Victory Editing provided an early galley for review.
When a writer mentions my favorite artist ever (Prince) in his opening paragraph, I know I'm in goVictory Editing provided an early galley for review.
When a writer mentions my favorite artist ever (Prince) in his opening paragraph, I know I'm in good hands as a reader. In fact, all of his music references throughout the novel (summarized nicely as a playlist in the back of the book) very much hit home for me. Clearly I'm of the age for the audience of this novel.
Hailey quickly pulled me into his story about aging and coping as Funk gets drawn into Ronnie Slater's latest endeavor. Here we have two male characters in their middle age, slowly realizing that the world has changed from their younger days and wrestling with their own morality. As an older reader, this one definitely hit more than it would for me decades ago.
For a story that covers a very short narrative time period (four days total), sometimes the reader needs to accept the terms for the story for things to move along properly. Should certain characters be questioning things more? Absolutely. Should other characters not put up with the behavior and attitude given to them? Yes. But in the end the story still works out well, the themes explored and the message delivered. I am willing to make a few minor accommodations as long as the book is entertaining me, as this one most certainly did.
If there were ever a sequel, I'll definitely put it on my reading list....more
Continuing the story right where volume 1 left off, we're back into the final round of the Security Cha VIZ Media provided an early galley for review.
Continuing the story right where volume 1 left off, we're back into the final round of the Security Championship competition. However, we are also introduced to several new characters in these next eight chapters. One is Mr. Kedoin, a smartly dressed hipster who is also very interested in the outcome of the competition and in our protagonists. If you told me that Johnny Depp were the inspiration of his look and design, I could absolutely see that.
The story is a slower burn but the art keeps me engaged. Between the language, sexual content and alcohol and drug use, this manga definitely gets a mature rating (as noted on the back of the book). It is recommended for adult readers - 18 and up....more
IDW Publishing provided an early galley for review.
This four part mini-series takes an interesting idea and runs with it. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine aIDW Publishing provided an early galley for review.
This four part mini-series takes an interesting idea and runs with it. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: The Next Generation introduced these three young men to fans, so why not a story that interweaves their lives? It is a good recipe that works well.
Of course, as the cover shows, we get a fourth son. My first guess was: Wesley Crusher? While he would have fit the theme, this story needed a catalyst. And who better than QJ, the son of Q? This adds an extra layer of goodness to the concept and theme. Plus, I've always loved a good Q related story.
There are plenty of more familiar faces, all rendered with great accuracy by the art team. That is always what has impressed me with Trek comics - they look right and sound right. Just like watching episodes of the shows. An added bonus too is when the featured characters in the comic are actually allowed some character growth as happens here....more
Mad Cave Studios provided an early galley for review.
Continuing where volume 1 left off, this richly illustrated, dark and stylized fantasy story is oMad Cave Studios provided an early galley for review.
Continuing where volume 1 left off, this richly illustrated, dark and stylized fantasy story is oddly fascinating. It reminds me of the type of stories that would appear back in the day in the pages of Heavy Metal magazine; not the usual comic book fare I made a steady diet of but certainly something outside of the box to cleanse my palette.
The way that Lem and Gowli start to bond is presented with a magical innocence. It is a timeless kind of relationship, seen many times before, but it is one that hits the mark when presented well as done here.
The next three chapters of this story go by at a fairly quick pace but also in a most satisfying way. I certainly look forward to the next installment of this story....more
In the late 1990's, X-Men: The Animated Series was a huge hit, taking Marvel's classic comic series and VIZ Media provided an early galley for review.
In the late 1990's, X-Men: The Animated Series was a huge hit, taking Marvel's classic comic series and bringing it to an even wider audience. Just this year, the release of X-Men '97 as a follow-on cartoon series has brought that incarnation back into the popular consciousness once more.
This manga adapted, like Marvel's own 1992 comic series X-Men Adventures did as well, the cartoons from that original series with this volume presenting the first seven episodes. As a fan of the cartoon and the comics, I know these stories quite well. Since the artists change from chapter to chapter, there is a bit of inconsistency across the board. Some presentations were better than others, for me.
What is interesting here is seeing these stories again through the manga lens. The takes on these classic characters are fun and make me want to check out more Marvel manga. I also liked the character profiles included at the end, which likely helped new readers unfamiliar with the cast to get to know more than the stories revealed....more
Kodansha Comics provided an early galley for review.
The figures against the stark white background immediately jumped out at me when parusing upcomingKodansha Comics provided an early galley for review.
The figures against the stark white background immediately jumped out at me when parusing upcoming releases. That design and the description of the series really caught my interest.
The story engages the reader's curiosity right from the start. Who are these two? What forces have drawn them together? How long before they share the secrets and feelings behind the facades they wear in public? I was very intrigued.
Of course, the story gets complicated by the romantic elements (which happen a lot quicker than I've seen in other manga - I liked this change of pace) as well as the revelation of a secret that Freya keeps from Neneo until a letter arrives. This raises the tension in the tale quite quickly. What exactly is Halvard's true intentions and what secrets does he have? The whole story moves very fast, setting up situations for future volumes.
I very much enjoyed Unohana's clean art style. It flows very well with faces that are expressive and clothing that is quite fashionable. These are things I often look to manga to provide....more
Berkley Publishing Group provided an early galley for review.
I was not familiar with Hackwith's earlier works (three novels in the Hell's Library seriBerkley Publishing Group provided an early galley for review.
I was not familiar with Hackwith's earlier works (three novels in the Hell's Library series), so jumping in on their first standalone novel where they take a page out of Gregory Macguire's playbook (i.e. doing a reinterpretation of an Oz story) felt like a safe starting place. From a very young age, I was a fan of the enchanting world created by Frank L. Baum anyway. So, why not?
Right out of the gate, the reader gets enough details to tell this one hundred and twenty-four year old tale has been brought into the 21st Century (thanks to the original material being long out of copyright bounds). Like the original tale was a reflective commentary of the times, Toto touches upon elements of pop culture, social media and political trends. It could have gone harder though, really brining this into the 21st Century.
Giving us the story from a dog's perspective is certainly novel. However, this particular narrative view can be a double-edged sword. Every situation and interaction comes from the lens of the pet protagonist, albeit a rather smarter one thanks to effects of the magical land Toto and Dorothy find themselves in. But it is a dog's interpretation and thus ultimately a bit limited. Also, in the original story Toto tends to be more of an observer so I feared his role would be limited in a similar capacity here. Turns out, here he's right in the center of everything that happens, but I still felt that he was more of an observer and commentator.
And that's really what had me losing focus several times. I felt like I was missing the depth of the other characters. They came across as flat, one-dimensional and at times uninteresting.
The more I wanted from a retelling/reimagining just wasn't there....more
Applause Books, a Rowman and Littlefield subsidiary, provided an early galley for review.
Seeing the festive cover of this book instantly took me back Applause Books, a Rowman and Littlefield subsidiary, provided an early galley for review.
Seeing the festive cover of this book instantly took me back to my childhood. Growing up in the 70's when we only had three major television stations, everyone got excited when December rolled around. With the snow falling outside, I'd curl up on the couch in my pajamas to watch all the various Christmas specials that would be aired as the nights counted closer to the 25th.
Broken down into several sections (variety shows, animated specials, merry movies of the week, and holiday episodes of ongoing shows), Pilato takes the reader down a very nostalgic memory lane lined with candy canes, wreaths and lights, with sweet songs filling the air. He is very thorough in his discussions, providing all the details of these productions in one handy reference and including some great insights from folks who were involved in some of the special moments.
For folks like me that are huge television fans, this book will warm their hearts....more
Applause Books/Rowman and Littlefield provided an early galley for review
I grew up on Lear's shows, often watching them on first-run over at my grandmApplause Books/Rowman and Littlefield provided an early galley for review
I grew up on Lear's shows, often watching them on first-run over at my grandmother's house along with my mother, my aunt and my cousin. These were thought-provoking, heartfelt comedies that could make you laugh and cry, sometimes in the same half hour.
Broken into twenty-eight chapters across four sections, the reader is taken through his early life, his start in the business, the successes and the later years. No surprise that the bulk of the book is devoted to those glory years of the 1970s when his shows were at the top of viewing numbers week after week. At a time when there were only three networks to choose from, it was very likely you would have someone to discuss the shows with the day after they aired. As a big fan, I was very eager to hear all the stories (some I knew, many I did not) about the making of these classic shows.
Whetsell is a scholar when it comes to television, and he shows his depth of knowledge even when going off on contextual tangents that show the relationships to things Lear did in his own career. I appreciated the stories about the early days of television when Lear was honing his writing chops....more
W.W. Norton and Company provided an early galley for review.
I have always been a fan of this show. I watched it first run on TV, I own the six of seveW.W. Norton and Company provided an early galley for review.
I have always been a fan of this show. I watched it first run on TV, I own the six of seven seasons of the series on DVD, and if fictional characters qualify for a "hall pass", Lorelai would certainly have fallen on my list at one point. Therefore, the description of this one very much got my attention.
The book features essays from fifteen different writers, both women and men, as they reflect upon the show and its impact in their lives. It is a very easy read, comfortable and honest - much like the show that inspired the collection here.
I could not help but chuckle at one of the male writers who found the fast-talking banter of the characters to be a huge turn-off or at one of the female writers who made a point to count how many coats Lorelai went through in just the first two seasons alone. While the former was very much a necessary feature of the show, the latter serves as a reminder of how shows like this one reflect and promote styles.
BenBella Books provided an early galley for review.
I've been reading Marvel Comics since I was a kid in the 70's, and I would have loved to have had aBenBella Books provided an early galley for review.
I've been reading Marvel Comics since I was a kid in the 70's, and I would have loved to have had a book like this when I was first starting out. It is expansive and fun, featuring definitions of both everyday words along with similar usages in the Marvel Universe. For example: you'll see a definition for the word abomination along with a definition for the character Abomination. It is really helpful to show how the comic creators have adapted words in other ways.
More important is the phonetic pronunciations that come with each word. Every wondered how certain character names were pronounced? Now you know. Two that were tricky as a kid were Magneto and Submariner; surprisingly neither have entries in this book though.
The illustrations are drawn from over the entire Marvel publishing history as well. Some shots I remember quite fondly from books I have read over the many decades.
The only negative I had was that several major players, like the two noted above for example, are missing entries. While I get that not every word/name can be covered in the allotted pages and some decisions had to be made regarding who was in and who was out, I found some of the inclusions and exemptions a little bit baffling. If there is ever a second edition with expanded page count, maybe this oversight will be corrected....more
Abrams ComicArts and Kana provided an early galley for review.
I remember well when the first Ronin series was published, but I did not pick it up or rAbrams ComicArts and Kana provided an early galley for review.
I remember well when the first Ronin series was published, but I did not pick it up or read it. I knew of Miller's work though, mostly from The Dark Knight Returns and some of his work over at Marvel Comics. Going into this I read a summary of that first mini-series.
This is very much a sequel to that first story with very little effort to do much recap for new readers. It dives right into the action, very violent action which is rendered well in the art. The page layouts take advantage of two-page spreads to convey the immense threats and the action against them. I think the art will be very impactful in the printed final product as long as it does not suffer from gutter loss down the center (where the book is bound). This story was laid out very much for a print experience rather than a digital one.
That same art layout also guides the reading experience. In some ways, it is a faster read if one is only focusing on the words (mostly via dialogue bubbles). However, if one takes the time to pour over the art, it can be a slower read. I suspect the latter is something readers might do on subsequent re-readings.
Miller himself did the artwork on chapters 4 and 6, while Tan and Henriques did the rest. The differences are a bit jarring and, admittedly, I preferred the latter's work to Miller's. Theirs is much more detailed and textured; Miller's comes across less so. However, I did appreciate that Miller's dialogue bubbles were larger and easier for these old eyes to read.
In the end, what readers take away from the experience, I think, will greatly depend on their view of the original tale and its presentation....more
Blackstone Publishing provided an early galley for review.
Every now and again, I like to dive into a sci-fi novel about space as it was a genre I readBlackstone Publishing provided an early galley for review.
Every now and again, I like to dive into a sci-fi novel about space as it was a genre I read a lot of in my teens. Having enjoyed an earlier novel by Segura, this one caught my eye.
Interestingly enough, this novel has two writers which I always find to be an intriguing exercise. Can I tell the difference between their two styles? (I could not.) Do their styles mesh well together? (They do.) The story itself is split between two main protagonists in two different locations which probably made their work a bit easier (assuming they each took one narrative path, which I am not sure if they did or not).
However, the narrative ping-pong really did not work for me here. While each storyline moved along and eventually came together to a satisfying conclusion, I found myself frustrated by being invested in one only to be jerked back to the other. That took some of the luster off of the book for me....more
I am a long-time fan of Spider-Man comics, in part due to his varied rogues gallery. And one of the mostVIZ Media provided an early galley for review.
I am a long-time fan of Spider-Man comics, in part due to his varied rogues gallery. And one of the most iconic of those enemies is Doc Ock. The description of this manga was enough to make this a "definitely check out" book for me.
And the ride was exactly what I expected - wild and crazy. The creative team captures the personality of Ock perfectly, and the interplay between him and Spider-Man is pitch-perfect Marvel style. The addition of the bodyswap and the world of Japanese teen drama just adds to the fun. This is a fantastic "what if" kind of scenario.
There are also several more surprises in this first volume that further tie this story into other published works (both in the main Marvel 616 titles as well as other manga projects). I liked that as well. I am eager to see where this goes in the next edition....more
G.P. Putnam and Sons / Penguin Random House provided an early galley for review.
This is the fifty-first book in the Spenser series and the thirty-seveG.P. Putnam and Sons / Penguin Random House provided an early galley for review.
This is the fifty-first book in the Spenser series and the thirty-seventh I've read. To say I am a fan of Parker's Boston detective would a valid statement. Once more Lupica is behind the wheel (after a nine book run by Ace Atkins following Parker's passing in 2010).
There are some standard formula elements that readers come to expect in the series, and Lupica hits them all with ease. He is clearly at home playing in Parker's sandboxes (also dipping into a bit with Parker's Jesse Stone series for which Lupica has also penned a few novels as well). After over fifty years (the series started in 1973), this is very much comfort food.
The chapters tend to be short which keeps the pacing ever moving forward. The dialogue is sharp and snappy with an often sarcastic hint as well. It all fits the genre, the characters and the Boston locale. It all goes down quite easily....more
Ace Books/Berkley Publishing provided an early galley for review.
We're back again for book three in the Dungeon Crawler Carl series. I enjoyed book 1 Ace Books/Berkley Publishing provided an early galley for review.
We're back again for book three in the Dungeon Crawler Carl series. I enjoyed book 1 and book 2, so I was ready for another run with our heroes.
By this point in the series, Dinniman's style and narrative rhythms are fairly well-established. We have the voices of the characters; we have the framework of the game and its elements. The new wrinkles are the layout of the level, the secrets behind them and what it will take for Carl and company to get through them. That is the where the freshness comes in each time, especially if each book is only going to give us one level of progression. There is a lot more story to go; Dinniman needs to be careful with how he doles it out to avoid either boring or burning out the reader.
The first half of this one was a bit slower for me, for the reasons just noted. However, when the second half hit all of the pieces came together and proceeded at a breakneck pace. Hopefully future volumes will give less of the former and more of the latter....more
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