The Iliad and The Odyssey - Roy Thomas (Marvel Illustrated edition)

I just finished The Odyssey, and when I went to find my review for The Iliad, it wasn’t there. Apparently, I never wrote a review for it. Oops.

The story for both of these is what you expect, and I was more interested in the interpretation and the art.

I’m not as familiar with The Iliad, but I still enjoyed the art and the story. I can’t tell you how accurate it is, but I have a suspicion that it’s pretty close based on what I saw of The Odyssey.

I noticed some of the little details while reading The Odyssey. Elpenor falls off the roof and comes back later to ask for a proper burial. The part that I’m torn on is the dog. Poor dog dies right after recognizing his master. I knew that was in there, and I appreciate the attention to detail, but it still made me sad.

The fun part of this for me was reading half of it while listening to Epic: The Musical. If you have any interest in the Odyssey, I can’t recommend this musical enough. I love it, and every time I have a trip that’s over two hours, I immediately start it up. It makes the time fly.

The art is good as well. Some parts were really beautiful and others were more comic-y. Not saying it’s a bad thing, it’s just something to be aware of. There’s not much else to say – both of these adaptations easily earn a Good Book! review.

Frankenstein - Mary Shelley

This book needs no introduction. But I feel certain that more people have watched a Frankenstein movie than read the book. And now I’ve done both!

The story isn’t a “this is happening now” kind of thing. It starts out with a man writing to his sister. He met Victor Frankenstein and heard his tale. And that’s the book. At the end, the original man comes back to the story, and we hit the end.

You think you know how the story is going to go, but it surprised me. There’s not a ton of action, and Victor repeats his feelings of despair numerous times. But I was really invested in the story. The creature was a tragic figure, but he wasn’t a mindless monster. He was like a strange child abandoned at birth and left to learn how life worked on his own.

I’m a bit disappointed in myself for waiting so long to read this book. With the gaps between actual action, I’m surprised I was so interested. But even with the repetitive despair, you can really get a sense of how each character made mistakes. I do recommend this book, but it does show its age a bit. It has thee and thou when people speak, so that gives you a general idea of the language. It gets a Good Book! review and is better than all the movies!

Homunculus - Hideo Yamamoto

I didn't have the full experience, but I'm okay with that.

A man volunteers to have a hole drilled in his head, and the result is that he can see "monsters" in other people. His friend wants to explore the gift, but it's disturbing.

I'm not really getting into the rest of it. I had six volumes, and around volume five, I was scrolling pretty fast. Let's just say there was some sexual content I was not prepared for. Once I made it through five, I had one left, but it didn't really explain much, and I was done.

I was really interested up to that point. Then volume five happened, and it just wasn't for me any more. I wanted to read it since it was a psychological manga, but it just went in a direction that made me want to quit. I'm out...

The Sundering (War of the Ancients #3) - Richard A. Knaak

It was time to wrap up the trilogy, and I was ready to see what happened. Or so I thought...

Illidan is still helping the Legion, and Malfurion is aiding the allies. The group has grown and now has other races, like tauren, helping to fight the evil that threatens Kalimdor. We still have a few characters who are in the wrong timeline, and Deathwing is on a rampage. Just a normal day in the world of Warcraft!

I liked this third installment. The battles were harsh, and I found myself mourning certain deaths. Even some of the felbeast deaths touched my heart a little. Yes, I know they're ugly and evil, but when they act like dogs, I think of them more as dogs than hellspawn. The end was also really good. It wasn't just happily ever after. It felt like the author really wanted me to know that these characters were going to be okay. And if they weren't, the blow was softened a bit.

This author has written for other series, including Dragonlance and Diablo. It sounds like he's also written more World of Warcraft titles, so I might have to start tracking him as an author. The only problem would be the trilogies. I'd have to get all three before starting them. But it's not really a problem, since I have a ton of books waiting to be read. Overall, I really liked this one, and it easily earns a Good Book! review.

The Demon Soul (War of the Ancients #2) - Richard A. Knaak

I finished book 1, The Well of Eternity, and immediately started the next one.

Sargeras is still trying to come into their world, and Krasus, Rhonin and Brox are still in the wrong timeline. Illidan is becoming more unstable, and Neltharion is getting ready to reveal his insanity to the other dragons. More characters know who the time-travelers really are, and it’s not much of a surprise most of the time.

I really appreciate the little hints of what happened in the first book. Since I’m reading them back-to-back, it’s not as much help for me, but I know how frustrating it is to read a series and forget what happened. This book also doesn’t go into pages and pages of “Do you remember this?” It’s a quick reminder here and there, and you’re good.

This one ended on a bit more of a cliffhanger than the other one, and I’m glad I have the last one already loaded on my Kindle. The writing is good, and it gets a Good Book! review. 

Solo Leveling (Webtoon) - Chugong

I picked this one to read out of a list of stories that sounded interesting. 

Sung Jin-woo is chosen by a system to level up and fight monsters. He starts out as the weakest hunter, and he has to hide his sudden skills. But that isn't going to last long.

I only made it about 25% through this before I got a bit bored. Apparently, it started out as a fantasy web novel and later became a webtoon, anime and drama adaptation is in the works. For some reason, I couldn't get into the story.

I read the summary of the plot, and it seems like I didn't get to the interesting parts. I'm not sure why I wasn't getting into this. It has some cute moments of humor, but it just didn't interest me. I don't think it's bad, it just wasn't for me.

Black Storm - Thomas C. Hinkle

When I was at the used book store, I came across this book by accident. I was in the children's section looking for a copy of The Outsiders when I saw this unloved paperback on the shelf. I liked the cover, and the story sounded interesting.

Black Storm is a beautiful horse that won't let anyone ride him. He's terrified of anyone with spurs, and only Joe Bain is able to ride him. The horse has wonderful instincts and is smart. One night, Joe is attacked, and Black Storm is stolen.

I didn't read this book correctly. I did notice that the horse went through a lot on the back cover, but I wasn't prepared to read the author's note and discover the horse was real. After I got about 1/3 of the way through, I was starting to get uncomfortable. I was almost in tears when I decided I couldn't go any farther. 

From there, I skimmed to the part where Joe and Black Storm were reunited. Then, I skipped to the end and was almost going to have to throw the book across the room. But! It was safe at that point, and the paperback is intact. It wouldn't have been so bad if the author wasn't so good at his job. The details about Black Storm's injuries and scars from previous beatings were thorough.

Yeah, if you love horses and don't like reading about them being injured, sad and lonely, I wouldn't recommend this book. One of the things that bothers me most is the book is meant for children. My kids would never have forgiven me if I read this book to them. And I'd have to comfort them while they cried for 1/2 the book. Major pass for me.