Oddkins: A Fable for All Ages

Note: this review was originally written in a notebook on Dec 11/19 while I was on vacation last week.  I've made some minor edits to it while transcribing it.

"Oddkins: A Fable for All Ages" is another story I've had on my Kindle for quite some time.   A friend of mine recommended it to me (or at least I think he did - he may have recommended a different Dean Koontz and I got this one accidentally).  I've never actually read any Koontz before and wasn't really sure what to expect.  When I first started reading "Oddkins," I didn't know what to make of it, but once I got into it I liked it quite a bit.

After a magical toy maker passes away, it's up to his creations to find his replacement.  But the forces of evil want to claim the toy factory for themselves; a group of evil toys from the hidden sub-basement awaken and seek to stop the Oddkins, while an evil toy maker arrives to buy the factory.

The Oddkins were a fun group: they were all unique, yet very loyal and good.  I loved how they got through their various encounters (like how Butterscotch talked down the mongrel, or Patch stood up to the alley cats), and how each of them had dreams beyond their initial purpose of helping their special children.

The squad of bad toys were really well done too.  Rex and the others were all rather terrifying in their own ways, especially for the Oddkins (but I felt it too).  I also liked how besides being malevolent, their lack of empathy meant they didn't really work together because in a way they couldn't.  That was a really nice touch.

I have to admit, I'm now quite curious about what happens to Viktor, the adult who saw the toys and had his world unexpectedly awakened as a result.  What does he go on to do now?

My one major complaint was that I found the story a bit heavy-handed at times, particularly at the end.  But overall, I thought this was a well-written good vs evil showdown, which I do recommend.  Just not necessarily to all ages - it's a bit dark for children in my opinion.

The Mooncalfe

Note: this review was originally written in a notebook on Dec 10/19 while I was on vacation last week.  I've made some minor edits to it while transcribing it.

After finishing End Times in Dragon City,  I wasn't really sure what to read next.  But as I browsed through the 13 pages of things I have on my Kindle, I came across a David Farland story called "The Mooncalfe" and decided to go with that.

"The Mooncalfe" is a tale of King Arthur (or more accurately, Merlin).  A fey girl is conceived by the horned moon.  Her mother. who is ashamed of having been seduced, raises her daughter in secret, always warning her of what men will do when they see her (aka ravish her, particularly because she is beautiful)  After her mother dies, the girl seeks out a favour from the Lady, wanting to be made fully human.  Finding the Lady's fount, she encounters her father, Merlin, who seduced her mother because the portents seemed fair.  Upon discovering this, the daughter curses him, leaving him alone in his misery.

"The Mooncalfe" is a very well written little story.  I read it in no time and loved every minute. :)

"The Evil That Befell Sampson" and "Sins of the Father"

I think I got "The Evil That Befell Sampson" and "Sins of the Father" as part of the Ministry of Peculiar Occurences Kickstarter that happened last fall.  I haven't read any of the books in the Ministry of Peculiar Occurences books before, but I did like her Books of the Order and thought that if I ever did read the Ministry books it would be nice to have the later ones already.  So I had no knowledge of the characters whatsoever when I started reading these short stories.  Both stories seem to be prequels to the actual series.

"The Evil That Befell Sampson" follows Eliza D. Braun in New Zealand.  She is helping her fiance's mother with a suffragist matter.  Kate (her fiance's mother) has been the preeminent
suffragist in New Zealand.  Some of Kate's friends, who are also suffragists, have suddenly withdrawn their support.  Eliza goes to see one of the ladies and realizes that she has been mind controlled by a bracelet.  There's no time though to deal with that because Kate needs to get the signatures of hundreds of women to parliament in time.  But of course things don't go smoothly - the guy who mind controlled the older lady isn't going to let them get those signatures to parliament without a fight!  

I have to say, this story was just ok.  For one thing, I got annoyed with it because there were a lot of stupid spelling and grammar errors in it.  The story also didn't really grab me, especially since Eliza and company sort of just dropped everything to get the scroll of names to parliament.  I know that it is important that they did this, but it seemed to happen a little too abruptly within the story.  

While I didn't really expect it, I've now seen the motivation for Eliza moving to London.  I thought that was a really interesting event that really builds the character.

After that I read "Sins of the Father," which I thought was a lot more interesting.  "Sins of the Father" is written from Wellington's father's perspective.  The man had some grand design in mind for Wellington, but Wellington has turned his back on his father's plans and decided to forge his own path.  The father has some contingency plans that he will activate to bring Wellington back into the fold.

Honestly not a whole lot happened in "Sins of the Father," but that didn't matter because the story was so heavy with foreshadowing events yet to come.  This story, much more than the other, left me wanting to read the Ministry of Peculiar Occurences books at some point in the future (but definitely not now). 

Two Hearts

Wow do I love stories by Peter S. Beagle.

"Two Hearts" is a story that takes place many, many years after The Last Unicorn. A griffin has made its home near Sooz's village. It's a minor annoyance until it starts taking children. A few knights are dispatched, but they all die. After the griffin takes Sooz's best friend, she sets off to find the king. She meets Schmendrick and Molly Grue on her way; the pair of them take her to King Lir's castle. But Lir is an old man now who gets confused. Although he agrees to rid Sooz's village of the griffin, everyone fears that the king will not return, especially since he has to strike both of its hearts to kill it.

I apologize that I'm half asleep as I write this, and not feeling at all articulate. I really liked reading about the further adventures of Schmendrick, Molly, and Lir. And Sooz was a fun character as well. "Two Hearts" was an interesting yet satisfying epilogue to The Last Unicorn. I'm super glad to have read it.

Four More Short Stories

Today was a nice and lazy day which I spent reading more short stories on my Kindle. This time I read "Paladins of Shannara: the Weapon Master's Choice," "Fable: Theresa," and "The Keeper: a Short Story Prequel to Forbidden." The first two were stories I had been saving for some reason...(I think in the case of "Fable: Theresa," I was planning on playing through the original Fable game before reading it, but never did finish it). Like with After Life, I have no memory of "The Keeper" but that's ok, I read it anyway.

"The Weapon Master's Choice" was obviously a story about Garet Jax. A lady seeks him out, asking for his help saving her people from a warlock. The warlock is a dracul, draining the souls from her people. Jax agrees to help, and finds himself unexpectedly falling in love with the lady. It was an enjoyable story from one of my favourite authors.

I think "Fable: Theresa" was my favourite story of the three. The blind seer arrives in a town to find a young girl who is being overwhelmed by her dreams. Theresa knows the girl hasn't much time left. So she sets off on a quest to save the girl, seeking out the only person who may be able to help: the warlock named Raven. She needs the help of a Hero to get her there. Since time is short, the only one around is Elijah Stane, a washed up old Hero who is drinking his days away. He failed his last charge and so is reluctant to help anyone else, but reluctantly agrees to help the blind seer (because she is determined to go on her quest with or without his help). Theresa knows that they seek a miracle, and that even if such a thing exists, it will come with a price; will she be willing to pay it? I loved this story, but then again I'm a fan of Peter David's Fable stories so this wasn't at all surprising.

Of these three stories, "The Keeper" was my least favourite. But it is, as advertised, a prequel story. But more importantly, it's a prequel story to Forbidden, which I know nothing at all about. Two hermit brothers are approached by an unfamiliar man. He tells them that they and the world are dead, but that he can help them live again. I think he meant that they were emotionally dead, but it wasn't super clear until the end. This was by no means a favourite but it was interesting enough. Unfortunately it didn't make me want to keep reading the series right now.

Oh yeah, and yesterday I also read "The Boy With the Silver Eyes" by Bruce Coville. That takes place in his Unicorn universe. A Hunter makes his son eat the flesh of the Unicorn he had killed, which changes his son forever. The son's heart is restless and seeks some unknown thing. So he journeys out, finding the songs of Earth, Fire, Water, and Air in the hopes of finally putting his heart at ease.

"Goblintown Justice"

About 5 years ago, I backed Matt Forbeck's first 12 for 12 Kickstarter campaign. One of the stretch goals that got unlocked scored me the ebook version of Forbeck's short story "Goblintown Justice." "Goblintown Justice" is set in the Shotguns & Sorcery setting Forbeck had created earlier as a roleplaying game world (and which was the setting of his second 12 for 12 trilogy). To date I've only read his Brave New World trilogy out of the 12 for 12 stuff I backed. So while flipping through my Kindle stuff, I decided it was definitely way past time I read this.

"Goblintown Justice" finds Max Gibson embroiled in trouble. He leaves the Quill and discovers an orc he knows from his adventuring days standing over the corpse of a woman in the auxiliary city guard (whom both he and the orc knew from said adventuring days). The Dragon Guard arrives and arrests them both. The evidence is overwhelmingly against the orc. Max is released and instructed to find the killer fast if he wants to save his orc friend. So he heads down to Goblintown, the roughest neighbourhood in Dragon City, looking for answers.

This is my first experience with Shotguns & Sorcery; I was really liking the world. It's got crazy little touches, like the zombie horde outside the wall, that added to the already interesting mix of wild west and wizardry. The story itself was also rather entertaining, full of the crazy politics of Dragon City's diverse inhabitants. Honestly, I'm quite looking forward to reading the second 12 for 12 trilogy now (which I may get to in the near future...)

The 33, Episode 1: Pramantha, Part 1

It looks like the next few weeks are going to be dedicated to me reading a bunch of things I bought on my Kindle and never got around to reading. Today I just finished The 33: Pramantha, Part 1 by J.C. Hutchins. I believe I bought it around when it came out a few years ago. I didn't remember what it was about at all, but decided not to care and just dive right in.

Addisson Creel made some crazy deal a few weeks ago, that he would have his past debts forgiven if he agreed to be on call for the next 33 weeks to help someone called Mr. Ins. There's a chance Mr. Ins won't call on Creel; should that happen he'd be free to do whatever he wished. But of course that doesn't happen; Creel wakes up to a mysterious voice in his head, which brings him to a farmhouse halfway around the world. There he is introduced to members of the 33 and informed he will have to help them save the world. Part 1 ends after everyone sits down and explains everything that's going on.

I really like the idea of the 33. Hutchins wrote it to be serialized kind of like TV or the initial release of The Green Mile, which came out in small parts. And there's a lot of interesting things going on in the story. What is Creel's secret? Who is Mr. Ins? What caused those people at the beginning of the book's weird suicide game? But I found that I didn't really connect with Creel, which is a shame; I'm honestly in no hurry to read more of the series. It is quite possible it will get better as it goes though, so I'm not completely against reading more in the future. It's also got a pretty good rating on Goodreads, so that may help to sway me in the future.

In the Beginning

Earlier today, I was discussing books on Twitter. I had asked Philippa Ballantine if she was going to write anything else in her Books of the Order world; she directed me to "In the Beginning," a short story that also takes place in that world. It tells a story about the first day that the geists broke into the world. "In the Beginning" is a really fast but enjoyable read. It was neat to see the world not from the Deacons's perspective.

The Chapel Perilous

After loving "The Demon Barker of Wheat Street," I decided to read "The Chapel Perilous" before jumping into Trapped. Since "The Chapel Perilous" is available on Kindle, I started reading it right after finishing writing my review of "The Demon Barker" (but I went to a friend's house soon after, so I didn't finish reading it until now).

"The Chapel Perilous" takes place after the other two short stories (according to the author's note, it's four years before Trapped). Atticus, Oberon, and Granuaile are taking a break from training to go camping. They're sitting around the campfire and ask him for a story. And so Atticus tells them about when he recovered the Holy Grail as Sir Gawain. Of course, it wasn't known as the Holy Grail at the time, but was Dagda's Cauldron, which was never emptied of food. Atticus was sent to retrieve the Cauldron by Ogma of the Tuatha De Danann. The cauldron was stolen by a Pict, who had hidden it beyond the Tuatha De Danann's sight. And so he journeyed into the realm of the Fisher King to retrieve it.

While not as good as "The Demon Barker of Wheat Street" and "Two Ravens and One Crow," "The Chapel Perilous" was still very interesting. I learned a bit more about Atticus's history and the Tuatha De Danann, so in my mind this was definitely a story worth reading!

The Demon Barker of Wheat Street

As I mentioned last time, I bought the Carniepunk anthology on my Kindle to read Kevin Hearne's story "The Demon Barker of Wheat Street."  I didn't really want to buy the anthology because I'm really only interested in Kevin Hearne's story, but since it's currently the only place to get it, I sucked it up and bought the whole anthology.

"The Demon Barker of Wheat Street" takes place a couple of weeks after "Two Ravens and One Crow."  Even though Granuaile has faked her death, she wanted to see how her mother was dealing with things.  So Atticus, Oberon, and Granuaile find themselves in Kansas.  While there, they attend a local wheat festival which includes a carnival.  Seeing a large crowd gathering by a dwarf on stilts who is selling people on his freak show, they get curious and head in.  But the freak show isn't at all what it seems - and Atticus has his hands full saving his hound, his apprentice, and the many innocent victims of this ghoulish attraction.

I absolutely loved "The Demon Barker of Wheat Street."  This story alone was well worth what I payed for Carniepunk!

Two Ravens and One Crow

After finishing Tricked, I decided to follow along with Kevin Hearne's chronology and read "Two Ravens and One Crow" next.  Luckily it was available on Amazon as a Kindle Single, so I snagged it from there.

"Two Ravens and One Crow" takes place six years after Tricked.  Atticus has finally had the peace and quiet to focus on Granuaile's training.  But Atticus's peace and quiet is shattered by the Morrigan's arrival, who demands that he come with her.  For one thing, he needs the tattoo on the back of his hand healed (and has needed it healed for the last six years, since the final battle with the skinwalkers left it damaged).  But the Morrigan also arranged a meeting with a certain god who most definitely wants Atticus dead...

"Two Ravens and One Crow" was a fantastic novella.  I'm really glad I read it (and am now looking forward to "The Demon Barker of Wheat Street," which I ended up buying as well).

A Test of Mettle

I actually read "A Test of Mettle" a few days ago.  Originally I wasn't going to blog about it, but then I changed my mind.

"A Test of Mettle" actually takes place during Hammered.  This is what happened to Granuaile while Atticus was heading off to Asgard.

Granuaile was sent to help the elemental Sonora clear the East Verde
River of invasive crawdads.  But Flidais and Brighid decide to administer the Baolach Cruatan (the Dangerous Trial) with no warning to her.

This was a really short story which is available for free on Kevin Hearne's website.  It was fun to get Granuaile's perspective before I start reading Tricked.

"Paladins of Shannara: Allanon's Quest" and "Imaginary Friends"

I keep forgetting to update this blog; about half a week ago I read two short stories by Terry Brooks on my Kindle.  The first one was "Paladins of Shannara: Allanon's Quest;" the second was "Imaginary Friends."  I was flying home when I read the two, and even though I was in the middle of another book, I just really, really wanted to read something by Terry Brooks.  So I started with "Allanon's Quest" because I've never read it before.  I just looked online and it is apparently the first of several Shannara short stories Brooks is publishing, with the next one due out this January.

"Allanon's Quest" was a really quick read.  It's been years since I read The Sword of Shannara, but I always did like Allanon as a character.  So being able to read something new about him was exciting for me. 

"Allanon's Quest" is a sort of prequel to The Sword of Shannara.  Allanon is desperately trying to find one of the Shannara heirs to weild the Sword against the Witch King, who has arisen once again in the Four Lands.  But the Witch King will not be so easily defeated; he is hunting down those heirs faster than Allanon can; all Allanon has found is death.  Almost all hope is lost, but Allanon has heard a rumour of a possible lost heir, and so he is desperately trying to track that heir down before the Witch King can.

I enjoyed the story, but it seemed kind of unnecessary to me, having read Sword.  I knew Allanon would find someone because that's the whole point of Sword.  But despite that, like I said, I enjoyed reading it.  I've always been a fan of Brooks' writing style and this story did not fail to disappoint.

So once I finished "Allanon's Quest," I wanted more Terry Brooks.  I thought about starting The Tangle Box, which is still my favourite book of his to date (and the only one I have on Kindle).  But then I remembered that I also had "Imaginary Friends."  I read "Imaginary Friends" years ago, but bought it on my Kindle in support of Brooks' Web Druid/friend who was battling cancer; Brooks sold the short story, with all the proceeds going to the cancer battle.  I thought it was a worthy cause, so I purchased it about a year ago.  "Imaginary Friends" was the story that really started Brooks' Word and Void series (many of the themes and ideas are similar to Running with the Demon, which was published several years after "Imaginary Friends").  Having read it so long ago, I didn't really remember what happened (although it was very familiar all the way through).

"Imaginary Friends" is the story of Jack.  The boy is dying of cancer.  He lives next to Sinnissippi Park, a place of magic where he has befriended an elf named Pick.  I don't want to say much more than that to avoid spoilers, but even though I haven't read it or Running with the Demon in a long time, I could still see how the two books are related (mostly through the magic of the park). 

Both "Allanon's Quest" and "Imaginary Friends" were good reads.  So if you're in need of something quick, consider giving either of these a try, particularly if you are a fan of his two series.

Short Story: Jack of Blades

I found "Jack of Blades" at the same time as "Reaver" (as well as "Theresa," which I have not yet read).  I honestly don't know anything about Jack of Blades; I'm guessing he's from the first game which I haven't played yet (but I'm going to first chance I get!)  Like "Reaver," "Jack of Blades" was a lot of fun.

I apologize, but I'm going to be giving some spoilers for this one. If you haven't read the story, go read it right now.  It's awesome!

"Jack of Blades" is about a guy named Xiro who wanders into a town taken over by Jack of Blades.  Xiro is told he cannot leave because Jack doesn't want his whereabouts being revealed to the outside world.  He then proceeds to accidentally kill two if Xiro's ten men (although the accident part is debatable.  There was a line to the effect of "his hand no longer shook" which led me to believe Xiro may have just been pretending to be unskilled).  In the wake of this, the villagers believe Xiro is a hero but he fervently denies it, claiming to be a no one.

Regardless of who Xiro is, his killings inevitably attract the attention of Jack.  Xiro kills two more of Jack's men in an "accidental" fire (I wasn't really buying the accident part) and is then brought to Jack's mansion where he is supposed to provide sport by fighting (or as they believe, dying to) a balverine.  After some incredibly bizarre stuff, Xiro manages to kill all of Jack's remaining men and reveals that "Jack" is an imposter   He listens to "Jack's" reasoning and then kills him as well.  The story never says exactly who Xiro is, but I thought it heavily implied that Xiro was the real Jack of Blades.

As I said, I don't know much about Jack of Blades, so I'm going to go play Fable 1 before looking into his character (having played 2 and 3, I'm pretty sure he must be from the first game).  But regardless, I really enjoyed reading this story!

As a side note, I'm not going to read "Theresa" until I've played through the first game.  I know she's originally from the first game so I want to play that before reading her tale.

Short Story: Reaver

I'm not going to lie.  I love Reaver.  So when I found a short story dedicated to him, I had to read it.

"Reaver" was a lot of fun (which I expected because it is about Reaver the character).  This is the story of how Reaver defeated Captain Dread, the self-styled pirate king.  In his witty and overconfident way, Reaver manages to undermine Dread's credibility before single-handedly taking on Dread and his crew!  The story can be a bit gruesome at times (there are some rather gory details) but it's a lot of fun!  Definitely worth the read, especially if you're a Fable fan.

Short Story: After the Third Kiss: A Dragon Story

I found Bruce Coville's "After the Third Kiss: A Dragon Story" in an anthology in Chapters.  I wasn't really interested in the anthology as a whole so rather than buy it I went home and looked to see if it was available by itself on my Kindle.  It was.  So yesterday at the doctor's office I started it, then finished it when I got home.  As a short story it wasn't very long, which made it a perfect fit for my day!

"After the Third Kiss" is the story of May Margaret, a young maiden cursed by her stepmother into the form of a dragon.  Only her brother can break the curse, and only by giving her three kisses on the day he returns home.  Despite his extreme reluctance to kiss her hideous form (and being scarred by her hot breath) he does so.  Together they vanquish their stepmother, turning her into a giant toad.

Normally that's where the story would end, with the brother and sister living happily ever after.  But that's not the case in "After the Third Kiss."  The brother becomes king, but he is convinced that no one would desire him now that he is scarred (although that is not the case).  But more troubling is the fact that he is unable to conceive an heir.  And so he starts looking for a husband for May Margaret.

May Margaret has problems of her own.  Although she is beautiful, she has no suitors because of the whole dragon incident.  But that is the least of her worries, because May Margaret was not left unscarred by the dragon.  There is a fire that remains in her blood, making her yearn to be a dragon once more.

"After the Third Kiss" was an incredible story by Bruce Coville.  If you get the chance, I definitely recommend giving it a read!

Short Story: Nocturne

While working at the library the other day, I stumbled upon the brand new anthology Angels of Darkness. I was intrigued so I read the back. I'm not entirely sure why, but Sharon Shinn's story "Nocturne" caught my attention. So I took the book out specifically to read that story.

I have to say, I'm really glad I did. "Nocturne" is the story of Moriah, a woman working in a school as a cook. She discovers a blind angel living in a building rumored to be haunted. So she takes it upon herself to push him out of his misery.

I had no intention of reading the other stories in the book. My plan was to simply read the one story and send the book back. But I loved that story so much, I bought Angels of Darkness for my Kindle. I don't know for sure that I'll read the other stories, but I have the option to should I one day decide to. All I know is I loved "Nocturne" so much I wanted a copy of it to enjoy in the future.

I also went today and bought Sharon Shinn's novel Archangel. I liked the world and was sufficiently intrigued by it, I want to learn more!