Reviews – BookBunnies

Midnight reviews The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien

Three members of the book bunnies household have been reviewing books since 2019 (how time flies!) but it was only late last year when the fourth member of our family, the mysterious and reclusive black bunny of the family, Midnight, decided to join in the book fun. So far he has reviewed Foundation and Foundation and Empire, the first two books of the Foundation trilogy by Isaac Asimov. But it was clear to all who read those reviews that he was actually itching to talk about other books. So today he is doing just that! To be more specific today Midnight is talking to Sprinkles about The Silmarillion, a collection of tales by J.R.R. Tolkien, published after his death in 1977.

Sprinkles: So Midnight, welcome back! I am hoping that you are excited to be talking about a book by Tolkien today.

Midnight:I am a bunny of few emotions; it is difficult for me to admit to feeling excited. But I must admit this is one of my favorite books.

Sprinkles: Cool! So tell us a bit about it then.

Midnight: The Silmarillion is not a novel or a single story, like Tolkien’s other well-known works like The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy. It is a collection of tales mostly from the ancient days of Middle-Earth long before rings and hobbits. Although Tolkien was working on this at the time of his death, these tales have their origin in his very early work when he was a young man in World War I. His son Christopher Tolkien assembled and edited these various works from his unpublished works, into something resembling a coherent whole.

Sprinkles: Oh, that sounds cool! So if one has read one of those Tolkien books, or even just seen some of the movies, then they would recognize Middle-Earth as the world where all those stories took place. And you are saying this book basically gives us a lot of the backstory of that world.

Midnight: Not quite. The world changed drastically over the ages. For example, in the First Age, the world was flat. When Numenor was destroyed in the Second Age, the world was made round, and the Undying Lands were removed forever from the world, at least as far as mortals were concerned. The Elves could still find their way there.

Sprinkles: So Middle-Earth that we might be familiar with is only the world of the Third Age?

Midnight: Yes. Although I believe that the very end of the Lord of the Ring movies takes place in the beginning of the Fourth Age, after the final defeat of Sauron.

Sprinkles: Oh, this is a very long history!

Midnight: Yes. Stretching back many thousands of years. In fact The Silmarillion begins with the creation of the world, and a run-down of the various gods of the world, the Valar (who are mentioned even in the Peter Jackson films by Arwen but only in passing, so people could easily miss this if they were not aware of their existence).

Midnight is reading The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien. — Midnight is reading *The Silmarillion* by J.R.R. Tolkien.

Sprinkles: That sounds cool! So how many tales are we talking about here?

Midnight: Quite a few. I don’t know the exact number off the top of my head. Or rather there are two chapters devoted to the cosmology of Tolkien’s universe. Then the bulk of the book is “Quenta Silmarillion”, which is itself a collection of more than twenty tales from the First Age of the world (and a little bit slightly before that). Then there are two more standalone chapters, one is about the fall of Númenor (where we see Sauron as the master manipulator) and the other is an essay providing some background information about the rings and the Lord of the Rings as a historical account.

Sprinkles: That sounds pretty eclectic! Does it read as a coherent book on its own?

Midnight: The different parts have different flavors. It is almost biblical in scope. So the coherence is basically in the story, not quite in the style. And as a whole, it provides a lot of information that makes Tolkien’s universe much richer.

Sprinkles: I see. So it almost reads like a collection of eclectic historical documents written throughout history by different scribes and then put together by an editor. Which makes sense for a book that was indeed put together by someone other than the author himself, and the segments put together were written at different times. that’s pretty cool.

Midnight: It is.

Sprinkles: So what is a Silmarillion? Why is the book titled that way?

Midnight: The title refers to the three Silmarils, magical gems of great beauty crafted by the greatest of the Elven smiths. They were stolen by Morgoth, the original bad guy. For example in the movies we hear Sauron called the servant of Morgoth, and the Balrog as the Balrog of Morgoth, so Morgoth is the original evil deity.

Sprinkles: Okay. I do remember that. So Morgoth takes the Silmarils and then what happens?

Midnight: He flees Valinor (the Elven paradise) with the Silmarils and many of the elves vow to pursue him, a god, to the ends of the world to retrieve the gems. There is lots of tragedy, hubris, betrayal, and general elf-on-elf violence. We see elves not as the ethereal and noble creatures of the films but rather as flawed, arrogant, and sometimes hotheaded.

Sprinkles: Sounds pretty epic!

Midnight: Indeed, the stories are epic in scope and mythical in character. It reads more as mythology than a traditional novel.

Sprinkles: Okay, so is that why The Silmarillion is one of your favorite books?

Midnight: Maybe.

Sprinkles: Which tale is your favorite?

Midnight: My favorite is “Akallabêth: The Downfall of Númenor”. This is, as you can tell, the history of Númenor and the tale of its downfall. It is Tolkien’s take on the Atlantis myth. Amazon’s Rings of Power series draws heavily from the history of Númenor outlined in the appendix in the Lord of the Rings, but this chapter in The Silmarillion gives us so much more!

Sprinkles: Neat! Okay, Midnight, I think this is enough for a post. And you told me enough to get me all excited about reading the book myself.

Midnight: It’s not for everyone but it is for me.

Sprinkles: That’s fair. I have enjoyed the movies and find the world Tolkien created fascinating. So I will give The Silmarillion a try. So what will you say as your last words?

Midnight: Namárië, dear readers. That is, farewell, in Elvish.

Midnight ends by pointing out how much he enjoys reading and rereading The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien and bids readers farewell, until such a time as he sees fit to reappear. — Midnight ends by pointing out how much he enjoys reading and rereading *The Silmarillion* by J.R.R. Tolkien and bids readers farewell, until such a time as he sees fit to reappear.

Caramel reviews Missile Mouse: Rescue on Tankium3 by Jake Parker

Last week Caramel reviewed Missile Mouse: The Star Crusher by Jake Parker. This week he reviews the second book in the series, Rescue on Tankium3, published in 2011. As usual Sprinkles is taking notes and asking questions.

Sprinkles: So Caramel, today we are talking about the second Missile Mouse book.

Caramel: Yes! I reviewed the first one last week and so this is just the perfect time to talk about the second one.

S: Yes, agreed. So tell us what our favorite space spy Missile Mouse is up to in this book.

C: It starts out with him chasing down a person, and he learns that the said person is being mind-controlled, which leads Missile Mouse to a planet called Tankium3. He learns there that all the men were kidnapped, and disappeared.

S: All the men from the planet disappeared?

C: At least all men from the species of people called Tankians.

S: Wow, that is weird. And quite scary. So what is the reason for this? Or is that the main mystery of the book then?

C: No, we learn that there’s an evil king, named Bognarsh, and he has taken all the Tankian men by mind control machines and is making them mine for fuel.

S: Fuel for spaceships and such?

C: Yeah, and with the fact that the RIP, which I mentioned before in my review of the first book, is fighting the galactic government, fuel is really important.

S: I guess it is kind of like how oil is still so strategically important to today’s world, at least for humans.

C: Yeah, logistics carry wars.

S: That is a powerful and very sophisticated thing to say for a little bunny like yourself, Caramel. But I do know you read a lot about history and know about many of the important wars of this planet. Where did you hear about this?

C: I think it must have been in a history textbook about the civil war, it was talking about how the railroads of the North led to victory.

S: Oh that is interesting. I can see what it means. Especially for long wars, you need to sustain your men in the frontier, you need to keep feeding them, trying to keep them healthy, providing them with sufficient ammunition and so on, and all of that involves a lot of logistics. I also found via Uncle Google, the quote “Infantry wins battles, logistics wins wars,” attributed to American general John J. Pershing. Kind of the same idea!

C: Great minds think alike! I mean I am assuming Pershing was a great military mind, given how he has a Wikipedia page. Then again a lot of awful people also have Wikipedia pages. Anyways.

Caramel is reading Missile Mouse: Rescue on Tankium3 by Jake Parker. — Caramel is reading *Missile Mouse: Rescue on Tankium3* by Jake Parker.

S: Yes, anyways, let us get back to the book. So I now know why the fuel is so important. Now tell me a bit about these mind control machines.

C: Well, there is a big central thing and then there are these little pod-like things that are controlled by that central thing. The pod-like units attach to your head and control you, at least that’s what I got.

S: Alright, that makes sense sort of. So then does the Missile Mouse figure out how to remove them from affected people? Or will he turn off the central thing? Or am I again getting too close to asking for spoilers?

C: Yeah, the last one. I am not at liberty to discuss that information at this point.

S: Hmm, okay. Then let us talk about the book in more general terms. Are these books funny? Or do you just like to see the spaceships? I know you really like Jake Parker’s spaceships.

C: There are not that many spaceships that I could study carefully in this book, but the tech is cool anyways, too. The illustrations look very techy and sci fi, and match the setting quite well.

S: So this was a win for you?

C: Yeah, very much so. if there’s more books in the series, I would greatly appreciate reading them.

S: Okay, we can look into that, Caramel. But for now, this seems to be a good time to wrap up your review.

C: Sure. Why not?

S: Okay, let’s do that then. What would you like to tell our readers?

C: Stay tuned for more book bunny reviews!

Caramel enjoyed reading Missile Mouse: Rescue on Tankium3 by Jake Parker and is hoping that there is (or will eventually be) a third book in this fun series. — Caramel enjoyed reading *Missile Mouse: Rescue on Tankium3* by Jake Parker and is hoping that there is (or will eventually be) a third book in this fun series.

Marshmallow reviews Gleanings by Neal Shusterman

Marshmallow has already read and reviewed Scythe, Thunderhead, and The Toll, the three books in Neal Shusterman’s Arc of a Scythe series. Today she is writing about Gleanings: Stories from the Arc of a Scythe, a collection of stories Shusterman published in 2022 that explores some of the lesser known features of the same story universe.

Marshmallow reviews Gleanings: Stories from the Arc of a Scythe by Neal Shusterman. — Marshmallow reviews *Gleanings: Stories from the Arc of a Scythe* by Neal Shusterman.

Marshmallow’s Quick Take: If you liked reading any of the books in the Arc of a Scythe trilogy, then this is the book for you!

Marshmallow’s Summary (with Spoilers): In the three original books about the world of scythes and the Thunderhead, Shusterman did an amazing job of creating an immersive story. But such tales have a tendency to leave the reader wanting more, which is exactly what happened to me at the end of the series. While the main plot lines were all resolved well, I still really wanted to read more about that world; the premise is simply intriguing (a post-mortality world full of fascinating technology and sheltered by a benevolent AI on the cusp of a new era of space expansion). Luckily, Shusterman was very nice and wrote this collection of stories, some in collaboration with other authors.

The first story–titled “Formidable”–goes to a period before the events in the Arc of a Scythe series took place. It elaborates on the rise of Scythe Marie Curie who is a major character with a past that is often mentioned with only sparing detail. In Gleanings, we finally learn more about her rise to fame as the scythe who set humanity free from its bureaucratic history. The next story is titled “Never Work with Animals” and introduces a new scythe, a new setting, and a new story but with one familiar face. “A Death of Many Colors” similarly shows another scythe and makes Shusterman’s fiction feel even more real by adding yet another thread to the tapestry he has been weaving.

By adding so many new stories about scythes, the Thunderhead, and their world, Shusterman creates an even more expansive setting. “Unsavory Row.” “The Mortal Canvas,” “The Persistence of Memory,” and “Perchance to Gleam” especially were stories that colored in so many new aspects of the sci-fi world and were so very detailed in that goal. “Unsavory Row” peeled back the word ‘unsavory’ and presented another perspective of what that label means to those labeled. My favorite story “The Mortal Canvas” teaches readers about the period right after immortality was achieved. “Perchance to Gleam” also explores another part of that world and its different culture (and thus the scythes’ different gleaning methods). In “A Martian Minute,” we learn what truly happened in Goddard’s mysterious past and “Cirri” and “A Dark Curtain Rises” reveal what happens after he is later defeated.

Questions you forgot you had are answered and the world of the Arc of a Scythe is broadened. Reading this book is a great way to continue the journey you started when you picked up the first book!

Marshmallow is reading Gleanings: Stories from the Arc of a Scythe by Neal Shusterman. — Marshmallow is reading *Gleanings: Stories from the Arc of a Scythe* by Neal Shusterman.

Marshmallow’s Review: I’d like to start by praising Shusterman’s fluid prose. I think part of what makes this book and the Arc of a Scythe books so good is his writing. I really only started appreciating it when I noticed some parts of some stories (the ones that were co-written with others) sounded a little different and sometimes a little less smooth. In general though, this book flows so clearly that you have no choice but to allow yourself to be swept forward with the story. All of the stories are fascinating and are deeply satisfying to read.

I find the world Shusterman describes to be extremely interesting and reading this book expanded my knowledge and understanding of it significantly. I particularly liked reading “The Mortal Canvas.” All of the stories are mostly related to the main series and are gratifying to read as an extension. They all make you think and compare between the texts. But “The Mortal Canvas” could also just be a stand alone story as well. I think you could read it without having read the previous books (though that might also go for all the others, just as long as you don’t mind having everything revealed to you). In this story, young students at an art school grapple with the disconnect between the only reality they’ve known (a world without death) and the past their teacher came from (a world where death took her husband and was a constant). This plot not only reveals more about that period of time, it also asks truly deep questions about mortality and what it means to us as creators, humans, and beings that exist at all. Reading “The Mortal Canvas” made me really think about life and what our purpose is. That sounds cliche, but it did. This ending line reveals just a fraction of the fascinating ideas inspired by this story:

‘She said her life was completed,’ […] ‘That’s something that none of us will ever experience. Even if we’re gleaned someday, it won’t be the same, because we weren’t born mortal. From this movement on, no one will ever know what it feels like to be complete’ […] she smiled through her tears–because they both knew that together they might just get one step closer to completion” (Shusterman 246-7).

I think this story has made me recognize how meaningful life is. While length is lovely, it is the depth of what you do with it that matters the most. Shusterman’s imaginary world offers opportunities to wrestle with what it means to be human when that length is luckily granted to all but that meaning is unluckily lost to most. In this aspect, I think this book and the series that came before it are truly masterpieces. These books are books that we should read alongside 1984 and Brave New World. While I would recommend waiting until you’re older than twelve, I would still suggest reading this book to all bunnies ready to recognize a literary jewel!

Marshmallow’s Rating: 100%.

Marshmallow rates Gleanings: Stories from the Arc of a Scythe by Neal Shusterman 100%. — Marshmallow rates *Gleanings: Stories from the Arc of a Scythe* by Neal Shusterman 100%.

Caramel reviews Missile Mouse: The Star Crusher by Jake Parker

Today Caramel reviews Missile Mouse: The Star Crusher, a fun graphic novel by Jake Parker first published in 2010. As usual, Sprinkles is taking notes and asking questions.

Sprinkles: So Caramel, I can see you have a new graphic novel to talk about today!

Caramel: Yep! I don’t know if you remember that I reviewed Kepler’s Intergalactic Guide to Spaceships? This book is in the same universe.

S: Oh that is interesting! I knew it was the same author / illustrator, but I did not expect the books would be related.

C: Yes, he also was the person who illustrated Darkstalker: The Graphic Novel.

S: So you definitely like his drawing style?

C: Yeah, no question.

S: I am glad you got to read another book by him then. So tell me a bit about it. Who is this Missile Mouse? I am guessing he is the main character.

C: Yeah, it’s sort of obvious as the book is called Missile Mouse, so yes, but this is the beginning of the series based on this guy.

S: The author describes him on his webpage as follows: “Missile Mouse is a James Bond meets Han Solo for the middle-grade crowd. The cocky, big-eared rodent is a secret agent for the Galactic Security Agency (GSA) who prefers to do things the quick and messy way.” So he is a secret agent for the galaxy and he is kind of arrogant like Han Solo of Star Wars.

C: Yeah, that’s about right, and it’s a good description of Missile Mouse. So in this story Missile Mouse gets a new partner, Hyde, and they go on a mission to find and rescue this scientist from his kidnappers, the RIP (Rogue Imperium of Planets), which are sort of the bad guys.

S: Hmm, so the Galactic Security Agency is an arm of a galactic empire, and this RIP is their enemy?

C: Yeah, they are. So the galactic government is a peaceful state, and the RIP are trying to take over the galaxy.

Caramel is reading Missile Mouse: The Star Crusher by Jake Parker. — Caramel is reading *Missile Mouse: The Star Crusher* by Jake Parker.

S: Do we know much about the government Missile Mouse is working for other than it is peaceful?

C: I believe that it’s a democracy, but not much else is really stated.

S: So if it is anything like Star Wars,maybe there is a senate and so on. Okay, tell us more.

C: Before Missile Mouse joined the GSA he was a bounty hunter or a mercenary.

S: Really sounds like the Star Wars universe. But the main character is a mouse. Are the other characters all mice too? Or are there other animals?

C: No, the beings in the universe are a multitude of other animals and aliens that don’t look like animals we know on Earth.

S: Any bunnies? Any humans? Any dragons?

C: None of those showed up in the book.

S: Alright, we are mature enough to enjoy books with no bunnies or dragons.

C: Sure, I’m totally mature.

S: Yes, for a bunny your age, you are definitely mature. But you reviewed other books about mice. Remember The Mouse and the Motorcycle?

C: I also reviewed several books about Babymouse. And don’t forget Ragweed and Poppy and the others? I read all those books, too.

S: Yes, true. Marshmallow reviewed Flowers for Algernon, which also had a major mouse character, who did not speak but still. She also reviewed Maus: A Survivor’s Tale.

C: Yeah. So mice are neat. Anyways Missile Mouse is cool, too, and he is funny and adventurous and brave. And the book is an adventure story and a spy story, and you know I like all those things.

S: That’s true. You read all the Spy School novels, too.

C: Yeah, so spies and secret agents are cool. Therefore this book is cool. And there is some cool space stuff, which I also like.

S: So it is clear you enjoyed reading this book. I think there is at least a second Missile Mouse book. I am assuming you will want to read that too.

C: Yes, I will. In fact I am planning to dive right in as soon as we are done here. Are we done here?

S: I suppose we are. Would you like to wrap it up with your usual ending statement?

C: Sure! Stay tuned for more book bunny reviews!