Tag: fantasy

Let’s talk about Star Wars ( briefly )

I know that I missed posting something on the ” Star Wars ” franchise on May 4th but better late than never , right guys ? I don’t think that there is another fictional franchise out there that has influenced my life more . My father had me watch the original trilogy at a very young age . How young ? Might have been still in diapers  . Those movies were awesome and started my interest in science fiction .

If I remember right , we watched all the prequel films when they came to theatres , and I was awestruck by them . The fight choreography , the music , the mythos , everything just combined together to make the perfect movie franchise for a young boy . Of course , the movies never came out fast enough and I needed my fix damn it ! So ” Star Wars” books and video games became a big part of my life . I’ll credit ” Star Wars ” ( alongside old horror stories ) for giving me an interest in reading in the first place . I’ll include a few book suggestions at the end of this for y’all .

” Star Wars ” also taught me something else . That people can watch the same thing but feel totally different about it . ” Revenge Of The Sith ” is my favorite ” Star Wars ” film , I used to try to explain it’s value to everyone on the internet before I learned that was a waste of time , and I’ll stick by it . Maybe another day I’ll make my case for that film on this site if their is any interest .

Overall , I’ve got a lot of good memories with this franchise . Haven’t cared much for the ” Disney ” version of the series to be honest but it doesn’t change what the George Lucas movies have accomplished . A series that combines the old pulp science fiction stories with elements from samurai films , westerns , fantasy , with cutting edge film techniques and special effects … it’s the ultimate combination . The only movie to come close to that was the first ” Matrix ” in my opinion . Let’s end this with a huge thank you to George Lucas and I guess I’ll give you that list now .

  1. ” Tales of the Bounty Hunters ” edited by Kevin J. Anderson
  2. ” The Jedi Academy trilogy ” by Kevin J. Anderson
  3. ” Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina ” edited by Kevin J. Anderson
  4. ” The Han Solo Adventures ” by Brian Daley
  5. ” Splinter of the Mind’s Eye ” by Alan Dean Foster

Werewolf Cop by Andrew Klavan

” Werewolf Cop ” is a supernatural thriller/ mystery written by Andrew Klavan , published in the mid 2010’s .

A brutal murder attracts the attention of the Extraordinary Crimes Unit , specifically detectives Zach Adams ( The Cowboy ) and Martin Goulart ( Broadway Joe ) . They notice the crimes were committed using broadswords and that leads them to believe that the crime was committed by the BLM ( a German-Russian gang ), not only that , the leader of the group ( Dominic Abend ) was there himself . The two detectives have never been closer but Zach is having to deal with some complications . His boss brings him in to her office and tells him that Martin might be on the take , also Zach is being blackmailed by a former lover . He finds a potential lead in Germany in the form of a professor . The professor tells him a crazy story involving immortal Nazi’s , magic daggers , and werewolves . He doesn’t believe her … until the moment she turns into a werewolf before his eyes . From there , the story turns into a fast paced supernatural thriller involving police corruption , German cults , and one hungry werewolf cop !

This is my first time reading an Andrew Klavan novel , I’ve seen some of the movies he wrote ( One Missed Call , True Crime , Gosnell ) and enjoyed those so I figured that his novels would be worth reading . Let me tell you , ” Werewolf Cop ” is one hell of an introduction to the guy . Dark and fun are the two words I would use to describe this masterpiece . It’s not for the weak of heart but if you enjoy a good detective story or are just into werewolves , read it folks !

The Damnation Game by Clive Barker

” The Damnation Game ” is a horror novel by Clive Barker originally published in the 1980’s .

A gambling addict ( Marty Strauss ) is freed from prison in order to become the personal bodyguard of a wealthy man named Joseph Whitehead . Not all is at it seems however , weird things are happening to Whitehead’s heroin addict daughter ( Carys ) , and Whitehead is in constant fear of a man named Mamoulian . They apparently had made a deal together back in World War Two and Mamoulian wants Joseph to pay up . Mamoulian does various things to haunt Joseph such as raising the dead and entering Carys mind . During all of this , Marty falls in love with Carys and becomes determined to save her during this damnation game !

This is a great novel and reading this again was a treat . It’s a Faust-like tale mixed with Clive Barker’s distinctive blend of fantasy and body horror . Now saying that , this novel is not for the squeamish . It’s brutal and downright depressing but the prose is fantastic . Check it out , if you dare !

Horns by Joe Hill

Horns is a dark fantasy revenge story written by Joe Hill around 2010.

This story is told from the main characters ( Ig Parrish ) point of view . Ig Parrish has been a broken man since his girlfriend ( Merrin Williams ) was found in the forest with signs of being raped and murdered with Ig himself ( naturally ) being a suspect . He wakes sometime later to find that he is growing horns out of his head . That is not all he finds now though , it turns out that people are compulsively honest with him about their darkest desires and secrets . With this information , he also learns that he can get them to act upon those desires . Soon he figures out who the true killer is . What is one to do with all these gifts ? Get revenge obviously .

This is a revenge story with supernatural elements . Throughout the novel we learn more about Ig and Merrin’s relationship and that is where this novel shines the most in my personal view.  Most of the story outside of that is a neat concept but just doesn’t completely deliver on it . That’s not the main problem though , it’s mostly that none of the main characters are likable . Is it a bad book ? No . It’s written well enough , it just didn’t grab me .

The Great God Pan By Arthur Machen

The Great God Pan is a supernatural mystery story written by Arthur Machen in the late 1800’s .

It stats off with a man named Clarke agreeing to watch an experiment performed by his friend Dr. Raymond on an innocent young lady named Mary . The goal of said experiment is to open up the human mind to be able to experience a spiritual world , something our ancestors referred to as ” They called it seeing the god Pan ” , so of course it requires some brain surgery. Everything starts off well enough but when she sees the other side she begins to show signs of terror and struggles against an unseen source. She becomes in Dr. Raymond’s words ” … a hopeless idiot ” . The story then switches ahead years later when Clarke hears the story of a sinister little girl named Helen Vaughan whom seems to be connect to a few strange happenings in the town . The story once again skips forward a few years where a man named Villiers finds an old friend of his named Herbert , Herbert was once a well off man but he has now become a vagrant . When asked how he became this way , he replies his wife has ” Corrupted body and soul “. The story from there goes into an investigation of a string of strange suicides . Are all these incidents related ? Are you brave enough to seek  ” The Great God Pan ” ?

This story is great , it’s a dark and mysterious atmospheric story which relies on suggestion most of the time . I can clearly now that I’ve read it how much influence his style had on H. P. Lovecraft ( most notably ” The Dunwich Horror” ) . Is this story for everyone ? No , I would not recommend it to people who can’t stand 19th century English prose nor can I recommend it for those whom don’t have a taste for the weird and macabre . However , if those aren’t a problem for you and you’re a fan of H.P. Lovecraft , I’d recommend this without hesitation .