Jason Waltz > Recent Status Updates

Well done recollection thus far, though there was 1, possibly 2, points at which an additional sentence could rectify an odd lack of clarity.

Chuck Clark sends Turkael down an even darker trail, setting stage for potential future splendid stories.

Corey Graham delivers a rousing tale and - as the editors mention - brings shades of Howard, Conan, and Kill to mind!

Chuck Clark's "Totem & Stone" is simply terrific!

Cool story by Pedro Iniguez! Turns being a necromancer on its head!

J.B. Toner's "he drew breath only to draw blade" is such a freaking awesome line!

Not a very auspicious start. Two stories in and wondering what I've done.

"Reflections for the Winter of My Soul" is such a great story! A little overwritten here and there in the early stages, and an overly loquacious villain at the close, but Kane and the mystery are beyond superb.

I think the author missed most of the point and failed to address disappointment in God in the typical current Christian manner. While admitting and confessing the story of Job was a bet - a side bet too - he still concentrates solely on the 'why me?' POV most Christians, frankly most humans, fixate on. Man thinks far too highly of itself: it's always about me. Yeah, no.

Methinks the author doest gloss too much over The Wager (author's emphasis) in the Book of Job. Simultaneously labeling it embarrassing yet not examining it for what it is is disingenuous at best, intentional at worst. When all of Creation is an immense game of bar dice it's too large to embrace, too grand for our mortal minds. A side bet is easy to grasp, even easier to understand.

"The Repairer of Reputations" was - dare I say it? - insane.
(I am also right now wondering why THE KING IN YELLOW is something I am supposed to read.)

And for the hat trick, a great story not only enthralling but even tear-jerking. 3 out of 4, I'm stopping for the day.

2 great fun stories in a row just made me change my mind and I'll be adding this to the shelf. Much stronger middle to this anthology than the opening stories promised.

Finally some real fun! "Bone Mother" brought together in fine fashion two myths: Baba Yaga & Dracula.

Exactly the flighty fantastical phantasma one expects. 2 of 3 stories thus far are eloquent writings of not very much entertaining.

"A large measure of disappointment with God stems from disillusionment with other Christians." Fairly accurate yet insufficient statement.

Interesting thus far. Enjoying the contrast and overlap of the original but definitely not enthralled. Understandably a whole lot of telling...not entirely sure how this could turn into a long series.

Finally getting the key to this book 20 pages from the end. Overall, a huuuuge book of sexual braggadocio, not the typical warrior memoir unfortunately, and not why I grabbed this book.

Fun braggadocio!

Still uncertain why I'm bothering to read this; perhaps it's simple: I've succumbed to fatal accident drive-by syndrome. Can't turn away from the horrific thing.

Not an Abercrombie fan. Anyway, there's possibly 3 characters I'm interested in learning more of. Point of this is tp quote: "But then warriors on different sides always had more in common with each other than with anyone else." A joy/sorrowful truth.

Two chapters in. Not sure why I'm reading this other than I was interested in the new sequel.

Terrific & true lament:
"Superb as it may be, the mounting of animals in museums without representation of their voices leaves out something very characteristic and dramatic. Will nobody mount me a brindle bull and add to him the call of blood and the bellow of battle?"

Much improved!! These last 70 pages are more like it, delivering a more Conan-like Conan and Howard-like storytelling. Though KEW writes some awkward sentences now and again.

Well. Not exactly what I'd long anticipated. There's some good scenes and great lines in here; equally there's some poor writing and honestly? This doesn't feel like Conan/Howard.

"Like people, cattle are at their best when separated from the mob." Could not be better said today than it was in 1940.

I don't know; just when there might be something we're getting onto, it flitters away and falls into the typical plausible deniability arguments.

Dobie is quite the loquacious storyteller. Inventive, crafty, folksy - legends and history and interviews and experience all rolled loosely into a porch-sitting-n-telling style. Would have liked to seen the original Texas Longhorn Mavericks, as described behemoths of the river brush bottoms, but they last ranged in 1900. Based on some longhorns I've seen, I can only imagine how huge they once were.

Part the 4 begins after a plot surprise, not in action but in timing. The event in question was long foregone and foretold, but its implementation came earlier than anticipated. This tale is eccentric and really offers no character to hold me yet I am bound by a morbid curiosity to learn its close and thus its purpose. Oddly endearing.

Finishing The Scary Stuff section with the enjoyable "A Pirate Remembers" and two great lines from other poems:
From "Shadows from Yesterday": 'For every sin that we revel in we must make right some time.'
And from "The Ghost Kings": '...but the world, unheeding, sleeps.'

I've gained two story titles from these.