Monday 24 December 2012

Book reviews - a ZAGOR re-read

I forgot to post a review last month, and I was going to cheat and post two this month, but I've decided to accept defeat in my "one book review a month" goal. This year I've learned that failure sometimes happens, and yet the world doesn't end! (Ha. See? The world didn't end.) Anyway, without further ado I bring you December's book(s) review!

I've just re-read THE ZAGOR CHRONICLES, a series of four little books I first encountered as a young teen and became utterly obsessed with. They were my first longer foray into the world of fantasy after having read THE HOBBIT as a kid, and they really did become my entire world for a while.

Each book is pretty short (i.e. Scholastic-style easily digestible stories for pre-teens/teens), so I finished my re-read pretty quickly. But there was so much to take in, so it was a rather riveting read! Back in high school, you see, I knew this series inside and out, but by the age of 32 apparently I'd forgotten basically everything except the main characters' names. My young teenaged self would have been mortified!

Some things I forgot?

  • There are zombies!
  • Anvar had his own magical skillz
  • There was another bad dude who wasn't Zagor
  • The heroes visited a different world (how the heck did I forget this?!)
  • Stubble was really annoying sometimes
  • Shebbeneth took a good long while to appear!

And one thing I didn't forget:

  • I still love to pretend the series ended differently.

All in all, re-reading these books was a little like settling into a comfy old pair of PJ pants and a nice worn out t-shirt. (Not that I have any PJ pants left from high school days...) Despite the times I cringed at the writing style, I was generally able to let go of those moments and just enjoy the story. And I still think it's a great story!


Right, now that that's out of the way, I'll say I'm 98% certain I won't be posting tomorrow (Christmas), but I will definitely be posting before the end of the year, to report on my progress with 2012's goals. For now I'll say MERRY EVERYTHING to you, my blogging friends, and I hope you have a great holiday!

13 comments:

  1. Sounds like the kind of books my guys would like...making a mental note...

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  2. Hi Trish: I couldn't find an email address for you. I just wanted to thank you for stopping by the Finding Claire Fletcher blog tour! I appreciate it!

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  3. I don't remember those books when I was a kid.
    Have a wonderful Christmas, Trisha!

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  4. These sound like fun books.

    Merry Everything to you, too! :)

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  5. I also remember the names of the books that fascinated me when I was a hatchling but just like you, I've forgotten a bunch of details. Perhaps I should start re-reading some. Merry Christmas!

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  6. You did a super job with this post, Trisha. Hope your Christmas is wonderful. Thanks again for the the prize. I just picked up SlipStream from Amazon. Can't wait to start it.

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  7. I know some preteens that may want to try these books. Thanks for the recommend. Have a happy new year.

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  8. Merry everything to you too - I have never read these, but I might visit the second hand bookshop tomorrow and see if I can unearth a copy.
    Looking forward to seeing how exciting 2013 is for you
    Laura x

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    1. Me too, Laura! :) I hope to actually publish something in the new year, but we'll see.

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  9. I just saw your suggestion asking commenters to leave a link to their blog... what a great idea! I can't tell you how many times somebody comments or follows me and I can't follow them back because there is no link! Perhaps they think they're keeping the footprint off the www but all it does is keep me from following them. CHeers and Merry Christmas, my friend!

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    1. Yeah, I find it really frustrating when I can't return someone's comment!

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  10. Guess what! I've got an award for you!

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    1. Ooh, thanks Deniz! I'm going to check it out :)

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Thanks for your words, me hearties! and don't forget to leave a link to your blog somewhere I can find it!