Ray Bradbury: The Illustrated Man (1951)

    In these eighteen startling visions of humankind’s destiny, unfolding across a canvas of decorated skin, living cities take their vengeance, technology awakens the most primal natural instincts, and dreams are carried aloft in junkyard rockets (Goodreads).

    This collection of short stories by Ray Bradbury delivers on several levels. Subtle symbolism in every story hints at the darker aspects of human nature while interesting characters add thoughtful dialogue along with surprising bits of dark humor. However like most short stories, the reader does not get to enjoy the characters or the setting as much as they would in longer stories, however Bradbury's exceptional language does do much to combat that. Some of the stories are a little bit too similar, and although it is interesting to see small bits of connection in some, all in all it may be a bit repetitive. The actual illustrated man premise here is also a bit pointless, mostly just serving as a segway between stories, however Bradbury has done it once again with excellent stories. 6.9/10

S. Andrew Swann: Dragon Princess (2014)

    Frank is left stranded in the Princess Lucille’s body, halfway across the kingdom. The understandably angry Princess Lucille finds herself inhabiting the body of the dragon. In order to set things right, they will have to team up and face down thugs, slavers, elvish bookies, knights in shining armor, an evil Queen, and the hordes of the Dark Lord Nâtalc (Goodreads).

    From the first page, Dragon Princess regales readers with hilarious commentary from the anti-hero of Frank Blackthorne, and contrary to many other dragon-related books, confrontation with the dragon in question is not merely limited to the climax. In fact, it makes up most of the novel. An interesting, albeit not an entirely original, concept forces many humorous moments throughout, however subtle moments of darker humor is also evident. One con of this novel is the fact that there are not many moments in between action, and with every victory, there is another obstacle to take its place. So much does this happen that it almost seems like a collection of short stories. However, with an excellent supporting cast, Dragon Princess is a book that I would read again. 7.8/10

D.J. MacHale: The Merchant of Death (2002)

    Bobby is slowly starting to realize that life in the cosmos isn't quite what he thought it was. And before he can object, he is swept off to an alternate dimension known as Denduron, a territory inhabited by strange beings, ruled by a magical tyrant, and plagued by dangerous revolution (Goodreads).

    Although the final climax was actually fairly interesting, that's about the only positive note I can give this book. The cliche 'young teen finds new world he is destined to save while old man gives him really pointless information' storyline here is in no way made original. Bobby's narration is quite uninteresting and unrealistic, considering it is supposed to be a journal. Bobby's character itself is so brutally flawless (meaning he uninterestingly has no faults), however he puts himself down with such regularity to combat this. After a pointless first chapter, which I believe is supposed to make readers engaged with the characters (it does not), we find out the main antagonist almost right away, and yet we don't see much actual conflict from then on. One character who may actually have made this book the slightest bit better would have been Mark, however his parts in the book were also literally pointless, I mean, the only useful thing he did was give a backpack full of banned objects to Bobby, and Bobby, being who he is, doesn't bother letting Mark or his (also spoiled) love interest help him out at all. In the end, The Merchant of Death could have been a satisfying read, but lack of originality and dynamics spoiled it. 4.2/10

J.R.R. Tolkien: The Two Towers (1954)

    The Fellowship was scattered. Some were bracing hopelessly for war against the ancient evil of Sauron. Some were contending with the treachery of the wizard Saruman. Only Frodo and Sam were left to take the accursed Ring of Power to be destroyed in Mordor–the dark Kingdom where Sauron was supreme (Goodreads).

    Once again Tolkien brings in descriptive language and ever interesting characters to the world of Middle Earth. Much more fast paced than The Fellowship of the Ring (even with the ents), The Two Towers starts off by pulling at the heartstrings of readers and eventually shows wonderful character development, with all four of the Hobbits clearly growing in courage and in Merry and Pippin's case, stature. Aragorn as well is filling out to be the King he is destined to be, and in Gandalf's situation, his character even changes colour, along with gaining authority. Surprisingly, this novel is also filled with several laugh-out loud moments to go along with the excellent dialogue (see Legolas and Gimli's banter), including one line that would likely maker most junior high students chuckle: "Where did you get the weed you villains?" Another very satisfying addition to the trilogy is the Gollum/Smeagol internal conflict, which adds a whole new dynamic to the overall plot. 8.9/10