Blogcritics Author: Vyrdolak

Book Review: A Dangerous Climate by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro

Vyrdolak — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 11:34:28 EDT

This enjoyable addition to Yarbro�s popular Saint-Germain series has a few surprises.
A Dangerous Climate is the 20th novel by author Chelsea Quinn Yarbro detailing an episode in the very long life of her benign vampire hero, Count Ferenz Ragoczy Saint-Germain. It would be understandable, after so many books, if the Saint-Germain stories fell into a pattern. Having long outlived the Etruscan civilization of his birth, Saint-Germain...

Book Review: Vampyres of Hollywood by Adrienne Barbeau and Michael Scott

Vyrdolak — Thu, 4 Sep 2008 04:47:20 EDT

This in-joke posing as a novel is a fun, messy, preposterous slasher flick on paper.
The most obvious bit of satire in Vampyres of Hollywood (St. Martins: July 2008) is the suggestion that the great stars of the Golden Age of Cinema are literally, not just figuratively, “immortal.” But the entire novel, written by actress Adrienne Barbeau (Swamp Thing, The Fog) and author Michael Scott (The Alchemyst, The Magician) is...

Book Review: What's Stopping You? Shatter the 9 Most Common Myths Keeping You from Starting Your Own Business by Bruce R. Barringer and R. Duane Ireland

Vyrdolak — Sat, 9 Aug 2008 18:15:24 EDT

Unpretentious and down-to-earth, this book sets the record straight on the myths that intimidate people from breaking out of the employment rut.
The days are over when the average American could count on staying with a large corporation until he or she turned 65 and could enjoy a comfortable retirement. Many Boomers expect to go on working as long as they’re able to do so, not only for economic reasons (who could live on Social Security these days?) but also by choice. But older...

Book Review: The Home Office From Hell Cure: Transform Your Underperforming, Time-Sucking Homebased Business into a Runaway Success by Jeffrey A. Landers

Vyrdolak — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 17:22:59 EDT

This humorous and energetic book will help you turn your chaotic home office into a professional ally
The first time I opened The Home Office from Hell Cure and started to glance through it, I laughed out loud. Jeffrey A. Landers has written a lively and entertaining guide for people who have launched a one-person business from their garage or kitchen table and are having trouble combining the typical chaos of home life with the structure of a...

Interview with Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, Author of the Saint-Germain Series

Vyrdolak — Thu, 22 May 2008 21:32:54 EDT

Eclectic veteran author Chelsea Quinn Yarbro talks about werewolves, Saint-Germain, writing and trends in publishing
Chelsea Quinn Yarbro has been writing professionally since 1968 and has more than eighty published books to her credit. Her work extends across multiple genres, including science-fiction, westerns, and young adult adventure. In 2003, Yarbro was named Grand Master of the World Horror Convention, and in 2006 the International Horror Guild named her a...

Book Review: The Saint-Germain Memoirs by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro

Vyrdolak — Sat, 10 May 2008 22:49:20 EDT

A new collection of stories about the vampire Saint-Germain is uneven, but ultimately satisfying.
The Saint-Germain Memoirs is the third collection of stories featuring Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's popular vampire hero, Count Rogoczy Saint-Germain. The Saint-Germain novels are long, leisurely, and meticulously researched books set in historical time periods ranging from dynastic Egypt to the twentieth century. Saint-Germain, who debuted in 1978 in...

Book Review: Lost Prince by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro

Vyrdolak — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 19:31:18 EDT

This reissue edition of an early werewolf story by Yarbro paints a vivid portrait of Spain under the Inquisition.
Lost Prince is a reissue edition of Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's 1983 novel, The Godforsaken. The story is set in Spain during the mid-1500s, when the Spanish Inquisition was at the height of its power. Bishops, ambassadors, nobility and even the royal family itself could be arrested on charges of heresy and subjected to interrogation, torture, and...

DVD Review: The Grange Fair - An American Tradition

Vyrdolak — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 07:17:50 EST

This blue-ribbon documentary presents a lyrical and moving slice of modern rural life in America.
In 2003, filmmaker Joe Myers took his camera crew to Centre Hall, Pennsylvania and documented the eight months leading up to the 130th Annual Centre County Grange Encampment and Fair.Although there are many large and thriving agricultural fairs held in the United States each year, the Centre County Grange Fair is unique in being "an encampment...

When Fundamentalists Clash: Creationism Collides With Scientism At WHOI

Vyrdolak — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 13:24:51 EST

Nathaniel Abraham is suing WHOI for religious discrimination, but the real issue is belief systems trumping good management practices.
On December 7th, Beth Daley of the Boston Globe reported on a lawsuit filed against Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) by former employee Nathaniel Abraham, who was terminated from a post-doctoral research position in December, 2004. In June, 2006, Abraham filed a complaint with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination,...

Movie Review: Beowulf Gives 'Em That New Razzle-Dazzle, But Not Much More

Vyrdolak — Fri, 7 Dec 2007 09:53:59 EST

Robert Zemeckis' Beowulf pushes the CGI envelope with stunning animation effects, but ultimately is just another cinematic fireworks show.
A review of Robert Zemeckis' CGI opus, Beowulf, could fairly consist of the words, "visually, it's breathtaking and a stunning special effects achievement," repeated some one hundred times, because there isn't much more to say about this film. The acting -- or voice-acting, rather, since the performers themselves are...