The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance on Netflix

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(I would never do this before a book review, but I doubt that the people at Netflix would mind, so here goes: I'm geeked. I get Kacey Ezell's newsletter and I see that she is nearing completion on the third novel in the Minds of Men series. I reviewed the first two here at Jimbo's. Write faster Kacey! I need to feed my habit! Oh, and you heard it here first! Well, unless you get the newsletter and you've checked it already, in which case I got scooped. *SIGH* The life of a blogger is a hard one.)

So one day, I received a tip from a friend of mine named Tom. He stated that I should watch and review The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance for my blog. He was right. This is a damn good series. I was vaguely aware of the existence of the comic before I heard from him (Meaning that I had walked past it in my LCS) but I had never really read it. My bad.

So yeah, The Dark Crystal is pretty awesome. I mean, it's got all the neat stuff that I look for. It's got characters that I care about, either hoping they'll succeed or wanting to see them get the tail-kicking they so desperately deserve. It's got a plot that moves and entertains. The special effects are over the moon awesome. And guess what? It's got something that reminds me of the greatest video game of all time. (YMMV)

That's right folks. If you can look at the Skeksis and not immediately think Arakkoa then you've never played World of Warcraft. I mean, the look, the mannerisms, the voices, it was scary. I felt like I was watching the Skeksis in Skettis. Or maybe like I was running Skyreach looking for ah uhh... Dark Crystal? Yeah, I know. That wasn't even a real pun. Yes, I know there is a special place in Hell for people who pun. I'll save you a spot.

Anyway...

This is the type of show that you don't watch when you have to leave the house. It kept me riveted. The show writers all deserve raises. I would watch an episode or two and then go to work or off to church and find myself wondering what would happen next. It's that good.

I find myself thinking of both a particularly bloody and horrifying event in history and also Harry Turtledove's portrayal of it while watching this. I don't know if the story was lifted straight off the pages of the comic or if it was written fresh for the show, but I'm willing to get that whoever wrote the scripts for The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance has read some history. The details aren't even close to what actually happened and that's okay because it's fantasy fiction and doesn't need to match up. As a matter of fact, it's probably better that way. It was really grisly in real life.

I can't do this review and not mention the puppets/muppets/whatever they're called. They were terrifical. I really want to know how you get that much emotion out of a face that doesn't move. Even Keanu Reeves has never managed that. So kudos to the people who made the Muppets and the people who controlled the Muppet strings (or however that works.) Saying I was impressed would be a serious understatement.

I can't say enough about the sets that were used to produce this series. I'm not sure if they were actually fabricated or if it was all just CGI, but it was gorgeous. Everything from the Sanctum Sanctorum of the Skeksis to some of the outdoor scenes were amazing. There was even one setting that reminded me somewhat of Yoda's home on Dagobah. The look of The Dark Crystal itself was amazing. Seriously, someone deserves a pat on the back. I haven't watched the Emmies since..uhh..

Well, maybe once because I went to a party since there was a cute girl there. Then again, that might have been the Oscars because I don't really watch those either.

As I was saying...

This thing deserves some type of award for special effects and maybe scenery if that's a thing. We all know it won't win best show because it's something geeky and enjoyable, but I'm thinking it might win a couple of other categories. I'd be happy, anyway. Well, that's assuming I heard about it. One of you will let me know, right?

Speaking of categories...

I'd love to see The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance get Best Science Fiction or Fantasy TV Series from the Dragon Awards this year. I mean, I'm kind of bitter toward the Dragon Awards because I thought David Weber deserved Best SF Novel instead of Best Mil SF Novel but then again I'm happy because Brad Torgersen got it because A Star Wheeled Sky was a great book and he's a great author. And I'm willing to forgive the Dragon Awards voters for getting this one simultaneously right and wrong because they're pretty amazeballs. Okay, so my feelings on the matter are somewhat complicated. Just vote for the show and I'll feel somewhat vindicated. Maybe we can get Casey Ezell a win this year instead of just a nomination, too. Assuming that the new book is as good as the first two were, anyway. No pressure.

(And yes, that was a horrible run-on sentence. I left it in because confusion. Don't you love me?)

The characters in this thing rocked too. The Skeksis were evilly evil with evil tendencies. Like, I hated those guys. Seriously. I'd love a chance to run  their emperor through. The Chamberlain was a stinker too. I'd stand in line for a chance to slap that guy. The Gelflings, on the other hand, were my people. All was not well for them, but when push came to shove they banded together to do the thing. There were some Gelflings who wouldn't cooperate because people are people and the writers did a good job with that but overall I loved these guys.

Deet in particular was my kind of character. She knew how to take a licking and keep on ticking. That girl has spunk. Seriously, as a descendant of the McCoy/Hatfield feud, I love a person who is too stubborn to admit that they're beaten. She stayed upbeat through it all. She pushed hard to get through it. She found a way to do what needed to be done. She... Is she busy later?

Nevermind, fictional character. I do that sometimes.

For real though, if you have Netflix and you're a geek you have no excuse. It's not like you'd have to pay extra for the content. It's ten one-hour episodes so, while you probably won't have time to binge it all in one sitting (Lord knows I didn't) you don't have to. It's original content and it just came out at the end of August so it's not like it's going anywhere. You've probably binged something much longer. So take your time, make your popcorn and hie thee off to Netflix to witness some awesome. You'll thank me when you're done. Even if >redacted< never got to >redacted< with his >redacted<.  

The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance
Jeffrey Addiss, Will Matthews
Netflix, 2019

Some The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance related merchandise is available at the links below:

Stop With the Discrimination

Apparently Amazon does not approve of Christian authors writing Christian books.

Declan Finn and Jon Del Arroz, both authors which I have reviewed and am a fan of, have had their latest pre-release ebooks have been cancelled. No explanation has been given. That's fine. I'll provide one:

It's religious discrimination. Both men are Catholic authors selling Catholic themed works. They were banned because Amazon doesn't like Catholics. You know who else doesn't like Catholics? The Ku Klux Klan. Seriously. Yes, they are best known for their hatred and acts of violence toward black people. Yes, those happened. I'm not going to catalogue every bad thing the Klan has done to black people because the list is too damn long. If someone has a list they can put in the comments because fuck the Ku Klux Klan.  Here's the thing though: They can, and do, hate more than one group.

But really, how badly does the KKK  hate Catholics? (They term them "papists") Badly enough to have burned a cross on the ground of the Shrine of the Little Flower church in Royal Oak, Michigan just a few miles from my house. It has long since been rebuilt and looks magnificent on the outside. I have not been into the Basilica proper so I can't comment directly, but I'm told that it looks great on the inside too.

I have a hard time believing that two Catholic authors having their pre-orders cancelled on the same day, less than a week before they release to be a bit more than just merely coincidental. Apparently Declan Finn agrees. When I asked him for an opinion he stated, "I'm usually not paranoid, but in this case, the timing is too suspicious." I agree.

Jon Del Arroz gave me the following statement:

"I will never equivocate not water down my message proclaiming the Glory of Jesus Christ -no matter what it costs me!"

Apparently that would be a decent amount of money since all of your pre-orders were cancelled. 

Of course, the Klan weren't the only group of White Supremacists to hate others. Hitler's Third Reich was also known for deplatforming authors of a religious group they didn't like. Yep, book burnings were common in Nazi Germany.  Of course, you can't burn digital books, so Amazon would have to just ban them instead. Anything that doesn't get downloaded can't be passed on. You can stop the signal before it starts.

These series both sell extremely well as compared to their respective authors. Declan Finn recently extended his Saint Tommy, NYPD series because it was his best selling series to date. Del Arroz stated on his live stream that his Nano Templar series was his best selling series to date. This is nothing other than an attempt to ruin two men because of their religion.

I am, quite frankly, incensed. Seriously, I am not - myself- Catholic. My ex-wife is though. Both of my daughters are growing up in the Catholic church. Both have been baptized as Catholics. Both have made their First Confession and First Communion as Catholics. My oldest is set to make her Confirmation as Catholic next spring sometime. (My ex hasn't given me the date yet. I'm assuming that's because she doesn't have it yet either.) This blatant attack on the religion of my children has me fuming. This is not okay.

I'm hoping that this is some rogue employee doing the wrong thing. I'm hoping that this is one person's attack on the worlds largest religion and not the beginnings of a the systematic pattern of deplatforming of a major religion by Amazon. I truly do. If that's what it is, Amazon is free to remove the problem. I won't call for a boycott until I hear how this is resolved.

What you can do to show your support for these two victims of hate is simple: Buy their books.It's not hard to do. I'll drop the links at the bottom. I have not read either, although I am in possession of an Advanced Review Copy of Deus Vult. I have enough confidence in both writers to recommend their works sight unseen though, because I've read enough of their stuff to know how good they are. I will, at some point in the future be reviewing both. I can say that with confidence, because I have put my money where my mouth is:

So go forth and support these two brave authors. Buy their books from a non-Amazon source, since you can't get it where you want to get it from. You can still read them on your Kindle.

Deus Vult is available for purchase here:

https://silverempire.org/product/deus-vult/

Glorified by Jon Del Arroz is available for purchase here:

https://silverempire.org/product/glorified/

For the record, I don't get paid for things bought from links to the Silver Empire website like I would if I use Amazon affiliate links like I usually do. That sucks. Buy them from Silver Empire anyway.

How did I get started writing and how did that affect Writing the Entertaining Story? - Wendy S. Delmater

 Some people might find it odd that I have chapters in Writing the Entertaining Story on what I call “related markets”: Essays and Articles. But my belief is that good non-fiction follows the same rules as good fiction. Well-written non-fiction is just stories about real things and real people. Storytelling rules make non-fiction saleable, and make it sing.

Perhaps this belief is a product of the path I came into the craft from: nonfiction. My fiction writing and editing career followed an odd path. I started with actually enjoying writing papers for various classes in school, and when I graduated that translated into writing letters to the editor, and an occasional paid editorial. Oh, so I could get paid for this writing thing? Cool. But I wrote to fill needs.

My first regular writing gig was for a newsletter for parents and educators working with children with Attention Deficit Disorder. As a volunteer, I wrote a very practical and helpful humor column that was a big hit with subscribers. I got a job doing construction safety management and did newsletter articles for the corporate rag. Then I started writing articles for my local American Society of Safety Engineers newsletter, which got reprinted at the regional and national level. Within two years I was editing their national construction division newsletter. I had an article published in ASSE's peer review journal, Professional Safety, the same month I graduated with a BS in Safety Science.

By this time I'd started to write fiction for pleasure. I joined an online writing workshop. I not only honed my craft there, but made many writer friendships, some of which have lasted for decades. From there I started publishing short stories and poetry, and once the time-pressure of things like single parenthood, caregiving for an elderly parent, and an 80-hr-wk job were removed, I started writing books. I have fiction novels on my hard drive, but considering my path to publication it's not surprising non-fiction books like Writing the Entertaining Story came out first.

So it was natural that I’d suggest that fiction writers consider writing nonfiction, too. After all, nonfiction pays much better than fiction, and if you’re a good writer of fiction you already have most of the skills you need!

I cover two kinds of non-fiction writing in the book: essays and articles. A large number of literary magazines that accept fiction also accept essays, usually university presses or those related to scholarship. Many of them are entirely regional or only publish a certain segment of the population. For example, Ricepaper magazine (Canada) is a literary journal that showcases the work of emerging Asian-Canadian writers.

It’s best to stay within your lane when writing essays for literary journals. If you’re a disabled writer, there are literary journals just for you. If you are a writer of color, live in a particular region, are someone of Norwegian descent, or are a member of any other distinct group, it’s just a matter of finding a place that would prefer to showcase your work.

Obviously, if you are a fiction writer who has a scholarly background, these will be an easier market for you to break into than other people. But I know writers without scholarly backgrounds who have gotten into prestigious literary magazines writing essays, and made good money doing it.

Please note that many literary magazines require a submissions fee, but this is offset by the fact that they can pay pretty well — much better than fiction. The decision to pay an entry fee is entirely up to the writer, but in this case it is not a cause for concern. There are also legitimate essay and fiction contests that have entry fees. Just be aware that it is customary for many literary journals to have submissions fees.

As far as articles are concerned, in Writing the Entertaining story I give a short excerpt from an extremely well-written piece about Mike (Dirty Jobs) Rowe’s testimony before congress, regarding getting more people into the trades. It uses all of the fiction writing tools and tricks I mention earlier in the book, including a hooky opening line and engaging characters.

There is absolutely no reason writers cannot use their fiction-writing skills to write nonfiction magazine and online articles. Again, one of the sad, unavoidable truths of the writing life is that nonfiction pays better than fiction. Unless, of course, you give it all away.

And sometimes giving away articles will actually make you money in the long run. For example, what is a typical blog post except an article? As Samuel Johnson said, “Only a fool doesn’t write for money,” but that’s not entirely true. Johnson didn’t live in the digital age, and one of the first rules of internet marketing is that you have to give people a taste of whatever it is you’re selling, for free. Digital marketers say that a certain percentage of those who read a writer’s blog or — better yet, sign up for their newsletter or Patreon — will spend money on whatever it is they’re trying to sell. In the case of fiction writers, they’re trying to get people to buy their novels, or anthologies that contain their short fiction. So that “taste of free” can be an excerpt from a work-in-progress, a chapter from a novel, or a teaser for one of their short stories.

Blog posts, newsletters, and a Patreon articles are a way that writers can keep in touch with their fans and build the online friendships that make them into deeper fans. And they are a great places to practice learning how to write articles for pay.

Writing articles for pay is not all that hard to break into. Most, if not all, print or online magazines have sites with a submissions guidelines link, and you follow their guidelines in the same way that Writing the Entertaining Story suggests you follow the guidelines for short fiction markets.

You can find more in my book, here: https://www.amazon.com/Writing-Entertaining-Story-Wendy-Delmater-ebook/dp/B07WZ6V87Z/

Writing the Entertaining Story is available for purchase at the link below. If you click my link, I get compensated with a percentage:

Check This Out!

Listen, I know that some of you out there in Blog Reader Land didn't appreciate the last two Star Wars movies. I get that. I disagree, but to each their own. I loved them but you do you.

As for me though, I'm geeked. The Rise of Skywalker will be here in December and I'm going if have to sell my soul for ticket money.

This looks sweet. It doesn't give much away, but that's a good thing. I don't want to know the plot of the movie before I see it.

I do see a whoooole bunch of Imperial ships though. It's on like a neckbone!

So let's see it! Let's hear it! I can't wait for December.

I'll see you at the theater!

Some Star Wars related items are available at the links below. I get compensated if you click my link and then buy something while you're there.

Declan Finn's Crusader: Saint Tommy NYPD Book Five

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Guess who's back? Back again? Tommy's back! Saving men!

And women, and children, society in general, probably a dog at some point...

Kidding. I made up the part about the dog.

 I think I did anyway. At least if Tommy saved a dog in Declan Finn's latest novel Crusader: Saint Tommy NYPD Book Five I missed it. I do remember a bunch of dead stuff at one point though, so maybe he tried and just got there late. I mean, no one is perfect, even if they are a saint in the making. 

The fact remains that Tommy is a hero and the kind of guy we all wish we could be. I mean, unless your goal is to be a bad person in which case you probably don't like him much. He puts his life on the line to do the right thing and even has to leave his family at an important time to do what is necessary whether he likes it or not. Fortunately for him, he has a good wife who understands what he needs to do. I like Mariel too.

If you've been following the series then you know the basics: Bad stuff happens. Tommy gets called in to solve the problem. Chaos ensues and bad things happen to bad people. Bad things also happen to bad things, since demons are not people too. And yes, I know I don't do spoilers, but it's a Saint Tommy book so you already knew there were demons in it if you were paying attention.

It really is good to see a Christian man get treated with a little respect. A lot of society mocks Christians for doing nothing to help people while shutting down our soup kitchens because they hand out Bibles. Finn's Christian is a man who helps people. He saves the downtrodden. He rescues the innocent. He does what he is supposed to do, which includes praying.

At some point, I'm going to borrow my ex-girlfriend's blog (if she'll let me) and go off on a rant about people hating on prayer, but let me tell you something that Finn gets: Praying for someone doesn't mean that you don't help them otherwise. I recently had a money problem that my church helped me with. One of the deacons drove me back from the bank after I deposited said funding, provided by God in the form of my church, and then we prayed. They're not mutually exclusive.

At any rate...

For those of you who may not be Christian, this is still an ass-kicking adventure novel. There are gun fights and fist fights and insanity. There is even some sexual depravity. There are chases and woundings, quite a bit of blood, some things turned to ash and a seriously creepy setting in one spot. There are surprises. There is a conspiracy. I mean, you can't go wrong with a book that has oodles and bunches of people with AK47s in it, right?

The worst part about this review is that I can't talk about my favorite part of Crusader because spoilers. Trust me though, it was awesome. I definitely didn't see it coming but it hit at just the right time. Of course, I read it electronically. I'm a big enough nerd that I have, on occasion, come up out of my chair and cheered for something that happened in a book Reading something on a Kindle app makes that kind of scary to do because I can't really afford to replace my phone if it goes flying. Trust me though when you get to page such and such and the one thing happens, you're going to love it. Seriously. It made me think of two of my favorite cartoons from childhood and I'm pretty sure that's not what Finn intended, but who cares? It was fun.

I guess the thing that I've always enjoyed about Finn's writing is that it has a message but it's not message fic. Finn doesn't have his protagonist constantly harping on the evils of whatever. Yes, Tommy is a Christian and he prays a lot. His enemies tend to be demons or at least influenced by them. That's fine. At no point have I read a diatribe about the evils of non-Christians or been subjected to a lecture ala David Gerrold in Jacob. Tommy is simply a man doing what he needs to do. If he has a few extra gifts to do it with, so much the better.

Nope, not going to spoil this part either. Let's just say Finn throws in a non-Tommy character from outside the books and it's someone I've always admired. An important and august personage. Actually, two of them but I'm thinking of one in particular. It's always cool to see someone else's take on someone you admire, and I think Finn pulled it off really well. Oh, and I know what you're thinking but I promise you that it's not George Patton, even though a lot of the book takes part in Germany. Great, I thought of it, now I have to write it.

One of the most exciting things about Crusader is that there is a sequel coming soon. It's due out November fourth. This is good. I can't wait to read it. The thing about a guy like Tommy is that you're always wondering about what he'll be up to after the current adventure. I have it on good authority that there are a number of books coming after Deus Vult too. My top secret sources have revealed to me that they'll be out soon and that I should keep myself from losing it too much. I mean, it's good to know that there will be more soon but I'm going to have to wait no matter how excited I get and like, I'm a geek and I get excited about stuff, so... yeah. I'll hold it together. At times like this I'm reminded of the fact that for the longest time I wouldn't read a series unless it was already completely published. Thanks J.K. Rowling! You've ruined me!

It's all good. I'll make it through the waits the same way I did for Harry Potter... somehow. Thank God that Finn writes fast.

Bottom Line: 4.75 out of 5 Paintballs Filled with Holy Water

Crusader: Saint Tommy NYPD Book Five
Declan Finn
Silver Empire,2019

Crusader: Saint Tommy NYPD Book Five is available for purchase at the following links. I am compensated if you click the link and buy something afterward:

Blood of Cayn by Stormy McDonald, Alan Isom and Jason McDonald

(Author's note: I would like to take this time to apologize to Alan Isom and the McDonalds, as well as their publisher. This review was promised on release day. That was about three-ish months ago. Unfortunately, life happened and this got out late. Mea maxima culpa. Hopefully this review was worth waiting for.)

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Life is often good as a book blogger. People send you free books. You get to brag about reading them to a bunch of goofballs who think your opinions are worth reading. (No offense.) You are constantly looking forward to reading the next book and believe me there, there is a next one: You've got a bunch in your inbox. I mean, you are required to spend a certain amount of time in your pajamas with your feet up, reading. Sometimes you may even find it necessary to have a glass of Coca-Cola in hand while doing so. It's a hard life, but it is a labor of love.

The problem with being a book blogger is that you are often sent only the first book of a series and sometimes it can be hard to have time to read the stuff you pay for. There is this constant nagging feeling that you should be reading something that someone gave you because they gave it to you. So often, that one Book One of something that you read that one time is the only book of the series that you end up reading because life.

What I'm trying to say here is that it's pretty awesome to be able to follow a series through to conclusion. You actually get to see the big payoff. You're not stuck stumbling on the edge of an abyss, wondering how, and if, the heroes are going to save the world and make everything right again. And - let's face it- when you love Epic Fantasy those are usually the stakes. And now I'm happy, because I just read Blood of Cayn, the epic conclusion to The Cayn Trilogy, written by Stormy McDonald, Alan Isom and Jason McDonald.

I don't want to give too much away, but this was seriously a good payoff. I mean, we've been through hell with these characters by now, right? They've revealed their true selves. They've won fights. They've lost fights. They've lost friends. As much fun as reading The Cayn Trilogy has been, I find myself relieved that I'm not one of the characters in it. They deal with a lot.

Through it all though, they're not just comrades, they're friends. Some of the risks the main characters take in Blood of Cayn fall under the heading of "inadvisable" to me. They still do it and they do it for each other. If you've got to go war, these are the people you want to do it with. It's always fun to spend time with characters you respect and admire and they live on these pages.

I love the world of The Blood of Cayn. It's a world on the edge and it's about to head over the precipice because of a plague. The entire series is, in essence, about the struggle against that plague and the war that it could cause. It's a worth cause. But it's not just the struggle I'm talking about here. I'm guessing there was some serious map drawing done for this thing. I hope it looks better than my artwork too, but no promises there. Seriously though, the authors of this series have done a great job of laying out their world and making it believable. I almost feel like there could be a geography class taught here, and that kind of created a bit of an (awesome) issue for me.

See, I'm a Dungeon Master. There were many times while reading Blood of Cayn that I felt it necessary to run off and add something to my campaign, since it's a homebrew and I can get away with that. I really enjoyed that aspect of it, but it did lead me to take longer to read the thing than I normally would have. Now, if I were one of the authors of this book, I may make sure never to mention to my players that I inspired the fight that almost led to a Total Party Kill, but whatever. It was fun to read. It was fun to play. And a little extra enjoyment never hurt anybody. Well, except four D+D characters but they don't really exist anyway. And really, the cleric live long enough to save them all, so why are my players whining?

It's weird, because I know Chris Kennedy Publishing does not have an RPG arm, but I'd pay to play in this world. Seriously. I enjoy the way that magic works. I love how well they thought out the world. I usually play a warrior, but for whatever reason, I see myself as more Chert the Cleric and less Grendel the warrior in this RPG. That could be because I have an affinity for dwarves, but I think it's because Chert is my guy. He's always there and he's a fantasy cleric the way they were always meant to be. Of course, we also have Jasper the portly mage to which I'm also partial, especially given the fact that I most likely outweigh him.  And then there's Sacha and Sehraine and Xandor and...

Yeah.

For me, one of the best parts of reading a series has always been welcoming yourmy old friends back into my life for  another go around. It's about finding the same people on the other side and getting another chance to (maybe, hopefully) see them taken down. It's about familiarity and not having to learn the seventy-three thousandth world this year. And yes, my friends, it's about a payoff. It's about seeing the crew finally live up to the potential that I always knew they had. Some things are better than money. A good payoff is one of them. That's what I got here. I got to see my people do their thing and do it well. It was a good time.

Of course, there's the let down, too: The trilogy is over and there is no sequel to look forward to. That's okay though, because I'm confident that these three will find another story to write somehow. I'm looking forward to see what they come up with. Oh, and if anyone sees Chris Kennedy, let him know I've got a Dungeons and Dragons group that would just love a chance to play-test a Cayn Trilogy related RPG. Seriously. Hit me up man.


Life is often good as a book blogger. People send you free books. You get to brag about reading them to a bunch of goofballs who think your opinions are worth reading. (No offense.) You are constantly looking forward to reading the next book and believe me there, there is a next one: You've got a bunch in your inbox. I mean, you are required to spend a certain amount of time in your pajamas with your feet up, reading. Sometimes you may even find it necessary to have a glass of Coca-Cola in hand while doing so. It's a hard life, but it is a labor of love.

The problem with being a book blogger is that you are often sent only the first book of a series and sometimes it can be hard to have time to read the stuff you pay for. There is this constant nagging feeling that you should be reading something that someone gave you because they gave it to you. So often, that one Book One of something that you read that one time is the only book of the series that you end up reading because life.

What I'm trying to say here is that it's pretty awesome to be able to follow a series through to conclusion. You actually get to see the big payoff. You're not stuck stumbling on the edge of an abyss, wondering how, and if, the heroes are going to save the world and make everything right again. And - let's face it- when you love Epic Fantasy those are usually the stakes. And now I'm happy, because I just read Blood of Cayn, the epic conclusion to The Cayn Trilogy, written by Stormy McDonald, Alan Isom and Jason McDonald.

I don't want to give too much away, but this was seriously a good payoff. I mean, we've been through hell with these characters by now, right? They've revealed their true selves. They've won fights. They've lost fights. They've lost friends. As much fun as reading The Cayn Trilogy has been, I find myself relieved that I'm not one of the characters in it. They deal with a lot.

Through it all though, they're not just comrades, they're friends. Some of the risks the main characters take in Blood of Cayn fall under the heading of "inadvisable" to me. They still do it and they do it for each other. If you've got to go war, these are the people you want to do it with. It's always fun to spend time with characters you respect and admire and they live on these pages.

I love the world of The Blood of Cayn. It's a world on the edge and it's about to head over the precipice because of a plague. The entire series is, in essence, about the struggle against that plague and the war that it could cause. It's a worth cause. But it's not just the struggle I'm talking about here. I'm guessing there was some serious map drawing done for this thing. I hope it looks better than my artwork too, but no promises there. Seriously though, the authors of this series have done a great job of laying out their world and making it believable. I almost feel like there could be a geography class taught here, and that kind of created a bit of an (awesome) issue for me.

See, I'm a Dungeon Master. There were many times while reading Blood of Cayn that I felt it necessary to run off and add something to my campaign, since it's a homebrew and I can get away with that. I really enjoyed that aspect of it, but it did lead me to take longer to read the thing than I normally would have. Now, if I were one of the authors of this book, I may make sure never to mention to my players that I inspired the fight that almost led to a Total Party Kill, but whatever. It was fun to read. It was fun to play. And a little extra enjoyment never hurt anybody. Well, except four D+D characters but they don't really exist anyway. And really, the cleric live long enough to save them all, so why are my players whining?

It's weird, because I know Chris Kennedy Publishing does not have an RPG arm, but I'd pay to play in this world. Seriously. I enjoy the way that magic works. I love how well they thought out the world. I usually play a warrior, but for whatever reason, I see myself as more Chert the Cleric and less Grendel the warrior in this RPG. That could be because I have an affinity for dwarves, but I think it's because Chert is my guy. He's always there and he's a fantasy cleric the way they were always meant to be. Of course, we also have Jasper the portly mage to which I'm also partial, especially given the fact that I most likely outweigh him.  And then there's Sacha and Sehraine and Xandor and...

Yeah.

For me, one of the best parts of reading a series has always been welcoming yourmy old friends back into my life for  another go around. It's about finding the same people on the other side and getting another chance to (maybe, hopefully) see them taken down. It's about familiarity and not having to learn the seventy-three thousandth world this year. And yes, my friends, it's about a payoff. It's about seeing the crew finally live up to the potential that I always knew they had. Some things are better than money. A good payoff is one of them. That's what I got here. I got to see my people do their thing and do it well. It was a good time.

Of course, there's the let down, too: The trilogy is over and there is no sequel to look forward to. That's okay though, because I'm confident that these three will find another story to write somehow. I'm looking forward to see what they come up with. Oh, and if anyone sees Chris Kennedy, let him know I've got a Dungeons and Dragons group that would just love a chance to play-test a Cayn Trilogy related RPG. Seriously. Hit me up man.


Life is often good as a book blogger. People send you free books. You get to brag about reading them to a bunch of goofballs who think your opinions are worth reading. (No offense.) You are constantly looking forward to reading the next book and believe me there, there is a next one: You've got a bunch in your inbox. I mean, you are required to spend a certain amount of time in your pajamas with your feet up, reading. Sometimes you may even find it necessary to have a glass of Coca-Cola in hand while doing so. It's a hard life, but it is a labor of love.

The problem with being a book blogger is that you are often sent only the first book of a series and sometimes it can be hard to have time to read the stuff you pay for. There is this constant nagging feeling that you should be reading something that someone gave you because they gave it to you. So often, that one Book One of something that you read that one time is the only book of the series that you end up reading because life.

What I'm trying to say here is that it's pretty awesome to be able to follow a series through to conclusion. You actually get to see the big payoff. You're not stuck stumbling on the edge of an abyss, wondering how, and if, the heroes are going to save the world and make everything right again. And - let's face it- when you love Epic Fantasy those are usually the stakes. And now I'm happy, because I just read Blood of Cayn, the epic conclusion to The Cayn Trilogy, written by Stormy McDonald, Alan Isom and Jason McDonald.

I don't want to give too much away, but this was seriously a good payoff. I mean, we've been through hell with these characters by now, right? They've revealed their true selves. They've won fights. They've lost fights. They've lost friends. As much fun as reading The Cayn Trilogy has been, I find myself relieved that I'm not one of the characters in it. They deal with a lot.

Through it all though, they're not just comrades, they're friends. Some of the risks the main characters take in Blood of Cayn fall under the heading of "inadvisable" to me. They still do it and they do it for each other. If you've got to go war, these are the people you want to do it with. It's always fun to spend time with characters you respect and admire and they live on these pages.

I love the world of The Blood of Cayn. It's a world on the edge and it's about to head over the precipice because of a plague. The entire series is, in essence, about the struggle against that plague and the war that it could cause. It's a worth cause. But it's not just the struggle I'm talking about here. I'm guessing there was some serious map drawing done for this thing. I hope it looks better than my artwork too, but no promises there. Seriously though, the authors of this series have done a great job of laying out their world and making it believable. I almost feel like there could be a geography class taught here, and that kind of created a bit of an (awesome) issue for me.

See, I'm a Dungeon Master. There were many times while reading Blood of Cayn that I felt it necessary to run off and add something to my campaign, since it's a homebrew and I can get away with that. I really enjoyed that aspect of it, but it did lead me to take longer to read the thing than I normally would have. Now, if I were one of the authors of this book, I may make sure never to mention to my players that I inspired the fight that almost led to a Total Party Kill, but whatever. It was fun to read. It was fun to play. And a little extra enjoyment never hurt anybody. Well, except four D+D characters but they don't really exist anyway. And really, the cleric live long enough to save them all, so why are my players whining?

It's weird, because I know Chris Kennedy Publishing does not have an RPG arm, but I'd pay to play in this world. Seriously. I enjoy the way that magic works. I love how well they thought out the world. I usually play a warrior, but for whatever reason, I see myself as more Chert the Cleric and less Grendel the warrior in this RPG. That could be because I have an affinity for dwarves, but I think it's because Chert is my guy. He's always there and he's a fantasy cleric the way they were always meant to be. Of course, we also have Jasper the portly mage to which I'm also partial, especially given the fact that I most likely outweigh him.  And then there's Sacha and Sehraine and Xandor and...

Yeah.

For me, one of the best parts of reading a series has always been welcoming yourmy old friends back into my life for  another go around. It's about finding the same people on the other side and getting another chance to (maybe, hopefully) see them taken down. It's about familiarity and not having to learn the seventy-three thousandth world this year. And yes, my friends, it's about a payoff. It's about seeing the crew finally live up to the potential that I always knew they had. Some things are better than money. A good payoff is one of them. That's what I got here. I got to see my people do their thing and do it well. It was a good time.

Of course, there's the let down, too: The trilogy is over and there is no sequel to look forward to. That's okay though, because I'm confident that these three will find another story to write somehow. I'm looking forward to see what they come up with. Oh, and if anyone sees Chris Kennedy, let him know I've got a Dungeons and Dragons group that would just love a chance to play-test a Cayn Trilogy related RPG. Seriously. Hit me up man.

Blood of Cayn
Stormy McDonald, Alan Isom and Jason McDonald
New Mythology Press, 2019

Blood of Cayn is available for purchase at the following link:(And per Amazon policy, I am hereby informing you that I will get a percentage of any purchase you make after clicking the link.)

Blood of Cayn

Why I'm Giving Up on The Walking Dead.

*SIGH*

I know what you're all thinking. "This is going to be one of those posts about the new big bad every week and how it's cyclical and Jimbo is giving us the same regurgitated line that we've heard everywhere else and I'm just tired of hearing it.."

Nope.

We here at Jimbo's are not all about the same old thing. We are not about agreeing with everyone else simply for the sake of doing so. Don't get me wrong. I'm not about DISagreeing simply for the sake of doing so either, but there are definitely times when I've gone against the grain. My Star Wars posts have occasionally received criticism on Facebook. I am apparently the only person on the planet who liked Another Life. I've also done some stuff that was seen in a positive light. My post about the Ghost Busters trailer is one of my most popular, and everyone else seems to agree with me that it looks awesome and I've been thanked over email for my Stan Lee tribute. I'[m not sure why I decided to make this point on this post, but my point is that I am who I am, I like what I like and I don't rely on others for my opinions.

So here's my opinion on The Walking Dead: It sucks now. It's not because of the new big bad every season. I like that aspect of it. I always have. Every story needs a problem and in a post-apocalyptic setting it makes sense that the problem is someone trying to carve out their own empire. Of course, this completely ignores the fact that The Group was always (well, after the first season anyway) looking to care out its own empire, with Rick Grimes in the lead. Speaking as the guy with the history degree there empire building always has its big bad, whether it's the Soviet Union (they want to take your rights away), the United States(those capitalist running pig-dogs have poor people in their country!), the Carthaginians (they're taking over our trade markets!) , the Romans (OMG they're taking over our trade markets!) or whatever. For the story to progress The Group needed to be up against something that was preventing them from doing their thing and succeeding. Those were usually dictators, because the show is written by Americans and has a huge American following and our history teaches us that Dictators are Bad.

No, my problem is not that The Group fought against others and there was always someone else to fight. That's how the real world works. It always has. It always will.

No, my problem is that there is no one left to root for. I am of the opinion that a story, regardless of setting, or even genre, has to be about people the audience cares about. If the audience loves the characters they will be interested in what happens to them. The story is about what happens to the characters. Ergo character we care about = interest in the story.

I'm not some multi-million selling author. I haven't even built a website to rival IO9. Maybe I'm full of crap, but it seems to me that I just discovered the secret to writing a good story.

My point as it relates to The Walking Dead is this:

They've killed off most of the characters I cared about and made the rest boring.

Seriously: Remember when Carol was a psychotic, gun wielding nutcase who murdered two people and burned their bodies just because they were sick? Remember when she killed that little girls whose name I cant remember because she was dangerous to everyone else? Remember how you felt about her? About how you wanted someone like her on your side... probably... as long as she didn't think you were a threat to her or hers?

And now she's been reduced to negotiating deals using a movie projector. She's not borderline crazy anymore. She has lost the edge that made Carol who she was and really just needs to shuffle off somewhere for a nap and not come back for a season or two.

Remember Herschel? Remember how he was a man who would do anything to protect his daughters? How he helped form the government of the first colony? How he was an advisor to Rick and kept him from going too far? Remember his severed head lying in a field with a bullet hole in it?

Remember Negan? Remember him dancing around in front of his followers? Remember how he used to draw others to him? Do you remember how much you hated him? Do you remember how badly you wanted to see Rick put a bullet in his brain? Now he's some schlub in a jail cell.

Remember Maggie? Remember how much she loved Glenn? How she carried a baby to term during the Zombie Apocalypse? How she was the only one who could lead once Rick was gone? Remember her always trying to do the right thing, but doing the necessary thing when she couldn't avoid it? And she's where again? Now, I heard that she'll be back for Season Eleven, but that means she's MIA for the bulk of this season at least.

Remember Glenn? Glenn was the guy I always wanted to be if the ZA broke out. I even loved the fact that he was always in a baseball cap.  He was the gamer. The smart one. The guy with the right moves and the irreverent attitude. Remember Glenn chewing Rick out when he was lost in Atlanta at the beginning of Season One? Remember Glenn escaping time and again using methods that only made sense in hindsight? Remember Glenn loving his woman and protecting her with everything he had? Remember Glenn kneeling in a puddle of headlights and having his skull caved in by Negan?

What about Carl? Remember him barely surviving because he was a kid? Remember him always being slightly off? Remember him delivering his baby sister via C-section knowing it was going to kill his mother but doing it anyway because it was either that or lose them both? Remember hoping that he would finally find his first girlfriend (ok, maybe that was just me.) Remember him dying stupidly in a situation he had faced millions of times before?



Remember Laurie and the mess she was part of that led to the death of Shane? Remember her doing her best to keep things together for The Group before they even started calling themselves that? Remember her carrying Judith knowing it was going to kill her? Remember Rick crying as Carl told him what had happened?

Remember Michonne as an enigmatic loner? Remember her leading two toothless, armless zombies around on chains? Remember her always being off by herself somewhere but somehow always doing something that no one else would think to do or finding something that would save The Group? Why in the blue hell is she a shy retiring type now? How does it make sense for her to be the negotiator? Ok, I'll admit that she isn't boring per se, but dammit she's not Michonne anymore, either.

Remember Daryll? Remember how he was Rick's right hand, the man who carried out the orders, the guy who had the guts to do anything? When is he going to come in out of the woods and matter again?

Remember the Governor? Remember the sick society he had built? The Zombie fights? Ah, nevermind. I was glad to see him get what he had coming. But he's still a missing character that added a lot to the show.

But most of all: Remember Rick? Remember him leading The Group? Remember him longing and struggling to build a place worth living in the ashes of society? Remember how hard he worked to be the man everyone needed to be? Remember him negotiating with Negan to buy enough time to figure out how to defeat him? Remember him flying away in a helicopter that an entire village of people couldn't hear? I get the fact that this one is not the writer's fault. I get that Andrew Lincoln decided to leave the show to be with his family. I respect him for that. I think he made the right decision. It still had a negative effect on the show.

I haven't watched the Game of Thrones TV show because I don't have HBO and I don't pirate but I have read the books. I remember the Death of Sturm and how it made the entire Dragonlance Chronicles trilogy work, even though I hated it at the time. I get that killing off major characters can work. I just question whether or not the show creators have made the right choices along the way.And that, my friends is why I just deleted the Season Ten preview and Season Ten Episode One from my DVR without watching them.

The Walking Dead
A&E, 2010-2019


Some The Walking Dead merchandise is available at the following link:

42: Finding Faith Through Fandom by Eric Anderson and Nathan Marchand

Sometimes, in the crush of events in this life, a book blogger can be a stinkity stinker. I know from experience. I'll give you an example: Once upon a time a person you've all come to know and admire (or possibly just tolerate, that's okay too) went to a Science Fiction convention. There he talked to a young gentleman (either Eric Anderson or Nathan Marchand, I'm not sure which) who had published a book. Said book reviewer then purchased the book, for he thought that surely he would benefit from reading the contents thereof. He was much gladdened by his purchase for he, like most, is in need of spiritual sustenance the likes of which cannot be acquired by eating a Quarter Pounder (although he's tried).

Said book review blogger, being a major buttface, then proceeded to go home and lose the bag he had put the book in. He was much saddened by this turn of events, not only because he was looking forward to reading the book but also unhappy because he had promised the author a review on his much loved (or possibly laughed at) blog. Fear not though, gentle reader, for it so happens that this story has a happy ending: The book reviewer found the bag! Granted, it was like seven months later but hey, nobody's perfect, not even those of us so self important that we find it necessary to show our opinions about books online without being prompted. And therefore, I once again came into possession of my copy of 42:Discovering Faith Through Fandom by Eric Anderson and Nathan Marchand. I'm glad I did too, because this has indeed been a rewarding experience.

42 is a devotional. For those of you not familiar, that means that it is a book divided up into small sections with each section meant to be read on a once daily basis. So if you, for example, start 42 on a Monday, you'll read Day 1. On Tuesday, you'll read Day 2. On Wednesday, you'll read Day 3. If you miss a day, Satan himself will invade your living room and consume your immortal so...

Uhh...

No.

If you miss a day because life, you would ordinarily just continue on where you left off and shake your head at yourself. (Head shaking optional) Most devotionals have readings that correspond with calendar dates and so I would read both the day I missed and the current date (IE I missed yesterday so I'll read yesterday and today's readings today) but with 42 it's a straight forty-two day devotional with no actual dates listed so the pressure is off. You just start back up where you left off. Did I miss any days? I am happy to report to you that they guy who works fifty to sixty hours a week while attempting to spend as much time as possible with his children was able to

BUM BUM BUM...

Enjoy 42 thoroughly and learn a lot from it despite being crazy busy and missing a couple of days along the way. I hated missing, but life is life sometimes, ya know?

So, having covered what a buttface I am and also having talked about what a devotional is, how about I talk about the book itself now?

42: Discovering Faith Through Fandom is something I think the geek/nerd world really needs: A way to relate the things that members of geek culture really need. I think that for a couple of reasons:

1.) Many of us relate more to the fictional worlds that we inhabit inside of our heads than the actual world that really exists. I mean that literally and, if you're one of us, you know I'm right. We'll go to work. We'll pay our bills. We'll hug our kids and maybe do more than that with our spouses (If you have one. I personally don't.) At the end of the day though, I'd rather be on Azeroth or Orions Alpha IV than in Southeastern Michigan.

2.) Christians take a lot of flack in the geek world. I've been told by actual pastors that it can be hard to convince people with high IQs to even give Jesus a chance, that they look toward science to provide the answer for everything. We all know Athiestic Humanists that refuse to even speak about religion. We all know others who will hate on modern day Christians for things that Vlad Tepes did in the Fifteenth Century. David Weber, a best-selling SF author and a deacon in his church was told not to hold a prayer service at a con where he was a Guest. Christians at cons are definitely hated on by at the very least a significant majority of fellow fen. Seriously. Go to your favorite con. Count how many times you hear the word "Jeebus." I dare you.

42 is not going to stop that, but it can provide a rallying point for the embattled Christians among us, a reminder that you're not the only person like you that is like you. There are many millions of Christian SF fans in the world and this is the book for them.

It's not just about that though.

42: Discovering Faith Through Fandom is also a really good devotional. It is a bit intense in that it has longer readings than I've seen in other devotionals, both in the book itself and out of the Bible. It involves more directed prayer and journaling than I've ever seen before as well,  but that's good. We're geeks right?  We spend time on our passions and if you're a geek who loves Jesus in spite of all the venom you've received you're a hardcore and this is the book for you.

On the other hand...

I can guarantee that Marchand and Anderson are not going to come to your house and check your work. If journaling seems to be a bit to much to you the book still has value. At the end of the day, writing non-fiction is all about thinking your way through something. Thinking about what you just read is probably not as effective as writing about it, but it's a step in the right direction.

I find myself wondering if the authors of 42 and Hector Miray of Faith and Fandom: Finding God In Sci-Fi, Superheroes & Video Games have worked together on anything. That would be just the thing for a group like us.

This is also a book for those of a geeky bent who are curious about Christianity. If you're not a Christian and you're reading 42 know that literally (and I mean literally literally not literally figuratively) is available online for free. If you want to purchase a Bible to use for readings with 42 then I think that is an awesome idea and you should do it. If you'd rather get 42 and google Bible verses for free, I think that's an awesome idea too. At the end of the day though, this is a chance to see that Christians aren't the evil monsters many people make us out to be. Pick up a copy. Spend twenty minutes a day finding out what we're like. It'll be worth your time.

Bottom Line: 5.0 out of 5 Crosses

 42: Discovering Faith Through Fandom
Eric Anderson and Nathan Marchand
Self Published, 2016

 42: Discovering Faith Through Fandom is available for purchase at the following link: