All the Books.

"A beautifully written and complex tale of nameless, parentless boy who is thrust into the intrigue and peril of Court life after he is abandoned at the doors to the Keep. He is the illegitimate son of the oldest prince, Chivalry, and King Shrewd et al must decide what to do with him."  5 Stars Pros:  Fitz is a likable character, not prone to arrogance but kind and compassionate and he is truly loyal to his King/Chade/Burrich all the other supporting characters all have their parts to play and are important/The Fool is by far, one of my favorite characters.  Cons:  I felt like when Fitz actually first began to do what he's being apprenticed to do it was rather glossed over/The ending, though fitting, I felt was a little rushed and a bit "convenient" for those involved. Full Review:  Fitz doesn't remember his childhood. All he has is a memory of a stern old man, keeping hold of his hand and dropping him off at a large wooden door. The old man explains to the ...

"Though the storyline is a bit more intriguing than  Dune Messiah, Children of Dune  is still full to bursting with theoretical, rhetorical, grandiose thoughts that are just confusing and the prescient vision of ALL the characters gets really old, really fast." 2 STARS Pros:  Again, Herbert uses all the senses to bring the planet of Arrakis to life/Alia's issues and that whole "abomination" thing made for a good ending/After an unnecessarily long time, all the multiple threads of the story came together.  Cons:  Prescient vision is so confusing/A lot of the characters just seem kind of soulless and empty at times/Leto and Ghanima's relationship was just...creepy at times.  Full Review:  It has been nine years since the events of in Dune Messiah. Leto II and Ghanima, the twins that Chani bore Paul have been afflicted with the same "preborn" consciousness" of their Aunt Alia. They became aware of themselves while still in the womb, so they are a...

  "A darker look at the power of prescience and proof of the saying "pride goeth before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall." 2 Stars.  Pros:  The character of Hayt was an interesting development and went through his own transformation that was suspenseful and entertainingly dramatic/Though Paul can see past, present and future, his vision isn't always 100% accurate, which makes him seem super human but also makes him flawed.  Cons:  Presicient vision is confusing, so many variables, so many tenses/The characters themselves seem flat and emotionless at times.  Full Review:  Paul Atreides, Usul of the Fremen, Muad'Dib has made a promise to the people of Arrakis and he has fulfilled it. He rules the Imperium with an iron hand and his prescient vision, ability to see past, present and future, makes him a formidable ally and foe. With his sister, Alia at his side, who became "aware" while still in the womb and has all the knowledge of former Rev...

  "A truly immersive novel that explores Paul Atreides rise to power and struggle to bring peace and prosperity to the people and planet of Arrakis, Dune." 4 Stars.  Pros:  Herbert paints a beautiful picture of an otherwise barren landscape. He uses all the senses to really bring Arrakis to life and you're fully immersed into the world of Dune. You can smell the Spice (cinnamon), hear the sand slithering as the Sandworms approach, feel the hot, dry air scrape against your cheeks as a sandstorm forms. It's a truly immersive read.   Cons:  A very cerebral, heavy read that's hard to wrap your mind around but if you just let things happen as they will, it makes for an entertaining story/Jessica and Paul's Bene Gesserit training seems to prepare them for almost anything and their ability to always get out of a scrape sometimes gets  abit old/The appendices at the end were helpful for fleshing out the planet and history of Arrakis but they were tiresome afte...

"Extremely racy for its time (early 1900s) the story is in the title. It's about Lady Chatterley, Connie, and the love affair she has with one of the servants, their Gamekeeper, Oliver Mellors. And though it's supposed to be a book about "love", Lawrence has crass and vulgar view of the subject, though that's most likely just my personal opinion." 2 Stars.  Pros:  It was an interesting study on how, in Lawrence's day, it seemed that the idea of truly living life was to be in touch, completely with your body, physically, not living the "mental" life as they call it, striving after accolades and praise in the arts, but to truly experience the world through the physical senses.  Cons:  The characters just seemed cruel in their thoughts and feelings, how Connie hated Mellors for stupid little things and then she would beg him to stay with her, all the characters were just very mercurial/The affair felt forced, like there was no real reason for ...

" An inspiring but terrifying read, showing how strong the author is, for surviving her ordeal and for growing as a person both inside and out, through it all." 3 Stars Pros:  Katie was truly transformed, in more ways than I'm sure she wanted to be but through this horrible situation she truly grew as a person and realized that beauty is truly from within.  Cons:  Some of the British slang took some getting used to/This should never happen to anyone but agreeing to get a hotel room with someone you've only been seeing for two weeks...that just gives the wrong kind of message, is all I'm saying.  Full Review:  Katie Piper had it all. She was young, beautiful, was taking steps towards a career in the entertainment industry, either in television or through modeling. She really seemed to have everything figured out and knew what she wanted. That is, until she met a boy named Danny. They began seeing each other but after two weeks, everything went to Hell.  She ...

"The team tries to deal with the "shocker" of the ending of Issue #2 and attempt to figure out what Vargas wants." 2 Stars Pros:  The artworks is good Cons:  The storyline is contrived and forced/You're supposed to be upset with the "shocker" but it just fell flat.  Full Review:  ***Spoiler Alert*** With Psylocke's death and Beast at deaths door, the team is in despair. They don't know what to do. But Sage does something to Beast to heal him and the rest of the team try to work together to figure out who Vargas is and why it is he wants the Diaries.  Most of the issue is dedicated to Psylocke and how she came into being. 

"The storyline is contrived and forced and the issue deals mainly with the X-Men trying to fight the civil guard of Spain and Vargas, who wants the Diaries of Destiny." 2 Stars Pros:  The artworks is good Cons:  The storyline is contrived and forced Full Review:  ***Spoiler Alert*** The team continues to fight their way through the Civil Guard of Spain, they get split up. Beast and Psylocke are together, while Thunderbird, Storm and Bishop are together. The bad guy, who wants the Diaries of Destiny is revealed to be a man named Vargas and he claims that he is ushering in the next order of superior humanoids.  He beats Rogue and Beast to a blood pulp and then decides to cement his message by stabbing Psylocke, saying that she will be the first, but not the last mutant to die as the race begins to evolve.

  "A group of X-Men, who are in possession of the Diaries of Destiny, a group of books that could possibly tell the future of the world, take them away fearing that if they fall into the wrong hands, then that could spell trouble. They're, of course, attacked and forced to fight in a maze like lab-rats." 3 Stars.  Pros:  The arts was good at least.  Cons:  How every action the X-Men took had to be explained as well as shown, it was just repetitive and stupid/Rogue's whiney angst.  Full Review:  ***Spoiler Alert*** A handful of X-Men, Bishop, Psylocke, Thunderbird, Storm, Beast, Rogue and Sage have the Diaries of Destiny, the lover of Mysique and a mutant who could foresee the future and feel that they need to keep them away from Xavier, since he's a telepath and could use the information in the diaries for nefarious means.  They're, of course, all attacked and taken prisoner, all except for Sage and Rogue, who manage to elude capture. Those who ar...

  "It all ends as everyone said it would but as always, the X-Men save the day, as if there were ever any doubt." 2 Stars.  Pros:  The art's good at least Cons:  Wolverine always dishing it out and never, ever, ever, ever, ever, showing any marks for it, I get it, he has an extensive healing factor but, it just gets old really fast, him always saving the day.  Full Review:  ***Spoiler Alert*** Sugar's career is down the tubes with her suspected pregnancy.  Logan saves the day by defeating Mr. Clean.  Sugar is found to be not pregnant but she drops Chamber anyway, like everyone warned him she would.  As Nightcrawler/Iceman/Archangel/Wolverine board the jet to head back home, Chamber's there, asking if he can join them.  It's the end of a pretty pointless arc. Chamber as a whiney bitch. Wolverine's invincibility is sight worthy and of course, the sewer mutants manage to make it to safety and the X-Men save the day again. 

  "Whiney, teenage angst Chamber doesn't listen to reason/Nightcrawler et al find surviving mutants from Mr. Clean's attack and offer assistance." 2 Stars Pros:  The arts good at least, though the story is severely lacking.  Cons:  Again, same old, racism/bad human wanting to exterminate the XMen/Wolverine being invincible/Chamber being a whiney bitch.  Full Review:  ***Spoiler Alert*** Sugar Kane's manager isn't a fan of Chamber and Sugar Kane's relationship and it's obvious Sugar Kane is just toting Chamber around to spice up her Teeny Bopper image.  Wolverine shows up and tries to talk some sense into Chamber, telling him that it'll end, badly and when it does, it'll hurt so he might as well do the smart thing and walk away from it, but of course, in all the teenage angst, Chamber doesn't listen.  It turns out that Mr. Clean has been sent by the Church, or some sort of Church, on a mission to cleanse the mutant issue.  Chamber and Sugar ...

"Iceman/Nightcrawler find Chamber and try to convince him that even though he's not a student anymore, he has a responsibility to try and show the world that not all mutants are bad and his shacking up with Sugar Kane isn't helping anything. He doesn't listen, of course. And the team engages Mr. Clean, who decimates then and the big guns are called in to handle the situation." 3 Stars Pros:  Nightcrawler is a truly likable character with very few flaws, not something that can be said about most of the X-Men Cons:  Again, same old, bad humans are out to exterminate mutants/Racism etc.  Full Review:  ***Spoiler Alert*** Iceman and Nightcrawler find Chamber squatting in an old hotel and ask him what he thinks he's doing, shacking up with Sugar Kane and making newspaper headlines. They try make him realize that just because he's not a student of Xavier's anymore doesn't mean he can ignore the responsibility he has to show the world that mutants aren...

"A small story arc that deals with Nightcrawler/Iceman/Archangel and Wolverine traveling to London in search of Chamber, a young mutant in their care who abruptly left the Xavier Institute." 3 Stars Pros:  It's always fun to see the exploits the X-Men get into.  Cons:  Same old, good mutants, bad mutants, bad human who wants to rid the world of mutants/Racism etc.  Full Review:  ***Spoiler Alert*** Nightcrawler/Iceman and Archangel are in London looking for Chamber who left the Institute abruptly. They find a group of mutants living in the sewers and report their findings to Wolverine.  Meanwhile Chamber is approached by a pop star, Sugar Kane, who wants to repay his debt of chivalry (he saved her from an unruly crowd of fans). They start seeing each other and are quick to make tabloid headlines.  The mutants in the sewer are met and exterminated by a man wielding a flame thrower and calling himself, Mister Clean, the genetic cleanser.