Fairy Tale Spotlight: Doom 64 [Video Game Review]

"Doom 64" is a video game developed by Midway in 1997 for the Nintendo 64 console. It has since been updated and re-released in 2020 by NightDive Studios. That's really the version I am going to be talking about. Although I have thoroughly played this game, I have not played it very recently. Most of this review is being taken from memory.

For a game made right after the release of Doom II, it is shocking to find a game that plays so similarly that was not even made by Id. Obviously Midway was trying to go with a formula that worked. "Doom 64" plays like classic Doom flawlessly and is fun for exactly the same reason. Kind of crazy though when you consider that FPS games on the N64 at the time were a lot more advanced, allowing you to jump, look up and down, and other quality of life improvements. These things actually did negatively affect "Doom 64" at the time, and people sort of ignored it. Sad, but true.

But Midway were still geniuses in my opinion. They may have suffered a great loss from that version of the game, but the future would tell a different tale. We now look back on "Doom 64" and realize just how good we had it and also how selfish we were, clinging to all the bells and whistles of the modern FPS generation. "Doom 64" was just as good as the previous Doom games, and maybe that's all it needed to be. It was Midway's love letter to a game that was still going strong on PC, and by today, we finally appreciate that. Better late than never.

"Doom 64" takes place canonically after the events of "Final Doom." Here is a copy and paste of the story:

A planetary policy is established to quarantine the U.A.C. research installations with apocalyptic levels of radiation. For years, the installations stood motionless and abandoned, until a long-forgotten satellite monitoring one of the installations, barely functioning due to years of being subjected to high levels of radiation, sends a message back to Earth.

The message indicates that a single entity, with vast rejuvenation powers and masked by the extreme radiation levels, escaped detection in its crippled state. This entity systematically altered decaying dead carnage back into corrupted living tissue, resurrecting the demons.

As the only experienced survivor of the Doom episodes, the Marine is sent in alone to exterminate them. Later, he realizes the demons had planned for this, after he unknowingly allowed himself to be lured back into Hell. The demons are unable to defeat him, and with the Unmaker, he eventually battles and kills the Mother Demon. The game ends with the Marine, no longer capable of having a normal life following his encounters with Hell's forces, deciding to remain in Hell forever to ensure no demon ever rises again.

Despite the gameplay being the same, there are major differences in other areas that need to be addressed. Most of the demons are back, but they have been redesigned to be decidedly scarier to look at. The Revenants and the Arch-viles were omitted sadly, however there was a final boss included.

The music in this game is dark and terrifying. It's also extremely good. Like... go listen to the music from this game on YouTube or something. It is some of the most beautifully dark ambient pieces I have ever heard. It fits the look of the game too. "Doom 64" has a very dark and gloomy atmosphere to it. In some ways, this game represents what "Doom 3" probably should have been, because it somehow comes across as dark and terrifying while still replicating the fast action gameplay of the original. Nice job!

Did you think the BFG9000 was the top dog of Doom weapons? Not in "Doom 64!" While the BFG9000 is in the game (and still badass), there is a new addition that, if used properly, is a far superior killing device: The Unmaker. I love that name. I love that name almost as much as the BFG9000. It rocks.

The Unmaker is a laser weapon that, when you first get it, isn't actually all that powerful, but you can upgrade it three times during the campaign. By the time you completely upgrade it, it absolutely shreds everything, including the final boss, with little to no issues. It is the most overpowered weapon I have ever used in any video game ever. My god.

I really should not like a weapon that is this unbalanced, but there are some aspects to it that make it okay. For one, the act of upgrading it is actually very difficult. You have to find three items called "demon keys" that are only located on secret levels. Also, there is no information in the game itself that tells you what these keys even do, so you might not even know that the Unmaker is even being upgraded. The demon keys themselves are actually used to keep extra enemies from spawning in the final boss fight... but are also upgrading your Unmaker. It's so confusing that I wouldn't be surprised if someone playing the game back then even knew what to do with all these things.

That said, the fact that you need all three keys to get the Unmaker to fully upgrade means that it won't be at full power until very much near the end of the entire game. This is the balance. Unless you use cheats, you won't actually see the full power of this gun until late, and you will be forced to rely on guns of lesser power (like the BFG9000) until that point arrives. Clever.

(I'm so sorry for gushing about the Unmaker so much. It only appears in two Doom games to this date, so it is just a rare and interesting find.)

Make no mistake, "Doom 64" actually is a fantastic game, and if you like classic Doom then you can't do much better. I recommend it. Just make sure you get the NightDive Studios remaster. It even comes with a new episode!

This blog was written on April 23, 2025.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: Doom 3 [Video Game Review]

"Doom 3" is a video game developed by Id Software. It originally came out in 2004. It was... okay. The thing I really would rather talk about is "Doom 3: BFG Edition" which came out waaay later in 2012. This fixed all the problems with the original and made it an entirely acceptable game to play. It also included the classic Doom and Doom II for you to have fun with as well.

Normally when I review a Doom game, I play it through first. This is the first time that I didn't do that. I mean... I have played it; I just didn't replay it for this review as I have been doing. I started to though. I just was not having as much fun, and the reason for this was that Doom 3 is not really representative of the Doom experience that I crave these days. It isn't a balls-to-the-wall, heavy metal laced power fantasy. It's a survival horror!

"Doom 3" is dark, scary, and consistently manages to fill you with dread. You have to constantly fight for your own survival. Sure, you are a tough guy. Nobody is arguing that. But you are a tough guy whose soul is resting on the razor's edge of Hell. I never once felt powerful in "Doom 3." I always felt like I was fighting for my life and just barely making it. You know what? That's not a bad thing! It's just not what I have come to enjoy about Doom.

There is another problem. "Doom 3" is kind of its own story. It really has nothing to do with the other games, and that's kind of a bummer. The other games actually do have fun and interesting stories. This one does too. It just isn't the same kind of story.

The developers wanted to make Hell seem really palpable for the wickedness that it truly represented. It wasn't just about demons; it was about the wickedness of sin. This concept was made visual and done extremely well. I did love this game's presentation.

Now, for the elephant in the room. Why is the "BFG Edition" better? The problem with the original game was that the developers tried to make the game scarier by forcing you to switch back and forth from a gun to a flashlight. This was not good. It made most of the game too dark to see anything. Most of the time, you were just shooting in complete darkness. Sorry, Id, but you screwed up. That wasn't scary; it was just annoying.

The "BFG Edition" completely remedied these issues, handed over all the expansion episodes, and the classic games to boot. It was a wonderful gesture that just took them perhaps a little too long to get to. But now-a-days, it is an easy thing to recommend "Doom 3." It's worth your time if you don't mind your Doom themed in a darker, more terrifying way. It is what it is, although to be fair... the world has pretty much moved on.

This blog was written on April 22, 2025.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: Doom + Doom II [Video Game Review]

"Doom + Doom II" is a remaster of the original classic Doom video games. It was released in 2024 and developed by NightDive Studios. I have been mentioning them like crazy lately, but I never actually reviewed the game itself. I was more-or-less talking about the original games that I was playing on this new port. I'll be brief.

The whole genius around this title is that it makes an old game so wonderfully accessible to everyone. Indeed, the classic Doom episodes were already available by different independent ports that you could download. These were not always friendly to people who were less PC savvy. I was able to figure it out a little, but what I really wanted was a simple, easy-to-understand port of Doom that would just.... you know... work.

I did not just want it to work, I wanted it to work well with controller support and all the bells and whistles that make modern gaming so friendly. Games today are not like they used to be. Today we have widescreen monitors, better graphics and sound capability, and a host of other quality of life improvements. "Doom + Doom II" takes advantage of all of these things while still basically keeping the game the same as it always was. In fact, a lot of these new features can simply be toggled on and off to your own preferences.

An example of an improvement is that you can now hear if a sound is happening to the left, right, or even forward and behind. Yes, sound design was a major design element for this port. Not only that, but everything is perfectly crystal clear to look at. You can play with a superb resolution with no slowdown at all. Everything is fast and wonderful.

This port also brought together all the main episodes for Doom and Doom II. It also included a brand new episode for you to play which I have already reviewed. Gentlemen, this is the best list I have ever had the pleasure of looking at:

-Doom

-Doom II

-Master Levels for Doom II [Assembled into a single campaign.]

-TNT Evilution [Final Doom]

-The Plutonia Experiment [Final Doom]

-No Rest for the Living

-Sigil

-Sigil II [Only just added in 2025.]

-Legacy of Rust [A brand new modern campaign.]

This is it, baby! This is everything in one package. Not to mention the sheer massive amount of extra episodes and mods available on it's mod browser. Oh yes! You can download tons of alternative games made on the Doom engine from some of the best and brightest map-makers the world has ever seen. It's all here.

The crazy thing to me was the price. This entire package was only $9.99. Ten freaking dollars! There is no better value anywhere on anything. It's insane. And what was kind of crazy was that I kind of got it for free. Because I already owned the old antiquated Doom titles, NightDive just gave this to me for nothing. What did I do to deserve this?

There have been some complaints that this port does not include some of the improvements of the popular independent ports, such as the ability to jump or look up and down. NightDive was not trying to reinvent Doom. They were just trying to make the original experience more friendly and accessible. They succeeded.

If you are a Classic Doom fan, this is the ultimate and easiest way to play it comfortably. And for ten bucks, how could I not recommend this. It's worth it in so many ways. Rip and tear, my friends! May Classic Doom live forever!

This blog was written on April 22, 2025.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: MAP33 - Betray [Video Game Review]

My last blog dealt with a really awful secret map from the "Doom 3 Collector's Edition" (2005) version of Classic Doom. This blog is the same thing but for Doom II. It had an extra secret map (a third one) known as "MAP33 - Betray"... and it's set in a sewer! Why?! Oh wait, the name of the map is "Betray." Now it makes sense.

But is the map any good? Well, kind of.

"Betray" does have some structure to it, but I think the idea of it was to be somewhat maddening. Right off the bat, nearly the entire map has you walking around in nukage, but none of it hurts you. That is already off-putting. The map is also full of teleporters and switches. I mean... a lot. It might be a record even.

Mostly what you end up doing is going into a room, flip a switch, walk onto a teleporter which takes you to another room with a switch, and this happens over and over again in different areas of the map. Intermixed with this layout, there are a lot of high level enemies here such as Mancubi, Revenants, and even Arch-viles. Also a few Nazi SS soldiers? That's random. Remember this is technically the second level in the game if you find it!

Happily the map does include a lot of nice weaponry. No BFG9000, but pretty much everything else. It will help with those high-level demons. But the whole concept of the map is meant to confuse and misdirect you in a way that is honestly a little annoying.

"MAP33 - Betray" does actually have a better design than "Sewers" did, and there were genuine moments where I was having fun. But much of the map design baffled me. I'd say its better but not necessarily great. I would, however, recommend a playthrough, though, just to see how you feel about it. You can download it as a standalone mission in the excellent "Doom + Doom II Remaster" by NightDive Studios.

This blog was written on April 21, 2025.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: E1M10 - Sewers [Video Game Review]

I hate to say it but I was not playing the Doom games when they first came out. Although I had a PC, I did not know much about the games, and I was not particularly looking for them. Honestly, my first real PC game love was "Dark Forces 2: Jedi Knight." I played the hell out of that game and was not really interested in crappy-looking games like Doom.

I did not get into Doom until way later in 2005 when it was released in the "Doom 3 Collectors Edition." When I heard that the original games were going to be included with Doom 3, I was there. That was just such a great deal! This was my very first experience with classic Doom, and I quickly learned to love it, despite it looking very antiquated compared to the games I was playing at the time, including Doom 3 of course.

But something very weird happened when I began playing the first mission called "E1M1 - Hangar." In that mission, there is a secret where you can go outside in two different ways. There is an outdoor area and a tunnel area. This is normal in all versions of this first mission. But when I was playing this, I was bumping against the walls of the tunnel. The mission suddenly ended, and I was sent to a secret mission called "E1M10 - Sewers." I did not know this at the time, but this mission was only in this particular re-release of classic Doom. In my ignorance of the series, I thought this was normal and was confused when I never could get this mission to activate in later versions.

The original Doom episodes traditionally only have 9 missions, the 9th one being the secret mission. That means that this version of Doom actually had two secret missions, something that only Doom II was known for. How cool is that?

Well, it's not.

"Sewers" may go down as one of the more un-fun Doom maps I have ever played. You may have heard that there is a sort of dislike for Sewer themed levels because of their very drab appearance. A lot of dark greens and browns. But this map is just so unfocused in its design.

There are a lot of corridors that don't really go anywhere. The monster count is also quite high for a map that takes place right after the first one. Your gun selection is extremely limited, and ammo pickups are... okay... but not great. I got lost frequently in this map and had to consult the automap so much that I was practically playing on it. It's just a big, huge mess with very little structure. It honestly feels like baby's first doom map, like if a really young kid is trying to make his first map but doesn't yet know how to make it good.

The only real interesting thing about it was that it includes Cacodemons and Lost Souls in an episode where they are not supposed to exist yet. There are also a couple of Barons of Hell there as well, which were supposed to be the final boss of the episode, but I guess you can fight them here with no rocket launcher. Not fun.

To make matters even stranger, when you finish the mission, it takes you back to "E1M1 - Hangar!" What the heck?! So you have to play the first mission over again, and technically, you could go back and replay Sewers if you were a masochist or something. Really not good.

If you wanted to play this weird anomaly on its own, you can download it as a stand alone mission in the excellent "Doom + Doom II Remaster" released by NightDive Studios, but I don't really recommend it unless you are really curious about seeing an obscure official Doom map. Episode 1 never needed this addition, and it sure is telling that it was never included in any future releases since then. Rest in peace, stupid Sewers map.

This blog was written on April 21, 2025.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: The Flowering of the Strange Orchid [Short Story Review]

[I spoil the entire story.]

"The Flowering of the Strange Orchid" is a short horror story written by H. G. Wells. It was published in 1894. This is not a well-known story of his, but there was a particular reason I wanted to read it.

The story follows a man named Winter Wedderburn (I hate his name) who collects orchids of different varieties. He lives with his female cousin, who is also his housekeeper. These are the primary players in this short tale. One day, Winter wakes up and has a strange feeling like something unusual or special will happen to him. This feeling comes more from leading a rather boring life.

He goes out and purchases a number of orchids, but one of them is very strange. This particular orchid seems to have been found next to a corpse, which really puts off his housekeeper. She does not want to have anything to do with it.

Winter then spends some time taking care of it. It begins to grow some leaves which the housekeeper thinks looks a little like human fingers, but Winter assumes it's all in her mind. He continued to spend time in his hothouse, tending to it.

One day, the aroma coming from the plant makes him pass out. His housekeeper checks up on him, and sees him laying on the floor of the hothouse, with the orchid reaching its tendrils down to him. He is bleeding from several places. In an attempt to help him, the scent produced from the plant almost causes her to pass out as well, but she proves smart and breaks the windows of the hothouse to air it out.

She smashes the orchid, pulls the tendrils away from Winter, and rescues him just in time to get a doctor. At first, it looks like Winter won't make it because of the loss of blood, but he does actually survive. At this point, the story suddenly ends with absolutely no explanation about what Winter went through (which bothered me a bit).

I'll be honest: the story is somewhat interesting, but it's lack of explanation hit me as mildly frustrating. Obviously, though, this strange orchid fed on human blood, and that was the point. So why did I read this weird story? Well, apparently, it is widely believed that this obscure story by H. G. Wells was the chief inspiration for two films called "Little Shop of Horrors." I'm not even joking. Most people don't even know that those movies were based on anything but a script.

Of course, those movies were far removed from what H. G. Wells came up with... and they are objectively better. That said, I don't actually recommend this short story, but I do recommend you see either of those films, especially the one from 1986. I just feel the movie's inspiration was just too underwritten to be of any real notability other than it's connection to what it ultimately inspired.

This blog was written on April 16, 2025.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: The Great Race [Book Review]

"The Great Race" is a novel written by Marvin H. Albert. It was published in 1965. This book is a novelization of the motion picture directed by Blake Edwards of the same name released in the same year. It was a common practice at the time for a book to be released alongside the movie as a means to further promote the film. But in order to do this, the book had to be written while the movie was in production, leading the author to only have the original script as a source. This often caused a lot of these books to be different than the movie it was based on as the film deviated from the original script.

"The Great Race" is about a automobile race from New York to Paris happening at the turn of the twentieth century. The two main contestants were a dashing and brave paragon of a man named The Great Leslie, and his opponent and chief antagonist was the vile and dastardly Professor Fate. This is a story of good versus evil in the very raw sense of the terms. Leslie was perfectly good and Fate was perfectly evil. Leslie had to win by being the better racer, but Fate had to win by being sneaky and cheating whenever he could, and as far as anyone cared in the story, that was perfectly okay. May the best man win in whatever way he choses!

Despite the story being about an automobile race, the story is more of an adventure that keeps changing in style as they pass through different parts of the world. One part was clearly pitched as a western with a crazy saloon fight, and later on it turns into a political intrigue story where an evil baron is attempting to usurp the throne of his prince. Crazy stuff, but it all leads to a very full and fun story.

There is also a major plot point having to do with the women's suffrage movement happening at the time. A woman named Maggie is trying to prove to the world that she can be a reporter and cover the race. She, at first, claimed that she could enter the even win the race, but that fell apart real fast when she picked a steamer as her vehicle of choice. The male/female dynamic between Leslie and her are well done. A lot of the story has to do with him trying to prove that men are better than woman in some areas, where she believes that a woman can be equal if not better than any man. It's a debate that runs all the way to the end of the book, and I liked how it concludes.

My favorite character is easily Professor Fate. Yes, he is evil, but he is also quite clumsy. He has a loyal henchman named Max who always helps him with his gadgets and evil schemes. He was well represented in this book. It's hard to see Max as played by anybody other than Peter Falk, even in how it was written. The two were always fighting each other, since evil always turns on itself, but they stayed the course of villainy all the way to the end. I loved it.

As I mentioned earlier, this book is based on the original script, and it shows. If you have seen the movie then this book is still worth reading. There was completely changed scenes and some new ones that can only be found in the book. Some scenes that felt cut short in the film keep going in the book, and that was really cool to finally see what the original plan was. This sort of film novelization is exactly what I am looking for when I set myself to read them.

I do recommend reading "The Great Race," and I should also say that the movie is worth your time too. It's one of my most favorite films ever made, and I really think it's the villains that keeps me coming back. That said, this book is now considered obscure. For some reason, all the novelizations of the Blake Edwards movies are now considered "collectable" status. That means they are all very experience to buy. I was lucky to have a friend who wanted to give it to me as a gift. Great read!

This blog was written on April 14, 2025.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: Mutant Alley - Daedalus [Book Review]

[This review contains no spoilers, but it is a review of an erotic piece of literature. You may not want to read about that, and, if so, feel free to skip this one.]

"Mutant Alley - Daedalus" is an erotic science fiction book by Rex T. Loveshaft. Yeah, I know the name's made up, but he gets points for cleverness. It is the sequel to his previous story "Mutant Alley - Ares," which I have already reviewed. Although the term "sequel" might not be appropriate in this case, since this one appears to take place along the same timeline as the first.

The story here is more of a detective story. It mostly revolves around a raptor hybrid named Daedalus and a female detective named Josephine Baker. They get involved with some bad people, and the fact that the hybrids have little to no rights just complicates matters. That said, it is interesting to see this world from more of a detective's perspective.

Daedalus certainly differs a lot from Ares the T-Rex, giving the story a new perspective. He is, for one, a narcissist. He absolutely loves himself and greatly dislikes being mistreated. Detective Baker is actually former military and once had very strong feelings for a raptor hybrid in her unit. But Daedalus comes across as much too toxic for her... at first anyways.

Like in the first book, the writing is superb. It's not only cleverly written, but there is a lot of humor mixed into it as well. I get the feeling that this author really likes polyamorous relationships, which is a romantic relationship with three or more people. It's pretty kinky; there's no denying that.

This particular story had a very 90's police drama feel to it, and I really liked that. I know it still takes place in the future, but I couldn't help but feel that I was watching a movie from that period. It was really cool.

I also think the ending was a bit more satisfying this time around. Instead of just wrapping up the overarching plot too quickly, the author chooses to focus much more on the characters relationships, which I liked. This is a good story that never loses it's focus even while partaking in some very kinky scenarios. I do recommend it. And by the way, Daedalus steals the show. I loved him.

This blog was written on April 12, 2025.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: Chex Quest 3 [Video Game Review]

"Chex Quest 3: Invasion!" is a video game developed by Chris Jacobi who was the director and lead artist of Digital Café. It was released in 2008. Despite being the third game in the series, "Chex Quest 3" is really just an indie title. It was made for the fans of the original two games who always wanted a third game.

I couldn't really find a story for this one. From the looks of it, the Flemoids attack the home base, forcing you to fight them off. This was an all-out attack too. They send a lot of enemies after you, and many of them are new and much harder to kill. I found this game to be pretty challenging at times.

I liked the maps overall. There were decent indoor and outdoor settings that were diverse in there design. I spent most of my time managing my ammo, because there were seriously a lot of enemies coming at me. This one felt more like Doom, even though it was still non-violent.

There were still only five maps. I guess at this point the idea was to just keep the five-map tradition going. But if you think on it, the whole trilogy is fifteen maps total. That's a nice big game to play if you did it all at once. I liked it. I am also really happy the final game was a decent challenge. The first two can feel a little like baby's first Doom game.

I do recommend "Chex Quest 3." I know I didn't have much to say about it, and I think it just feels like more of the same... which is a good thing. I love the whole idea that a game released in a cereal box managed to get such a huge cult following. That's so cool. I mean... Chex really had nothing to do with the third one... and yet it still feels like it's trying to get me to eat more Chex. Talk about dedication!

If you want to play it, you can download it from the mod browser in the excellent Doom+Doom II Remaster from NightDive Studios.

This blog was written on April 7, 2025.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: Chex Quest 2 [Video Game Review]

"Chex Quest 2: Flemoids Take Chextropolis" is a video game developed by Digital Café. It was released in 1997. Unlike the first game, which actually came in a box of Chex cereal, you had to download this game from the internet at probably dial-up speeds. Well, I certainly was not going to do that, but many people still did. Also keep in mind that this game is really just a heavily modified copy of "Doom."

First off, let's start with a copy and paste of the story:

Chex Quest 2 starts with the Chex Warrior returning to his home planet and landing in Chex City. As he lands he notes with a little apprehension that everything is quiet... Too quiet. As he leaves his ship, it becomes apparent that the Flemoid threat has reached his homeworld! Grabbing his trusty zorcher again, he races to the rescue of his beloved home. Battling through a spaceport, a cinema, a museum, and through the city until he reaches the sewers, where he faces his biggest challenge yet: The Flemoidus Maximus! Download it now, and see if you can handle the heat!

The main difference here is that the game takes place on your home planet. This is a little like going from Doom to Doom II as far as story. Instead of "Hell on Earth," you now got the Flemoids taking over our cities. The best part of this sequel are the locations. The theater was cool. Each of the showrooms had a different film playing, although it was just a loop. Also the goofy movie posters in the lobby made me laugh.

My favorite mission was probably the museum. They showcased a bunch of classic paintings and sculptures that were modified to have Chex included in them somehow. Even though I was fighting a lot of enemies, I found myself stopping to just look at some of that art. It was very funny. Also the place really did feel like a museum.

I would say that the map design was better in the second game. Unfortunately, there are still only five maps. On the plus side, there are a lot more enemies in larger groups this time. It kept me on my toes for the entire run. The final fight was much improved by filling a huge room full of really tough enemies, but I still say that it was still not that great. If you have the LAZ Device in your inventory then you'll still blow through the fight pretty handily. I guess it was a nice try.

Other than a couple enemy changes, that's really all there is to say about "Chex Quest 2." It was good, and I should say that it is a little bit better than the first game. It improved on some things. I recommend it. If you are interested in playing it, it can be found in the mod browser of the excellent 
Doom+Doom II Remaster developed by NightDive Studios.

At the end of the game, they claim a third game is going to come out, but it never did... officially. Chex just decided to end the "Chex Quest" series before it could reach trilogy status. However, that didn't stop some people from making it anyways! I'll be playing that soon. If I can finish it, I'll write a review for it.

This blog was written on April 7, 2025.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: The Talking Parcel [Book Review]

"The Talking Parcel" is a book written by Gerald Durrell. It was published in 1974. It is a very obscure book these days. You are lucky to even find a copy. Apparently it has been out of print for quite some time, and it doesn't look like anyone really cares about it anymore. This is kind of sad since I really enjoyed reading it.

"The Talking Parcel" is a fairy tale to the tune of the Oz books. It revolves around three children, two boys and one girl---Peter, Simon, and Penelope. They find a wrapped parcel floating out on a beach, and when they open it up, there is a talking parrot (his name is actually just Parrot) inside who claims to be from a magical land called Mythologia. Apparently the land has been taken over by cockatrices, who are like large birds that shoot fire out of their beaks. And so the children agree to follow Parrot there in order to help free the people from the cockatrice's tyranny.

One thing you will notice about this story is that it is extremely British. It's in the way everyone talks, acts, and how they get along with one another. Parrot especially is the very pinnacle of a British gentleman. He even has a little umbrella and a pocket watch. He is probably my favorite character in a story that actually has a lot of endearing characters in it already.

There is a toad named Ethelred who fancies himself as a really good spy, even though everyone always sees through his disguises and lies. That said, he is actually really lovable and funny. The girl, Penelope, especially liked him because of how hard he seemed to be trying to be the perfect spy. I imagine Ethelred's creation was likely inspired by the Cold War which was happening at the time. Imagine that: a children's character based on the Cold War. It worked though!

Mythologia is a pretty good name for this fantasy world. Most of the creatures there are mythological animals such as unicorns, dragons, sea monsters, will-o'-the-wisps, werewolves, firedrakes, and mandrakes. There are also regular talking animals living there as well.

Hilariously there is a colony of extremely cowardly weasels. Oh my god, I loved the weasels. They were presented in such a cartoonishly, cowardly way with really good comedy beats. In fact, most of the humor is extremely spot on throughout this book. This is a very funny book that will put a smile on anyone's face. The author went into it with humor in mind, but it is still there to entertain the young child.

Did you know that "The Talking Parcel" was made into a feature length animated film? It came out in 1978, and I have watched it. It's pretty darn good, although the animation can be a little wonky at times. Also the two boy characters, Peter and Simon, were omitted for the movie. It was only Penelope going on the adventure. It's a truncated, somewhat altered story, but it carries you through the main points of the book just fine.

I am giving a high recommendation for both the book and the movie for "The Talking Parcel." I literally have no idea why this story fell out of public favor. It's really a solid adventure that can be enjoyed by young and old. I guess sometimes this sort of thing happens. Finding the book is doable, but it's a lot easier to watch the movie on YouTube. Either way, I do recommend you experience this story any way you can. It's worth it.

This blog was written on April 7, 2025.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: Chex Quest [Video Game Review]

"Chex Quest" is a video game developed by Digital Café. It was released in 1996. This game cost as much as a box of Chex cereal, which at the time could have been as low as $3.00 in some areas. The reason for this was because it was included in the actual box of cereal. Yes, this was a full video game for PC that was packaged in with the cereal itself. As far as I know, this is the only time this has ever happened.

Like many people at the time, I was one of the kids who bought and played this game. Of course, it might be better to say that my dad bought the cereal, and I played the game. This was probably my second year with an actual computer, and the only thing I really wanted to do on it was play games. Us kids had to get them in any way we could, and most of the time the main method used was begging. In this case, the game's price was extremely reasonable.

Here is a copy and paste of the game's story:

Chex Quest begins with an emergency meeting of the members of the Intergalactic Federation of Cereals. In it, it is brought to everyone's attention that a volcano exploded recently on the surface of Bazoik, a peaceful mining planet renowned for its quality nutritional products. The Chex Squadron captured fragments from the explosion, and discovered that they contained strange, slimy larvae of a creature from another dimension. When exposed to nutritional substances, these larvae abruptly grow into huge, slimy creatures with the capacity to launch slime as a weapon from their bodies. When a member states that there has been no trouble reported, the Commander addressing the members states that communications with Bazoik have been interrupted, and the Federation cannot contact anyone.

Luckily, the scientists from the Federation have found a way to counter the threat. Although conventional weapons do not affect the slimy invaders, the scientists have modified the "zorchers", the main weapon of the Federation, to effect a transportation of any object into another dimension, and this is demonstrated to those present.

With this new weapon the Federation believes that it can subdue the threat by sending a lone volunteer to the surface of Bazoik. The crowd discusses this for a moment, and a warrior from Chex Squadron declares he is willing to take the rescue mission. Taking his ship, he flies to the planet and begins his quest.

So as you can see, the whole game is a marketing gimmick to promote their cereal. It's extremely silly and obviously marketed towards children. That makes sense since it was delivered in a method that mirrored the toys originally included inside cereal boxes. But here's the weird thing... the game was actually really fun.

The reason for this was that "Chex Quest" was actually a re-skin of another game that was popular around this period... "Doom." Everything about this game just screams "Doom", but clearly everything is different. All the violence is gone. In fact, the story even suggests that your weapons are not killing the enemies but rather transporting them to another dimension. And yes, it does look like that in the game. It never looks like you are killing anyone. But for some reason, the game still feels very tactile and engaging, and the transportation effect for the enemies is actually kind of well-animated.

A lot of the fun of the game probably comes from the whole novelty of playing a cereal game. I'm not joking when I say that this may be one of the best marketing tactics ever devised by anyone ever. They probably sold more cereal that year then ever before, and it may have even kept them successful for years to come. People from that year remember what they did, and some of them still play this game. The whole idea is just really cool and shows that love can and probably should be taken even in the marketing of a product.

That said, the game is not perfect, although its flaws are rather negligible. For one, some of the weapons, called "zorchers" in the game, are a little hard to aim. "Doom" always had their weapons facing straight ahead to give you a sort of "iron sight" feel. But some of these zorchers are tilted slightly at an angle which confuses me as to where I should be aiming. Also this game is kind of short. It's only five maps long. Those maps are all good though and vary the environments enough so that you feel like you traveled to different places. Personally, I wish they had made it at least as long as the original "Doom" release (nine maps), but I'm just nitpicking.

"Chex Quest" has a rather disappointing final boss. It's just a wall that occasionally fires a slow-moving snot ball at you. They give you the "Laz Device" here, the game's equivalent to the BFG9000. You pretty much can just hit it twice with that weapon, and the game is beaten. That said, the map leading up to that point was very good. It also ends on a story cliffhanger and mentions a sequel that is going to come out.

The sequel did actually happen, but it was released as an online download. Back then we were all on dial-up internet, and the time it would take to actually download a full game was not always something we were willing to put up with. The same applied for me. I have never actually played "Chex Quest 2," but that is about to change.

Despite the fact that "Chex Quest" is completely silly, non-violent, and really just a marketing gimmick, it showed an amount of love that was hard to come by through the soulless marketing companies of the world. I do so absolutely recommend it. If you want to play it, there are several versions of it available in the mod browser of the excellent "Doom+Doom II Remaster from NightDive Studios. Remember, the game is a Doom mod, so why wouldn't you find it there? Go play it, and honestly it wouldn't kill you to buy a box of Chex while your at it. Not joking.

This blog was written on April 7, 2025.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: Hell to Pay [Video Game Review]

"Hell To Pay" is a video game developed by Wraith Corporation. It is a 32-map episode for Doom II that was released in 1996, two years after Doom II actually came out. It was released in retail stores for $14.99, so this was a professionally made and released Doom II mod, which is pretty cool. It is non-canon, however it does claim to be a continuation of the Doom II story, although two hundred years later.

Where to begin with this one? I suppose I can copy and paste the story for you, since that was only available in the manual anyways. Here it is:

"Two hundred years have passed since a lone marine stood against the forces of Hell. Bone weary from the conflict, and thinking they were finally safe, mankind shunned the ways of war and devoted themselves to turning Earth into a paradise.

A decade ago, all of that changed. Near Jupiter, a wormhole opened. A vast alien armada quickly established on Io, Jupiter's volcanic moon. Without warning, the alien fleet descended upon an unsuspecting Earth.

Many rushed to greet the alien visitors, only be dismembered by the killing machines disgorged by the hellish alien ships. It was soon obvious that the aliens were bent upon savage colonization. Some even tried to defend the planet, but it was hopeless.

Billions died. They were the lucky ones. Those that remain bowed down before their new metal masters and meekly accepted the living Hell that awaited them in the Slave Pits.

The physically fit were pressed into labor under inhuman conditions. Those who weren't or who could not perform to the satisfaction of their masters were led away never to be seen or heard from again. No one really knew what happened to them, but there were rumors too horrible to believe.

But it wasn't the metal demons who were feared the most, rather the sadistic and twisted among you who were led away only to come back transformed into trustee guards. The way they looked at you with a hunger in their eyes was enough to send shivers down your spine.

But unlike the other slaves who have given in to fear, you have let the hate burning in your heart give you strength while you waited for your opportunity to strike back. But the worst has happened, one of your fellow slaves whom you told of your plans was turned into a trustee. You have been arrested and thrown into a holding cell.

The opportunity you've been waiting for hasn't arrived. The other slaves had been looking towards you to lead the revolt. As the trustees lead you away, you saw in their eyes that they had lost of hope. As the trustee opens the cell, you shudder as you remember the rumors of a "Final Solution".

Filled with rage, you slay the trustee with a savage blow. You grab his pistol and emerge from the cell screaming, 'There's gonna be HELL TO PAY!'"

So even though it is technically a sequel, it is also really its own thing at the same time. Most of the enemies have been altered or changed entirely. The imp looks a bit different. The lost souls have been replaced with floating spheres of liquid metal. The Cacodemon, Mancubus, and Pinky Demons are now robots, although they still act the same way. A few of the weapons changed as well, such as the Plasma Gun and BFG9000 which are now a blue and red tridents respectively. Everything works the same though. All that was changed were the looks and some of the sound effects.

This game tried some really interesting things. Not all of it worked well, mind you, but they tried. For example, there was one map where you are in a spaceship. You approach an airlock, pick up a protective suit, and actually perform a space walk for a little while. They tried to simulate being able to float around and even move up and down, but it was all faked using the original engine. It was only convincing the moment when I went out there, but I soon realized how it just was not all that well-done.

A couple missions actually had a self-destruct countdown happening. It even displayed on the screens, letting you know how long you had. Although I am unsure how they got the screens to display like that, I do know roughly how the countdown is performed. They use something called "Voodoo Dolls." They are copies of your space marine hidden somewhere unseen in the map. Anything that happens to that clone happens to you. They probably have him on some slow-motion conveyor belt or something that takes a full ten minutes to drop it into a lava pit or some sort of instant death hazard. In that way, you can give the illusion of a countdown timer that leads to your untimely demise. Cool, yeah?

One odd thing that kept happening in these maps was that enemies constantly got stuck on doorways. I'm not sure why this happened, but it did happen a lot. This is not a normal thing that happens in Doom; at least, I am unaccustomed to seeing it. Either way, I always used the advantage against them when this happened.

Have you ever heard of the Ghost Monster Bug in Doom II? It is extremely rare, and most people who run into it will usually brag about it. It is a really unusual bug that sometimes happens when an Arch-vile revives a fallen enemy. It causes them to not only be unkillable, but they can also pass through all the walls of the entire map, basically free to hunt down Doom Guy relentlessly until the ghosts has his way. There is a way to kill the ghost, however. You have to hit him with the splash damage of a rocket, but that is very difficult and does not damage it all that much.

In "Hell to Pay," I consistently ran into the Ghost Monster Bug three or four times. If I restarted a map, I would always run into it in the same place. I actually do wonder if the developers had meant for it to happen. For a bug so rare, it is hard to believe that it was not intentional. But imagine having a Revenant chasing you around through walls, and all you can do is try and hit the wall nearest to it with rockets and hope that the splash damage ends up enough to kill it. It's maddening!

Another thing these developers did that was cool was that you got a cutscene at the beginning of every single mission. It was still just text, but this text came with an original image behind it. I looked into it, and apparently they just put in a text intermission before every mission, left the text field blank, and then just showed the image with the text already on top of it. So the text does not roll out like it does in the original game. This is something I have never seen before in a classic Doom mod.

"Hell to Pay" did a really good job at being an outer space adventure. It also did a fairly decent job at map design. You even got a spaceship with a really nice-looking cockpit. And the whole idea of going to Planet Hell to fight the demons on their actual origin planet was really cool.

This game is really good and interesting, despite its flaws. And yes, it is flawed. Regardless, I found myself getting excited for every single map that came my way. I wanted to know what new and crazy thing the developers were going to throw at me. "Hell to Pay" gets my recommendation for simply being extraordinarily unique, and, most importantly, it's fun as hell.

You can find this game in the mod browser within the excellent Doom+Doom II Remaster released through NightDive Studios. It is not a featured mod though. I kind of wish it was, but I guess it's inherent flaws strips it of that privilege. Either way, do yourself a favor and download this one.

This blog was written on April 3, 2025.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: The Day the Earth Blew Up [Movie Review]

"The Day the Earth Blew Up" is an animated movie from 2024. Yeah, this is a relatively new film that just exited theaters. It is also an official Looney Tunes film by Warner Bros. Don't get me wrong. I think WB is doing some horrible things to Looney Tunes lately. They are deleting or censoring a lot of their old films and completely removing the existence of Pepe le Pew. But this new movie came as a really pleasant surprise, despite the fact that a lot of people did not even know it came out. Yeah, this one slipped under the radar a little bit.

When I heard this movie existed, I immediately asked the question, "Did Sam Register produce it?" and the answer quickly came back that he did. Sam Register is a man who understands the reasons why Looney Tunes was so good to begin with, and he always tries to make sure that the formula of Loony Tunes stays true to that standard. It is the case with this movie as well.

"The Day the Earth Blew Up" stars exactly three Looney Tunes characters: Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, and Petunia Pig. No cameoes. The plot is that an alien is trying to take over the Earth through chewing gum that turns the people who eat it into zombies that he can control. And before you ask, it isn't Marvin the Martian. There is a really good reason why it isn't, but that would be spoiling a vital point of the movie.

Daffy and Porky grew up with a farmer, who is always drawn in a really weird way that's hilariously inconsistent. The farmer leaves them his home and trusts that they will take good care of it after he is gone. Porky is the responsible one and Daffy is the extremely irresponsible and wacky one. It is important to note that this version of Daffy is based on the early model. He is not really a narcissist in this movie. He is just very looney and unhinged. This is the one who goes "Hoo hoo!" a lot. Yes, that Daffy!

Petunia comes in part of the way in. She is very lovable. She does taste test research for chewing gum flavoring. Porky's infatuation with her is very endearing and fun. I really like how they played off each other.

The movie is sort of a comedy horror film that takes inspirations from "The Thing" and "They Live." Daffy, Porky, and Petunia have to try and stop the invasion of these chewing gum creatures that are taking over the bodies of everyone and stop the invasion of Planet Earth. Some of the gum monsters are actually really creepy, and I believe they were intended to be. Don't get me wrong. It's still goofy as heck, but there are many moments in this movie where I was like, "Oh my god!" There is some disturbing imagery that you may find shocking, but it never goes too far.

I think the thing I like the most about this movie is just how deliberate it was in capturing the humor or the original Looney Tunes cartoons. It's so nice to see something like this in the modern day. Not to mention that this entire movie is traditionally animated. I could not really find any blatant CGI in the film. This movie took me back to the 90's where animation was still true-blue hand drawn. I loved it, and the cartoony sight gags were great as well.

If you can find a way to watch this movie, I do recommend it. It brings a classic Looney Tunes experience to the modern day without making any sacrifices. It's was brilliant, fun, and witty throughout. Any chance for a sequel, Sam?

This blog was written on March 31, 2025.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: Star Wars Jedi: Survivor [Video Game Review]

Let's just say it: Disney ruined Star Wars. They did it. All hope is lost. They should get rid of the IP, and sell it to someone who gives a damn. I grew up on Star Wars, and I truly loved it. I used to look forward to everything that would come out for it. Video games too. Even though I didn't like all of the games, it wasn't because of the writing. It was usually because the game was too hard or broken to play. I would still buy them though. But now... Now everything is in question. You can't trust the franchise anymore. The good days are over. We as a people can no longer trust Star Wars.

However...

"Star Wars Jedi: Survivor" is a video game developed by Respawn Entertainment, and unfortunately published by EA, a company I dislike. (Not as much as Disney, but it's close.) It was released in 2023. it is also the sequel to the game "Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order" (2019).

The game plays a little like "Dark Souls" crossed with "Metroid." Although the combat is difficult, it is extremely fair. The hardest fights in the game are also optional and tend to be hiding cosmetic prizes in them that you really don't need.

The story is surprising well written. It continues the adventures of Jedi Cal Kestis as he attempts to fight against the Empire after they destroy the Jedi Order. Along the way he meets friends willing to help him, both old and new. A lot of the characters from the first game are old now, but they still have their charm. I actually love the cast of characters in both games. They are very likable and engaging.

This particular game has to do with a lost planet that is protected by a dangerous vortex. It could be used as a haven for the remaining Jedi, and Cal is going up against an ancient Sith that's been trying to steal it for himself. That's the basic plot of the whole thing. I don't want to go much further into story spoilers. This game is full of twists and turns that are best experienced during the playthrough.

If you are wondering if Disney put any of their franchise-ruining prerequisite stuff in it, they did! Yep, there's a gay couple in it and everything! (Don't worry; they're hilarious.) But most of these things don't really get in the way of the game. They feel more like little virtue signals that are shoved off to the side so that the main part of the game can be kept front and center. You might not even notice them. It seems to me that the developer put them in to fill quotas and then focused more on the story they knew would sell the game. My point is: don't worry about them.

Listen to me carefully when I say this: This is a good game. I really enjoyed playing it, every moment of it. It brings back what made Star Wars so much fun in the old days. It's Star Wars done right. But you have to understand something: That doesn't mean Disney is fixing Star Wars. In fact, everything Disney had to do with this game was actually bad. But there is far more good here than bad, quite enough to play and enjoy it.

I do recommend this game. If you have not completely lost your love for classic Star Wars, then this game is waiting for you to play it. It's good. It's very good. It's also going to be a trilogy someday. I'm actually looking forward to it. I want to see where the story finally ends. But let's be honest: despite this game being genuinely good... Star Wars is still... basically... dead. (And Disney killed it.)

This blog was written on March 25, 2025.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: Scientist [Video Game Review]

"Scientist" is a video game developed by Roland van der Velden and Thomas van der Velden. It was originally released back in 2002. This is a heavily modified map pack for Doom II. You might remember the author from my review of "Harmony." This has a very similar feel to it, but it is more based on the Doom universe this time. You actually play as Doom Guy.

Although there is no official story text released for this one, the idea of it is very clear right from the start. You are chasing down a mad scientist who is doing some very terrible things involving hell and demons. He's basically replacing the UAC in this one.

This is a 20-map campaign with no secret levels. Most of the enemies you remember from Doom II are present, but some are edited to look a little different. There is a new enemy that flies around and attacks you, and, if you kill it, it releases a lost soul. Some of the weapons are different too. The chainsaw was replaced with some gloves that can shock enemies when you touch them. The BFG9000 is the same, but now it is thrown like a grenade.

The whole design of "Scientist" is both familiar and unique. The authors used a lot of unique textures to make everything look new and fresh. This is something they excel at. It sometimes feels like a non-Doom game, but the monsters are all clearly familiar.

The thing that I liked about this one was that you really feel like you are chasing the Scientist as you go along. In a number of the missions, you run into him and can briefly fight him. He always teleports away before you can finish him off though. This is cool. In most Doom stories, the antagonists are mentioned in the story, but you never really get to see them. It's all just a story for you to think about as you play. But no... you can see this Scientist as he does his work and continues to flee away from you. Brilliant! This is the only Doom game that did that well!

The game also culminates in a great final boss fight with the Scientist. I loved to finally get to finish him off after all that chasing. That's how you do a chase story!

I do recommend "Scientist." If you are interested in it, it is listed as a featured mod in the excellent Doom+DoomII Remaster released by NightDive Studios. Pick this one up!

This blog was written on March 23, 2025.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: reYal [Video Game Review]

"reYal" is a video game developed by xrrawva. It was released in 2019. It is one of the very few examples of a video game played from the extremely rare second person perspective.

The game is a 2D, top-down, retro-looking game. You control a single character who can walk around a small room with buttons on the wall. There is a door, but it's locked. The buttons are labeled up, down, right, left, and action. Interesting enough, those are the same inputs you can give your character with your keyboard or controller. So far, this is a normal game. You are controlling a character and can make him do things.

Now, the moment you tell your character to press one of those buttons, a new character in a separate room will react to that button press in the same way your character reacts to your keyboard or controller inputs. At this point, you might be thinking, "This is an interesting game mechanic." You are playing a game of a character who is playing a game of another character. But here is the problem, this game goes about five layers thick. Or maybe it is six layers if you count yourself. Technically you are one of the characters, but at least you can use a controller without having to press buttons on a wall.

So before long, you will have to move your character and help him control a guy, who is controlling a guy, who is controlling another guy, who is controlling yet another guy. With every new guy you need to control, the amount of inputs you are expected to put in becomes increasingly more complicated, and it can be easy to get lost in the logic.

The problem is not knowing what you need to do. It is more of a matter of keeping track of it all. You have to concentrate really hard while remaining relaxed. If you make even one mistake, it can take a lot of time to unravel it. And remember that it is not enough to just get a guy to the button, you have to also get him to turn towards the button, and finally to actually activate the button. That is a heck of a lot of work to do something so simple.

This is the very definition of a second person perspective video game. You spend the entire game telling characters what to do rather than doing them yourself. Yes, you are technically in control of the first man who is way at the bottom of the stack of rooms, but you are not thinking about him as much as you are the other people in the other rooms. Your brain has to disconnect from the guy you are controlling and extend outward and upwards into realms that it usually doesn't like to go. There is a reason games are not normally second person: it hurts.

"reYal" is a well-made game, and I would even go so far as to say that it is a good game. Despite the latter sentence being true, it is not actually a fun game to play. I don't even think it was meant to be. Anyone can beat this game if they are willing to put in the hour or so to finish it, but it is more of a test of one's willpower to actually bother with the chore of doing it. It's more of a science experiment. It is a game that says, "I am the way that I am, and there is nothing like me." And you can smile and acknowledge that in good faith, but it will never actually be a fun and enjoyable experience.

The game is also $2.00. It is an extremely fair price for what it is. I can't help but recommend it for that price. Even if you have no intent to actually finish it, it is a very interesting and mind-bending experience. "reYal" is a good game that that is no fun to beat, but I actually did do it. I was happy when I finished it. I was happy because it was over, but I was also happy that game existed to prove to us all that a fully fledged second person game was probably never going to be a good idea, and we should just stick with what we have. Cheers.

This blog was written on March 23, 2025.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: Mutant Alley - Ares [Book Review]

[This review contains no spoilers, but it is a review of an erotic piece of literature. You may not want to read about that, and, if so, feel free to skip this one.]

I don't normally review erotic literature. I have done it before with my review of "Tanuki Tango Overdrive." Since most of my content is pro-Christian, I did consider not reviewing this, but the book actually ends with a call for attention. He is a struggling artist and writer, and he needs these reviews to help him out. My heart cannot abide abandoning someone in need, and so I have chosen to do this review anyways.

"Mutant Alley - Ares" is an erotic science fiction book written by Rex T. Loveshaft. Yes, I know that's probably not his real name. I have to give him credit for the clever wordplay though. It was published in 2024. The author of this book is actually a software engineer and has made a number of video games based on his strange, often dystopian, science fiction worlds. There is also a couple of games based on the book I am reviewing now. This is a guy who has a dream, albeit an erotic one, and he puts all of his talents to use making it a reality. And to also be a writer is no joke. This guy means business.

The story is that there was a war where dinosaur hybrids were used in the fighting. When the war was over, and the hybrids were retired and allowed to enter society with no real rights. These were really big and strong anthropomorphic dinosaurs. They remind me of the huge animal people from the comic book series "Elephantmen."

Because they were forced to live on the outskirts of society, they had to turn to prostitution in order to make a living. Anybody who had the kinks to have sex with a oversized dinosaur hybrid could do so for the right price.

The real drag of the story is that there is a scientist who is trying to revive the hybrid project in order to overthrow the current government and give the hybrids rights in the new order. He hires a guy named Alex to do some work for him, involving a T-Rex Hybrid named Ares, in order to get this done. I don't want to say much more than this, because we will end up getting into most of the erotic notes of this book.

Make no mistake, the story in this book is good dystopian science fiction. The author is very good at keeping a firm grip on the story and not letting the erotica overtake it. In fact, there were a lot of chapters that was just story, and some of it had some infiltration and action involved with it. Good stuff and actually well told.

The erotica itself is handled with a bit of humor. The idea of humans and dinosaur hybrids having sex is treated as a weird thing, and the people involved all sort of acknowledge it. This gives the story a humorous edge. Even if you are not into it, you can see how something like this might be a bit awkward, and that's okay. I loved the humor in this story.

My only real criticism is that the ending felt a bit rushed. The story up until that point felt very well paced, but a conclusion sort of felt as if it was just dropped on me in the last two chapters. It did not bother me too much, as everything is explained, but I would have enjoyed it if the book had just extended itself a few more chapters to go into more detail about what actually occurred.

The erotic elements portray a more hedonistic world. It includes an equal amount of straight and gay content. It does go into romantic elements but from the perspective of mutual lust. It gets kinky at points too. All sex in the book are between humans and dinosaur hybrids.

All literary fiction is valid, but I still expect people to take what they do seriously. The author of "Mutant Alley - Ares" does this, and I recommend it to anyone who might be interested. He has written a sequel, and I will be reading it.

This blog was written on March 23, 2025.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: Who's Who in Oz [Book Review]

[This blog has spoilers for a book nobody reads anymore.]

"Who's Who in Oz" is a book written by Jack Snow. My copy was a reprint from 1988, however the original book was published in 1954, placing it in the Oz canon between #39 "The Hidden Valley of Oz" and #40 "Merry Go Round in Oz." It is not included in the canon list because it is not really a story as much as it is a compendium of all the Oz books previous to this one at the time. However, it appears to be canonically written with the assistance of the Wogglebug, which, to me, makes this entire thing seem official. Not to mention that Jack Snow is one of the official Royal Historians of Oz.

The book is broken down into three main parts:

1. An alphabetical listing of every single character found in all of the Oz books up to that point. Each section begins with a letter that signifies some aspect of Oz, and it also allows the reader whose name begins with that letter to sign his initials and thusly become a registered citizen of Oz by doing so. This is the broadest part of the book, and everything is written very well as if by the author or the Wogglebug himself. The first book each character is found in is listed every time as well as the page number where they were initially introduced.

2. An overview of all of the Oz books written up to that point. These are brief summaries that do sometimes spoil some of the story. They also include the book's author and illustrator.

3. An overview of the authors and illustrators of all of the Oz books up to that point. These act as mini biographies to help you understand who these people were.

The entire book was presented like a regular Oz book, even including the "This book belongs to ____" at the beginning. I always liked that, although I never filled any of them out. I don't like marking up my books. Also the book contains an absolute ton of illustrations for most of the characters mentioned. It is really nice to not only read about these characters but to see them as well.

The reason I did not review this book back when I was at this part of my journey was because it was too difficult to get ahold of. Even now it was a whopping $50 just to get a reprint. But I feel that, now that I have read it, my journey around Oz is now complete (for real this time!). As I implied, I do consider this book canon even if it isn't a proper story. It is a book that would exist in the Land of Oz and has oversight by the Wogglebug. What more do I need? If you can get a hold of a copy, I do recommend this book to anyone who enjoys learning more about the marvelous land of Oz.

This blog was written on March 17, 2025.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: The Shape of Things to Come [Book Review]

"The Shape of Things to Come" is a very long novel by H. G. Wells. It was published in 1933. Seriously, this is a very long book. It clocks in at 155,000 words. It took me months to read. Let this review help you decide if you want to make the same journey as I did.

This book sort of sells itself as a science fiction, but I question that. The idea of it is that a friend of the narrator was receiving visions or dreams about a possible future in the early 30's. This is after WW1 but before WW2. The book contains none of the events of WW2 and barely anything of Hitler. It is as if those things did not happen. This man is apparently seeing how the entire world forms together as a socialistic one-world state. To me, the whole thing about it being one man's vision strikes me as an excuse to give the book a narrative story feel, but honestly... H. G. Wells just wanted to go off about his socialistic fantasies here.

The first part of the book is mostly just about how bad war is. You will probably not have too much trouble relating to what he is saying in these pages. War is bad. There is nothing good about it. But this ultimately leads to a change in people who want the world to get better. It progresses to a worldwide socialist revolution that takes hundreds of years to be fully realized.

In order to get to this, the author relates how various things such as religion, capitalism, and the concept of the family and personal possessions must be irradiated to make this vision a reality. Yes, the book goes really hard against Christianity, because that's what socialists do. They don't want one standard of morality; they want it to be whatever the herd wants it to be, which can be fickle over a long period of time as well as across the world itself.

The book also details the sudden and inexplicable removal of all government at a later date, leaving everything in the hands of the people. I guess H. G. Wells never realized that people in power tend to want to keep it. He gave the human race way more credit then they deserved. Oligarchies should have formed in his scenario, and he gave no plausible reason why they wouldn't have.

By the end of the book, everything seems great... except for one very disappointing thing. There is almost no talk of futuristic technology even by the year 2100. Honestly, it still really feels like a slightly better version of the 30's. The most spectacular technology he came up with was prefabricated housing. That actually does exist today, and everyone agrees that it isn't as good as the alternative. Where are all the flying cars, spaceships, and other cool things? No. It's all about humans just living in a socialistic world state. There is still science, but it's barely getting anything done.

If you find "The Shape of Things to Come" on an online bookstore, you might see it with flying cars on the cover. This was simply slapped onto it because the book was public domain and by H. G. Wells, a man famous for his unique views of the future. This book barely qualifies as a science fiction and certainly does not have any flying cars.

This book was simply a medium for Mister Wells to spout off about his socialistic beliefs, and it is thinly vailed as a science fiction book. The whole book is extremely whiney. It constantly complains about anything that it doesn't agree with. It does not show an encouraging view of the future, but it does show a world where everybody is controlled by a population that is godless and with no definitive morals. Anyone who disagrees must conform. I ask you: how was H. G. Wells not terrified by his own fantasy? How was he not disturbed by his own look into the future. He was such a great visionary, but his final vision was the most boring of them all.

If it isn't clear, I do not recommend this book unless you want to look into the mind of a socialist. If you already know what that's like, then you can skip this long book entirely. Don't be fooled by the author resting under the title. It was simply a vehicle to pitch his ideology and nothing more.

This blog was written on March 16, 2025.

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