Wakanda Forever

It SUUUUCKs to write this one. Seriously. Chadwick Boseman was forty-three. He died of cancer that the general public never even knew he had.  I'm forty three. Listen, I know someone out there is going to whine about me "making this all about myself" but they can tongue-jack the fartbox. Making comparisons about stuff like this is how human beings relate to each other.

Soo....

This past December I "celebrated" defeating my very own father (Rest in Peace, Dad). Defeated how? I made it to age forty-three. He passed at forty-two. Yup. I now "own" my father. The thing is, he died in a boating accident. I did a post about Anton Yelchin, who passed at twenty-seven, but he died in a freak thing that I probably couldn't duplicate if I wanted to. (For the record, I don't want to.) And listen, we all pass at some point. It happens. Being alive is a fatal condition. But it shouldn't happen at forty-three, especially to a man like this.

Boseman was informed that he had cancer in 2016. He could have packed it in and decided he needed to stop working for the time being to focus on his health. There is not a human being alive that would have faulted him for it. Do you want to know what he did instead?

Message from the King
Captain America: Civil War
Gods of Egypt
Marshall
Black Panther
Avengers: Infinity War
Avengers: Endgame
21 Bridges
Da 5 Bloods.

I've never had cancer, so I can't say exactly how it feels, but I can tell you from what I've heard from others that it's EXTREMELY painful. Boseman got up every day and went to work anyway. He endured the endless takes. He delivered his lines in a manner befitting his character, whoever they had happened to be. He put in the hours. He had a successful career in a field that is damn near impossible to get into WHILE HE WAS DYING OF CANCER.

He. Was. A. Man.

But he wasn't just a man. He was a man among men. Chadwick Boseman did not just PLAY a superhero. He WAS a superhero. He not only went to work on-set, he went to hospitals to visit sick kids. Who does that? Who gets up in the morning in extreme pain knowing that his days are probably numbered and decides to go make someone else's day? Who has the caring nature and the intestinal fortitude to WANT to do that? Who has the courage and determination to do something like that even if they do want to?

Chadwick Boseman did. And we lost him. And he was less than three weeks older than I am. And I'm sorry, but yes that does make it worse. Boseman was a man that deserved to see a century at least. I never met him, but to do what he did he had to have been one of the strongest and kindest people ever to walk the face of the planet.

I don't remember which awards show it was, but at one point I saw Robert Downey Jr. throw a Wakanda Forever salute at Boseman and smile. Boseman threw it back, but his face never moved. At the time, I assumed it was some kind of joke RDJ was playing and Boseman was just kind of trying to keep the peace in public. Men are, after all, men and we do like to joke. Now though, I'm not so sure.

I look back on that in the light of new information and wonder if Boseman was just in pain and was tired of acting. Or maybe it just hurt too much that night. I wouldn't blame him either way and anyone with cancer is going to have days where they just can't even. Even if that's what it was though he showed up. He gave his fans and his employers what they wanted. I stand amazed.

I suppose I should talk about Boseman's career. About Captain America: Civil War or Black Panther, which I reviewed on this blog. I could wax eloquent about his acting in the Avengers movies. I haven't seen his other work, so I can't really comment on that. I find myself not wanting to though. Maybe I'm just not as much of a man as Boseman was and I'm not forcing myself to focus on what's important.

Then again, maybe I _am_ focusing on what's important. A man is more than his job. A life is not measured in dollars earned, but in what a person does to make the world a better place. Entertainment helps (and I do this blog in the hope that I've improved someone's day at least a little bit by entertaining them with my musings for a whole five seconds) but it's more than that.

My fathers funeral was the largest one I've ever been to. I talked face to face with people I hadn't heard from in years. What did they talk about? My dad and how he helped out with the Cub Scouts. The way my dad coached basketball teams. His ribald sense of humor. They remembered him not by what he did for a living but by how he touched their lives.  The only time anyone asked about anything my father owned was when someone inquired as to whether he still had the basketball he had all of the girls who were on the only championship winning team he ever coached. I assured the girl who asked that yes, he did. She smiled and that was that.

And I guess that's what bothers me in this case. Don't get me wrong. Boseman deserves to be remembered for his work. But, thirty years from now who is going to remember him going to hospitals or how hard he worked after he found out he was sick?

Do you know who it will be?

The people whose lives he affected. They'll be the ones telling the stories. They'll be better qualified to do it than I am too because they'll have the details that I don't because I wasn't there. Then again, maybe I'm happy I wasn't there. Who wants to be sick enough to get a visit from a Marvel superstar? Not me.

You know who was sick enough to get a visit from a Marvel Superstar?

Chadwick Boseman.

And he went anyway.

Rest In Peace, Chadwick Boseman

Declan Finn's Coven

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Did you ever get the feeling that the thing should have thinged the other thing with the thing or the the thing was going to thing wrong?

Yeah, that's what I'm thingin' too.

But here's the thing: That's okay. Declan Finn has brought us another good one and I'm here to tell you all about it because that's what I do. Sometimes I even make sense.

Protip: Don't let your happiness depend on my making sense. You're likely to end up depressed. But, I mean I tr....

Yeah, not really.

I'm a nutcase and I prefer it that way. It makes me harder to predict.

Except when a new Saint Tommy Novel comes out. Coven is the latest and it's epic. This one has Saint Tommy back home in his native New York. Life is good except when things are trying to kill him and let's face it, that's often. St. Tommy Novels are always action-packed and Coven is no exception.

Seriously, Coven has more boom-boom-pow in it than and Old School Hip Hop track. Seriously, if they ever turn these books into movies (and they're short enough for a two hour movie format to almost work right) they need to get Steven Spielberg direct with special assistant Michael Bay. Bay for the special effects and Spielberg for plot and acting, and general this-is-a-movie-that-is-good-for-more-than--its-special-effects thing. Yeah, I think that would work.

I mean, how else would you do a mystical clay Iron Man suit? Or flying bolts of lighting? Or just plain old gunshots and explosions? Maybe we could borrow a Phantom of the Opera director for the mist effects because I've seen it three times live and they've never failed to impress. I mean, they're just... yeah.

What mist effects you ask? READ THE BOOK!!!

Seriously, Coven is worth your time. I loved it.

But wait! There's more!

 Tommy's friends are back and they are some bad mamma-jammas. Combat-exorcists, kids who have trained with the Swiss Guard, a shotgun wielding wife, they're all there and they do what they do best: create mayhem.

No, not that stupid commercial. Please try to keep up.

Listen, if you're going to keep making corny jokes, you're going to start sounding like me. You don't want that, do you?

Where was I again?

Oh yes. Coven.

Loved that story!

And this time, St. Tommy needs all the help he can get because he's missing his god-given superpowers, properly known as charisms. So, no bi-location, no levitation, no anything. It's kind of scary. When you're used to seeing the hero rescued by God and he's not, it builds tension. When he can't just magic his way out of a fight, it gets intense. No fancy tricks in a fight equals a much harder fight. Oh, and who is he fighting?

This time it's a military base and Child Protective Services that house the demons and it fits. Anyone who follows this blog knows I love all of those who risk their lives to protect ours, but the way Finn lays it out just works. "Team Building Exercises" indeed. I think he has a point here though.

See, in the real world, Planet Earth, circa 2020, not all is as it seems. Finn's book places demons and their lackeys in the roles of those who are supposed to be protecting us and he's not wrong. Just about everyone has their own agenda, especially in a country like the United States. This is a good thing most of the time.

Then again, sometimes you get a demon infested CPS worker and well...

Yeah, someone needs to put her in check.

I enjoyed that part as I haven't always had the happiest of times with family court in the past. Divorced dads rarely do. I mean, I wouldn't wish this on Tommy and his family or anybody really, but it has a very realistic feel to me. Then again, I'm the guy who got a visit from a CPS worker on the day my oldest daughter was born for the horrible crime of cutting her nails so she wouldn't scratch her face to pieces, so I may be a bit biased.

Of course, the actions scenes in Coven are amazeballs and Tommy's power armor is unbelievably awesome. Seriously, Tony Stark needs to get himself a set of this stuff. Maybe then he'd stop being such a girlie-man and whining every time he gets all shot up. If this stuff can heal a person, then it's better than his junk. Except that it can't fly. Flying would make it better. Then again, no power armor suit is perfect and if its good enough for a Clan Elemental then it's good enough for Tommy.

(Gratuitous Battletech Joke there. I hear both of the people who got it laughing.)

The Big Bad is kind of more Bad than big. I mean, he's basically just a normal sized human being but he's definitely Bad, just like Michael Jackson in the music video of the same name, except not as well dressed. I think. I don't specifically remember what he was wearing.

An, OH BOY, is he well armed. I'm not going to say with what, but trust me, it's scary dangerous. It's also been used other places, but not quite this well and definitely never in this manner. I liked it. Honestly, it made more sense for said doohickey to be used in the way it was than the ways I've seen it used before too. I like this idea. I mean, I'm not going to tell you what the doohickey was or how it was used, but trust me, you'll like it. Unless you disagree with me. But don't worry the fact that you're wrong doesn't make you that guy. Probably. Well, maybe. Look, I'm right here, can't we just deal with that? Just this once?

Of course, there is room for a sequel here, but that makes me happy because I love this series and I can't wait to see Tommy send more demons back where they came from. Only maybe I'll buy a bigger bag of popcorn next time because I ran out of it before I realized I'd properly begun eating it while reading this thing. It's one of those "Wait, you mean the real world actually exists right now?" kind of books. I'll be waiting with baited brea...bated breath?

Or sumfin.

Bottom Line: 5.0 out of 5 Exorcised Demons

Coven: St. Tommy NYPD Book Seven
Declan Finn
Silver Empire, 2020

Coven: St. Tommy NYPD Book Seven is available for purchase at the following link. If you click the link and buy literally anything from Amazon I get a small percentage at no additional cost to you.

Stop it! STOOOOOOOOOOOOOP IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!

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Ok, so I just saw a story about a possible Firefly reboot. I was excited for like two point one seconds until I realized that, yup, they're gonna screw it up if they try it. Seriously. Captain Mal is only Captain Mal if Nathan Fillion is playing him. Kaylee is only Kaylee if Jewel Staite is playing her. Not to mention that you don't just replace the hottest woman in Hollywood. Yeah. I'd tell you what I think when I see Jewel Staite if only I was capable of thought when I see Jewel Staite. Is she married?

Uh...

Nevermind.

Anyway, what I'm trying to say, in my own clumsy way is that this would be a bad thing.

Yep, I said it.

Every great once in awhile a good reboot comes along. The Battlestar Galactica reboot comes to mind. That was actually better than the original because it felt more realistic and had a grittier atmosphere. They left enough mysticism in to make it BSG but they removed a lot of the hokiness from it. I admit that it CAN happen. It's hard to catch lightning in a bottle twice though.

So seriously, stop doing it.

Think about it this way:

How many people watched Star Trek: The Original Series before the JJverse stumbled onto the scene? Besides me. I know I did. My first four friends were named James Kirk, Leonard McCoy, Spock and Mike Boldt. (Mike I knew in real life. That's why you've never heard of him.) I was there when Spock's Brain got taken over. I remember the Trouble with Tribbles. I walked along the Way to Eden.

I loved it.

And yes, I know the Hippies in Space episode is not a fan favorite, but sue me. I was probably three the first time I watched it and with that level of maturity it's actually entertaining.

Now think about it this way:

Has the JJverse lived up to it?

I don't know a single person who thinks it has. I've seen all the movies. Viewed for themselves they're good flicks, but they're not good Star Trek. I mean that seriously. What's with transwarp beaming? Who is this guy who thinks he can play my namesake the way Deforest Kelley did? And where in the bleeping blue blank did these scripts come from?

Actually, that's a complaint about a lot of the Next Gen movies as well and those weren't even reboots.

And if there were ever a series that DIDN'T need a reboot, it's Star Trek. If you want more Trek, make another series. That's worked multiple times in the past. But don't reboot stuff.

If it had its run, it had its run.

No, you're not going to be able to improve the original. There is no need for a modern version of something that we all love from way back. There's just not.

I understand the need for new shows and movies for content providers that need to make money. Profits are tied to new product and profitable companies provide jobs. I'm no economist but if you think about it, that's a concept that's pretty easy to understand.

But dude...

There are new ideas out there. Some of them are really awesome. I'd love to see a new Monster Hunter Series or a Saint Tommy, NYPD series. How about an Honor Harrington movie or a series of Four Horsemen stories?

Honestly, it would be worth it just to see if Hollywood could catch up with the 4HU authors. Think about that: A series where the books are actually completed. We could have a competition between Chris Kennedy Publishing and the Writers Guild of America to see who could complete the series the fastest. Whoever finishes first would win the Game of Thrones and not even have to become a salty old man who won't give his fans what they want.

But let's talk about reality for a minute:

The reason for reboots, as well as additions to old series ala the Star Wars sequel trilogy is not fan service. It's not old ideas needing a creative outlet. It's not about a fresh take on something that people love. Hollywood will tell you it is, but they're just trying to say something that sounds good.

No, the real reason behind reboots and remakes, continuations and sequels to movies that were made twenty or thirty years ago is simple:

They're looking for a guaranteed profit and I can respect that.

Star Wars has been big money since it first came out in 1977. Star Trek started slowly, but it's been huge for over four decades now. Put those names on a product and people will pay to see it, whether it's on the big screen or on Disney+ or CBS All Access. I get it.

Here's the thing:

Game of Thrones was just a book series before some executive at HBO stuck their neck out. Sword of Truth/Legend of the Seeker was just a book series before it was a show. Ditto The Expanse. I've not read or watched the Sookie Stackhouse stuff but I know a lot of people who are fans. (Uhh... I would imagine there's at least one Charlaine Harris fan here. What's the first book?) All have done well for their respective providers. So, my message to executives at Hollywood studios is as follows:

GROW A PAIR!

(And for the record, women have a pair too. It's just up a bit higher on the chest.)

Stop being scared of taking a risk on a new property. Yes, I know that you need security. I have kids of my own and I need a roof over my head too. There's an old saying though: Great risk equals great reward.  It may not be cheap to license Honor Harrington but I bet it would cost less than purchasing the rights to Star Wars. You'd probably piss less people off in the process too and angry people are potentially lost sources of revenue. Don't forget that.

Give us new stuff that is actually new. There's no need to rehash old crap for the forty-third time when we can introduce something new to the world. If it's done right, people will eat it up. I'll be first in line.

Below are some links to things related to various properties mentioned above. If you click one of the links and buy literally anything from Amazon I get a snall percentage at no extra cost to you:

Announcing a New Fan Experience

Cross posted from the Mad Genius Club.

We all need a place where we can go to let our hair down and talk to people who get the joke. A place where everyone gets the joke and you can talk to someone who doesn't think you're a freak just because you used a word like “Ferengi” or “Droids.” You know what I mean. A place where people not only grok you and what you're all about, they don't give a frak that someone else wouldn't and they can communicate on your gorram level. 

Or maybe it's more about a person that will understand your fascination with that fair elf maiden and the sword at the end of the quest. Maybe it's not knowing if the light at the end of the tunnel is the sun, a djinn powered locomotive or the anti-magic ray of a Beholder. Or is it the magical sword of your missing companion?

Whether you prefer your fandom in the form of the written word, the big screen or the small screen, on a computer or a tabletop (or if your into polygeekery the way I am) I'd like to extend an invitation to you.

The Geek Galaxy (http://thegeekgalaxy.freeforums.net) is the place for all things geekish. It's a place to meet and gather with people who share you passion and have a discussion that includes more words than you can fit into a tweet or a Facebook post. 

Our misson at The Geek Galaxy is to promote works of Science Fiction and Fantasy (as well as Horror, which Stephen King once said was part of Science Fiction. I'll take his word for it.) that have entertaining characters, strong plots and plenty of action. In other words, we're out to promote works that bring escape and enjoyment. We're here to once again bring the fun into Science Fiction and Fantasy.

Part of what we plan to do is to offer one book monthly for reading and discussing. Some of you may be familiar with the concept, because I stole the idea from someone here. Voting for the first month's subgenre is already live, and your chance to show some love for your favorite subgenre is slowly slipping away. (Uhh... Sarah Hoyt's Goodreads group does this exact same thing? Uhh... Oops? Would you believe me if I said I didn't kn...*COUGH* Never mind.)

I want you to register. I want to know what you're thinking. I want to find out what's out there that I don't know about. I can't do this without you. Yes, I'm talking to you, personally, and to every other human being that would enjoy something like The Geek Galaxy. It's time to make your thoughts  known. 

So run on over to http:.//thegeekgalaxy.freeforums.com/register/7165925 and get started. You'll be happy that you did. It's like the con that never ends, except with no con-suite (*SIGH* I know, but no system is perfect, ok?) and you don't have to buy a ticket or pay for an overpriced hotel room. And, if you're Con Funk Guy no one is going to pester you about it because they won't be able to smell it anyway. Put another way, this also means that you won't have to smell Con Funk Guy. So what's holding you back?

I'll give you an enjoyable experience if you'll let me. Just swing by and tell me what you're thinking. Oh, but be warned: I was serious when I said I've got dibs on starting the thread re: The Godfather. I'll be doing that soon. Other than that, it's all wide open and your time is now. Get to it!

(Jim McCoy is the proprietor of  The Geek Galaxy and Jimbo's Awesome Science Fiction and Fantasy reviews at http://jimbossffreviews.blogspot.com )

Sarah K.L. Wilson's Dragon School: Episodes 1-5

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So, I've kind of got a confession to make. I've got like a huge backlog of stuff that people sent me to review and I errr...

Read something else.

But it was, like, really good, so I thought I'd force all of my fans (LAWL) to read my thoughts on it because awesome. Or sumfin'.

And I know some people don't like young adult fiction, but I truly feel sad for those people and think they should broaden their horizons. Sure, the teenage years were rough for some of us (and believe me, I was a geek with acne, I would know) but that shouldn't ruin your enjoyment of a perfectly good story. Especially one that's awesome dipped in awesome sauce on a stick.

So what is this gem that I'm up past my bedtime to share with all of you? (Seriously, I get up for work at 5 AM and it's 11 PM here.)

It's Dragon School: Episodes 1-5 by Sarah K.L. Wilson.  It's the story of a young girl with something to prove. It's the story of overcoming a common birth and a disability to achieve her goals. I'm not sure if it's a story of incredible courage, or a case of having more guts than brains, but she's definitely no coward. It's action packed, non-stop and I already downloaded the second omnibus. I stopped reading it to let you all know about this series though, because you need to read it.

When I first downloaded Dragon School, I thought it was going to be a massive omnibus. It is massively entertaining, but it's not all that long. I can see why she packages them five episodes at a time because the five of them were about the length of an average novel at three hundred ninety-one pages on Kindle. (Yes, I know all of the cool kids do word count but I'm a geek. Not just that, I'm a LAZY geek. I'm not counting all of those words.) The next one is slightly longer at four hundred and one. The five episodes serving is just about right.

I swore I wasn't going to rant about not getting anything done on my day off because I had my nose buried in Dragon School all day so I won't. After all, it's not like I really need clean clothes or groceries. I'll be just fine without them. I did take time out to make my last steak tonight and I think I've got some Ramen around here somewhere...

Good authors are evil. Wilson is practically Skeletor mixed with Darth Vader.

Or sumfin'

Our heroine is one Amel Leafbrought. She is a commoner in a fuedal society. She has a problem with her leg and can't walk without a crutch or at a normal pace. (I'm not sure what the exact nature of the leg problem is, other than that it hurts and it won't hold weight. As a gout sufferer I can relate.) She passes some tests and wins the right to choose a dragon. (that's not a spoiler, it's in the first chapter.) The she picks one, gets inducted into Dragon School and chaos ensues.

I'm not really the superstitious type, but you'd almost think there was some malevolent force out there intentionally waiting for her to join Dragon School before allowing the world to blow up. Like, oh, I dunno...

An author or something?

They tend to do that, I suppose.

At any rate, Amel is the kind of girl who doesn't have a bit of backup in her. Seriously, this is the girl you want to go to war with. She's smart, tought and indomitable. I like this girl. I teach my daughters to be “Strong, Proud, Smart, Tough, and Brave.” Amel is all of the above. I like this girl. I respect this girl. Hell, I admire this girl. I'd really like to see my oldest read this (it might be a little tough for my nine year old) but good luck with that. She's into romance and not the good stuff. Poor kid.

Oh, and I've never seen a character quite so loyal to her friends. Amel is a girl that would go through a fire to save someone she cared about with gasoline drawers on and not worry about what would happen until after they were safe. What a girl.

I really like the dragons in Dragon School. For an old school Dungeons and Dragons they take a bit of getting used to (Chomatic Dragons that are good guys are weird for some of us) but once you wrap your brain around the fact that you're in a different universe they're awesome. Seriously, one of my least favorite things about both the J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series and  Harry Turtledove's  Darkness series is that they get dragons wrong. Dragons are meant to be huge and fearsome, yes, but also of at least human intelligence.

Wilson gets it right.

Her dragons are smart and lively as well as flat out deadly. They may have a bit of a temper at times, but they are predators with lots of natural weapons, so that seems only natural. They're also good friends and allies – or at least some of them are. Others I haven't seen so much about and there are hints of tension within the ranks of the dragons, most of which are wild.

I'm hoping that'll show up in future volumes. I'm kind of guessing that it will, actually.

The political scheming is intense. For a commoner girl, Amel sure does get caught up in a whole bunch of stuff above her station. I don't want to get too spoilery, but trust me she gets to know some seriously important people. I'm wondering if she doesn't end up with some kind of minor title herself at some point. I guess I'll just have to keep reading. For some reason, that doesn't seem like a bad thing to me.

Listen, there are a lot of other characters I'd like to talk about but honestly, it's almost midnight now. I need to be up soon and I totally want to get through a few chapters of  Episode Six now. Hie thee off to Amazon for Dragon School: Episodes 1-5 while I hie me off to sleep. And seriously, get the omnibus editions. The individual episodes are pretty short and you won't have to go through the frustration of interrupting your reading for multiple downloads.

Bottom Line
: 5.0 out of 5 Sets of Leathers
Dragon School: Episodes 1-5 (Dragon School Omnibus Book 1)
Sarah K.L. Wilson
Self Published, 2019

Dragon School: Episodes 1-5 (Dragon School Omnibus Book 1) is available for purchase at the following link. If you click the link and they buy literally anything from Amazon, I get a small percentage at no additional cost to you.

Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery

“So Jimbo, you've reviewed books, movies, and comics. You've covered things like G.I. Joe which are totally not considered by most people to BE Science fiction.”

“Yeah, and?”

“You've never reviewed a game. Everyone thinks games are SF/F. DragonCon even has a few Dragon Awards for games.”

“Uhh.. Yeah. Your fault. I mean, it's actually my fault but I'm channeling my ex-wife here.”

“So what's up, bro? You gonna do this or what?”

“Fine, I'll do it. Now take your ass to the kitchen and make me some pie.”

(Bonus points if you're not screaming sexism when I never gendered the speaker. Also, bonus points for everyone who remembered the old school Cartman quote.)

So, while cruising somewhere someday, I came across an ad for a cell phone app called Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery and I was kind of hesitant. I had taken a look at another game called Harry Potter: Wizards Unite and it was basically the Harry Potter equivalent of Pokemon Go! and well, three hundred seventy pound dude and all, so...

Yeah, no.

Hogwarts Mystery however, does not force me to drag my overly large posterior all around town, presenting a huge target for any passing cars as I unwittingly wander out into traffic. I shouldn't diss Wizards Unites as I've never played it, but it just didn't sound like my kind of thing. Hogwarts Mystery however, is.

I'll let you all know about the biggest complaint others have about the game right now: The player has a limited energy meter and has to wait awhile for it to recharge after it's been used up. I'm okay with that.  I actually like that aspect of it, because I don't have all day to play apps on my cell phone and if I'm waiting for two and a half hours waiting on energy, I don't have to continuously be staring at my phone trying to get ahead. This is not the kind of game you have to spend eighteen hours a day playing to succeed. Obviously, if you don't play as much it takes longer to advance, but that's life.

The story of Hogwarts Mystery is excellent. The players finds themselves wandering around mostly familiar parts of Hogwarts (I don't remember seeing some of the Common Rooms in either the books or the movies) and solving a series of mysteries, which are actually all part of the big mystery. What happened to your brother Jacob? Is he alive? Is he dead? If he's still alive is he hiding out or being held hostage? No one has seen him in literally years. (And, yes, I mean literally literally. I'm a fifth year and I still haven't found him and he was missing  for a few years before that as well.) Things build very well upon each other and it's obvious that the storyline was written by someone who knew what they were doing and honestly, if every year ends on a cliff hanger, at least you can start the following year immediately after, at least up to sixth year. As now, I can see a list of achievement for years one through six. Not being a spoiler type guy, I'm not sure if there is no seventh year, if there will be and it hasn't been released yet, or if it's being hidden to prevent spoilers. If any of you have this information and can share it in a non-spoilery way, please let me know below. I'm afraid to look.

Hogwarts Mystery has a cast of characters that is just awesome. Not only are we treated to some of the awesome characters we're all familiar with, but there are some really cool new ones as well. Rowan Khanna is your best friend. You meet him on the Hogwarts Express on the way to start your first year.  My understanding is that he's in the same house as you are regardless of which house that is and yes, you do get to pick. Merula Snyde is an awesome enemy. I hate the chick's guts. I'm totally shipping my character and Penny Haywood, potions nerd extraordinaire. Seriously, where were all the chemistry geek blondes when I was fifteen?

Oy.

Also though, we get to see some old friends. Hagrid, Dumbledore, Snape, McGonnagal and others are all here. Tonks is here and that's awesome because I have a thing for older Tonks as played by Natalia Tena. I mean seriously. Hogwarts Mystery also features some of the lesser known characters from the series, like Bill and Charlie Weasley. It's a lot of fun working with those guys solving mysteries and creating mayhem, especially the mayhem part.

Stop looking like that. I played the trombone all through high school and everyone knows that trombone players are basically just Weasley Twins: The Muggle Version.

Anyway...

If I had chugged along merrily doing the main storyline quests and ignoring everything else I'd probably have been done with this game a long time ago (seriously, I've been playing since like January.) but that's just not me. Hogwarts Mystery features a ton of sidequests along the way and they're a blast. I don't want to go into too much detail because spoilers, but they add a whole freaking lot to the story and you get some cool prizes. Side quests come with a lot of outfits (and dressing your character and/or getting new gear for the stat bonuses is almost as big a part of Hogwarts Mystery as gathering xmog stuff in WoW was) and other prizes. Some is stuff to decorate your dorm room with. I love it all. You have to pay attention though, because some of the sidequests come with real world time limits. If you don't complete the quest in time you don't get the prize(s) you haven't earned yet. That's life and they are clearly marked, but you have to keep that in mind.

Oh, and not to be too spoilery but if you get a really cool outfit from one of the timed sidequests and it comes with a headpiece that's kind of annoying with any other outfit, you can change it in the hairstyle settings. I just figured that one out today.

Quidditch is fun  too. I'm given to understand that it was added to Hogwarts Mystery by popular demand after the game had been out for awhile. I can't comment on that except to say that it was available when I started playing. It's not quite the way I had pictured it. It's a really simplified game but it looks cool and IT'S QUIDDITCH. 'Nuff said.

Dueling is fun mostly and sometimes frustrating. It sucks to lose and I got stuck trying to advance the storyline because I couldn't win a duel and I ran out of galleons (which you have to pay to duel) to get past that spot in the story. It took me forever and I wanted to pound the snail snot out of myself when I figured out what I'd been doing wrong, but I got past it. There are duels throughout the game though, and it's a useful skill to have. Not to mention that there are sidequest that really only depend on winning a set number of duels and the prizes for completing them are really cool.

Care of Magical Creatures is a hoot and I'm not just talking about the class. There is actually a setting where you can adopt various and sundry creatures and teach them to like you. There is a series of sidequests with Hagrid. I've read that they'll be adding more. I don't want to ruin too much, but if you're doing these, I do recommend looking up some information on what order the animals go in. It'll make life simpler later and it won't detract from the fun if you don't read through the actual walkthrough. I do recommend only trying to max one critter out at a time, but honestly if you're not spending real world money that's all you'll probably be able to get at once anyway.

There are also multiday events that aren't really part of any storyline but give rewards. One of the most common rewards is the notebooks you need to buy the Magical Creatures, so if you're planning to do that, get used to playing these. I enjoy them. There is a dueling event that not only gives prizes for total victories, it also pays one hundred galleons a win. There is a Quidditch event. I like that one but I can't manage to get too many wins in a row. I'm getting better gradually though. There is an event where you gather crests by taking classes. More crests equal more prizes. There's an event based only on gaining experience (experience levels are part of the game but don't add much that I can see) so all you have to do is anything. That's a long one. It usually lasts close to a month and I usually beat it in about a week or a week and a half. The latest one required less exp and I beat it in a few days, but that's because I got big experience bonuses for finishing a chapter (all school years are divided into chapters) and for finishing two sidequests. The bonuses accounted for over half of what I needed all by themselves.

The biggest event is the one I call the “bingo event” and the game calls something totally different that I can't remember at the moment. My feelings on this event are mixed. The other events are pretty self explanatory as far as what you need to do. Do classes, get quests, win prizes. Win duels, get prizes, etc. With bingo you have a four by four bingo card. Each square has a different goal: Get so many stars for Flying Class. Win so many mini games in Charms. Buy some clothing (in-game money and/or notebooks and/or gems can be used with no real world money needed) from the in-game store. Fight and/or win so many duels. Play/win so many Quidditch matches, etc. So now you can't concentrate on one thing, you're scatter-shotting your efforts all over the place.

The thing is though, you're earning points the whole time and you've got competition, made up of bots with the name/appearance of other players avatars. It's hard to outscore them sometimes, especially when you can clear one card and don't know what's coming on your next one. Now, you can spend gems to reset hard goals (and I frequently do) but the amount of gems you can earn in game is limited. You can also use gems to produce a multiplier for your points, but again that's a lot of gems if you're getting them the hard way. Otherwise, you have to pay real world money to get more gems. And I guess that's what irks me, because it's the only part of the game that I consider to be pay to win. Bingo is also the one event that will eat through your Galleons so fast that it'll make you wonder if you ever had any. You have to save up for this one.

Seriously, you can play Hogwarts Mystery from beginning until end without spending a dime if you don't mind missing out on the last couple prizes of the Quidditch and bingo events. Anything else is easily completable using just your time. I'm pretty bad at the Quidditch one and there are times when the CPU just puts the bingo event out of reach. At least with Quidditch there's a good chance that I'll be able to complete the event if I just keep practicing.

Don't let that discourage you though, because this really is a great game. I find myself playing the game and trying to guess what will happen next. I laugh. I rage. I don't cry because that's not me, but some of you will. Oh, and it's challenging and fun too. You should try it. You'll enjoy it.

Bottom Line
4.5 out of 5 Black Feathers

Hogwarts Mystery is available at the Google app store and maybe the Istore, but I don't have an Apple phone so I can't check.

Some Harry Potter Merchandise is available for purchase at the link below. If you click the link and buy literally anything from Amazon I get a small percentage of your purchase at no cost to you.