Lucas Blogs About Books

Well, I never need to reuse this picture again.   The Intro That's right, we've finally arrived in Canterbury, readers (Hypothetical or otherwise), this is the final installment of Whan That Month , a mere three months behind schedule. This month I'll be reading the longest of the tales (by about twenty pages) and something that's not a tale at all, so let's jump into— The Parson's Prologue Chaucer reckons that it's about four in the afternoon when the Manciple finishes his tale , and Harry Bailly triumphantly proclaims that they lack only one tale (the math definitely doesn't check out there, especially since The Manciple's Prologue is about the lack of a tale from the Cook). So he turns to the Parson who, having listened to the other pilgrim's tales on the road to Canterbury without comment replies, "Y'all need Jesus." And rather than a tale proceeds to deliver— The Parson's Tale Which, as it turns out, is a lengthy guide to p...

Hey, Hypothetical Reader! I'm taking my first V! A! C! A! T-I-ON!  in the summer sun since the pandemic started, so I'm gonna take Connie Francis's advice and put away the books and play it cool. You know that song is about summer vacation from school, right? Well, I didn't know before I started listening to the whole song, but I do know that now. But I'll be too busy doing the mashed potato to a juke box tune and park my car 'neath an august moon to think about that. It's "August moon" like the month! Whatevs, there's no real posts until 28th for the final installment of Whan That Month ! Until then stay safe, get vaccinated, and keep in touch with your loved ones!

Remember Cowboys and Aliens ? No? Me neither.   So, what's this book's deal? I thought you'd never ask, Hypothetical Reader. The deal with Lake of Fire  is that it's a comic book written, colored, and lettered by Nathan Fairbairn and drawn by Matt Smith. The pithy synopsis is that it's crusaders vs. aliens. Perhaps a less pithy synopsis is in order. Yeah, okay, have you heard of the Albigensian Crusade ? You mean the twenty year campaign of extermination against the Cathars in the Languedoc region of France in the early 13th Century? Yes, that Albigensian Crusade. Lake of Fire  takes place in 1220, about halfway through. After a couple of pages showing a spaceship crashing, we cut to Theo and Hugh, two teenage boys who have set off to join the crusade before the campaigning season is over. However, when they arrive they discover that a family friend, Count Henry, has been dispatched to bring them home and has overtaken them on the road. Sensing an opportunity to get...