Prince of Thorns

Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Jorg is the Prince of Thorns. As a ten-year-old prince he witnesses his brother and mother endure X-rated brutal murders. Meanwhile, he escaped being murdered himself by flinging himself into bushes of thorns so thick, he might have been a fly on flypaper.

It is clear the thorns were as horrid an experience for Jorg as the slaughter of his brother and mother. While he escaped being brutally murdered, it took him years to heal from the near death experience in the thorns. We are given clear images of how brutally he was damaged mentally and scared physically by these thorns.

The Count of Monte Cristo

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Links may lead to spoilers

The story of The Count of Monte Cristo is a marvelous adventure that likely rates with Homer's epic poem the Odyssey. Edmond Dantès is Dumas's protagonist. There are a number of antagonists and contagonists. Indeed, the number of significant characters in this volume challenges my ever more feeble memory.

Dantes is a young and talented sailor, but ignorant of politics. His primary concern is his aged father and his soon to be fiance, Mercedes. Nothing is of much importance to him beyond father, fiance, and perhaps the possibility that M. Morrel may promote him to Captain of the Pharaon, which would greatly enhance his future prospects for providing for his father and future wife. Unfortunately young is often naive. Additionally, happiness and success too often produce enemies unknown. Such as Dangler's, the supercargo on the ship Pharaon, which Dante's sails home to Marseilles after her Captain Leclere unexpectedly dies on their voyage to Smyrna, Trieste, and Naples.

Miniatures: The Very Short Fiction of John Scalzi

Miniatures: The Very Short Fiction of John Scalzi by John Scalzi

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

"Old Man's War" is John Scalzi's masterpiece. I will always admire him for that book. I devoured the rest of that series. To those moved by my praise that "Old Man's War" deserves: Scalzi's writing gradually devolves there after. Slowly at first. His writing was always good enough. He may have lost interest in the series after the first few books?

Today we are reviewing his, "Miniatures: The Very Short Fiction of John Scalzi". I'm not impressed. Not initially.

When doing mindless chores and listening to the conclusion of "The Count of Monte Cristo", I set up this Scalzi's "Miniatures" book should Monte Cristo conclude before my chores were complete.