C.T. Phipps's Blog, page 111

The Blade Itself review

    The Blade Itself is the first volume of the First Law Trilogy, a collection of low fantasy novels which helped bring the concept of grimdark to mainstream attention. While very few authors willingly admit to writing grimdark, this trilogy is generally one you can point to and say, "This is what the genre is supposed to be about." For those who want to avoid the question of what grimdark means in regards to this novel, I'll instead say The Blade Itself is an excellent, easy-...

The Subversiveness of Aiden Pearce

Warning - this review will contain spoilers for the storyline of Watch_Dogs.

    Aiden Pearce is a controversial character from Ubisoft Entertainment. As the protagonist of Watch_Dogs, he has been derided by many as being boring or flat. I couldn't disagree more. In fact, I'd argue that Aiden Pearce is one of the most subversive characters Ubisoft has ever created. He is a character who challenges the idea of the video game escapist fantasy and illustrates how even a "successful...

ESOTERRORISM is now available in paperback form

I'm pleased to say that ESOTERRORISM is now available in paperback form for its fans to read. It's been a long wait but now you, too, can pick up a copy of Derek Hawthorne's adventures in physical form from Amazon.com.

There are no good guys in the world of shadows...but maybe some bad men are better than others.

Derek Hawthorne was born to be an agent of the Red Room. Literally. Raised in a conspiracy which has protected the world from the supernatural for centuries, he's never been anything o...

Watch_Dogs review

    Watch_Dogs is a heavily panned game in some circles while fiercely defended in others. It's a game I avoided because of accusations of a flat main character, sexism, cliched storytelling, and about a dozen other things which made it seem like the worst game of the year. However, several of my friends continued to pester me to play the game and while I prepared to get into the mood to dig into the Metro 2033 games, I figured I'd pick it up to give it a try.

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Demon Squad: The Best of Enemies review

    I've mentioned how much I love the Demon Squad books and this is a series which I intend to continue following until either Tim Marquitz starts writing them or I realize poor Frank is never going to get with his angel cousin Scarlett. For the time being, I'm going to continue to delude myself that such is a possibility. Just kidding, I love the series because it's a great literary comic with lots of humor and action plus great characters.

    Nothing more, no...

Demon Squad: Beyond the Veil review

    Whether you like Beyond the Veil can be summarized by a single sentence : do you, the reader, find the idea of a Clint Eastwood-looking Jesus fighting aliens with the Devil's Son, and Longinus on a planet of zebra-colored Star Trek humanoids intriguing? If this is the case, then Beyond the Veil is the kind of book for you. If you, instead, find this way too over-the-top then you won't enjoy this book as it thrives on that concept and is only going to get more so from here.

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Grimdark Magazine issue 4# review

    I've mentioned my fondness for Grimdark Magazine in previous articles for the United Federation of Charles. It's a delightful fanzine which contains articles, interviews, reviews, excepts, and short-stories about the darker side of speculative fiction.

    I'm particularly fond of the nonfiction side as it's introduced, at least, the first levels of scholarly discourse which will go a long way to legitimizing grimdark as a legitimate movement in fantasy ficti...

Rotting to the Core review

    Rotting to the Core is the sequel to S.P. Durnin's hilariously sexy post-apocalypse zombie novel, Keep Your Crowbar Handy. It followed Jake, his girlfriend Laura, Laura's best friend Kat, and a number of other survivors stuck together in a survival shelter. Ultimately, the zombies managed to drive our heroes from their home and force them on a quest for a location where humanity is still in control of the planet.

    Also, to confront the fact they all want to...

Prince of Thorns review

    Children are cruel.

    This is an undeniable fact for anyone who has spent more than a few minutes with them. The whole idea of the young being innocent is a polite fiction of those who I, assume, either do not work in the teaching profession or have children of their own. There are no greater individuals with the potential for evil than those in the thirteen-to-fifteen-year-old range who have the selfishness of a child combined with the uncontrollable urges...

Baptism of Fire review

    Baptism of Fire is the fifth book in the Witcher series by Andrzej Sapkowski. A big fan of the series, I've enjoyed the previous novels and reviewed them here on my blog (Book 1, Book 2, Book 3, Book 4). For those unfamiliar with the series, it follows monster-hunter Geralt of Rivia awith his adoptive child Ciri as they struggle to make their way through a corrupt world where the nobility is selfish, the peasantry is uneducated, and war is horrific.

    The se...