'Big Books' and Comic Books...

I can’t remember the last time I read a ‘fat fantasy’, years ago I reckon and it was probably written by Steven Erikson (feel free to have a look and check for me, I have no inclination to do that right now or at all actually!) I used to love reading these books when I was a lot younger, nothing better than getting lost in a massive book for hours at a time, but I ended up reading much shorter books as, well… I love blogging and wanted to post about books as much as possible. Short books were the way forward here :o)

No longer though, I’m about a hundred and something pages into Anthony Ryan’s ‘Blood Song’ (a beast of a book at just over seven hundred pages long) and really enjoying myself with it. Am I gearing myself up for another crack at the ‘Malazan’ series? Maybe one day, I’m enjoying myself too much now to worry about that. Why didn’t I read ‘Blood Song’ sooner? I don’t know but I’m glad that I’m reading it now, that’s all that matters. All other books are having to wait this week so you might see a few more short stories than normal, it’s all good though :o)
To kick this week off then, here’s a couple of comics that I was reading on my phone last night whilst trying to get Elana to sleep on my shoulder… I’ve stopped buying trades just recently but might just have to start again if these two issues are anything to go by.

‘X’ #11 – Swierczynski, Maia (Dark Horse)

X’s hands were already full with Carmine Tango . . . Then Gamble reappeared! X thought he killed this suave assassin years ago, but the luck-obsessed murderer is still a player, taking his chances on revenge! Welcome to Arcadia, where the odds are bad . . . and the bads are odd!

Every time I think that Swierczynski and Maia have gone as brutal as they can they never fail to surprise me by ramping things up an extra notch. This issue, this means a stand up fight between X and Gamble where you feel every punch and kick land home. I couldn’t help but wince (a lot) but Maia’s handling of the fight scenes meant that I couldn’t take my eyes off it. There’s a real honesty to these scenes that makes you feel like you almost owe it to the characters to see it out with them. Brutal? Yes but also a very necessary depiction that leaves you in no doubt how the characters are feeling (very, very sore…)

The actual plot feels like it meanders a little (there is a big fight going on after all) but Swierczynski makes it clear that the payoff is almost here. Just wait one more issue and the game will completely change… He’d better not be messing me around because I will be there for that next issue.

If you like vigilante comics where the ‘hero’ pulls no punches then I’d be very surprised if you weren’t reading ‘X’ already.

‘Ghost’ #2 – DeConnick, Sook (Dark Horse)

An unlikely ally sneaks Ghost into a secret meeting, where a legion of disguised demons gather around Dr. October—until her cover is blown! Meanwhile, the very human serial killer prowling the streets of Chicago takes a personal interest in Sloane and Tommy!

Wow, it’s all happening here and it’s all good (albeit again, a tiny bit too drawn out for my tastes) . A human serial killer who drinks all your milk before killing you, demons running the city who seem quite content to wait for some kind of signal to engage the ‘masterplan’… Unless they are attacked that is and then it’s a big ol’ fight to the death between Ghost and a nightclub full of well-drawn monstrosities.

Ryan Sook is the standout creative type in this issue for me. Not that there’s anything wrong with Kelly Sue DeConnick’s plot and writing but there’s clearly a long game being played there and Ryan Sook is about the here and now. I’m talking about the moments where Ghost goes on the offensive in the nightclub or the moment, right at the beginning, where you realise just who is in the house. As a team, DeConnick and Sook really work well together but this issue, for me, is all about Sook and what he can do. It’s all good with a couple of moments that will make you gasp if I was anything to go by.

Cover Art - 'ACID' (Emma Pass)

Cover art like this makes me a little bit mad and a little bit sad, all at the same time. There's nothing wrong with the work itself but the overall affect is just... bland. If you took the title off the front, you wouldn't be able to pick this book out from dozens of others with the same kind of design. I get the thinking from a marketing perspective but I can't help but wonder if this thinking does the book itself an injustice. You want someone to read a book? Give it a cover that does something a little different and stands out because of it; the first thing someone sees on a book is the cover so make the most of that cover instead of essentially camouflaging it on the shelf.
The blurb actually looks interesting, I like a little bit of 'totalitarian police state' in my reading sometimes... :o)

2113. In Jenna Strong's world, ACID - the most brutal, controlling police force in history - rule supreme. No throwaway comment or muttered dissent goes unnoticed - or unpunished. And it was ACID agents who locked Jenna away for life, for a bloody crime she struggles to remember.

The only female inmate in a violent high-security prison, Jenna has learned to survive by any means necessary. And when a mysterious rebel group breaks her out, she must use her strength, speed and skill to stay one step ahead of ACID - and to uncover the truth about what really happened on that dark night two years ago.

What do you think of this cover?

'Rags & Bones' - Cover Art and Table of Contents

You know those books that you wouldn't normally read but somehow just look intriguing? Books that you end up reading despite the fact that you have a heving pile of books to read anyway? I reckon 'Rags and Bones' could be one of those books for me. I normally stay away from YA books (just because there's a lot of adult books that I want to read first) but the authors in the table of contents, along with the whole 'reimagining of classic tales' thing, has got me wanting to make a little room in my schedule. Have a look at the TOC and see if you don't feel the same (what's in the brackets is what is being reimagined),

That the Machine May Progress Eternally by Carrie Ryan (E. M. Forster's 'The Machine Stops')
Losing Her Divinity by Garth Nix (Rudyard Kipling's 'The Man Who Would Be King')
The Sleeper and the Spindle by Neil Gaiman ('Sleeping Beauty')
The Cold Corner by Tim Pratt (Henry James's 'The Jolly Corner')
Millcara by Holly Black (Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu's 'Carmilla')
When First We Were Gods by Rick Yancey (Nathaniel Hawthorne's 'The Birth-Mark')
Sirocco by Margaret Stohl (Horace Walpole's 'The Castle of Otranto')
Awakened by Melissa Marr (Kate Chopin's 'The Awakening')
New Chicago by Kelley Armstrong (W. W. Jacobs's 'The Monkey's Paw')
The Soul Collector by Kami Garcia (The Brothers Grimm's 'Rumpelstiltskin')
Without Faith, Without Law, Without Joy by Saladin Ahmed (Sir Edmund Spenser's 'The Faerie Queene')
Uncaged by Gene Wolfe (William Seabrook's 'The Caged White Werewolf of the Saraban')

Early 'must reads' for me are the Wolfe, Ahmed, and Gaiman so no real surprises there then. 'The Soul Collector' looks interesting though and maybe 'Losing Her Divinity' as well. Would you read any of these stories? I'll let you know how it goes...

‘The Nights of Dreadful Silence’ – Glen Cook

I think I have all the Nightshade Books ‘Dread Empire’ series now (although I’ve been thinking that for a while now and new ones keep popping up…); I just need to work out the order that they go in. I’ll get back to you on that one…
While I steel myself for what looks like an absolutely massive series (seriously, have a look at these books on the shelf) I like to dip in and out of ‘An Empire Unacquainted With Defeat’; a collection of ‘Dread Empire’ tales that give you a pretty good idea of what the setting is all about. I’m growing to love short stories more and more by the way; a great way to get my reading ‘fix’ when my head isn’t up to something longer.

‘Nights of Dreadful Silence’ was the first ‘Dread Empire’ story published (way back in 1973, in the September issue of ‘Fantastic Science Fiction & Fantasy Stories’; you can read it Here if you like) and naturally seemed like the best place to start reading in this setting. The fact that it’s only eight pages long was also appealing. Like I said, my head isn’t quite up to longer books.

When Glen Cook writes fantasy he doesn’t mess around, preferring to just tell it how it is, and that’s ‘Nights of Dreadful Silence’ in a nutshell. A wizard is cheated out of his dues and enlists the help of an adventurer to get what is owed. That’s it and Cook clearly sees no need to embroider his tale at all, hence the brevity. It ends pretty much the way you would expect as well although there are hints that Bragi and Arisitithorn are not done yet. I’ll have to read more to find out as they bounced off each pretty well and I reckon they could easily do the same again.

What I found though is that this straightforward approach brings out a lot of humour that I don’t think you would notice otherwise. It’s not like Cook is cracking jokes either; it’s more the offhand remarks that a man on the battlefield might make to someone else. There is more than one kind of battlefield and Cook uses this to good effect with laconic observations that both Bragi and Arisitithorn come out with.
Not only that though, Cook’s observations of how people deal with the silence, cast on the city, are cause for a few wry chuckles at the very least.

‘From there, he watched amazedly as refugees dismally came out Itaskia’s gates and marched toward the boundaries of silence. He saw many a stout wife dragging her man toward where she could catch up on her backlog of nagging. Compulsive talkers shouted with glee when they were free of the curse and could once more bore their neighbors with tales of themselves.’

‘The Nights of Dreadful Silence’ is a little too short, and to the point, to be really engrossing but those little chuckles you find yourself having while reading make up for that to an extent. I for one wouldn’t mind more of that in Cook’s longer work…

'Dr Bloodmoney' - Philip K. Dick

I used to have an old 'Sci-Fi Masterworks' copy of 'Dr Bloodmoney' but it vanished during one of the periodic book purges that I have. That's the way I roll and a couple of years later, without fail, I will always realise that I made a mistake. I found this copy at the Nine Worlds convention, last year, and I actually prefer it to the edition that I used to have. I know it's the same book but hear me out :o)

I love old books, possibly due to my getting a bit older myself and also because I like the idea of being a little part of a books history. This edition of 'Dr Bloodmoney' is ten years older than me and I reckon it will still be going long after I stop. There's also an innocent charm about a book that has a picture of a flying foetus on the front cover. I mean, you wouldn't get that nowadays would you? It makes me feel a little bit nostalgic in a strange kind of way. Not that I ever lived in a time of flying foetus' but you know what I mean, I hope :o) Enough of that though, here's the blurb.

Seven years after the day of the bombs, Point Reyes was luckier than most places. Its people were reasonably normal - except for the girl with her twin brother growing inside her, and talking to her. Their barter economy was working. Their resident genius could fix almost anything that broke down. But they didn't know they were harbouring the one man who almost everyone left alive wanted killed...

‘Dr Bloodmoney’ isn’t the book that you think it is. Well, it wasn’t the book that I thought it would be; about a society trying to rebuild after a nuclear holocaust. For a start, there isn’t really an awful lot to rebuild once you get out of the cities; people are finding it hard but are getting along rather nicely actually. Is this what they call a cosy catastrophe? Could be… In any case, society in many ways seems to be better off than it was before the war.

‘Dr Bloodmoney’ is more of a book about people and how they react when they realise that it will actually take more than a nuclear war to help them resolve whatever they had going on before it started. There are some exceptions like Hoppy Harrington who finds that he is now in a position where he can affect great change, both in his life and in others, but mostly it’s the same people trying to sort out the same problems they’ve always had. It’s a novel about the therapeutic process and how, ultimately, it’s up to you to sort your own stuff out if you want to move on. Dick really goes into some depth with his characters in this respect and works through their problems in such a way that we’re fully aware of just what is going on.

‘Dr Bloodmoney’ isn’t just a novel about therapy either. It’s a book that really makes you question the world that the book takes place in and the abilities of the people living there. Is Dr Bluthgeld ill or did he really start the bombs falling with the power of his mind? Was Hoppy bitter anyway or did the world make him so? Dick leaves a lot of things unanswered and he makes them questions that stick with the reader (well, this reader) for a long time after putting the book down. It’s a book that makes you question the nature of this reality; don’t be surprised if you don’t have any answers at the end of it, just the same questions.

I wasn’t so keen on the anti-climactic ending (which happens off screen and then is explained away) but, on the whole, ‘Dr Bloodmoney’ is a very intelligent and thought provoking piece of science fiction that I would say deserves to be included in the ‘Masterworks’ series. I haven’t said all that I want to say about it but had the feeling that if I kept putting this review off then it would never be written (there’s so much to say and consider in these pages).

I think there’s a new ‘Sci-Fi Masterworks’ edition that has been released, do yourself a favour and grab a copy.

Comic Books That I'm Reading...

I’m reading a lot of good books at the moment but have somehow found myself in the position where I’ve either only just started them (most of the books but Leigh Brackett’s ‘The Long Tomorrow’ in particular) or am trying to work out what I want to say about them (Philip K. Dick’s ‘Dr Bloodmoney’ which was a great read but I want to say a little more than that). Hopefully you will see some of them in a few days’ time but right now, I’m easing myself gently into the week by having a little post about some comics that I was reading on the way to work this morning.

‘Terminator Salvation: The Final Battle’ #4 (Straczynski, Woods)

As a rule, I will read anything (comics in particular) with the Predator, Aliens, or the Terminator on the front cover. Being a child of the eighties it kind of comes with the territory really. With ‘The Terminator’ though I can’t help but wonder if the story has run its course; especially when the old time travel trope keeps getting wheeled out to jam yet another plot into an already creaking timeline. I’m kind of late to ‘The Final Battle’ but I couldn’t help but get the same feeling here… Don’t get me wrong, it all looks very good; I love the way Woods draws the Terminator point of view and the battle scenes are as good as they are in the films but… Another ‘time travel just when humanity is about to win’ plot though? That’s what it looks look to me and, even now, it looks like it will feed into a well-established plot anyway. Straczynski offers a fresh spin on the Terminator, in terms of its evolution, but doesn’t (can’t?) do an awful lot else. Of course I’ll be following this story (it’s the ‘Terminator’…) but more out of polite interest and a wish to be proved wrong.

‘Get the Lobster’ #2 (Mignola, Arcudi, Zonjic)

I don’t know why (really can’t put my finger on it…) but Lobster Johnson is my favourite thing about the ‘Hellboy’ universe. It might just be the name, I really don’t know… Anyway, the man himself has a mini-series going on; I’ve missed the first issue but there’s a lot to enjoy here even if I’m not entirely sure what is going on. There’s a midget with a transistor radio in his head and the police are gunning for Lobster because the Chief doesn’t like vigilantes tearing up his city (understandable really). Mignola and Arcudi offer up some intriguing mysteries (and a possible hint at the Lobster’s past) while Zonjic goes for a understated feel that perfectly captures nineteen thirties New York while casually stepping things up a gear when the bullets start flying. It’s a perfect combination really and I’ll definitely be following this one to its conclusion. I’ll even have to see if I can find that first issue.

‘Veil’ #1 (Rucka, Fejzula)

A girl wakes up naked in a subway tunnel with no idea of who she is but an instinctive grasp of the power that she can wield if someone threatens her… And… that’s it :o) We basically have a whole comic of this girl spouting nonsense to herself and slowly beginning to find her place in the world. You know what though? It works really well and I’m already hooked. Rucka does an amazing job of spinning out the mystery into a climax that answers questions and raises more all at the same time; all the more so because Veil doesn’t really do anything until the last couple of pages.

Feizula’s art is gorgeous, hinting at overworldly influences in the plot as well as capturing the neon excesses of the city. I can’t wait for more of the same in the next issue.

‘Doctor Who: The Curse of Fenric’ – Ian Briggs (Target)

I told you that some of the books here would be a little different from what I used to cover over at the other blog, didn’t I? I think there’s a real urge sometimes to concentrate on the ever moving conveyor belt of brand new books, headed our way, and I don’t blame anyone for doing that. I mean, look at all the cool books! Of course we’re going to want to read as much of that as we can. Inevitably though, it comes at the expense of all those old favourites (classics or otherwise) that you always mean to go back and read but forget to because, you know, new books and all that.

I’ve got a room stacked so full of books that it would be a crime to leave them all unread in favour of the new stuff and so this blog is going to be a healthy mix of old and new books. Well, that’s the plan anyway; we’ll see how I’ve done at the end of the year.

I grew up on the ‘Doctor Who’ Target novelisations; there was a library bus that came round every week (or something like that) and I used it to read as many of the books as I could. You can’t blame me really, there was no other way I was going to be able to catch up on all the adventures of the Doctor (in the days of ‘no DVDs’ etc) and there were so many even then. Those books were a massive part of my childhood and although most of them wouldn’t hold up to a determined read these days, I owe them a lot and have real fond memories of them.

Having said all that, I never read ‘The Curse of Fenric’ as a kid, it was the TV show that scared the life out of me and had me cowering in bed (but that’s a story already mentioned on the old blog…) I bought myself a copy of the novelisation, after reviewing the DVD back in July 2012, and promptly forgot about it because… new books :o)

Until now that is. I’ve been trying to mix up my reading a little bit, just recently, and this is where I ended up… Blurb shamelessly copy and pasted from the old blog because I’m tired and fancy cutting a little corner…

The Doctor and Ace find themselves at a secret military base, during the Second World War, where elements of the British army are about to lure their Russian allies into a deadly trap. A far deadlier trap is about to be sprung though as an ancient evil stirs beneath the waters of the bay and an old Viking Curse comes to fruition. Only those with faith will survive and, even then, they may not have much left afterwards…

What’s great about the old Doctor Who novelisations is that the reason they’re so good for catching up, with old stories, because they stick so faithfully to what happened on the show. You could see it playing out in your mind just as you would have done on the screen; just like the 70’s or 80’s version of a DVD ;o) They didn’t make for particularly challenging reading then but that wasn’t really the point. They were there so kids like me could read about adventures the Doctor had on TV before we were even born (and that’s pretty damn cool isn’t it?)

‘The Curse of Fenric’ really stands out from the pack by bucking that trend; I don’t think I’ve seen a Doctor Who novelisation like it in fact. It looks like all the stuff Ian Briggs wanted to do with the story on television made it into the book instead and the end result is a book with a lot more depth than you would expect to find in one of these novelisations. A shared history between Judson and Millington makes a lot of the stuff that happens on screen, with these two, suddenly make a lot more sense. Other characters get similar treatment (I would never have guessed who the double agent was or even that there was a double agent in the book…) and the end result is an extra layer of meaning that sits very well with the standard ‘tell it how it is’ approach that is going on at the same time.

What I really liked though was the mention of the game of chess that the Doctor played with Fenric; not just a mention actually, a full blown account of the game as told in ‘Ancient Arabian Tales’ translated by one William Judson. There’s an epic feel to the Doctor’s life now and Briggs does very well to tie up all sorts of plotlines that occur over centuries. That’s Steven Erikson territory and Briggs shows here that he’s more than capable of the same kind of thing.

Like I said earlier, the overall effect of ‘The Curse of Fenric’ is a really positive one and I’d mark it as one of the better Doctor Who books that I’ve read. I can’t get away from the feeling though that you would have to be a real fan of the show to enjoy this book and that’s weird because there’s nothing in the book to suggest this (other than that it’s Doctor Who and people either love it or are completely indifferent about the whole thing). I’ll have to get back to you on that one.