Simon & Schuster Canada continues to fire my imagination and sense of adventure with the third book in The Blackthorn Key collection which is now available on its own or as part of a gorgeous six-book hardcover collection available now! It’s the tail end of 1665 and the fact that apothecary apprentice Christopher Rowe and…
Tag: apprentice
Mark of the Plague (2016) – Kevin Sands
Simon & Schuster delivers the second book in Kevin Sands’ The Blackthorn Key Series, Mark of the Plague, available on its own or in a hardcover slipcase collection that contains all six books in the series. Picking up a couple of months after the first book, the tale finds apothecary apprentice Christopher Rowe working to…
The Blackthorn Key (2015) – Kevin Sands
Simon & Schuster takes me back to 17th century London this week with The Blackthorn Key written by Kevin Sands. The first book in a young adult collection that spans six novels, the first book is a fast-paced tale filled with mystery and puzzles that delivers an engaging read. Christopher Rowe is the apprentice of…
TIFF ’23: 100 Yards
Xu Haofeng, an accomplished fight choreographer, writer and director and first-time director Xu Junfeng delivers a period piece set in 1920s China, specifically, Tianjin, where the master of a wushu academy has just died and has passed on its leadership to his apprentice, Quan Qi (Andy On) instead of his son, Shen An (Jacky Heung)…
Rivers of London (2011) – Ben Aaronovitch
Rivers of London, originally released as Midnight Riot before it was retitled to launch the continuing series of novels it spawned, was a wonderful surprise and a complete joy to read, and a fantastic introduction into the genre of urban fantasy. PC Peter Grant is afraid he’s going to end up doing administrative duty once…
Star Wars: Jedi Search (1994) – Kevin J. Anderson
Kevin J. Anderson launches his Jedi Academy trilogy this week as I travel back to 1994, and the original Star Wars Expanded Universe. I’m exploring each book by publication date, and there were a couple of things I loved right off the bat, which I either didn’t notice the first time I read it (I…
Mort (1987) – Terry Pratchett
This week, I dug into another Discworld novel for the Book Shelf. And I’ve said it before, but I’m glad I waited until now to read them, I wouldn’t have appreciated them, and their wonderful humour when they were originally released. And now, I also don’t have to wait a year or two for the…
Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2012/2013) – Revival, Eminence, and Shades of Reason
“Strength in character can defeat strength in numbers.” Revival opens our trio of episodes this week, coming where it should chronologically within the Clone Wars timeline, but after it was produced it was used to open the fifth season on 29 September, 2012. Written by Chris Collins, the story follows the united Maul (Sam Witwer)…
Dragonslayer (1981) – Matthew Robbins
Vermithax Perjorative. Was there ever a better name for a dragon ever? DK Canada’s Monsters in the Movies book brings me this classic film from ’81 as I continue my exploration of the dark chapter on dragons and dinosaurs. Boasting some fantastic creature effects, Vermitax may be the best looking dragon to ever be presented…
Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2011) – Witches of the Mist, Overlords, and Altar of Mortis
“The path to evil may bring great power, but not loyalty.” Katie Lucas continues with the Dathomir/Nightsisters arc that is proving to be so epic, and so essentially Star Wars in the episode Witches of the Mist, which first aired on 21 January, 2011. While Count Dooku (Corey Burton) works to train and use his…
The Mind Reels 