Starless Night (Legacy of the Drow #2) - R. A. Salvatore

Finished the next one in this series. We join up with our heroes who are mourning the loss of Wulfgar. Some are handling it better than others. Surprisingly, Catti-brie seems to be doing the best. Drizzt has decided the drow won't give up on capturing him, and he's determined to go alone to the Underdark and prevent further heartbreak to his friends.

Catti-brie won't let Drizzt go off on his own, so she harasses Regis into telling her the truth. He wasn't super keen on the idea of Drizzt going off on his own, so he hands over some items, and Catti-brie heads off to pursue her friend.

I just want to point out that I did mention if we didn't bury a body, people have a tendency to pop back up. I was right. A certain assassin is wandering around the Underdark, but he isn't having the best time. I liked the different setting for this one, and the author used the darkness almost as another character at times.

Next up will be Siege of Darkness. Starless Night was another Good Book!

 

Akira (Volume 1) - Katsuhiro Otomo

Last week, I watched the movie, Akira. It was interesting, and when reading about it, I saw that the plot differed somewhat from the manga. It got me interested in the book, so when I saw volume 1 was a reasonable price, I snatched it up. Then I read it in two days. It's classified as a cyberpunk post-apocalyptic manga. I had to look it up, because I wouldn't know how to explain it. It's unusual.

I immediately noticed the differences with the plot. They aren't different to the point where it changes things super significantly, it just seemed like they were sorted around into a different order. Kaneda's character was the most surprising to me. He seemed to have a lot more depth in the manga than he did in the movie. I liked how involved he was in the overall story instead of mostly staying on the outside of the main conflict.

I really liked this. If I dare compare it to the movie, I'm going to lean heavily toward the manga. I understand when making a movie, you have to pick and choose what is included, but I'll give it credit for getting me interested enough in the story to check out the manga. I just found the second volume for the same reasonable price as the first one, and you know I snatched that up! Good Book!

The Legasov Tapes - Valery Legasov

This is actually the transcription of some tapes Valery Legasov made before he died. He was a major player at the Chernobyl site, and considered a national hero. His suicide was shocking to the country. I became interested in him when I watched the HBO miniseries Chernobyl.

A lot of speculation surrounded his death, which occurred the day after the second anniversary of the disaster and the day before the investigation results were to be released. He had been trying to encourage reform and change in the industry to prevent further incidents, but no one listened to him. By reading the tapes, I hoped to learn some insight into the mind of the man.

This wasn't what I was expecting at all. It was mostly scientific terms and explaining how people did what they could at the time. He did place blame a few times, but he was very cautious about it. He kept mentioning the main cause of the incident being waiting 10 years.

Then there was the repetition. The tapes weren't just made for one reason. One part was for an article, so a lot of the previous important information was repeated. He praised the firefighters and made sure it was known they hadn't been there in vain. He also mentioned the evacuation a few times and approved of the way that was organized.

Overall, unless you know a lot about chemistry and are interested in how Legasov viewed the problems he faced at Chernobyl, I think you could skip this one. He doesn't really get into his state of mind. He mainly sticks to the facts when he can. He's a sad figure, and I wish he would've been listened to.

Berserk (Volume 2) - Kentaro Miura

I finally got a copy of the second volume of this, but then I had to wait a while because it smelled funny. I'm sensitive to smells unfortunately, so the weird seaside smell that came out of the shrink wrap was upsetting and mysterious.

Continuing on with Guts' story, I was reminded of the anime series I watched from 1997. It was pretty faithful to the source material and went up to the time with the princess. Griffith is on the scene now, and the initial encounters with Casca are in there as well.

At times, I wasn't looking too hard at the pictures due to the smell, but I was trying to see if people were still getting chopped in half. I think I saw a few here and there. I liked seeing the way the band came together in more detail, but I'm not sure that I learned too much more than I had in the series.

I liked this one, and I'd like to keep going. If I am able to continue, I might have little reviews in here just to remind myself of what happens in each volume. Good Book!

The Legacy (Legacy of the Drow #1) - R. A. Salvatore

It's been a while since I've read one of the Salvatore books I purchased in a Humble Bundle. When I dive into them, I make sure I'm ready to get through a whole series, because I'm not piecemealing it. This series is a little different, though, since it has four books, while most of the time there's only three. I'll still be reading my nonfiction in between, but my fiction books are already settled for this next little bit.

Drizzt and his friends are hanging out in the Mithril Hall getting ready for the wedding between Catti-brie and Wulfgar. It seems like everything is fine. Even Regis shows up out of the blue, but then Wulfgar starts to act strangely. Regis even offers to head off into danger, which isn't like him at all.

Deeper in the Underdark, what remains of Drizzt's family hasn't forgotten him. His sister, Vierna, will do whatever it takes to get back some semblance of glory. It will take teaming up with a human assassin and drow mercenary to track down her wayward brother, but will they be able to bring him back to sacrifice him to the Spider Queen?

This was another good book. Salvatore does it again with his battle scenes. He's the only person I've ever read who can write a battle scene in such an interesting and visual way. I almost always know where everyone is and can see the entire battle in my mind. It's a real gift. 

This one was also sad. We lost one of our comrades along the way, and a side character that I had become attached to. I'm not sure if he was in any other books, but I really liked him for the short amount of time he was in this one. I think we lost a major threat in this one, but I never count anyone out until someone buries the body. No one buried this one's body, so I'm not convinced!

Next up is Starless Night. It'll be next after my nonfiction book. The Legacy earns a Good Book! review.

P.S. I don't know if I've ever mentioned it, but I love Guenhwyvar. If they ever lose that figurine, I'm going to have a fit!

Indestructible - Jack Lucas

Jack really wanted to be a Marine. He left home at 14 and worked his way into combat. Most of the time, it wasn't through normal channels. He ended up on the volcanic island of Iwo Jima, where he jumped on two grenades, saving three of his fellow Marines. This earned him a Medal of Honor and fame. While that initially went to his head a little, he took the responsibility of representing his fallen brothers seriously.

Jack is very honest about his life. He isn't super proud of everything that happened, but he doesn't shy away from it either. I was surprised he received his Medal of Honor around halfway through the book. But this man's life was filled with soap opera levels of drama at times. 

The writing style is easy to read, and Jack's life was one I admire. He mentioned his cousin, Sam, a lot, but there wasn't really an update on him in the later parts of the book. I saw Sam in the photos, though. The other thing I felt was missing was some kind of reference to the men who were saved by Jack. They left him in the trench thinking he was dead. Did they ever check on him? Talk to him after the event?

The section of photos are after the index. I'm not sure why they were placed there, but make sure to check them out. There's a fair number of them, and they're pretty interesting. Good Book!

 

The Man of Bronze - Lester Dent

A while back, I was interested in watching the Doc Savage movie from 1975. It's not that easy to find, though, and when I found out I could read the book, I was in!

Doc Savage has come home, and his father has died mysteriously. He's then almost killed by a man with red-tipped fingers. After that, Doc and his group of men, each with their own specialties, are on the case to find out why these assassins are trying to keep Doc away from his inheritance.

A lost civilization, gold, corrupt officials, and lots of BRONZE (the word was used 71 times!) fill this story with twists and turns. Doc is something between a strongman with superhuman intellect and a superhero. I can't really tell if he's supposed to be a superhero, but sometimes it really seemed like he was doing things that simply weren't possible.

This story was really fun. I liked the characters, and Doc was probably not my favorite. There wasn't anything wrong with him. He was just one of those invincible people who train two hours a day no matter what and are untouchable by the love of a woman. "You're a brick," he tells the woman falling in love with him. That was pretty funny. 

In all, there were 213 (!) Doc Savage stories. In later years, he evolved into more of a scientist, because after WWII, people were more interested in comics and Doc's antics seemed a bit silly after the real life heroics that went on. 

I'd probably enjoy more of this type of Doc Savage, but I'm not sure I'll get the chance. The Kindle versions are a bit pricey for what they are, and the paperbacks are so out of print it's ridiculous. With a character that stuck around this long, I'm surprised he's fallen through the cracks this far. I enjoyed Doc Savage and friends. Good Book!

Side Note: I never figured out what the Green Wigglies were...(look up the movie trailer on YouTube)