The birth of Jesus has been well chronicled, as have his glorious teachings, acts, and divine sacrifice after his thirtieth birthday. But no one knows about the early life of the Son of God, the missing years—except Biff, the Messiah's best bud, who has been resurrected to tell the story in the divinely hilarious yet heartfelt work "reminiscent of Vonnegut and Douglas Adams" (Philadelphia Inquirer).Verily, the story Biff has to tell is a miraculous one, filled with remarkable journeys, magic, healings, kung fu, corpse reanimations, demons, and hot babes. Even the considerable wiles and devotion of the Savior's pal may not be enough to divert Joshua from his tragic destiny. But there's no one who loves Josh more—except maybe "Maggie," Mary of Magdala—and Biff isn't about to let his extraordinary pal suffer and ascend without a fight.

Kingfisher wants to turn idea of goblins and elves on its head. Perhaps this is a side story to Lord of the Rings, where a band of somewhat lovable, somewhat gross goblinsThere are some fabulous explanations of grumpy people goblin psychology as well: "Wherever a goblin happens to live, he complains about it constantly. This is actually a sign of affection. A desert goblin will complain endlessly about the beastly heat and the dreadful dryness and the spiky cactus. He will show you how his sunburn is peeling and the place where the rattlesnake bit him and the place where he bit the rattlesnake. He will be thoroughly, cheerfully, miserable."As fun as that is, I can't help but think that would be more fun to see this evolve in dialogue. In fact, it does, later in the tale during dinner, and the explanation happens as an aside in a few quick sentences. Nonetheless, the descriptions are charming, playing with our expectations of romantic views of soldiering, elves and healing:"Goblins march badly... On a good day, they will stay in step for nearly a minute before somebody gets bored, or trips, or stumbles, or forgets what he's doing and begins skipping. Small knots break off. Officers ride around on their pigs, shouting orders and leaving havoc in their wake."Still, despite the amusing descriptions and interesting world-building, pacing could have been improved. It isn't until 25 to 30 percent into the book that a major event happens that sets up the conflict for the rest of the story. The conflict is interesting in a benign way, but then it takes an ominous turn once the goblins discover an abandoned farm and dead animals. It makes for an uneven tone, and there's a weird little bits of storylines involving racism, mental illness and power that made me just a tiny bit... squidgy.Characters are fun and well... humanized, for lack of a better word. There's Sings-to-Trees, the only elf who seems to enjoy getting dirty in the course of his healing duties, and Sergeant Nessilka who is doing her very best to keep the goblins alive. So: high marks for world-building and language, medium marks for storytelling, and lesser marks for plotting. Bonus marks for having a story that conveys the somewhat stupid--but sincere-- and... organic charms of goblins. It's a nice tale, but a little underwhelming in comparison to some of her other works. This is one of those times when rating might suffer a titch because of my expectations for the author. Kingfisher's other works are even better, particularly those as Ursula Vernon. I just finished Castle Hangnail and loved it. For those that want something more mature, her Jackalope Wives and The Tomato Thief are amazing short stories.Three and a half goblins, rounding up.

Oliver was a very minor mage. His familiar reminded him of this several times a day.He only knew three spells, and one of them was to control his allergy to armadillo dander. His attempts to summon elementals resulted in nosebleeds, and there is nothing more embarrassing than having your elemental leave the circle to get you a tissue, pat you comfortingly, and then disappear in a puff of magic. The armadillo had about wet himself laughing.He was a very minor mage. Unfortunately, he was all they had.

Fourteen-year-old Mona isn’t like the wizards charged with defending the city. She can’t control lightning or speak to water. Her familiar is a sourdough starter and her magic only works on bread. She has a comfortable life in her aunt’s bakery making gingerbread men dance.But Mona’s life is turned upside down when she finds a dead body on the bakery floor. An assassin is stalking the streets of Mona’s city, preying on magic folk, and it appears that Mona is his next target. And in an embattled city suddenly bereft of wizards, the assassin may be the least of Mona’s worries…

MAY THE VERSE BE WITH YOU!Return once more to a galaxy far, far away with this sublime retelling of George Lucas's epic Star Wars in the style of the immortal Bard of Avon. The saga of a wise (Jedi) knight and an evil (Sith) lord, of a beautiful princess held captive and a young hero coming of age, Star Wars abounds with all the valor and villainy of Shakespeare's greatest plays. 'Tis a tale told by fretful Droids, full of faithful Wookiees and fearsome Stormtroopers, signifying... pretty much everything.Reimagined in glorious iambic pentameter, William Shakespeare's Star Wars will astound and edify Rebels and Imperials alike. Zounds! This is the book you're looking for.

Standalone sff + humor

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