Fantasy Books

As a Bookshop affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases. To Shape a Dragon’s Breath by Moniquill Blackgoose, the first book in a trilogy set in an alternate historical version of our world with dragons, was one of my favorite books published in 2023. Since I wanted to refresh my memory before reading To Ride a Rising Storm, the second book in the Nampeshiweisit trilogy that was released earlier this year, I decided to reread it and write a lengthier review […]

The post Review of To Shape a Dragon’s Breath by Moniquill Blackgoose first appeared on Fantasy Cafe.

Alex, our darling older daughter, would have turned 31 today. This is our third year without her, and often the grief feels as fresh as it did the day we lost her. At other times, though — and this is, of course, a sign of healing, of acceptance — the pain recedes and we are left with wonderful memories that warm us and offer solace.

Today, I find myself thinking back to her twenty-third birthday. She had recently graduated from NYU and was building a life for herself in Brooklyn, surrounded by friends, totally acclimated to city life. Her college years had not been easy on our relationship. Throughout her first eighteen years, she and I had been remarkably close, and it was only natural that as she moved on to college and her adult life, she would need to distance herself some from Nancy and me both. Nancy handled that better than I did (no surprise there) and I was, at times, more controlling and overbearing than I should have been.

But in the winter of 2018, soon after New Year’s, Alex approached me about taking a trip together, just the two of us. I was touched, delighted, thrilled, and of course I leapt at the opportunity. We wound up deciding on a trip to the Escalante Wilderness in Utah that would correspond with her birthday. We started the trip in Kodachrome Basin State Park, spent a couple of gorgeous days in Bryce Canyon National Park, and then went to Petrified Forest State Park, before flying to our separate homes. A week together in some of the most spectacular scenery either of us had ever seen.

We spent Alex’s birthday in several spots. We got up early to hike Calf Creek Falls trail, through beautiful desert scrub amid dramatic stone cliffs. The falls themselves, a cascading white ribbon falling against mineral-stained stone walls, were amazing. From there, we went down a dirt road — Burr Trail — that was filled with small slot canyons to explore. And we finished the day in an area called the Devil’s Garden, a collection of stunning rock formations about 25 miles down another bumpy track called Hole in the Rock Road. We finished the day with instant pad Thai at our campsite, and a magnificent night sky.

The next day, we packed up and headed to Vegas for a sushi dinner and flights the following morning.

Our week together meant the world to me. I wasn’t sure if Alex felt the same way, but we certainly had tons of fun and got along beautifully. I don’t remember specific conversations, but in a way I think that speaks to the naturalness of our interactions, the ease of our time together. And years later, when we were in Brooklyn with her during her final weeks, I saw that she had the hiking map from Calf Creek Falls on the wall beside her bed, and the rock we had found for her at a rock shop outside of Bryce, sitting on a shelf above her pillow.

Small gifts that made clear to me that she valued the memories of that journey together as much as I did.

I would give anything to travel with her again, to hike with her again, to hear her laughter, to see her light up at the mention of some new music she’d discovered or the latest novel she’d read. I miss her all the time, every day.

But the memories help. I still have that trail map, as well as that little polished stone. I still have literally hundreds of photos that I snapped during our week together. We were both obsessed with capturing images of the scenery around us. Now, I wish I’d taken more photos of Alex and fewer of the Escalante. But that’s a small matter.

Happy birthday, Sweetie. Thank you for that wondrous week, and all the other incredible times we shared. We love you to the moon and back.

Here are this week’s 7 Author Shoutouts. Find your favorite author or discover an author…

The post 7 Author Shoutouts | Authors We Love To Recommend appeared first on LitStack.

 

Do You Ship It?by Beth Reekles
What is it about:When Cerys’ secret crush Jake moves to a new college, she realises she’s running out of time to take their relationship from platonic to romantic. She’ll do anything to get out of Jake’s friendzone, even if that means finally diving into the huge fantasy fandom he loves so much. Though she absolutely can’t see the appeal in Of Wrath and Rune, if Jake loves it, then Cerys will too.
But when Jake introduces Cerys to his shiny new friend Max, who goes to all the fandom conventions (and loves a costume or three), Cerys realises she’ll need to do a lot more to grab Jake’s attention than just read a few fanfics.
Can Cerys convince Jake they should become the new couple to ship? Or will he see straight through her cosplay?
What did I think of it:This was a fun read!
For me as a reader there were a lot of things I could see coming, but that's what makes books like this fun: the clear hints of what's going on, and guessing when Cerys will come to certain realizations. 
I really liked Cerys and rooted for her to overcome the many struggles she faces with both her friendship with Jake, and with school friendships. This book is as much about finding yourself and being brave enough to not give in to peer pressure as it is about Cerys trying to get Jake to notice her.
All in all a very enjoyable read.
Why should you read it:It's a fun Contemporary YA read.

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Length: 139 pages
Publisher: Tordotcom
Release Date: May 5, 2026
ASIN: B0FMSCH3V2
Stand Alone or Series: 7th book in The Singing Hills Cycle
Source: eGalley from NetGalley
Rating: 5/5 stars

“On the banks of the Ya-lé River, the town of Luntien gathers to celebrate the start of the rainy season, but the celebration is marred by the arrival of refugees from the sea. Everyone has a story about the foreigners newly in their midst―lazy, violent, unwanted―while the refugees themselves grieve the loss of the home they loved.

Cleric Chih, very recently still Novice Chih, is a stranger in Luntien. A moment of carelessness and bad luck leaves them waiting tables as they struggle to establish themself as a real cleric. A cleric’s job is to listen and record, but the stories emerging in Luntien are ugly and violent, as hard to predict as the river itself. With their hoopoe companion Almost Brilliant by their side, Chih must help the refugees while also unraveling a mystery that may have roots in their own faraway home in the abbey of Singing Hills.”

Series Info/Source: This is the 7th book in The Singing Hills Cycle. I got a copy of this on ebook for review from NetGalley.

Thoughts: I enjoyed this volume in The Singing Hills Cycle a lot more than the sixth book in this series. I continue to love the theme of the value of stories and a clerical order that makes it their mission to make sure stories are told and recorded.

In this volume, Cleric Chih (no longer a novice but out on their own) journeys to the town of Luntien where they find themselves waiting tables while they await their next disbursement of money (after they were unfortunately robbed). While this is in progress, they stumble upon a mystery that may link back to their own history and also try to help with an influx of refugees. Of course, the whole time they are determined to record the stories of, not only the village, but of the refugees who seek shelter there.

I really continue to enjoy this book series about the importance of story. Chih has grown throughout their travels, and it was fun to see them on their first solo mission as a full cleric. I think everyone can relate to Chih’s internal struggles. As they take on this new responsibility, Chih wonders if they are good enough to be a full cleric and if they are helping things or just making them worse.

We meet some entertaining new characters in this town. Of course, I continue to enjoy Almost Brilliant and her cutting humor and remarks. Almost Brilliant and Chih work together beautifully.

This book was very engaging, well done, and a breath of fresh air after the last couple of mediocre books I have read.

My Summary (5/5): Overall I really enjoyed this next volume in The Singing Hills Cycle. The stories behind the town are intriguing. I enjoyed watching Chih strike out on their own as a cleric and watching them work through the types of feelings and concerns you have when you strike out on your own in your field. I also enjoyed learning more about both Chih’s history and about the history behind The Singing Hills clerics. The discussion around refugees and their struggles was thoughtfully done as well. If you are a fan of this series, I think you will love this book. If you enjoy stories about the importance of stories, I think you will enjoy this whole series.

Archangel's Eternity Published by Penguin Group on May 5, 2026

Elena and Raphael return for the hauntingly poignant conclusion to New York Times bestselling author Nalini Singh’s genre-defining Guild Hunter series.

A thousand years.

It’s been a millennium since Elena’s fateful first meeting with Archangel Raphael. She has survived war and loss, experienced beauty and cruelty. But no matter what, she has always held on to her mortal heart, as she and Raphael have held on to each other. Passionate and vibrant, they’ve built a life that has stood the test of time, growing ever stronger with each turn of the sun.

But change is coming—of a magnitude they could have never imagined—and it will forever alter the trajectory of their existence.

Even as they grapple with the cataclysmic shift in their personal lives, the Cadre of Ten, which has maintained a hard-won peace for centuries, begins to simmer with dangerous fault lines. The specter of madness looms in one archangel, the promise of war burns between two others, and in darkness far from mortal and immortal eyes stirs an ancient, slumbering power.

Suddenly, the future is terrifyingly uncertain . . . at the very moment that Elena and her archangel need to protect a treasure infinitely more precious than eternity.

Pages: 448 GoodreadsGenres: Fiction / Fantasy / Paranormal, Fiction / Fantasy / Urban, Fiction / Romance / Paranormal / Vampires
Format: eARC, eBook ISBN: 9780593550052
By: Nalini Singh
Source: NetGalleyAlso by this author: Shards of Hope, Archangel's Shadows (Guild Hunter, #7), Archangel's Enigma (Guild Hunter, #8), Rock Redemption, Allegiance of Honor (Psy-Changeling, #15), Rock Wedding (Rock Kiss, #4), Secrets at Midnight (Psy-Changeling #12.5)

{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2026-05-06T03:01:09+00:00", "description": "This final chapter of the Guild Hunter series answers long-standing questions\u2014and a few you didn\u2019t even realize you had. It takes readers on an emotional roller coaster, bringing the journey ", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Books In Brogan" }, "url": "https:\/\/booksinbrogan.com\/blog\/2026\/05\/05\/archangels-eternity-nalini-singh\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "Archangel's Eternity", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Nalini Singh", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "9780593550052" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Books In Brogan", "sameAs": "https:\/\/booksinbrogan.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": false, "bestRating": "5" } }

This final chapter of the Guild Hunter series answers long-standing questions—and a few you didn’t even realize you had. It takes readers on an emotional roller coaster, bringing the journey to a powerful close. Even so, there’s hope we might return to this world someday, perhaps through future novellas that let us check in on these beloved characters.

Robin Hood (Universal Pictures, 2010) Robin Hood (Unrated Director’s Cut) (156 minutes; 2010)

Written by Brian Helgeland. Directed by Ridley Scott.

What is it?

What it is, is a criminally underrated film.

Maybe it would’ve been more successful if they had titled it Robin Hood Begins.

Another option, though it probably wouldn’t have helped at the box office, is Kingdom of Heaven II.

Because it is both of those things, and more.

Robin in action

It’s a backdoor sequel to Kingdom of Heaven. That movie ended with Richard the Lionheart stopping by Orlando Bloom’s village in France, on his way to Crusade in the Holy Land. This film begins with Richard on his way back home.

And it maintains the primary theme of that film, which is that what makes a man a man is not what organization he is affiliated with or what title he bears, but what he chooses to do every day.

It’s also an origin story for Robin Hood. Essentially, it’s a prequel to every other Robin Hood movie. It begins with him serving in Richard’s army, and follows him right up to the very moment he’s declared an outlaw by King John.

Cate Blanchett as Marion Loxley

The cast is spectacularly good. Mark Strong is ideal for a medieval English villain. Galadriel is a beautiful Maid Marian who is also strong and smart and tough. Lea Seydoux, of the last two James Bond films, is a radiant French princess. Oscar Isaac is always good in everything but is enjoyably evil here as Prince John. The main Merry Men are cool but never get anywhere near enough to do. A young Matthew McFadyen makes a fine, evil sheriff of Nottingham – though he, too, barely appears in the film.

William Hurt plays a completely useless character who takes up precious run time that could’ve been given to Little John or the Sheriff. He spends a lot of time looking on in disappointment at Prince John’s missteps, but does nothing.

Russell Crowe in Robin Hood

Russell Crowe’s Robin Hood here is hard as nails, incredibly competent and confident, a natural leader and a charismatic force.

I love that this version of Robin Hood is an impostor. He’s not Robin of Loxley. He’s a guy who finds Robin of Loxley being ambushed in the French forest and takes his place. And his identity.

Mark Strong as Sir Godfrey

Yes, Robin of Loxley becomes the first victim of identity theft.

It’s a fine movie overall, as long as you understand what you’re getting and what you’re not getting. There should’ve been a sequel that actually showed the adventures of Robin Hood and the Merry Men now that they’re established as outlaws. One was planned, anyway, but never filmed. Lacking that, the film fails to deliver what audiences could reasonably expect. In addition, the ending is something of a downer, though it does leave the door wide open for further adventures by Robin Hood, as well as establishing a need for those adventures to happen.

Kevin Durand as Little John in Robin Hood Noteworthy

This movie did not do well among critics or at the box office.

It brought in just under $322 million worldwide – not a disaster, but not a big hit, either.

Its Rotten Tomatoes score is just 43%. Critics praised its production values and acting, but simply didn’t find it very much fun.

Ridley Scott directs Robin Hood

A good comparison might be found in the Western genre, and particularly in Wyatt Earp movies. Tombstone is bold and colorful and fun, while Kevin Costner’s Wyatt Earp is probably more true to actual history, but is also more somber, serious and flat.

Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood has more in common with Costner’s Earp movie than with Tombstone.

I suspect audiences were disappointed because they expected some version of Costner’s Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves movie (1991), which was silly and cartoonish but also more fun.

Errol Flynn’s The Adventures of Robin Hood (Warner Bros. Pictures, May 14, 1938)

Or perhaps Errol Flynn’s The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) raised the bar (and set audience expectations) too high, decades ago.

If you’re looking for Robin and his Merry Men chasing the Sheriff of Nottingham through Sherwood Forest while robbing from the rich and giving to the poor, well, I have to tell you – this is not that movie. Not at all.

This is a movie about commoners with uncommon valor rising up and taking the place of noblemen at first by pretending to be them, and then through their deeds and their actions.

Robin and his Merry Men

And it’s about one extremely arrogant and stubborn jerk who happens to inherit the crown of England.

In 2026, Russell Crowe noted that the original plan was to make three films, continuing into the better-known Robin Hood material. Unfortunately, this one didn’t meet the financial number necessary to trigger the sequels.

Russell Crowe in Robin Hood Quick and Dirty Summary

Russell Crowe and his pals are archers fighting their way across France alongside King Richard the Lionheart, on their way back to England from the Crusades.

Crowe and Company get fed up with Richard’s vanity and his endless battles. They decide to desert and go home. At the same moment, Richard is killed in battle.

When Robin of Loxley is killed in an ambush while trying to bring Richard’s crown home, Crowe and his men take up the task, impersonating noblemen in the process.

Robin and Marion

Once back in England, they get caught up in the brewing civil war surrounding Prince John. Meanwhile, Crowe’s character, pretending to be Robin, meets and becomes involved with Maid Marian.

There are also a number of very good moments in which the scenery-chewing Oscar Isaac preens about while ignoring his wife and mother and sleeping with a beautiful French princess (Seydoux).

Léa Seydoux and Oscar Isaac in Robin Hood

This all sounds very Robin Hood-ish. But then we are served up an entirely separate plot involving Sir Godfrey (Strong), a traitor who’s helping the French king invade England.

Eventually Crowe’s character – I honestly don’t know what to call him; he’s not really Robin of Loxley and he’s not “Robin Hood” yet, instead going by “Robin Longstride” — reconciles with King John long enough to repulse the French invasion. But John being John, the situation reverts quickly afterward. The movie ends right where we expect the Robin Hood story to begin. Indeed, the last words we see on the screen before the credits roll are, “And so the legend begins.”

Russell Crowe in Robin Hood Fantasy/SF/Sword & Sorcery Elements

As one might expect, the weapons that feature in this film are bows and arrows.

A crossbow bolt through the neck kills Richard in much the same way it killed the big German Crusader early in Kingdom of Heaven.

Robin Whateverhisnameis gets a few opportunities to show off his archery skills – but not many. Not nearly enough for a film about allegedly one of the greatest archers to ever string a bow.

Robin and his bow High Point

The best portion of the film is probably when Robin decides to impersonate the slain Loxley. Suddenly he and the handful of Merry-Men-to-be traveling with him morph into “heist film” characters. Robin’s Eleven.

And speaking of stealing, of course Isaac as the deluded King John steals every scene he’s in, often just with his facial expressions.

Max von Sydow as Sir Walter Loxley Low Point

There’s a long segment in the middle of the film where Robin and company have settled into Marian’s farm, and then not a lot happens that’s very exciting. We do get some fun appearances here by the great Max von Sydow as Sir Walter Loxley, the father of the man Crowe is impersonating. What’s a Medieval action film without von Sydow??

But beyond him, it’s a pretty dry middle of the movie, and it’s easy for audiences to tune out during this section.

Oscar Isaac as the ridiculously evil Prince John Standout Performance

There are several good performances, but I’d argue that Oscar Isaac as the ridiculously evil and treacherous Prince/King John takes the cake. He’s the “Hans Gruber” of this movie. Yippee-ki-yay, Robin Hooder!

Matthew Macfadyen as the Sheriff of Nottingham Overall Evaluation as a Movie and as Fantasy/SF/Sword & Sorcery

It’s not precisely a Sword & Sorcery movie per se, but it is S&S-adjacent, featuring a mythical main character who is essentially a Fantasy hero.

It’s a very creditable unofficial sequel to Kingdom of Heaven, by the same director and featuring some of the same supporting actors.

And while it has its slow sections and doesn’t really give us the Robin Hood we probably went into it looking for, it does give us a very fine Medieval warfare and intrigue movie, as well as the prequel to the actual Robin Hood story we never knew we needed.

Put that in yer Magna Carta, ya bastards!

Van Allen Plexico once edited an anthology of tales set in a Thundarr-style post-apocalyptic future of super-science and sorcery, called Blackthorne: Thunder on Mars. He is a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA), a Grand Master of Pulp Literature (2025 class) and a multiple-award-winning author of more than two dozen novels and anthologies, ranging from space opera to Kaiju to crime fiction to superheroes to military SF. Find his works on Amazon and at www dot Plexico dot net.

Book links: Amazon, Goodreads

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Cameron Johnston is a Scottish writer of fantasy and lives in the city of Glasgow in Scotland. He is a member of the Glasgow Science Fiction Writers' Circle, loves archaeology and mythology, enjoys exploring ancient sites and camping out under the stars.

Publisher: Angry Robot (April 14, 2026) Page count: 328 pages Formats: audiobook, ebook, paperback

There are many ways to start a fantasy novel. A prophecy. A battle. A mysterious stranger in a tavern.

First Mage on the Moon starts with a hanging. 

From there, the book rewinds to show readers how did a bunch of overworked, underpaid mages end up committing what is apparently the greatest heresy imaginable - touching the moon?
The answer, as it turns out, involves paperwork, bad management decisions, and one very unfortunate lightning strike.
Ella Pickering is tired and stuck in a system that chews people up. She's basically trying to get through the day without losing more than she already has. Her sections revolve around the repetitive work, the debt, the physical strain. And perhaps the author is trying too much to make the point. There’s a stretch in the middle where you’ve fully grasped how miserable and repetitive her job is and then you keep watching it happen anyway. It felt overextended to me.
Whitlaw Goddard is another highlight. He has spent years doing things properly and has finally decided to do something wildly improper instead. Which, in this world, means trying to advance knowledge without asking permission. His arc is excellent. You know where it’s going, but it still lands.
The setting is industrial, and often unpleasant. Things are built, tested, broken, and occasionally launched into the sky by accident. The "moon project" itself is handled like engineering. There are calculations, adjustments, and a lot of trial and error. It’s refreshing, even if it sometimes slows the story down.
There are downsides, too. The antagonists (priests, hierarchs, powerful figures in general) are clear enough, but they don’t evolve much. They exist to block progress, and they do that job efficiently. You just don’t get much beyond that.
And while the ideas are strong, the pacing isn’t always helping them. Some sections feel tight and engaging; others move way too slowly. 
The ending is exactly what the book promises from the start. No last-minute twists. No clever escapes.The characters pay the price for what they chose to do. Of course, there's more to it, but you'll have to learn it on your own.
In the end, First Mage on the Moon is a good idea told well,  just not always tightly. There’s a lot here to like: the grounded approach to magic, the working-class perspective, the central concept itself. But it doesn’t quite hit as hard as it could have with sharper pacing and a bit more depth on the opposing side.

Other LitStack Spots We’ve spotted a few other titles we’re adding to our TBR stack,…

The post Spotlight on “The Double Dutch Fuss” by Phill Branch appeared first on LitStack.

It’s been over a month since I shared a Ten Things? Heavens to Murgatroyd (any Snagglepuss fans out there?).

I talked here about how fed I up I was with all the streaming apps which I needed to watch different things. Including sports. So, except for Prime (the family orders a lot of stuff from Amazon), I cut the cord on all of them. I’m missing Daredevil, and didn’t watch a single Pittsburgh Penguins playoff game (I did listen to all of them). But it’s going fine.

PlutoTV, and RokuTV, have lots of shows and movies for free. But Tubi (also free) has really been filling the gap. Last week I wrote about the Coen Brothers’ classic, The Hudsucker Proxy. That was a Tubi viewing. I just watched the 1988 Blake Edwards Western, Sunset. Bruce Willis is cowboy actor Tom Mix, and James Garner is Wyatt Earp, in a Hollywood Western murder mystery. It was okay, but I’ll always watch Garner when I can. Tubi has TV shows too (that will be another post), including some fun cartoons, like Pinky and the Brain.

But here are ten movies you should check out for free on Tubi. Of course, there are well-known flicks like Rain Man, Legally Blonde, The Untouchables, The Graduate, Bull Durham, etc. But I wanted to talk about some that maybe you haven’t thought of in a while.

1 – SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL SHERIFF

I mentioned James Garner already, right? This is Galaxy Quest for Westerns. There was a non-sequel followup, with several of the same actors, in a similar story, but Support Your Local Gunfighter has different characters (granted, doing the same things).

This is one of my five favorite Westerns, and I’ve watched it many times. Garner is a mix of Bret Maverick and Jim Rockford in this 1969 movie. I’d install the Tubi app just to watch this one. If you like it, you should definitely watch Gunfighter as well.

2 – A SHOT IN THE DARK

Peter Sellers introduced us to Inspector Clouseau in 1963. The Return of the Pink Panther didn’t come out until 1975 (Alan Arkin played the role in a 1968 movie). Seems people forget that in 1964, A Shot in the Dark hit theaters only six months after The Pink Panther.

This is my favorite Pink Panther movie, and I developed a lifelong crush on Elke Sommer from this one. Tubi has all the Sellers ones, the two ‘official ones’ without him, the two Steve Martin reboots, and a couple of the cartoon series’. Everything but the Alan Arkin one. Clouseau is a supporting character in the first movie. I much prefer A Shot in the Dark.

3 – GET SHORTY

This is a superb book by Elmore Leonard. And the 1995 adaptation starring John Travolta, Gene Hackman, Renee Russo, Danny Devito (and the always underappreciated Dennis Farina) nailed it. It’s one of the best book/movie adaptations around. The sequel – Be Cool – is good, though not great. Both are worth watching.

Prime did a streaming series in 2017 with Chris O’Dowd (The IT Crowd) and Ray Romano. It ran for three seasons and I think it’s terrific. It sets up with the basic premise of the novel, but is basically an original story after that. Which is fine with me. I loved every episode. I talked about it here. So, book, movie, and series: you should check out Get Shorty.

4 – EIGHT MEN OUT

Baseball snobs like to immediately attack the inaccuracies of Eliot Asinof’s book. Whatever. I’m a fan of the book. And this is a top five baseball movie. The cast is deep, and visually it’s got that baseball nostalgia factor. And I think it conveys the almost slave-like conditions under the reserve clause (I’m pro-management, not pro-union; though both sides are greedy twits that may ruin the game again. But the options were to take what owners offered, or quit. That was it).

I recommend reading the book, but this is a movie absolutely worth watching.

5 – ARMED AND DANGEROUS

There are several John Candy movies. While he was pretty much always good for a laugh, his movies are hit and miss. It’s fine if you liked Canadian Bacon, Who’s Harry Crumb?, and Hostage for a Day. But as with Humphrey Bogart, he did make some stinkers.

But Candy and Eugene Levy do make Armed and Dangerous a good one. Meg Ryan, Robert Loggia, and Brion Jones join in this Harold Ramis scripted flick. A fired cop (Candy) and an inept lawyer (Levy) are forced to join a corrupt union when they get jobs as security guards. Co-written by Stacy Keach’s brother James, their father makes an appearance.

I always thought this was underappreciated John Candy. I’ve never seen It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time, but I’m going to check it out. On Tubi.

6 – DEAD RECKONING

And speaking of my favorite actor of all time…Dead Reckoning is a ‘good but not great’ hardboiled Noir starring Bogie. WW II parachutist Rip Murdock’s (Bogart) buddy goes AWOL rather than receive the Medal of Honor. Bogie looks for him and murder and mayhem follow. Lizabeth Scott is a femme fatale, and Morris Carnovsky is the bad guy club owner.

Bogie made a slew of good movies in the forties, and this is one of them. It’s not on a par with The Maltese Falcon, This Gun for Hire, or Murder My Sweet, but it’s still a good example of the hardboiled genre. Like Johnny O’Clock, or Nocturne.

7 – SOLOMON KANE

I commented that Dark Winds was a good 70s cop show, but not good Tony Hillerman. I feel similarly about Solomon Kane. I like it as a sword and sorcery movie, but it’s a long way from Robert E. Howard’s Puritan avenger of wrongs. And that’s fine. They could have made a bad Solomon Kane movie, and then it would be a total loss.

James Purefoy is good, and he wanted to do a followup. But since the movie didn’t even get an American release (it eventually found it’s way over here with limited showing, but it was well over, and the International take didn’t make back even half of the budget).

Solomon Kane could have been truer to Howard’s character and stories. Noting the distinction between sword and sorcery, and fantasy, this is an S&S movie definitely worth watching.

8 -PRESUMED INNOCENT

There were others who did legal thrillers, before John Grisham (I’m a big fan of Richard North Patterson), but he clearly ‘took things to another level’ with his books, and the movies from them. Scott Turow’s Presumed Innocent was a successful film, with Harrison Ford. Tom Cruise’s The Firm followed a year later.

This is a very good legal thriller. Turow continued to write best-selling books (check out The Burden of Proof, featuring the defense attorney from Presumed Innocent). The movie has a real twist at the end. Good book, good film. And it’s free on Tubi.

9 – HOLLYWOOD KNIGHTS

I don’t think there’s ever been another movie like Animal House. It’s a unique classic. But if I had to name one movie to join it in that solo club, it would be Hollywood Knights. Set around the hijinks of a car club in Beverly Hills on Halloween night.

It was Robert Wuhl’s first movie, and he was SO terrific that a band named themselves after his character, Newbomb Turk. With several now-familiar faces, it’s got more of an Animal House vibe than any other movie I’ve seen. Since it’s free on Tubi, you REALLY should catch this if you’re a fan of that kind of humor.

10 – CADENCE

The number 165 US box office movie of 1991 may be the best little flick you’ve not seen. Charlie Sheen is put in a US military prison in West Germany, run by martin Sheen. Lawrence Fishburne is the leader of the other prisoners – all black. I only just now realized Charlie’s brother Ramon is also in it.

Martin is a miserable SOB and Charlie has to deal with the other prisoners, as well as the commander. This gets bad reviews, but I really like it. And Harry Stewart (‘Cornbread’ in the movie) sings a song called End of My Journey. It’s absolutely gorgeous. I often cite That Thing You Do! as a terrific little movie many people overlook. But it’s still got the Tom Hanks name on it. Cadence is one even fans of the Sheen family may not know of. And you absolutely should check it out on Tubi.

BONUS FLICK

11 – AWAKENINGS

I saw this movie at the theater, back in 1990. I haven’t watched it since. But I remember that I teared up at the end. One year after Dead Poets Society – and three years before Mrs. Doubtfire – Robin Williams is a neurosurgeon, trying to break through to victims of Parkinson’s Disease. Robert DeNiro is one of his patients. There’s a bit of humor in this movie, but it’s a medical drama. And damn, it hits HARD. My mom told me this past weekend that she’s remembering less and less. Parkinson’s fucking sucks.

John Heard, Anne Meara, and Penelope Ann Miller fill in a solid cast. But this movie is a tour de force for DeNiro, with Williams showing his acting chops. If you want a powerful drama, give this a watch. And maybe have some tissues handy.

MORE

I could list a couple dozen more movies – good and maybe not so good – you can sit down and watch: Deal of the Century, The Big Store, The Boondock Saints, Point Break, Mulholland Falls, The Majestic, The Thee Amigos, The In-Laws, Meatballs, Clerks II, Crossroads, Krull, Runaway: Just scroll and you’ll find things from every genre.

I loved the twist at the end, of No Way Out. I have it on VCR in a box somewhere. I think I’m gonna watch it on Tubi. And maybe The Getaway, and China Moon. And as I mentioned, you can deep dive into a plethora of TV shows. I just added Hardcastle and McCormick to my ever-growing list.

I do watch stuff from RokuTV, and PlutoTV. But I have really leaned into Tubi since canceling my streaming apps. And I’m quite happy with the decision.

Some previous entries on things to watch:

The Hudsucker Proxy
Let’s Go to the Movies:1996
Firefly – The Animated Reboot
What I’ve Been Watching – February 2026 (The Night Manager, SS-GB, Best Medicine)
What I’ve Been Watching – October 2026 (Return to Paradise, Lynley, Expend4bles, and more)
What I’ve Been Watching – August 2025 (Ballard, Resident Alien, Twisted Metal, and more)
What I’ve Been Watching – May 2025 (County Line, The Bondsman, Bosch: Legacy)
What I’ve Been Watching – October 2024 (What We Do in the Shadows, The Bay, Murder in a Small Town)
What I’m Watching – November 2023 (Brooklyn Nine-Nine, The Caine Mutiny Court Martial, A Haunting in Venice)
What I’m Watching – April 2023 (Florida Man, Picard – season three, The Mandalorian)
The Pale Blue Eye, and The Glass Onion: Knives Out
Tony Hillerman’s Dark Winds
The Rings of Power (Series I wrote on this show – all links at this one post)
What I’m Watching – December 2022 (Frontier, Leverage: Redemption)
What I’m Watching – November 2022 (Tulsa King, Andor, Fire Country, and more)
What I’m Watching – September 2022 (Galavant, Firefly, She-Hulk, and more)
What I’m Watching- April 2022 (Outer Range, Halo, Why Didn’t They Ask Evans, and more)
When USA Network was Kicking Major Butt (Monk, Psych, Burn Notice)
You Should be Streaming These Shows (Corba Kai, The Expanse, Bosch, and more)
What I’m BritBoxing – December 2021 (Death in Paradise, Shakespeare & Hathaway, The Blake Mysteries, and more)
To Boldly Go – Star Treking – (Various Star Trek incarnations)
What I’ve Been Watching – August 2021 (Monk, The Tomorrow War, In Plain Sight, and more)
What I’m Watching – June 2021 (Get Shorty, Con Man, Thunder in Paradise, and more)
Tucker and Dale vs. Evil
What I’ve Been Watching – June 2021 (Relic Hunter, Burn Notice, Space Force, and more)
Appaloosa
Psych of the Dead
The Mandalorian
What I’m Watching: 2020 – Part Two (My Name is Bruce, Sword of Sherwood Forest, Isle of Fury, and more)
What I’m Watching 2020: Part One (The Adventures of Brisco County Jr, Poirot, Burn Notice, and more)
Philip Marlowe: Private Eye
Leverage
Nero Wolfe – The Lost Pilot
David Suchet’s ‘Poirot’
Sherlock Holmes (over two dozen TV shows and movies)

Bob Byrne’s ‘A (Black) Gat in the Hand’ made its Black Gate debut in 2018 and has returned every summer since.

His ‘The Public Life of Sherlock Holmes’ column ran every Monday morning at Black Gate from March, 2014 through March, 2017. And he irregularly posts on Rex Stout’s gargantuan detective in ‘Nero Wolfe’s Brownstone.’ He is a member of the Praed Street Irregulars, and founded www.SolarPons.com (the only website dedicated to the ‘Sherlock Holmes of Praed Street’).

He organized Black Gate’s award-nominated ‘Discovering Robert E. Howard’ series, as well as the award-winning ‘Hither Came Conan’ series. Which is now part of THE Definitive guide to Conan. He also organized 2023’s ‘Talking Tolkien.’

He has contributed stories to The MX Book of New Sherlock Holmes Stories — Parts III, IV, V, VI, XXI, and XXXIII.

He has written introductions for Steeger Books, and appeared in several magazines, including Black Mask, Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine, The Strand Magazine, and Sherlock Magazine.

You can definitely ‘experience the Bobness’ at Jason Waltz’s ’24? in 42′ podcast.

 

 

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Historical Fantasy
Length: 417 pages
Publisher: S&S/Saga Press
Release Date: June 20, 2017
ASIN: B01LYPZUI5
Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in The Extraordinary Adventures of the Athena Club
Source: Borrowed ebook from library
Rating: 2/5 stars

“Mary Jekyll, alone and penniless following her parents’ death, is curious about the secrets of her father’s mysterious past. One clue in particular hints that Edward Hyde, her father’s former friend and a murderer, may be nearby, and there is a reward for information leading to his capture…a reward that would solve all of her immediate financial woes.

But her hunt leads her to Hyde’s daughter, Diana, a feral child left to be raised by nuns. With the assistance of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, Mary continues her search for the elusive Hyde, and soon befriends more women, all of whom have been created through terrifying experimentation: Beatrice Rappaccini, Catherin Moreau, and Justine Frankenstein.

When their investigations lead them to the discovery of a secret society of immoral and power-crazed scientists, the horrors of their past return. Now it is up to the monsters to finally triumph over the monstrous.”

Series Info/Source: This is 1st book in The Extraordinary Adventures of the Athena Club. I borrowed this on ebook through my library.

Thoughts: I got about 70% of the way into this and finally set it aside. I am a fan of Theodora Goss; I have read “In the Forest of Forgetting” (loved it), “The Thorn and the Blossom” (liked it), “Red as Blood, White as Bone” (liked it), and “Come See the Living Dryad” (liked it). So I was really looking forward to a series by Goss, and the theme of this series (a mash-up of a bunch of Victorian horror/monster stories) is right up my alley. Unfortunately, this ended up feeling protracted and boring with jarring interruptions that are initially confusing and later just annoying. It was taking me forever to read this, and I realized I was dreading sitting down to continue it, so I set it aside.

The series follows numerous female characters. We start primarily by reading about Mary, who is left destitute after the death of her mother. Through various circumstances, she finds out she has a half-sister and gets entangled in helping Sherlock Holmes with a series of murders that are very Jack the Ripper like. Along the way, she starts to acquire other young women who are bound together by their strangeness and their fathers’ link to a secret society.

Throughout the book, there are strange “current” conversations between the girls interjected in the middle of the story. These are very confusing at first because we haven’t met any of the girls yet. As a result, reading about them talking to each other without any context doesn’t make much sense. As you continue and you start to understand who these girls are, the conversational interjections switch from confusing to jarring and a bit annoying. I think they are meant to be funny and cute, but to me, they were just repetitive and annoying.

I love the idea of a mash-up between a whole bunch of Victorian monster horror fictions. This story touches on Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde, Frankenstein, The Island of Dr. Moreou, as well as Sherlock Holmes. It is very Penny Dreadful-esque and I love the idea behind it. I enjoyed the idea behind a lot of the characters as well. We are mainly dealing with the daughters of these infamous men, as they try to recover from the monstrous transformations performed on them by their fathers. Unfortunately, the girls are introduced fairly quickly and don’t have a lot of depth to their personalities. I found it hard to engage with them and really get drawn into their stories.

Where things really started to fall apart for me were around the wordiness and the pacing. Things are over described, often repeated, and very drawn out. The huge issue of Mary’s finances is somewhat brushed to the side. Where initially she was worried about making it a week financially, suddenly she has a number of other girls living with her, and they are going to be okay for the near future. Strangely, the matter of how Mary was going to pay to support this collection of monstrous girls was more compelling to me than the main murder mystery…and that right there was part of what was wrong with this story.

At about 70% of the way in, I realized I just didn’t care anymore. I know Mary and Sherlock will solve the murders. Given all the foreshadowing and jarring conversational interjections by the girls, I know that they find a way to make it financially. We know all this very early in the story. I realized I was skimming the pages and just reading the main story dialogue between characters (skipping the annoying interjections and all the lengthy drawn out descriptions) and decided it was time to put this down. According to my kindle, I had another nearly two hours of reading to get through the rest and I just didn’t have it in me.

My Summary (2/5): Overall I love the premise here and find some of the characters intriguing. However, the jarring interjections throughout and the incredibly long repetitive descriptions made this a horrible slog to get through. I struggled on for quite awhile because I really, really love the idea of a Victorian horror mash-up like this; especially since it features the daughters of the infamous men from these stories. I just couldn’t get through it, and finally decided that I had struggled enough and set it aside 70% of the way in. I won’t be reading anymore of this series (obviously) and will be more careful about which Goss stories I pick up in the future. Maybe Goss is a better short story writer than a full length novelist.

So it was, but it is said that in recompense Mandos gave to Beren and to Lúthien thereafter a long span of life and joy, and they wandered knowing thirst nor cold in the fair land of Beleriand, and no mortal Man thereafter spoke to Beren or his spouse.

from The Quenta Silmarillion

When I wrote about The Silmarillion last year, without much detail, I described the story of Beren and Lúthien as the great love story of Middle-earth. Inspired by Prof. Tolkien’s love for his wife, Edith, as well as the story of Orpheus and Eurydice, its narrative is integral to the events of The Lord of the Rings. Aragorn’s lineage goes straight back down the millennia to the couple, as does Elrond’s.

Christopher Tolkien, continuing the great work he undertook to edit and publish the greatest portion of his father’s work developing the myths, legends, and tales of Middle-earth, published three books brining a jeweler’s eye to the three great tales contained with The Silmarillion; The Children of  Húrin (2007), Beren and Lúthien (2017), and The Fall of Gondolin (2018). Much more than with The Children of Húrin, Beren and Lúthien digs deeply into the evolution of the story, presenting multiple versions and commentary.

To begin, Beren is the only survivor of a band of human survivors from the great battle where the Dark Lord, Morgoth, destroyed the greater element of the army of elves and men that had kept him trapped in his realm. After the battle, Beren, his father, and ten other men, fought as outlaws against the Morgoth’s forces, until they were betrayed. All save Beren are killed.

After many great deeds and trials, Beren flees south and comes into the hidden elf kingdom of Doriath. There he spies Luthien, daughter of the king of Doriath, dancing, and is enchanted. She in turn sees Beren, and both fall in love. Her father, King Thingol, refuses to give his daughter’s hand in marriage to a mortal. Only if he could bring back one of the Silmarils, the great jewels forged by Feanor, from the crown of Morgoth, would he consent.

Though obviously a task considered impossible, Beren and a band of elves set out to try. They never even make it to the land of Morgoth, instead, being intercepted by his lieutenant, Sauron. Though imprisoned and tortured, they never reveal who they really are or what they’re doing so close to the Dark Lord’s lands. One by one, trapped in Sauron’s dungeon, they are devoured by his great wolves.

Meanwhile, after surviving trials of her own and gaining the friendship of the mighty dog, Huan, Lúthien arrives at Sauron’s keep in search of Beren. Huan kills the wolves and werewolves of Sauron, while with her own powerful magic, Lúthien overcomes Sauron and frees Beren.

Lúthien’s dance before Morgoth and his court by Alan Lee

They return to Doriath, but Beren is still intent on recovering a Silmaril from Morgoth. He again sets out into the terrible lands of the Dark Lord but struggles with despair and loneliness. When he sings a song of great sorrow, Lúthien and Huan hear it and come to him. Disguised as a werewolf and vampire, they steal into Angband, Morgoth’s fortress. Revealing her true self, Lúthien offers to dance and sing for the Dark Lord. It is a dance woven through with powerful magic and puts all of his court of evil to sleep. Beren then pries a Silmaril from the slumbering enemy’s crown. Only when he tries to take a second one, he rouses their foes and must flee.

And she beguiled Morgoth, even as his heart plotted foul evil within him; and she danced before him, and cast all his court in sleep; and she sang to him, and she flung the magic robe she had woven in Doriath in his face, and she set a binding dream upon him—what song can sing the marvel of that deed, or the wrath and humiliation of Morgoth, for even the Orcs laugh in secret when they remember it, telling how Morgoth fell from his chair and his iron crown rolled upon the floor.

The great wolf, Carcharoth, bred especially to defeat Huan, chases and attacks. Beren tries to ward off the beast with the Silmaril, but it bites off his hand and swallows the jewel. Immediately, the gem causes the beast such pain that it drives it mad and charges off, bringing terror and horror wherever it runs.

Too swift for thought his onset came,
too swift for any spell to tame;
and Beren desperate then aside
thrust Lúthien, and forth did stride
unarmed, defenceless to defend
Tinúviel until the end.
With left hand he caught at hairy throat,
with right, from which the radiance welled
of the holy Silmaril he held.
As gleam of swords in fire there flashed
the fangs of Carcharoth, and crashed
together like a trap, that tore
the hand about the wrist, and shore
through brittle bone and sinew nesh,
devouring the frail mortal flesh;
and in that cruel mouth unclean
engulfed the jewel’s holy sheen.

On returning to Doriath, when Thingol learns that a Silmaril was indeed stolen from Morgoth, he relents and allows Beren to marry Lúthien. When the wolf, mad with pain, enters the kingdom, a party, including Beren and Thingol sets off to hunt it. The wolf is finally killed, but only after mortally wounding Beren and Huan. Overcome with grief, Lúthien dies from sorrow. When her spirit arrives in the Halls of the Dead, she sings a song of such beauty and power that she and her husband are returned to life, to live out their days as mortals.

This is the way the story of Beren and Lúthien emerged finally in the pages of The Silmarillion. It did not start out that way and cataloguing the numerous ways it evolved and mutated is what Christopher Tolkien set out to do with this little volume. It is an interesting book, though, without having read The Silmarillion I imagine it would make little sense.

The earliest version, and the most drastically different, began in 1917 as The Tale of Tinúviel. It’s far more like a fairy tale than the epic style of Tolkien’s later writing. Beren is not a man, instead a Gnome. In these early tales, the great elves later called Noldor, go by this name, which Tolkien linked to the Greek word for thought or intelligence. With images of Huygen’s and Poortvliet’s red-capped little fellows appearing in my head at every appearance of the word, it was a bit disconcerting.

Tevildo by Alan Lee

The cat, of course, doesn’t help. What cat you ask? Well, instead of Sauron, the enemy who imprisons him is Tevildo, a great cat with a retinue of lesser cats at his side. On its own, it works well creating a real fairytale atmosphere, but as part of the lore of Middle-earth it lacks the necessary deeper, darker shading.

Beren is less determined than he’ll eventually be portrayed, but as in all the story’s variations, Lúthien takes on the Orphean role and risks great harm to save him. As the tale evolves, she is clearly Tolkien’s great heroine. Beren bolts forward with the subtlety of an angry bull, unable to restrain himself and think things through. She is always thoughtful, ever planning, and wise and clever in ways that can actually trick the great powers of evil in her path.

Later, Tolkien began reworking the tale into an epic poem, The Lay of Leithian. Unfinished, it still runs to 14 of the planned 17 cantos and is over 4200 lines long. It is much more in line with The Silmarillion‘s version of Lúthien’s and Beren’s tale than the earlier version. Beren is now a man. This means the tragic aspect of an immortal falling in love with a mortal appears for the first time. The malignant feline, Tevildo, has been replaced with Thû, a formative version of Sauron. I appreciate the great effort the professor made in writing the poem, but I prefer the finished prose form.

The most interesting thing learned from reading is that this, and the rest of what’s contained in The Silmarillion, are the stories Tolkien wanted to write after the success of The Hobbit. According to his son,

In October he said in a letter to Stanley Unwin, the chairman of Allen and Unwin, that he was ‘a little perturbed. I cannot think of anything more to say about hobbits. Mr Baggins seems to have exhibited so fully both the Took and the Baggins side of their nature. But I have only too much to say, and much already written, about the world into which the hobbit intruded.’ He said that he wanted an opinion on the value of these writings on the subject of ‘the world into which the hobbit intruded’; and he put together a collection of manuscripts and sent them off to Stanley Unwin on 15 November 1937. Included in the collection was QS II, which had reached the moment when Beren took into his hand the Silmaril which he had cut from Morgoth’s crown.

Only later did he land on satisfactory artistic solution:

‘I offered them the legends of the Elder Days, but their readers turned that down. They wanted a sequel. But I wanted heroic legends and high romance. The result was The Lord of the Rings.

As a reader, I am grateful for the creation of The Lord of the Rings, but it’s always a little bit dispiriting to be reminded how often art must bend to the will of commerce if it’s to even exist.

I am not as obsessed with all the professor’s backstage undertakings as I once was. I’m completely satisfied with the LOTR’s appendices and Unfinished Tales. Long ago I decided I didn’t need all twelve volumes of The History of Middle-earth. I only bought this book because I’d read and loved The Children of Húrin. I had the mistaken understanding that Beren and Lúthien and The Fall of Gondolin were more like that. They are more literary excavations than coherent narratives.

This is a book for Tolkien completists. It has real value to anyone intrigued by how Middle-earth’s great romance grew from a fairy tale beginning to something worthy of 4200 + lines of poetry and more. Nonetheless, I am glad I read it and will read the succeeding volume about Gondolin one day. Still, it’s not a book I imagine ever reading in toto again.

Roads Go Ever Ever On

Some dwarf and JRR Tolkien by the Bros. Hildebrandt

With this essay, I’m bringing down the curtain on Half a Century of Reading Tolkien. Ten dedicated pieces and two related ones seem enough. There are notions floating about my brain for future work, but for now, I’ll let them rest and perhaps germinate into full-fledged ideas. I’m more than satisfied with what I’ve done here at Black Gate and reader’s responses. Some of the comments directly affected how I approached the professor’s work in succeeding articles.

I have enjoyed this undertaking immensely, as I hope many of you have. It’s pleasing to find that The Hobbit still brings me joy, and The Lord of the Rings and parts of The Silmarillion still move and thrill me. It was also exciting to bring more knowledge of history, Christianity, and myth to reading these works. That was important to developing a deeper understanding of what Prof. Tolkien was doing artistically and thematically. There’s great beauty in Tolkien and revisiting it has been a rewarding undertaking.

I definitely enjoyed the chance to revisit curiosities and side bits like the Rankin and Bass shows, the Ralph Bakshi movie, and Bored of the Rings. Even Terry Brooks’ The Sword of Shannara was more interesting coming so close upon the heels of rereading Tolkien.

For those who don’t remember, this entire project grew out of me hate-watching Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings movies (the expanded editions with even more things to hate-watch). I easily watched all three movies three times in the course of preparing for and writing the first four articles. Looking back a year or so, I stand by my dismissal of them and, even more so, by my complete disdain for the The Hobbit movies.

Last year, concerning those last three dreadful films, I wrote “I feel like I watched them for penance for any and all sins I’ve ever committed and will yet commit.” I watched them again after writing that and have concluded there are no sins I could still commit in my life that would ever make me deserve such punishment. Even Morgoth himself might offer me condolences for having seen them.

Let me leave you with some words from Christopher Tolkien from an interview in Le Monde. First, his opinion on the LOTR movies, “They eviscerated the book, making it an action film for 15-25 year olds.” More importantly, though, he added “The gap that has widened between the beauty, the seriousness of the work, and what it has become, all of this is beyond me. Such a degree of commercialization reduces the aesthetic and philosophical significance of this creation to nothing. I only have one solution left: turn my head.”

The books will remain. They are there for the reading any time. For as many times as I’ve read them, I imagine, well, hope, many more times remain.

Half a Century of Reading Tolkien: Part One

Half a Century of Reading Tolkien: Part Two – The Fellowship of the Ring by JRR Tolkien

Half a Century of Reading Tolkien: Part Three — The Two Towers by JRR Tolkien

Half a Century of Reading Tolkien: Part Four — The Return of the King by JRR Tolkien

Half a Century of Reading Tolkien: Part Five — From the Beginning: The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien

Half a Century of Reading Tolkien: Part Six — Bored of the Rings by Henry N. Beard & Douglas C. Kenney

Half a Century of Reading Tolkien: Part Seven — The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks

Half a Century of Reading Tolkien: Part Eight — The Silmarillion by JRR Tolkien

Half a Century of Reading Tolkien: Part Nine – Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, translated by JRR Tolkien

Grimmer Than Grim: The Children of Húrin by J.R.R. Tolkien

Talking Tolkien: Of Such a Sort Should a Man Be – Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary by J.R.R. Tolkien

Fletcher Vredenburgh writes a column each first Sunday of the month at Black Gate, mostly about older books he hasn’t read before. He also posts at his own site, Stuff I Like when his muse hits him

I received a review copy from the publisher. This does not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are my own.

The Faraway Inn by Sarah Beth Durst

Mogsy’s Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy

Series: Stand Alone

Publisher: Delacorte (March 31, 2026)

Length: 384 pages

Author Information: Website | Twitter

At this point, is it honestly a surprise that a new book by Sarah Beth Durst would turn out this cute and cozy? Even though this hasn’t always been her genre (I remember starting out reading her Queens of Renthia series and then loving Race the Sands and The Bone Maker), cottagecore fantasy is clearly the lane she’s settled into recently and is absolutely rocking it. That The Faraway Inn is a Young Adult novel doesn’t change its warm, comforting appeal either. If anything, it embraces everything that makes it an inviting romantasy without being too cloying or overdone.

The story follows a Brooklyn teenager named Calisa, who arrives at her great-aunt’s bed-and-breakfast in rural Vermont after a messy breakup derails her summer plans. Her parents figured that a few months away, working for an estranged relative, might give her the change of scenery she needs to find some peace and move on. Instead, she walks into a situation that’s anything but peaceful, and one where she clearly isn’t wanted. Auntie Zee has no interest in anyone meddling in her business, even if her beloved Faraway Inn has seen better days and could obviously use the help.

But Calisa has no desire to return home to face the fallout of her failed relationship. Determined not to be turned away, she digs in her heels and throws herself into being useful, hoping to prove she deserves to stay. But as she settles in, it quickly becomes clear that this isn’t an ordinary inn. The guests are a little too eccentric, the doors around the place don’t seem to lead where they should, and strange details begin to pile up, from winged lizards to a teapot that pours itself. Calisa senses that she’s not supposed to know any of this, especially with Auntie Zee guarding her secrets so closely. But with the help of Jack, the groundskeeper’s sweet and quietly charming son, she begins to uncover more of what the inn is hiding.

Durst has always had a talent for creating immersive settings, whether it’s a sweeping fantasy world or something more intimate and slice-of-life, the way it is here. The Faraway Inn itself easily steals the show. Even in its rundown state, there’s something deeply comforting about it, like a well-loved sweater or a chipped favorite mug. It feels like a place built for what it’s meant for, which is rest and restoration. Its guests come here to retreat from the stresses of wherever they came from, and the inn meets them where they are, offering a sanctuary to heal, reflect, or simply disappear for a while.

I also really liked how the magic is handled. It’s introduced gradually, in small, almost throwaway moments at first, before becoming something more central to the story. It’s an approach that perfectly fits the book’s gentle tone, even if it means the plot takes a little while to fully get off the ground. Still, once everything starts to come together, it’s easy to get pulled in.

The characters are also just as easy to spend time with. Admittedly, Calisa is a familiar kind of YA protagonist, dealing with young people problems like trying to figure out what to do with her post-high school life after putting so much of her heart into a relationship that didn’t work out. But her personality is grounded enough that she never comes across as overly dramatic or whiny, and I found her to be very likeable. Next comes Jack, who steps in as the obvious love interest, but they take their time developing their relationship. He’s sweet and supportive, if a little awkward, but the resulting chemistry between him and Calisa is adorable and genuinely endearing despite it being completely predictable. Auntie Zee, meanwhile, fills the role of the grumpy and stubborn innkeeper, and while her character development also follows a fairly predictable path, the tensions between her and Calisa add some needed friction early on.

Of course, the whole story doesn’t stray far from what you’d expect either, staying largely within its comfort zone. The plot also unfolds in a straightforward way, and some of the reveals are easy to anticipate. Furthermore, there’s the slower start I mentioned earlier, as everything is getting established before the magical elements take center stage. But for this kind of book, that’s not necessarily a drawback. The appeal is just as much about the atmosphere as it is the story itself, and on that front, it’s everything I wanted.

All in all, The Faraway Inn is a sweet, cozy fantasy that does exactly what it sets out to do. It’s not doing anything groundbreaking, but it’s charming, heartfelt, and filled with just enough magic to keep things engaging. An easy pick and a superb book if you’re in the mood for a light read that’s also quietly whimsical.

Deathstalker (New World Pictures, September 2, 1983)

A veritable cornucopia of dodgy barbarian and barbarian-adjacent movies that I have never watched before, and will probably never watch again.

Deathstalker (1983) – USA/Argentina

Inspired by a recent foray into the Conan the Cimmerian Barbarian: The Complete Weird Tales Omnibus, I suddenly had a hankering for more of the same, and so here we are.

Never one to miss an opportunity to cash in on a zeitgeist, Roger Corman saw the response to the the previous year’s Schwarzenegger grunt-a-thon and fast tracked this hokey slice of sword and sorcery, roping in sometime collaborator James Sbardellati to direct Howard R. Cohen’s cut and paste script.

Deathstalker (Rick Hill) is a wandering rogue fighter who loves nothing better than sticking his sword in people, literally and metaphorically speaking. He is quested by a witch to unearth a trio of macguffins in order to topple an evil sorcerer, Munkar (Bernard Erhard), and does so with the help of a diminutive goblin, a swarthy dude bro, and a female warrior whose idea of armour is a pair of knickers and a cloak.

Indeed, knockers and bum cheeks abound in this less than light-hearted romp, and the whole affair grows tiresome remarkably fast. Deathstalker himself isn’t even a fun anti-hero — the only time he is less than plank-like is when he’s sexually assaulting someone — leaving it very hard to root for him, let alone anyone, in this.

4/10

Deathstalker 2 (Concorde Pictures, September 12, 1987) Deathstalker 2 (1987) – USA/Argentina

Due to a multiple-picture deal with the Argentinian studios, and presumably some car payments, producer Roger Corman once again leaped into the Deathstalker world, still smarting that no one would let him make a Conan film. He roped in Jim Wynorski to direct, having just worked together on the altogether fab Chopping Mall (1986), and recast the titular lunk with John Terlesky.

Neil Ruttenberg’s script borrows heavily from an actual Robert E. Howard joint, the short story “A Witch Shall Be Born,” using the central premise of a kingdom overthrown by a doppelganger, and the usurped princess seeking the aid of a sword-swinging lothario.

This one (in an eventual series of three) is remembered quite fondly by sword and sandal enthusiasts, and that’s probably due to its more tongue-in-cheek nature, but this alone isn’t enough to save it. Yes, I enjoyed watching this one more than the first, but it’s still rubbish. Not only that but it pads out several scenes with footage from the first movie (Corman gripping those purse strings like a python in the temple of Set) and several scenes overstay their welcome, especially the Amazonian wrestling match.

It’s not all misery though, the two female leads, Monique Gabrielle in the dual role as the princess and her evil clone, and Maria Socas as the Amazon queen, are both really good and fun to watch. A female Deathstalker would have been excellent, but the 80s weren’t ready for that (don’t get me started on Red Sonja).

5/10

Deathstalker (Shout! Studios, October 10, 2025) Deathstalker (2025) – USA/Canada

Such is the nature of rose-tinted nostalgia goggles it was inevitable that an homage would be thrown together and quickly crowdfunded by a bunch of folk who remembered the kick-ass Boris Vallejo posters and copious tits of the 80s flicks. This remake is produced by Slash from Guns and Roses, and written and directed by Steven Kostanski, who made the excellent The Void (2016), and therefore got my hopes up.

In this version, Deathstalker (Daniel Bernhardt) loots a macguffin off a battlefield corpse and is instantly cursed with it. His witch friend tells him of a wizard who should be able to break the curse, and so begins his quest, which would ultimately be packed to the rafters with set-piece after set-piece.

Deathstalker teams up with said impish wizard, Doodad (voiced by Patton Oswald), and a feisty thief, Brisbayne (Christina Orjalo, very good). Together they go up against the demonic forces of Necromemnon and his lackey Jotak (Paul Lazenby), and much blood is spilled by all.

From the opening shot (a head is brutally removed from its owner in shocking close-up) I thought I was going to seriously enjoy this version, but as it progressed, and the humour took over, I started to find it more frustrating than enjoyable. This needed the Airplane treatment — instead of Deathstalker cracking gags, he needed to be absolutely straight-laced — let the lampoonary carry on around him.

That said, the production value is great for the budget and the gore is fantastic, so I did have some fun with it, just not as much as I had popped my corn for.

7/10

Masters of the Universe (The Cannon Group, August 7, 1987) Masters of the Universe (1987) – USA

Shockingly, I’ve never seen this dollop of American cheese-style product before, but I hardly knew the franchise, being British and 16 when the Filmation series first ran in 1983. Therefore I had no battlecat in the race and really wasn’t interested when the movie burst into cinemas (and flopped, contributing to the death of Cannon Films).

While doing a bit of digging (yes, I actually research these films after I’ve watched them and before I write this drivel), I learned that Mattel really hamstrung the production, which may have had a small part in its eventual dullness, but also, come on, all of Eternia to play with and the budget restricts three quarters of the film to the most deserted square mile of Whittier, California.

Storywise, Skeletor (Frank Langella, excellent) wants a macguffin invented by incredibly annoying, smashburger-faced Gwildor (Billy Barty), and when He-Man (Dolph Lungren, mercifully dubbed) gets accidentally transported to Earth, Skeletor sends his most inept commandos to hunt the device down and kill the blond bore. The macguffin, a portal-summoning synthesizer key, falls into the hands of Julie (Courtney Cox) and her undeserving boyfriend, Kevin (Robert Duncan McNeill), and a great many things get blown up with nary a single shocked reaction from the surrounding (missing) community.

Lots of chasing, cackling, and hair blowing in the wind ensues, but I fell asleep several times and had to keep rewinding it. Sorry to fans of this one.

6/10

The Barbarians (Cannon Releasing Corporation, March 20, 1987) The Barbarians (1987) – USA/Italy

A barbarian film from legendary horror-meister Ruggero (Cannibal Holocaust) Deodato? Sign me up! Is what I probably would have said in the late 80s, but being older now and suckered more times than I can remember, I didn’t go into this one with wild abandon. A wise decision as, despite Deodato’s frenetic direction and ability to squeeze every bit of sumptuousness from low-budget sets, the film is ultimately mind-numbing, and not in a good way.

On paper it should have worked; a classic sword and sorcery plot, Richard Lynch chewing the scenery, loin cloths and blood, but the film is hampered by terrible dialogue (and worse dubbing) and a pair of meatheads (David and Peter Paul as the titular Barbarian brothers) who pop veins and shout words with equal redundancy.

The story, which has its own macguffin in the form of a ruby, has a similar element to another film I’ll be reviewing next time (Iron Warrior) and throws forbidden lands, dragons, and torture at us in an attempt to distract us from the brothers, to no avail.

I know this reads like I disliked the film, but to be honest I actually had a fun time. It helped that Michael Berryman was wearing a headband with a single horn on it for much of the proceedings. What a good sport.

7/10

Previous Murky Movie surveys from Neil Baker include:

Probing Questions
My Top Thirty Films
The Star Warses
Just When You Thought It Was Safe
Tech Tok
The Weyland-Yutaniverse
Foreign Bodies
Mummy Issues
Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes
Monster Mayhem
It’s All Rather Hit-or-Mythos
You Can’t Handle the Tooth
Tubi Dive
What Possessed You?

See all of Neil Baker’s Black Gate film reviews here. Neil spends his days watching dodgy movies, most of them terrible, in the hope that you might be inspired to watch them too. He is often asked why he doesn’t watch ‘proper’ films, and he honestly doesn’t have a good answer. He is an author, illustrator, teacher, and sculptor of turtle exhibits.

Pictures by David Hockney, published in 1979, was intended as a catalog of Hockney’s work…

The post The Language of a Painter’s Vocabulary in “Pictures,” by David Hockney appeared first on LitStack.

So, the introduction to the review copy of this book I received, written by Fonda, says that she was inspired to write this book as a result of a game where story ideas had to have the words ‘in space’ added at the end. Result: Samurai in space! The book is exactly that. Set on…

Adventure, October 10, 1922

Some science fiction authors like to cloak their histories in mystery, not content to keep the fiction in their writing. Lester Del Rey claimed he was born Ramon Felipe Alvarez-del Rey and that his family was killed in a car crash, although his sister confirms his birth name was Leonard Knapp and the accident only killed his first wife. Nothing F. Gwynplaine MacIntyre said about himself should be trusted. Nictzin Dyalhis is another author who appeared to create his own history.

According to his draft registration card, he was born on June 4, 1873 in Massachusetts, although he also claimed to have been born in 1880 and 1879 and variously in England in Pima, Arizona. His draft registration is also the first time the name Nictzin Dyalhis appears. It also notes that he lost an eye in his childhood.

In 1912, he married Harriet Lord, who was committed to the Warren State Hospital in the late 1920s and died there in 1959. Her death certificate shows two interesting things. First, it claims her husband’s name was Fred, which could be Dyalhis’ birth name. Second, it lists her as a widow, indicating she was never divorced. Despite this, Dyalhis remarried by 1930, to Mary Sheddy, although in the 1930 census her name is given as Netulyani Dyalhis (and later claims that her birth name was Netulyani Del Torres). Nictzin and Mary had a daughter, Mary, in 1932.

The Sapphire Goddess: The Fantasies of Nictzin Dyalhis, Cover by Margaret Brundage

Just as there is a question about Dyalhis’ first name, there is also speculation that Dyalhis is a playful spelling of the name Dallas, although in Literary Swordsmen and Sorcerers, L. Sprague de Camp explains that his father was a Welshman whose last name was Dyahlis, who had a fascination with the Aztec, from whom the name Nictzin was taken.

It appears that Dyalhis tried his hand at various jobs, which isn’t surprising given that his literary output is limited to a baker’s dozen stories. When he visited Arizona in 1913 with Harriet, he appears to have been involved in mining or panning for gold. In 1920, he listed himself as working as a chemist. While living in Waynesboro, Pennsylvania in 1930, he listed his occupation as a machinist at a tool manufacturing plant. He also claims to have spent time in Asia, where he was introduced to the occult, which is often seen in his writing.

His first published story was “Who Keep the Desert Law,” published in the October 20, 1922 issue of Adventure. In April of 1925, his story “When the Green Star Waned” was published in Weird Tales, where the majority of his stories would appear. “When the Green Star Waned” has the distinction of being the first known reference to a ray gun as a “blastor.” His stories fit in well with the Weird Tales vibe and have the feel of authors like Clark Ashton Smith and August Derleth, offering heroes dealing with supernatural and occult forces which seem to be manifestations of the natural order of things.

Dyalhis died in Salisbury, Maryland on May 8, 1942. His first wife died in 1959 and his second wife in 1977.

Steven H Silver is a twenty-one-time Hugo Award nominee and was the publisher of the Hugo-nominated fanzine Argentus as well as the editor and publisher of ISFiC Press for eight years. He has also edited books for DAW, NESFA Press, and ZNB. His most recent anthology is Alternate Peace and his novel After Hastings was published in 2020. Steven has chaired the first Midwest Construction, Windycon three times, and the SFWA Nebula Conference numerous times. He was programming chair for Chicon 2000 and Vice Chair of Chicon 7.

In April I read 6 books. You can see the reviews for all of them, which ones were my favorite, etc. below. Hope you all had a great month of reading!

I started the following series:

• None

I finished the following series:

• None

My Favorite Books of the Month Were:

• Light From Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki (5/5 stars)
• God’s Junk Drawer by Peter Clines (4.5/5 stars)
• Under Fortunate Stars by Ren Hutchings (5/5 stars)

– Goodreads Reading Challenge (Progress: 39/150)

The full list of books that I read this month are shown below:
1. Platform Decay (The Murderbot Diaries, Book 8) by Martha Wells (4/5 stars)
2. Light From Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki (5/5 stars)
3. Dating After the End of the World by Jeneva Rose (2/5 stars)
4. Sparks and Landmarks (Mitzy Moon Mysteries, Book 4) by Trixie Silvertale, Narrated by Coleen Marlo (4/5 stars)
5. God’s Junk Drawer by Peter Clines (4.5/5 stars)
6. Under Fortunate Stars by Ren Hutchings (5/5 stars)

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Steampunk/Historical Fantasy
Length: 3 hours and 59 minutes
Publisher: AIBHS
Release Date: June 06, 2022
ASIN: June 06, 2022
Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in the Inspector Davidson Steampunk Mysteries
Source: Audiobook from Audible
Rating: 3/5 stars

“Alternate France, 1871. Art historian Veronica Devine dreams of putting her husband’s betrayal behind her. So she’s grateful for the somewhat distracting mission to transport a valuable collection from a French chateau across the Atlantic. But before her voyage even begins, she’s attacked by thieves and saved by a mysterious stranger.

Luc, the Marquis de Monceau’s, fate is bound to an enchanted ancestral painting. After fleeing the Prussian invasion, his survival hinges on protecting an alias that preserves the rumor of his death. So when the beautiful woman he saves insists she has permission to remove his portraits, he has no choice but to escort her aboard a luxury airship.

Within the confines of the majestic vessel, Veronica and Luc soon discover they have more in common than a love of art. But cryptic messages, a clockwork automaton, and conniving passengers threaten to ground their romantic aspirations.

Will Veronica and Luc unravel the mystery of the masterpiece before dark forces from his past send their ship into the depths?”

Series Info/Source: This is the first book in the Inspector Davidson Steampunk Mysteries. I listened to this on audiobook.

Thoughts: This book had a lot of elements I thought I would like. I did like them, but everything felt underdeveloped and not a lot actually happened.

Veronica is an art historian that gets attacked by pirates while “acquiring” some art. Her team is saved by a mysterious man. Luc is the Marquis of Monceau and is searching for an enchanted ancestral painting and he needs to take a look at some of Veronica “acquired” paintings. When Veronica ends up on an airship to America with the artwork in question, Luc follows her. While on the airship, they encounter others who are after the same powerful piece of art.

This is supposed to be an adventurous steampunk romance. However, I found all the elements of the story to be a bit lacking. There are mentions of intriguing things in this world; gods, enchanted artifacts, automatons, etc. Nothing is really explained or built out; it leaves reader with a glimpse of a world that could be intriguing, if only we got a chance to learn something about it. This is something many novellas struggle with and few do well. Unfortunately, this book really struggles with this.

The characters are very stereotypical and lack depth. Veronica is the strong-willed widow who was suppressed by men her whole life and intends to take the reins of her life and make the best of it. Luc is a long-lived Marquis who lost an eye and is scarred from the loss. Luc doubts his worth because of his marred features, but Veronica sees beyond his surface to his bravery and honesty. The bad guys are just as cookie cutter. The “relationship” that develops between Veronica and Luc seems like it’s supposed to be slow burn, but then feels very abrupt by the end of the book. Again, there was potential here but it just wasn’t executed well.

Additionally, the pacing is not great. The beginning is exciting, the middle is horribly boring, and then the ending gets exciting again. There are so many ways this story could have been amazing; the bones of a cool world are here, and these characters could be interesting with a bit more. Everything just feels sketched out and unfinished.

I listened to this on audiobook and the audiobook was not very well done. The narrator slipped between character’s voices a lot (accidentally using the wrong voice for the wrong character). In general, the narrator’s voice didn’t seem well suited for this story. I would recommend reading this book and not listening to it.

Based on other reviews it looks like the full length novel in this series is more well received. Unfortunately, I was looking for a quick audiobook to listen to on a shortish road trip and I just didn’t enjoy this. My husband was in the car as well and actually flat out stopped listening to it about an hour in because he was bored.

My Summary (3/5): Overall this was okay, I think the world has potential and a lot of the themes are ones I like. Everything about this is underdeveloped, though. The characters are stereotypical, and we get faint glimpses of a potentially fascinating world that is never well developed. The audiobook narration was just plain old bad. I don’t plan on reading any more books in this series, which is a shame because I am always on the look out for a new fascinating steampunk world.

Other LitStack Spots We’ve spotted a few other titles to add to our TBR stack,…

The post Spotlight on “Waiting on a Friend” by Natalie Adler appeared first on LitStack.