's dry. There are caves. Caves without water. It's barren. The goblins live there. The hobgoblin has three villages. The goblin villages. Without water.

Now, to be honest, the one battle I read through was well written an interesting, but this is a book that spend so much time trying to explain the world around it because its premise is weak and limited. This should've been a short story.

I stopped reading it because I lost interest in the characters. I don't care for the poor kidnapped princess. Or the bandits. It's just... Pfffff Boring. Well-crafted but ultimately not something that's worth my time.

2/5.

The caves are dry. Because there's no water. With rocks. No stream. Not a single farm. In the Stoneland where it's dry. With the three goblin villages.

[Kinda Book Review] Dragonlance Tales v3 Love and War

This is a collection of ten tales set in Dragonlance is a mixed bag. I believe the best tale is the first one. The headline tale, "Raistlin's Daughter" left me indifferent.

One thing this collection brought up is that the characters from the original Chronicles: Tas, Flint, Sturm, and Raistlin, have had so many tales told about them that we know they have plot armor. No matter how much a story puts any of them in danger will I ever really worry for their lives.

As a collection, it's a mixed bag. Not great.

Rating? 2/5. Read the first tale, and skip the rest.

[Kinda Book Report] Marvel X-Factor Essential Vol 1

I first read this compilation back in 2019 (you can check out some of my thoughts in this classic post). However, in those days, I did not provide a more in-depth review.

The re-creation of X-Factor and the return of Jean Grey always fascinated me. I loved Phoenix as a character and her return prompted several questions. This tome answered them. It brought back the five original X-men: Angel, Beast, Cyclops, Iceman, and Marvel Girl under the guise of a group of mutant hunters.

Let's be honest, the idea sounded stupid to me as a child, and it still sounds dumb to me today...

Cyclops has a great storyline, with him leaving his wife and son for Jean. But for most of the issues, Angel, Beast, and Iceman are background characters who don't do much.

The highlight of this, beyond the return of Jean Grey, is the Mutant Massacre (of which I raved in this post). However, when I re-read the X-Factor-specific parts... I found it lacking and not as interesting as the X-Men. (X-Men vol 6 provided full context and was more exciting).

I liked it, but I think after going through an X-Men marathon... It wasn't as good. I waffled between a 3 and 4/5. I'll settle on a 3/5 mostly because I don't think it's as good as several other 4s out there.

[Kinda Book Report] Elminster in Myth Drannor by Ed Greenwood

Ed Greenwood is a giant in the world of D&D. as the creator of the massively-successful Forgotten Realms. His slate of adventures for TSR are a mixed bag, but most are good enough. I had never been exposed to his fiction before (I am not a big fan of D&D litterature).

This book did not endear me to either.

Things happen randomly and the plot armor reaches deific level. Litterally. Most of the book is complete, boring filler as he goes around from one random event to another, meeting random NPCs. And their events are best described as "the GM rolls random shit and you see it."

- The names.... the long, unpronounceable name
- The many, many, many characters whose importance is dubious
- Exactly what happens in parts is difficult
- Elminster changes sex (and back) for no reason
- NPCs get major introduction then get kill off then come back to life only to die(?) again.
- The Epilogue is where the important and interesting event happens, even if what is happening is not fully clear.
- But then we are introduced to NPCs we never heard from before (or after).

Now... I would have dropped this book one third of the way in. BUT it did something that I found I could apply to my own current novel, the sequel to One Hundred Daughters. The characters introduced to be disposed of later. In my own book, I use this to expand and present elements the main characters would not know, yet provide the reader with the information to better understand the situation.

The funniest part of this was that my wife kept telling me to "Stop reading it if you don't like it" every night when I picked it up to read a few pages.

[Kinda Book Review] Essential Avengers Vol 6

The Avengers are a constantly revolving door of a group. There are some stories that are very exciting... but this is not it. It's an in-between set of stories with a LOT of exposition that happens between the events of the major characters' own albums.

For 4-5 issues (2 of them 'Giant-Sized Avengers') they go about talking about the backstories of two characters: the Vision (some interest) and Mantis (not interesting). And It's long. I mean... boringly long, with the people talking and looking as they travel through time... GUH!

I hoped that Kang's appearance would add some interest, but not really. The death of the Swordsman also added nothing (he's back in 1 issue-ish). Captain America shows up, just to tell us of the cool stuff in his title.

Frankly, it was not TERRIBLE, but it wasn't good.

I will rank this a 2/5. It's much more boring than a 3.

[Kinda Book Report] Beowulf

I received this a few years ago from Santa. Beowulf is a poem that is VERY interesting. I got a modern interpretation and will be honest in saying that I was hesitant to read a poem. I dislike poetry, it's just... not my thing. Any interest in it was crushed in Secondary 4 (10th grade)... Long ago...

Now we all know the story of Beowulf. A prince of the Geats who goes to Hroathar's hall and defeats Grendel, then Grendel's mother.

Now, I will admit that I found myself enjoying this book much more than I thought.

What I learned about the story is that it is one of the only book in Old English rescued from ~700AD. There are nods to a richer litterary tradition that is now lost to us. References to people we don't know about anymore. Links to events we forget about. I did not know that. There is so much we just do not know about it.

The story is well-known, but reading as close to the source material as possible is awesome. Gives you a snapshot of mankind in the past. What people thought at the time... What was important to them. What they believed. And Beowulf is no exception.

Not much more to say... I liked it. I would give it a 3.5, which rounds out to 4/5.

Grendel is the topic of one of my inspirational songs... From this post from 2015

[Kinda Book Report] African Samurai by Thomas Lockley and Geoffrey Girard

I got this book in a trade for one of mine. I was interested in learning more about Yasuke, the African Samurai. Where do I begin to talk about how bad this book is... And how much I got screwed in the deal.

First off, it is more interested in not offending modern audiences and apologizing rather than explaining the realities of the era and letting the reader discern what he wants to think about it.

Second, we are presented with the history of a minor character among several very interesting characters. In fairness, they list their sources at the end and admit most of it is made up of conjecture.

Yasuke is presented as a Gary-Lou. He's always perfect. Makes the right thing. Does the right thing. Is on the right side of decisions all the time. Things always turns out right for him, except where the sources explicitly tell us.

All Europeans are presented as two-dimensional, moustache-twirling villains with dark ulterior motives for everything they do.

The "ending" include a number of fan-fiction possibilities of what may have happened to Yasuke.

In one section, I woke up my wife because they spend 2 pages arguing whether Yasuke was gay, but without proof - which they admit later. Pure speculation and conjecture. Most of this book is just that... Speculative fiction.

Did Yasuke exist? Yes?

Did most of what in this book happen? Maybe...

I would have up-voted with if this was the 10-page book of real material about Yasuke, not a 472 page book. I hope to get something from the secondhand bookstore.

In short, this is book is garbage. 1/5. I could not wait to be done with it.

[Kinda Book Report] The Red Star Vol 2

A dieselpunk Russia? Yes! A post WWII what-if tale? Yes! Interesting weapons? Yes!

I'm in.

But what I got was a wonderful sketchbook from a talented artist and a story that's hard to follow and in the end... unsatisfactory.

If this had "40k" or "Warmachine" on the cover (Khador especially), I would have rated this higher. But I'm tried to make sense of the plot, the characters, what happened before. But no. I had to read and massive two-page spreads (remember the sketchbook comment) with bits of text spread across the page.

Never heard of this? Yeah, there's a reason.

Tanks falling and people getting shot - or not. I didn't care. Then this goddess-like appears to talk to characters who I don't know. Oh yeah and there are non-linear timeline in parts of it all.

I got ripped off by the local library, having paid 2$ for this!

1/5. Garbage.

[Kinda Book Report] New Mutants 2019 Vol 1 by Marvel Comics

So you should know by now that I like the X-men! The New Mutants were a title I never got into as a child (mostly because I had to limit the number of titles I could follow). But I really liked the team and wanted to read more. They inclusion and crossover with the X-men were cool. However, there are no cheap omnibus I found...

Until this one I bought second-hand from my local library.

This is everything I hate about modern comics: Simple, predictable storylines. Shallow characters. Lack of context.

Most of the book the team "fights" against a website called "Dox" that outs mutants and their location. The first beat features a group of unknown meeting another group of unknown. No introduction to the characters or their powers. There is a lot of existential sitting around and talking. Then when the action (finally begins) there is killing aplenty.

WTF???

The only resolution we have is when the Black King (Sebastian Shaw) meets a cartel boss and slags him. The NM are nowhere involved!

The art is good. Is consistently good, but with a shitty, incoherent, and uninteresting plot. Meaningless action resolved without reason and without any forethought by the team. They're there and shit gets resolved. One time Magik arrives and teleports them all out before they get into any real trouble. It's trash.

Because of the art, I will give it a 2/5.

[Kinda Book Report] The Ships of Minos by Maciej Slomczynski

I got this book off Amazon. From the cover, I thought the author was "Joe Alex" but nope. The style within gave me the impression of a book written in a completely different language where not only the story build up but the beat itself had a different vibe. Not bad, but definitely different.

Now, this is the story of a young man from near Troy who is captured by merchants from the Levant, taken to Syria, and from there to Egypt.

The characters have surprisingly little depth and move from one place to the next in a very functional way and little in the way of internal conflicts. We are in a realm of action.

Where this book fails mostly is in setting expectation. With a title like "The Ships of Minos", you'd expect something maritime. Or that has to do with Minos. Or that deals with Crete/ the Minotaur. If you answered "Yes" to any of these, you'd be wrong on all accounts. There are two sea voyages but they happen between chapters. The only Greeks beside Whitehair, our protagonist, appear right at the end. At that time when you wonder "how is this gonna finish?"

A few things this book does real well include the descriptions of Ancient Egypt, its religion, odd religion (the faith of Sobek in particular), and the relations between the nation of Egypt and its neighbor. Another thing I found interesting was that our protagonist does not speak Egyptian and does not develop an understanding suddenly. The scenes are sometimes shown from both sides when relevant.

So this book was... not great. Will I read book 2? Nope. Did I hate it? No.

2/5 easy.

[Kinda Book Report] Ayn Rand's Red Pawn

At a convention, I received a copy of the graphic novel version of Red Pawn. A book that leaves you with questions about the exact motivations of the three main characters: a devoted communist prison warden, a stoic prisoner, and a beautiful woman in the USSR.

To keep the Beast in its post on Stotsnoy Prison on an island off the coast of Russia, the Communist Party send him a beautiful woman, and a love affair. Her arrival upends the status quo at the prison.

I won't spoil the punch but we end up with a love triangle with Joan in the middle.

The art was not great, but I really enjoyed the story, it left me wondering exactly what each of the characters thought and when. Enjoyable. So, as a rating I will settle on a 3/5. Average overall

[Kinda Book Review] Essential Xmen 7

Continuing the run of my youth... with this new chapter.

Here we start after the Mutant Massacre and it's fallout. The XMen are on the run, with many wounded mutants and team members. It's a good follow up and has some decent emotional moments.

Here the team adds Psyloche before she becomes Asian with the psychic knife. She's a blind woman with cyber eyes given to her by MOJO. That is a crazy look ahead to reality TV and 24h cycle of TV. I remember reading that in the 80s and thinking how crazy and farfetched it seemed in 87 or 88...

And now...

This book concludes with the Fall of the Mutants, which kills the xmen and returns Storm's power to her (finally). But it left an ashen taste in my mouth... I remember reading then and thinking it was cool... having missed a lot of the buildup. But while binge reading it... it feels like a quick and forced cross title. Unlike the massacre, the titles had nothing to do with each other. It was... another story...

Still no one gives a crap about Rachel...

I wondered about giving this a rating... it include the very good Fantastic Four vs Xmen where they save Shadowcat from becoming a ghost and vanish. A very good story all around...

With the highs and lows together, I will give it a 3/5.

[Kinda Book Review] La Reine Etranglee by Maurice Druon

One of the best-known series of historical fiction books in French is "Les Rois Maudits" (the Cursed Kings) which deals with King Philippe IV Le Bel (The Fair) and his children. His three sons all ascended to the throne and were the last kings of the Capetian Dynasty. Starting with Philippe VI, power shifted to the House of Valois. King Philippe Le Bel is best known for bringing an end to the Knights Templars and the trials that end with the death of the last Grandmaster. He was a massive reformer and someone with strong ideas and the personal power and charisma to get it done.

A few years back, I read the first one of the series, which started with the execution of the lords of the Templars.

I kept this one for later... Finally I sat down and read it.

The first book of the series was pretty good (oddly enough, it seems I did not put a review on this blog...). But this one... It was... Fine. Not great. As the book title indicates, deals book deals with the strangling of a queen - here Marguerite de Bourgogne (Margaret in English). Interestingly, after Philippe le Bel's death, his son Louis X (dit le Hutin or the Quarrelsome).

The book opens with the death of Philippe le Bel and the ascension of Louis X. Louis' wife Marguerite is kept in Chateau-Gaillard up the Seine River because she was found guilty of adultery (in Book 1). The plot deals with Valois and d'Artois arranging for Louis to find a second wife (Clemence de Hongrie).

My biggest issue with this is that the characters are very one-dimensional. D'Artois is manipulative, Valois is impotent, Louis is unsure of himself and quarrelsome, the Italians are affable, Blanche is candid and vapid, Marigny is honorable, and Marguerite is a defeated woman. There is little to make these people (Louis and Marguerite are the only ones with a little depth). So it's very black vs white.

This era is France's equivalent of the War of the Roses and generally fascinating. Each characters could be seen one way or another. This is not what you will find here.

I will settle on a 2/5 for this one. I enjoyed it more than most other I rated 2, but the almost cartoonish villains cheapens the interest. If I were to use this for D&D, I may bump it up to 3. But nah... it's a solid 2.

[Kinda Book Review] X-men Essential Vol 6

Still going through the first ~250 issues of the X-men and now with volume 5.

Okay... The X-men and New Mutants return to Asgard where everyone gets some cool development again. Now we have a Secret Wars II crossover with Rachel receiving the Phoenix from the Beyonder, the introduction of Mojo, Lady Deathstrike, Freedom force, and the Mutant Massacre.

Now... If you never read those comics (they cover X-men, X-Factor, New Mutants, Power Pack, and Thor), this is at once, a delight to read and an absolute horror.

The delight coming from the delicate and complicated ballet where some groups come in and out of the Morlock tunnels, in small groups, a few at a time, then exit. Others (Thor) do things that affect everyone in the tunnels.

Horror because of the subject matter. A lot of people die. Not only "unnamed morlocks" but some that are known too. Even heroes do not escape unharmed: Shadowcat becomes insubstancial, Nightcrawler in a coma, Colossus is paralysed, and Angel gets pinned to a wall.

Vicious. Brutal.

I mean being able to read the whole thing in one place was well worth the price of the cover. I could not let this down. Okay, I did because I had to sleep and go to work...

The one storyline that, again pissed me off, was Rachel. At some point, she disappears and the X-Men don't seem to care what happens to her. She leaves and they move on. Okay, the Massacre begins, but having a "Where'd Rachel go" would've been nice.

This one get a 5/5. This is a masterclass in Comic Book storytelling, across ~10 issues. When you're done, you are scarred as a reader. It's so sad...

[Kinda Book Review] Bound by Destiny by R MB Pearson

First off, let me say that I am a reader of romance stories. This story strikes all the beats you find in romance: hot girl, rich husband, destination wedding, money, a horrible event, friendships, tears, and laughs. Add complex, relatable characters, my favorites being Ron and his bros. Then add mystical forces and elements (the "bound by destiny" part...) that both serve as catalysts but that are not all-encompassing, leaving characters some measure of free will (some less than others). The magical elements flavor the story, giving it an added dimension, but it's NOT a fantasy/magical story.

But saying those elements define Bound by Destiny (BdD) would do it a disservice. I read this book several chapters at a time - getting to work late a few times.

What kept ME engaged is an artifice that RMB Pearson (RMBP) uses that made me go "MOOOOOOAARRRR!" from chapter 1: a tight and engaging story out of chronological order, told from different perspectives. It transformed what initially appeared to be a romance novel into a page-turner.

I give this book my complete total and endorsement. FIVE STARS! 5/5

This book is available from Amazon: Bound by Destiny.

[Kinda Book Review] X-men Essential Vol 5

Still going through the first ~250 issues of the X-men and now with volume 5.

This collection moves after Secret Wars 1, the arrival of Rachel (Phoenix II), a lot of Hellfire Club, Storm losing her powers, the New Mutants becoming a frequent feature, New York as a sword-and-sorcery setting, Nimrod, X-Men and Alpha Flight with the begining of the Asgardian series, the Hellions, Magneto becoming a good guy...?

Now here we start with a series of really cool events, where the payoffs from vol 4 are falling into place.

This one is pretty entertaining and fun. The characters undergo several personal arcs: Rogue coming to terms with what she did to Carol Danvers, Storm losing her powers, Shadowcat becoming a solid team member, and Nightcrawler becoming the leader.

One subplot I really disliked was the dropping of the Shadowcat-Colossus romance following Secret Wars I.

Another plot I didn't feel went anywhere was the Rachel-Phoenix... It never seemed to have any resolution. She could kick a lot of butt but never integrated into the team.

Still, I loved this volume and read it with great delight. I'll settle on a 4/5.

[Kinda Book Review] X-men Essential Vol 4

Still going through the first ~250 issues of the X-men and now with volume 4.

So here we have the Brood (a storyline I did not enjoy), the Morlocks are introduced, Cyclops and Madelyne Pryor's Wedding, Storm becomes the leader of the Morlocks, Kitty's almost-wedding, and the X-men vs Dracula.

While most of it is fine, this is not the best. A lot of the events here have payoff in the coming volumes, but on their own, it is as exciting as the previous (or followup) volume. The drawing is fine and the storytelling good.

The biggest piece is the brood (aka the aliens/xenomorphs) that story did not grip me.

I'll settle on a 3/5. It's fine, a bridge to greater storylines.