A rather long (527 page) story with way too much fighting. I did not like all the tedious battles, and I thought the various Supermen confusing. It was depressing to see Supergirl under Lex Luther's thumb, but there was hope she would eventually see through his shenanigans. I have not kept up with the Superman saga; this book clashes with what I remember, and of course the movies and television series do not follow the storyline as laid out in this book. I guess I
will try to forget I ever read this.
Words I Had To Look Up:
J'onn J'onzz (pg. 66) I had to Wikilook™ to refresh my memory. He was in Detective Comics, one of my favorites, back in the day. proscenium (pg. 93) -- The part of a modern stage in front of the curtain. woods colt pg. 261) -- A child born out of wedlock.
Quote:
"They're not dead until they're warm and dead!" (pg.525)
I ran across this sentiment before, but I forget where.
Four kids save the world from an evil genius. Pretty good stuff, with some good puzzles that I thought I got, but didn't, just like some of the characters in the book. Never did figure out the final puzzle, though.
Read:
2/2008
The Mysterious Benedict Society And The Prisoner's Dilemma
The third book has the group in an exciting adventure when Mr. Curtain attacks Mr. Benedict's house and steals away the Whisperer.
Quote:
..."it was on that very day that the brutes showed up and threatened the librarians. Who told them nothing, incidentally."
..."You'd think these would learn their lesson--librarians know how to keep quiet."
"It helps to ask politely," said Mr. Benedict
A novelized biography of the author's family coming to America and eventually settling in Oregon. Vanity published, I guess, the printing was poorly done in the beginning, and there are some editing problems, but after getting past the Dutch ancestors (WHY do they keep using the same names for everyone??) I became engaged with the story, and even teared up a bit at points. Still looking for that Huntington family chart, though!
It is just one darn thing after another when Vera and brother Will go to rescue their friend Kai. I liked the first half of the book more than the second.
Almost all good to great stories. Fairy Tales For Robots...well, I quite reading it some thirty pages in, it just didn't work for me.
Quote:
also your display name literally has the word "killer" in it but i don't want to make any narrow-minded assumptions at the point -- From A Guide For Working Breeds which I just adored.
Quote:
"You are, I think, running a level two-point...six, is it?"
"Two-point-eight," Ruby said.
"Well, then. Two-point-eight. How marvelous for you.'" -- From Polished Performance, which was very fun.
Quote:
Countess Mavrille's breath fogged the glass. She frowned for an instant, then used her sleeve to buff it away. -- What a super ending, to Polished Performance!!!
Read:
11/2024
The Best Science Fiction & Fantasy of the Year, Volume Eleven
That is one singularly unattractive piece of anatomy. That is just... that is bad design, is what that is." -- From a story by Joe Abercrombie, "Two's Company"
Quote:
Everything smelled hard and sharp, as though we lingered dangerously close to the boundary between always and never.
Read:
1/2025
The Best Science Fiction & Fantasy of the Year, Volume Thirteen
“Mother Tongues”, S. Qiouyi Lu
“Olivia’s Table”, Alyssa Wong
“The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington”, P Djeli Clark
“Yard Dog”, Tade Thompson
“The Woman Who Destroyed Us”, SL Huang
“The Blue Fairy’s Manifesto”, Annalee Newitz
“The Starship and the Temple Cat”, Yoon Ha Lee
“A Brief and Fearful Star”, Carmen Maria Machado
*“Field Biology of the Wee Fairies”, Naomi Kritzer
“Intervention”, Kelly Robson (Infinity’s End)
“The Bookcase Expedition”, Jeffrey Ford
“A Witch’s Guide to Escape: A Practical Compendium of Portal Fantasies”, Alix E.
“The Staff in the Stone”, Garth Nix
“Okay, Glory”, Elizabeth Bear
“Widdam”, Vandana Singh
“Dreadful Young Ladies”, Kelly Barnhill
“The Only Harmless Great Thing”, Brooke Bolander
*“The Rose MacGregor Drinking and Admiration Society”, T.
“When We Were Starless”, Simone Heller
“If at First You Don’t Succeed, Try, Try Again”, Zen Cho
“Blessings”, Naomi Novik
“Meat and Salt and Sparks”, Rich Larson
“Nine Last Days on Planet Earth”, Daryl Gregory
“Golgotha “, Dave Hutchinson
“Flint and Mirror”, John Crowley
“An Agent of Utopia”, Andy Duncan
“You Pretend Like You Never Met Me, and I’ll Pretend Like I Never Met You”, Maria Dahvana Headley
“Quality Time”, Ken Liu
“The Storyteller’s Replacement”, N K Jemisin
“Firelight”, Ursula K Le Guin
*Stories I really loved!!
Quote:
There have only ever been two kinds of librarians in the world: the prudish, bitter ones...; and witches. -- From "A Witch’s Guide to Escape: A Practical Compendium of Portal Fantasies"
Quote:
"That sheep gets lost a lot," muttered a third one. -- From "The Rose MacGregor Drinking and Admiration Society"
Quote:
"All the rocks remind me of her." -- From "The Rose MacGregor Drinking and Admiration Society"
Quote:
Southern Silence. -- “Nine Last Days on Planet Earth”
Read:
1/2025
The Best Science Fiction And Fantasy Of The Year, Volume Twelve
Contents:
“The Mocking Tower”, Daniel Abraham
“Don’t Press Charges and I Won’t Sue”, Charlie Jane Anders
“Probably Still the Chosen One”, Kelly Barnhill
“My English Name”, R. S. Benedict
“Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance”, Tobias Buckell
“Though She Be But Little”, C.S.E. Cooney
“The Moon is Not a Battlefield”, Indrapramit Das
“The Hermit of Houston”, Samuel R. Delany
“The Discrete Charm of the Turing Machine”, Greg Egan
“Crispin’s Model”, Max Gladstone
“Come See the Living Dryad”, Theodora Goss
“Bring Your Own Spoon”, Saad Z. Hossain
“Babylon”, Dave Hutchison
“The Faerie Tree”, Kathleen Kayembe
“Fairy Tale of Wood Street”, Caitlin R Kiernan
“The Worshipful Society of Glovers”, Mary Robinette Kowal
“An Evening with Severyn Grimes”, Rich Larson
“The Chameleon’s Gloves”, Yoon Ha Lee
“The Smoke of Gold is Glory”, Scott Lynch
“Sidewalks”, Maureen McHugh
“Concessions”, Khaalidah Muhammad-Ali
“The Martian Obelisk”, Linda Nagata
“The Secret Life of Bots”, Suzanne Palmer
“A Series of Steaks”, Vina Jie-Min Prasad
“Belladonna Nights”, Alastair Reynolds
“Eminence”, Karl Schroeder
“The Lamentation of their Women”, Kai Ashante Wilson
“Confessions of a Con Girl”, Nick Wolven
“Carnival Nine”, Caroline M. Yoachim
Quote:
"Well then," Corrina said. -- Probably Still The Chosen One
Quote:
Zero-gravity puke was a truly terrible thing. -- The Secret Life Of Bots
Quote:
Magic does from time to time so boil one's piss. -- The Smoke Of Gold Is Glory
Quote:
"God, this is a good way to die," he said. -- Bring Your Own Spoon
Fun read of fictional letters to home from a soldier in the U.S. Army during World War I.
A few objectionable racist terms appear, sadly.
I read the Project Gutenberg e-book version.
A free e-book (short story) download about two guys, cousins, named Lenny (who appeared in another book that takes place before) who have acquired a large quantity of "E" and need to sell to...someone. Good story.