A Quokka Dreeds its Weird

Sherwood Smith has a new book out! The Spy Princess

I'm reposting a handful of brief reviews I put up on Goodreads. Some are of books I first read ages ago, but I am always still up for discussion.

Shadow Ops: Control Point, by Myke Cole. Good premise, nice military details, generally promising first third. Everything after the first third slowly disintegrated under the weight of the hero's incessant flip-flopping between "the magic army is evil and I want no part of it and will loudly say so at every opportunity" and "I'm in the army now and I better make the best of it," not to mention his truly remarkable ability to make the worst and stupidest possible decision under any given circumstance. This Goodreads review dissects more plot issues. Good on Ace for accurately depicting Oscar's race on the cover, though.

When I was a kid, I read the entire available stock of Choose Your Own Adventure and Dungeons and Dragons books, in which YOU are the hero and can choose your own path, carefully marking the divergence points with fingers or scraps of paper. There were a bunch of these in the eighties, all different series. I also recall Wizards and Warriors. In a fit of nostalgia, I recently re-read a couple.

Mountain of Mirrors, by Rose Estes. A somewhat uninspired entry in the D&D Choose Your Own Adventure series, following an elf into the depths of a mountain-dungeon. Best part: Nigel the grumpy blink-cat, and the drawing of him crouched drenched and unhappy in a giant mushroom cap atop a raft made of giant mushroom stems.

Circus of Fear, by Rose Estes, was my favorite Choose Your Own Adventure, D&D version, and I believe the only one with a female lead.

YOU have heard of an evil plot, and must hide out in a magical circus! What makes this one stand out is both the unusual magical circus setting, and that it's further divided into three possible adventures: with the freak show (surprisingly non-offensive), with the acrobats, and with the animal tamers. The animal tamers is the best. They have blink dogs, gryphons, pegasi, and other magical beasts.

This book warmed the cockles of my magical beast-loving thirteen-year-old heart. Except for the parts where I got eaten by a living net.