This is one funny book. Learn Me Good, by John Pearson, is not your average three-act novel that most of us have come to expect from fiction. In fact, it isn’t all ficticious, but rather a chronology of events in written form, much like the Diary of Anne Frank, but with fewer nazis. The book is comprised entirely of email messages with no chapter breaks. And who needs ‘em? The only fiction in the book are the names of the people involved. And maybe some of the stories have been embellished. A little.
Continue reading
Category Archives: Miscellaneous Fiction
Mistborn: the Final Empire
Mistborn is the first book in the Mistborn trilogy, and the second book by author Brandon Sanderson. In Mistborn, Sanderson introduces us to a whole new set of magical rules than the ones from his debut novel Elantris.
In a nutshell, the plot of Mistborn is simple. A street urchin with magical powers (known in the Mistborn trilogy as allomancy) is befriended by the resistance in hopes of her helping to overthrow a ruthless and immortal dictator who has governed and enslaved the peoples of the world for a thousand years, and, unless something is done, is likely to continue for many millennia more.
Elantris
I have to admit that when I first figured out the plot Brandon Sanderson’s debut novel, Elantris, I was quite intrigued. Despite his being a novice, Sanderson does a masterful job in setting up a totally new land and a new magic system in very little time. Most interesting of all, however, is when you are introduced to the protagonist — a prince turned zombie.
The Sword of Shannara
The Sword of Shannara
I recently finished re-reading the book (it was a long time since I had first read the book), and I was still amazed at how much detail Terry Brooks can place in his books and how good the story was.
The first book has Shea and Flick Ohmsford in search of the legendary Sword of Shannara helped by a few other heroes from the four lands including the forbidding and mysterious druid Allanon. The Sword of Shannara, the druid tells the brothers, is the only item which can defeat the Warlock Lord, an evil entity who is trying to take over the four lands.
The Destroyer Series
His name was Remo.
I was first introduced to Remo Williams and the Destroyer Series through Marvel Comics. I bought a large-format comic book that said “Destroyer” on the front and featured a wonderful drawing of a man in his mid 30s being crushed against a wall by a large, blue, human-like creature. Immediately I thought that the blue creature-thing was the Destroyer, and I was anxious to start reading a new comic book that wasn’t the mainstay of all other comic fans. Once I got a few pages into the book, I realized that the Destroyer was in fact Remo Williams. A faint, flickering light bulb went on inside my brain. I’d heard the name before. Remo Williams. Oh yeah, there was a cheesy movie made about him in 1985. More of an A-Team sort of story, it showed how Remo was turned into the world’s ultimate assassin.
There have been hundreds of books written about Remo Williams. The story was created by Warren Murphy and Richard Sapir. Here is the basis:
Continue reading