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usuallyhats) wrote2015-03-02 01:05 pm
usuallyhats) wrote2015-03-02 01:05 pm
Books and comics read in February 2015
The Prefect - Alastair Reynolds*
Ms Marvel: Generation Y
The Wicked + The Divine: The Faust Act
The Golem and the Djinni - Helene Wecker
Shadow and Bone - Leigh Bardugo
The Deeds of the Disturber - Elizabeth Peters
Bitter Greens - Kate Forsyth*
DC/Wildstorm: Dreamwar*
Property - Valerie Martin
Countdown: The Search For Ray Palmer*
Above World - Jenn Reese
X-Factor: Hell on Earth War
The Woods: The Arrow*
Doctor Who: A Fairytale Life
The Lost Girl - Sangu Mandanna
She-Hulk: Disorderly Conduct
Lies We Tell Ourselves - Robin Talley
Ultraviolet - RJ Anderson
Amy Unbounded: Belondweg Blossoming
The Prefect
I usually like Reynolds's books, but this one really didn't work for me. I suspect it was because the central plotline was basically a trope that I'm not really into - straightforward police detective solves giant conspiracy through dint of dogged investigation, pausing only to have manpain about his beautiful dead wife - and on this occasion, even putting it in space didn't help. But also it all felt curiously flat, and there was a somewhat alarming trend of quietly chipping away at the female characters' agency so that they are mostly offstage or somehow compromised for the big moments. Oh well, better luck next time.
Bitter Greens
This book weaves a retelling of the story of Rapunzel with the story of Charlotte-Rose, one of the authors of Rapunzel, and with the story of the witch, and I really loved it. The writing was excellent, with Charlotte-Rose in particular really coming to life as a character. I really appreciated the consideration of gender and power and the way the author demonstrated the way her characters' lives were restricted by their gender whilst still making them the active heroes of their own stories. I did however find the witch's story much less convincing than the other two: I didn't really understand her motivations, plus... there's not really any way to get away from the fact that she abducted and murdered girls for her own ends. I was also pretty disappointed that the handful of queer characters were so unpleasantly stereotypical - the lesbian nun who starts out evil and vindictive and then briefly becomes a figure of pity, and the vicious, camp gay couple. They didn't appear very often, but their portrayal was a sour note in an otherwise excellent book.
DC/Wildstorm: Dreamwar
I feel slightly guilty about only giving this two stars on Goodreads, as I actually quite enjoyed it, but I think that was largely because my expectations were so low: I was basically just hoping that characters I like might be in it, and it definitely did better than that! I loved that Jenny Quarx got a fairly solid role, and though I was basically eh on the plot, I appreciated that it set up some genuine conflict that wasn't just there to make the DC lot look naive or the Wildstorm lot look overly bloodthirsty. I also really enjoyed Gen 13 (?) assuming that Starfire was powered by her hair. :D And I appreciated the fact that the Midnighter had the same difficulty fighting the Joker that Cass did, since they basically have similar powersets - they partly rely on being able to predict what their opponent will do next, but since the Joker himself never knows what he'll do, they have nothing to work with. Diana wasn't in it enough, but she did get one glorious moment, intervening to declare peace between the Amazons and the vampires they were fighting. (Head vampire lady: "She's... MAGNIFICENT." I FEEL YOU, VAMPIRE LADY.)
Countdown: The Search For Ray Palmer
This amble through various AUs with Jason, Donna and Kyle was fine, but I really wanted more from it. I wanted to see more of all the universes, and I wanted to see more of our heroes reacting to them. I was reading it for the characters (well, for Jason and Donna. Sorry Kyle) so I wanted them to have... more characterisation. I mean, Jason had a couple of feelings, and Donna got to be sad about evil Red Son Wonder Woman (I was sad about that too), but it wasn't enough. I didn't really get any sense of them as a team, either. Woe. Though between this and Dreamwar, I am kind of amused about how determined the writers seemed to be to make sure we knew that Apollo and the Midnighter are husbands. It was subtle as a sledgehammer, but if the alternative is "these two guys are dating, but we will hardly ever mention it, and really you should count yourself lucky if they ever even stand next to each other", as I have also seen, I will take Slightly Awkward Dialogue any day of the week.
The Woods: The Arrow
Horror's not really my thing, but I liked this a lot regardless. The premise was fascinating - US high school is suddenly transported to the middle of mysterious, possibly alien, woods, full of creatures who want to eat them; one small group heads off to find answers in the woods - and I'm definitely intrigued by the mystery. I also really liked a lot of the characters, especially the girls. (The character list is a bit too skewed towards boys, but I was pleased to see a fair few characters of colour and some queer characters in the main cast.) My main complaint would be that conditions back at the school went super-authoritarian a bit too fast (ie within about a day), and also that there were only four issues in this trade. :( But otherwise, I'm basically hooked and will be reading more, if only to find out what happens to the characters I like. (I am also v. amused by the fact that it has several things in common with the other Boom title I am reading, Lumberjanes - small group of children, mysterious shenanigans in the woods, queer characters - whilst nevertheless being tonally very different.)
Ms Marvel: Generation Y
The Wicked + The Divine: The Faust Act
The Golem and the Djinni - Helene Wecker
Shadow and Bone - Leigh Bardugo
The Deeds of the Disturber - Elizabeth Peters
Bitter Greens - Kate Forsyth*
DC/Wildstorm: Dreamwar*
Property - Valerie Martin
Countdown: The Search For Ray Palmer*
Above World - Jenn Reese
X-Factor: Hell on Earth War
The Woods: The Arrow*
Doctor Who: A Fairytale Life
The Lost Girl - Sangu Mandanna
She-Hulk: Disorderly Conduct
Lies We Tell Ourselves - Robin Talley
Ultraviolet - RJ Anderson
Amy Unbounded: Belondweg Blossoming
The Prefect
I usually like Reynolds's books, but this one really didn't work for me. I suspect it was because the central plotline was basically a trope that I'm not really into - straightforward police detective solves giant conspiracy through dint of dogged investigation, pausing only to have manpain about his beautiful dead wife - and on this occasion, even putting it in space didn't help. But also it all felt curiously flat, and there was a somewhat alarming trend of quietly chipping away at the female characters' agency so that they are mostly offstage or somehow compromised for the big moments. Oh well, better luck next time.
Bitter Greens
This book weaves a retelling of the story of Rapunzel with the story of Charlotte-Rose, one of the authors of Rapunzel, and with the story of the witch, and I really loved it. The writing was excellent, with Charlotte-Rose in particular really coming to life as a character. I really appreciated the consideration of gender and power and the way the author demonstrated the way her characters' lives were restricted by their gender whilst still making them the active heroes of their own stories. I did however find the witch's story much less convincing than the other two: I didn't really understand her motivations, plus... there's not really any way to get away from the fact that she abducted and murdered girls for her own ends. I was also pretty disappointed that the handful of queer characters were so unpleasantly stereotypical - the lesbian nun who starts out evil and vindictive and then briefly becomes a figure of pity, and the vicious, camp gay couple. They didn't appear very often, but their portrayal was a sour note in an otherwise excellent book.
DC/Wildstorm: Dreamwar
I feel slightly guilty about only giving this two stars on Goodreads, as I actually quite enjoyed it, but I think that was largely because my expectations were so low: I was basically just hoping that characters I like might be in it, and it definitely did better than that! I loved that Jenny Quarx got a fairly solid role, and though I was basically eh on the plot, I appreciated that it set up some genuine conflict that wasn't just there to make the DC lot look naive or the Wildstorm lot look overly bloodthirsty. I also really enjoyed Gen 13 (?) assuming that Starfire was powered by her hair. :D And I appreciated the fact that the Midnighter had the same difficulty fighting the Joker that Cass did, since they basically have similar powersets - they partly rely on being able to predict what their opponent will do next, but since the Joker himself never knows what he'll do, they have nothing to work with. Diana wasn't in it enough, but she did get one glorious moment, intervening to declare peace between the Amazons and the vampires they were fighting. (Head vampire lady: "She's... MAGNIFICENT." I FEEL YOU, VAMPIRE LADY.)
Countdown: The Search For Ray Palmer
This amble through various AUs with Jason, Donna and Kyle was fine, but I really wanted more from it. I wanted to see more of all the universes, and I wanted to see more of our heroes reacting to them. I was reading it for the characters (well, for Jason and Donna. Sorry Kyle) so I wanted them to have... more characterisation. I mean, Jason had a couple of feelings, and Donna got to be sad about evil Red Son Wonder Woman (I was sad about that too), but it wasn't enough. I didn't really get any sense of them as a team, either. Woe. Though between this and Dreamwar, I am kind of amused about how determined the writers seemed to be to make sure we knew that Apollo and the Midnighter are husbands. It was subtle as a sledgehammer, but if the alternative is "these two guys are dating, but we will hardly ever mention it, and really you should count yourself lucky if they ever even stand next to each other", as I have also seen, I will take Slightly Awkward Dialogue any day of the week.
The Woods: The Arrow
Horror's not really my thing, but I liked this a lot regardless. The premise was fascinating - US high school is suddenly transported to the middle of mysterious, possibly alien, woods, full of creatures who want to eat them; one small group heads off to find answers in the woods - and I'm definitely intrigued by the mystery. I also really liked a lot of the characters, especially the girls. (The character list is a bit too skewed towards boys, but I was pleased to see a fair few characters of colour and some queer characters in the main cast.) My main complaint would be that conditions back at the school went super-authoritarian a bit too fast (ie within about a day), and also that there were only four issues in this trade. :( But otherwise, I'm basically hooked and will be reading more, if only to find out what happens to the characters I like. (I am also v. amused by the fact that it has several things in common with the other Boom title I am reading, Lumberjanes - small group of children, mysterious shenanigans in the woods, queer characters - whilst nevertheless being tonally very different.)
no subject
I'm going to the library later to pick up some Black Widow and something random called Heroic Legend Of Arslan that my friend ordered for me. No idea what it's about. My GN pile is overflowing as we just got Fairest 2,3 & 4 in.
Did She Hulk improve? I was really not impressed with Vol 1. The story was ok ish. Some of the art was ugly though and it put me off reading more, although I think we have Vol 2 on order.
no subject
Ooh, is that the current run of Black Widow? I've been enjoying that a lot.
I liked vol 2, but then I also liked the first volume, so if you didn't I'm not sure you'd find the second one an improvement! I found the regular art really grew on me, but I definitely wasn't a fan of the fill-in artist. I think both his issues were in volume one!
no subject
I'm a bit peeved cos I have accidentally gone backwards in Captain Marvel and am now having to read the Vol 7 run after Vol 8.
Hmmm maybe I will try Vol 2 of She-Hulk. I think Ron Wimberly was the artist I had trouble with and it seems I'm not alone!
"Ron Wimberly, who illustrated issues #5 and #6 has a fuzzy, lumpy style that hurts your eyes just to look at it, not to mention his inability to simply illustrate what’s happening from panel to panel." says one reviewer.
I'm getting impatient for Lumberjanes and Rat Queens 2.
no subject
Yes, me too! I can kind of see what he was going for, but it really didn't work for me.
Lumberjanes is the best. ♥