This week’s review is Greg Keyes’s The Born Queen, the final volume in his Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone quartet. I’ve been a fan and supporter of the series since it burst onto the scene with The Briar King and through each subsequent volume. The Born Queen is no exception – I think Greg pulled off something really special in this series, something not a lot of his contemporaries have been able to do. He set out to tell a certain type of story (Secondary World Epic Fantasy with a Large Cast) in a set number of volumes (four). He did that and did it very well.
Unfortunately, this series inevitably is considered Martin-lite, which is an unfair comparison. Yes both series have very large casts and both authors don’t falter when it comes to allowing primary characters to die, but Greg’s series really stands on its own. Just check out my review, I say it there in more detail.
Mrs. Blog o’ Stuff and I caught The Incredible Hulk on Friday. I went in hoping it would be good and at the least, better than the one from a few years ago. Unlike Iron Man, I read The Incredible Hulk for a number of years, most of Peter David’s legendary run on the character, and some of the recent stuff – I had expectations of what a real Hulk film needed to do and was surprised – it was better than I expected it would be. I don’t know that I’d consider it in the upper echelon of Super Hero Movies like Batman Begins, Iron Man, Superman, Spider-Man 1 & 2 but solidly in the next class along with Hellboy, X-Men 1 & 2 and Superman II. Good action, ambiguous ending and a Geek out moment for me when the Green Goliath exclaimed HULK SMASH! I really hope Edward Norton, and the studio for that matter, decides to stick around for the hinted and hoped follow-up. In terms of summer movies of 2008, I enjoyed The Incredible Hulk more than Indiana Jones.
Unfortunately, this series inevitably is considered Martin-lite, which is an unfair comparison. Yes both series have very large casts and both authors don’t falter when it comes to allowing primary characters to die, but Greg’s series really stands on its own. Just check out my review, I say it there in more detail.
Mrs. Blog o’ Stuff and I caught The Incredible Hulk on Friday. I went in hoping it would be good and at the least, better than the one from a few years ago. Unlike Iron Man, I read The Incredible Hulk for a number of years, most of Peter David’s legendary run on the character, and some of the recent stuff – I had expectations of what a real Hulk film needed to do and was surprised – it was better than I expected it would be. I don’t know that I’d consider it in the upper echelon of Super Hero Movies like Batman Begins, Iron Man, Superman, Spider-Man 1 & 2 but solidly in the next class along with Hellboy, X-Men 1 & 2 and Superman II. Good action, ambiguous ending and a Geek out moment for me when the Green Goliath exclaimed HULK SMASH! I really hope Edward Norton, and the studio for that matter, decides to stick around for the hinted and hoped follow-up. In terms of summer movies of 2008, I enjoyed The Incredible Hulk more than Indiana Jones. 
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