Lucas Blogs About Books

I'm slightly embarrassed to admit that it took me three books to catch on to the whole "number of feathres on the cover indicates which book in the series this is" thing. So, what's this book's deal? All right, so the deal with Malice of Crows is that it's the third book in Lila Bowen's The Shadow series. Like Lamont "Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?" Cranston the Shadow? Like the Orson Welles radio show or the Alec Baldwin movie? No. The Shadow is a series of fantasy/horror western novels about a Durango Ranger named Rhett Walker (who's gone through a number of previous names, but we'll get to that later). Rhett himself is a shapeshifting monster, that is to say that he looks human but is functionally immortal (unless someone manages to stab him in the heart) and can turn into a bearded vulture (aka a lammergeier) at will. However, to other monsters, Rhett just looks like a normal human (monsters can spot eacho...

Literal peacocking. So, what's this book's deal? Well, part one of it's deal is that it's the sequel to Amberlough  by Lara Elena Donnelly. You may remember that I reviewed that book last year and that I enjoyed it. It takes place in a fictional country called Gedda with more than a few parallels to Europe in the 1920s, and centers around the lives of spies and criminals as they try to survive a coup by a fascist, authoritarian party. Thank you for filling me in, I had forgotten. You mean you still haven't read it? I'm not angry, but I am disappointed. You're not my dad! Good point. Anyway, like I said, this is the next entry in the series, so we might end up revealing a few SPOILERS   about Amberlough , consider this your warning. Does it pick up where the last book left off? Yes and no. There hasn't been a huge shift in the status quo, but it is several months later. Aristide Makricosta, former stripper and emcee at the Bee cabaret, ...

Happy 13th of the month, readers (both hypothetical and otherwise)! You know what that means: it's time for me to revisit another entry in Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events! Sticking with that intro? Yes. All right. SPOILERS ahoy! Book the Sixth – The Ersatz Elevator So what did you remember about this book before re-reading it? Well, the Baudelaires are sent back to the city and placed in the care of Esmé Squalor and her husband Jerome. Jerome's a pretty okay guy, but Esmé is pretty not okay. I believe that Carmelita Spats also lives in their building. But when it comes to, say, Count Olaf's transparent disguise . . . I got not clue. But they do live in a high-rise apartment with a broken elevator. Oh, like in The Big Bang Theory ? Not really. Got anything else? Not really. Well, you've re-read it, what did you get right? Well, I didn't remember that much, and I definitely got one thing wrong. Carmelita Spats doesn...

Oh hey! You're deploying the inOpportune cOntent rePlacement proceSs ! Yeah, I'm not gonna lie. I do actually have stuff I could post today, but I'm visiting family, so I thought I'd spare myself from having to do one last proofread of today's blog and just put up an oops. Where'd you go? I'm visiting my dad, my stepmom, and my brother out in Arizona. I feel like I should make a joke about the weather, but that's a little played out. Haha, yeah! Anyway, I think that's gonna be it for this one. Don't worry though, I'll be posting the new A Year of Unfortunate Events tomorrow. Wait, won't you still be on your trip then? Sure, but proofreading one blog post is half as difficult as proofreading two. You are, as ever, the worst, Lucas!

In the grim darkness of . . . oh, who gives a fuck? So, what's this book's deal? Okay, so what if—GET THIS!—what if there was a fantasy setting where bands of mercenaries were like rock bands and—GET THIS!—they put on shows in huge arenas and—GET THIS!—they lived hard on the road and—GET THIS!—they had legions of fans following them on tour but—GET THIS!—instead of playing music they slaughtered monsters in gladiatorial combat. Well, I think I've got that and, I gotta say, that sounds kinda awesome. Or it would if you hadn't made such a big deal out of the parallels. Huh, I wonder if anyone told Nicholas Eames that while he was writing this book. This is gonna be a short one. Because like Into the Drowning Deep , I didn't finish reading Bloody Rose . Unlike Drowning , I only made it about a fifth of the way in before giving up. This book kinda blows. Kind of harsh for a book you barely started. Speaking of getting started: Our protagonist, Tam Hashford...