The Library Bards!

What do you get when you cross Weird Al and Mikey Mason? If you're anything you get excited and a sprained finger from trying to switch your Spotify and find out what the hype is abou...

Wait, that's not how that was supposed to go. I'll try again.

What do you get when you Cross Weird Al and Mikey Mason? You get the Library Bards! They're a group that I just found out about accidentally while clicking suggestions on Spotify in search of something new and, let me tell you, I'm impressed. 

Seriously, it doesn't get much better than nerdy parodies when I'm trying to keep myself sane while participating in repetitive tasks and, if people look at me funny because I'm singing D-N-D to the tune of AC/DC's TNT well, they're the confused ones. I know what I'm talking about. They only think they do.

And seriously, this is an all ages show, with parodies of everyone from the aforementioned AC/DC and Styx to Miley Cyrus. Topics include everything from Star Wars to comics books, to Dungeons & Dragons, to Pokemon and other geeky thing. They even have a single called Grammar Got Run Over. I guess I found them at the right time.

It's worth mentioning that one of the members of the group is Bonnie Gordon, formerly of ABC's The Quest. I've been a fan of her music since she wrote The Ballad of Sir Ansgar the Fierce. And I can honestly assure you that my admiration for her is based strictly on musical talent and hard work and has nothing to do with her long red hair, good looks or geeky atti...

COUGH

HACK

WHEEZE

AHEM

Look, I tried. I failed. But whatever. It is what it is. It's not my fault she's hot. And she's done a bunch of other stuff, too including working as the computer voice on Star Trek: Prodigy. Anyone who played on Star Trek can sing to me. Notice that I didn't mention playing trombone. Seriously, I played trombone in high school and Will Riker was my reassurance that I wasn't the worst trombone player in history. But I digress...

I mean, digression is kind of what I'm good at right?

Her co-conspirator in an evil plot to make us all feel happy and entertained is Xander Jeanneret who has a reality TV show background of his own, having been on TBS' King of the Nerds. I didn't realize that, having never seen King of the Nerds, but I might just see if I can track it down on streaming  to see if I can figure out who stole my title.  I'm sure they know who the TRUE King of the Nerds is and that all of you read his blog, but I doubt that they'd admit it publicly.

The Library Bards have released two albums: Bombarder and Bardcore. I loved both albums. They're produced well and sound good. Their Wikipedia article says that the bards hire people to produce their background music. This is a good thing because, while both are excellent singers and lyricists, knowing one's own limitations is a good thing. They seem to have overcome those admirably by hiring someone else for their strengths.

Bombarded has probably my favorite Library Bards song: DND. I think I mentioned it already, but I don't care. Listen, this is quality. Who doesn't love a song about their favorite tabletop role playing game? Who doesn't love AC/DC? Why wouldn't you love a crossover between the two? I mean seriously. The Princess Bride is another favorite movie (I have not, alas, read the book) and a great song. Come Fly Away crosses Styx's Come Sail Away with Star Wars. 

Bardcore starts off with a reminder that the Library Bards are All About That Space (No Tribbles!). That one has me rolling everytime. Gandalf features Gollum rapping. Read that again. Rapping freaking Gollum. ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED? If not, I suggest holding on for when they come in like a Pokeball, or when Bonnie reminds us all that she's a Geeky Girl. Trust me, Bonnie, we notice. Or at least I did. I mean, I know you're a celebrity and probably get this all the time..

Yeah, never mind. I've got no chance. A guy can dream though, right?

While you're listening to Bardcore, listen to Finn and Poe for me and let me know what song they're parodying here. I recognize it but I can't come up with it. The answer to this greatest of all conundrums is on the tip of my tongue, but I have no answer and I was flirting with insanity before I listened to it. Somebody help your boy out here. I deserve it. 

Or sumfin'

And, as I've been told by many World of Warcraft players, Shut Up and Raid. (That's one of their singles.) Who am I fooling. I was the official floor inspector for both of my guilds: Atonement and Sadistic Betrayal. I got the nick because I was constantly lying on the floor dead. I was good at my job too. The best tasting flooring in all of Azeroth is at the Wikket boss fight in Return to Kharazan. Strongly oaky, with a slight hint of Murphy's Oil Soap. And, OMG did we wipe a lot there. 

And since I'm writing this on Christmas Day (night) I have to mention their other single: Grammar Got Run Over. Not only is it hilarious and awesome, it's also seasonal. I loved it.

I had mentioned something on my Facebook about the Library Bards becoming my new geeky obsession, but that's a little iffy. That's not because the music isn't good enough to obsess over. They've got it going on there. My problem is that they've only got two albums out. When I freaked out over Mikey Mason he had, I think, six albums out AND I got to listen him write a song on Facebook. It was great. I'm not trying to be mean here, though. I'm actually giving the Library Bards the biggest compliment I can give an artist/group of artists: I want more of your art. MAKE ME ANOTHER ALBUM!!! Or, make it for yourselves and I'll listen to it. Either way, more is better and less is NOT more. Trust me on this one.

Bottom Line: 5.0 out of 5 Rocking Tracks

Threading The Needle Narrative Choices - A Guest Post by Monalisa Foster

Monomyth's Grim Tides

I like gaming. Do you like gaming? I'm guessing you probably do, because most geeks are gamers and if you're not a gamer you're probably not going to read my blog. That's unfortunate, I suppose. Everyone should read my epic awesomeness (I mean, the name of the blog _is_ Jimbo's AWESOME Science Fiction and Fantasy Reviews) but some people just don't know how to have a good time. 

Or sumfin'

Today though, it's not about a book or a movie. Today, we're discussing a game. A pretty simple one, actually.  It's a cell phone app and I don't remember when it came to my attention, but I have been playing it a lot lately. There's a reason for that. It's fun. But it goes a little deeper than that, too.

At the most basic level, the reason I like Grim Tides is because it's the kind of app that I really enjoy: I don't have to spend my entire paycheck to succeed. I don't have to play constantly to accomplish anything. I don't have to wait for hours because I ran out of my energy when I do feel like playing. There's no "this will be done in six hours while you're asleep and you can't start your next twelve hour project till lunch time tomorrow when you get a chance to play again." type thing. There is crafting, but it's instantaneous as long as your cellular provider isn't being a buttface. I hate you, Cricket.

Anyway...

There's a lot of nostalgia for me here, because Grim Tides has a similar feel in a lot of ways to old school console Role Playing Games like Wizardry on the original Nintendo Entertainment System. The levels are easier to navigate, not being mazes like they were back in the day, but the random encounter system and linear advancement remind me a lot of the "olden days" as my oldest daughter would call them.

Grim Tides has a bit of open world to it, but not really. As you progress in the game, new areas open up and you can get back to the old places as well. I can't get to most places just yet, because I haven't progressed far enough. That's okay though, because I can see where I have yet to go and, if I'm not sure exactly what it takes to unlock each location, at least I know I'll get there eventually. There are new monsters at each new location and each matches with the environment in that area. Honestly, it's like a series of dungeons in Dungeons & Dragons in that manner. 

With a name like Grim Tides, it shouldn't come as a surprise that you have to obtain and maintain your own ship. I was a bit concerned about how the maintenance aspect would work, but it's pretty easy. It's just a matter of docking your ship (which you do at the end of every dungeon crawl) and paying the gold to do it. I have a couple of crew members now, and they add bonuses to different things. It's a matter of picking the right person to give the right bonus and I've done no research. I've probably got the wrong dudes, but whatever. This is not a super serious kind of thing.

Grim Tides is also a single player game and that's something I've been looking for. There is no player versus player content, so I don't have to try to outspend the other guy. While playing another game, I had a guy lecture me because I was so far behind him in increasing my power. It turned out that he had pumped three hundred dollars into the game. I hadn't spent a penny. I'm still convinced that I'm smarter than him, but I got my ass kicked. Lesson learned. I don't play those kinds of games anymore. I've got bills to pay.

Of course, being free to play means that Grim Tides is ad supported. I don't mind it though. You have the chance to view an ad after every dungeon run to get gold, but you don't have to. There are ads at the bottom of the screen, but they're really non-intrusive. Grim Tides is not the kind of game where you're constantly interrupted by annoying ads. And the amount of gold you earn for watching ads goes up as you level too, so it at least stays relevant.

There are a number of classes available, but I only have one character so far. He's a Paladin. I figured some healing and some tanking would be a good mix since you don't get a party: Grim Tides is a solo adventure once you get into the dungeon where most of the action takes place. There are plenty of other classes though. I just haven't had time to work through all of them yet.

Abilities are a huge part of the game. Leveling them requires a lot of gold, but you won't make it if you don't acquire and level them. I really need to experience more than one class to get a good feel for how it works overall, but I like my pally abilities. I've min-maxxed into hacking weapons and the abilities that go with them. This seems to be an effective strategy for now as, from what I can tell, weapons come in tiers and pretty much any weapon of a given tier has the same damage codes. It's the abilities that go with them that change things. And, "whack it as hard as you can as often as you can" has been a tactic that's worked for me for decades now.

The town you base out of is pretty basic, but it's got what it needs to be interesting. It's also small enough to be easily navigable. There's an Inn where you can buy supplies, acquire quests and raise your morale, as well as storing things you have acquired but don't have an immediate use for. That's an important thing, because inventory space is limited. There's a store, an arena where you can fight and win lots of gold, the harbor and a couple of places to do some crafting of magic items and weapons and armor. 

The story aspect is pretty cool, too. There's a prologue at the beginning and a journal feature that lets you re-read the story entries that you've found so far. It's also where you track your quests and get your rewards. And yes, the story is all about chasing down the evil wizard and his henchmen but it works. 

Bottom Line: 4.75 out of 5 Undead Pirates

Grim Tides
Monomyth, 2023?

E.G. Foley's The Lost Heir (The Gryphon Chronicles, Book One)

Okay, so I don't usually mention stuff like this because it's really irrelevant to my (and presumably your) enjoyment of the story, but E.G Foley is actually two people, Eric and Gael Foley. They're a married couple. That's kinda cool. But, with your kind permission, I will now proceed to regale you with my usual nonsense. It makes for fine rea...

*COUGH*

*WHEEZE*

Listen. I tried. That makes some kind of difference, right?

So anyway...

E.G. Foley's The Lost Heir has a title that is a spoiler in and of itself, so I guess it's okay if I mention that our hero, one Jake (don't call him Jacob) Reed is more than just your average orphan. I mean, there may be someone searching for him or something, possibly related to his heritage. Or sumfin'. Listen, Jake is honestly a scamp. He's got some magical power (and his first scene in the book was epic) and he is making his way in the world any way that he can. It's not quite the way the local magistrate would prefer, and that's unfortunate, but Jake is not the type of person to overly concern himself with the opinion of an authority figure. I mean that lovingly. This kid is a little rough around the edges the way I kinda like to read a bit, but that's part of his charm.

Jake also attracts trouble like sugar attracts ants. This kid cannot - under any circumstances - avoid doing the wrong thing at precisely the wrong time. His sense of timing is eerily terrible. That's a trait that keeps things interesting though, and I don't seem to remember being bored at any point during the story, and that's a really rare thing for the first book in a series. The Foleys have a gift for being able to build their world simultaneously with moving the story along. I was expecting some boring exposition and I didn't get any, so kudos to them. 

What I did get was a feeling of time and place that really worked. Being the guy with the history degree, I'm pretty sure that my college professors would have contracted the vapors immediately upon hearing about a story involving magic and water nymphs in Victorian England. That type of thing is just not historically accurate, no matter how much fun it was. I mean, it seriously was. I guess you wouldn't get this if you've never read a thirty plus page paper about the historical inaccuracies contained in the movie The Last Samurai, but trust me, it's a thing.

I've started a new job recently here in the real world, and I was looking for a light read, something I could read straight through without putting too much thought into it and just freaking enjoy. I like my new job but it's been a bit stressful trying to learn all the stuff about the things so that I can get the people to buy them. (Yes, Virginia, there is a Telemarketer Claus, and he reviews books) The Lost Heir was the perfect fit. This is not a heavy, plodding Robert Jordan novel (and for the record, that's a good thing. Jordan never used a word when a chapter would do and I couldn't even get through the first Wheel of Time novel.) nor is it something with the dark, twisted sense of foreboding I got while reading Dragonlance Legends. The Last Heir is entertaining and the stakes are high, but it's kind of like the literary equivalent of a good popcorn flick. Speaking of which, I'd pay to see this, and Jake isn't much older than that Potter kid at the start of his story, And Jake's an orphan, too. Hmmm...

The rest of the cast of characters is also a lot of fun. Jake's best friend is a girl named Dani, and oh wow, do I feel sorry for her. She tries to help Jake out and keep him out of trouble, but I already covered how well that goes. She is loyal to the bone though, and she could hang out with me anytime. She's always there, but she's not afraid to call a bonehead a bonehead. And, while I'm not sure she ever actually uses the word, she lets Jake know what he needs to know. 

Uncle Waldrick, on the other hand, is the piece's antagonist and he desperately deserves a thumb to the eye. I don't like this guy at all. He has no magic of his own, but he has friends and they're just as bad as he is. He has kind of a bit of Cobra Commander to him though. He has grandiose plans, but they never seem to work out. His reach exceeds his grasp, but he never gives up. Jake is the one person in the world who can screw everything up for him. It gets ugly. I hate this guy, but I love to hate him. He's the hero in his own mind though, and has only managed to come into something his brother didn't deserve.

My one complaint about The Lost Heir, and I'd never have noticed this if I hadn't just re-read the Amazon page for the book, is that it claims to be steampunk and I don't really get that feeling from it. There is some mention of trains, and a quick reference to attempts at flying, but it just doesn't have that weird, old time steam tech thing, at least from my point of view. Now, that may change in later books, and The Lost Heir is the first in a series, but for me it's not Steampunk enough to be Steampunk. I guess it's the right time period. Maybe I'm just being that guy. Other than that though, this is a first class story and I'm kind of ticked off at myself for reading that Amazon page of a book I had already loved. But whatever. I'm giving this story a perfect score anyway, because it deserves one.

Bottom Line: 5.0 out of 5 Talking Spiders

The Lost Heir
E.G Foley
Self Published, 2013

The Lost Heir 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.

Dan Sugralinov's Class A Threat (Disgardium Book One)

 

Sometimes, a book just pushes all the right buttons in just the right order. If you're me then that book is Dan Sugralinov's Class A Threat. Seriously, this book was a real treat. I'll get to the whys and wherefores in a bit, but I don't go through books this quickly very often. I started reading Class A Threat right after finishing another book and I was "taking a quick break" before I started writing my review. I'm still going to review that book, it'll be up tomorrow, but WOW! Sugralinov rocked the dance floor with this one.

And nope, that's totally not a reference to any songs named Rock the Casbah and any mistaken lyrics on my part. Nope. Uh-uh! 

DUDE! 

You really should make at least an ATTEMPT at looking convinced. It's not good for my ego to get doubted and we all know my ego is, like, fragile and junk. So be nice and stop trying to harsh my mellow.

Or sumfin'

In a lot of ways, Class A Threat is very similar to another book I've read, only they turned that one into a movie. There's no Eighties nostalgia here, nor is there a group of Gunters out to solve the mystery, but the universe reminds me a lot of Ready Player One. There is a game where you can make real world money, pretty much everyone of at least fourteen years of age plays it or used to, and you can put real world money into it. Seriously, Disgardium is more popular than Candy Crush was in its heyday. This game is everywhere and it's required for kids from the age of fourteen to sixteen. Players that age are confined to areas called "sandboxes" and that's where main character Alex Sheppard starts.

There is also a dystopian society. The government runs everything. People are divided by class according to their ability to do good things for society. Alex lives on the good side of town as both of his parents are computer programmers who contribute to the game that he plays, but that may not last. See, they're going to get divorced and when they do, their social status will drop. Of course, they may be able to gain it back, but they used to work so well together...

Yeah, that and a lot of other teenage problems appear on the pages of Class A Threat. There's school, dating, etc. The thing I like though, is that this isn't Twilight. Alex isn't some whiny little punk starving for attention. He's the kind of kid who gets through what he has to get through in his own way (read: he's a geek) but he doesn't whine much. He does freak out a bit about things that will have an obvious effect on his future, but it's for logical reasons and he's not a mope. I like this kid. He reminds me of me in some ways.

Well, except for the part where he doesn't end up with the geeky chick. I can't fathom that. Apparently, the other girl is better looking and Alex doesn't understand the concept of a plus five to hotness if she's a geek. Seriously, brain power rocks, and this kid is thinking with his, uhh..

Well, you get the idea. Oh, and he drinks a bit which was something I didn't really do in high school, and I'm actually serious there. Ask anyone who knew me. The one time I did take a sip of beer by buddy Robbie passed out. It was scary, but I also laughed at him. Also, Bud Dry sucks. But I digress.

Something else I was very heavily reminded of while reading Class A Threat was my time spent playing World of Warcraft, except for the part where Alex doesn't like it at first. He has to play, so it sucks. But once  he gets into it, I'm reminded of my early days. He has no clue about the game, or the world it's played in but he's having a good time and finding a way to make his way in the game, and if he has a little adv...

Nevermind, spoilers.

If you've played WoW though, or really any Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game, then you'll see a lot that you'll recognize here. "Gankers", rated Player Versus Player combat, dungeons/instances, raids, Non-Player Characters, different grades of loot drops denoted by colored text, I could go on for hours. Trust me when I tell you that it felt like old home week for a reformed WoWhead. That even goes down to the mounts, although Alex can't  afford one at first. Although I am one hundred percent certain, on every level except reality, that the name of the company that makes Disgardium, SnowStorm, was in no way inspired by Blizzard, the company that makes WoW. Yup. Totes coincidental. Totes.

Also like me, Alex manages to find himself a group of friends who actually know what they're doing and can help him in game. Out there somewhere is a woman named Edie, although she was known in game as Persifinee, who taught me how to gear up and how to raid. There's a guy named Dustin, aka Myronath, who taught me how to rep grind, level quickly and earn cool stuff in game. Later, he taught me a lot about how to run a guild. I mean, no one ever really taught me how to play a hunter with Growl turned off, but no system is perfect.  So yeah, that part reads true to me, except that I've never gotten to meet Myro or Persi in person and Alex is in the same sandbox his schoolmates are in and they all know each other in real life and actually get to hang out together. 

Something that LitRPG writers have to do well is create two worlds that work well together. Sugralinov has done a damn fine job of doing just that. It's very easy to track when Alex is in the real world and when he's in the game, but there's no discontinuity as he switches back and forth. As a matter of fact, Sugralinov does a better job of tracking the real world effects of too much gaming than pretty much any other LitRPG author I've read. This makes Class A Threat believable on a level that a lot of other LitRPG books just aren't. I've already started Book Two, but I'm not going to give the title because it's kind of spoliery for Book One. I'm enjoying it though.

It also kinds of bums me out that Class A Threat is too old to nominate for a Dragon Award, because I think it deserves one. Then again, since it's that old there's a ton of sequels to read so I guess I'll get over myself.

Bottom Line: 5.0 out of 5 Boxes of Donuts

Class A Threat
Dan Sugralinov
Magic Dome Books, 2019

Class A Threat 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.

Lionsgate's The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

(Author's note: Yes, I reviewed the book already. You can read that review here.)

Yes, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is a Lionsgate film, but Suzanne Collins is the real genius here. I have read the book twice and now seen the movie and I still can't quite wrap my mind around the fact that she managed to take a complete asshole villain (and if you never wanted to cut President Snow's heart out with a rusty spoon you've never read/seen the original Hunger Games trilogy.) and turn him into a protagonist that truly resonates with her audience. I won't spend too much time on that because I've done that review, but I still marvel at it. Seriously, Collins deserves some kind of major award for that. 

Of course, there's plenty of action and violence. Young "Corio" is the driving force behind building the Games and continuing them into the future. There is political intrigue. There is friendship, brotherhood, and betrayal. There is an awful lot to this story and it's woven so skillfully that you almost feel like you're living in the world that Collins has created and Lionsgate has replicated. 

HAVING SUMMARIZED MY LAST REVIEW...

I was immediately struck by the differences in "feel" between Ballad and the first four movies. Ballad is much grittier, much grimier, and much darker than the others, and I mean darker in the literal sense of how much lighting they probably had on set. My first impression when the movie came up was one word; "noir." Don't get me wrong. It was in full color, but it had that darkness to it. Even later in the movie when the sets are better lit something about the way it looks (it might be a filter. I took a class called Intro to Film, but I don't remember going over how filters work.) is just less bright and glittery.

I think that's the point though. This is not the Panem of Katniss Everdeen. Panem, in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is a nation only ten years removed from a massive civil war that ripped the whole country apart and ended with the Capitol once again holding dominion over its vassal Districts. This is  a world where things haven't been put back together yet. It's a world where the to-be-hated president is a young man from a once-great family. It's a world where The Hunger Games are nowhere near what they one day will be and it looks it.

And seriously, I want to know who designed these sets. Listen folks, I don't watch award shows. I'd rather spend my time watching movies than watching movie stars tell each other how great they are. I'd rather listen to music than watch musicians pat each other on the back. It's weird because they do deserve to be recognized for their efforts and I'm not trying to hate but it's just not my thing. That much having been said; Is there an Oscar for set design? Seriously? If there is, it should go to the people who made Ballad. I'm being one hundred percent sincere here. 

The Capitol goes from grungy to well..

Better.  Not what it will be but not so war torn either. The classroom has the feeling for a Roman amphitheater. Snow's home has that "it used to be really awesome here" look that I'd never think you could be replicated, but they owned it. The Peacekeeper Barracks is kind of cliche-ish, but it's the freaking military where cookie cutter is the order of the day. The bar where the Peacekeepers party feels like a massive honky-tonk of an earlier era where electricity wasn't really much of a thing. The Arena before the explosions looks very well done and exciting, complete to the turnstiles. Volumnia Gaul's office was eerie, creepy, disgusting and awesome. But it's after the Arena after the explosions take place where they really shine.

It was great because there were shades of Caesar Flickerman from the original Hunger Games trilogy and his comment about "The use of the rubble" in one of his favorite older arenas. There was definitely rubble in the Arena in Ballad. There were also tunnels, an arch of sorts, some fans...

It was amazeballs.

It took what would have been a truly lackluster Arena and turned it into a nightmarish land of death. This is where the darker tone really took hold and pushed the story along all on its own. I really got the feeling that you never knew who was coming from where and how things were going to change. 

And yeah, it wasn't the elaborate Arenas of the original trilogy, but it was sixty-five years earlier and that hadn't developed yet. 

The music in the flick was awesome as well. Rachel Zegler has a voice that just won't quit. I've seen stage shows from the upper balcony starring actors and actresses who didn't have voices that strong. They were impressive too. She puts a ton of emotion into everything she sings, too. The definition of good art is that it creates an emotional reaction and Zegler's voice definitely does that. She wins over the Districts, then the Capitol and at some point that Jimbo guy sitting in the theater with her voice. I was in band in high school and I have a love of great show tunes. We played them and I've seen a number of musicals because of the memories they evoke. I have a sneaking suspicion that, thirty years from now, out there somewhere, a forty plus year old former band member is going to remember The Ballad of Lucy Gray-Baird and Nothing You Can Take From Me the same way I remember Jesus Christ Superstar and Memory. Those songs are that good.

The acting was awesome as well. Tom Blyth makes an awesome Coriolanus Snow. He makes that character live like no other could have. Rachel Zegler as Lucy Gray-Baird is amazing. She goes from scared to strong to looking toward the future in a way that few others could. Viola Davis is a perfectly creepy Dr. Gaul. She needs to be. And of course Peter Dinklage is great in whatever he's in. That's just him.

In short, I loved every minute of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. I'd go see it again tomorrow if I could. I can't wait till this thing comes to streaming so I can watch it another few times. I mean that. Snow always lands on top.

Bottom Line: 5.0 out of 5 Scared Tributes

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
Lionsgate, 2023

Some item related to The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes are available for purchase at the following links. If you click the link and buy literally anything from Amazon, I get a small percentage at no additional cost to you. And, not to be that guy about it, it is Christmas time and I know you've got some shopping to do. So clicky the thingy and throw some pennies atcha boy.

DT Read's Tentacles of the Dominion

Seldom can an author change the entire basis for a series and have it work. John Ringo comes to mind as an author who didn't (and if you've read the Legacy of the Aldenata series AKA The Human/Posleen Wars then you're familiar with the Callie Trilogy. I kinda didn't like them because they didn't fit.) quite make it fit. I never liked the Callie trilogy much, not because it was poorly written, but because it didn't fit the series. 

Enter D.T. Read and her latest (re)release, Tentacles of the Dominion. I was a bit leery at first because I had advanced warning that this was a book unlike the first two books and I wasn't sure how things were going to turn out. I was worrying for no reason though, because this is a damn fine book. 

I've remarked before how well Read writes family life and Tentacles of the Dominion is actually the best example of that so far. Lujan Sergey has been badly wounded while protecting an important person at a treaty signing. His son Tristan, the main character of the first two books, is literally light years away fighting on another planet. His wife is left alone to be with him while he tries to recover from a nearly body-wide paralysis plus blindness and deafness using methods that would not be available in the real world. Read gets into Lujan's head. Read gets into his wife Darcie's head. 

Lujan's recovery is totally believable if you excuse the Science Fictional methods used to make it work. He struggles. He fights. Lujan is an admiral in the Sperzah, which is a spaceborne version of the Navy SEALS and he refuses to give up like one. He has that ungoldy persistence combined with stubborn pigheadedness that gets him through anything he needs to get through. If he pushes himself further than he should at times then so be it. You don't accomplish great things by refusing to challenge yourself or by thinking small. Basically, when I finally get to sit down and have a drink with all of my fictional friends, Lujan gets a double. He's hard core.

Darcie is the kind of wife that every man wants. She's tough. She's loyal. She sticks by her man no matter what it takes and helps bring him through the fire regardless of the cost to herself. Seriously, I've got a lot of respect for her and she gets a girly froo-froo drink, too. Make that two. She's earned it.

Oh, and a moment between Lujan and his mother and sisters deserves mention, too. Mom is totally believable to the point where I didn't know whether to laugh along with her or cry for Lujan. Either way, it worked out well and I had a good time with it. And when Tris makes it back, there are times when I almost did well up.

I mean, I didn't, obviously, because I'm Jimbo and Jimbo is a big, strong, proud, smart, brave, rough, tough guy.

Of course, I taught my daughters to be all of that and they still cry, but not me. Nope. Never.

But yeah, speaking as a guy who lost his dad unexpectedly, I felt for Tris when he came back from deployment. He hadn't lost his father but in some ways it had to have felt like he did. The dude in the hospital bed wasn't the guy he went rappelling with last book even if he was. If you've ever seen a loved one go through something catastrophic you'll get that. 

But I also felt for Luj. I'm watching my oldest grow up. She's a high school senior this year, just drove me out to dinner and is getting invitations from lots of colleges because of her brains. I always raised her to do her best and succeed but it's still hard to believe that she's so old and grown up now. It's the same for Luj, who sees his baby grown and helping Dad when he needs it. It's a weird thing if you haven't experienced it, but any parent who has been through a similar time can read that part of the book and feel it in their soul.

That's not to say that Tentacles of the Dominion is all family and medicine. There is a big-time political plot going on complete with spies, duplicity and murder. There are a few action sequences and they work where they're supposed to. We get that whole pulse pounding feeling a couple times and it's fun but that's not what Tentacle of the Dominion is really all about.

If you're a fan of my blog then you're familiar with my whole "someone to root for and someone to root against" thing, then you know I love to hate a good villain, and TOTD has one that I just want to reach out and touch, preferably with a bladed weapon in his core region. Seulemont Remarq is sneaky. He's slimy. He's duplicitous. He'll do whatever he needs to do to achieve his ends and he has no sense of remorse. His only loyalty is to himself and on that level he's a fanatic. He seeks power for his government, but not as a loyalist. His goal is to empower the government to empower himself.

He's got friends and followers, or at least accomplices, in high places, too. There is indeed a great deal of corruption in the government and it seems to be spreading. They even manage to get Lujan retired while he is convalescing, thus removing him from a position where he has a chance to really influence what happens next. It almost has an air of legitimacy but it's fake. And, of course, nothing is worse than fake legitimacy, with the possible exception of my sense of humor. Even that's only possible though.

I do find myself a bit bummed that this is the end of the trilogy because I feel like there is more story to be told here. I won't go into details because it would spoil too much, but I truly do feel like there should be at least one more book to detail the fallout from this one. I think I can get up with saying that there are some loose ends that need to be tied up. Then again, I hear that there are some sequels coming, turning this into an ongoing series once again and that your favorite blogger might have something to say about how they go. 

Bottom Line: 5.0 out of 5 Burnt Fuses

Tentacles of the Dominion
D.T. Read
Theogony Books, 2023

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