Johnny L. Wilson (Author of High Score!)

Johnny rated a book it was amazing Avengers/Invaders by Alex Ross	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Even though they aren’t in very good shape, I have most of the Roy Thomas’ run of Invaders which began with that Wagnerian Ring Cycle homage. My brother knows I truly enjoyed that series, so when he found a collection of Jim Krueger’s Avengers/Invade ...more
Oct 17, 2026 08:22PM · like · see review
Johnny rated a book A Game of Fear (Inspector Ian Rutledge, #24) by Charles Todd (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
The 24th novel in the Inspector Ian Rutledge series has all the elements for which I read them. A Game of Fear has the ironic set-up of a “supernatural” aspect which may or may not be psychological being investigated by an investigator dealing with a ...more
Oct 15, 2026 02:31PM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of A Game of Fear by Charles Todd. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — A Game of Fear by Charles Todd <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Johnny rated a book Dragon Avenger (Age of Fire #2) by E.E. Knight (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
E. E. Knight’s Dragon Avenger continues the tale begun in Dragon Champion, the first book in “The Age of Fire.” To me, both novels seem like gritty fantasy like unto Richard Adams’ classic Watership Down with the difference being that the protagonist ...more
Oct 15, 2026 02:28PM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Dragon Avenger by E.E. Knight. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Dragon Avenger by E.E. Knight <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Johnny rated a book The Mustering of the Hawks (Ira Penaluna #1) by Max Hennessy	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
When I think of World War I, I feel this emburdening impression of wasted lives, irresponsible political posturing, and prodigious incompetence suffocating me. When I think such thoughts, it is usually the disastrous execution of land warfare bringin ...more
Oct 15, 2026 02:24PM · like · see review
Johnny rated a book Three Doors to Death (Nero Wolfe, #16) by Rex Stout	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
In continuing my quest to read the Nero Wolfe books by Rex Stout in chronological order, I reached Three Doors to Death. It seems to be an anthology consisting of three novellas with only the slimmest connection to each other (as indicated in the fic ...more
Oct 06, 2026 01:05PM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Three Doors to Death by Rex Stout. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Three Doors to Death by Rex Stout <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Johnny rated a book liked it Star Wars: Red Harvest by Joe Schreiber	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Not being a fan of horror films, comics, television, or books, it’s amazing that I read Star Wars: Red Harvest. To be honest, it (like Star Wars: Death Troopers before it) was given to me by my younger brother. He knew I liked Star Wars but wasn’t su ...more
Oct 03, 2026 07:41PM · 1 like · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Star Wars by Joe Schreiber. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Star Wars by Joe Schreiber <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Johnny rated a book it was amazing Florence of Arabia by Christopher Buckley	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Personally, I’m surprised that Christopher Buckley doesn’t have a fatwa pronounced against him for this comedic gem. Florence of Arabia is not only a “punful” title, but is full of hilarity all the way through. Well, maybe not all the way through. Th ...more
Oct 03, 2026 07:38PM · 1 like · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Florence of Arabia by Christopher Buckley. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Florence of Arabia by Christopher Buckley <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Johnny rated a book liked it Ironfoot (The Enchanter General, #1) by Dave Duncan	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
It’s an origin story. What can I say? For half of the novel it reads like an origin story and it isn’t until roughly the halfway point that it reached the point I couldn’t put it down. Ironfoot is the first volume in Dave Duncan’s “Enchanter General” ...more
Oct 03, 2026 07:36PM · like · see review
Johnny rated a book it was ok Video Game of the Year: A Year-by-Year Guide to the Best, Boldest, and Most Bizarre Games from Every Year Since 1977 by Jordan Minor (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Video Game of the Year is essentially a coffee table book which has eschewed the typical screenshots in favor of colorful illustrations suggesting those games. The book’s format is to choose a “game of the year,” almost always a console game, and mor ...more
Oct 03, 2026 07:34PM · 1 like · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Video Game of the Year by Jordan Minor. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Video Game of the Year by Jordan Minor <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Johnny rated a book really liked it Mystery Mile (Albert Campion Mystery, #2) by Margery Allingham	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
When I read The Crime at Black Dudley, the first novel featuring Margery Allingham’s Albert Campion character, I was impressed with the mystery, the depiction of the period (1929 England), and the quality of the writing. Yet, I still didn’t get it. I ...more
Sep 20, 2026 08:36PM · like · see review

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Even though they aren’t in very good shape, I have most of the Roy Thomas’ run of Invaders which began with that Wagnerian Ring Cycle homage. My brother knows I truly enjoyed that series, so when he found a collection of Jim Krueger’s Avengers/Invade Even though they aren’t in very good shape, I have most of the Roy Thomas’ run of Invaders which began with that Wagnerian Ring Cycle homage. My brother knows I truly enjoyed that series, so when he found a collection of Jim Krueger’s Avengers/Invaders featuring numbers 1-12 from that storyline, he made sure I received it. And this has everything I enjoy about the WW2 era superhero team of Nazi fighters with the bonus of time-travel whiplash and post-Civil War Avengers mayhem. Then, Krueger’s plot played “Can you top this?” with interesting ways to weave Union Jack, Spitfire, Red Skull, The Mighty Thor on the wrong side, and a unique way of showcasing Golden Era heroes like The Black Widow, Captain Terror, Electro (the Marvel of the Age), Silver Scorpion, the Black Avenger, and the Challenger.

But wait, it gets better. Not only does Avengers/Invaders feature these great, literally, blasts from the past, but Krueger offers interesting philosophical insights to enrich his storytelling. Some are of a more pragmatic nature such as the soldier’s advice in #9—“Yesterday’s Gambit:” “Save the gun, you can’t save the man.” More profoundly, however, in speaking of the past, Krueger has both Captain America assert and another character quote him later that “The past doesn’t change. It can only change US so that we can deal with the future that’s coming.” [in #12—“The Last Full Measure” with Captain America saying it to Paul Anselm and a few pages later, Anselm quoting it to others.] In another insight, Bucky asks another hero about changing the past. That hero adds a moral qualifier with: “But the things we want to change are really the ones we think will SAVE us. It’s never about someone else. And that’s the problem isn’t it?” [in #11—“Royal Allies”]

Another bit of profundity takes place in #8—“Cry, D’Spayre.” The key to defeating this source of despair was recognizing one’s very humanity. “Sometimes our…inadequacies…our infirmities…well, they turn out to be the very things that save us. The very reason we despair is the reason to rejoice.” That rather reminds those of us who know the New Testament of Paul’s thorn in the flesh that enables him to experience God’s grace more powerfully. One wonders also if Namor’s line from #9—“Yesterday’s Gambit” is not intended to evoke the difference between Noah’s flood and Revelation’s fiery Armageddon. “I nearly destroyed New York once, with a tidal wave. Now, I’m watching it burn instead.” That same installment has Captain America quoted as saying, “After all, hope is in things unseen,” with its echo of both 2 Corinthians 5:7’s walking by faith and not by sight and Hebrews 11:1.

I would have love collecting these comics book by book, but they were published right at the time I lost my friendly local comic shop. This series would have been my priority title for my “pull” box of preorders. And I am so delighted with this, I have to give it the highest possible rating. ...more

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A Game of Fear (Inspector Ian Rutledge, #24)
by Charles Todd (Goodreads Author)

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The 24th novel in the Inspector Ian Rutledge series has all the elements for which I read them. A Game of Fear has the ironic set-up of a “supernatural” aspect which may or may not be psychological being investigated by an investigator dealing with a The 24th novel in the Inspector Ian Rutledge series has all the elements for which I read them. A Game of Fear has the ironic set-up of a “supernatural” aspect which may or may not be psychological being investigated by an investigator dealing with a psychological quirk that, at times, has “supernatural” overtones. Of course, when I put “supernatural” in quotation marks, I do not mean that there are real ghosts, phantoms, and the like, but that some incidents and phenomena have “trappings” similar to supernatural descriptions.

Fans of the series are likely of the opinion that Hamish, the inner voice in Inspector Rutledge’s brain, is part of his PTSD. In addition, he is likely a figment of guilt due to the duty that Rutledge had to perform when serving on The Somme. Yet, it is fascinating how the “character” of Hamish works and, even if one considers the hints, warnings, and cautions provided by the late Scot to be part of Rutledge’s subconscious (as I do), it is a dramatic and fascinating way to present it. Similarly, when one reads a set-up such as A Game of Fear when a widow sees a “dead man” kill a stranger in her garden, one can assume a prank, a conspiracy, or a strange cover-up. Even our protagonist who hears a specific voice in his head expects to find a non-supernatural explanation. That’s part of the beauty of Rutledge’s condition and his approach to investigation.

Another part of the series that intrigues me is the era in which these mysteries are set, shortly after World War I. By this novel, a few years have past but the impact on local economies, the number of widows, and the amount of crimes (particularly homicides) with some relation to the war seem plausible due to the amount of trauma experienced in the war, the number of men living with lasting debilities (and subsequent resentment), the dramatic changes to the home counties during the war, and the sense of feeling victimized.

In the case Rutledge is investigating in A Game of Fear, the “ghost” who committed the “murder” was seen perpetrating the act near a decommissioned airbase where the buildings had been torn down except for a few sheds and the building foundations. No one seems to put much stock in the “murder,” but Rutledge is sent to investigate because the “witness” is well-connected with the Chief Constable. Since Rutledge already serves under severe tension with his superintendent Markham, the special attention from the Chief Constable adds to the pressure.

However, a few novels ago, Rutledge made the acquaintance of a highly placed “retiree” from His Majesty’s Government. Haldane (the only name by which he knows the individual) is so well-connected that Rutledge can turn to him whenever he needs facts which would normally be closely held military information. Contacting Haldane makes Rutledge nervous and he suspects a trade-off may be necessary. This source both helps the inspector and adds to the tension.

And even though it shouldn’t be the main portion of the plot, it is fascinating to see Rutledge attempt to navigate a potential romance when Hamish threatens to turn any intimate moment into a menage a trois (not overtly sexual, but potentially so, I suppose). He is so afraid of inflicting this other portion of his personality onto any woman he cares about that even friendship is sometimes a minefield. Without comprising too much of the book, there is more of the minefield in A Game of Fear to the delight of many of us dedicated readers.

I’m not convinced that the novel is entirely fair with the reader trying to solve the plot, but other than that, A Game of Fear is a near-perfect novel. ...more

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Dragon Avenger (Age of Fire #2)
by E.E. Knight (Goodreads Author)

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E. E. Knight’s Dragon Avenger continues the tale begun in Dragon Champion, the first book in “The Age of Fire.” To me, both novels seem like gritty fantasy like unto Richard Adams’ classic Watership Down with the difference being that the protagonist E. E. Knight’s Dragon Avenger continues the tale begun in Dragon Champion, the first book in “The Age of Fire.” To me, both novels seem like gritty fantasy like unto Richard Adams’ classic Watership Down with the difference being that the protagonist (in both novels) and many of the characters are creatures of high fantasy than the imagining of ordinary animal “culture.” In addition, both novels are origin stories. The protagonists are siblings, a male and female draconic hatchling. Knight offers a different perspective by telling the first story from the perspective of the scaleless gray hatchling and the second from his green-scaled sister.

Like Watership Down, the ecology for the non-hominid protagonists is well-considered. In both Dragon Champion and Dragon Avenger, though, there is considerably more interaction with hominids. Because of the telepathic ability of the dragons, even as hatchlings, and their facility with language, there is more fruitful interaction with human races. But the environs, the food sources, the effects of climate and seasons, and impact of human culture on the systems surrounding the characters are extremely vivid and not short-changed, even with the humanoid interaction.
It seems like the first third of the book is full of déjà vu where we are simply reliving the same events from the female’s perspective. It’s an interesting gimmick, but for my personal taste, it went on too long. The story doesn’t really begin to cohere until Wistala, the drakka or female dragon adolescent, becomes invested in the non-dragons around her. Her motivation seems stronger than that of her sibling in the first book. As with the hint of “avenger” in the title, her long-simmering plan for revenge and retribution seems better established.

As with Dragon Champion, however, Dragon Avenger has a lethal side to it. Allies and friends do not necessarily survive the story. Indeed, even the longevity of dragon life foreshadows the loss of those in whom Wistala has invested her emotion. Wistala, due to certain influences in her life, is as much an agent of reconciliation as avenger. She practices forgiveness, sometimes even to people with immature behaviors which are an overt insult to Wistala.

Yet, the dragon’s desire to avenge her family’s slaughter does not blind her to the value of morality, even when it is not shaped exactly as traditional human morality has been shaped. My favorite line in the book did have a certain amount of moral philosophy to it. At one time, Wistala’s elven mentor advises her against presumptuously labeling experiences. “If you’ll indulge me in applying a correction: Don’t be so quick to mark fate and toss it into baskets marked ‘fortune’ and ‘misfortune’ as though you’re sorting apples.” (p. 186)

All in all, my opinion was that Dragon Avenger is a more complete success than Dragon Champion (awards for the latter notwithstanding). I am glad to discover this series, but I do hope that we don’t go back to the hatchlings stage for the next installment. ...more

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The Mustering of the Hawks by Max Hennessy

The Mustering of the Hawks (Ira Penaluna #1)
by Max Hennessy

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When I think of World War I, I feel this emburdening impression of wasted lives, irresponsible political posturing, and prodigious incompetence suffocating me. When I think such thoughts, it is usually the disastrous execution of land warfare bringin When I think of World War I, I feel this emburdening impression of wasted lives, irresponsible political posturing, and prodigious incompetence suffocating me. When I think such thoughts, it is usually the disastrous execution of land warfare bringing horrific images to my mind. World War I naval warfare, such as John Harris has depicted under the Max Hennessy pseudonym with his Kelly Maguire novels (beginning in that era), is lethal and destructive, but there was a certain amount of patriotism and pride therein. However, when it comes to WWI air combat, there was always something of the “knights of the sky” ideal of chivalry and one-on-one dueling in mind. Well, as Harris (writing as Hennessy) begins his “The Flying Aces” series of air combat adventures with The Mustering of the Hawks, one becomes rather disillusioned with the idea of gallantry in the air. Despite a few incidents of sparing a rival pilot in recognition of exceptional daring or skill, Hennessy gives us a ruthless, machine-like Richtofen who exploits numbers and technological superiority into exponentially lethal confrontations. As the C.O. explains to the newly arrived pilots: “Richthofen’s been clawing those old BE2s down two or three at a time up there. There’s a curse on those old crates. They make it easy for him to run up a score.” (p. 10). [Despite the serious nature, the idea of running up a score put me in mind of the old “Snoopy versus the Red Baron” song of my high school years.]

Now, air combat adventures are all about the dogfights and, particularly early on in the novel, the dogfights are colorful, fast-paced, and well-written. Still, they aren’t as exciting as Harris/Hennessy depicted the evolution of air warfare as the war drags on. And that waste in human lives? We see it vividly in this novel as the incompetent Triple Entente leaders throw men, munitions, and morale at hopeless offensives which are clearly doomed to fail from the beginning. The only thing is that, prior to reading The Mustering of the Hawks, it hadn’t registered to me how much the failed land offensives impacted the pilots. One generally thinks of pilots as being primarily above it all, but this book deals with the in-depth experiences of the characters. There is a ripple effect that is not always obvious to the cost of war on land, sea, and in the air.

The Mustering of the Hawks doesn’t gilt over the ideas of adjusting to armistice, the strict demarcation of social strata in terms of romance, and the vicious irony of young men’s lives being attenuated just when they should be living experiences to the fullest. When I first started reading The Mustering of the Hawks, I thought our protagonist, Second Lt. Ira Penaluna, was going to be another invulnerable pilot who would go through the war unscathed both physically and psychologically. I was pleasantly surprised to find that this was not the case.

In addition, when Hennessy introduced a romantic interest more than once, neither outcome proved to be quite as disastrous or delightful as I anticipated. In short, the romantic oscillations occurred realistically without the cynicism of typical battlefield romances. In this, as in many other features, The Mustering of the Hawks is more than a mere combat adventure. It is a novel in its own right and was well worthy of my reading. I liked it even better than the naval series, though I wouldn’t turn either of them down. ...more

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Three Doors to Death (Nero Wolfe, #16)
by Rex Stout

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In continuing my quest to read the Nero Wolfe books by Rex Stout in chronological order, I reached Three Doors to Death. It seems to be an anthology consisting of three novellas with only the slimmest connection to each other (as indicated in the fic In continuing my quest to read the Nero Wolfe books by Rex Stout in chronological order, I reached Three Doors to Death. It seems to be an anthology consisting of three novellas with only the slimmest connection to each other (as indicated in the fictional foreward by “Archie Goodwin.” I looked for possible earlier publication as novellas in mystery magazines and discovered that they had appeared at separate times in The American Magazine, were published in a Viking edition and Mystery Guild edition in 1960, and later reprinted in the Five of a Kind: The Third Nero Wolfe Omnibus in 1961. I read the 1995 reissue.

Frankly, as much as I usually enjoy the Nero Wolfe mysteries (including the radio plays), I’m very glad that none of these three stories received the full novel treatment. To be sure, each of them had interesting twists, but the mysteries themselves were not up to Stout’s usual excellence. The first one, ostensibly a locked office building mystery with both an “impossible victim” and “impossible perpetrator,” brings the murderer out of nowhere in the Agatha Christie fashion that is always off-putting to me. The second one was better, but there were really only two suspects who counted and attempts to deflect weren’t convincing. Finally, the third one (a locked “greenhouse” mystery?) seemed rather obvious, but it did offer some variety in that it forced Nero Wolfe out of his house. Actually, in two of the three novellas, Wolfe left his house, once to eat at the only restaurant where he is willing to dine and once to recruit an orchid breeder / caretaker.

Those who have read my previous reviews will know that I have a prejudice for the longer form of fiction—not necessarily epics, but at least novel length where characters have some time to develop and serve as more than pawns on paper playing “mystery chess.” Most of the three novellas in Three Doors to Death seemed like “mystery chess,” but that doesn’t mean I won’t keep reading Stout’s novels, novellas, and short stories in my quest to read them all in chronological order. I liked Three Doors to Death, I just didn’t love it. ...more

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Star Wars: Red Harvest
by Joe Schreiber

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Not being a fan of horror films, comics, television, or books, it’s amazing that I read Star Wars: Red Harvest. To be honest, it (like Star Wars: Death Troopers before it) was given to me by my younger brother. He knew I liked Star Wars but wasn’t su Not being a fan of horror films, comics, television, or books, it’s amazing that I read Star Wars: Red Harvest. To be honest, it (like Star Wars: Death Troopers before it) was given to me by my younger brother. He knew I liked Star Wars but wasn’t sure if I’d like these. I did. I enjoyed them because the horrific elements clearly grew out of Star Wars elements: the weapons, the lore, the equipment, the races, and the Force. Indeed, there are scenes where droids are almost deus ex machina and scenes where they are almost diaboli ex machina. By tampering with the familiar and mixing in experiments from the dark side of the Force, Joe Schreiber is able to tell a fascinating Star Wars adventure while mixing in horror film tropes to his heart’s content.

The disastrous contamination in Star Wars: Red Harvest becomes so pervasive so quickly that it’s almost (almost!) as if Schreiber has shifted into the constantly tainted multiverse of Warhammer 40,000. Meanwhile, one can visually imagine a camera zooming in on an unnoticed wound, a movement in the shadows, or blood trickling toward the corner of an eye. The atmosphere is nerve-wracking, the action is well-written, and some characters are fascinating enough I would have liked to have seen a better ending for them. To paraphrase Jack Sparrow, “Hello, horror!”

Yet, it is in the cast of characters that I find the weakness that keeps this from having one of my higher ratings. Star Wars: Red Harvest wants to be an epic, but it doesn’t have the page count to make that happen. Potential character development opportunities arise but we have to do a quick cinematic cut to meet another character. The female protagonist of this story, a Jedi named Hestizo Trace, is terrific, but her brother, another Jedi is virtually wasted. He spends so much time “off-camera” that one isn’t fully invested when “Mr. Demille” Schreiber finds him ready for his “close-up.” The bounty hunter is used very well, but his character makes his motivation seem interesting but shallow. The student superstar at the Sith Academy, Lissk, becomes a disposable character by “sitting on the bench” too long.

So, what can I say? I liked the book even though I normally don’t enjoy horror. I think there are some scenes with exceptionally good writing behind them. I think Star Wars: Red Harvest is nearly conceptually perfect. Yet, I had to put it down (after many an unsettling experience in its pages) with a sense of wanting more from missed opportunities. Of course, that may just be me. ...more

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Florence of Arabia
by Christopher Buckley

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Personally, I’m surprised that Christopher Buckley doesn’t have a fatwa pronounced against him for this comedic gem. Florence of Arabia is not only a “punful” title, but is full of hilarity all the way through. Well, maybe not all the way through. Th Personally, I’m surprised that Christopher Buckley doesn’t have a fatwa pronounced against him for this comedic gem. Florence of Arabia is not only a “punful” title, but is full of hilarity all the way through. Well, maybe not all the way through. There is some torture and there are some deaths (primarily via stoning and beheading), but those mostly add to the reader’s suspense and keep us from taking the book for granted as if it were Bored of the Rings or some pure parody.

After all, how invested could we be in the politics of a fictional Middle Eastern kingdom named Wasabi or its rival kingdom with capitol named after Latin’s First Conjugation, Amo-Amas? Despite improbable coincidences, bizarre plot twists, and hilarious dialogue, Buckley is able to get one to suspend one’s disbelief long enough to get the sense of a “thriller” underneath the comedy.

The plot’s seed is simple enough. My youngest daughter had the same idea in high school. She said that we could eliminate a lot of the threat of radical Islam by educating the women. Well, Florence (whose real name is, you guessed it, Firenze) is tasked with setting up a television network directed at Muslim women. This lets Buckley have free reign with soap operas and talk shows designed to liberate Middle Eastern women who cannot drive Voice of Semi-Feminist America.

Buckley also has some daggers out for Formula I racing (though he doesn’t call it that) and the French intelligence service. Between the two, we see more dirty tricks than Donald Segretti unleashed in Nixon’s last campaign. Sometimes diabolical and sometimes pathetic (the ones in the book, not Segretti’s “rodent-copulating” (his term, but in a more pouty-mouthed form)), they are always worth reading.

I don’t want to give anything away, but this is better than Buckley’s Make Russia Great Again and I found it funnier than Thank You for Smoking (though that is a classic). Even my wife thinks this book is hilarious, and she almost never agrees with me about books of fiction. ...more

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Ironfoot (The Enchanter General, #1)
by Dave Duncan

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It’s an origin story. What can I say? For half of the novel it reads like an origin story and it isn’t until roughly the halfway point that it reached the point I couldn’t put it down. Ironfoot is the first volume in Dave Duncan’s “Enchanter General” It’s an origin story. What can I say? For half of the novel it reads like an origin story and it isn’t until roughly the halfway point that it reached the point I couldn’t put it down. Ironfoot is the first volume in Dave Duncan’s “Enchanter General” series. To paraphrase the old cliché about boys, when it is good, it is very good, but when it is bad, one almost stops reading [Yes, I know that’s different from the cliché and I apologize for only appropriating the first part.].

My favorite character is not the protagonist, the eponymous Ironfoot. Nor is it his nemesis the very entitled Squire William. It is Sir Scur, the count’s jester who speaks enigmatically to speak truth to power and truth to higher stations. His wisdom is often guised in infuriating literalisms, but often (as with the Yogi Berra of baseball lore), it really is wise when one considers it. In one conversation he says: “If you ask but half a question, you may lack all of an answer. …Ask the wrong questions and you’ll get the right answers but fail to profit by them.” (p. 117)

The setting is perfect for a grungy tale such as this. The “historical” background of the story (before the fantasy elements are added in) takes place after “The Anarchy,” the civil war between “King” Stephen and “Queen” (“Empress?”) Maud (sometimes spelled with the silent “e”). Henry II has brought about a sense of order and makes an important appearance in the book. I really enjoyed the racial/social tension between the Saxon protagonist and the Norman nobles. Duncan uses that tension well in forcing our Ironfoot to cope with the prejudice and the pre-existing barriers to his improving socially, even before the obstacles faced via the combination murder mystery and potential affair of state. This background makes the novel worth reading by itself.

Certainly, I would rate the novel much higher if the downtrodden Saxon protagonist hadn’t been so (admittedly necessarily) passive in most of his dealings. Though there were rare times when he took the ox by the horns, as it were, it felt (personal opinion is so arbitrary) as though it took far too long to transition between the protagonist’s nature as “victim” and as “hero.” Further, despite a nice twist of a partially false “confession,” the ultimate antagonist seemed a little too obvious and straightforward. It seemed like Duncan had written himself into a corner such that he lost opportunities for “red herrings” which should have been abundant at court.

I still plan to continue with the series. Ironfoot represents a character with lots of potential. I’m curious as to whether that potential can be reached without a certain amount of plodding and revisiting the origin story. ...more

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Video Game of the Year: A Year-by-Year Guide to the Best, Boldest, and Most Bizarre Games from Every Year Since 1977
by Jordan Minor (Goodreads Author)

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Video Game of the Year is essentially a coffee table book which has eschewed the typical screenshots in favor of colorful illustrations suggesting those games. The book’s format is to choose a “game of the year,” almost always a console game, and mor Video Game of the Year is essentially a coffee table book which has eschewed the typical screenshots in favor of colorful illustrations suggesting those games. The book’s format is to choose a “game of the year,” almost always a console game, and more a game that reflects the author’s preferences and possibly, bulk sales, rather than technological achievement, design excellence, and lasting contribution to the media, genre, and art form known as “video games” (though I have always preferred electronic games because video games historically skewed to a younger demographic than computer games, so there was always a sense of being relegated to the children’s demographic whenever I told people I played computer games).

To be sure, some of the main articles on Jordan Minor’s “Video Games of the Year” are very well-written, and there are some extremely clever lines indeed, yet some leave out key portions of the story. For example, the book starts with Pong in 1977, though the arcade version had been around since 1972. The book begins with when the game appeared on the Atari 2600 game machine with very little mention of the fact that it was originally just supposed to be a proof of concept that they put in Andy Capp’s (a SF Peninsula bar) to test or even the large role that Sears Roebuck and Company played in getting home versions into the market. Since the full-page sidebar (that follows each GOTY story) for this chapter dealt with the Fairchild Channel F (the console as opposed to individual games), it seems like more attention should have been paid to the 2600 as a platform.

The previous example was a matter of personal taste, but I also wonder about the full-page Extra Life sidebars. Though the 1978 choice of Space Invaders was quite logical, one wonders why the sidebar has two more advanced space games, Star Raiders (1979) and Outer Wilds (2019), to represent different eras and approaches to the same them, but then, jammed in Colossal Cave Adventure (aka Adventure), a text-based adventure about spelunking (circa 1976) with added fantasy elements (circa 1977). I remember playing this on a mainframe with an acoustic coupler (perhaps at 150 baud?) in late 1977 when it had a dragon, magic, and if memory serves, a dwarf with a knife or sword. I bring this up because the paragraphs on this classic text adventure (that spawned hundreds of text-based adventures followed by the evolution of graphic adventure games) seem significant enough that the book should have started in 1976. But again, it was a computer game, not a console game, so it was shoehorned into this glorified sidebar instead of being given pride of place.
I have lots of questions. Since Speed Freak didn’t have nearly the impact on either the arcades or consoles as Asteroids, why is the former the featured game representing 1979 rather than the latter? Again, Starflight in 1981 was a great game, but since it is nothing like the featured game, Donkey Kong, why was it selected for the sidebar, Extra Life? Like the industry itself, Minor seems to love sequels, so Donkey Kong 2 in 1995 is not surprising. What is surprising is the number of paragraphs invested on a commercial failure named Earthbound. I’m not against that title; I just don’t understand why some breakthrough games like the original System Shock, Command & Conquer, and Populous are ignored in the book (though System Shock is eventually recognized through System Shock 2 while Earthbound gains higher billing. Is it because it was on the Nintendo? After all, the book does seem to have a Nintendo bias since 13 of the Game of the Year features in the book debuted on Nintendo platforms. There are 17 computer games that were presented as feature stories, but they run the gamut of personal computers from 8-bit through Macintosh and various PC platforms.

Video Game of the Year is at its best on features like 1996’s Super Mario 64 where Minor compares the navigational solution to the Z axis used with the flying turtle in that game and Navi in Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Though, here again, I was not impressed with the paragraphs in Extra Life concerning Super Mario Kart or Virtual Pro Wrestling because they didn’t seem to have any continuity with the feature. And while I don’t disagree with Final Fantasy VIII as 1997’s GOTY, it seems odd to spend one paragraph on Baldur’s Gate, one paragraph on the original Fallout (good game, but hardly as groundbreaking as Fallout 3, and the rest of the page on more Final Fantasy VIII. I think Star Wars: X-Wing vs. Tie Fighter would have been worth some coverage.

Certainly, I have no quibble with 1998’s Metal Gear Solid since this title was iconic to nearly every student I taught in the university’s game design curriculum. The sidebar spent some time on Starcraft which was iconic in its own way. And, at the turn of the millennium, the PC finally gets its due with 2000’s Half-Life: Counter-strike, 2001’s Halo (albeit selling more on X-box than PC), 2002’s Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, and 2004’s World of Warcraft (and even Eve Online in the sidebar). That string was interrupted with 2003’s Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker and 2005’s Resident Evil 4.

So, I was feeling good about these selections till I ran into 2010’s Super Meat Boy. Admittedly, the sidebar discusses Mass Effect and Dragon Age, but Super Meat Boy? Flash game or not, I don’t get it. On the other hand, even though I never heard of it before, I’m fascinated by 2022’s The Stanley Parable and will probably have to buy it and give it a try.

All in all, Video Game of the Year was a very uneven book for me. Of course, that is because of my predilection for PC games and it felt like Minor gave minimal recognition to early online games, innovative technology like Empire’s unmasking the screen technique, Dani Bunten [nee’ Dan] Berry’s initial point-to-point wargame, Ultima IV’s ethics system (continuing through Ultima VI), Loom’s requirement of “earning” one’s interface, Populous’ contribution to the “god-game” phenomenon along with SimCity (mentioned), Sid Meier’s Civilization, the introduction of flight physics in Flight Unlimited, and ultimate spreadsheet games like Master of Orion and the lesser known but tremendously challenging Pax Imperia. Ah, well. Guess I need to write that book myself someday and focus on technological and design breakthroughs. ...more

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Mystery Mile (Albert Campion Mystery, #2)
by Margery Allingham

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When I read The Crime at Black Dudley, the first novel featuring Margery Allingham’s Albert Campion character, I was impressed with the mystery, the depiction of the period (1929 England), and the quality of the writing. Yet, I still didn’t get it. I When I read The Crime at Black Dudley, the first novel featuring Margery Allingham’s Albert Campion character, I was impressed with the mystery, the depiction of the period (1929 England), and the quality of the writing. Yet, I still didn’t get it. I didn’t understand this Campion character because he wasn’t the typical early 20th century detective. He was bizarre, eccentric, and seemed rather like a space cadet (to use a totally anachronistic and questionable epithet). If anything, Campion proves even more enigmatic, eccentric, and weird in Mystery Mile, the second novel featuring this protagonist. And even though I look at the last ten reviews I’ve posted and sense ratings creep on my star ratings (5 out of 10 were four stars before I posted two out of three four star reviews tonight), I have to admit that I enjoyed this one much more than the earlier Campion novel.

Maybe I’m starting to get it. Campion is a classic example of Attention Deficit Disorder long before the term invaded modern parlance. He is easily distracted, but interested in everything. He retains information that many would have dismissed long ago as irrelevant. He has an amazing assortment of friends, confederates…er…colleagues, and acquaintances that make a modern spymaster’s network seem inadequate. He lives at the fringes of the law, yet he undertakes private investigations with enough of police approval that he lives above a police station.

Mystery Mile is the eponymous title based on the name of a rural town near an old estate. The “mystery” relates to the salt marshes which border the estate and the perpetual, low-lying fog which covers the environs like a low level of dry ice fog fanned across a theatrical stage to simulate an outdoor scene. The book, however, begins aboard a cruise liner. A prominent passenger on the ship is a retired judge from the U.S. who is traveling to England at his family’s insistence because of attempted “hits” on him from a disgruntled master criminal, his nemesis. As a result, the attempt on board the transatlantic liner is foiled by a bizarre stunt by Campion that reminds one of a miniature version of Topsy the elephant (of Edison fame).

To save the intended victim, Campion becomes charged with the victim’s safety. It’s a weird situation, made even weirder by the accomplices Campion brings to the mission. At times, this novel is comedic to the point of slapstick, but it has brutal, gritty, tragic moments, as well. There is misdirection aplenty. I managed to mix up which “obvious” red herring wasn’t a real red herring. That was superbly done.

The whole novel is superbly done from my perspective. Oh, the pace lags at points, keeping it from being a five-star in my book and certain of the revelations take place so late in the book that it seems like the epilogue was hastily done. Yet, I was very impressed by Mystery Mile and these classic mysteries have risen higher on my priority to be read list. ...more

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	High Score!: The Illustrated History of Electronic Games by Rusel DeMaria, Johnny L. Wilson (Goodreads Author) 3.98 avg rating — 256 ratings — published 2002 — 15 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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