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Bookburners #2.2
Webs
With the Orb broken and magic on the rise, the Bookburners look for new answers in old places. Hoping for clues from the Society’s defunct experimentation branch, Asanti leads her team through the long-locked door of Team Four’s lair – and straight into a mystery of Escher-ian proportions.
This episode is brought to you by Andrea Phillips, who might be new to Bookburners, but knows her way around a wonderland.
Magic is real, and hungry—trapped in ancient texts and artifacts, only a few who discover it survive to fight back. Detective Sal Brooks is a survivor. Freshly awake to just what dangers are lurking, she joins a Vatican-backed black-ops anti-magic squad: Team Three of the Societas Librorum Occultorum. Together they stand between humanity and magical apocalypse. Some call them the Bookburners. They don’t like the label.
"Webs" is the second episode of Bookburners Season 2, presented by Serial Box Publishing. This serial will unfold in 13 episodes.
This episode is brought to you by Andrea Phillips, who might be new to Bookburners, but knows her way around a wonderland.
Magic is real, and hungry—trapped in ancient texts and artifacts, only a few who discover it survive to fight back. Detective Sal Brooks is a survivor. Freshly awake to just what dangers are lurking, she joins a Vatican-backed black-ops anti-magic squad: Team Three of the Societas Librorum Occultorum. Together they stand between humanity and magical apocalypse. Some call them the Bookburners. They don’t like the label.
"Webs" is the second episode of Bookburners Season 2, presented by Serial Box Publishing. This serial will unfold in 13 episodes.
49 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 28, 2016
32 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
July 15, 2016
Review courtesy of All Things Urban Fantasy.
Although not as enjoyable as CREEPY TOWN, WEBS did an excellent job of advancing the plot of team two's explorations of magic, and offered a brief glimpse into the history of the Bookburners (or Societas Librorum Occultorum, as I suppose it's called).
In my opinion, WEBS just didn't have the laugh out loud funny moments as CREEPY TOWN did, but it was fun in its own way. As the team descended into the dissolved Team Four's headquarters, looking for something to help them fix their magical orb which was originally created by Team Four, they encountered magical creatures and obstacles, and watching them resolve those issues to get what they needed offered an interesting picture into each of their personalities.
I did have a bit of a hard time remembering who was who from episode one, but luckily, it was easy to flip back and catch up. WEBS is just a bit longer than CREEPY TOWN, but it's still a good length for somebody looking for something short and sweet to fill up an hour or so.
Check back next week for my review of episode three, MISTAKES WERE MADE!
Sexual content: N/A
Although not as enjoyable as CREEPY TOWN, WEBS did an excellent job of advancing the plot of team two's explorations of magic, and offered a brief glimpse into the history of the Bookburners (or Societas Librorum Occultorum, as I suppose it's called).
In my opinion, WEBS just didn't have the laugh out loud funny moments as CREEPY TOWN did, but it was fun in its own way. As the team descended into the dissolved Team Four's headquarters, looking for something to help them fix their magical orb which was originally created by Team Four, they encountered magical creatures and obstacles, and watching them resolve those issues to get what they needed offered an interesting picture into each of their personalities.
I did have a bit of a hard time remembering who was who from episode one, but luckily, it was easy to flip back and catch up. WEBS is just a bit longer than CREEPY TOWN, but it's still a good length for somebody looking for something short and sweet to fill up an hour or so.
Check back next week for my review of episode three, MISTAKES WERE MADE!
Sexual content: N/A
August 11, 2016
I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
After reading the first season of Bookburners in one big chunk, I caught up to when the series was being offered episode by episode. I read the first episode of Season 2 about a month ago, and frankly don't remember anything that happened in it, so I won't review it, but take that lack of memory for what it's worth.
The second episode was kind of fun. The idea behind the Vatican's organization of the Bookburners is that there were originally four teams, but now only three exist. The first team is basically a military strike force. The second team is PR/damage control. The third team is our heros, who seek out books and destroy them but without the overwhelming military force of team one. The fourth team, which no longer exists, was the research team- the one trying to see if magic could be harnessed and used without negative consequences. This team has disappeared, which probably answers that question. However, there was a lot of knowledge stashed with team four, and our team (#3) decides to brave team four's lair/lab/library in order to find out what they can. The episode basically plays out like a D&D adventure, and it was fun.
After reading the first season of Bookburners in one big chunk, I caught up to when the series was being offered episode by episode. I read the first episode of Season 2 about a month ago, and frankly don't remember anything that happened in it, so I won't review it, but take that lack of memory for what it's worth.
The second episode was kind of fun. The idea behind the Vatican's organization of the Bookburners is that there were originally four teams, but now only three exist. The first team is basically a military strike force. The second team is PR/damage control. The third team is our heros, who seek out books and destroy them but without the overwhelming military force of team one. The fourth team, which no longer exists, was the research team- the one trying to see if magic could be harnessed and used without negative consequences. This team has disappeared, which probably answers that question. However, there was a lot of knowledge stashed with team four, and our team (#3) decides to brave team four's lair/lab/library in order to find out what they can. The episode basically plays out like a D&D adventure, and it was fun.
December 24, 2017
3.5 Stars
September 12, 2018
It was fun but it felt like some characters really weren't themselves.
January 29, 2020
Finestkind!
May 22, 2021
Excellent way to find new authors and not spend a lot of time and money on books you don't enjoy. Gives you a sense of the writers style and subject matter to match what you enjoy reading.
July 2, 2016
Short, High-Energy Dungeon Crawl With A Backstory and a Future
This is the second episode of the second season of Bookburners, which means it's novella 18 in the Bookburners series. These episodes are released by Serial Box, which specializes in serialized stories. The idea, more or less, is that each story is the equivalent of a single episode of a TV show.
The premise of this particular show is perfectly fine, (and closely follows the "Torchwood" structure). A team of Vatican operatives searches for and neutralizes demonic books. It features a central female character who is a newbie team member and who used to be a cop. There are overarching stories involving the team, the team members, their back stories, their rivalries and interactions and so on. Usually each episode comprises a complete story involving a particular object, but sometimes, as here, the episode is devoted to a story line that will take a few more episodes to resolve.
In this episode the team has to enter the old abandoned headquarters of a previous team that investigated/experimented with dark magic and that either disappeared, was destroyed, or was digraced and disbanded, hundreds of years before. As you might imagine, this classic "dungeon crawl" includes lots of surprises, dangers and puzzles. Basically, this one is like a video game puzzle/action/adventure.
But here's the really good part. This story, like all of the episodes, is decently written. The characters are interesting, if somewhat predictable. Scenes are set with authority. It's brisk, tense in places, full of plot holes, and not terribly deep, just as you would expect from the novelization of a TV show. But it's fun, and creative and entertaining, with enough nice touches and one-liners to keep everything zipping along.
As it turns out, the Bookburners series delivers exactly what Serial Box promised. For an entertaining, sometimes amusing, and always diverting read these mini-novellas struck me as a nice choice.
(Please note that I received a free advance ecopy of this book in exchange for a candid review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)
This is the second episode of the second season of Bookburners, which means it's novella 18 in the Bookburners series. These episodes are released by Serial Box, which specializes in serialized stories. The idea, more or less, is that each story is the equivalent of a single episode of a TV show.
The premise of this particular show is perfectly fine, (and closely follows the "Torchwood" structure). A team of Vatican operatives searches for and neutralizes demonic books. It features a central female character who is a newbie team member and who used to be a cop. There are overarching stories involving the team, the team members, their back stories, their rivalries and interactions and so on. Usually each episode comprises a complete story involving a particular object, but sometimes, as here, the episode is devoted to a story line that will take a few more episodes to resolve.
In this episode the team has to enter the old abandoned headquarters of a previous team that investigated/experimented with dark magic and that either disappeared, was destroyed, or was digraced and disbanded, hundreds of years before. As you might imagine, this classic "dungeon crawl" includes lots of surprises, dangers and puzzles. Basically, this one is like a video game puzzle/action/adventure.
But here's the really good part. This story, like all of the episodes, is decently written. The characters are interesting, if somewhat predictable. Scenes are set with authority. It's brisk, tense in places, full of plot holes, and not terribly deep, just as you would expect from the novelization of a TV show. But it's fun, and creative and entertaining, with enough nice touches and one-liners to keep everything zipping along.
As it turns out, the Bookburners series delivers exactly what Serial Box promised. For an entertaining, sometimes amusing, and always diverting read these mini-novellas struck me as a nice choice.
(Please note that I received a free advance ecopy of this book in exchange for a candid review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)
August 9, 2016
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.
This is the second "episode" of the second "season" of Bookburners. The series follows a team of Vatican operatives who search for, stop and sometimes destroy demonically possessed books. Each episode comprises a complete story involving a particular object, and interrelated plot lines are developed in each episode.
This episode follows Team Three into the mysterious Team Four’s quarters. Sure, in a normal world this is nothing to worry about… unless of course you’re a Bookburner and Team Four was the Magical R&D division.
This episode wasn’t in my opinion as fun as the last episode. Here the storyline is all about finding a book to help them repair the Orb, and since Team Four created the Orb but are no longer around to answer questions Sal and her compatriots do the next best thing. Find Team Four’s library. Almost all of this episode takes place in Team Fours quarters. I won’t say what happens there but I will say that I felt it had an almost Lovecraftian feel to it for me.
Quick interesting read, recommend if you like a sci fi twist. If you’re new to this series start at the beginning, trust me.
This is the second "episode" of the second "season" of Bookburners. The series follows a team of Vatican operatives who search for, stop and sometimes destroy demonically possessed books. Each episode comprises a complete story involving a particular object, and interrelated plot lines are developed in each episode.
This episode follows Team Three into the mysterious Team Four’s quarters. Sure, in a normal world this is nothing to worry about… unless of course you’re a Bookburner and Team Four was the Magical R&D division.
This episode wasn’t in my opinion as fun as the last episode. Here the storyline is all about finding a book to help them repair the Orb, and since Team Four created the Orb but are no longer around to answer questions Sal and her compatriots do the next best thing. Find Team Four’s library. Almost all of this episode takes place in Team Fours quarters. I won’t say what happens there but I will say that I felt it had an almost Lovecraftian feel to it for me.
Quick interesting read, recommend if you like a sci fi twist. If you’re new to this series start at the beginning, trust me.
Want to read
June 19, 2016* e-Arc provided by Netgalley *
July 29, 2016
Team IV, visions of M.C. Escher
May 5, 2017
Team 3 visits the mysterious locked sanctum of the long-departed team 4. Moving staircases, flying books & razor spiders helped craft this short, but engaging, gem.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews