Lucas Blogs About Books

So, what's this book's deal? It's the third book in Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea series. Oh, so does it pick up where The Tombs of Atuan  left off? More so than Tombs   picks up where A Wizard of Earthsea left off. See, at the end of Tombs  ( SPOILERS ) Ged and Tenar bring a lost treasure back to Havnor and restore the Rune of Peace. That said, a couple of decades have passed since then, and nothing's really changed in the archipelago. Oh, a couple of decades? Have Ged and Tenar been going on globe-trotting adventures and stuff? Well, Ged's certainly been getting around. He's become a Dragon Lord and even been elected the Archmage of Roke. What about Tenar? The last review made it clear that you think she's a great character. I do. But we won't really hear much more about her until book four. Pretty much all we learn about her is that she's known as the White Lady of Gont. Anyway, like I said, things are still relatively stable i...

I don't usually make the review pictures this big, but these title illustrations are the bomb, yo! So, what's this book's deal? Well, it's a sequel (kinda) to A Wizard of Earthsea . Oh, so it picks up where the last book left off? Nope! In fact, I'd say you could read this book without having read the first one and still enjoy it quite a bit. A sequel that works as a standalone? That' s a neat trick. It is. Ursula K. Le Guin is a neat writer. So then, the deal . . . Oh, right. The main character, Tenar, is a little girl growing up in the Kargad Empire (They're out to the East of Gont. In fact, Kargad raiders attacking Ged's village is sort of the catalyst for the whole series really.). When she turns five, she's taken away from her parents to the Place of the Tombs of Atuan where she is sacrificed to the Nameless Ones. Hold the phone! How can she be the main character if she's sacrificed at the beginning of the story. Not l...

BOOM! It's May and that means this is the third month of my year-long re-read of Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. Now we all know that May sourness leads to June dourness, but— That's definitely not an expression. Then is May the month that shrieks in like a marmot , but squeezes out like an octopus ? No, it's March and the animals are a lion and a lamb. What does any of this have to do with this feature? Nothing. I just thought it might be nice to say something appropriate to the month. Also, you're writing this part in April. Oh, TS Eliot said that was the coolest month! Close enough.  Let's just jump into it. Book the Third - The Wide Window What did you remember about this book before re-reading it? Okay, so this one's a little foggy. But this time the Baudelaire children get sent to live with their distant Aunt Josephine out near Lake Lachrymose. You may know Lake Lachrymose as the fictional lake that is home to the...

Oh, there's a SCI-FI Channel miniseries adaptation, you say? So, what's this book's deal? Wait, you haven't heard of the Earthsea books? Whatsea? Well now I know you're just pulling my leg. Yes, I have heard of the Earthsea cycle. You're the worst, Hypothetical Reader. I try. Anyhow, A Wizard of Earthsea  is the first book in Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea series of fantasy novels for young adults. This book follows the adventures of Ged (AKA, Duny or Sparrowhawk), the titular wizard, who first starts learning magic from his aunt as a child and is later apprenticed to Ogion, the wizard on Ged's home island of Gont. After Ged is manipulated into seeking out a powerful spell in Ogion's books, Ogion sends him to the island of Roke to study at the magic school there. In the course of his studies, Ged accidently sets loose an unnamed horror from beyond reality, leaving him with physical and emotional scars. And that's just the first fo...

Hmm, I know I've seen this book cover before  . . .  somewhere . So, what's this book's de—motherf— Last one, I promise. I just think you're setting a bad precedent. What if you finally finish one of your phonebook sized short story collections? We'll burn that bridge when we get to it. You know that's not the expr— Oh, and spoilers for "Remake," I guess. AUGH! So, the deal? All right, so Theodora Baumgarten finds her life transformed when she's whisked away to the IASA's (International Air and Space Administration, I assume) academy. And get this, it's in SPACE! SPACE! SPAAAAAAAAAAAACE! So I take it that she's excited? Naw, her bunkmate, Libby, is ecstatic, but Theodora hates it, not least of all because she didn't apply to go to the academy—she wanted to go to UCLA.  However, when an assembly is called to announce the latest Academy appointee, it's Theodora. After a few hours, she'...

Hey! Sorry, there's no post today. I know Easter was yesterday, and I write these in advance, but . . . whatevs! No blog post today. Hope you're enjoying/have enjoyed Spring Break at some point in your life! Wow, this is even more lazy and tepid than your Christmas post . Quiet you!

For once, that glare is present in the artwork itself and not due to the lighting in my room. Mister Miracle is a book about #fourthworldproblems (sorry, couldn't resist). So, before we really get into it, I'll give you a little background on just who Mister Miracle is (the comic book also starts off by doing this). The cataclysm that destroyed the Old Gods left behind two new planets: New Genesis, a paradise ruled by the wise and benevolent Highfather, and Apokolips, a dystopian hellscape under the iron fist of Darkseid. A hundred year war between these worlds was ended when Highfather and Darkseid exchanged their infant sons. Highfather named Darkseid's son Orion and raised him as his own, but Darkseid abandoned Highfather's son into the X-Pit under the cruel tutelage of Granny Goodness. Due to his constant escape attempts, Highfather's son was given the mocking moniker of Scott Free. Eventually, Orion would learn of a prophecy that Darkseid would be killed...