Category: Azriel’s infinite bookshelf

Azriel’s Infinite Book Shelf-Insurrection: The War of the Spider Queen Book II

To continue the journey thru the incredible world of The Forgotten Realms, I read the second installment of the series The War of the Spider Queen, Insurrection .

Picking up where the first book left off, the Drow city of Menzoberranzan stands on the brink of disaster , with the ability of the priestess to summon magic from Lolth gone, the very foundation of the matriarch is crumbling. Now what was a shadow war has erupted into open conflict.

In a desperate effort, Matron Mother Baenre, the supreme ruler of Menzoberranzan, gives the dangerous task of investigating if the silence of the goddess is only manifesting in their city to her daughter, Quenthel. This journey with takes her thru the treacherous tunnels of the Underdark to the trade city of Ched Nasad, the city of the Shimmering Webs.

Joining her to this seemingly impossible task are a couple of familiar faces from the previous book, the arrogant sorcerer Pharaun Mizzrym and the weapon master Ryle Argith.

To round this ragtag party down Jeggred Baenre, a draegloth (half-Demon/half-Drow) that serves as bodyguard to Quenthel, and the scout mercenary Valas Hune, expert tracker and knows every nook and cranny of the Underdark, embark as the small party to try to unravel the mystery of Lolth silence.

The perilous journey is tenfold due to the lack of assistance from the spider queen’s magic, this disadvantage is exploited from the very creatures of the Underdark and the other Drow factions roaming around the dark tunnels.

The most interesting part is the reaction of the society of the Drow, in the wake of such a catastrophic disaster of the integral part of their way of life is removed, all the backstabbing, power grabbing, conspiracies and manipulation become enhance is the face of a shattering paradigm.

The characters become conflicted in whether to continue with the mission, abandon the party, or seize the opportunity to take power into their own hands.

Their arrival to the Shimmering Webs city only make things worse, a full scale crumbling, literally and figuratively speaking, of the magic that hold all the society together, has collapsed and threatens the Drow world to be casted into oblivion

As with the last book, my favorite part is to dwell more into the mysterious Underdark, particularly seeing a city as Ched Nasad, founded by Menzoberranzan exiles with petrified cobwebs of two giant spiders sent by Lolth, and enhanced with faerie fire that gives it a purple and amber hue.

This volume only makes you want more insight into the mysterious Underdark, fortunately there’s still four more books to go.

On the cover by artist Brom are Quenthel Baenre, high priestess of Lolth, and Jeggred Baenre, draegloth body guard of the priestess

Insurrection: War of the Spider Queen Book II

Author: Thomas M. Reid

No. of pages: 409

Publishing Date: December 2002

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Azriel’s Infinite Book Shelf-Dissolution: The War of the Spider Queen Book I

Welcome to first installment of the new era of my Infinite Book Shelf , and I return to it with a universe very dear to my heart, The Forgotten Realms.

This vast and complex world was created by Ed Greenwood, he use it as a backdrop for his adventures since he was only 8 years old, but the first story was published on the magazine The Dragon in 1982 titled the Assassin’s Run.

My first encounter with this mesmerizing world was thru the now classic tales of the Drow Elf Drizzt Do’Urden, brilliantly crafted by the great R.A. Salvatore, from the 39 books of the Legend of Drizzt, I have gone thru 35, and I intent to catch up with what is my favorite series of all time in this trek thru The Forgotten Realms.

To start off the amazing journey, I picked a six book series, The War of the Spider Queen, that R.A Salvatore lead as a creative overseer but leaving the writing to six different authors to play in the Underdark .

We start the series with Dissolution, we journey back to the incredible city of Menzoberranzan, the black heart of the Drow Society, to find that catastrophe has struck, Lolth, the spider queen, has stop answering the calls of her priestesses, and with that, all the magic has been cut off.

The matriarchs of the major houses try to keep Lolth’s silence secret and pin the fault of the scorn of their beloved Queen on some dissident Drow males that escape the city and the hunt begins to bring them back and put things right.

Much of the story is followed thru the eyes of three characters Pharaun Mizzrym, a master wizard, Ryld Argith, a master from the legendary Melee Maghere school of combat, and Quentel Baenre, the main mistress of the Arach-Tinilith, the school of sorcery for the acolytes of Lolth, tasked with unveiling the mystery of the Spider Queen silence

As you will expect with a story involving the backdrop of the Drow Society, the intricacies of their political and treacherous nature are on the main stage of the story, but with the treat of a total collapse of their way of life becomes more evident, this plethora of highly different characters converge to find answers, leaving behind their conniving secret plans and uniting to save their very existence.

My favorite part of the journey was to dive even deeper into the magical and treacherous city of Mezonberranzan, with its stalactite architecture and ever glowing castles, knowing that just beyond this purple glowing of the ethereal spires lie the treat of the Underdark creatures ready to swallow everything into the oblivion of the ever dark.

This series is a great gateway to enter the vast universe of The Forgotten Realms, with more that 300 books published to date, and follow one of the most complex and intriguing characters that modern fantasy has to offer.

On the cover by artist Brom is the master wizard Pharaun Mizzrym

Dissolution: The War of the Spider Queen Book I

Author :Richard Lee Byers

No. of Pages: 457

Publishing Date: July 2002

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Azriel’s Infinite Bookshelf: A reading conundrum

I finished the amazing Halloween by legendary writer Ray Bradbury, and may I say that it was the perfect book for this time of year.

My next adventure is the third book of the Companions Codex, Drizzt and the Companions of the Hall face the biggest war ever to hit Faerûn.

My next step in my perpetual list presents me with a conundrum.

Do I finish my trek thru Genabackis?

This will take thru 4 more books, being the next volume Reaper’s Gale, pictured above.

Or do I head for the stars and journey to find lost civilizations in the Saga of the Seven Suns ?

This journey will take me thru 7 books, starting with Hidden Empire.

So many great books, so little time.

What should I do ?

For now, I am off to read.

azr.

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Azriel’s Infinite Bookshelf: World of Warcraft: Ala Sombra Vol. 1 & Vol.2

This two-part story, written by American author Richard A. Knaak, who is no stranger to the World of this famous videogame haven written around 9 other stories in this realm.

He weaves a compelling story filled with Dragons, orcs, elves, humans, and some new mysterious creatures that roam this fantastic world.

The story centers on the human Jorad and the Dragon Tyri, who face a new threat, the mysterious abyssal dragons, with their purpose and leadership unknown, these young creatures are ready to wreak havoc on all of Azeroth.

With famous Korean illustrator Jae-Kwan Kim at the helm of the vibrant black & white artwork, the ample menagerie of dragons just pop up out of the page.

Although this title is part of the Manga collection of World of Warcraft, it does not read as a regular manga, it is a standard comic book read, and it is perfect to get yourself into the dynamic of the artwork and storytelling found in these type of stories.

For, off I go, to find a new adventure.

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Azriel’s Infinite Bookshelf: Justice League: Justice/Doom War

When I picked up this book, just by seeing who the main authors were, Scott Snyder and James Tynion IV, I was more than excited.

And surely, they did not disappoint.

The Justice League faces once again the incredible power of Perpetua, who has managed to destroy the wall of the prison that contain her, and with her new acquired pet Lex Luthor, she threatens to colapse the multiverse.

This is why all of the heroes from the various eras, and Earths, come to face her in an spectacular battle for existence.

Only two seasoned writers can handle the sheer amount of characters presented in these pages, and for us, the fans of DC comics, it is a visual feast, I mean, even Kamandi makes a substantial appearance.

I can wait for the continuation of the story, that, according to the final panel, it will continue in Dark Nights: Death Metal.

Now ,off I go, to look for my next adventure.

azr.

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Azriel’s Infinite Bookshelf, Hit-Girl: Hollywood

Hit-Girl written by Kevin Smith, count me in, and along for the ride is Danish illustrator Pernille Ørum, which gives this newest volume of the deadly Mindy a vibrant look that is perfect for this story.

The history is a huge wink to Kevin’s work on film, an if you are not familiar with his body of work ,you might feel left out some inside jokes, but mostly to his 2001 movie Jay and Silent Bob Strikes Back, even down to the doppelganger of Hit-Girl, which is a clear homage to the character Cocknoker , hilarious played by the legendary Mark Hammill.

Now the clear enemy are the sleazy studio executives who abuse their power, a direct reference of what the MeToo movement uncover as a wide spread practice in Hollywood, and the logical M.O. of Hit-Girl’s doppelganger for taking revenge.

I am a huge fan of Kevin Smith’s work in comic books and film, and this is a volume I enjoyed as much as some of his films.

Now ,off I go, to look for my next adventure.

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Azriel’s Infinite Bookshelf, House of X/Powers of X

This gargantuan volume of the X-men is basically a reintroduction to most of this long running series Mythos.

Written by Jonathan Hickman, and beautifully illustrated Pepe Larraz and R.B. Silva, and it follows the mutants in various times of their history, the present day is marked by the founding of the mutant island Krakoa, and consequently we see 10 years in the past, when Professor X meets Moira, 100 years in the future, and the machine-mutant conflict, and finally 1000 years in the future, with a highly evolve mutant society.

I won’t spoil any more than that, the story jump from one period to the next, and it slowly untangles the events that became the result of the mutants society evolution, this story also works as the introduction of the new X-men titles and the storyline Dawn of X.

A great story, sometimes a bit difficult to follow if you are not that familiar with the X-men, but I assure you you’ll end up wanting more of the Children of the Atom

Now ,off I go, to look for my next adventure.

azr.

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Azriel’s Infinite Bookshelf, El triunfo de la memoria.

Back in May I subscribed to a membership of my favorite Mexican Independent publishing house, Paraíso Perdido, with the pandemic ravaging thru the world it became more difficult to promote their amazing catalog so they propose a reading plan where you receive 10 books divided in three installments, El triunfo de la memoria by Abril Posas, was one of the books of the first installment.

Comprised of 11 beautiful short stories woven into a single idea, memory, from the fading memory of a favorite neighborhood bar and a very special second hand pair of Dr. Martens boots, a punk rock gig with a slight smell of fish, to Jerry Seinfeld has an Virgil like figure, this book explores deeply what it means to be, and how memory shapes our reality.

Because at the end : “la memoria es, siempre, la que triunfa.”

I encourage you to pick up this book, which is available in the Editorial Paraíso Perdido official store.

Now ,off I go, to look for my next adventure.

azr.

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Azriel’s Infinite Bookshelf, X-men Gold Volumes 2 to 5

With the recent publication of the X-men : House of X/Power of X compilation volume, well at least in Mexico, it kick started my interest in the children of the Atom.

This 4 volumes are written in the most part by Marc Guggenheim, with the exception of volume 3, this is a crossover with X-men, written by Cullen Bunn.

Some is the highlights are the appearance of super villain Omega Red, the dangerous reality games of deranged producer Mojo, the fight against a sleeping God, but my personal favorite , the appearance of Magick, a character I haven’t read anything since maybe 2010, and graces the cover of volume 5.

Along with Ghost Rider and Doctor Strange, the X-men are some of the few Marvel titles I read on a regular basis.

This title is a great example of why this characters have endure for so long, 57 years actually, for they were published for the first time on September 1963, by the super team of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.

Now off I go to look for my next adventure.

azr.

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Azriel’s Infinite Bookshelf Double Feature, Sandman Universe: Lucifer and The Bonehunters

I’ll start off by talking about the epic sixth volume of the Malazan Book of the Fallen, The Bonehunters.

It took me 69 days to read, which is typical for me on this series.

When I say that this series is epic, I mean it, it has the feel of reading the annals of a long gone Empire.

The story picks up two months after events of the fourth volume, The House of Chains, The Malazan Fourteenth Army has come out of the field victorious, but a new menace is brewing in the Imperial Court and with a mysterious plague ravaging the seven cities, the Empire hangs on the balance and puts all off its fate on the new master of Deck of Dragons, Ganoes Paran, to bring balance back.

Mr. Erikson is a master of fantasy, the scope of the world is vast, I highly recommend this series, but a fair warning, this is a really tough read, the whole series is about 11,000 pages and more than 3,000,000 words, this over 10 books of the main series, if you are not that familiar with epic fantasy ,you should really start with a milder series, and work your way up.

For my second feature is the first volume of the Sandman’s Universe Lucifer, written by Dan Watters and beautifully illustrated by Argentinian artists Max and Sebastian Fiumara.

The morningstar is missing, from Hell that is, he embarks on a perilous quest to find the mother of his abandoned son Caliban, while mysterious forces brew against him, looking to imprison him.

Of all the titles of the Sandman’s universe relaunch this is my personal favorite, Mr. Watters captures beautifully the essence of the character created by Mr. Gaiman, and does it justice just as good as Mr. Carey did on the series of 2000.

Now off I go to look for my next adventure.

azr

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