Homeland (Legend of Drizzt #1) - R. A. Salvatore

A while back, we purchased a bunch of the Drizzt Do'Urden books through a Humble Bundle. We own a few of them in DTB form, but I read this one on my Kindle. Even though this isn't the first book in publication order, it is first chronologically. I decided to read some of them because my family plays Dungeons and Dragons, Drizzt has always been an interesting character to me, and finally, this is the only author my husband will read voluntarily.

In the beginning, Drizzt was meant to be a sacrifice to the Spider Queen. His family is actively trying to eradicate another house, and an opportunistic murder saves the life of Drizzt. From the moment of his birth, it is clear that Drizzt isn't any ordinary drow. He may have lavender eyes, but it's his view of the world around him that causes the most concern to his family.

It's clear that he's meant to be a warrior, and Drizzt takes pleasure training and learning from the family's weapons master. The bond between the two is tested at times, but the real test will come once Drizzt realizes his full potential as a fighter.

I enjoyed this book a lot. So much that I immediately read the next one in the series directly after finishing this one. I found the characters engaging and interesting, and truly liked the writing style of the author. The fight scenes didn't drag on, and I didn't mind longer descriptions. Since this is based on the D&D universe, there were times that I looked up what something looked like (a drider, for instance) just so I could envision it in my head accurately. It was purely a personal preference. 

I read much of the second book during a 4-hour flight delay, so I've already finished it. I'm hoping to write a review for it in the next day or two. Good Book! 

Love and the Loathsome Leopard - Barbara Cartland

I believe this is the 13th book in the Eternal Collection. It was originally published in 1977.

Lord Cheriton is returning to his childhood home to take care of a problem with smugglers. He isn't pleased to revisit old ghosts, but he's even more surprised to find a beautiful woman living in the home he'd hoped would rot and fall to the ground.

I don't remember the other BC books I've read being this awkward. From the way they instantly fall in love with each other to the weird way Wivina speaks, I just couldn't get into the story. I think my favorite part was reading the biographical information about the author at the end. My expectations were high(ish) for this one, but I didn't really enjoy it in the end.

Vision and the Scarlet Witch - Steve Engelhart & Bill Mantlo

This collection has Giant-Size Avengers #4 (1974) & Vision and the Scarlet Witch #1-4 (1982).

Vision and Scarlet Witch have gotten pretty popular since the MCU and the Disney+ show. One of my daughters wanted to learn more about them, so we bought this for her for Christmas. I asked to borrow it, because I've enjoyed reading these older comics in between other books.

It was an interesting ride, but I wasn't prepared for how strange it got. The tree marriage and the encounter with the cow have really stuck with me. Maybe if I knew more of the backstory, it would've made more sense, but overall, I ended up confused. It wasn't bad, I just didn't enjoy it as much as the other collections. I believe that comes down to having more time to immerse myself in the story, and I wasn't able to do that in 125 pages.

The Problem of Cell 13 - Jacques Futrelle

I became interested in this book when I was researching the "locked room" stories. I picked it up from the Gutenberg website and loaded it on my Kindle.

This was written in the early 1900s. Included in the book are seven short stories: The Problem of Cell 13, The Scarlet Thread, The Man Who Was Lost, The Great Auto Mystery, The Flaming Phantom, The Ralston Bank Burglary, and The Mystery of a Studio.

Each of these stories follows a Sherlock-like character by the name of Augustus S.F.X. Van Dusen. In each story, he solves a seemingly impossible puzzle (but don't say anything is impossible in front of him - nothing is impossible!).

I really enjoyed these. They were easy to read, and the character himself reminded me so much of Sherlock Holmes. Professor Van Dusen kept what he knew very close until the end when he would reveal how the crime was committed. In a way, he also reminds me of Poirot. We don't get to learn a lot about the professor himself, but that's not easy to do during seven short stories.

Overall, I really liked this book and would recommend it for anyone looking for short mysteries that entertain. Just remember that it was written in a different time, so you're dealing with the technology of that time. Good Book!

The Younger Edda - Snorri Sturluson

The Younger Edda, also known as Prose Edda and other things, is written by Snorri Sturluson during the early 13th century. I wanted to learn more about Norse mythology, and the section in Bullfinch's Mythology wasn't very exhaustive. I came across the Poetic and Prose Edda, and it sounded like the Prose would be easier for me to read and understand.

This particular version was originally published much later, around 1901. In the preface, it's recommended that the reader skip the foreword and afterword until they've read the "meat" of the book. I'd have to agree with that. The preface and foreword were strange and didn't seem to fit the style of the rest of the book. 

The book includes an introduction that tells about Sturluson's life and the details of the manuscript.

The Edda itself was particularly interesting to me. The first section, The Fooling of Gylfe, is written in a sort of question/answer format. A king goes to the gods and asks various questions about their life and stories. In theory, this sounds boring, but it wasn't. The king asks a question, and the response was the gods telling their stories. Most of the time, I knew what would happen in the story, but it didn't matter. I was hooked.

The second part, Brage's Talk, starts out much the same way but is divided into traditional sections. Brage is a son of Odin and a storyteller. This section is Brage telling a man stories of their gods, or asas. Again, it was engaging, and I enjoyed it.

At the end is a section devoted to vocabulary. If you want a quick description for something in the mythology, this is the place to find it. I really enjoyed the edda itself, and the notes at the end. If you're interested in Norse mythology at all, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend The Younger, or Prose, Edda. I couldn't believe how easy it was to read. At times, it's harder to read books much younger than the Edda, but this was a real winner. Good Book!

 

Uncovering Norse Mythology - Lucas Russo

The full title of this book is Uncovering Norse Mythology: A Guide Into Norse Gods and Goddesses, Viking Warriors and Magical Creatures. I picked this up, because as a board gamer, I came across a mythology-based game that I was interested in. I've always been interested in Greek and Roman mythology (mostly Greek), but I realized how little I knew about Norse mythology. 

*After reading this book, I picked up the Younger Edda from Gutenberg.org. I'll review that separately.

Russo does a good job summarizing many of the stories of Norse mythology. He also goes into detail on the culture and how the gods are seen today. I would've preferred to have a little less information on religions that use the gods today, but it was an interesting addition to the book.

My favorite part of this book is the glossary that shows you how to pronounce the sometimes intimidating names of locations and people. One thing I noticed is that most of the entries have emphasis on the first syllable. While most times this makes sense, other times I was confused. Valhalla, for instance, sounds more correct as val-HAH-la (and is also listed as the pronunciation is some dictionaries), but in the book, it's written out as varl-hah-la. It just doesn't sound right that way. There might be a reason why it's written this way in the book, but at least I have a place to start if I want to learn how to say these things, even if it's only in my head.

I commend the author. He did a good job, and I enjoyed the read. I also noticed that the author made some of the illustrations, which was pretty cool. Some of the images didn't transfer so well to my Kindle, but they were well done overall. If you're interested in this subject, this book is short, easy to read and affordable. Good Book!

The Mystery of the Yellow Room - Gaston Leroux

I decided to read this because it's one of the first "locked room" mysteries. Published in the early 1900s, it was written in France and challenges the reader to solve a seemingly impossible crime.

We're following the detective skills of Joseph Rouletabille. He's a reporter by trade, but he believes that he can solve the attack of a young woman. He keeps his methods secret for most of the book, giving out little nuggets here and there. I didn't have it figured out, and I had to pay close attention to the reveal so I wouldn't miss any answers.

A couple things bothered me about this book. First was the usage of the word "murderer." For the entire book, they referred to the attacker as a murderer. The victim was NOT DEAD. If I put the book down for any length of time, when I came back to it, I would read "murderer" and wonder if the victim had died and I didn't remember. I got used to it after a while, but the real issue, the one I still don't understand, is the resolution of the book. 

SPOILER:

The villain gets away. Why? BECAUSE ROLETABILLE LETS HIM GO! And he doesn't just allow the villain to escape, he alerts the person he's going to expose them. Does Rouletabille have to answer for this? NOPE. Instead he tells the judge, "...my business is not to arrest people." and "I gave _____ time to catch the 4:17 train to Paris, where he would know how to hide himself, and leave no traces." Seriously?! That honestly ruined the entire story for me. There was no reason to let the villain escape, and he really is a murderer.

Yes it's fiction, and I shouldn't be annoyed. But I am. I hated almost all the characters by the end of the book. The crime itself was interesting, but the rest of it was a bummer. HUGE PASS.