Whne crazy meets crazy

 One of the major themes running through Seana McGuire's new InCrypted nove Backpacking Through Bedlam revolves around the difficulty of reintegrating during homecoming, and it kind of struck a nerve, particularly in the bonus novella tucked in at the end of the book. 

We pick up where the last volume ended, with Alice, Thomas, and Sally leading refugees from the Crossroads bottle dimension to hopefully a new home dimension. Which involves Alice and Thomas learning to love each other again after 50 years apart, and Alice learning to find a way to deal with Sally, who was more or less adopted by Thomas during the exile. 

About halfway through, after visiting the dimension where Sarah ended up dropping a college, they wind up back on Earth, where Rose and Mary wind up sending the trio to New York to help Verity and Dominic chase The Covenant out of New York and away from the dragons. 

The novella concerns James learning that Sally has been rescued, and dealing with his feelings therein. 

While the first half of the novel really doesn't quite feel as intense as previous novels in the series, the second half and the novella strike the chords I've come to love from this particular series. Really fun read.

They're building landing strips for gay alien martians!

 So, I technically finished Stuff The Don't Want You to Know by Ben Bowlin, Matt Frederick, and Noel Brown yesterday, but it's been a week. 

The setup is almost opposite what we normally see in conspiracy compilations, as they move from downright preposterous (with roots in what is real) into very real, provable discussions. 

But honestly, it's fun to go through, since some of it is a fuller story on things I knew already (Tuskeegee in particular.) 

Honestly, there isn't that much to say here, beyond it being a fun if occasionally disturbing discussion on things that increasingly are being presented as truth, and why it is people are inclined to believe them. (Case in point, one of the reviews I read about it spent a paragraph complaining that the debunk of one theory was false, since a particular cable news station said differently.)

So yeah, if you want an exploration of modern folklore, it's worth reading.

In the Lich of time....

 As a warning, along with sporadic library reserves, I found a bunch of old RPG novels among the remnants of mom's house, then found a few other volumes on used book sites, so expect some really odd entries over time. 

Today was King of the Dead by Gene De Weese, which is more or less the origin of Azalin, who's later stories are found in Lord of the Necropolis. (If you click that link, there's an awesome picture attached to the post.) For those not versed in such esoterica, Azalin is a lich who rules the Ravenloft Domain of Darkon, and is pretty much the arch nemesis of Strahd, the Vampire Lord around whom the entire setting is based. Firan, as he was known as a human, started in Oerth, aka the Greyhawk setting, middle son of a King who thoughts magic users were evil. So, because of course he does, Firan learns the arcane arts, manages to get his younger brother possessed, then runs off to follow his mentor somewhere outKingdom. 

He learns tricks to siphon off the life force of those he kills, and becomes king after his eldest brother dies. Firan rules by executing anyone who breaks his laws. He marries, finds out the wife cursed him, erases the curse, and she bears him a son. Irik, named after his possessed younger brother, ends up commiting treason against daddy dearest, since he doesn't agree with Firan's policies. Firan beheads Irik, and then regrets it, thinking he should raise his son and teach him to be more like his father. Well, that doesn't quite go as planned, and Firan starts hearing taunting voices of those he cared about, which in turn leads him to turn himself into a lich. (An observation: most of the art depicting Azalin makes him look a bit like Skeletor right before He-Man kicks his ass.) 

So, Firan eventually gets sucked into the mists and winds up in Barovia. He refers to himself by his old title on Oerth (Aza'Lin), which the Barovians take to be his name. We get a short chapter on his working with and against Strahd, before Azalin enters the mists again, and eventually becomes the leader of his own Dark Domain, and his punishments of never being able to learn new magic, and finding the only way he could fully resurrect his son is to torment himself. Or, he could forgive himself, but that would mean him admitting he was wrong. 

It's fun, and frankly, Azalin more than Strahd understand the nature of the realm and its torments. He's probably the only Darklord who understands how to end his imprisonment, but is too stubborn to do so. 

It's a tad silly in places, but it's a fun read none the less.

Let's split up! That always works!

 So, Cradle of Ice, the second book in what's allegedly going to be a trilogy, opens with our team of intrepid protagonists splitting up to accomplish different goals. 

Nyx, our major heroine, is accompanied across the Frozen wastes in the dark side of Urth by Shiya, Rhaif, Graylin, and a company of pirates, as well as her friend Jace to discover one of the places where they can get the Urth rotating again. Along the way, they discover The Cradle, an area under the ice that is warm that supports human life. A different race of the hive mind bats live there, but they're under the control of something else.

In the meantime, Prince Kanthe and Freyll have gone to the southern Crown to the Empire of Klashe, where intrigues abound. Kanthe winds up engaged to the Emperor's daughter, who is in love with the leader of the faction that opposes the caste system in place in the Empire. (Not that Kanthe doesn't have his own suitors, the Princess's brother makes his desire failrly clear, as does on of the female assassins running around. 

By the end, the plot has advanced as several goals are met, we have much more information as to what Shiya is (courtesy of a "lesser" bronze being who's been disguised on Klashe for a few centuries), and we have a set up for the next book which suggests either it's probably going to be rushed to a conclusion or expanded into 5 books. (Between the private war between Kanthe and his Twin brother, who now rules the Northern kingdom, the fact that they still have to go to the center of the desert wasteland on the always sun facing side of Urth, and they have to get a third relic from the now rather hostile Northern Kingdom....)

Yeah, I've gotten sucked into this series. I look forward to seeing what the next volume brings.

On a midnight dark and dreary

And we're back in Sithicus, as Lord Soth faces down his own misrule of the dark domain in Spectre of the Black Rose. In my last post, I mentioned how Soth's imprisonment by the dark powers was mildly controversial, and here, we see his release back to Krynn. (Theoretically for a second time, if one takes the adventure World of Krynn as canon.) 

Essentially, Soth has sat on his armored ass for a very long time letting Sithicus run itself. His torment on Krynn has changed, as his Keep in Sithicus is not quite the same as Dargaard Keep in Ansalon. His skeletal knights and banshee tormentors also change number, as memory in Sithicus is an illusion. 

Which has left Azreal the Dwarven Werebadger to run the country as he sees fit, annoying Magda's daughter Inza. (Magda is alive for the first part of the novel, but we quickly find out her daughter doesn't much like her.) War threatens with Invidia, as the ruler (not the actual Lord) wishes to exterminate the Vistani. 

We also have the mysterious Cobbler, who cuts off people's feet who publicly break oaths; The Whispering Beast, who calls those who break oaths to him as food; and the mysterious White Rose, who has her own connections with Soth. We have Azreal trying to take control of all the shadows of Sithicus, and Inza, who ultimately wants Soth's throne. Almost everyone is plotting with and against everyone else. 

In other words, Gothic Horror.

In the end, Soth regains his memory and returns to Krynn, and we see again how his pride prevents his redemption. Pretty much every other character gets an unhappy ending, which works just as well. 

This was actually a heck of a lot more fun than the first volume, since by this point, we know everyone in here is up to no good, which makes the ending that much more satisfying. Soth is home, so he can find his redemption a few years down the road. (I ordered the War of Souls trilogy today, so I'll eventually get to relive that silliness. Although given that plot line involved Takhisis moving Krynn across the universe, I feel like Soth's sojourn into Ravenloft kind of foreshadowed that plot twist, although I think most readers tend to think of that trilogy as an apology for Dragons of Summer Flame, which seems to be pretty universally despised.) 

If you can find a copy, this is one of the fun ones.