Discuss Your Deeper Dive Here! - LibGuides at Miami Dade College Learning Resources

George RR Martin! For most now, this name means Games and Thrones and Dragons!

But he actually has another series that has been running since 1987! The Wild Cards series! Edited, overseen and mostly masterminded by Martin, this series explores an America hit by an alien virus in 1946 - killing most, twisting and mutating many (Jokers), and… granting super-powers to a few (Aces). It's a very different history, with real super-heroes and real super-villains at large! And let me tell you, it's not all justice league fun and avengers games - this is a gritty, violent, and intense series.

House Rules is book 33 in the Wild Cards series (and yep, I've read them all). This review will avoid major spoilers, but it also won't fill in all the reference-gaps. I mean, with 32 previous volumes, there's a lot in this book that calls back to the past…

SO NOTE: As with past entries in this series, this volume is NOT new-reader friendly. This is not a starting point for those attracted by the giant-sized George RR Martin on the cover.

Inevitably with such a long-running series, the Wild Cards books have had some low-point entries: Down and Dirty #5, Deuces Down #16, Mississippi Roll #24 – weak ideas, confused and contradictory writing, bad stories. Sadly, this WC volume 33 is down there among them. I’ve been with the series since the very start so I feel pretty deeply invested but even for me getting through book was a chore. Let’s start from the top…

Publisher: The series is appearing under a new imprint, Random House Worlds, with a spacy little icon. I’m presuming this represents a specialty brand for Penguin Random House’s SciFi/Fantasy titles. I’m guessing it might also be a cut-rate brand because…

Dust Jacket – Traditionalists and snooty booksellers call these “wrappers”, and boy is it. Cheap-cheap. Jackets are usually heavier bond paper, finished on the outside (and often inside as well) with a micro plastic coating, giving it durability and gloss. This thing is like standard office paper run off a standard inkjet printer, thinnn. The cover image reproduction is muddy and muted. Somebody’s cutting corners… Cover also spouts “A Novel in Stories” again, while the title page and copyright still use the term “Mosaic Novel”. This ‘novel in stories’ designation sounds a little juvenile, but maybe this is the market intended now, because…

The Contents – The first half of the book is solidly YA with a superficial tone and a simplistic writing style. The large print font skews YA too - it’s 526 pages only because the lettering is so big, so don’t let the girth intimidate you, kids. This volume is set firmly within the British Wild Cards novels continuity, with a lot of callbacks to characters and events from Knaves Over Queens #27 and Three Kings #28 (but no fill-in or catchup, so if you’ve not read these two, you’ll likely be a bit lost).

The central premise combines Fantasy Island with William Hope Hodgson’s “The House on the Borderland” (along with references to his novels "The Boats of Glen Carrig" and “The Ghost Pirates”) and gives us a mysterious house of many doors in which countless alternate worlds and timelines can be accessed. The house’s owner, the intriguing but woefully underdeveloped Lord Jago Branok, enjoys hosting elaborate weekend parties (despite the continuous calamitous results), setting the framework for the six stories comprising this book. The throughline narrative about a guest at the first party deciding to stay, taking a job at the mansion, then deciding to leave at the end is about as compelling as it sounds (the subplot about a centuries-old madwoman lurking and scheming in the dim rooms and corridors had potential but goes nowhere). This really is more an anthology than a proper novel (even a mosaic one), as each of the six stories are self-contained and have no bearing on each other at all.

Four of the six stories are just bad, and I have to question if these are actually the works of professional writers and not amateur prizewinners or friends and family being tossed a bone. I mentioned the YA styling, and there is a lot of excellent YA literature! But there’s also a lot of hackwork and condescending pabulum, and this is the latter. One-dimensional characters in disorganized plots with neither tension nor pacing that flop like gasping fish on the page. The stories don’t slot into the book in any meaningful way and the fifth, “The Nautilus Pattern” is especially nonsensical and jarring. Any kind of editing or supervision is completely lacking.

That said, the two good stories are quite good, bringing authors and characters back from previous books to solid effect, particularly Peter Newman’s “Two Lovedays” featuring the likable Stuart-Hero McHeroface from the 2023 WC collection Pairing Up #31. But are two stories worth bothering with, even for hardcore fans?

This series has been powering through for forty years now; there are going to be missteps and the occasional low, and House Rules is one of these. It hurts a little to say, but I suggest you skip this one and await better days.

Have you read this book? Get it here in the Library! Do you agree with the review above, or disagree? Share your thoughts!

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The Dennis LibraryGuy Review - Wild Cards: House Rules edited by George RR Martin

George RR Martin! For most now, this name means Games and Thrones and Dragons!But he actually has another series that has been running since 1987! The Wild Cards series! Edited, overseen and mostly masterminded by Martin, this series explores an America hit by an alien virus in 1946 - killing most, twisting and mutating many (Jokers), and… granting super-powers to a few (Aces). It's a very different history, with real super-heroes and real super-villains at large! And let me tell you, it's not all justice league fun and avengers games - this is a gritty, violent, and intense series. House Rules is book 33 in the Wild Cards series (and yep, I've read them all). This review will avoid major spoilers, but it also won't fill in all the reference-gaps. I mean, with 32 previous volumes, there's a lot in this book that calls back to the past…SO NOTE: As with past entries in this series, this volume is NOT new-reader friendly. This is not a starting point for those attracted by the giant-sized George RR Martin on the cover.Inevitably with such a long-running series, the Wild Cards books have had some low-point entries: Down and Dirty #5, Deuces Down #16, Mississippi Roll #24 – weak ideas, confused and contradictory writing, bad stories. Sadly, this WC volume 33 is down there among them. I’ve been with the series since the very start so I feel pretty deeply invested but even for me getting through book was a chore. Let’s start from the top…Publisher: The series is appearing under a new imprint, Random House Worlds, with a spacy little icon. I’m presuming this represents a specialty brand for Penguin Random House’s SciFi/Fantasy titles. I’m guessing it might also be a cut-rate brand because…Dust Jacket – Traditionalists and snooty booksellers call these “wrappers”, and boy is it. Cheap-cheap. Jackets are usually heavier bond paper, finished on the outside (and often inside as well) with a micro plastic coating, giving it durability and gloss. This thing is like standard office paper run off a standard inkjet printer, thinnn. The cover image reproduction is muddy and muted. Somebody’s cutting corners… Cover also spouts “A Novel in Stories” again, while the title page and copyright still use the term “Mosaic Novel”. This ‘novel in stories’ designation sounds a little juvenile, but maybe this is the market intended now, because…The Contents – The first half of the book is solidly YA with a superficial tone and a simplistic writing style. The large print font skews YA too - it’s 526 pages only because the lettering is so big, so don’t let the girth intimidate you, kids. This volume is set firmly within the British Wild Cards novels continuity, with a lot of callbacks to characters and events from Knaves Over Queens #27 and Three Kings #28 (but no fill-in or catchup, so if you’ve not read these two, you’ll likely be a bit lost).The central premise combines Fantasy Island with William Hope Hodgson’s “The House on the Borderland” (along with references to his novels "The Boats of Glen Carrig" and “The Ghost Pirates”) and gives us a mysterious house of many doors in which countless alternate worlds and timelines can be accessed. The house’s owner, the intriguing but woefully underdeveloped Lord Jago Branok, enjoys hosting elaborate weekend parties (despite the continuous calamitous results), setting the framework for the six stories comprising this book. The throughline narrative about a guest at the first party deciding to stay, taking a job at the mansion, then deciding to leave at the end is about as compelling as it sounds (the subplot about a centuries-old madwoman lurking and scheming in the dim rooms and corridors had potential but goes nowhere). This really is more an anthology than a proper novel (even a mosaic one), as each of the six stories are self-contained and have no bearing on each other at all.Four of the six stories are just bad, and I have to question if these are actually the works of professional writers and not amateur prizewinners or friends and family being tossed a bone. I mentioned the YA styling, and there is a lot of excellent YA literature! But there’s also a lot of hackwork and condescending pabulum, and this is the latter. One-dimensional characters in disorganized plots with neither tension nor pacing that flop like gasping fish on the page. The stories don’t slot into the book in any meaningful way and the fifth, “The Nautilus Pattern” is especially nonsensical and jarring. Any kind of editing or supervision is completely lacking.That said, the two good stories are quite good, bringing authors and characters back from previous books to solid effect, particularly Peter Newman’s “Two Lovedays” featuring the likable Stuart-Hero McHeroface from the 2023 WC collection Pairing Up #31. But are two stories worth bothering with, even for hardcore fans?This series has been powering through for forty years now; there are going to be missteps and the occasional low, and House Rules is one of these. It hurts a little to say, but I suggest you skip this one and await better days.Have you read this book? Get it here in the Library! Do you agree with the review above, or disagree? Share your thoughts!...

Summertime an' the Readin' is Easy...

Ahh, Summer…The sunshine, the laidback, easy, space to breath and relax… Settle back on the sand with the sound of the sea sighing a soothing susurrance… Or plop in a piece of green paradise in the park, under a big ol' friendly tree, with a water bottle and a book. Oh yes, a book. The must-have accessory of Summer!There are plenty of brand-new hot reads waiting for you here in the Library - take your pick and make your tbr list!So, what will be your beach and travel read this warm and inviting season?Romance, Fantasy, Romantasy? A little mystery, some history, some classics on your listery? Sci-Fi, some sky-high epic of war and peace, a recommend from Jenna or Reese? Go with them all, the summer is long and it's a summertime song of reading!So, share here some of your summer reading plans! What are you taking along in the beach tote? Or packing in your carry-on for travel reads? Share the summer-reading love and drop us some ideas and recommends!Summer - sunscreen and bookmarks, it just makes sense....

The Dennis LibraryGuy Review - Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins

The Law of diminishing returns… consider "Sunrise" as maybe one trip to the well too many…This is going to be a controversial AND a spoiler-rich review, so read at your own peril…Haymitch Abernathy is a central character in the original Hunger Games trilogy (OT) and as such, his story has been largely told. Maybe not every detail, but enough revealed of his life by book three of the OT (Mockingjay) that we know who he is, why he is, and what he stands for. Did we need to go back for more? Was there more to tell? Well, the answer is – not really, no.For a prequel to work (especially one with so many known elements), we have to find a way to reframe the story so as to shed new light on events and/or to make new discoveries. Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes did this well, but we were jumping quite a bit further back, with a central character whose history was largely a mystery. Not so much with Haymitch…The first third of Sunrise is the strongest and it’s here we are learning new things - about Hay and early life, about District 12 and its residents, and it's here we’re connecting the thread from Ballad to the ongoing thread of the OT. Good stuff right up until the Games begin, because here, with the gong, is where we get painted into a corner. Quite simply, we know how this Quarter Quell turns out, down to the final axe-throw. The Games themselves can’t carry the tension and don’t hold the stakes; we need something else to be the core of this story. And we kind of get it in the plot to “break” the arena, drawing out the circle of conspirators, seeing pieces moved into place, lines drawn, in preparation for the rebellion to come and the “One” to lead it… Sadly, it’s not Haymitch (although he’ll pay the price) and this rebel plot kind of fizzles and narratively plays itself out too soon in the book – an anticlimax that then leaves us with nothing but a series of diminishing anticlimaxes to the novel's end.A rapid bulleting of Pros and Cons:CONSNot a good grip on the character – surprisingly, Haymitch never really comes to life here; he seems vague, out of focus. Too above, too casual, too removed. If the book had been set post-Mockingjay and he was retelling these events looking back, remembering than maybe… But the books actions are all present-set in the moment (with the exception of a brief epilogue) and he’s just kind of absent.Lack of stakes – As mentioned above, we know how the Games end, so we needed something else to hook us and the rebel plot to break the arena didn't provide the umph. We end up with a lot of false starts and flat notes.Too self-referential – I get we’re closer now to the OT, but we are still 24 years away… Wiress, Mags, Plutarch, Effie, particularly Beetee (and a son??); it’s a bit much and stops feeling organic and naturalistic and more like just name-checking. Some of these inclusions are more effective than others, but the whole thing feels a little forced.Snow portrayed as extra-petty and cruel - Really pretty psychotic, in a way that's beyond what we’ll see in the OT. Is this meant as a reflection of his age here and relationship to personal/corrupting power? Or (and I suspect this is the case) is it a reaction to Ballad inadvertently making Snow too sympathetic/attractive? Is the author rushing to right-side her creation and remind us he is a baaad guy?“Painting a Poster” conceit and Poe’s ‘The Raven’ over-used – these are great symbols/metaphors and initially carry a lot of emotional impact, for the tributes, for Lenore Dove. But repetition weakens this and by the two-thirds mark it was pure fatigue. Why didn’t an editor reign this in? Less is so often more…Speaking of editing issues - the whole business with the potato light, why? Ripping Lou Lou’s drug pump from her corpse in the arena, why? Maritte’s death by squirrels, when? These feel like DVD deleted scenes, like something that was supposed to mean something or pay off at some point, but then are just left incomplete…Things that don’t ring true:- Beetee’s son: Ampert is more of a plot device than a legit character and a hard-to-swallow retcon (Dad Beetee must have really put him far out of mind when we met B again 25 years later in Catching Fire, faaar out of mind like he never existed before…).- Wiress tortured into brain damage by Snow? It’s almost a throw-away line, Wiress babbling at the Victor celebration, but I guess meant to connect her to the Wiress we would meet later, but we’re back to being too self-referential and Wiress as a sane and stable mentor could have been left out entirely. Mags worked in this role much more effectively.– District 12 forgetting Lucy Gray: I can see Snow suppressing her memory in the Capital, “officially” erasing her from history once he was in power, but I can’t see 12 just completely forgetting their first Victor, a known Covey performer, someone who had (and would have continued to have) roots in the district. 12 is distant enough to have its own folk and oral traditions, we’ve seen this; Haymitch would know of Lucy Gray. Not knowing is simply not believable.-Lenore Dove’s death: I’m sorry but the final gumdrops idea was just poor and infuriating; Lenore Dove’s death was a given from the moment she was introduced, we all knew this, but this aspect just fails. Sure, Haymitch is in shock, he’s dazed, he’s not thinking clearly but he knows that Snow is out to get him and he knows poison lurks in everything from the Capital (he didn’t fall for the milk delivery in the arena, remember). And it’s been at least a month, if not longer, since he gave the gumdrop bag to Sid to give to LD – there is no way the bag, perfectly intact, would be just sitting there on the meadow rock for him to find, this should have raised a huge red flag; Hay is suddenly stupid because bad plotting demands he be suddenly stupid. LD was always going to die, fine, but look at the sheer chain of coincidence that would have to fall just right to get boy, girl and gumdrops all intersecting at that precise moment-baaad plotting. Better if she’d been bitten by a snake after stepping out of the Peacekeeper compound gate and died there in Hay’s arms. More fitting, more focused, all the same beats. Less poorly conceived.PROSMaysilee was a great character – She had all the best lines and moments, she had all the dynamism Haymitch lacked; He should have stayed with her all through the book – instead Hay keeps picking up and losing other sidekicks (Louella, Lou Lou, Ampert, Wellie) that end up feeling like filler. Given this rotating ally thing, it might have been better if the actual Games section of the novel had been told through each of these different POVs - we still would have known how things turned out but as each ally died and another took its place, we’d have had new and different perspectives and impressions on the Games and on Haymitch (maybe more individual backstories too). This would have given us the fresh frame on events we were lacking. Too late now…Plutarch was the most effective use of character reference and foreshadowing. Despite his few scenes, he came to life here in a very interesting way, teasing out intriguing dimensions and questions. If there is going to be another book (and I think for sure there will be - Collins likely signed a three-book deal), it will probably be Plutarch’s story (and maybe Effie’s, also solid here) and I think this could work, much like Ballad did for Snow.Now, despite the bulk of the above, this was a fine book as far as it went. It just fell short and rang a little hollow, compared to the previous four. There were powerful and touching moments here and there (Louella’s death in the opening parade, Silka crying under the tree), but for the first time in this series the passion was lacking, for the first time it felt like work for contract requirement; a little rushed, a little cooked-up on the fly.We’ve gone back to the well and hit the shallows; maybe we should stop now before scraping the rock bottom… DO YOU agree/disagree with this review? Have more you' like to say? Leave your comments below!...

The Dennis LibraryGuy Review – Secret Identity by Alex Segura

Writer Alex Segura is not only a Miami-native, but he's also an alumni of Miami Dade College! He's written mystery novels and comic books for Marvel and Archie. His latest book, Alter Ego combines both mystery, murder and comic book history. But, did ya' know, it's actually book two in a comic/mystery series?We have both books available for check-out in the Library and here are some thoughts on the first, Secret Identity. No spoilers but not all thumbs-up…This is my second pass at a review of this novel; the first was turning much too harsh for such a nice guy. See, I kind of know Alex Segura. We're both from Miami (obviously), went to the same college, and we worked together a little bit about two years ago on a comic-con project. So, I'm gonna sheath my claws, but still be honest:In Secret Identity, Alex Segura serves up an okay premise in a setting with a lot of potential - the chaotic, creative, and sometimes duplicitous world of comic book publishing. Sadly, all of this is handled in a oddly awkward and insecure way, as though the author couldn't find the confidence needed to fully tell the tale.Maybe Segura failed to get a grip on his main character (who never rises above a collection of traits), maybe he felt overwhelmed at the attempt of recreating mid-70's New York with any realism and authenticity, maybe he was swamped by so many industry anecdotes and references he wanted to pack into the story that the pressure of it all just got to him.What we get is an unfocused, tenuous take that is over-written and self-conscious - neither Noir mystery, nor slice-of-life. Soap-opera at best, and there is a tradition of this in comics, so… shrug Ultimately, it reads like a draft that needs more polish.It's a shame, as other writers have successfully worked this territory in recent years, from Meghan Molin's Golden Arrow mysteries, to Alan Moore's recent What We Can Know About Thunderman (included in his book Illuminations, available here in the Library!), and the history and chicanery and larger-than-life personalities that characterize comics in America are ripe for exploration. Segura clearly knows the history, as the book quickly becomes more of an Easter-egg hunt for comic fans, than a compelling piece of fiction.I will say this - the “Legendary Lynx” is a pretty cool character; the new woman superhero that Segura's MC, Carmen Valdez is determined to get published in comics, even if it kills her (and it just might…) . I would buy this comic, particularly if set in the 70's like here in this novel and capturing the energy and "relevance" of comic books during the period. There is a gutsy, gritty vibe to the Lynx that I do like very much (there are even cool illustrated pages taken right from the Lynx comic included in the book),But Carmen herself just never rises above 2-D - we know she's Hispanic, we know she's queer, we know she's struggling hard in a very male-dominated industry. But we never get to know her. Round about chapter 7 or so, Carmen flashes back to a writing class she attended, in which the instructor lectured on letting characters come to life, letting them become so real that they take over the story. Good advice - the irony is that Mr. Segura didn't seem to trust himself enough to take it.Have you read this book? Get it here in the Library! Do you agree with the review above, or disagree? Share your thoughts!...

The Dennis LibraryGuy Review - Wild Cards: House Rules edited by George RR Martin

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