Comic Stack 02/11/14
Posted on February 11, 2015 2 Comments
This week I met Poe, a young boy born with black feathers whose destiny seems to rest in a game played by omnipresent beings, Laney Griffin, a man who has a chance encounter in the woods after deciding to do whatever necessary to help his dying son, Kate Kristopher, who has to return to her fantasy world exploring ways she’d left behind because of a family secret, and a woman who has no memories of the former force she used to be–a being known only as Lady Death.
Shutter #1 by Joe Keatinge
Publisher: Image Comics
Genre: Fantasy, Supernatural, Action-Adventure, Leading Ladies
“Daaaaaaad! Cooome on! The moon’s boring!”
Kate was an explorer. She came from a long line of explorers. She explored an earth far more fantastic than our own with her father. She’s faced alligator men, large sea fish, dragons, and tentacle-y, er, things. She’s even walked on the moon which was so boring for her. However, now, at 27-years-old, Kate has stopped exploring. There’s no reason given why at this point, but a couple of possibilities do come to mind while reading this book. While visiting her father’s grave, Kate is given interesting information about her family, information that will bring her out of retirement.
This was a very fast paced story. I felt like I blinked and it was over. I liked the premise of it with earth being this wonderful placed filled with strange things just asking to be explored. It made me wish there were just a couple of more pages to reveal just a little bit more to me. It ended right when I was really starting to connect with the story. Also, the art in this book is amazing.
I’m intrigued, but I kind of feel like this is the type of story I’ll have to pick up its volumed edition. Some stories, like the next one I’ll be talking about, have that pacing that makes you want to pick up each book as its released. However, some stories I know I won’t be able to truly enjoy until a whole arc is completed even if I think it’ll be very good. There’s something about the pacing that tells me this is one of those books. Since volume one is already out, I’ll be picking it up soon. (Side note: This also includes two mini comics. One of which is named Tiger Lawyer and is about an actual tiger that is a lawyer. )
Lady Death #1 by Brian Pulido
Publisher: Boundless Comics
Genre: Fantasy, Horror, Supernatural, Leading Ladies
Lady Death lives in a world far mundane than the one she’s used to, but the trouble is she doesn’t remember who she used to be. She only knows that horrible things keep happening to the people around her, the people who try to help her. In her absence, another woman has taken her face and rules what was once hers, sending her minions in search of her to finally finish her off. A witch in the thieves camp gives tells Lady Death a broken, fragmented story of the woman she used to be and tells her that she must regain her power.
This is going to be short and to the point. I don’t know about this one. I mean, I didn’t hate it, but I wasn’t bowled over with it either. I feel like I should probably read the first volume of this one since it’s got quite a few issues behind it now. On one hand, I want to kind of set it to the side, but on the other, I feel like I should give it another chance for some reason. (Probably because it has everything I love in it, and I’d feel bad not giving it a fighting chance.) I’m indecisive on whether I’ll continue this one or not, but I’m leaning more in the camp of not. I’m not really feeling it right now, and there’s no point in wasting time when I could be reading other things.
Curse #1 by Michael Moreci
Publisher: Boom! Studios
Genre: Supernatural, Horror
“As for your offspring, he’s infected with the scent. There’s no going back.”
Laney Griffin, former football legend, is a man at wit’s end. His son is suffering from leukemia and needs aggressive treatment. Laney is doing everything he can to pay for his son’s treatment, except accept his sister-in-law’s (who is the sheriff, I’m assuming) offer to become his son’s guardian and have her state benefits pay for his treatment. It’s implied here that Laney’s wife died from some disease herself. Nora, his sister-in-law, says she’ll do whatever she has to do to take Laney’s son from him and get him the treatment he needs if she feels Laney isn’t doing enough. Left with very few options for making money, Laney decides to take up the bounty offered on whatever “animal” has been brutally killing people who venture too close to the woods. Things turn out a little unexpected.
It’s not very often that a comic, especially a #1, has me doing my best dying whale act while rolling around in the bed like a madwoman. This one did it. I was captured from the beginning, from the very first page, I knew this was going to be a keeper. The art really compliment the story here. It’s dark with few colors and the more violent the scenes get the starker the art. Laney is the type of quiet, tortured protagonist that I have a weakness for. But instead of a troubled past with tragedy or misdeeds he wants to atone for, his troubles come from the fact that his son is dying and there’s just not enough money. When his son uttered the words (after his dad asked him why he wasn’t sleep): “I was… I tried. I just… Dad… I’m scared.” The brief talk after those lines between the two, as a parent, that hit me hard. The delivery was so succinct and perfect. What true parent wouldn’t do whatever they had to do for their child? What parent wouldn’t fight heaven and hell for their child? Fucking comic, what the hell are you trying to do to my feelings here?
While it may be selfish of him not to see things from Nora’s point-of-view, he feels like giving her custody would mean “giving up” his son. It’s easy to tsk and say that he should look at the big picture by giving her guardianship, but that’s a tough decision. He would also give up being involved in his son’s medical matters because he would no longer technically be his guardian. And as someone, who’s been in a family with a very sick family member, you’d be surprised how ugly things like that can get. However, this comic book doesn’t paint Nora as the villain, which can sometimes happen in books and comics when family members are at an impasse. She’s a concerned aunt and you sympathize with how she must be feeling and her frustration with the situation.
This is the kind of story that I could see myself waiting for each issue with bated breath. With that being said, expect a review of the first volume of this one soon.
Feathers #1 by Jorge Corona
Publisher: Boom! Studios
Genre: Action-Adventure
There’s a lot going on in this book, which makes it hard to be concise, but here goes. Two beings leave a baby boy covered in black feathers in the alleyway of a seemingly destitute city known as The Maze. I call them “beings” because we don’t know who they are just yet but they seem to be omnipresent and may even be the beings from the “faith” revered in the book. They’re looking to “break” the balance of things in some game known only to them and The Maze is chosen because “you never know who might show up.” The feathered baby is found by one of the city’s nocturnal inhabitants, Gabriel, who names the boy Poe and raises him as his own.
Eleven years later, Poe has grown into a mischievous boy still covered in black feathers with a birdlike build. He’s known as “The Ghost” by the Mice, the colloquial name for the children of The Maze derived from the term Maze Rat which describes all the people who live in the Maze. Poe spends his days helping the Mice avoid the city’s guards when he should be sleeping because he scavenges at night for parts with Gabriel. It’s implied that Gabriel is a cautious sort and there were initial worries by one of the beings that Poe would learn to be as fearful and sheltered as Gabriel who does show a large amount of concern for Poe’s safety when they’re out at night.
However, Poe sneaks out of his home during the day, thinking his father is sleeping when in fact Gabriel is well aware that Poe is adventuring. During one of his adventures he encounters Bianca, the privileged daughter of a city official. Bianca has never been outside of her walled home. She lives with a dour overly religious mother (who seems to have a mean streak) and a timid father. When she’s presented the opportunity to see The Maze, she plans to make it count and is soon causing mischief of her own with Poe’s assistance (who initially mistakes her as a lone mouse).
The beginning of this made me think of one of my favorite manga, Death Note, where a random variable is introduced into the world just to see what the outcome will eventually be. That angle never gets old for me, and there was just something so endearing about Poe and Gabriel. This was a fun story that had a tinge of darkness attached to it. I’m curious to see what Poe and Bianca get into.
Waiting on Wednesday 02/11/15
Posted on February 11, 2015 18 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:
Dark Ascension by M.L. Brennan: August 4, 2015 (Roc)
In August, Fortitude Scott returns in book 4 of Generation V. OMG, can it be August already?
“As the “wickedly clever” (Publishers Weekly) series continues, reluctant, slacker vampire Fortitude Scott learns that nothing is more important than family—or more deadly….
After a lifetime of avoiding his family, Fort has discovered that working for them isn’t half bad—even if his mother, Madeline, is a terrifying, murderous vampire. His newfound career has given him a purpose and a paycheck and has even helped him get his partner, foxy kitsune Suzume, to agree to be his girlfriend. All in all, things are looking up.
Only, just as Fort is getting comfortable managing a supernatural empire that stretches from New Jersey to Ontario, Madeline’s health starts failing, throwing Fort into the middle of an uncomfortable and dangerous battle for succession. His older sister, Prudence, is determined to take over the territory. But Fort isn’t the only one wary of her sociopathic tendencies, and allies, old and new, are turning to him to keep Prudence from gaining power.
Now, as Fort fights against his impending transition into vampire adulthood, he must also battle to keep Prudence from destroying their mother’s kingdom—before she takes him down with it….”
Book Review: The Eterna Files by Leanna Renee Hieber
Posted on February 10, 2015 14 Comments
The Eterna Files by Leanna Renee Hieber
Genre: Fantasy
Series: Book 1 of The Eterna Files
Publisher: Tor (February 3, 2015)
Author Information: Website | Twitter
Mogsy’s Rating: 3 of 5 stars
It’s Great Britain versus the United States in this paranormal historical novel about the search for immortality. After the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his widow Mary Todd Lincoln is determined to never let anyone experience her grief again, forming the impetus behind the Eterna Project, a secret group of scientists and researchers tasked to find a cure for death.
Across the ocean, Queen Victoria creates special division in charge of investigating all matters of the supernatural and paranormal, codenaming it “Omega”. Hungry for everlasting power and expansion, the queen appoints Harold Spire of the Metropolitan Police to head up Omega, charging him to find the ruined Eterna laboratory in New York, where she is convinced someone has survived with a sample of the immortality compound. Meanwhile, American Clara Templeton is also searching for Eterna. Grieving for her lover who worked on the secret project and died in the catastrophe that destroyed the laboratory, she will do her best not to let the any of the research fall into British hands.
The book is an interesting blend of genres with a unique premise, though it may take quite a bit of investment to get into the meat of the story. It’s up to the reader to get caught up, since we’re essentially dropped into the wake of the destruction of the Eterna laboratory and deaths of all the scientists and researchers. But perhaps most bewildering of all is the prologue which introduces readers to the character of Clara as a young girl, being confided in by Mary Todd Lincoln after the assassination of the president. Thus we learn that Clara possesses special abilities, ones that allow her to commune with the dead, but that she also a mystic of sorts who recalls all the memories of her past lives.
Even after finishing this novel, I’m still unclear as to the significance of Clara’s abilities in the bigger scheme of things. They don’t benefit her in any clear way, and certainly not on the Eterna project as she isn’t even directly connected with the work. They don’t even come in handy when it comes to communicating with her dead lover, since she blocks everything out. As far as I can tell, her psychic talents are there to make her stand out and be more interesting than she really is. The truth is, Clara is aloof, uninspiring and devoid of much personality, and unfortunately her powers actually don’t do much to improve things. In fact, I think they make an even bigger mess of her character. Whether her abilities will come into play later on in the series, only time will tell.
On the British side, we have Harold Spire and Omega. I found Spire to be a much more developed character than Clara, and more sympathetic due to his tragic past and the unusual relationship he has with his father. There are also more interesting characters in Omega; secret agents and spies and circus performers, oh my. My only criticism is that, while assigned the job of tracking down Eterna, the plot ends up spending more time focusing on Spire as he investigates another seemingly unconnected case. This robs the story of a lot of the suspense, especially if you were anticipating a tension-filled “arms race” type competition between the British and Americans from the novel’s description, with the two nations scrabbling to be the first to find the secret to immortality. This is not that kind of book, which was somewhat disappointing, though I ultimately didn’t mind the new direction.
The Eterna Files ended up being an enjoyable read, if at times disorganized and convoluted. In the jumble of themes and ideas and plot points, I can glean the overall picture and take a good guess where author Leanna Renee Hieber is taking the story, even though the narrative stumbles in the pacing and is slow in pulling it all together. Once everything resolves, however, it’s a lot more compelling.
A review copy of this book was provided to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. My thanks to Tor Books!
Audiobook Review: The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
Posted on February 9, 2015 14 Comments
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
Genre: Horror
Publisher: Penguin Books (1959)
Author Information: Website
Tiara’s Rating: 4 of 5 stars
Occult scholar Dr. John Montague rents Hill House for the summer after hearing of the strange occurrences that happened there. No family has been able to stay in house for more than a few days at a time. Even though they give a wide range of excuses, Dr. Montague believes they do this simply because it’s unfeasible to a rational person to say that some unknown fear drove them out. The only thing the families agree on is that no one should set foot in Hill House. Hill House is an eighty-year-old mansion built by a man named Hugh Crain, and there has never been a moment’s peace for anyone since it was built. Violent deaths, family squabbles, and suicide taint its brief history.
Dr. Montague invites guests to stay at Hill House with him to help him track any phenomena. These guests are all chosen for their connection to strange events. Only two end up taking him up on his offer. Eleanor Vance, a fragile, socially awkward woman who had an experience with a poltergeist as a young girl, and Theodora (no last name), a free-spirited woman who has exhibited psychic tendencies. The last person to join them is Luke Sanderson, a charming rake who represents the family who owns the property. Despite their different lifestyles and personalities, the four form quick friendships with one another.
The group begins to experience strange occurrences in Hill House with Eleanor being the most receptive to what is happening around them as she increasingly loses grip with reality. There’s some evidence to suggest that the event she witnessed during her childhood might actually have been some supernatural doing of her own that she is unaware of, a doing that may have followed her to Hill House.
I can only vaguely remember watching The Haunting with Liam Neeson, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Owen Wilson, and Lili Taylor, and I’ve never watched the original one from the 60s. So, I didn’t have much movie lore to taint the book for me other than having images of Taylor as Eleanor Vance, Wilson as Luke Sanderson, and Zeta-Jones as Theodora. Liam Neeson did not fit the image of Dr. Montague, but I think I remember them calling him by another last name in the movie, anyway.
I’ve been a horror book and movie fan for a very long time. For quite a number of years (read: most of my preteen, teenage, and young adult years) horror was about the only thing I would read with the occasional read from other genres. The first horror novel that I can remember leaving an impression with me as a preteen was Stephen King’s It. Sure, I had read other horror books, mostly in the YA vein, during that time. However, even as a preteen, I was a bit numbed to the scary aspects of horror books, and I remember It being the moment when a whole new world of horror opened up for me. However, two subgenres of horror were never really my cuppa–zombie horror and ghost stories.
Even though ghost stories aren’t high on my list that doesn’t stop me from reading them. I just found that most ghost stories never really got any better than your average 13 Alabama Ghosts and Jeffrey books. Enjoyable, fun reads, but kind of campy. Sure, there have been exceptions as always, but most of them read like the kind of urban legends you’d whisper to your friend. “Hey, did you hear the story about the cheerleader who died on the football field and now her ghost will chase you if you stand on the 50-yard line at midnight?” Yeah, that. I’ve always been more into the macabre, anyway. So, I went into The Haunting of Hill House expecting it to be kitschy.
This is a ghost story, but it manages to be more than just a story that’s told around the camp fires. Jackson brought a psychological angle that makes the reader question if these things are really happening to this bunch or if it is some unexplainable shared delusion. Maybe Eleanor made the thing up entirely. We learn early in the novel that she has a very ripe imagination that threatens to overflow. This imagination may be the consequence of taking care of her ailing mother for years before her death and never having much contact with others. Jackson spends a fair amount of time delving into Eleanor’s thoughts with poetic prose that can sometimes make you forget that you’re reading a horror novel.
At the same time, that same poetic writing can suddenly be twisted by Jackson to capture the eerie, dreadful feel of Hill House. It creates tension and scares that seem to be hidden just out of the corner of your eye. I wouldn’t say this book is necessarily scary, but it creates a fair mount of tension for the characters that they never really shake as the house seeds itself deep in their psyche. Jackson never takes the mystery out of the story, leaving so much of the happenings at Hill House up to the reader, which makes the mind run wild. Add to that the caretakers, Mr. and Mrs. Dudley, who both are depressing, dour people that help feed the groups’ edginess.
I should take some time out here to praise the narrator, Bernadette Dunne. Her raspy reading voice helped to accentuate the creepiness of the story, but she did an excellent job creating voices and personality for the characters through her voice, as well. I don’t think this would have been quite as enjoyable without her narration of the story. I loved hearing her Mrs. Dudley, who was probably the most terrifying and the funniest person in the book for me because of these lines delivered so well by Ms. Dunne:
“I leave before dark comes […] We live over in the town, six miles away. So there won’t be anyone around if you need help. We couldn’t even hear you, in the night. No one could. No one lives any nearer than the town. No one else will come any nearer than that. In the night,” Mrs. Dudley said, and smiled outright. “In the dark,” she said, and closed the door behind her.
This is part of a much longer mantra that Mrs. Dudley recites repeatedly throughout the novel to the characters. She rarely says much else aside from these same words, and Dunne’s delivery really cuts down to the bone with those words. (Side note: If our small theater ever puts on a production of The Haunting of Hill House, I would so try out for Mrs. Dudley’s part.)
The Haunting of Hill House is a tense story that seems to ask if the house is truly haunted or could these things have happened because the group believed in them. Would they have been faced with this same terror if they hadn’t had certain expectations about what to expect or is the house truly some primordial evil waiting and watching for victims? It’s almost as if the story is asking the reader, “What do you think… in the night… in the dark?”
Graphic Novel Review: Harley Quinn Vol. 1: Hot in the City by Amanda Connor & Jimmy Palmiotti
Posted on February 9, 2015 9 Comments
Harley Quinn Vol. 1: Hot in the City by Amanda Connor & Jimmy Palmiotti
Genre: Superhero, Leading Ladies
Publisher: DC Comics (October 28, 2014)
Author Information: Website|Twitter
Tiara’s Rating: 2.5 of 5
Hijinxs and mayhem ensue when one of Harley’s former patients leaves her real estate in Brooklyn. Packing up the few possessions she owns and hopping on her bike, Harley (with her pal Bernie the Charbroiled Beaver) leaves Gotham in favor of greener pastures. She becomes the owner of a sizable building on Coney Island that houses a few businesses and a menagerie of live-in tenants who mostly work as sideshow attractions. Harley immediately takes to her new family, especially a dwarf by the name of, wait for it, Big Tony, and they take a liking to her because she’s strange like them and likable.
Nothing good comes without a catch, though. Harley is expected to find gainful employment to cover the cost of owning the property (back taxes, insurance, upkeep, property taxes) because her tenants and businesses only cover about 45% of that cost.
Honestly, a 2.5 from me is a very generous rating considering how I feel about this book. I really wanted to like this. I tried to rationalize it as much as I could to fit a narrative that appealed to me, and I just couldn’t. That’s not to say there aren’t things that I like about it, but it feels that what I didn’t like far outweighs what I did like. I felt a little defeated, disheartened, after reading this. I wanted to be treated to a really great Harley story because I love Harley. I expected this to be quirky and fun with a touch of macabre–the misadventures of Harleen Quinzel.
Yes, we’re treated to many misadventures as Harley learns to navigate her new city, avoid overzealous assassins, and seek money sources (including actual employment) to keep her new home while attracting the kind of chaos only Harley could. However, there were so few moments that really struck me as brilliant with this book. Mostly, the story felt a bit forced and too much like someone was saying, “This is funny. I made a funny… right?” This after such a promising start where Harley muses that she wishes there was a comic book all about her.
My review could effectively summed up by a panel where the owner of the wax museum housed in Harley’s building asks her to stop humping the Joker statue. With that panel, all I would’ve had to write was: “That’s it. That’s the whole book.” It was a nonstop barrage of bad puns and Harley exclaiming “Hooooleee [insert choice word that may or may not vaguely rhyme with “holy”].” Things that you’d expect from Harley, but hardly executed as well as they should’ve been.
Parts of the story felt problematic to me as well. I know sometimes humor can help temper some problem themes. This book is full of stereotypes jokes (the ranting Russian who loves America because of “ze bread” and capitalism, the Jewish granddad that putters around yelling in Yiddish, etc.) and “That’s what she said” type jokes. Granted these can be used in ways to really point out the irony/problems of a situation in humorous ways, but I don’t think that’s what they were going for here. There were moments with this book where, if you take away the glibness, they are gross and troubling with no real merit. It was disappointing to see that.
Despite my complaints, Harley is clearly no one’s victim, and she won’t stand for anyone trying to make her one. I did appreciate that about this book. I appreciated her friendship with Ivy, which was meant to be mockingly sapphic, but I still read it as two women who support each other wholly, two women who’d do anything for the other because their bond is strong. Harley’s love of animals was very endearing, and she often exhibited a compassionate side that wanted to protect those weaker than her the best way she knew how–by pulling out Beatrice (her large hammer).
While reading this, I questioned where was the Harley that argued that she could be whatever she wanted to be without Joker. She could be smart. She could be dumb. She could be sexy. Or she could choose to be all of those things. Sometimes, that really showed in this book, but most of my time reading this was spent grimacing. If it hadn’t been for a few key moments in the book and the really beautiful art and variant art pages/covers that featured a wealth of drawing styles, this book might’ve received a much lower rating.
Book Review: Cherry Bomb by Kathleen Tierney/Caitlín R. Kiernan
Posted on February 8, 2015 17 Comments
Cherry Bomb by Kathleen Tierney/Caitlín R. Kiernan
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Series: Book 3 of Siobhan Quinn
Publisher: Roc (February 3, 2015)
Author Information: Website | Twitter
Mogsy’s Rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
The Siobhan Quinn series is the dark underbelly of urban fantasy you never get to see, a project that began as the author Caitlín R. Kiernan’s (writing as Kathleen Tierney) “protest against what ‘paranormal romance’ has done to the once respectable genre”. It is harsh, it is gritty, it is obscene…but so help me I’ve loved every page and every moment I’ve gotten to spend with its crude and foul-mouthed protagonist.
Cherry Bomb is the latest (and apparently also the last – I’ll have more words on this later) book of the series. It has been three years since Quinn walked out on Mean Mr. B and left Rhode Island behind her, and after traveling around the country she eventually settled in the Big Apple. One night she meets a seductive antiquities dealer named Selwyn Throckmorton in a BDSM club and the two immediately hit it off. Unbeknownst to Quinn, however, Miss Throckmorton has apparently been getting into all kinds of trouble trading in ghoul artifacts with some deeply unsavory characters.
They say love makes you do foolish things, and if you ask Quinn I’m sure she’ll offer her agreement along with some choice words for how she feels about that.
This book is the arguably the grittiest, most aggressive and in-your-face installment yet. In spite of that, I wish I could claim the series goes out with a bang. It doesn’t though, not really. Or at least, not in any conventional sense. But seeing as how this series is all about doing things unconventionally, I suppose the ending strikes the right tone in its own way.
Of course, a lot of my feelings might have to do with how I discovered this was the final Siobhan Quinn novel. I literally found out on the very last page – the Author’s Note. Up to this point, I was actually quite happy with the ending, but after becoming aware that this book concludes the series, my expectations were inevitably altered. Not very fair of me, perhaps; but I can’t help that this is how I feel, and for that reason I wish I had known beforehand. I wasn’t looking for anything happy or monumental, but I still I couldn’t help but wish things had wrapped up in a more memorable conclusion.
Because this series is also a satirical look at the urban fantasy genre, it makes these books hard to review. But I did feel Cherry Bomb is lighter on the dark, twisted humor than the first two novels, and is instead just darker and more twisted in general, not to mention also more violent, more disturbing and more depressing. I’m all right with this on the whole, though I frequently found myself missing Quinn’s dry wit. She still retains that “very Quinn” sense of humor, but now it has an edge. Understandably, the events of the last novel and then in this one has jaded her (even more) and it really shows in her new attitude.
Finally, Quinn isn’t meant to be an admirable or a sympathetic character; she’s lewd, unpleasant, and over-the-top, but that’s also why I love her. And because I love her, it was very hard for me to see her manipulated and played like a damn fiddle. Selwyn isn’t a very likeable character either (and we’re actually warned about this) but she knows that deep down inside Quinn is a goodness that she’s not afraid to take advantage of, and it drove me nuts. On the one hand, I spent a lot of time reading this book feeling annoyed at Quinn for letting Selwyn lead her around by the nose (what happened to the spitfire from the last two books? That Quinn I know wouldn’t have taken any of this crap), but on the other hand, it did open my eyes to the softer, more solicitous side to her personality. Love, after all, can change someone, make them act differently, and I liked how Tierney/Kiernan explored Quinn’s character in this book by really peeling back the layers.
Once more, the author delivers another fantastic Siobhan Quinn novel. If you ask me, it’s a series that ended all too soon. Still, it’s probably best to say goodbye on a high note, not to mention no one likes to see a series drag on unnecessarily and I would have hated to see one this special wear out its welcome. I heartily recommend this series to anyone who enjoys urban fantasy, anti-heroes, and dark stories…and who won’t mind reading a book that come with a warning label.
A review copy of this book was provided to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. My thanks to Roc Books!
YA Weekend: Half the World by Joe Abercrombie
Posted on February 7, 2015 33 Comments
Half the World by Joe Abercrombie
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Series: Book 2 of The Shattered Sea
Publisher: Del Rey (February 17, 2015)
Author Information: Website | Twitter
Mogsy’s Rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
You gotta hand it to Joe Abercrombie. Knocking it out of the park on his first venture into Young Adult territory could be seen as a fluke, but when he nails it again for a second time, it’s clearly a testament to his writing skills and versatility. This author is a master when it comes to storytelling, whether he’s writing for teens or adults.
Half the World is the follow-up-but-not-really-a-direct-sequel to Half a King, which introduced readers to the land of Gettland and a young prince with a crippled hand named Yarvi. A man grown now, Prince Yarvi has become Father Yarvi, a trusted minister to Gettland’s king, and is no longer the main focus; instead, that torch and its responsibilities have been passed on to sixteen-year-old Thorn Bathu, a girl with a fierce heart and a fighter’s spirit.
Determined to one day avenge her father, Thorn has been training for years to become a warrior of Gettland, only to fail on the day of her testing and be condemned to death for the accidental killing of a fellow student. When a young warrior named Brand speaks up on her behalf, Thorn is spared from execution only to be swept up along with Brand into an ambitious political plot devised by the cunning Father Yarvi, which sees the three of them and a ragtag crew embarking on an exciting but dangerous diplomatic mission across half the world.
For a society that worships a goddess referred to as Mother War, you would think they’d be more open and accepting of female warriors, but apparently not. It’s an uphill battle all the way for Thorn Bathu to prove herself to her teacher, her peers and even to her own mother, whom Thorn suspects had always wished for a daughter more into sewing and pretty dresses. But Thorn is who she is, and I can’t say I would have preferred it any other way. Not that kickass heroines are in short supply when it comes to the YA genre, but take any of the female protagonists in any of the more popular books in the genre these days, and I guarantee you Thorn will make every single one of them look like fluffy kittens. When I say Thorn is a tough girl, you definitely get a tough girl. That’s mainly because Abercrombie simply does not hold back when it comes to his characters; if he feels that a fight scene calls for his protagonist getting a knife through the cheek…well, she’s getting a knife through the cheek (“Ouch, sorry about that, Thorn, but it builds character!)
Not that Abercrombie is infallible. One thing to note is that there was not a full-blown romantic subplot in Half a King like there is in Half the World, and when it comes to writing a YA romance and a teenage girl’s perspective, he manages admirably though not without unintentional awkwardness. Scenes where Thorn is kicking ass and taking names seem to come naturally, but where her softer feelings for Brand are concerned (playing mental games of he-loves-me-he-loves-me-not, feeling jealous of other girls, appreciating the virtues of his well-toned backside, etc.) that’s when you sense that Abercrombie may be feeling a bit out of his comfort zone. It’s not too distracting; the moments where Thorn almost acts like a completely different person are more amusing than they are truly problematic. However, this does make Brand the more consistent character, and I sometimes found myself enjoying and looking forward to his chapters more than Thorn’s.
Story-wise, I also found the twists and turns in Half the World to be somewhat tamer and more predictable than in Half a King, though this might have something to do with the fact that we now know the character of Father Yarvi well enough to “expect the unexpected”. Nevertheless, I sailed through this novel loving every page of it, but the highlight was without a doubt the last few chapters that led up to and culminated in the stunning climax. For you see, fight scenes are a bit of a Joe Abercrombie specialty. Once the action starts, it’s impossible to tear your eyes away. The final showdown was one such sequence, with the suspense keeping you on the edge of seat until the moment of reckoning. As climaxes go, that was close to perfection. Before the ending, I was already pretty set on rating Half the World a solid 4 stars, but that one amazing scene alone made me bump it up to 4.5.
One thing is clear, though – the scene is now set for the next and final book of the trilogy. Seeing as how things have progressed so far, Half a War promises to be even more intense and exciting. I can’t wait.
A review copy of this book was provided to me by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. My thanks to Del Rey Books!
Book Review: The City Stained Red by Sam Sykes
Posted on February 6, 2015 10 Comments
The City Stained Red by Sam Sykes
Genre: Fantasy
Series: Book 1 of Bring Down Heaven
Publisher: Orbit (January 27, 2015)
Author Information: Website | Twitter
Mogsy’s Rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
The City Stained Red is the start of Sam Sykes’ new series called Bring Down Heaven and it takes place in the same “universe” as his Aeon’s Gate trilogy. Happily, you do not have to have read the latter before tackling the former. In fact, I wasn’t even aware that the two series were linked until it was bought up to me by a fellow reviewer. I don’t doubt, however, that if you’ve read Aeon’s Gate you will find this novel’s world and history all the more powerful and enriching.
The book opens with an introduction to a mercenary named Lenk, and the list of his fellow adventurers looks conspicuously like a party straight out of a role-playing game. There’s Kataria the elf-like archer, Asper the priestess of healing, Dreadaeleon the young wizard, Denaos the rogue with a shadowy past, and Gariath the beastly dragon-man brawler. Together, they arrive at the city of Cier’Djaal to track down a man named Miron, a client who hired them to do a job and then stiffed them out of their pay. The group has chosen a hell of time to arrive though, as two opposing armies bear down on the capital desiring only blood and war. As demons emerge from the depths to harry Lenk and his team, a banished god also takes advantage of the turmoil to rise again.
This was a good book, though it did have the occasional hiccup. To its credit, the book started out by putting its best foot forward, with Sykes winning me over with his clever writing style and delightfully dry wit. Despite the fantasy archetypes, his characters have unique personalities and voices, and I particularly liked Lenk’s sardonic and self-deprecating attitude. Sykes also ensures that his readers get plenty enough time with everyone in the group, devoting time to each character with their own perspective chapters as we move through the story. Lenk, Kataria, Asper, Denaos, Dreadaeleon and Gariath all have backstories that make them interesting, and their personal struggles give them depth, elevating each beyond simply “stock character” status.
I hit my first speed bump around the quarter-way mark when I felt the story lose some of its momentum, and it took me a moment to figure out why. After all, at this point we were still going full steam ahead with all the conflict and wicked fight scenes. Then I realized that might be part of the problem. There is such a thing as too much action, and I felt perhaps the story could have found a better balance. After what felt like a string of chapters featuring non-stop battling, I stopped to wonder where the plot was going. I was sure that it was heading towards a certain direction, but at the same time it seemed to be stalling out from all the fighting.
Also, while I appreciated a deeper look into each character, the format of shifting from one perspective to the next hindered the pacing to an extent. It might not have been so noticeable if it had been only two or three characters, but the downside of cycling through six points of view is that you risk breaking up the flow of the story. Individually, the characters were also written well and I was able to connect with them, but the relationship dynamics between them were harder for me to grasp. It was especially tough to relate to Lenk’s feelings for Kataria. The fact that he has strong feelings towards her is made obvious through the text, but even though Sykes is good at expressing a wide range of Lenk’s emotions, when it comes to love and passion it is still a tad bit shaky.
Fortunately, the story regained its traction once it got moving again, which I was glad to see. I enjoyed the rest of the book, though it’s also true I was unable to throw myself back into with the same energy and enthusiasm I experienced at the book’s beginning. Still, the good parts – most notably the beginning and the end – stand out and make this one a memorable read. What other foul and evil things can befall our adventurers in this awful, awful city I can’t even imagine, but I’m sure Sykes has more in store for us in the next installment. I’m looking forward to finding out.
A review copy of this book was provided to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. My thanks to Orbit Books!
Panels: Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #1
Posted on February 5, 2015 1 Comment
College roommates Nancy Whitehead and Doreen Green get to know each other in Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #1
Tough Traveling: Evil Lairs
Posted on February 5, 2015 33 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 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; Evil Lairs
The evil lair is where a great fantasy villain will spend the plurality of his or her time. (Topic provided by Christopher Scott Hand).
Wendy’s Picks:
As always, Lord of the Rings trumps all lists. In this case, there’s that place where that burning eye thing hands out where that little guy has to take the thing….
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin
The Arameri might not see their home as an evil lair, but to everyone who serves them, Sky is just that. Especially since it is the home of the imprisoned gods the Arameri use as weapons, including the deadly Nightlord, Nahadoth.
Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson
What if the bad guy turns an entire city into his evil lair. And even more eviler, makes it a place that normal folks want to live because he supplies all the jobs and food and other important things that make living fun. While he does have a secret lair within it, all of Newcago is Steelheart’s personal playground. And you better stay on his good side.
Banewreaker by Jacqueline Carey
With a name like Darkhaven, this place has got to be evil, right? But it turns out that Satoris, the god accused of ushering in the world-ruining Sundering, is really just the victim of a horrible smear campaign by his siblings.
Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve
What could be more evil than a lair that can actually eat other lairs? Such is the case with London — yes, that London — in a time when cities are equipped with wheels and vicious weapons and tools to devour anything too slow to get out of their way.
Moirin’s Trilogy by Jacqueline Carey
Moirin seems drawn to evil lairs, possibly because her lovers all hang out in them. In Naamah’s Curse, she must rescue Bao from the Spider Queen, who holds him high in the mountains above Bhodistan. In Naamah’s Blessing, she must brave the black river and all the dangers of Terra Nova to find Raphael de Merliot in his fancy new home.
Mogsy’s Picks:
Such a tough theme! Gonna warn you ahead of time, my picks aren’t gonna be mind-blowing. I had a hard time coming up with examples this week, I’m just going to blame it on lack of sleep.
Firefight by Brandon Sanderson
When seeking examples of evil lairs, always look to superhero/supervillain fiction. David and his fellow Reckoners are in Babylar (formerly Manhattan) in this follow-up to Steelheart. To defeat the Epic who rules the city, they first have to hunt her down by locating her super-secret hideout.
The Death Star in Star Wars
The Death Star is a space station and an ultimate weapon designed to allow Emperor Palpatine rule his empire through fear. Equipped with a super-powered laser, it is capable of destroying a planet with a single shot, as poor Alderaan learned. The first Death Star was the “evil lair” of its commander Grand Moff Tarkin, who also masterminded its development.
Arthas: Rise of the Lich King by Christie Golden
So I’m really scrambling for anything here. I was hanging out in World of Warcraft recently and noticed a couple of guildies running classic raids, going back into Icecrown Citadel to kill Arthas for the old cheevies. I thought to myself, Hey now, that counts as an evil lair, doesn’t it?
The BiblioSanctum 