Brief disclaimer: Lars Walker is a friend and fellow author whose works I have admired for a long time, especially his Father Ailil stories set during the late Viking era. That said, I do my best to not be biased in representing my take on his efforts. Troll Valley is the latest novel available from [...]

So, once upon a time there was this middle-aged writer/author/editor kind of schmuck who had just received his Kindle. After fiddle farting around a bit and converting some stories of his own into MOBI form just so he could see how the devil device worked, he thought to himself, “I wonder how this ‘instant download’ [...]

To kick off my discussion of Jormungand, I’d like to make something very clear about my reading preferences when it comes to manga: to whit, I’ll read about anything that amuses me.  Saccharine teenage love stories?  Yeah, been there, did that, do that, and have enjoyed them.  Weird future adventure tales with lots of T&A [...]

Today I’m going to ruminate on one of the longest running fantasy mangas.  The title of the work is Berserk and I doubt there’s anyone who has even a moderate level of involvement with the medium who wouldn’t recognize the name instantly. If I were trying to be pithy and smart ass like the majority [...]

Immortal Witch, Pure Hearted Boy, Blood Thirsty Mermaids There is no point in denying that most manga that hits popularity in the States is based on Japanese high school students and various stereotypes thereof.  The classic coming of age tale, in all the various flavors (both tame and tawdry) play out in the crucible of [...]

I took on the task of writing anime and manga reviews for Naked Reader a while back.  After a suitable interval, I’ll be re-posting those reviews here on Darwin’s Evolutions as well.  The first of these is Raiders by JinJun Park. I don’t like zombies.  Seriously.  I find the whole genre cliché (at least the [...]

I’d sworn off Ringo’s Aldenata universe. Really, I had.  You see, though, I was at the library with my son as he pulled references for a college project and there, on a shelf of new arrivals, was The Tuloriad.  “Okay,” I told myself, “I’ll just check out a page or two.  It can’t do any [...]

Dave Freer is one of my favourite authors – hence my pushing of Save the Dragons. He writes books that are fun to read and yet possess layers of plot, character and thought-provoking stuff to make you come back and reread. I have in fact read his latest, Dragon’s Ring, at least twice since I [...]

In the opening of her new space opera novel, Darkship Thieves, author Sarah Hoyt immediately introduces us to her heroine, Athena Hera Sinestra, who is in the opening stages of a very bad day.  She wakes to the certain knowledge that someone has jimmied the door to her stateroom aboard her father’s.  This can only [...]

This book has been a long time coming for fans of Lars Walker’s character, Father Aillil and his Norse sponsor and friend, Erling Skjalgsson.  Thankfully, Lars kept up the good fight and obtained a new publisher (Nordskog Publishing, Inc) who has done this latest novel the justice it deserves.  Released in a wonderfully comfortable trade [...]