C.T. Phipps's Blog, page 99
February 22, 2016
The Riyria Revelations: Rise of Empire review
The Riyria Revelations remains one of my favorite popcorn fantasy series. They're not perfect books with their simplistic good and evil morality as well as somewhat generic fantasy setting but they're fun. The characters are likable, the dialogue is sharp, and the world-building (while not terribly original) is consistent as well as used intelligently. If I were to describe it, I'd probably say it's what would happen if you combined Fritz Leiber's Lankhmar series with some...
February 20, 2016
The Magicians review
Syfy has recently begun showing their adaptation of Lev Grossman's The Magicians. I'm extremely fond of it so far and very interested in sharing my review of it. Heck, I even considered reviewing all of the individual episodes but don't have the time for it with all of my current projects. However, in anticipation of the first season ending, I've decided to review the original novel which inspired it all. I have mixed feelings regarding the story and its sequels but I think...
February 17, 2016
Dead Tide: Surge review
The Dead Tide series is one of my favorite zombie series and one of the few which I think actually takes advantage of the format. They're not flawless and not for everyone but if I had to recommend zombie fiction for a connoisseur then it would be up there with the Time of Death books, World War Z, Ex-Heroes. and The Becoming series.
The story doesn't do anything particularly unique with the format, zombies functioning under Romero rules, but Stephen A. No...
February 16, 2016
The Wheel of Time: Lord of Chaos review
I tend to consider The Wheel of Time one of the greatest works of fantasy ever completed, even though it does have its serious flaws. These include over-reliance on stock characters, everything being just a little too twee, and the fact the morality is Black and White with the only occasional smattering of gray. Despite this, it's an amazing work which contains hundreds upon hundreds of characters interacting with their own distinct plotlines in various ways which sometimes...
Dead Space: Catalyst review
Dead Space: Catalyst is an excellent book with a really awful opening. The writing isn't bad, don't get me wrong, but it's a bit of a case of the author doing a set up which is far removed from the premise of what the audience came here to enjoy. For those who may be put off by the introduction, I encourage readers to stick with it as you'll be rewarded with plenty of traditional Dead Space fun with Unitologists, Necromorphs, Markers, action, and horror.
T...
February 14, 2016
Dead Space 2 review
Dead Space was a really enjoyable game to me. It was a wonderful homage to Alien, The Thing, Event Horizon, and just about every other good science-fiction horror movie made during the Eighties. The game suffered for the fact there were too many killable monsters and after slaying your 60th or 70th Necromorph, they're not really all that intimidating. Despite this, I was entertained and decided to pick up the remaining two in the trilogy.
The premise of De...
February 12, 2016
Killjoys (Season One) review
The SyFy channel has recently done something amazing: it's started showing science fiction again. The show has never been entirely without science fiction but the Sharknados and werewolf shows have been outnumbering the Battlestar Galacticas for some time. This is changing with series like Dark Matter, The Expanse, and Killjoys. I, for one, am very intrigued as the majority of these series are taking a decidedly dark take toward the material.
Killjoys, at...
Killjoys (Season 1) review
The SyFy channel has recently done something amazing: it's started showing science fiction again. The show has never been entirely without science fiction but the Sharknados and werewolf shows have been outnumbering the Battlestar Galacticas for some time. This is changing with series like Dark Matter, The Expanse, and Killjoys. I, for one, am very intrigued as the majority of these series are taking a decidedly dark take toward the material.
Killjoys, at...
February 11, 2016
Don't Tell My Parents I've Got Henchmen review
The Don't Tell My Parents series is one I am deeply enamoured of. It's on my list along with Ex-Heroes, Wearing the Cape, and Confessions of a D-List Supervillain for some of the best superhero fiction out there (along with my Supervillainy Saga of course). The books are neither dark or especially deep but they're fun.
The premise for the series as a whole is Penny Akk, daughter of superheroes Brainy Akk and the Audit, has discovered her superpowers at pub...
Always Chaotic Evil: In Defense of Orcs and Anti-Elves
Ragnarok Publications was kind enough to share a short little essay by me on my favorite misunderstood monster in fantasy: the orc. Who doesn't love those green-skinned ne'er-do-wells? Well, apparently the gods of fantasy don't because they always get the short end of the stick. But what is "evil" in fantasy and why must it always be the pug-looking tusked warrior races? I don't get into it in-depth but my article talks a little about how it ties into my upcoming book Wrait...
