For some inexplicable reason, Vegas has the 3-0 Buffalo Bills 3-point underdogs to the 1-2 Baltimore Ravens. Yes, Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry are potent runners. Yes, the game is being played in rainy Baltimore. Yes, the “experts” didn’t expect the Bills to be undefeated three games into the 2024 season.
I expect the Bills vs. Ravens game to be a close game. Weather conditions may affect the game with slipping and sliding and fumbling a wet football. How will your favorite NFL do today?
I was hoping for some cool alchemy and magic in the Infinity Alchemist. Instead, Kacen Callender delivers more of a romp into the angst of young people, difficulties with parents, gender-switching, romantic entanglements, and a lust for Power.
Ashen Woods is a poor young man working as a Groundkeeper’s assistant at the Lancaster College of Alchemic Science. Secretly, Ash has been teaching himself alchemy with varying results. When Ash is confronted by one of Lancaster College’s faculty members, Ramsay Thorne, he becomes part of a search for the legendary Book of Source. An alchemist possessing the Book of Source would commend infinite Power.
Of course, Ramsay Thorne isn’t the only alchemist searching for the Book of Source. Ash’s father, Gresham Hair, is willing to murder anyone standing in his way of finding Book of Source. While Ramsay and Ash pursue their own leads on the location of Book of Source, complications ensue. Ramsay changes gender every day. Sometimes male, sometimes female. While Ramsay knows more about alchemy than Ash does, Ash has untapped Power.
I found the romantic shenanigans tiresome and the search drawn out. Skip this one. GRADE: C
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Introduction: Balloon — 1
Bucket — 3
Richard — 15
Neighbor kid — 36
Poop mystery — 55
The Kangaroo Pig gets drunk — 81
Daydreams — 106
Dandelions — 132
Bananas — 149
Losing — 166
The Pile Dog 1 — 220
The Pile Dog 2 — 240
The world’s greatest cup — 261
Fairness — 285
Plans — 310
The ultimate plan — 315
Loving-kindness exercise — 364
Cat — 390
Fish video — 406
The Ugly Duckling 2 — 416
Throw-and-find — 446
Sister — 449
A nonspecific story about an animal — 468
Friendship spell — 478
Friend — 481
Acknowledgments — 517
I’ve read a lot of Jack McDevitt’s books (check out the links below). I’ve enjoyed them all…until this new one. Doorway to the Stars is loosely connected to McDevitt’s SF novel, Thunderbird (2015). An alien building known as the Roundhouse, estimated at 12,000 years old, provides instantaneous travel across the Galaxy. The Roundhouse is located on Sioux land so the Federal Government can’t immediately seize the Stargate.
So far, so good. But then Doorway to the Stars gets bogged down in various trips to distant planets. Who built the Stargate? What is its purpose? Why are only Earth-type planets (and a space station) accessible? Who are the intelligent species living on the planets the Stargate’s grid links to Earth?
One of the problems with Doorway to the Stars is that it’s only 107 pages long. Not a novel, more of a novella. Many plot points are suggested, but not filled out. Jack McDevitt’s Seeker won the 2006 Nebula Award for Best Novel. Doorway to the Stars is a long way from that quality. GRADE: C
Fans of Sherlock Holmes pastiches might enjoy this gender-bending series which begins with John Watson and his doctor son investigating a suspicious death. During their investigation, they meet Joanna Blalock (aka, The Daughter of Sherlock Holmes), a widow with uncanny deductive abilities only rivaled by her brilliant son who amazingly resembles the young Sherlock Holmes. Together, the Watsons and Joanna peel away the clues hiding a monstrous crime.
In A Study in Treason launches the Watsons and Joanna into a frantic search for a missing Government document. This case is set in 1914 and World War I is starting. If the Government document falls into the Wrong Hands, it could be a disaster. Joanna solves a locked room puzzle and leads the Watsons and Inspector Lestrade (son of the original) of Scotland Yard on a thrilling hunt.
The Disappearance of Alistair Ainsworth features a German spy group who has kidnapped one of England’s key cryptographers–Alistair Ainsworth. Joanna and the Watsons chase the spies who have the man who could change the outcome of World War I if he reveals the military codes to the Germans. I enjoyed all three books. Quick, fun reads! GRADE: B (for all three novels)
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
PREFACE — xi
INTRODUCTION — 1
Infirmity — 13
Loneliness — 41
Grief — 65
Failure — 91
Injustice — 119
Absurdity — 147
Hope — 171
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS — 183
NOTES — 185
INDEX — 215
To DEAN KOONTZ, who has offered his advice, ideas, and encouragement since the very beginning of my career. A long time ago, he told me to “think big” with my stories: now with The Saga of Seven Suns already longer than Tolstoy’s War and Peace, I hope this is what he meant! (p. v)
When computer game Red Dead Redemption II came out in 2018, it became a cultural juggernaut according to Tore Olsson. Olsson is a History professor and enthusiastic gamer who offered a course at the University of Tennessee on Red Dead Redemption II and the enrollment soared!
Red Dead Redemption II has sold 50 million copies. It generated $725 million in sales from its opening weekend.
“The story is set in a fictionalized representation of the United States in 1899 and follows the exploits of Arthur Morgan, an outlaw and member of the Van der Linde gang, who must deal with the decline of the Wild West while attempting to survive against government forces, rival gangs, and other adversaries. The game is presented through first- and third-person perspectives, and the player may freely roam in its interactive open world. Gameplay elements include shootouts, robberies, hunting, horseback riding, interacting with non-player characters, and maintaining the character’s honor rating through moral choices and deeds. A bounty system governs the response of law enforcement and bounty hunters to crimes committed by the player.” –Wikipedia
Tore Olsson is fascinated by Red Dead Redemption II because he believes it actually teaches history of the 1899 time period as well as providing a satisfying gaming experience. This is a game I want to play! How about you? GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Preface — ix
Introduction — 1
Part I The West