It’s been a while since I’ve done a Baum review, so let’s do this.
The illustrator of the first Oz book was WW Denslow. If you recall, he illustrated only the very first Oz book before John Neill took over in book two and illustrated over 30 Oz books in his career. Denslow and Baum had a falling out in 1902 over royalties from the first Wizard of Oz musical. However, before that happened, Denslow had also illustrated Baum’s books By the Candelabra Glare, Father Goose: His Book and another children’s fantasy story called Dot and Tot of Merryland.
Dot and Tot of Merryland was published in 1901, the very next year after The Wonderful Wizard of Oz although it was actually written around the same time. As I mentioned, the book is a children’s fantasy book written in the same style as Wizard. Child protagonists visit a magical fairy land and must find their way back home when they become trapped there.
Yes, that sounds awfully familiar but it’s Baum style, it’s straight up in his wheelhouse. He managed to make this concept work for like four or five of his Oz books, so I’m not too worried he’ll make it work here.
The story begins with Dot who is a bit of a sickly child. She’s sent to live in her father’s palatial mansion in the outskirts of town. While there she has the run of the estate. She starts playing with the gardener’s little boy, Tot. They are having a picnic out by the stream that runs through the back yard and they are swept away in a rowboat which takes them through a tunnel in the mountains where they emerge in a fairy land called Merryland. They meet a crazy cast of characters including a guy with long whiskers called the “Watchdog” that oversees the entrance to Merryland and they meet the ruler of the land who is a walking, talking wax doll. Dot and Tot are adopted by the queen and go with her to tour the seven valleys of Merryland.
, however, I found the first three books of the Landover series in 
for super cheap so I snapped it up and started reading without much thought. The basic premise is that a lawyer, disappointed with his life after his wife dies, finds an ad in a catalog to buy a magical fantasy land called Landover for $1 million. Spontaneously he decides to do it, but it doesn’t turn out to be exactly what he expects. Initially, that premise spoke “satire” to me. I fully expected a massively tongue-in-cheek parody of fantasy novels. What I got was surprising. The novel takes a while to really get started, but once it does, it’s really good. It takes the premise honestly and earnestly. It’s not a satire or a parody. It plays the entire plot straight and is a better novel for it. I liked it much more than I thought considering my expectations were completely wrong and the first 80 pages or so were kind of slow to get through. I’m definitely looking forward to the next book in the series.
– I love Peter David’s novels and for years I tried to read everything he’d written. I originally read this book back in 2005 when I randomly found it on eBay. I loved it. The story is a parody of fantasy books in general. It uses a lot of the tropes and has fun with them. Peter David is great at humorous dialogue and he doesn’t disappoint here. Essentially, it’s your traditional epic hero fantasy, except, instead of focusing on the hero, the story focuses on one of the side characters. And that side character is well aware he’s in a hero’s tale and that he’s not the hero. In fact, he prefers it. Lots of fun with the fantasy genre. Also, I’m surprised at how similar this book was to Moore’s Fool. I guess it’s sort of the same idea, except David’s idea goes a little more broad with the concept. And, honestly, I think it’s a better book.
, back in January 2014 and I enjoyed it. It was very story heavy with lots of characters with weird names but the book is well written and I was very interested in the world that Rothfuss had built. So, when I found the sequel on sale for super cheap a few months ago on Google Play, I snatched it up. It continues the story of Kvothe, a legendary arcanist (ie magic user) who is relating the unbelievable events of his life story to a scribe. Overall, this book is good. However, it’s LOOOOONG. The eBook is 875 pages long. And it feels every bit of that length. And I didn’t realize this, but it’s also a road book. The main character, Kvothe, is sent out on a journey that lasts FOREVER. He finishes the initial task on the journey and then goes off on an interlude. And then another interlude. And another. To infinity. I was ready for the book to end. But the book is written very well and is set in an interesting world with an interesting take on magic. I just think, since we KNOW this book is continuing into a third book, that Rothfuss should have ended it a little sooner. And I feel this is a gripe I have with many books in the fantasy genre.
for a while. Finally Amazon put the Kindle versions on sale for a song (all 3 books for less than $6) and I snatched them right up. So, I read the first book in the trilogy and it’s pretty damn good. The world Sanderson creates is interesting and he has filled this world with interesting characters and a very interesting system of magic. And the setup is similar to something you’d see in another fantasy series I like, The Lies of Lock Lamora by Scott Lynch. It’s a group of thieves and cons who are hired to perform an impossible heist. Exactly the type of plot I love. I will definitely continue this trilogy. However, I have a similar gripe about this book that I had with the first book in this list. The book is a little bit too long. The first book in this trilogy is nearly 700 pages. Knowing there are two more books in this series, reading through to 700 pages starts to get a little tiring. And slightly annoying. Even when I enjoy the characters and subject matter, story fatigue sets in around 600-700 pages. However, that being said, I really did enjoy the book and would recommend it.
(left) first debuted during the 1973 fall season. This is a great show and one of my favorites. The Bob Newhart Show would become immensely popular following 
for its first three seasons. The show would eventually last 6 seasons and air its final episode on April Fool’s Day, 1978.
(right), would debut this season as well. Again, this show would become extremely popular and last for nine seasons before bowing out in 1981. I remember this show but never really liked it. I thought it was boring as balls.
(left) was based on the 
. M*A*S*H would become a ratings phenomenon and go on 8 seasons before airing its final episode in Feb 1983. That final episode garnered the highest ratings of any single episode of a TV show then or since.
than any other of his roles. He toured in the traveling stage production until just before his death. The non-musical television adaptation, Anna and the King (right), was an attempt to repeat that success. It didn’t work and the show was cancelled after 13 episodes.
Cavalcade of Awesome 