Winter Kill : A Mediocre Tale of Earth Witches.

Winter Kill By Laurell K Hamilton Smoothie review

The last three novels haven’t been too amazing for me. What I’ve read have range from descent to absolute stinkers lately. So I must say I was very hesitant about starting another novel right away. Instead played it safe and went with a short story. This one is Winter Kill by Laurell K Hamilton.

So what is it about? It is a story set in a medieval sort of world. It focuses on the on the Earth witch Jessa. She is a witch hunter. But when she was a child a witch murdered her family and when she grew up to be a assassin, she killed him in return. But there was a catch. His mother is a very powerful witch and is slaughtering those in villages to find the witch that killed her son. To set things right, Jessa heads out to kill her and stop the madness with the aid of her friend Gregoor.

So the good and bad? I guess I’ll start with the good. Detail is great, and the snowy icy hell tundra is easy to picture. Also even though the character of Jessa is cold, there’s a little humanity in there. Especially in the parts that had to do with her mother who never wanted her to be evil or use magic to help others. Its interesting how she accepts and regrets the fact that she continue stood is a point her own family as she avenged her.

The bad? Not much. It was sad that Gregoor played such a small roll that he became the cliché side kick. Also, there was not much originality here. Everything in this story you have read before in something else.

Overall, its simple and fun. Its not a must read by any means. If you happen to stumble upon it, give it a read. Just don’t pay anything for it.

2 smoothies out of four.

Overall Rating : A Mediocre Tale of Earth Witches.

P.S. If you like books then check out my book and ebook website Lelue’s Realm. Google it or go directly to http://www.freewebs.com/lelue/

Here Be Dragons : Dreamscapes and Murderers Make Up a Unusual But Astonishing Scifi Tale.

Here Be Dragons By Laurell K Hamilton

Once again, I’m in between books so I resort to shorts so I went to my current favorite short story collection call Strange Candy where all tales are written by Laurell K Hamilton. This time around the book is call “Here Be Dragons.”

Given the title, “Here Be Dragons,” the reader would automatically assume the it is a fantasy, but that not is the case. It is a science fiction actually and is as Hamilton says in the intro, her only science fiction piece. The story focuses on a phenomena that is happening. Children are being born with powers. Telekentetic. Telephatic. Dream control. That sort of deal. When they develop these powers they go to the “school” where children are evaluated and trained to operate in society and if they are considered too dangerous they are killed. The story focuses on Jasmine Cooper, a successful empath (Dream controller), who has the job of torturing sociopath murderers in prison as punishment. She gets a call from the “School” she went to as a child for a case about a girl killing other students by controlling their dreams. Jasmine arrived to meet the girl and having the ability to see pure evil in anyone, she sees it in this ten year old girl. Yet refusing to believe that the little girl is so shallow and sinister in nature, she tries to “fix” her. She tries to prove she is a person, not a sociopath to not have her killed by the school.

The good? This story has so much depth that no one would expect in a short. It has theme of what is evil? Can a sociopath be anything but evil or is that just their fate? The murderers are considered evil from the beginning but given that Jasmine has a shallow personality and tortures people for living she holds what seems to be sociopath tendencies as well. She even seems to struggle with it, but finds a lighter side of herself when she helps this girl. This girl was like Jasmine once, hurt others for fun, despite how innocent she seems. The idea and concept is very compelling it makes the reader think. It is also very dark. Though it is not graphic, there are things that happen in this story is not suited for anyone other than adults. And even then its not for everyone.

The bad? I would have to say is detail. There is very little detail about what the school looks like and less about the dream realm. The dream stages were dying for detail and tended to move too quickly.

So “Here Be Dragons” has no fantasy or dragons. But it has a strong psychological factors that makes the reader think. And that is exactly what science fiction should do. Leave the reader thinking what if? Its not a bunch of space opera or explosions. Its real world with deep problems explored in a scifi setting. I really wish Hamilton would explore the scifi field a bit more, since good scifi authors are lacking at the moment. I recommend this to the adult crowd out there who are not afraid to read something dark, yet intriguing.

Overall rating: Dreamscapes and Murderers Make Up a Unusual But Astonishing Scifi Tale.

4 smoothies out of four.

P.S. If you like books then check out my book and ebook website Lelue’s Realm. Google it or go directly to http://www.freewebs.com/lelue/

Geese : A Dark Yet Charming Masterpiece About A Swan Princess.

Geese By Laurell K Hamilton Smoothie Review

Just finished another long book, so I decided to read something short. Once again I read a short story from Laurell K Hamilton’s Strange Candy collection. And yes I know, I said I would alternate through these but as I reach for my short story collections on my book shield, this has been my favorite anthology so far. So sorry for what should I call it? Repetitiveness. Anyway, the story is called Geese.

So what is Geese? It is about a young sorceress called Alatir and is set in a medieval fantasy sort of world. As a child the evil lord Madaux killed her family and took the kingdom. Being extremely powerful, Alatir challenged him. She lost and for that, he cursed her. He puts a “geas” spell on her, where she will keep trying to kill him even though he is more powerful and she will die. It’s a uncontrollable urge of a curse. She does the only thing she knows to do to escape it. She turns into the only animal immune to it. A goose. And among the geese, she loves the free life with no worries. She even falls in love. But after a many years pass, she see children captured by Madaux men who returned into the county side. And seeing this Alatir leaves her new life and accepts her fate in order to save the children.

So the good? It’s just so simple and fresh. Yes it has some swan princess elements in it, but it is a great tale. Everything worked so well. Even the love story aspect worked. Sure falling in love with a goose may seem weird, but told from her perspective with a fantastic ending it didn’t seem weird at all.

The bad? It’s so short. This is such book material. I feel Hamilton needs to take a break from her erotic stuff she’s doing to write a amazing novel like this. It holds so much potential. Such a shame. I an only hope she’ll return to it one day.

Overall, it’s a wonderful story. I loved every bit of it. And its is just so darn charming. I recommend it anymore. Well not children of course. Hamilton always has a preference to throw something dark here and there. Anyone ever thirteen I would say. It’s such a great read.

4 smoothies out of Four

Overall Rating: A Dark Yet Charming Masterpiece About A Swan Princess.

P.S. If you like books then check out my book and ebook website Lelue’s Realm. Google it or go directly to http://www.freewebs.com/lelue/

The Curse Maker : Makes Something Old Seem Fresh Again

The Curse Maker By Laurell K Hamilton Smoothie Review

Back to the short stories. Between long novels it’s good to read one or two. So I decided to continue with a tale from Laurell K Hamilton’s Strange Candy collection called the Curse Maker.

So what is it? It is a story set in a medieval sort of fantasy world. It focuses on a warrior Sidra, her mentor and sorcerer Gannon to help a dear friend who is dying from the death curse. It follows them as they put together clues to find the curse marker who can lift the curse.

So the good? Despite the fact it is set in a dangerous and dragons set of world, it doesn’t feel like it. It’s not convoluted with dozens of new terms to remember. Also it is a crime story. Nothing epic. The simplicity in fact is what makes it so enjoyable and accessible to other readers who are not die hard fans of the genre. The characters are fun, and the imagination is brilliant. Instead of pulling out the old fashioned trolls, dragons, or elves she went with a evil sword that likes to drink blood. It is portrayal in a very creepy fashion.

The bad? It is not action based. The climax feels like its leading to another part of the story when there isn’t one. So it does leave the reader at a cliff hanger wondering what will happen next rather than a true conclusion. And also I wanted to know so much more about this world. The detail is so minimal in this piece.

Overall it interesting. If you have the collection it’s worth reading this one. If you got it for a dollar in ebook format, I don’t think that is disappointing either. Beyond that, you might want to question whether it is worth sinking money into this individual story. It is in no way a must read. Just a very mediocre fun story.

Overall Rating: Makes something Old Seem Fresh Again

2 smoothie out of four

P.S. If you like books then check out my book and ebook website Lelue’s Realm. Google it or go directly to http://www.freewebs.com/lelue/

All That You Love Will Be Carried: Stephen King’s Theory To Who Is Writing Dirty Messages In Public Restrooms.

All That You Love Will Be Carried Away by Stephen King Smoothie Review

Since I’m reading a monster of a book, I created a way to balance my reading. (Basically because the thousand page book I”m reading right now is not all that exciting) By reading the novel Monday through Friday and short stories on the weekend I found a useful method. And the short story this time around is “All That You Love Will Be Carried Away,” by Stephen King

Given pretty and poetic nature of the title, one would thing it was a love story. But it’s not. What is it? Well to be perfectly honest, it is hard to explain, but I’ll try. A man named Aldire Zimmerman is sales man who checks into a motel in the middle of the snowstorm. Inside, he sits on the bed and pulls out a gun to kill himself, but stops to pull out his notebook to look over it one last time. The notebook is full of scribbled down puns, slings, and dirty messages that one would find written on bathroom walls. It is seven years worth of graffiti, that he is proud of and doesn’t want to let go of it, or let anyone find it after he died. So before he kills himself he goes down memory lane of all his favorite lines he wrote over the last seven years and manages to convince himself that it is a art and not insanity.

So the good? I can’t say much, other than that I kind of found it intriguing that the author was willing to share his theory on who is writing the stupid scribbles in public restrooms.

The bad? Well it basically boils down to this. It’s pointless. I’m playing the story over and over in my head, trying to find a deeper meaning and I just can’t. And the sad thing is, I think he was trying to say something deeper because the last line is just so strange. It asks us to say a prayer for all those with a life like Zimmerman. It was something that would have worked if there was something emotional in the story. But it wasn’t. The character is as shallow as possible. I wonder if Stephen King personally knew someone like this. I don’t’ know don’t know what his goal was here.

Overall, skip this. This is pointless. Unless you are someone who professionally writes profanity on bathroom walls for living, you can not relate to this character in the least. There is just nothing here.

½ smoothie out of four.

Overall: Stephen King’s Theory to Who Is writing dirty Messages In Public Restrooms.

P.S. Check out my book and ebook website, Lelues Realm. Google it or go directly to http://www.freewebs.com/lelue/

The Vault : A Forgettable Tale About A Drunk Undertaker

The Vault By H.P. Lovecraft

Not much of a intro here. It’s just another short. This one is a horror called The Vault (or In The Vault according to what short story collection you find this in) by H.P. Lovecraft. And it is a short story that I read out of a collection called “The Best of H.P. Lovecraft.” But I’m sure its in other collections too.
So this one is about a undertaker named Birch who is delivering a casket to a tomb, but accidentally locks himself inside. Trapped in complete darkness he fumbles around to get out. There is a vent on the top of the crypt, and as he escapes, he finds himself stacking coffins to climb out. But as he nears the top, his foot falls through a rotten casket. The inhabitants of the coffin is made angry by this, and it attacks him. Birch struggles to get out. He finally makes it but his ankles are torn to shreds. He then goes to see doctor who tells him the truth about what happened.
So the good? It’s quickly paced. And it didn’t drag.
The bad? It’s just not that exciting. It is a very boring story. And honestly there is not much to it. It’s not creepy, fun, suspenseful or entertaining in the least.
Overall, not much to it. The Vault can be skipped by anyone. And if you do read it, it will completely forgettable.

Overall Rating: A Forgettable Tale About A Drunk Under Taker

1 smoothie out of four.

P.S. Check out my book and ebook website, Lelues Realm. Google it or go directly to http://www.freewebs.com/lelue/

Tolken For Celandine : A Set Of Unoriginal And Mediocre Cliches Set In A Very Dark World

A Tolken For Celandine By Laurell K. Hamilton

Not much of a intro here, just another short story review found in Laurell K Hamitlon’s Strange Candy anthology. This one is a dungeons and dragons style piece called “A Toklen For Celandine.”

So the story is not like Hamilton’s other books. It happens in a medieval setting, featuring the traditional classic fantasy elements such as trolls, elves, unicorns and what not. The story follows a female elf warrior named Bevhinn, who is a body guard for a member of the royal family named Celandine on a quest following a prophecy (that we don’t learn until much later on) to cleanse Celandine’s soul. They travel into the bad lands to save a white healer and run into trouble with the locals in the process.

So the good? It’s nice to see Laurell K Hamilton take a stab at a Tolkien like work and thankfully it’s not as light hearted as most stories of that genre. In fact it is a very dark a fantasy for grown ups.

The bad? Well this is set in the same world as Hamilton’s earliest book called Nightseer. Now I read that book long ago and only remember it being very boring. So since I didn’t remember, I really didn’t know anything about the world. I mean you would had to enjoyed and remember the novel to understand the world of this short story and sadly that is not me. Compared to her other works, it has a lack of detail. And lastly it’s unoriginal. Swords, demons, elves, and medieval worlds had been done a million times before. She did nothing to make the story her own in writing style or anything along those lines.

So overall this is okay, I guess. if you love this sort of fantasy, then by all means check it out. For the rest of us, it is just one cliché after another.

1 out of four smoothies

Overall rating, A Set Unoriginal and Mediocre Clichés Set In A Very Dark World

P.S. Check out my book and ebook website Lelue’s Realm. Google it or go directly to http://www.freewebs.com/lelue/

The Man In The Black Suit : King’s Experiment Involving a Fisher Boy And A Devil

The Man In The Black Suit By Stephen King Smoothie Review

Surprisingly enough I have actually kind have enjoyed Stephen King’s shorts more than the novels he written in the past. Maybe it’s because they are shorter, therefore giving him less of a opportunity to over use suspense, get off topic or escape to some kind of dreamscape before returning to the actual story. Or maybe it’s because his shorts share a trait with the early Stephen King books, I actually like. Those early books were his first works before whatever spark he had, faded away over time. Anyways I could write my Stephen King conspiracy theories all day, but you don’t care. You’re reading this for the book review. This time around, the review is on the Stephen King short story, “The Man In The Black Suit” that can be found in a collection called Everything’s Eventual

As far as explanation goes, there isn’t much. It’s about a boy named Gary who lives with his family in 1914. One day he decides to go fishing to help his family. He goes down to the river out a little ways with his fishing pole. He takes a seat to fish. As he sits there fishing, the devil walks up and sits beside him. He then holds a conversation with the boy.

So the good? Well it’s different. It doesn’t really seem copied from anything else. And even though it doesn’t have much detail, there is some imagery that puts a picture that is memorable.

The bad? Well I wouldn’t call it a bad thing, but I guess to some people it would be. This short story really plays out much more like a experiment with some new ideas than a actual short. It doesn’t have a climax. I can’t even say it has a beginning, middle, and end. But unlike some of his works, the imagination didn’t seem forced. Like he sat down one day and gone “Gee I wonder” and just explored the possibilities with pen and paper as the ideas flowed through his mind. Which (as a writer myself) I feel is where some of the best writing come from this method. But enough about my opinion. You got my point. If it’s not for you, then you know already.

Overall, it’s interesting. Not spectacular. But it is intriguing. If you just like to always try new things, this is for you. If you’re looking for some dark, horrifying, twisted horror, just look somewhere else because it may have a hint of creepiness, but does not go anywhere beyond.

3 smoothies out of four.

Overall Rating: King’s Experiment Involving A Fisher boy And A Devil

P.S. Check out my book and ebook website. Lelue’s Realm. Google it or go directly to http://www.freewebs.com/lelue/

The Yatteirng And Jack : A Attempt At A Overdone Idea That Sadly Missed Its Mark.

The Yattering And The Jack By Clive Barker

Overall Rating: A attempt at a overdone idea that sadly missed it’s mark.

This is a another short story by Clive Barker out of the “Book of Blood” anthology. And regardless of the cheesy titles, I like what I have read so far. It is great to see someone with their own style rather than ripping off someone else. So this is the first story. It’s called the “The Yattering and The Jack”
So to start off with, it’s not as dark as twisted as Barker’s other works. Strangely, it’s very lighthearted. There is a man named Jack, who had been basically walked on during his whole life. But he does not retaliate in the least. He is completely indifferent. He just shrugs his shoulders and says, “stuff happens.” But it turns out hell wants his soul, because his mother never paid when she sold hers. So the Agency (hell’s agency that is) hires a demon called the Yattering to make him go insane, so he can snatch his soul away. He must scare him, put voices in his head, rattle chains and do whatever he can do. And he can’t get out of the contract. But through out the story, he had the toughest time breaking Jack’s indifference. The two are constantly tricking each other to get what they want.
So the good? Well it’s different. But sadly, it ends there. It wasn’t all that entertaining.
The bad? Well I felt I encountered this before. It felt like Monster Inc, or I should say, “Ahhhh Real Monsters!” which was the first time I witnessed this plot line. “Ahh Real Monsters” was one my favorite cartoons when I was a kid. It’s not new. And the idea that hell has an Agency that collect souls seemed cartoony. Just not exactly what I expected from Barker. Also the cartoony and silly nature of the whole thing pulls the reader out of the story. And one last thing, there’s a scene where a roasted chicken gets up and starts scaring people by running around the kitchen. And I’m sorry, but that’s just stupid.
Overall, if you like old quirky horror tales, then this for you. For he rest of us it’s a pass. I pretty much just recommend that if you’re even mildly interested by the story, then just get the kids cartoon “Ahhh Real Monsters,” and watch that instead. It’s much more entertaining.

½ smoothie out of four

P.S. Check out my book and ebook website Lelue’s Realm. Google it or go directly to http://www.freewebs.com/lelue/

Selling Houses: A Story Worth Skipping

Selling house By Laurell K. Hamilton Smoothie Review

I was going to write this in the morning, but then realized I might forget that I even read it by then. So it might be better to write this as soon as possible. This is another short story by Laurell K. Hamilton called Selling Houses and it can be found in the Strange Candy short story collection.
So what is it about? Well first off, it is set in the Anita Blake world, only it isn’t focusing on Anita Blake. It is focusing on a character with a much simpler job that consists of selling houses. It is focusing on a real estate agent named Abbie as she must sell a house that had a demon possession and massacre take place in it. She finds that it is still haunted so the ghost must be removed. And since vampires just became legal, she must sell it to a vampire family.
So the good? Detail is always good. And it’s a look into part of the Anita Blake world we never see. But beyond that, there isn’t much.
So the bad? It’s just not interesting. Abbie isn’t interesting or likable. We aimlessly followed her for a reason that I am still still trying to figure out. After reading this short piece, I’m asking ‘what is the point?’ This has to be one of the dullest pieces I’ve seen by Hamilton. But at least I can give her credit for trying something new.
So overall, one word can sum this up. Boring. I am only giving it ½ smoothie because the story serves no purpose. It’s worth skipping.

½ Smoothies out of Four

P.S. Check out my book and ebook website Lelue’s Realm. Google it or go directly to http://www.freewebs.com/lelue/