Finished " A Spell For Chameleon" by Piers Anthony. Wow, what a great fantasy adventure. It's a book that doesn't tie with any movie or TV Show or video game, and it was first published in 1977 so it's pretty old (not to mention it is the first of the "Xanth" series, it has 42 sequel books, some even still being released this very year of 2023). This has both blessed and cursed me, since the book is a phenomenal fantasy adventure with humor and charm, but it has me wanting to read all the sequel books, and that might cost me a bit, not to mention it would take me a long time to gather them all.

The book has an illustration on the cover, it shows a creature, along with a character wearing green. That green character is the main character of the story, named Bink. I couldn't help but notice (being a fan of the Zelda games) he bears similarities with Link, a male fantasy character who also wears similar clothing, and has a very similar name, yet Bink came first. Though the book does read like a Zelda adventure, although more mature as it does have plenty of talk regarding the breasts of women (but even the movie "The NeverEnding Story" shows large breasts on the statues of the first gate, including the Southern Oracle, so they seem to be more prominent in older fantasy adventures such as this book).


Also as a fan of Indiana Jones, I was surprised that there was a section of this book that effectively involved crossing an invisible bridge over a deep chasm, and is disguised the same way as the bridge as the "leap of faith" bridge is in The Last Crusade. And this book was written before the first Indiana Jones movie released. As someone who likes the fantasy adventure genre (being a fan also of Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit) this book fits perfectly in that genre, and if not the sequels, then this first book would definitely make for a great fantasy adventure movie adaptation.


It is well chaptered, however the chapters do go on a slight bit long, but that does not detract from my enjoyment, it just means sinking more time into the book which I didn't mind since I never got bored from reading it. The story itself even has some very important yet awesome messages, although they are subtle, and do not rear their ugly heads like agendas do in some movies. It's more part of the story itself rather than being a preachy message. Messages regarding society accepting you for who and what you are, and that you shouldn't have to change yourself to appear normal to everyone else, be yourself and own it. Very strong message that I am sure a lot of people could relate with, the book is very well written, even the subversion of the villain is so expertly done, to the point that he is probably my favorite villain of a story that I've had the pleasure to experience in quite a while.

I would absolutely recommend it, even more if you're a fan of the things I mentioned above, but also perhaps Dungeons & Dragons, even the video game series The Elder Scrolls, this book has plenty to love for those who love to dive into fantasy adventures. Although be careful! You might end up wanting to read its sequels like I do, and you must bear in mind that there's SO MANY book sequels leading right up to this year, you'd definitely have a challenge getting them all.

I have now started "3001: The Final Odyssey" by Arhur C. Clarke.

Finished The Terminator by Shaun Hutson. It was a quick read. Well chaptered, well paced. Not a lot of it is different from the movie itself, aside from the name of the club and the two love scenes which are explicitly detailed in the book, it doesn't hold back at all.

It is the movie in text form. You'd be better off seeing the movie as you get the exact same story, only with music and visuals. Still it's a cool companion book.

Next is Firefox by Craig Thomas.

Finished Firefox by Craig Thomas. That was a slog to get through. The book itself has a thickness that is more than your average book, surpassing the thickness of books that have 20-30 chapters, yet it only has 10 chapters!


It is not well chaptered in my honest opinion. Each chapter consists of between 11-17 pages. It took me over an hour to get through one chapter. So this book would take roughly 10 hours to get through if you aren't speed-reading and don't stop for anything.


The story itself is decent, but I felt like it ended too abruptly for my liking. Felt like it ended in a similar fashion to Prince of Persia, where the story cuts off at the end without an epilogue chapter to explain a bit of the aftermath. I felt this because I didn't feel the ending was a satisfying climax to warrant the story cutting itself off.


So on that note, I'd say the 1982 movie is better and includes a dogfight near the end (providing the better climax). Would recommend this book only if you're curious to know how the original story went that the movie is based on, but the movie is still the preferred option for experiencing the story.


Next I will be reading Alien 3 by Alan Dean Foster.

The Poppy War Trilogy by R.F. Kuang

4 out of 5 stars

Finished Alien 3 by Alan Dean Foster. It is well chaptered, contains 14 chapters in total. It was a relatively speedy read, depending on how much time you sink into it each day/night.

The book itself follows the assembly cut of the movie for the most part. I didn't dislike any of it, it is the book version of the film. It's a good companion piece. I know it's probably going to make me sound like a real creep, but I think it would've been nice to have had the one love making part to be as well described as the love making parts of "The Terminator" by Shaun Hutson. I think it could've quite easily added to Ripley's humanity, and given a chance to explain exactly why she wanted to jump into bed with a stranger, possibly unravelling some of her feelings during the act and getting some reasonings. It's mostly because it just happens and then we move on.

However I had heard that Alan had backstories made for the prisoners which didn't make it in as he was under explicit authority, which in part is why he was apparently left embittered by the experience. So reasoning for the love making probably wouldn't have made it in even if he had plans for it.

Overall it was enjoyable.

​Started Spider-Man 3 by Peter David.

Finished RoboCop 2 by Ed Naha. Well chaptered and a relatively short read. I found it enjoyable and it has some slight differences from the movie. Only one difference could be seen as an issue, which was the advertisement for sunblock 5000. In the movie, it's a blueish colored substance. In the book, it is described as black tar. Yeah, potential issues there. But the rest was decent, like showing RoboCop malfunctioning/struggling a lot more with the overload of directives, and I also liked the different ending, a lot less cheesy than the end of the movie, as such I prefer the book over the film.

Recommended. Also had time to blast through The Lego Movie 2 by Scholastic. Not much to say, well chaptered and a very quick read, it's the movie in text form.

Next will be Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them by J.K. Rowling.

Finished Die Another Day by Raymond Benson. It was decently chaptered and was a relatively quick read. I found it enjoyable enough. It is the movie in book form. Not much else to say really.

Started Tomorrow Never Dies by Raymond Benson.

Finished reading Diamonds Are Forever by Ian Fleming. It is well chaptered, and was a relatively quick read, again depending on how many hours you sink into it each day.

I had quite forgotten that these books were written a long time ago and as such they hold views that a majority of people today wouldn't consider acceptable. It does contain some racism, or at least what could be considered racist words/remarks. I didn't feel like that really added to the story in any beneficial way what-so-ever, it felt like it was just being racist for the sake of it.

The story itself was pretty boring too, especially for a Bond adventure. There's very little action, probably 2 or 3 little bits of action throughout the entire book, and even then it's very minimal. Most of the book Bond is just walking around talking, travelling or taking part in stuff, and of course, thinking to himself.

Ironically even Bond himself remarked in the book that the entire mission was boring, so at least the book was relatable there, because honestly, it was boring.

I honestly would not recommend it based solely on what little happens in the story. It really doesn't feel like a spy adventure at all.

Next I'll be starting Moonraker by Ian Fleming.

Finished On Her Majesty's Secret Service by Ian Fleming. It is well chaptered and was a relatively quick read. Easily the best Bond book out of Diamonds Are Forever and Moonraker. It does have plenty of action, but it also has a lot of well built up tense moments, and the best part is Bond's alias is actually vital and important to the "mission". Ends on a nice cliffhanger moment too, it's a really well done story overall and would absolutely recommend it.

​Next I'll be reading through a 14 book collection of Pokemon.