No world to be villianous in if the world goes to crap, amiright?
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Mostly reading sci-fi, fantasy, and comics/graphic novels, but occasionally some other stuff too.
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Barbarius's books
2026 Reading Goal
23% complete! Barbarius has read 12 of 52 books.
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Barbarius quoted Starter Villain by John Scalzi
Inheriting your mysterious uncle's supervillain business is more complicated than you might imagine.
Sure, …
My uncle's brand of villiany did not extend to wanton use of plastics.
— Starter Villain by John Scalzi (Page 86)
Barbarius set a goal to read 52 books in 2026
Barbarius started reading 101 Board Games To Try Before You Die (Of Boredom) by Jarrod Carmichael
Move Over, Monopoly!
Find your new favorite board game with this incredible curated guide …
New release at the library!
Barbarius started reading Starter Villain by John Scalzi
Starter Villain by John Scalzi
Inheriting your mysterious uncle's supervillain business is more complicated than you might imagine.
Sure, there are the things you'd …
Barbarius reviewed Eight Detectives by Alex Pavesi
All murder mysteries follow a simple set of rules. Grant McAllister, a mystery writer and …
Very good, but I didn't love the ending.
5 stars
This is a great murder mystery novel. The blurb basically says it all: a retired mathematician defined all the essential parameters of murder mystery novels, described the possible permutations, and then released a collection of seven short stories that demonstrated all the permutations. The story goes through the stories, and describes the permutations along the way.
The book is easy to read, as it's basically a collection of short stories, and it's a great read.
What I don't like about the blurb is that it implies that there's a greater mystery to solve. I don't like this implication, because it's not possible for the reader to solve this greater mystery, because they aren't given all the facts until the revelation at the conclusion. The conclusion is still excellent; it's a lovely part of the story and a good ending, but it's not a mystery you can solve.
This is a great murder mystery novel. The blurb basically says it all: a retired mathematician defined all the essential parameters of murder mystery novels, described the possible permutations, and then released a collection of seven short stories that demonstrated all the permutations. The story goes through the stories, and describes the permutations along the way.
The book is easy to read, as it's basically a collection of short stories, and it's a great read.
What I don't like about the blurb is that it implies that there's a greater mystery to solve. I don't like this implication, because it's not possible for the reader to solve this greater mystery, because they aren't given all the facts until the revelation at the conclusion. The conclusion is still excellent; it's a lovely part of the story and a good ending, but it's not a mystery you can solve.
Barbarius finished reading Eight Detectives by Alex Pavesi
Eight Detectives by Alex Pavesi
All murder mysteries follow a simple set of rules. Grant McAllister, a mystery writer and mathematics professor, once sat down …
Barbarius started reading Eight Detectives by Alex Pavesi
Eight Detectives by Alex Pavesi
All murder mysteries follow a simple set of rules. Grant McAllister, a mystery writer and mathematics professor, once sat down …
Barbarius reviewed You Look Like Death by Gerard Way (Tales from the Umbrella Academy, #1)
Scratches the UA comics itch
3 stars
You Look Like Death was a good, but not great story.
It's a six-issue story following Klaus/Séance after he gets kicked out of home by Hargreeves. He goes on a drug bender, talks with dead people, and has somewhat of a redemption arc where he helps people.
It's nice. It was great to get a story fleshing out the comic book world that has somewhat been overshadowed by the TV series in recent years. But it's not as strong as the main stories published so far.
But, still worth reading if you've read the other three already 👍
You Look Like Death was a good, but not great story.
It's a six-issue story following Klaus/Séance after he gets kicked out of home by Hargreeves. He goes on a drug bender, talks with dead people, and has somewhat of a redemption arc where he helps people.
It's nice. It was great to get a story fleshing out the comic book world that has somewhat been overshadowed by the TV series in recent years. But it's not as strong as the main stories published so far.
But, still worth reading if you've read the other three already 👍
Barbarius finished reading You Look Like Death by Gerard Way (Tales from the Umbrella Academy, #1)
You Look Like Death by Gerard Way, Nate Piekos, Shaun Simon, and 1 other (Tales from the Umbrella Academy, #1)
Barbarius started reading You Look Like Death by Gerard Way (Tales from the Umbrella Academy, #1)
You Look Like Death by Gerard Way, Nate Piekos, Shaun Simon, and 1 other (Tales from the Umbrella Academy, #1)
Barbarius rated The House in the Cerulean Sea: 5 stars
The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune
A magical island. A dangerous task. A burning secret.
Linus Baker leads a quiet, solitary life. At forty, he …
Barbarius finished reading The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune
A magical island. A dangerous task. A burning secret.
Linus Baker leads a quiet, …
Without exaggeration, probably the best book I read this year. Absolutely fantastic.
Without exaggeration, probably the best book I read this year. Absolutely fantastic.
Barbarius quoted The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune
A magical island. A dangerous task. A burning secret.
Linus Baker leads a quiet, …
The fact that I must become a conversationalist in addition to my current duties is vexing.
— The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune (Page 129)
Feels, brother.
Barbarius started reading The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune
A magical island. A dangerous task. A burning secret.
Linus Baker leads a quiet, …
A friend of mine said this was the best book she read last year.