Lord Tophet & TV Wrap

This week’s review is of Gregory Frost’s Lord Tophet, the concluding volume in his Shadowbridge duology. On the whole, I think the two volumes form a strong single story and think they would have benefited from being published as such in one volume. While there’s a clear break between the two novels, it really is one story. I felt Shadowbridge was a stronger novel. Here's a cut from the review:

Much like its predecessor, Lord Tophet the novel concerns itself very much with the power, charm, and value of stories. Perhaps more so in this second volume in the sequence, the value of stories is emphasized. In order to get out of the dream-like higher reality, Leodora must tell more stories and mores stories, just one more story. The nebulous aura of the higher world has an affect on Loedora, making her and Diverus think they have only been there for a day.

On the genre TV end of things, Heroes was just sort of there for me this week. Again Sylar is the most interesting thing on the show, the Petrellis are still somewhat annoying, Hiro is just sort of floating around (though I like his “nemesis”) and Claire’s two mommies could be interesting. The show hasn’t annoyed me enough to completely abandon it. On the other hand, True Blood was solid once again. Now that Big Bang Theory and How I Met Your Mother are back, I’ll probably be skipping Sarah Connor for the foreseeable future. The Office returned in a bit way, showing more ways in which Michael Scott can be clueless. Ryan, the new/old temp, reminds me very much of an old friend so that little bit of poetic justice was spot on. Family Guy is still funny – specifically how they addressed the “who-can-understand-Stewie” debate. Much as I love the show, I don’t know how much more there is to it. Then again, the South Park guys still manage to really hit out of the park – I can’t wait to see what they do in terms of the whole election this year.