Dan Brown - Lost Symbol

 Yeah, I'm still listening to audiobooks. And recently, I finished Lost Symbol by Dan Brown. It was good. Only, I went into it with the assumption that I gave up on the book in written form before, but now that I went and looked at my bookshelf, I figured out that the one I gave up on in written form was Origin instead. How do I know that? I have books that have been read standing the normal way in my bookcase. And books that I have yet to read/finish, they are with their spines facing up. Like, the bottom is facing out of the bookcase. It is a way for me to keep track of what I need to find in an audiobook format. As well as the fact that I simply have too many books and not enough time to read them in the written form. 

So, that was a little bit of background. Now, back to Lost Symbol. It is a Robert Langdon book and if I'm reading my bookshelf correctly, it is the third Langdon book in the series. This one takes Robert to Washington DC on a hunt for a lost symbol. Something relating to some word or whatever, there's a lot of religious aspects to this, as always. And well, also the Freemasons. That is the main theme of this book. 

So Robert goes on a hunt to catch the killer after being invited to an event by the killer himself pretending to be an assistant to Robert's friend and a freemason Peter Solomon. 

Imawa no Kuni no Alice [2020]

 

Arisu is a carefree NEET. He has two friends and one day, they end up in some kind of a weird world. It's still Tokyo, but it's empty. Barely anyone there and at first, it seems like they are the only ones there. Until they find the Games. 

Alice in Borderland (the English title) is based on a manga series. It was adapted before, as an anime, but it was short and cut off pretty abruptly, this seems to be a more cohesive adaptation and it also seems like season 2 is a possibility, considering how season 1 ended. I'll try not to spoil too much, but let's just say, that this is not a completely spoiler-free review. 

So Arisu and his friends find themselves in the so-called Borderlands. In Borderlands, you either play games to extend your visa, or you die by laser when your visa expires. You can also die playing those games, but Arisu is really smart. Unfortunately, he and his friends end up in a game that can only have one survivor. At first, they try to come up with a different solution, but in the end, his friends realize that they want Arisu to live so when he fulfills the surviving conditions, they hide and wait for the timer to end. 

Lily Morton - Black and Blue #1: The Mysterious and Amazing Blue Billings

 

Levi's boyfriend cheated on him and his mother died. Thankfully, he inherited a house in York and can start a new life there. Not so thankfully, the house is haunted. Doors opening, windows opening, lights flickering... Think a hunting phase in Phasmophobia. 

And then he meets Blue Billings. An almost homeless man who does Ghost walks for a living. Basically touring York and the sites of killings. 
It also turns out that Blue can actually see the ghosts. And that he's not the only one in York who can. And then the two of them start to try to unravel the mystery of the house Levi inherited. And at the same time, they start to fall for one another and end up in a relationship together. Which, not really a shocker, considering this is a BL novel. 
Still, it's well written and worth a try. It seems to be the first book in a series. Which, good. At least I have some inspiration as to what to look for when I finish all the books I currently have. Oh, and I didn't actually read this book. I listened to it in an audiobook format. That way, I could listen to it at work. At least during the days, I'm alone in the office. When my colleague is there with me, she turns on the radio. And considering she doesn't speak English and does not know about my preference for reading BL, she probably wouldn't like my choice of books anyway. 

Josh Lanyon - Murder takes the high road

 Well, it's been a while since I've written anything. It won't seem like it to you, because I pre-schedule my posts. So there are still several to be posted before you actually see this at the time I'm writing it. I haven't been writing anything lately because I've managed to get my Minecraft to work again. And I've been playing that. Also, I recently got back into the habit of listening to audiobooks. And that's the reason I'm writing this. I finished one just two days ago. And it was really good. 

Written by Josh Lanyon (never heard of him until now), the book is titled Murder takes the high road. And yes, as the name suggests, it's a murder mystery. Though until about the last third of the book or so, it is meant more in the fun way as the whole thing takes place during a bus tour about a murder mystery author. 

Unless I misheard the narrator, the whole thin gis neatly set into the Scottish Highlands and the bus tour is supposed to end in the authoress's castle. 

The main character, Carter, is attending the tour despite the fact that his ex is there also, and with a new boyfriend to boot. At first, he's only there to annoy the crap out of Trevor (the ex), but then he starts to enjoy it. He makes friends with the other occupants and seems to be the only one actively (though somewhat unknowingly) participating in the staged mystery that is part of the tour. 

Things take a bad turn after they reach the castle where they are supposed to stay for several days while having a chance to talk to the authoress. I do not wish to spoil the plot of the novel. Up until now, I haven't said anything specific as to the whole plot. But let's just say that the staged mystery becomes a proper murder mystery. I won't say who or why or how, if you want to know that, you have to read or listen to the book. I got it from audiobookbay and you can too. 

Ancient Detective [2020]

 

Okay. Let me first say one thing. 

I CALLED IT. I FUCKING CALLED IT!

Thanks. Now, that statement won't tell you anything. At least not if you didn't see the drama. And even then, it might not tell you anything. But I just had to say it. 

As for the drama. I'm hoping for season 2. No idea if we'll get one or not, but I'm hoping. The drama itself, it's pretty good. The main character is called Jian Bu Zhi. He can't remember a certain part of his life and is trying to figure out what happened in Shenij Valley. Mainly because he's trying to uncover his father's killer. 

There was a fight in Shenji Valley and it has four survivors. Jian is trying to learn what they know. But they seem to keep dying before he can interrogate them. And along the way, he solves mysteries. Because he's a detective damn it! 

And he also meets some friends and a love interest that I could have done without. Frankly, the pairings are the one big issue I have with this show. 

So, his best friend and brother - Zhao Wo Huan, love interest Zhan Shi Qi and the love interest of Zhao - Ming Yue. Then we get Ye Xiao Xiao who is a doctor. And that is another big part of the drama. A race for Jian to find out what happened in Shenji Valley with enough time to get treated so that he doesn't die. Because, he was poisoned in the first episode or so, and then a technique called the cold palm or something similar was used to stop the poison from spreading. But it's all slowly killing him. And the only person who knows how to reverse it lives in Heiwu Ridge. But Jian is stubborn and wants to first find out what happened to his father, how he died. 

Blake Crouch - Wayward Pines

So, how come I only just now figured out that it's also a TV series? What gives?! At least I'll have something to watch when done with Kindaichi. But this post is not about the series, it's about the book. Don't know if there are more than one, probably yes, but this post will focus on the first book. Titled Wayward Pines. If I did my translation homework correctly. Because, to be honest, I read the book in Czech. Bought it for cheap in a used books store.

And what is it about? Well, it starts with Ethan Burke [and is it just me who got a flash from Resident Evil 7 after reading that name? I made myself research RE 7 while reading this book]. Ethan goes to a tiny town called Wayward Pines where two federal agents were lost. Or, to be precise, it's the place where the agency lost contact with them. So he goes there, but on the way, he is in an accident, a truck rams into him.

When he wakes up near a river, he thinks something is off. For the town, people act weird around him and he's having a hard time learning anything about anything. He's unable to contact his boss or leave the place. Later, he joins together with a young woman. A woman, that doesn't act like the rest of the town. He also finds his old work partner, but she's older than she should be.

So Ethan tries to leave the town. And by some miracle, he succeeds. He crosses the river and then climbs over an electric fence that seems to be there more to keep something out rather than in. After he leaves the town and the immediate surrounding area, he's walking through a canyon. There, he encounters weird white-y mutated beings. And while he manages to kill the first as well as outrun the others, he's cornered and his only option is a ventilation shaft that has no place being in the side of a canyon wall.

He goes in. And there he finds the big secret. After going through some corridors and a big warehouse that has anything, from food to different models of cars, he enters a cryogenic chamber. There, he's finally told, that he was sleeping for a really long time. And that the world as he knows it, has ceased to exist. That Wayward Pines is the only oasis of humankind left on earth.

The man behind the oasis takes him out of there on a chopper to show him. To let him see it with his own eyes. And after that, he's on board with the project and replaces the old sheriff that has been thinking of somehow making profits only for himself and climbing to power.

The book reads by itself, it's written in a way that will make it hard for you to put it down. At least the Czech version. Don't know about the original version, but the Czech translation is really great. And as for the cryogenic sleep and the destruction of mankind, you will not be able to guess it till the very end. Like, you will know something's off, but won't guess the exact thing that happened, unless you're very lucky. I expected some kind of a dystopian crisis, but not cryogenic sleep. That's for sure.

The whole thing reminded me of a book I've read some years back. A sci-fi. Set supposedly in space, all the population is fooled but two or so inquisitive younger people. And it turns out they are trapped in this gigantic space ring made of several links, but, the whole thing is sitting on the surface of a planet. Wish I could remember the name of the book... I know the author starts with something close to the beginning of the alphabet... At least that's what my gut tells me... Will have to go and do a bit of googling. Wouldn't mind reading that thing again. 

Back to Wayward Pines. The book is good, I will definitely try to get my hands on the next in the series. Though I'm not getting my hopes up for the TV show. Kinda gave up [at least for now] within the first few seconds. Thing is, The acting of the MC, it seemed like when the Japanese make a supernatural elemented movie or some of the older dramas they made. But the problem is, I don't mind this style of acting when it comes to the Japanese. I kinda expect it from them. But Wayward Pines TV series is definitely not done by the Japanese. So that kind of acting has nothing to do there. Might give it another try if I find myself with nothing to watch, but for now, the show has been shelved. 

Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo

Not sure, if I want to post another anime featuring post, but well... Lately, I've been into Kindaichi shounen no jikenbo. And well, since my last post was about Detective Conan and Kindaichi is kinda similar... At least to me, it is, I'm gonna go with it. Like, Kindaichi himself is the equivalent of Conan in Shinichi's body. Kindaichi's friend Nanase is like Ran and their friend Saki is like a mix of Sonoko and the Shounen Tantei Dan - or the Detective Boys if you prefer the English name. Then there's Kenmochi, he's a police officer and he's a lot like Mouri Kogoro, just somewhat smarter and less of an idiot in general. Last but not least when it comes to the protagonists is Akechi Kengo, he's a superintendent and Kenmochi's boss - to put it simply. He's also really smart and somehow, reminds me of both Akai and Zero from DC. A bit more Akai than Zero, but somehow a mix of both. 

Thing is, there are two versions of Kindaichi. One is old, last century thing. that's the one I'm watching now, but before that, I watched the newer one from years 2014 and 2015. The Akechi in the newer one is even smarter. Always several steps ahead of everyone, while in the old version, it seems like Akechi and Kindaichi are more evenly matched. 

Well, that's it for the protagonists, now the antagonists. Even though I would really like it for one of them to be on the other side. I'm talking about the Puppeteer from Hell - Takato Youichi. He's the black org compressed into one person with the added aspect of Magic. The magic reminds me of Kaitou Kid. And that is probably the reason I want him to be on the other side of the law.
Another main villain is the Gentleman Thief. Which, really, just take KID's magic away and change his gender and this is what you'll get. I got nothing against the Kaitou Shinshi (Is that how you spell it?), but the Puppeteer is my favorite bad guy from Kindaichi.

As this is being written is several sessions, I an now at a point in the anime where Kindaichi Fumi, a relative of the MC has made an appearance. And while I said that Saki was a mix of Sonoko and the Shounen Tantei Dan, Fumi is a mix of the Detective Boys and Haibara. She's smart and while she doesn't always arrive to the correct conclusion, she is really useful on some of the cases Kindaichi has to deal with.
I would prefer that the newer version of the anime be longer, but hey, can't have everything. Should be glad that there even is a newer version. If there wasn't, I would have probably never even started watching this... And what a shame that would have been.
This anime is perfect for Detective Conan fans as well as fans of any other detective featuring anime out there. Especially animes that have teenage or younger protagonist detectives in it. Like Detective Academy Q or similar. I think that Spiral: Suiri no Kizuna lovers would like Kindaichi too.

I've seen so many animes that some of them seem to blur together, but I'm sure that there's more detective anime than this. And I'm not talking about Nogami or Matantei Loki Ragnarok, those have way too many supernatural elements. While the DC  pseudo-science is a bit farfetched as well as the addition of the character of Akako, the self-proclaimed witch, it's still a lot more realistic than Nogami or Matantei. Same goes for Kindaichi, for that one has no supernatural elements at all, just a lot of pseudo-science, but the science kinda makes sense when you watch the anime, so there... I guess it always makes sense while watching. You just can't think about it too hard after you're done watching.
Well, maybe it's not really pseudo-science for Kindaichi, just a lot of superstition and well, there might be some pseudo-science, but Conan is lot's more heavy on it. Apotoxin anyone? Still, Kindaichi is a great anime. I just wish that the newer part of it was longer. And that Akechi was super smart in both the old and the new, not just the new. I mean, he¨s smart in the old too, but not super smart. I mentioned at the beginning of this post, that in the newer version, he's like 10 steps ahead of everyone, Kindaichi included, well, that's true. It's just, in the older version, he's lucky if he's two steps ahead... Usually, he's more or less evenly matched with Kindaichi. Too bad there's only so many episodes that include him...
The one saving grace is the movie for the newer version that focuses mainly and mostly on Akechi. His younger version, but still.
Just, you know what? Go watch the anime and make up your own mind about it, okay?
~AnnElfwind

X. Aratare – Birth Rite

A darkish book about a boy who is living the life of someone else. Kinda. He was kidnapped from his crib and raised by some other people, away from his clan that has complicated french name! And I will not write it!

Then, he somehow becomes interested in this weird mannor and his inhabitant(s). And then he meets them. After his friend is devouered by  this worm-ish thingy.

I started the book a while back and finished not too long ago. So I don't really remember the begining. But the ending is dissapointning. It ends with the boy defying his true heritage and going back to his "foster" parrents.

The plot idea is good, but I think it could have been written differently. In a more interesting way and with a different ending. I probably won't be reading anything else from this author. And frankly, I don't recommend the book.

There are definitely better slash books out there.

See ya.

Sasha L. Miller - Playing with Shadows

Okay, this story was so cool! A monastery in the middle of nowhere! A servant that is to be sacrificed to demons because there just doesn't seem to be any other way. And then, an honest priest that wants to save that servant and deal with the demons.

Corrin, the servant, was supposed to be in the monastery eight more months. But, fate would not have that. So, when the head priest starts taking groups of servants to do this shady job of cleaning one and the same table again and again, Corrin is confronted by Rafferty. One of the priests. And he tells the servant all about the demons in the shadows and the sacrifice to apease them. The bloody sacrifice that will most like be Corrin himself. Unless, they do this ritual that would take care of the demons.

Corrin agrees to help. However, when he is one of the ones to clean the dreaded table, things start moving fast. So the next thing that happens is Corrin running to Rafferty and them barricading themselves in Rafferty's room to do the ritual.

All's well ends well. And the two of them start snogging and end up leaving to check on the other priests as the demons are exterminated.

A nice little story that captivates. It took a bit of time for me to finish it, but it was worth it. And it was from Amazon, and for free! Isn't that nice?

So, it might not have that much of slash in it, but the atmosfere is great and anyway, just go and read it! I recommend it! Will definitely be looking into the author. Hopefully, there is more from them and hopefully, it is not too pricey.

See ya.