Tiara’s August Wrap-Up
Posted on August 28, 2015 18 Comments
I had various things going on this month which is why I slowed down with book reviews. I’m hoping to get my groove back in September. The kids started back to school. My husband had to do some traveling for work this month which meant I had to pull some double duty parenting at home. We’re dealing with a family tragedy right now, too, with one of my husband’s family members. However, we’re doing find, dealing with it one day at a time. And, of course, there’s always work and things that need to be done for our projects. I did get some reading done this month. Some of it wasn’t speculative fiction, which means I didn’t review it here. I read many wrestling memoirs because I’m a fan. Sometimes, it feels like wrestling should be considered speculative entertain. Also, I participated in my first read-a-long, and that was a lovely experience. I look forward to it in the future! 😀 Anyhow, here’s how my month of August wrapped up.
Book Count
Audiobook Count
Official count has now hit 43. I’m coming for you 50. I plan to double down next month. I’ve had Warbreaker audiobook on hold for about two months. I lke the story I’ve just been lazy.
Popsugar 2015 Challenge Count
Did not read any of my picks for the challenge this month, but I will remedy that in September.
Goodreads Challenge Update
Just in case that’s a little small to read. I’ve read 133 out of 150 books for my Goodreads challenge.
Miscellany
Here’s a general update of what I’ve been getting into aside from reading because, sometimes, even I need a break from reading. Sometimes, I want to enjoy more visual media, and I can’t live without music. Music is my heart and soul.
TV/Movies
Music
Gaming
I’ve been playing a Scandanavian folklore game called Year Walk, which follows a premise of people locking themselves away from people and refraining from eating for 24 hours during an important holiday. At midnight, they take their Year Walk which is supposed to give them insight on things upcoming in the year such as marriages and deaths. It’s a very atmospheric horror-ish games I haven’t encountered any jump scares, but the way they’ve entwined it with mythology is interesting, making it creepy. It’s a very simplistic, engaging game. It requires more from the player than just to point and click, such as remembering which pagan symbols you saw in various places and recording drawings as well as clues that will help you advance.
That’s it for me for the month. See you in September where I hope to have more done!
Backlist Burndown: The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi
Posted on August 28, 2015 11 Comments
As book bloggers, sometimes we get so caught up reading review titles and new releases that we end up missing out on a lot previously published books. As a result, one of my goals this year is to take more time to catch up with my backlist, especially in my personal reading pile. And it seems I’m not the only one. Backlist Burndown is a new meme started by Lisa of Tenacious Reader. Every last Friday of the month, she’ll be posting a review of a backlist book and is inviting anyone interested to do the same. Of course, you can also review backlist books any day you want, as often you want, but be sure to watch for her post at the end of the month to link up!
This month, I’m reviewing…
The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi
Genre: Science Fiction
Series: Stand Alone
Publisher: Night Shade (9/1/2009)
Author Information: Website | Twitter
Mogsy’s Rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
This was a great book. And the only reason I’m not rating it higher is because I’ve read better from Paolo Bacigalupi. If I had read this a few years ago, I think I would have enjoyed it unconditionally, but of course that’s not what happened. Instead, I read The Water Knife earlier this year and loved it, and as I usually do when I read an amazing new book by an author I’ve never read before, I went and picked up a bunch of Bacigalupi’s older titles. I decided to read The Windup Girl first, his multiple-award winning debut that shot him to stardom, and figured too that it was the perfect choice to review for Backlist Burndown.
The book takes place in 23rd century Thailand in a world ravaged by increasing temperatures and rising sea levels. Frequent disasters, both natural and manmade, cause widespread devastation to crops and human populations. Humanity is now dependent on biotechnology for food production, and megacorporations control the market using their own genetically modified seeds, which have all but replaced the natural order. The capital city of Bangkok only survives due to technology, and would be underwater if not for the levees that hold back the flood.
The story features multiple POVs. Major characters include Anderson Lake, a Calorie Man for the megacorp AgriGen, a sort of economic hitman sent to work undercover at a factory in Thailand. It is a front for his real mission, to search Bangkok’s street markets for produce thought to be extinct in order to discover the location of the Thai seedbank. Anderson leaves the running of the factory to his manager, Hock Seng, a Chinese refugee who was a businessman in his former life in Malaysia before being exiled from the country. Seng plots against Anderson, embezzling from the company while planning to steal secret designs and documents from his boss.
Then there’s Emiko, a “Windup Girl”. She is a genetically engineered being, and not human in the strictest sense, due to all the different modifications to her DNA. Windups are made to be docile slaves, programmed to obey. Abandoned by her Japanese master, Emiko lives a dangerous life in Thailand, because she would be destroyed if caught. She is forced to put up with sexual abuse and humiliation at the club where she works, in exchange for a measure of protection against the Thai government. She dreams of a day when she can finally buy her freedom and leave this place forever for a refuge in the north.
What I found interesting are the many similarities The Water Knife had to The Windup Girl. Bacigalupi seems to fancy writing dystopian science fiction about humans screwing up the future of the world. Both stories feature a shortage of vital resources, their supplies controlled by megacorporations or corrupt authorities. Both books even have a corporate hitman/mercenary-type character in a main role. So, perhaps comparisons between my experiences with his latest novel versus my experience with his first novel were going to be inevitable.
First, there’s the realistic premise, an important factor that makes all the difference. For me, dystopian novels tend to be more impactful when they take the form of cautionary tales or commentary on current issues, given how much easier it is to imagine them really happening. I also spent a part of my childhood in Bangkok, so reading this story also had a strong effect on me in more ways than one.
There are some unpleasant and difficult themes to deal with as well. Bacigalupi’s novels are certainly not happy stories. Characters in The Windup Girl live in a grim and very brutal world, and many are subject to discrimination, violence and other kinds of abuse. Emiko, the book’s titular character is especially subjected to the worst kind of treatment – rejected, beaten, raped, tortured, hated – all because of what she is and what she represents. Created to be nothing more than a toy for the wealthy, Emiko is helpless to control her situation or even her own actions because of her genetic modifications.
As well-written as this was, the author has certainly come a long way since his debut novel. The Windup Girl is a fascinating and engaging tale. Compared to The Water Knife though, it’s not nearly as well-plotted or polished. I sensed that Bacigalupi’s storytelling was still outpaced by his imagination at this point, in part due to the uneven pacing as well as the unexpected turn of events in the last quarter of the book. I can’t say I’m too fond of the last 100 or so pages; what should have been a ramp up to a killer conclusion instead had me fighting to keep my interest, but for all that, I still thought this was a great read.
Tough Traveling: Gnomic Utterances
Posted on August 27, 2015 23 Comments
The Thursday feature “Tough Traveling” is the brainchild of Nathan of Review Barn, who has come up with the excellent idea of making a new list each week based on the most common tropes in fantasy, as seen in (and inspired by) The Tough Guide to Fantasyland by Diana Wynn Jones. Nathan has invited anyone who is interested to come play along, so be sure to check out the first link for more information.
This week’s tour topic is: Gnomic Utterances
These are traditional and are set at the head of each section. Culled from a mighty collection of wise sayings compiled by a sage some centuries before the Tour begins. The Rule is that no Utterance has anything whatsoever to do with the section it precedes.
In other words… Those quotes that always start the chapter but rarely are connected to the plot.
Mogsy’s Picks:
Oh, hahaha, when I first glimpsed this topic on the master list, I mistakenly thought it said GNOMISH Utterances. Good thing I realized my error before I started tearing my hair out trying to come up with books featuring gnomes that say dumb things. Okay, this definitely makes things easier. I probably could have found a few more examples if I plundered my e-book library too, but it’s just so much more convenient to flip through my physical book pile checking for gnomic utterances at the beginning of each chapter.
Featuring examples from the following books:
The Dinosaur Lords by Victor Milán – Along with pretty illustrations of dinosaurs at the top of each chapter heading.
The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson – Sanderson loves his gnomic utterances…
The Unremembered by Peter Orullian
City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett
The Moontide Quartet by David Hair
The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin – In which the gnomic utterances are at end of each chapter, not before.
Wendy’s Pick
Yup, I totally thought this was about “GNOMISH utterances,” so I’m glad Mogsy was on the ball. Still, even though she’s not even a gnome, I am still going to pretend ignorance and grace you with the gnomish utterances of Betty from Rat Queens.
Comic Stack 08/26/2016 – 5 Literary Graphic Novel Recommendations
Posted on August 26, 2015 6 Comments
Today, I was supposed to have a review of Vertigo’s The Names up. Unfortunately, due to some family things going on and some technical issues with the comic, the review likely won’t be up until next Wednesday. However, I’m not going to leave you hanging this week, my friends. Yesterday’s Top Ten Tuesday topic, where I chose comics for my fictional syllabus and talking with a few people about other awesome comics that would be great to teach in a comic book course, inspired this impromptu post. I thought I’d recommend five more literary focused graphic novels that readers who want something less superhero-y might be interested in and would be great to put on a syllabus.
Combined for the first time here are Maus I: A Survivor’s Tale and Maus II – the complete story of Vladek Spiegelman and his wife, living and surviving in Hitler’s Europe. By addressing the horror of the Holocaust through cartoons, the author captures the everyday reality of fear and is able to explore the guilt, relief and extraordinary sensation of survival – and how the children of survivors are in their own way affected by the trials of their parents. A contemporary classic of immeasurable significance
Persepolis is the story of Satrapi’s unforgettable childhood and coming of age within a large and loving family in Tehran during the Islamic Revolution; of the contradictions between private life and public life in a country plagued by political upheaval; of her high school years in Vienna facing the trials of adolescence far from her family; of her homecoming—both sweet and terrible; and, finally, of her self-imposed exile from her beloved homeland.
It is the chronicle of a girlhood and adolescence at once outrageous and familiar, a young life entwined with the history of her country yet filled with the universal trials and joys of growing up. Edgy, searingly observant, and candid, often heartbreaking but threaded throughout with raw humor and hard-earned wisdom—Persepolis is a stunning work from one of the most highly regarded, singularly talented graphic artists at work today.
Are You My Mother? A Comic Drama by Alison Bechdel
Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home was a pop culture and literary phenomenon. Now, a second thrilling tale of filial sleuthery, this time about her mother: voracious reader, music lover, passionate amateur actor. Also a woman, unhappily married to a closeted gay man, whose artistic aspirations simmered under the surface of Bechdel’s childhood . . . and who stopped touching or kissing her daughter good night, forever, when she was seven. Poignantly, hilariously, Bechdel embarks on a quest for answers concerning the mother-daughter gulf. It’s a richly layered search that leads readers from the fascinating life and work of the iconic twentieth-century psychoanalyst Donald Winnicott, to one explosively illuminating Dr. Seuss illustration, to Bechdel’s own (serially monogamous) adult love life. And, finally, back to Mother—to a truce, fragile and real-time, that will move and astonish all adult children of gifted mothers.
Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths by Shigeru Mizuki
Shigeru Mizuki is the preeminent figure of Gekiga manga and one of the most famous working cartoonists in Japan today–a true living legend. Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths is his first book to be translated into English and is a semiautobiographical account of the desperate final weeks of a Japanese infantry unit at the end of WorldWar II. The soldiers are told that they must go into battle and die for the honor of their country, with certain execution facing them if they return alive. Mizuki was a soldier himself (he was severely injured and lost an arm) and uses his experiences to convey the devastating consequences and moral depravity of the war.
Bayou by Jeremy Love
South of the Mason-Dixon Line lies a strange land of gods and monsters; a world parallel to our own, born from centuries of slavery, civil war, and hate.
Lee Wagstaff is the daughter of a black sharecropper in the depression-era town of Charon, Mississippi. When Lily Westmoreland, her white playmate, is snatched by agents of an evil creature known as Bog, Lee’s father is accused of kidnapping. Lee’s only hope is to follow Lily’s trail into this fantastic and frightening alternate world. Along the way she enlists the help of a benevolent, blues singing, swamp monster called Bayou. Together, Lee and Bayou trek across a hauntingly familiar Southern Neverland, confronting creatures both benign and malevolent, in an effort to rescue Lily and save Lee’s father from being lynched
I’m thinking I may do a series of these literary focused comics because there are so many that I could introduce you to! There’s another freebie top ten coming up soon on Tuesday, so I may save some of them for then. Happy reading!
Previous 5 recommendations: 5 Graphic Novel Recommendations | 5 Manga Recommendations
Waiting on Wednesday 08/26/15
Posted on August 26, 2015 17 Comments
“Waiting On Wednesday” is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine that lets us feature upcoming releases that we can’t wait to get our hands on!
Mogsy’s Pick:
Never Never by Brianna R. Shrum: September 22, 2015 (Spencer Hill Press)
While I’m pretty ambivalent about the original tale of Peter Pan and Neverland, I admit to a real weakness for its retellings. And one seen through the eyes of Captain Hook is something that I just cannot say no to. I’ve already heard some great things about this YA novel coming out this fall from Spencer Hill, and last week their wonderful publicity team sent me an invite to read the eARC on NetGalley. Looking forward to this one!
“James Hook is a child who only wants to grow up.
When he meets Peter Pan, a boy who loves to pretend and is intent on never becoming a man, James decides he could try being a child—at least briefly. James joins Peter Pan on a holiday to Neverland, a place of adventure created by children’s dreams, but Neverland is not for the faint of heart. Soon James finds himself longing for home, determined that he is destined to be a man. But Peter refuses to take him back, leaving James trapped in a world just beyond the one he loves. A world where children are to never grow up.
But grow up he does.
And thus begins the epic adventure of a Lost Boy and a Pirate.
This story isn’t about Peter Pan; it’s about the boy whose life he stole. It’s about a man in a world that hates men. It’s about the feared Captain James Hook and his passionate quest to kill the Pan, an impossible feat in a magical land where everyone loves Peter Pan.
Except one.”
Book Review: Alice by Christina Henry
Posted on August 25, 2015 25 Comments
A review copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Genre: Fantasy, Horror
Series: Book 1/Stand Alone
Publisher: Ace (8/4/15)
Author Information: Website | Twitter
Mogsy’s Rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
It recently occurred to me that over the years I’ve consumed a fair number of movies, games, comics, television shows etc. featuring retellings or re-imaginings of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland – but never a novel. Huh. Suffice to say I was pretty shocked by this realization; after all, there are quite a few high-profile titles out there.
Christina Henry’s Alice therefore had the distinction of being my first “Alice retelling novel”, and I’m actually quite happy about that. Of the many different versions of Lewis Carroll’s classic that I have experienced, my favorite ones were typically those considered “dark” or “twisted” – and to be honest, those are the types I’m mostly interested in. There’s just something about the original tale that lends itself to the creepy or macabre treatment.
In any case, dark was what I wanted and dark was what I got. Henry’s retelling is definitely not for the faint of heart, and readers should also beware that themes of sexual violence and abuse feature heavily in this novel. This is Alice’s Adventures told through a horror lens, as vicious and sharp as a butcher’s knife wielded unflinchingly in your face, and all the whimsy and magical light-heartedness is warped here into a horrible nightmare of savagery and pain. If you enjoy close adaptations or would prefer to see the fanciful nature of the original story preserved, this book is not for you. But if, on the other hand, you know what you’ll be getting into and would like to see a refreshing new take on creative retellings, then this one could very well be right up your alley.
Alice begins with an introduction to our eponymous protagonist, a young woman who has spent the last ten years in a hospital ward for the insane along with the city’s other undesirables. She can’t remember the events that precipitated her imprisonment, and only knows what she’s been told – that as a girl she went missing, and then was later found again beaten and broken, one cheek slashed open and blood running down between her legs, gibbering nonsensically about “the Rabbit”. Now Alice finds herself mostly forgotten by the world, and her only friend is another prisoner called Hatcher, a multiple murderer who talks to her through a mouse hole in the wall connecting their cells.
One night, a fire breaks out in the hospital allowing Alice and Hatcher to escape, but the two of them are far from free. A shadowy monster known as the Jabberwocky is on the hunt, and it has their scent. The only way to be rid of the beast is to slay him with a magical blade, forcing Alice and Hatcher to seek it out in the heart of Old City where they will face monsters of a different sort – for this is where the magician crime lords rule, feeding off the fear and misery of the populace. Within their ranks are the men known as Cheshire, Caterpillar, the Walrus…and to Alice’s dismay, her old enemy the Rabbit.
As I was saying, if you like your Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland retellings dark and twisted, you’ve come to the right place. Christina Henry doesn’t pull any punches when it comes to filling her world with brutal violence and death. Her protagonists are troubled and broken people, haunted by traumatic pasts and memories. It’s not a happy book. And yet, beneath all the horror and disturbing themes, I’m impressed by the author’s sheer imagination and creativity. I like how she’s taken the familiar elements from the original story and reworked them into her version, making Alice one of the most unique retellings I’ve ever read.
Still, as much as I enjoyed this novel, I couldn’t help but feel like it was missing something vital. In spite of its relatively short length, Alice took me an inordinate amount of time to finish due to the numerous occasions where I got distracted or drifted off while reading. I liked the book a lot, but it just didn’t grip me the way it ought to have, even though the characters had purpose and the plot maintained a steady momentum. I wanted to stay connected but at times it was a struggle, almost like the darkness in the story was a massive black hole that sucked all life from its surroundings. To be clear though, it wasn’t the brutal nature of the story that affected me, but rather the hollowing effect it had on the characters. Both Alice and Hatcher felt distant to me, and whether or not this is by design, it had an impact on my experience.
Nevertheless, I’m still a fan. Alice is unconventional and rather fascinating in its uniqueness. This book is certainly not for everyone, but I can see it scoring a hit with readers who enjoy strange and dark retellings. Themes like sexual abuse and psychological trauma makes this one a disturbing read, but I feel they are handled with a complexity that’s not just there for shock value and cheap thrills. While Alice features a self-contained story, the end does leaves things somewhat open for a future installment. If that’s the case, I definitely wouldn’t mind reading more!
Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books That Would Be On Your Syllabus If You Taught X 101
Posted on August 25, 2015 21 Comments
Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish. They created the meme because they love lists. Who doesn’t love lists? They wanted to share these list with fellow book lovers and ask that we share in return to connect with our fellow book lovers. To learn more about participating in the challenge, stop by their page dedicated to it and dive in!
This week’s topic: Top Ten Books That Would Be On Your Syllabus If You Taught X 101
Comic books are often regarded as entertainment for a younger audience in Western culture and older comic book readers are treated like nostalgia nerds unable to let go of that last bit of their childhood. However, comics have evolved to tell complex stories through the years using art and words. If I were teaching a course, I’d introduce people to comics that I feel best showcase the literary brilliance that the medium is capable of producing. For many of these I will just be quoting myself, so I’ll just warn you now.
For many years Alex Moore has been writing graphic novels which spin complex tales that tend to focus on darker themes dealing with the human condition. While I certainly could pick any number of Moore’s book, I will stick with the first book I read by him (and still a favorite to this day). Many people might be more familiar with the movie adaptation of this comic that starred Natalie Portman and Hugo Weaver in the eponymous role of V.
A frightening and powerful tale of the loss of freedom and identity in a chillingly believable totalitarian world, V for Vendetta stands as one of the highest achievements of the comics medium and a defining work for creators Alan Moore and David Lloyd.
Set in an imagined future England that has given itself over to fascism, this groundbreaking story captures both the suffocating nature of life in an authoritarian police state and the redemptive power of the human spirit which rebels against it. Crafted with sterling clarity and intelligence, V for Vendetta brings an unequaled depth of characterization and verisimilitude to its unflinching account of oppression and resistance.
Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel
Alison Bechdel might be best known for her comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For and the Bechdel Test, which is a sort of litmus test for media, that asks if there are at least two women in the media that talk to each other about something else other than a man. Fun Home is a graphic memoir that depicts Bechdel’s complicated relationship with her overbearing father. This book explores her sexuality, gender roles, and various issues she dealt with growing up as a queer child.
I didn’t think I’d put too many superhero type comics on this list, but while going through my essentials, books like these popped. This is a Superman comic. Despite that, this book tells a more complicated story than a simple superhero tale. Superman has retreated to solitude after a hero named Magog is acquitted of killing Joker—who went on a killing spree in Metropolis, a bender that resulted in Lois’ death. When humanity expresses that Magog is where superheroism should go, Superman leaves them to that, seeming to lose quite a bit of faith in people. This book explores a moral dilemma, pondering many sides of the old question, “Is it morally justifiable to do y, if it’ll prevent x?”
Julio’s Day by Gilbert Hernández
This is a slice of life comic that opens up with the birth wails of Julio and ends with his death rattle 100 years later in the same house and in the same bed. Even though there are many iconic things that happen from 1900 to 2000, the comic kept the impact of such events insular, choosing to focus on the small scale impact of these events and how they did or didn’t affect Julio’s family. Things like the stock market crash happened and the family acknowledges it, but what does it mean to a family that’s already poor? What does it mean to a family already used to just getting by? This book also focuses on the people in their communities and how they impacted Julio and his family’s life, as well.
This story was filled with dark family secrets, loneliness, betrayal, mental health issues, racism, turning sexual tides, and many other things. While that seems so much for one graphic novel, the pains and joys in this story are told with such simplicity, often times without words or with only dialogue that says so much without the characters ever going into full details such as Julio’s sister telling him, “I don’t feel so sad when somebody dies, Julio, because they fly away to explore the stars and planets. When it’s our turn we join them in exploring the universe.” The art, the pacing, everything was just right for this story.
Daytripper by Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá
I think I’ll let the description speak for this one:
What are the most important days of your life?
Meet Brás de Oliva Domingos. The miracle child of a world-famous Brazilian writer, Brás spends his days penning other people’s obituaries and his nights dreaming of becoming a successful author himself—writing the end of other people’s stories, while his own has barely begun.
But on the day that life begins, would he even notice? Does it start at 21 when he meets the girl of his dreams? Or at 11, when he has his first kiss? Is it later in his life when his first son is born? Or earlier when he might have found his voice as a writer?
Each day in Brás’s life is like a page from a book. Each one reveals the people and things who have made him who he is: his mother and father, his child and his best friend, his first love and the love of his life. And like all great stories, each day has a twist he’ll never see coming…
In Daytripper, the Eisner Award-winning twin brothers Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá What are the most important days of your life?
Meet Brás de Oliva Domingos. The miracle child of a world-famous Brazilian writer, Brás spends his days penning other people’s obituaries and his nights dreaming of becoming a successful author himself—writing the end of other people’s stories, while his own has barely begun.
But on the day that life begins, would he even notice? Does it start at 21 when he meets the girl of his dreams? Or at 11, when he has his first kiss? Is it later in his life when his first son is born? Or earlier when he might have found his voice as a writer?
Each day in Brás’s life is like a page from a book. Each one reveals the people and things who have made him who he is: his mother and father, his child and his best friend, his first love and the love of his life. And like all great stories, each day has a twist he’ll never see coming…
In Daytripper, the Eisner Award-winning twin brothers Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá tell a magical, mysterious and moving story about life itself—a hauntingly lyrical journey that uses the quiet moments to ask the big questions. tell a magical, mysterious and moving story about life itself—a hauntingly lyrical journey that uses the quiet moments to ask the big questions.
Yet another comic that has been turned into two movies. Sin City is dark, unforgiving, and gritty. On the surface it’s a crime comic, but if you dig much deeper you’ll find these books explore many themes typical of day to day human life and exaggerates them to the nth degree. These books feature various stories, following various characters that all interlock together.
X-Men: Magneto Testament by Greg Pak
Today, the whole world knows him as Magneto, the most radical champion of mutant rights that mankind has ever seen. But in 1935, he was just another schoolboy – who happened to be Jewish in Nazi Germany. The definitive origin story of one of Marvel’s greatest icons begins with a silver chain and a crush on a girl – and quickly turns into a harrowing struggle for survival against the inexorable machinery of Hitler’s Final Solution From X-Men: Phoenix – Endsong writer Greg Pak and award-winning artist Carmine Di Giandomenico. Collects X-Men: Magneto Testament #1-5.
Y: The Last Man by Brian K. Vaughan
You knew it was coming. I knew it was coming. However, this is an excellent series for readers looking for something less superhero-y. I might be biased, but this would be a great comic to introduce people to because this series will always be relevant:
Y: THE LAST MAN, winner of three Eisner Awards and one of the most critically acclaimed, best-selling comic books series of the last decade, is that rare example of a page-turner that is at once humorous, socially relevant and endlessly surprising.
Written by Brian K. Vaughan (LOST, PRIDE OF BAGHDAD, EX MACHINA) and with art by Pia Guerra, this is the saga of Yorick Brown—the only human survivor of a planet-wide plague that instantly kills every mammal possessing a Y chromosome. Accompanied by a mysterious government agent, a brilliant young geneticist and his pet monkey, Ampersand, Yorick travels the world in search of his lost love and the answer to why he’s the last man on earth.
Truth: Red, White, and Black by Robert Morales
Another superhero pick, but one that brings about a social awareness:
In 1940, Joe Simon and Jack Kirby created Captain America, a frail patriot who was transformed by a “super-soldier serum” into a physically perfect specimen to champion freedom, an American alternative to the Nazi uebermensch. Now, writer Morales pursues this idea and also draws inspiration from U.S. government experiments in the 1930s that left unwitting African-Americans infected with syphilis, leading to many deaths.
Beginning his story in 1940, Morales incisively depicts the racism his various African-American characters confront both in civilian life and in the military. These black soldiers are compelled to act as test subjects for the super-soldier serum; some die, while others become deformed. Ultimately only one survives, Isaiah Bradley. Substituting for Captain America on a mission, Bradley discovers Jewish concentration camp inmates subjected to experiments.
Ranging from heroic figures to pointed caricatures, artist Baker makes his varied styles gel. Drawing on copious research, Morales dramatizes how racism corrupted American history, yet verges close to asserting moral equivalency between America and Nazi Germany. Roosevelt was ultimately in charge of the super-soldier program: would he have approved these human experiments? Besides, how can one talk about “truth” regarding a fictional creation? Simon and Kirby devised a fable about an American everyman tapping his inner strength to combat genocidal fascism; Kirby helped pioneer positive depictions of blacks in comics. By adding Morales’s backstory to Captain America’s origin, Marvel has turned the character into a white superman who owes his powers to the deaths and exploitation of African-Americans.
I love my theology debates, so what better comic to get all existential and theological with than Ennis’ Preacher?
One of the most celebrated comics titles of the late 1990s, PREACHER is a modern American epic of life, death, love and redemption also packed with sex, booze, blood and bullets – not to mention angels, demons, God, vampires and deviants of all stripes.
At first glance, the Reverend Jesse Custer doesn’t look like anyone special-just another small-town minister slowly losing his flock and his faith. But he’s about to come face-to-face with proof that God does indeed exist. Merging with a bizarre spiritual force called Genesis, Jesse now possesses the power of “the Word,” an ability to make people do whatever he utters. He begins a violent and riotous journey across the country in search of answers from the elusive deity.
Audiobook Review: Flex by Ferrett Steinmetz
Posted on August 24, 2015 19 Comments
A review copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Series: Book 1 of ‘Mancer
Publisher: Audible Studios (08/06/15)
Author Information: Website | Twitter
Mogsy’s Rating (Overall): 4.5 of 5 stars
Narrator: Peter Brooke | Length: 11 hrs and 43 mins
Okay, I loved Flex. And not least because there was some of this:
And this:
And this:
And this:
Oh and also throw in a bit of this to boot:
But wait, maybe I should back up a bit. You want to know what the story is actually about. Well, welcome to the world of Flex, where it’s actually possible to love a thing so much, the power of your obsession can kick the laws of physics in the ass so hard that reality literally comes undone. This is what gives rise to the many different kinds of magic users. You get illustromancers. Deathmetalmancers. Collectomancers! Or even videogamemancers. In the case of Flex protagonist Paul Tsabo, he loves his job as a number-cruncher at his insurance company SO MUCH that he’s turned paperwork into more than just an art. He’s become a bureaucromancer, and this means he can work magic on anything in the world, as long as what he needs is logged somewhere on paper.
Thing is, if you’re not a ‘mancer, you can still use magic. Distilled magic can come in the form of crystallized Flex, a powerful drug brewed by ‘mancers. But working ‘mancy and using Flex can cause one hell of a blowback. Maybe with the power of Flex you can twist reality to match your vision – but only for a time. After the effects wear off, the backlash called Flux will hit. Because if there’s one thing the universe hates more than anything, it’s being bent to a magic user’s will. It will fight back with a vengeance, and you can bet the universe always wins.
So there’s a good reason why the general public doesn’t trust ‘mancers; the effects of their magic defy normality and prediction, and chaos typically follows where they go. For this reason, Paul has gone to great lengths to hide his bureaucromancy. But now there’s a dangerous ‘mancer known as Anathema out there, brewing some very powerful Flex. It’s causing a lot of accidents, a lot of deaths. One night, Paul and his daughter Aliyah become Anathema’s victims when a Flex user in his apartment causes a gas main to blow up. Paul’s ‘mancy saves his daughter’s life, but the little girl still ends up badly burned. To come up with the money for Aliyah’s reconstructive surgery, Paul must find a way to use his bureaucromancy without causing the Flux that will make things worse. And to do that, he must find a mentor.
Enter Valentine. The gamemancer. My heroine.
First I have to tell you that I’m a sucker for any book or story that has to do with video games. When I discovered what Valentine’s power meant, I had myself a squee moment. Flex is one of those books that worked perfectly for me, because it hit that special sweet spot balancing a complex magic system with all-out fun. The world of ‘mancy is full of potential and the possibility of pretty much any kind of ‘mancer you can think of, but all of it still works within the confines of rules that make sense.
Flex is also a book that’s full of heart. After all, so much of ‘mancy and becoming a ‘mancer has its roots in emotion. It’s about love and obsession, both the healthy and unhealthy kind. It’s the idea that you can want or believe in something so hard that the sheer force of that power will make it happen. For that reason, ‘mancers aren’t always happy people. Some are lonely. Some are angry. Some are lost and afraid. When push comes to shove, their obsessions and resulting ‘mancy are literally their ways to escape from the real world. And when it comes to Valentine, video games as escapism is something I can sympathize with and understand. More often than not though, the magic just makes ‘mancers feel even more alone and marginalized.
And also, who can blame Paul, the father who only wants the best for his daughter, even if it means seeking out a killer to help him give Aliyah the chance for a normal life? Flex is a thrilling journey through the dark underbelly of the drug trade, but it’s also about friendship and devotion and finding acceptance. It’s also a story about the desperate hunt for an evil villain, but one that will also allow you to geek out big time.
And geek out I did. I also laughed. And screamed. No doubt about it, Flex is the most fun I’ve had with a book in a long time. I was so glad when the audiobook finally released, because I had been wanting to read it forever, in part due to the amazing things I’ve heard from other reviewers. Now I understand what everyone was raving about. I’m a bit in love with this book. Can’t wait for the next one! Highly recommended.
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Audiobook Review: Baptism of Fire by Andrzej Sapkowski
Posted on August 23, 2015 20 Comments
A review copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Baptism of Fire by Andrzej Sapkowski
Genre: Fantasy
Series: Book 3 of The Witcher
Publisher: Hachette Audio (8/4/15)
Author Information: Website
Mogsy’s Rating (Overall): 4.5 of 5 stars
Narrator: Peter Kenny | Length: 11 hrs 59 min
Over the last two months, I’ve been working my way through all the available Witcher Saga novels in audiobook format. The series is surprisingly addictive, so much so that it feels like I was just listening to the first book Blood of Elves yesterday. And now that I’ve come to the end of book three, I find myself a bit lost and drifting. After all, the print version of the next book (The Swallow’s Tower) hasn’t even been translated in English yet, with the release date planned for 2016. So yep, unless I learn Polish in the next year (highly unlikely!), it’s going to be a looooong wait.
The fact that Baptism of Fire was perhaps my favorite book in the series so far isn’t helping my patience either. At first, I wasn’t sure that I liked where the story was going. This installment feels different from the others, shifting to a more traditional quest narrative while downplaying the political intrigue. We start the book off with an introduction to a new character, an expert archer and hunter named Milva. She meets Geralt in the forest, finding him badly injured from the events of the Thanedd coup. However, the Witcher only has his mind on recovering so that he can continue on to Nilfgaard to find Ciri, the young princess-turned-sorceress whom unbeknownst to everyone has settled into a life with a gang of rebels.
Despite his misgivings, Geralt gives in to Milva’s request to tag along. They are accompanied by Dandelion, the poet. And on their way, they also meet a dwarf named Zoltan. Further along their journey, they join up with a Nilggaardian named Cahir. Eventually, the party even gets a vampire named Regis. Far from the monster the group expected him to be, Regis actually proves quite invaluable thanks to his medical knowledge and skills.
I know what you’re thinking. Geralt and his fellow adventurers sound like they stepped straight out of a role-playing game. You even have your different races and classes. Not that I don’t enjoy this particular classic trope, but for a series that has thus far been all about the complexity and plot depth, I was surprised because this seemed like a step back. And indeed, I felt that the story in Baptism of Fire was much simpler when compared to the other books, and not a lot happened at the beginning while Sapkowski worked to introduce all the new faces and names. I also noticed a lot less of characters like Ciri, Yennefer, and Triss Merigold, given that most of the attention was on Geralt and his group. Don’t get me wrong; I always want more Geralt, but I can’t deny I was expecting more Ciri, especially in light of her prominent role in The Time of Contempt.
Around the halfway through the book though, something happened. Maybe the story finds its stride at this point, or maybe I finally got to appreciate the personalities of all the different characters, but I started really enjoying myself. Our adventurers make their way east, eventually running afoul of trouble caused by the ongoing war. Battling enemies and working together towards a singular goal – that’s my favorite part of these kinds of stories, after all. The dynamics between everyone in the group started to get a lot more interesting too, with Regis emerging as one of my favorites. Dandelion was a riot as always, and I got such a kick out of his conversations with the old vampire. Near the end, there was also a very good example of how far the characters have come as a group, when everyone got together to discuss what to do about a situation that would affect one of their members. A ragtag bunch of strangers become a family of sorts, which is what I love to see.
Something else to keep in mind: the original Baptism of Fire was published in 1996. And for a story that’s almost twenty years old, I think it has aged exceedingly well. Classic quest narrative or not, it still feels fresh, probably a testament to Sapkowski’s storytelling as well as the skills of the translator.
And don’t dismiss the audiobook and what it brings to the table. I maintain this is the best format to experience The Witcher Saga. Peter Kenny once again proves what a versatile narrator he is, delivering a superb performance as always. In fact, I feel this is probably his best work on this series so far. Kenny really knocked it out of the park, bringing the whole gang to life in this one, giving each group member a unique voice. He was absolutely fantastic.
So now I settle in for the wait. Heck, it may be even longer for the audio version. But it doesn’t matter; something tells me it will be worth it.
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Stacking the Shelves
Posted on August 22, 2015 28 Comments
I’m sneaking in an impromptu Stacking the Shelves this week because there some very cool new arrivals to talk about. Actually, I’ve not been requesting books that much for the past few weeks in order to catch up a bit with my TBR, but there are always plenty of surprises in the mailbox. Plus there were also a few books that slipped through the cracks and got left off my last book haul post, so we have to remedy that! My deepest gratitude to the publishers and authors who send their books my way, and I’d like to feature them here today:
RECEIVED FOR REVIEW
Doctor Who: Royal Blood by Una McCormack, Big Bang Generation by Gary Russell, Deep Time by Trevor Baxendale – Paperbacks, with thanks to Broadway Books. Confession: I don’t watch the show, and I realize I may be the only one left on the planet who doesn’t. When this set of three books showed up in the mail one day, I even needed my friend’s son to tell me which Doctor this was (Answer: it’s the current one). Still, I’m very interested in checking these out. They look like they’re intended for a Young Adult audience plus they’re relatively short, which means they should be pretty quick reads. I’ve always wondered what the fuss was all about, and I find books are perfect for dipping your toes in (never underestimate the power of a media tie-in novel!) The release of these books will coincide with the premiere of the new season this September, so whether you’re a die-hard Whovian or a total newcomer like myself, be sure to keep an eye out for them on shelves this fall.
The Secrets of Blood and Bone by Rebecca Alexander – Paperback, with thanks to Broadway Books. Another unsolicited title sent by Broadway this week, but it must be serendipity because this one is actually a sequel to a book I read last year! It gets an automatic bump up my TBR.
Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho – Hardcover, with thanks to Ace Books for sending a finished copy. It’s gorgeous! Looking forward to starting this one soon.
Supersymmetry by David Walton – Paperback, with thanks to Pyr. The arrival of this finished copy reminds me how badly I want to read the first book. Now I can it and the sequel back to back!
I also want to give a shout out to Tor.com and their incredible publicity team for sending along e-galleys of their fall line-up. Last week I only featured The Builders by Daniel Polansky, but there are plenty more titles that look interesting to me including The Last Witness by K. J. Parker, Binti by Nnedi Okorafor, Envy of Angels by Matt Wallace (this one especially sounds like so much fun — it was described to me as “Christopher Moore meets Gordon Ramsey!”), Sorcerer of the Wildeeps by Kai Ashante Wilson, Witches of Lychford by Paul Cornell, and earlier this week I was also sent an e-galley Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire which will come out later than the others, in April 2016. These novellas will be perfect for checking out authors I’ve never read before (but have always been curious about!) Huge thanks to the awesome folks at Tor.com!
GIFTED
Last fall I was offered the wonderful opportunity to be a beta reader for Daughter of Dusk by Livia Blackburne. As thanks, the author gifted all of us our very own hardcover copy of the finished book, signed and even annotated with notes in the page margins in the book where our suggestions/feedback helped shaped the final version. I was floored by the time and care Livia put in to give us a special keepsake to remember the experience by, and it’s seriously the best bookish gift I have ever received. Thank you so much, Livia.
PURCHASED
There were also some book purchases I made earlier in the summer that I forgot to mention. I really shouldn’t be buying more books but Bookoutlet is evil and they keep enticing me with their emails offering me coupons as well as news about their steep discounts. I ended up mostly grabbing backlist titles I’m very interested in, like Prince of Shadows by Rachel Caine which I’m curious about now because I ADORED her new book Ink and Bone (it became one of those must-check-out-everything-else-this-author-has-written situations, you understand). I also got Of Bone and Thunder by Chris Evans, The Time Roads by Beth Bernobich, Hild by Nicola Griffith (some Historical Fiction love) and Dragon Age: Last Flight by Liane Merciel. I think I got all five books for just a little more than $15.
My co-blogger Tiara is also the most horrible enabler, I swear! After her post last month about books available through Kindle Unlimited, I went looking to put together my own list. I’m subscribed to the service too, after all, and I realized there are a lot of free books and audiobook deals I could be getting in on. That was how Darkness Brutal by Rachel A. Marks and The Harvest by Chuck Wendig ended up in my Audible shopping cart. And while I was at it, there was a sweet Whispersync deal on The Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas, so oops, it went into the cart as well.
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Have you heard of or read any of the books featured in this week? What looked good or caught your eye? Any new discoveries? Let me know! Nothing makes me happier than sharing my love for books and I hope you found something interesting for a future read. We’ll be resuming our regular Bookshelf Roundup schedule next week. Until next time! 🙂
~Mogsy/Steff~
The BiblioSanctum 
