Thursday, December 31, 2020

Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes (read for fun)

The supplement that is a treasure trove of lore!  This book has been a fascinating read for me, as a reader of fantasy fiction and also as a Dungeon Master. I have written previously about its value as a lorebook, the inspiration it provides to a Dungeon Master. You can read that in my other post -  The Value of Lorebooks. This post is more of an overview of the book itself. 

As stated, this is a lorebook. It is mostly about lore. Its frame narrative is that the grand mage Mordenkainen has been studying multi-versal conflicts in his pursuit of maintaining what he considers to be an ideal balance of the cosmos. This tome is a collection of his research. So it contains information about the Blood War, the origin of the feud between dwarves and duergar, why the Githyanki and Gizerazi hunt each other, and how the elves split into so many subspecies, with the drow among them. Then there is a chapter about the gnomes and halflings, who are explicitly noted not to have evil counterparts or even any major conflicts in their histories. 

 A bestiary is included after these lore chapters. It contains more monster stat blocks, along with variants on the standard drow/duergar/etc. Reading them was fun because I can think about how they would function in a campaign, not optimizing but rather about roleplay; how would this particular creature act in a story given their stats and abilities? The sections for the demon lords and archdevils was particularly fun, because they are boss-level creatures and have certain scenario considerations that can make them tougher to fight or otherwise deal with. 

Between all this lore and the bestiary, this is mainly a book for Dungeon Masters. There are only a few thing for players, such as rules for playing as some of the races featured, like drow or duergar. It is still a fun book, so I imagine that players would still find it fun to read. 

The artwork continues to impress. The illustrations of the monsters range from magnificent to horrific, and the lore chapters include depictions of certain events, like the original Clan Duergar falling into the mindflayer's trap. Those are scary. The illustration of a happy dwarven family, by contrast, is heartwarming. A few sections even have full, two-page spreads. Those are impressive. 

Trickster Eric Novels gives "Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes" an A+

Click here for my next book review: Spiral - Bonds of Reasoning

Click here for my previous book review: So I'm a Spider , so what? volume 2

Brian Wilkerson is a independent novelist, freelance book reviewer, and writing advice blogger. He studied at the University of Minnesota and came away with bachelor degrees in English Literature and History (Classical Mediterranean Period concentration).

His fantasy series, Journey to Chaos, is currently available on Amazon as an ebook or paperback.

Wednesday, December 30, 2020

So I'm a Spider , so what? volume 2 (read for fun)

 This is the second volume of the manga adaptation. It depicts Kumoko's continuing struggle to survive in the Great Elroe Labyrinth. At the start of the volume, she has been chased into the Lower Stratum, which features more dangerous monsters than the Middle Stratum, where she started.

The first major event is intense. I don't think I've ever used the phrase "nail bitter" in my of my reviews before, but it is perfectly qualified to describe this event. Who would have thought that a spider hunting stray wasps over ten days could be so suspenseful? It also shows significant character development on Kumoko's part. 

She has learned that web nests can be used for more than insulating herself from the world. They can be offensive weapons as well; attack and defense at the same time shows her growing tactical mind. Indeed, she is becoming quite clever in how she uses her webbing and how she construct her nests. At one point, she camouflages a nest by building it near the ceiling and  sticking small rocks to its underside. 

She also experiments with other skills she gains, such as poison creation, web control and cutting threads. The fantasies she has about these skills are fun to see. One of them is a magical girl spider, and another is trapping thousands of knights in a razor floss trap. 

The final major event of the volume is both good and bad. It is exciting. It is well constructed among the panels to create a flowing sense of battle progression. It showcases all the skills and strategic ability that Kumoko has developed. However, one might question how an army of apes could exist in this one area, and why they are so determined to kill this one little spider. Kumoko herself wonders this, and the battle does not conclude in the volume, so the answer should presumably be answered in the next volume. 

As with the previous volume, this one ends on a cliffhanger, and like the previous volume, this one is still slice-of-life, so the volume could end anywhere and it is might still be a cliffhanger ending. Kumoko's daily struggle to survive is different from an adventurer's mission, after all. 

The artwork continues to be really good. 

The dragon that appears at the start is truly fearsome. No wonder Kumoko thinks "No way. No way" when she sees it. Not only is far bigger and stronger than anything she has seen so far but it is also far beyond anything she could hope to engage in combat. 

There is this enormous open cavern in the latter parts of the volume, and the reader truly gets a sense of how big it is and how small Kumoko feels in comparison to it. The battle that takes place here is dynamic, making use of its height and the stalagmites. 

Trickster Eric Novels gives "So I'm a Spider , so what? volume 2" an A+

Click here for my next book review: Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes

Click here for my previous book review:  So I'm a Spider So What? manga volume 1

Brian Wilkerson is a independent novelist, freelance book reviewer, and writing advice blogger. He studied at the University of Minnesota and came away with bachelor degrees in English Literature and History (Classical Mediterranean Period concentration).

His fantasy series, Journey to Chaos, is currently available on Amazon as an ebook or paperback.

Saturday, December 12, 2020

So I'm a Spider So What? manga volume 1 (read for fun)

I heard about this on Tvtropes and so I found it at my local library and  decided to give it a shot. It's premise is what attracted me. It is a Reincarnation Isekai, but it has an intriguing twist to it.

 The protagonist does not reincarnate as a human, or any sort of humanoid. She reincarnates as a spider; a small spider monster that would likely fit into a human's palm with room to spare. This is the story of her struggle to survive in the dungeon that is her birthplace, a natural underground cavern inhabited by many other creatures. Many of them are bigger than her, and all of them so far are carnivorous. 

It is a story that is both funny and serious. Surviving in this dungeon is no joke. The first scene is Komoko's frantic escape from her "siblings", who are killing and eating each other, as well as her "mother", who is also killing and eating her siblings. She almost starves to death because she doesn't know how to hunt as a spider. The moment she resolves to do whatever it takes to survive in her new life is a powerful moment. There is a great deal of emotional build up here. 

The reader is regularly reminded how precarious her situation can be.  Komoko learns quickly that her spider thread is her greatest asset, and so she works best as an ambush hunter. When she attacks head-on or is surprised, she is at a severe disadvantage and has to flee or innovate quickly. What happens to her first major nest is particularly devastating to her because of the unexpected threat. It was devastating to me as well. That was a REALLY powerful moment, vividly expressing the raw emotion of this tragedy. Then the story follows through on this moment, developing the story further. 

I also said it was funny, and it is. Komoko has a fun personality, lively and cute. Kudos for the author for devising her personality and melding it to her situation, and kudos for the artist for expressing this in the manga adaptation. The pose Komko strikes when she tries to use her "heretical magic" or her attempt to gain a dancer title are both funny. Then there are running gags about how Komoko's prey and how gross they taste, and the one about her Appraisal skill. 

This volume ends with a cliffhanger, and I normally don't like that, but in this case I'm willing to give it a pass. This whole volume has been slice of life so there is always more trouble. Indeed, several of the chapters here end in "cliffhangers" so the volume itself was likely to as well. Nothing is left "unresolved".  Not really, since this is about Komoko's daily struggle for survival. 

I like the art. Komoko's spider form is cute and expressive. The other monsters look good as well but more fearsome. The human adventurers look just as threatening as they should to a small spider monster. The dungeon cavern itself is set up and established effectively. One gets a sense of how Komoko can use the cave to her advantage as an ambush hunter, and also a sense of the size of the cavern. This is a large dungeon, filled with things that would happily eat our protagonist if given the chance. 

Trickster Eric Novels gives So I'm a Spider So What? manga volume 1 an A+

Click here for my previous book review:  Enola Holmes and the case of the Missing Marquis

Click here for my next  book review: So I'm a Spider , so what? volume 2 (read for fun)

Brian Wilkerson is a independent novelist, freelance book reviewer, and writing advice blogger. He studied at the University of Minnesota and came away with bachelor degrees in English Literature and History (Classical Mediterranean Period concentration).

His fantasy series, Journey to Chaos, is currently available on Amazon as an ebook or paperback.

Sunday, December 6, 2020

Big News! Milestone Reached on the Journey to Chaos (The Highest Power)

 Just last night, I completed the most recent draft for Journey to Chaos book 5 - The Highest Power. This is the second rewrite of the fourth draft. So I am closer to publishing it now, but the journey is still far from over. 

Why do I call this the "second rewrite" of the fourth draft? Wouldn't that be the sixth draft? Normally, that would be the case. The fourth draft is the one that I started after got feedback from beta readers. So I read it, and considered it and incorporated it into revisions. Then I got about 2/3 of the way through the book and the draft collapsed in on itself. 

What I had been writing wasn't working. The plot wasn't working. The events themselves were fine but they were not interlinking with each other. I reached this point and it was like I had stumbled upon the edge of a cliff. There was nothing beyond this point. Fatal Error -  you must restart. So you see, this was the first rewrite of the fourth draft because it was not a valid draft. It was not valid because I couldn't reach the end of it. 

So I started over from the beginning, trying to address the cause of the fatal error. I did a little better, made things more cohesive. However, the problems continued. Instead of a large scale problem, this was a small scale problem. A problem of word craft that affected paragraphs and pages instead of chapters. I figured out the solution after muddling through about six chapters. So I applied that solution to the remaining chapters necessary to reach the ending. 

What I need to do now is take a break from Journey to Chaos book 5 - The Highest Power. I need some distance to get perspective on this new draft. Then I will bring the 6 or so chapters that I mentioned in line with the rest of the story. That will bring the second rewrite of the fourth draft to true completion. Then I will start the fifth draft. 

In the meantime, I will revise an anthology of short stories. These short stories focus on major characters from the Journey to Chaos series. It explores what their lives were like shortly before Eric entered them. There are five stories in total; Annala, Kallen, Basilard, Nolien and Tiza are the focus characters for these stories. I will most likely publish this before The Highest Power because it is so much shorter, and so the turn-around time for drafts and editing etc. is also shorter. 

So The Highest Power will not be published this year. I don't really know when it will be published. I'm hoping it will be published next year. I will keep you posted. 

UPDATE! That thing about "keeping you posted"? You can find it here --> News from my Journey to Chaos! (June 2021)

Brian Wilkerson is a independent novelist, freelance book reviewer, and writing advice blogger. He studied at the University of Minnesota and came away with bachelor degrees in English Literature and History (Classical Mediterranean Period concentration).

His fantasy series, Journey to Chaos, is currently available on Amazon as an ebook or paperback.



Wednesday, November 18, 2020

Enola Holmes and the case of the Missing Marquis (read for fun)

Mark another notch for the local library because this book is another win.  I should mention that this is the comic/graphic novel adaptation of the original novel. 

This book stars Enola Holmes, the younger-by-twelve-years sister of Sherlock Holmes. It features her attempt to live her life on her terms, independently and without going to charm school. To be frank, the book sounded like it was going to be cringe-y. I was expecting Sherlock Holmes being used to showcase how fantastic this newer original character is by having her outsmart him.  You know, the Cousin Oliver trope. The only reason I was interested is because I had read another story with a similar premise ("Young Miss Holmes") and liked it a great deal, so I gave this one a chance. I'm glad that I did. 

Sherlock and Mycroft have a small role in this story. They are basically here as scaffolding for the plot, i.e. setting in events in motion so that the first act is a proper Call to Adventure for Enola. Then the story fully focuses on Enola herself. As far as I know, the first case she solves is an original one, so there is no direct comparison to Sherlock himself.

Indeed, while she is shown to be clever herself, Enola is aware that she cannot outsmart her  older brothers, and so she considers it a win if she can merely stay off their radar. She is also shown to be clever in a different manner. Sherlock is known to be a logical thinker. He is famous for deductive reasoning. Enola solves the case of the missing marquis by emphasizing with the marquis in question through memories and experiences of her own, and she communicates with her mother through the subjective and metaphoric language of flowers. 

Furthermore, the story does not shy away from showing the risks that Enola takes by running away to live on her own. The missing marquis is her foil in this regard. What happens to him is what could happen to her if was less prepared, less cautious or processed of a weaker mind. Even by avoiding all these things, Enola would still be dead in the water if her mother hadn't set things up for her. 

I like the art. It looks kinda water-color-y cartoonish. Not cartoon-ish as in comical or silly, but that it reminds me of the style of something animated.  It is certainly beautiful. 

The only reason I didn't give this book an A+ is because of the Sherlock connection. I just can't get my head around a Sherlock Holmes that spends so much time searching for his own sister. If he were presented as being particularly close to her, that might be different. Or if he considered her disappearance to be puzzling enough case to arouse his interest, that might also be different. Or if it were Watson who was interacting with Enola in the first act, that too would work.  If Enola's older brother were not Sherlock himself, but an original character otherwise exactly like him, that would be fine. What I see here in the graphic novel is a Sherlock Holmes who regards the whole affair as a chore, which is too out-of-character for me (disclaimer: I've only read A Study in Scarlet.)

Trickster Eric Novels gives "Enola Holmes and the case of the Missing Marquis" a B+

Click here for my next book review:  So I'm a Spider So What? manga volume 1

Click here for my previous book review: Avatar the Last Air Bender - Team Avatar Tales

Brian Wilkerson is a independent novelist, freelance book reviewer, and writing advice blogger. He studied at the University of Minnesota and came away with bachelor degrees in English Literature and History (Classical Mediterranean Period concentration).

His fantasy series, Journey to Chaos, is currently available on Amazon as an ebook or paperback.

Sunday, November 15, 2020

Avatar the Last Air Bender - Team Avatar Tales (read for fun)

 Avatar the Last Air Bender - Avatar Tales. 

This is a collection of short story comics, penned by the original creators of Avatar the Last Air Bender and a variety of artists. There does not appear to be any theme or connection to these short-stories, although most of them take place between seasons 1 and 2 of the show. So you get a little "how are the characters doing after the finale" sort of thing, which is nice. 

One of them shows Mai working in a flower shop owned by her aunt, and she has some family trouble. This story says a lot about the various sides of her outside of "gloomy Azula minion", without her saying much at all. Another focuses on Ty-Lee, and how she's doing with the Kyoshi Warriors. I like this one the best of the lot, because it answers a question that puzzled a lot of people when the season 1 finale aired: why is Ty-Lee with the Kyoshi Warriors? I say this is a perfect answer. It is also funny, and provides some good lessons too. 

A lot of these are about lessons. It was surprisingly, frankly, how many of them were built around a PSA style lesson. There's one about how the necessity of hope and how "paper-bending" (a.k.a. Origami) can be just as useful, albeit in a different way, as the superpower known as water-bending. There's one about building self-confidence, particularly through martial art practice, which I am totally onboard with, being a martial artist myself. This second story also has a secondary lesson -  don't be a jerk gatekeeper about your hobby, but let other people join. 

The art varies from story to story, because each story has a different. Some are more cartoonishly silly, like the story featuring The Boulder. Some are more serious, like the one with the Origami. All of them look good. 

Tricktser Eric Novels gives "Avatar the Last Air Bender - Team Avatar Tales. " an A+

Click here for my next book review:  Enola Holmes and the case of the Missing Marquis (read for fun)

Click here for my previous book review: I've been killing slimes for three hundred years and maxed out my level

Brian Wilkerson is a independent novelist, freelance book reviewer, and writing advice blogger. He studied at the University of Minnesota and came away with bachelor degrees in English Literature and History (Classical Mediterranean Period concentration).

His fantasy series, Journey to Chaos, is currently available on Amazon as an ebook or paperback.

Monday, November 2, 2020

I've been killing slimes for three hundred years and maxed out my level - volume 1 (read for fun)

Add another notch for a great find at my local library. 

After working herself to death in a prior life, Azusa wants a laid-back and lazy life in her next one. Another story would dangle this goal like a carrot in front of her to make for a dramatic and tension fueled story. This one does exactly the opposite, which is fun and relaxing comedy. Indeed, this is a great example of a slice-of-life story. 

This is for the manga version by the way, not the original light novel. 

This story explores new ground in the Reincarnated-Isekai genre (from my experience at least). There is no grand adventure awaiting Azusa when she reincarnates, as is the case in many Isekai stories.  But neither does the story go into a deconstruction by showing her have similar real-life problems in her second life as she did in her first, and it doesn't go into a  dark-and-edgy angle either. Azusa literally spends 300 years killing slimes, gardening, and making medicine for a local village. She might have continued doing that forever if she didn't discover, on a whim, that she had become an almighty witch simply from killing slimes. 

See, this world works on RPG Mechanics. Killing monsters grants experience points, which increase one's level, which improves stats such as magical power. Azusa requests "immortality" as a reincarnation bonus, so she reaches the level cap simply by killing the weakest of all monsters every day for three centuries. This makes her a celebrity, and people seek her out once word of her maxed level gets out, from those  seeking to test their strength against the best to those who want to learn from the best. 

So the entire conflict of the story is Azusa trying to preserve the laid-back and lazy life of obscurity she enjoyed for three hundred years (by the way, Living Forever is Awesome). 

One such manifestation of this conflict is the group of adventurers that seek her out to challenge her, dojo-style. First, she tries to dissuade them by making up a sad story about how she got drunk on her own power in the past and killed people and so she has sworn off fighting, when the truth is she hasn't fought or killed anything other than slimes. It sounds like a parody of a sincerely tragic atoner story, and the adventurers totally buy it. 

At the same time, this story is not quite a Status-Que-Is-God sort of story. It definitely has a progression to it, and Azusa's life has definitely changed by the end of the volume, because killing slimes for three hundred years has not been entirely consequence free. 

Trickster Eric Novels gives "I've been killing slimes for three hundred years and maxed out my level" manga volume 1 an A+

To read my review for the light novel version (volume 1) click here.

Click here for my next book review: Avatar Tales

Click here for my previous book review: Aria volume 1 the masterpiece edition

Brian Wilkerson is a independent novelist, freelance book reviewer, and writing advice blogger. He studied at the University of Minnesota and came away with bachelor degrees in English Literature and History (Classical Mediterranean Period concentration).

His fantasy series, Journey to Chaos, is currently available on Amazon as an ebook or paperback.

Thursday, October 15, 2020

Aria volume 1 the masterpiece edition (read for fun)


This is another book I found at my local library, and another book that I liked so much that I purchased my own copy. 

This the story of Akari, a girl who travels from Earth to a terra-formed Mars to become an "undine", a tour guide who rows a gondola. The story takes place in Neo-Venezia, a canal city just like Venice on Earth. Going forwards, I'll be using the terms that the book uses for the planets, "Manhome" for Earth and "Aqua" for "Mars". 

This is a charming slice-of-life story. Its chapters show particular days of Akari's life as she trains to become a full-fledged Undine. She lives and works with her mentor, Alicia, in the Aria company office. The two of them have a darling relationship,  the mature and graceful elder guiding the innocent and earnest junior. Watching them interact brings a small smile to my face. 

The third major character is Akari's counterpart from a sister undine company, Aika. I thought that she was going to be Akari's rival, or maybe some antagonist that causes trouble for her and Aria company, but I was wrong. They quickly become friends and then have a cute relationship as fellow undine apprentices (although it does start off because Aika hero-worships/is infatuated with Akari's mentor). As apprentices around the same age, they have a different relationship than Akari has with her mentor, more like equals who can relate on the same level. 

Some of the chapters focus on Akari's training, such as the lessons she has with Alicia or independent practice with Aika. These chapters go into the typical life of an undine apprentice. Others focus on life on Aqua in general, such as "Aqua Alta", a seasonal flooding where the water level increases and the city shuts down until it decreases. As I read these chapters, I got a sense of a theme, Romanticism vs Enlightenment. 

On Manhome, life has become very neat, tidy and convenient. Many jobs can be done from home, and shopping is more often done from home than not. Akari mentions a "beautification" process going on in cities, which I assume means artificially making them more appealing to the eye. Then she mentions that "something is missing" from such a neat and tidy life.  

Life on Manhome  is contrasted with life on Aqua, which is more....rustic, so to speak. 

To go anywhere in Neo-Venezia requires rowing a gondola, which a postman calls inconvenient but also "strangely relaxing". Rowing to higher elevations requires elevators created by changing water levels instead of something mechanical. It takes longer but also provides time to rest from rowing. Things like this create a slower pace of life than Manhome but the mode of life is simultaneously more active. 

Furthermore, there is a difference in technology between the two planets. 

While both Manhome and Aqua use levitating stations in the lower atmosphere to control the weather of their planet, the stations on Mahome are automated, run by computers that maintain a perpetually pleasant climate. The stations on Aqua are manual, run by humans known as "salamanders", and so the weather has more variation to it than Mahome. Akari meets one of these salamanders, who sheepishly apologizes for the late summer months being so hot and humid, and asks her to consider it part of Aqua's charm. Indeed, I think that is the point. 

Aqua's situation is more natural than Manhome's, despite being terra-formed. Rowing a gondola may be inconvenient, but with a lovely and skilled undine at the helm, it can be more than just transportation. Events like the Aqua Alta can be inconvenient, but it creates variation in daily life that can lead to unexpected and memorable events. Even the hot summers give rise to cultural events, like the Night Light Bell Fair. 

The art is beautiful. From the simple scenes of domestic life in Aria company, to the double-page spreads of Neo-Venezia, you will want to linger on the pages to take it all in. The pace of the story and arrangement of the panels creates anticipation for these special views. 


All this together makes for a calm and soothing read. It is a perfect book to read in bed. At the same time, the nostalgia it invokes can be a little painful, as Akari herself experiences in one chapter. 

Trickster Eric Novels gives "Aria volume 1  masterpiece edition" an A+


Click here for my next book review: I've been killing slimes for three hundred years and maxed out my level - volume 1

Click here for my previous book review: Rising of the Shield Hero - manga volume 2

Brian Wilkerson is a independent novelist, freelance book reviewer, and writing advice blogger. He studied at the University of Minnesota and came away with bachelor degrees in English Literature and History (Classical Mediterranean Period concentration).

His fantasy series, Journey to Chaos, is currently available on Amazon as an ebook or paperback.

Sunday, September 27, 2020

Rising of the Shield Hero - manga volume 2 (read for fun)

Rising of the Shield Hero - manga volume 2

By the time I read this, I had read the first volume of the light novels and watched part of the first anime season. For comparison, this manga volume covers about the second half of the first light novel and a couple episodes of the anime. This is Naofumi visiting the Dragon Hourglass for the first time, the Second Wave, and then his duel with Motoyatsu. Then, of course, the aftermath of said duel and Raphtalia's backstory. I don't really have much to say about this volume. 

It does an alright job of conveying the story. A reader will know enough of what happens to follow along when another real-life fan talks about it or when these events are referenced later in the story. However, its medium prevents it from conveying as much information as the light novel. Without knowledge outside the manga, a reader might not understand some things. The anime outshines it in visual appeal, providing more of a spectacle and adding emotion through voice acting. The manga just doesn't provide anything that the light novel or anime don't do better. 

This is not to say this volume is bad on its own merit. That is definitely not the case. The art looks good. The arrangement of cells moves the story along at a good clip, faster during action scenes and slower during more tender ones. The way that the aftermath of the Shield vs Spear duel is handled is particularly effective. Specifically, the way the manga presents Naofumi's realization of Raphtalia's true age and appearance captures the emotions he must be feeling at that point very well. 

I just recommend one of the other two mediums. 

Trickster Eric Novels gives "Rising of the Shield Hero - manga volume 2" a passing grade. 

Click here for my next book review:  Aria volume 1 masterpiece edition

Click here for my previous book review: The Royal Tutor volume

Brian Wilkerson is a independent novelist, freelance book reviewer, and writing advice blogger. He studied at the University of Minnesota and came away with bachelor degrees in English Literature and History (Classical Mediterranean Period concentration).

His fantasy series, Journey to Chaos, is currently available on Amazon as an ebook or paperback.

Sunday, September 20, 2020

The Royal Tutor volume 1 (Read for fun)

 The Royal Tutor volume 1

This is a manga I picked up at my local library. Check out your own. They likely have great stuff.  This story is a comedy about a tiny man, Professor Heine, teaching four difficult princes. This first volume is mainly set up. 

The professor arrives and meets the princes all at once, discovers that none of them want to be tutored by him, and then sets up interviews to get to know them better. That is the framework of this volume. It's a great framework because it plays to the strengths of this story. 

The characters are vivid and detailed, practically life-like. Even before the interviews that focus on each prince, they are distinct individuals. Trust me, it's difficult to set up five characters at the same time, while also introducing the setting and conflict of the story. Naturally, this distinction increases over the course the story. 

The traits initially introduced are developed further and further traits are added, complimenting and contrasting the original ones. As a result of Heine's interview with the prince, some conceptions are even turned around, revealing hidden depths. Of all the princes, it is hard to say which makes the most dramatic turn. My vote goes to Prince Bruno. 

It is a satisfying story that resolves its initial conflict.  

Though I wonder how much tutoring is going to happen in future volumes, the story addresses this as well. Heine states that his purpose as a tutor is not only to teach the princes academic subjects, but other subjects as well. It would appear he is intended to be something of a life coach, because the king considers all four of princes unfit to rule for reasons of their personalities. 

The artwork certainly looks good. In fact, I'd call it beautiful. It has this regal feel to it, fitting with its setting and premise, but it is occasionally softer and sillier for more comedic moments. 

And that is where my only complaint comes in. 

The story has a "Heine is tiny" running gag that I generally find to be lame. Some of them can be funny, such as when guards mistake him as the royal tutor's son, or palace ladies gush on how cute he is and he reacts favorably to the attention while remaining stoic. However, others are not funny.

 In fact, they exaggerate his tininess to the point where he seems to actually get even smaller than he already is, rather than just drawn smaller for comedic effect. The most egregious of these is when he rolls off his bed and gets stuck in the tiny space between his bed and the wall. He seriously can't move until a maid checks on him in the morning. That pushes the gag too far. 

Trickster Eric Novels gives The Royal Tutor volume 1 a B+

Click here for my next book review: Rising of the Shield Hero - manga volume 2

Click here for my previous book review: Sleepy Princess in Demon Castle

Brian Wilkerson is a independent novelist, freelance book reviewer, and writing advice blogger. He studied at the University of Minnesota and came away with bachelor degrees in English Literature and History (Classical Mediterranean Period concentration).

His fantasy series, Journey to Chaos, is currently available on Amazon as an ebook or paperback.

Sunday, September 13, 2020

Sleepy Princess in Demon Castle volume 1 (read for fun)

 Sleepy Princess in Demon Castle volume 1

This story comes recommended by Tvtropes, which called it a funny fantasy parody. I agree. This story has a familiar set-up, the princess of the Human Country has been kidnapped by the Demon King and held captive in his castle, so a human hero sets off to rescue her. However, this story is not about the hero's journey but the princess's attempt to get a good night's sleep. 

As a captive, Princess Syalis doesn't have much to do other than sleep and, as it turns out, her cell in Demon Castle serves as a poor bedroom. So she sets out to improve it by gathering materials for sleeping aids around the castle. This is the source of the manga's humor.

Every chapter has the same set-up: Princess Syalis has a sleeping problem, so she devises a solution and then works towards that solution. It is amazing how many different scenarios Kagiji Kumanomata can devise out of this framework, and how many different kinds of comedy can result. Some of it is fantasy parody (seeking a magic shield to use as an air mattress), some of it is comedic sociopathy (ghost shrouds make for great fabric) and some of it is based on sustained misunderstandings or dramatic irony.  As a result, I never found this set-up to be boring. 

Indeed, I looked forward to each chapter to see the new scenario because I was at a loss for what would come next after the pillow and bed sheet quests were complete. It is a slice-of-life series, so don't expect too much change from chapter to chapter, yet there are still signs of continuity. The reader is occasionally shown all previous sleep aids that the princess has collected so far, and the demons become progressively less alarmed when they see her out of her cell. One of them even escorts her to another area of the castle, because she asked nicely, as if she were the princess of "this" castle instead of is captive. 

The artwork is cute. The princess, of course, is adorable, but so are the teddy demons and some of the others, like the Poison Apple Men. The Demon Castle itself looks good, as well. It is definitely NOT cute, and this serves the purpose of the series's humor in a Comically-Serious sort of way, given the parody tone and the events that take place in it. 

I am definitely interested in volume 2

Trickster Eric Novels gives "Sleepy Princess in Demon Castle volume 1" an A+

Click here for my next book review: The Royal Tutor volume 1

Click here for my previous book review: Ah! My Goddess - omnibus #1

Brian Wilkerson is a independent novelist, freelance book reviewer, and writing advice blogger. He studied at the University of Minnesota and came away with bachelor degrees in English Literature and History (Classical Mediterranean Period concentration).

His fantasy series, Journey to Chaos, is currently available on Amazon as an ebook or paperback.

Wednesday, September 9, 2020

Ah! My Goddess - omnibus #1

 One of the upsides of the COVID-19 pandemic is that it led to me using the local library network's online catalog instead of browsing the selection available at the closest library building to me. This is because of a change in how books were being checked out at the time  (there is a new but similar process in place as of this writing, I think). You select a book and put a hold on it, and then the librarian puts your selection into a bag for you to pick up. This helps with social distancing. 

This means that the catalog for the entire library network opens up to me. I didn't know how to do this at the start of the year, so I might not have found this particular book. It is the first omnibus for the classic romantic comedy, Ah! My Goddess. It is chapter 1 through chapter 23. Up until now, I have only seen the OVA, so I was excited to see its roots. 

It was very interesting to see how the story began. Belldandy's design, for instance, is a lot different than what it would be when the anime started. Characters in-universe mistake her as being a traveler from India. Also, since Belldandy herself is initially the only supernatural character to be regularly present for many chapters, the story as a whole is more a low fantasy/urban fantasy than it would be in later arcs, when more goddesses and demons show up. This includes what I think is a narrow restriction on the number of times Belldandy can use her powers in one day. If she could use them freely, then she would solve every problem effortlessly, because no one else has any kind of power. 

Certain events in the early chapters are a different kind of interesting in light of the infamous plot twist that takes place late in the series; it is clearly a retcon BUT one can see where the origins of such an idea can be seen. Is it a coincidence or foreshadowing decades in the making? 

The chapters definitely get better over time. 

The introduction of different sorts of antagonists allows for different types of conflict, while providing opportunities for hilarity to ensue as this conflict happens to Keichi. Sayoko Mishima tries to steal Keichi, Toshiyuki Aoshima tries to steal Belldandy, and Urd is actually trying to be helpful to Keichi and Belldandy but causes trouble because she is "The Exchanger of Means and Ends". In other words, she has a good intention but gets carried anyway in how she fulfills that intention. Occasionally, there is a motor vehicle race, and those are also fun. 

So the comedy follows the duo's responses to these conflicts, and Keichi is usually the butt of the jokes. Indeed, it is as if the Yggdrasil system is balancing the tremendous good fortune of having a girlfriend like Belldandy with lots of comedic misfortunes. My favorite is when he takes a part-time job as a monster for a Tokusatsu superhero show, only to discover when the rest of the cast has left that he can't work the zipper on his costume, so he decides to wander the street and beg a stranger for help. That scenario had me in stitches for several minutes. 

On another note, regarding the story's romance aspect, I thought it was odd that the earliest phase of Belldandy and Keichi's relationship is glossed over. The first three chapters are their first full day together, and then the next two chapters cover (I think) several months. So by chapter 6 or so, they are definitively a couple, and acting like it. I think I like it better that way. 

Rare is it that I find a manga that quickly establishes its official couple as official so quickly. Most go for the Will-They-Or-Won't-They route, so a reader is lucky to see as much as an attempted confession by the end of the series. This one shows an actual relationship, such as the two of them going on dates, working together on projects, and Keichi looking for a meaningful way to mark their one year anniversary together. So while I didn't see why they fell in love, I get to see chapter after chapter of them actually being in love, which few series are willing to do. 

Trickster Eric Novels gives Ah! My Goddess -  omnibus #1 an A+

Click here for my previous book review: Sleepy Princess in Demon Castle (read for fun)

Click here for my previous book review: Dungeon and Dragons 5th Edition Dungeon Master's Guide

Brian Wilkerson is a independent novelist, freelance book reviewer, and writing advice blogger. He studied at the University of Minnesota and came away with bachelor degrees in English Literature and History (Classical Mediterranean Period concentration).

His fantasy series, Journey to Chaos, is currently available on Amazon as an ebook or paperback.

Monday, September 7, 2020

Critical Role inspired multi class character- Rogue-Ranger Assassin.

I've been thinking about a Ranger/Rogue multi class for Dungeons and Dragons fifth edition lately. It started with the Critical Role episode, Heredity and Hats, where Vax and Vex's half-sister Velora is introduced to the audience. She's adorable. Unlike her father, she thinks her elder siblings are the coolest people ever, and wears an owlbear feather that Vex gave her.

One of the Youtube comments for the episode talked about the idea of playing Grown-Up Velora in their home game. She would be both a rogue and a ranger to take after both siblings, and she would have an owlbear as a beast companion. I don't know how the latter option would work out, because the lore states that owlbear are thoroughly aggressive and ill-tempered, and their Challenge Rating is much higher than a bear like Trinket. However, the multi-class intrigued me because of its potential synergy.

Both rangers and rogues are a light-weapons-and-armor class, so using Dexterity as the chief weapon stat would work for both finesse and ranged weapons (daggers and longbow, of course).  Both classes benefit most from studded leather armor in regards to mundane armor, so that fits with the build. DEX is also the stat governing Stealth, which  suits both a ranger stalking prey in the wild and a rogue stalking a humanoid mark in a crowd.

Rangers use Wisdom as their spellcasting stat, and this stat is also useful for rogues. For what rogue would not appreciate the boost to their Insight checks when running a con, or to their Perception when they are sneaking about an active fortress or a dungeon inhabited by monstrous humanoids? So a player can boost DEX and WIS without worrying about their character becoming Multiple Ability Dependent.

As I explored further, I discovered more synergy. It was really quite fun to find all the little mechanical details to support the idea of roleplaying as the younger half-sister of famous adventurers. Roleplaying a particular character idea is fun, but it can become frustrating if the character's build is not viable mechanically (like the Hill-dwarf guild-artisan CHA focused paladin I'm currently playing).

Rangers can cast Pass Without A Trace to boost their roguish stealth ability, which they can choose to have expertise in. Thus, they can be like Vax and appear to disappear. Furthermore, as a ranger they can cast Hunter's Mark and therefore boost the potential harm of their Sneak Attack. Said player would just have to remember to cast it  (^_^) and add the damage of the former to each attack and the damage of the latter to only their first. 

This is still the early levels.

At level 5, a ranger gets Extra Attack, which a rogue does not. This means our hypothetical Grown-Up! Velora would be able to "Dagger! Dagger! Dagger!" even without Boots of Haste active.

Beyond that, the synergy would depend on what kind of Ranger/Rogue hybrid our hypothetical Velora would want to be. There are many possibilities in archetypes between the classes, depending on what sort of adventures she expected to get into story-wise, or how her player wanted her to develop mechanically. 

If this hypothetical Velora wanted to be an assassin like her big brother, then choosing "humanoid" as her ranger Favored Enemy would add to the damage boost she would gain from the Assassinate ability (Ranger -  Revised version). With all her other benefits, she would be able to reliably drop most standard humanoid NPCs without being seen or giving away her presence. 

Going for the Hunter conclave as a ranger would give her an even bigger boost to damage output, and thereby enable her to quickly finish off assassination targets if they happen to survive the initial death strike. At the same time, it could enable her to stay in the fight longer with its defensive features, and add to those of the Rogue (Escape the Horde, Uncanny Dodge, Evasion). I like to visual all this as her being too nimble to be hit and taunting the enemy with, "Too slow!"

However, if our hypothetical Velora wanted to emulate her big sister instead, then she could take the Scout archetype as a rogue, and gain more features for fighting, tracking and navigating. Together with Favored Enemy and Natural Explorer, nothing would be able to escape her and she is unlucky to ever get lost. She could still be sneaky by investing in the Gloom Stalker ranger conclave, learning its features to hide and kill from the shadows.

Perhaps this version of Velora got involved with a drow conflict. Now doesn't that sound interesting! The only child of an eleven nobleman and ambassador, hunting dark elves through pretty words at formal events and sneak attacks in some dark and empty tunnel.

 "House Vessar sends its regards. Rest in peace."

Now I want to write a fanfiction about that scenario. Maybe someone else already has. I'll have to check.

Anyway, that is just one scenario that I envisioned with this idea for a character build. I seriously might use in a future campaign because it sounds fun. I doubt I'll pretend to be Velora herself, partially because I don't think I could roleplay someone as cute as her and partially because I like the idea of her figuring out how to tame owlbears and then cuddling them rather than assassinating drow. It depends on what happens to her as she grows older. 

Oh! She would outlive her siblings, wouldn't she? Being fully elven and all, but that is neither here nor there for the mechanics of the build. 

If use a different character for character personality, should I keep the noble background? To keep with the idea of the build, I would have to choose one that boosts both ranger and rogue. I'll look into that too. 

Brian Wilkerson is a independent novelist, freelance book reviewer, and writing advice blogger. He studied at the University of Minnesota and came away with bachelor degrees in English Literature and History (Classical Mediterranean Period concentration).

His fantasy series, Journey to Chaos, is currently available on Amazon as an ebook or paperback.

Sunday, August 30, 2020

The Value of Lorebooks

The Value of Lorebooks

I've been reading Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes recently, and something has struck me about the first chapter, the one for the Blood War. It is how the paragraphs that list and describe each ruling archdevil and the layer of The Nine Hells that they rule function as both a travel narrative and bestiary, and at the same time they are seeds for adventures; a tool to inspire dungeon masters.

It is a treasure trove of inspiration. I've read only part of the first chapter and I've already started thinking of several ideas that I would like to use in a campaign. I went over and re-read that part so that I could delve deeper into the lore and its layout and how it can be used. Just one piece of lore can spark an idea that can span a whole campaign, and this book has a wagon full of chests bursting with lore.

For those that haven't read the book or are otherwise unfamiliar with D&D Lore, the Blood War is an ages-long feud between devils and demons. The demons boil up from their home plane, the Abyss, and assault the first layer of The Nine Hells, Avernus. The devils push them back out but are unable and/or unwilling to push further into the Abyss. So the infernal creatures are perpetually at war with each other.

The chapter deals with both the devil-ish and demonic side of the Blood War. The section I just finished reading was for the Lords of the Nine, the nine archdevils who rule the layers of The Nine Hells. It talks about the lord, their personality and traits and the kinds of deals they make with mortals. It talks about the layer that the lord rules, its environment and history and its purpose within The Nine Hells as a whole. This is where one gets to the high grade campaign fuel.

Each section lists possibilities for adventures by mingling them with the lore. The first layer, for instance, has multiple tie-ins for adventurers seeking any number of things.

First of all, Avernus is the front line for the Blood War, and that alone has many opportunities. If you want a mass combat, you can find an endless horde of demons or devils. If you're looking for infernal weapons or armor, scavenge after a battle. Nothing wrong with looting the bodies of dead devils, right? Perhaps the adventurers have been recruited as scouts, impartial messengers or mediators, or maybe even assassins by some devil of interest.

Even if the Dungeon Master plans to avoid the Blood War directly, there are still innumerable forts that have been built to hold back demonic hordes. These forts may have been abandoned as the Blood War shifts to a different front, or perhaps they have been destroyed in battle. In their time, they may have stored treasure of many kinds, from magic items to demonic lore to forgotten trinkets that still hold value to some quest giver.

The second layer of the Abyss, Dis, is an active metropolis. Lots of arms-dealing is done here, and so is a lot of mining. This is where the supplies that support the Blood War are created. Adventurers could come here seeking weapons or armor, they might be searching for an item to be used for some other adventure, or just looking for work in one of the busiest places in the planes.

They might get involved in some intrigue involving the de-facto ruler of the plane, Tivisius, who is the true ruler's second in command. They might be contracted by the true ruler, Dispater, to seek out some nugget of lore, which could lead them anywhere in the planes, or to a lower layer of The Nine Hells.

This is not an exhaustive list for these two layers, not by any means, and it is only the first two layers. There are seven more with just as many potential adventure seeds waiting to be developed by Dungeon Masters and played out by the adventuring party. I can go further.

The third layer, Minarous, is ruled by Mammonon. Mammonon is listed as potentially the richest entity in all of the planes, due to his obsession with seeking out opportunities for enrichment and his eye for efficiency. So if you found some supposedly priceless artifact that no one in the Material Plane can pay full price for, then Mammonon can, and he might throw in something more valuable than gold to seal the deal. Of course, you have to reach him first or contact him somehow, and that can be its own adventure, because everything involving Mammonon has a price. 

That is the other thing, Mammonon is said to be one of the safest demons to make an infernal pact with because he might not ask for your soul. If you have "the wealth of a dozen kingdoms", then you can buy arcane power and influence from him with mundane money. Of course, stealing from him is also an option. 

He is an excuse for the Dungeon Master to go all out and make the most complicated puzzles, the most deadly traps, and the most numerous guards; dungeon obstacles that would be fairly called "unfair" or "unbalanced" if in some ruin created by mortals. But this is Mamonon, for whom no expense is too much to protect his vault, and who has had multiple mortal lifetimes to advance its security.

However, he is also incredibly stingy, so despite the wealth in his vault, the layer itself is shambling and decayed. It is a Wretched Hive if there ever was one. Such a place could be the scene of literally hellish criminal activity, or an opportunity to stir up trouble for Mammonon, and possibly an attempt to unseat him as the lord of the layer.

The fact that the layer is a swamp gives rise to other more implicit opportunities, only hinted at by what is present in the book itself. It may be that the comatose princess the adventurers are trying to cure was soulnapped (kidnapped via soul theft) by a night hag who plans to auction off the poor girl's soul in Mammonon's town. So they could try to track and kill the hag, participate in the auction or bargain with/steal from the entity who purchased the soul.

Wow, this is getting long, and I've only covered, briefly, some of the potential adventurers from three of the nine layers. Which, itself, is only one part of one chapter of one book. So, as you can see, there is a lot of inspiration a dungeon master can draw from a good lorebook. 

They don't even have to use the full "Nine Hells of Baator and Blood War" cosmology if such a thing wouldn't fit in their campaign. The idea for the night hag auctioning off souls could happen in the Material Plane amid some devil cult, or maybe a school of necromancers, or some other entity. Just one aspect of one section of lore can spark an idea that could fill a campaign, one adventure or even just a single session or two. That is the Value of Lorebooks.

For other 5E D&D books containing useful lure, you can turn to the Dungeon Master's Guide

To read my review of the entire book, click here

Brian Wilkerson is a independent novelist, freelance book reviewer, and writing advice blogger. He studied at the University of Minnesota and came away with bachelor degrees in English Literature and History (Classical Mediterranean Period concentration).

His fantasy series, Journey to Chaos, is currently available on Amazon as an ebook or paperback.

Sunday, August 16, 2020

D&D 5E Dungeon Master's Guide (Read for utility - and fun)

 Previously, I wrote a review for the 3.5 edition of the Dungeon Master's Guide for Dungeons and Dragons, and I useful I found it for writing novels. All of that applies to the 5th edition too, but more so. I much prefer this edition as a writing aid. Oh yes, I also find it useful for running a Dungeons and Dragons campaign. 

This book is split into three main sections, each describing the responsibility of the Dungeon Master in the game. They are "Master of Worlds", "Master of Adventures" and "Master of Rules".  The first is for creating the campaign world, the second is for creating the adventure, and the third is a list of rules to help the DM run the scenario, tweak situations to fit the campaign, and a section with advice on homebrewing elements. 

As a Dungeon Master, I find this book extremely helpful. I have several areas of it bookmarked for easier and quicker reference. One of them is the area for building encounters and managing random encounters. This helped break my previous conception of random encounters, which I picked up from video games.

 In video games, there is no point to a random encounter other to beatdown on the monsters for some droppable resource (Experience points, money, some form of loot). Then you move on. Not so in a Dungeons and Dragons session, where some groups play for 2-3 hours a week or even less. That can become tedious (as it sometimes happens in video games as well). This area of the book taught me how to make a random encounter more meaningful. There is a "Sylvan Forest" encounter table in here that I merged with another table in the Monster Manual to create the one for the area that my party is currently adventuring in. These "random" encounters provided the seed necessary to create events that are relevant to the here and now of the session. 

I also bookmarked the area that explains how to create maps for dungeons, settlements and wilderness, as well as adjudicating and describing what your players do in each. Because each area is different, different methods are used for each one. For instance, a dungeon is likely to be traversed room-by-room, as the player-characters check for traps and treasure. The wilderness, by contrast, is more likely to be a more general environment that does not involve the player-characters checking behind each tree or the top of each hill. Unless, of course, they are in a particular section of wilderness that doubles as a dungeon. 
Also, my players have done a lot of foraging recently so it is useful to have a table that enables me to quickly determine if they find something and how much they find. 

A third bookmark, of which I currently have seven in total, is a rule variant for chases. In Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition, all creatures have a set movement speed, which makes chases deterministic and therefore less interesting. This area lists certain rules that can be used to add randomness to this otherwise pre-determined scenario, basically obstacles that both the pursuer and the quarry can run into, which can slow them down. There are also rules for determining when the chase begins, ends, or turns around and makes the hunter the hunted. 

Oh, I wish I had read this book cover-to-cover when I first started DMing. I thought I knew the rules well enough as a player and that I would do fine by imitating what our group's original DM did, but I didn't do fine. Not in the least. I have several embarrassing sessions under my belt, and this book could have prevented several of them. Particularly the Chase section; especially the Chase section. 

On another note, there is gorgeous art in this book. This review is mainly about the usefulness of the book for a Dungeon Master (and therefore also a novelist) but I have to mention the gorgeous art. You can see landscapes of everything from mountains and meadows to the Shadowfell or the Elemental Plane of Fire. You get portraits of an adventuring party consulting/drawing a map or in combat with a dragon. Most of the magic items listed in the treasure also get their own images along with their listing. 

Trickster Eric Novels gives "The Dungeon Master's Guide for D&D 5E" an A+

If you want to read my review for the 3.5 E version, it is here 

Click here for my next book review: Ah! My Goddess - omnibus #1

Click here for my previous book review: Spice and Wolf volume 9

Brian Wilkerson is a independent novelist, freelance book reviewer, and writing advice blogger. He studied at the University of Minnesota and came away with bachelor degrees in English Literature and History (Classical Mediterranean Period concentration).

His fantasy series, Journey to Chaos, is currently available on Amazon as an ebook or paperback.

Monday, August 3, 2020

Spice and Wolf volume 9 Town of Strife part 2 (Read for Fun)

Spice and Wolf volume 9  Town of Strife part 2. The second part of the first two-part adventure in the series.

I must say upfront that I did not enjoy this volume as I did the others. Despite being two volumes long, not as much appeared to happen in comparison to previous volumes. If there were many events and commotion going on I certainly didn't follow them. Lawrence acts as though he is in terrible danger right from the start, and that Kieman is a direct and immediate threat. This is before Lawrence does anything that could upset him. In fact, in the previous volume, he had affirmed his loyalty to Kieman and the Rowen Trade Guild, as though it were a matter of course. That is one of the things that confused me.

I got the feeling that there was a lot more going on between the lines and off the page than what the reader was presented with. Lawrence had a greater understanding of the situation, but did not share this information with the reader even though he shared his thoughts and feelings.  So I didn't understand why he was so nervous the whole time, and why he was so afraid of his guild's sub-leader asking him to be a messenger. Eventually, I got an inkling that Kieman was plotting a coup to usurp the leader of the Rowen Trade Guild, and that he would make life difficult for Lawrence if Lawrence refused to cooperate, but I don't think that this was ever made explicit.

What I saw was all about how intimidated he was by Kieman and Eve being administrative merchants, heads of their own companies, in comparison to the traveling merchant who makes all his deals on the spot and with immediate goals. So I guess keeping the reader in the dark was supposed to help them emphasize with how out-of-his-depth Lawrence feels in this situation. I get that. It worked. However, I didn't understand the danger he or Eve were in, and that really deflated the tension of the story for me.

Another thing that I didn't understand was all the fuss about Eve. I was under the impression that she was a traveling merchant like Lawrence back in her introduction a couple volumes back. I understand that she has a lot of connections, and that the "Bolan Company" is basically just her and these connections, but what's the deal with her in this town, and why is knowing her such a big deal. Kieman acted as though only Lawrence or a local trading company head could serve as intermediaries in his shady deal with her. 

There are other things that I didn't get about this particular story, but that would make this review longer than it already is.

I still enjoyed this book. The out-of-his-depth experience Lawrence feels is well executed, and shows a different side of him than in previous stories, so it is good character development. His banter with Holo was as good as usual, and she seems to have become comfortable enough to express her jealousy more openly. I just didn't understand the economic angle this time.

Trickster Eric Novels gives "Spice and Wolf volume 9  Town of Strife part 2" a C

Click here for my next book review: Dungeon Master's Guide for D&D 5E (Read for Utility, and fun)

Click here for my previous book review (for fun) : The Ultimate Book of Martial Arts

Brian Wilkerson is a independent novelist, freelance book reviewer, and writing advice blogger. He studied at the University of Minnesota and came away with bachelor degrees in English Literature and History (Classical Mediterranean Period concentration). His fantasy series, Journey to Chaos, is currently available on Amazon as an ebook or paperback.

Sunday, July 26, 2020

The Ultimate Book of Martial Arts (read for fun)

I think this book was a gift from years back, and it is yet another book that has languished for a while on my shelf. This is an overview of many popular martial art traditions,  ten total (13 if counting different styles within the same tradition. It's a good book over all but it has some drawbacks. 

The book is divided into sections for each martial art, or a particular style within each martial art tradition. Each starts with history of the art or style and some philosophy to go with it. Next is basic etiquette and equipment. Third is common warm ups followed by basic techniques and then advanced techniques. 

I found all of these sections educational, helpful, and interesting. Etiquette is often as important for the martial art as the techniques, and receives as much attention. Both have full-color pictures showing each step, and they even include close-ups on some techniques involving grips. The back of the book lists the names, styles and rank of the people in the photographs, and they are all experts, including the author, Fay Goodman herself. So you can be sure that what you see is correct. 

This book provides a greater breadth of general martial art information than anything I've come across. However, it doesn't have depth. 

The book is a good sample platter, so to speak, to get the gist of the martial art in question. This is only to wet your appetite. If you want to learn more about a specific martial art then you'll need to look elsewhere. This means either finding a book dedicated to the specific martial art or finding a teacher or otherwise an expert who can tell you more about it. Indeed, most of the pages on technique include the refrain "Only practice this under the supervision of an expert" or something to that effect. 

Also, some of the sections are shorter than others. The section on Tae Known Do, for instance, is smaller than the ones for Karate and Kung Fu, so the Tae Known Do section has even less depth than some of the others. 

It is overall a good resource. 

Trickster Eric Novels gives ""The Ultimate Book of Martial Arts" a B+

Click here for my next book review (for fun): Spice and Wolf volume 9 Town of Strife part 2

Click here for my previous book review (for fun) : A Witch's Printing Office volume 2

Brian Wilkerson is a independent novelist, freelance book reviewer, and writing advice blogger. He studied at the University of Minnesota and came away with bachelor degrees in English Literature and History (Classical Mediterranean Period concentration). His fantasy series, Journey to Chaos, is currently available on Amazon as an ebook or paperback.

Saturday, June 20, 2020

A Witch's Printing Office volume 2 (read for fun)

I was really excited to see a volume 2 for this series. I had so much fun with volume 1 that I pre-ordered this volume, and I was not disappointed. This volume delivers on the same light-hearted humor and fantasy-parodying, but also delivers on extended world building and a little more continuity. 

Like the previous volume, each chapter stands on its own as a short story, but this time the short stories can link together as one narrative. This is done by having characters from one short story show up in a later one. It is simple to arrange this seamlessly by having the characters gather for Magiket, such as Demon Lord Satziiko.

Magicket's fame as reached the underworld, and Demon Lord Satziiko has signed up for a booth. So not only are there humans and magical creatures selling spell scrolls (and dungeon maps, and primers on medicine for adventurers, and slash fanfiction of the local deities), but demons as well. The phrase "overnight fiends" as become literal, and it is hilarious.  But that is just one story. 

Another story stars Miss Aile, a young noble girl who is frustrated with all-day studying, basically cloistered in her family's mansion. So she runs away from home to see the world and accidentally boards a ship headed to Magiket. 
She is adorable. She looks cute, tries to act grown-up, and gets swept up in the event. She even bonds with Mika over similar parent troubles. She has a fantastic character arc, and a satisfying conclusion to her introductory story. There is also a sequel hook, suggesting that she will appear later. 

The fantasy parodies show up again, this time in the form of dragon hunting and the Sword-in-the-Stone template. Neither are original ideas but they are written and displayed in a way that only this particular setting could achieve, which makes them new. 

The art is still beautiful. Aile, again, is adorable, and the landscapes featured are great to look at, but the dragon is fearsome. 
The arrangement of the panels helps to keep the action moving and provide for twists, or punch-lines as the case may be. There is little true danger here, but tension is still maintained in this way. 

Trickster Eric Novels gives "A Witch's Printing Office volume 2" an A+

Click here for my next book review (for fun): Ultimate Book of Martial Arts

Click here for my previous book review (for fun) Rising of the Shield Hero - volume 1

Brian Wilkerson is a independent novelist, freelance book reviewer, and writing advice blogger. He studied at the University of Minnesota and came away with bachelor degrees in English Literature and History (Classical Mediterranean Period concentration). His fantasy series, Journey to Chaos, is currently available on Amazon as an ebook or paperback.

Friday, June 12, 2020

Rising of the Shield Hero - volume 1 (Read for Fun)

I picked up this book because I really liked the anime, and I had heard that a lot of stuff had to be adapted out in the making out of. Lore, world building, the inner thoughts of the protagonist, etc. had to be left out. So I looked into the light novel, and I enjoyed it. 

As the book opens, the plot is ostensibly about this kingdom summoning four heroes from another world as part of preparing for the Waves of Destruction, this apocalyptic event. Except, that is not really what the plot is about. The plot is really about Naofumi surviving a much more mundane threat between each Wave, the treachery of his fellow humans. 

The book starts out pretty lackluster and generic. Naofumi is this perfectly ordinary otaku college student who is abruptly summoned to another world to be a legendary hero that has to save it from doom. He gets a special item, and a really cute girl joins his party. Then he sets off for a fun adventure! Except not really. 

The plot only truly starts at chapter 7: "A backstapper named land mine". This is the infamous plot twist that you have most likely heard of if you have heard of the series at all.  After this happens, the story gets truly interesting. World building picks up, lore on and mechanics of the Legendary Shield expands, and Naofumi's characterization gets deeper than "nice guy otaku".  This switch is necessary. 

A trope can only be properly subverted if it is first played straight, otherwise it has been averted and its absence is only noted by the reader's mind. So it is necessary to introduce Naofumi and the other three as generic in order to set the contrast, both between the innocent Naofumi and jaded Naofumi, and also between jaded Naofumi and the other three heroes, who appear to be more typical isekai protagonist types. 

What follows is Naofumi's attempt to simply make a living for himself, getting enough money to buy food or hunter/gather food himself. He has to teach himself how to use his Shield, how to navigate the town's economy, and how to fend off people who think he is an easy mark. It is not glamorous or heroic but his personal narration makes it interesting, which is likely why the anime skipped forward to Raphtalia's introduction. It is hard to make "a character thinking" interesting in a visual medium. 

Speaking of the 2019 Crunchyroll Best Girl, Raphtalia's introduction makes the story even better. Now Naofumi has someone to interact with on a regular basis in addition to his private monologues.  Raphtalia is intensely sympathetic, a little girl who has been enslaved, has been mistreated by prior masters and is currently sick and experiencing night terrors. Naofumi buys her to wield a sword in combat, because his Legendary Shield forbids him from using any other weapons. So Naofumi protects her with his shield while training her to use a sword. 

Now this here is an interesting point between the two versions, anime and light novel.
 In the anime, we don't see Naofumi's thoughts, so what we have is essentially Raphtalia's viewpoint. She is purchased by yet another master but, unlike her previous one, this new one treats her very well. He buys her food when she is hungry, protects her from monsters in the field, prioritizes her equipment over his own, makes medicine to cure her illness, comforts her when she has nightmares, and even buys her a ball to play with for when she is done with her daily work.  It is little wonder that she becomes so devoted to him so quickly.  
In the light novel, by contrast, we have Naofumi's viewpoint, and it is a pragmatic one. Everything he is does for Raphtalia is about protecting his investment. She is no good to him dead, after all, and he doesn't have enough silver for a replacement slave. There is still the issue of the toy ball, though, and he admits to becoming fond of her. 

It came as a surprise to me that the Wave of Destruction was not the climax of the story. While it is a high point, what happens afterward is the true climax, and it is more fitting with the book as a whole and provides far greater catharsis. 

Now a note on the battle sequences. There are certain segments during the Wave of Destruction that appear to have been created for the anime to make it more engaging because I did not see them in the book. The book's event is good, don't get me wrong, but I think the author is more interested in "Naofumi the merchant" than "Naofumi the warrior".  The duel at the end of the book is also somewhat disappointing, effectively only showing Round 1 and then skipping to the conclusion. 

Also included in the book are two bonus chapters featuring Raphtalia and Motoyatsu, the Spear Hero. 
Raphtalia's chapter shows what her life was like before meeting Naofumi, which is only hinted at in the main narrative. It makes her even more sympathetic than before, as well as a deeper character. 
Motoyatsu's chapter is like a fun-house mirror. It is presented in his perspective, which sounds like a happy and pleasant thing on the surface, but scarcely conceals what is really going on. He is basically using his status as a Legendary Hero for ego-stroking, and ignores anything that does not fit his rosy image. One scene in particular can hit really hard in the feels when the pieces come together. 

Finally, a note on the wordcraft of the story.
 This story is written from Naofumi's perspective, so anything that he doesn't notice or doesn't feel important enough to describe or explain is not described or explained. If he doesn't realize a condition is in effect immediately, he will say something retroactively. This second part might be a remnant of the story originating as a web novel. 

Next, the dialogue does not always explicitly indicate who is talking. This may be confusing if you are not expecting it. It is a little confusing at times, but I do not see it as a problem. Why? Because whenever it happens, one can infer who said it based on what is said. 
The king speaks differently from the slave owner, and Naofumi speaks differently from the vendors he talks to . So one can tell who is speaking based on context. I think this is a side-effect of translation from Japanese to English, but I do not know for certain. Also, since the other three Legendary Heroes tend to appear as a group, they are effectively a cast herd, so it doesn't matter which of them said which thing, because it is appropriate for any of them to say it. Even so, one can spot differences and infer as time goes on. 

Trickster Eric Novels gives Rising of the Shield Hero volume 1 a B+

Click here for my next book review (for fun): A Witch's Printing Office volume 2

Click here for my previous book review (a request): Heart of the Curiosity


Brian Wilkerson is a independent novelist, freelance book reviewer, and writing advice blogger. He studied at the University of Minnesota and came away with bachelor degrees in English Literature and History (Classical Mediterranean Period concentration). His fantasy series, Journey to Chaos, is currently available on Amazon as an ebook or paperback.

Saturday, May 30, 2020

Review Request: The Heart of the Curiosity

H.L. Burke sent me a copy of her book, "The Heart of the Curiosity" so I could tell everyone what I think about it. I decided to read it because it sounded fun. Two kids exploring the catacombs of an old theater, facing puzzles and traps, to find a treasure at the end? Sounds like a classic dungeon delve. It is only kinda-sorta like that, but it is still a great story that I enjoyed reading.

I will examine plot, character and polish and then assign a grade. 

PLOT

The story begins with Leo and her little sister Muse escaping from a traveling carnival and making their way to the Curiosity, the greatest theater in the country. I mean that literally, the first paragraph is Leo is cutting open a canvas wall so she and Muse can jump off a moving cart. It is a fantastic introduction because of how it establishes the personalities of the sisters and their objectives. 
Leo is the pragmatic sort who wants a better life for her sister, and Muse is more romantic than her and wants to dance professionally. Achieving these goals would make for a fantastic story, which speaks well of Miss. Burke's ability to set up conflict and engaging characters quickly. However, the real conflict is a little different. 

It is a multi-layered thing. There's the financial troubles facing the Curiosity, the threats made against it by those outside it, and finally Leo's own more personal trouble relating back to the carnival and how it affects her today. All of these layers are skillfully wrapped together into a strong rope like that which holds up the Curiosity's curtains. There are many types of conflicts but they all meld nicely and support each other.

Personally, it was disappointing that the actual dungeon delve into the Curiosity's catacombs was so short. Far more time is spent simply finding the starting line than the delving, and when the starting line is found, the following traps and puzzles are not the focus of attention. It was definitely disappointing since this is what was highlighted in the book's blurb when I picked it up. Even so, it makes for an exciting and worthy climax. It is like being given a sub sandwich when you were expecting a hamburger; the former is still satisfying even if it is not what you were expecting.  

The ending is satisfying as well. It closes the stories conflict and resolves numerous plot threads so the falling action is complete and the reader experiences closure. It also opens up the possibility for future story down the road, thus achieving a "snap shot in the life of X" sort of thing. 


CHARACTERS
Leo is the protagonist, and she is a complicated character. On the surface, she is a grumpy girl with a major case of Big Sister Instinct, but she has a lot of layers. There's her love-hate relationship with her Knack (i.e. personal magic), for instance. She hates manipulating people's emotions but she still does so without prompting in many circumstances. She also seems to have a Madonna-Whore Complex but for guys. They're either depraved sexual predators or totally harmless and nonsexual saints, and she assumes the former until proven otherwise.
She is definitely a flawed character but also a very sympathetic one. She constantly meddles in her little sister's life and career, sometimes against her explicit wishes, but always with the best of intentions and a concealed personal reason that is totally understandable given her history. As distasteful as she finds her Knack, it is still a very useful one, and so a reader can understand why she relies on it while simultaneously hating it. 
Her weakness for pastries is a fun running gag.

Muse is also an interesting character. She is Leo's younger sister, and the focal point of Leo's life. She enters the story as a timid little thing that definitely needs Leo's looking after. Over time, she has a remarkable development into someone more vivacious. The phrase "colorful butterfly" comes to mind. She becomes as good at managing Leo, as Leo thinks she is at managing Muse. She doesn't have as much focus as Leo but she is still quite vivid as a character.
The sister-teasing is cute and funny.

Our third major character is Paxton, repairman who works in the Curiosity and is the nephew/grandson of the theater’s stagemistress and propmaster, respectively. He is also Leo's best and only friend (excluding Muse). He is a hard-working yet easy-going guy. Like Muse, he is a contrast and a foil for leading lady, Leo. She is typically stressed out about something, and he smooths things over. Yet, he certainly feels the weight of responsibility for the Curiosity, and has his own issues related to his past, just like Leo.

The villain of the story, Sturgis is a more archetypal Corrupt-Corporate-Executive. He is clever, sinister, and effective as a villain, but doesn't feel as multi-faceted as the other characters. As wealthy and renowned as he is, there does not appear to be a motive to his Evil Plan beyond base greed and petty bullying. Miss. Burke uses him as a catalyst to stir up conflict for the theater and for the other characters, and he serves this purpose excellently, but as a character himself, he falls flat, in my personal opinion. 

Finally, snail circus. It is adorable.

POLISH

It looks good. I don't recall any typos.

Trickster Eric Novels gives "The Heart of the Curiosity" an A+ 

Click here for my next book review (for fun): Rising of the Shield Hero - volume 1

Click here for my previous book review (a request): The Endless Lands

Brian Wilkerson is a independent novelist, freelance book reviewer, and writing advice blogger. He studied at the University of Minnesota and came away with bachelor degrees in English Literature and History (Classical Mediterranean Period concentration). His fantasy series, Journey to Chaos, is currently available on Amazon as an ebook or paperback.