Books and comics read in February 2016

[usuallyhats]

Angela, Asgard's Assassin: Priceless
Spider-Woman: Spider-Verse
Britain After Rome: The Fall and Rise, 400-1070 - Robin Fleming
Euphoria - Lily King
Captain America and the Mighty Avengers: Open for Business
Captain America and the Mighty Avengers: Last Days
Six of Crows - Leigh Bardugo
City of Dragons - Robin Hobb
Ultimate Spider-Man: Deadpool
The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage: The (Mostly) True Story of the First Computer - Sydney Padua
The Masked City - Genevieve Cogman
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet - Becky Chambers
The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family - Annette Gordon-Reed
Ancillary Mercy - Ann Leckie
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
Suicide Squad: The Nightshade Odyssey

Captain America and the Mighty Avengers: Last Days
This should really have been titled "Some Comics By Al Ewing About Various Avengers" - which, don't get me wrong, is something I'm here for, it just would have been a bit more accurate. The first two issues were the actual last two issues of Captain America and the Mighty Avengers; the first was somewhat frustrating as most of the actual plot happened offscreen, but the second was very moving. Next came the two issue Secret Wars tie-in, Captain Britain and the Mighty Defenders, which I'd already read and liked: it's all about hope, and also Faiza Hussain is in it. <3 (This, btw, is the comic containing a panel where a supervillain quotes David Cameron, which does the rounds on twitter occasionally.) And finally, an Ultron Forever tie in, which didn't seem to have anything to do with the previous issues (apart from being written by Ewing), but was pretty fun. So overall I enjoyed it, but I would dearly like it if Al Ewing to get to write a comic that isn't constantly derailed by crossover events one of these days.

Six of Crows
I wasn't sure about this book at first - it's about six criminals banding together for a heist, and some of the criminals were a bit too murdery for my taste - but it ended up sucking me in and leaving me wishing I were still reading it. The plot is excellent and twisty in a heist sort of way (if you object to twists of the order of "but luckily, our heroes had already planned for this contingency, as we will see in this handy flashback", this is probably not the book for you): the thing about heist plots I really like is seeing people win by being cleverer, more competent and better at working together than their enemies, and this book delivered. The characters were also great - distinct and well drawn - and I am always here for a bunch of misfits discovering that they care about each other. The highlight for me was the fact that the two girls in the group had some great scenes together and clearly had a strong and developing bond. ♥ Looking forward to the next book in the series!

Ultimate Spider-Man: Deadpool
This was a bit of a slog, especially the first half: I don't understand the point of creating a version of Deadpool who's just a humourless guy who wants to kill mutants for some reason. Also, I've complained about Bagley's art before, but this volume included an upskirt shot of a teenage girl and uuuuggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhh. Basically at this point my motivation to continue with this series is basically 20% snappy dialogue and 80% I'VE STARTED SO I'LL FINISH. /o\

Comments

[thisbluespirit]

HOw was the Britain after Rome book? That's a very interesting and often neglected period - if it was a good one, I might pop it on my wishlist. :-)

[usuallyhats]

I found it a bit slow in places, but a lot of it was really interesting - I liked how it focused on social history and archaeological evidence rather than kings and battles! I'd say it was definitely worth trying.

[thisbluespirit]

Oh, cool, yes! Definitely the sort of thing I would like. History books are allowed to be slow sometimes as long as they're solid on the subject. Thanks. :-)

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

Ooh! I'm currently reading Lovelace & Babbage.

What did you think of the second Invisible Library book?

[usuallyhats]

Isn't it fun?

Loved it! I am eagerly awaiting the next one. :D

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

It is!

Yay! Apparently (according to GC whom I now follow on Twitter), book 3 is out "soon". (For a relative value of 'soon', of course!) :D

[usuallyhats]

Hurray! I was glad to hear there's definitely going to be fourth and fifth books, too.

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

Yes me too!!

And have you come across Rod Duncan's 'Fall of the Gas-lit Empire' series yet? 3 books so far but more promised, and I've a feeling this alternate history series would be up your street.

[usuallyhats]

I haven't - thanks for the rec! It looks like the library has the first one, so I shall go and grab it when whoever's got it at the moment brings it back. :D

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

I hope you enjoy!

The third one's just come out - he's literally doing the launch for it tonight in Leicester (which will be live-streamed at 7pm on his website, if you're available/interested: http://www.gaslitempire.co.uk/magic-lantern/

[usuallyhats]

Ooh, cool! I'll try and watch it if I'm free...

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

I won't be alas, but I'm hoping it might be up afterwards to watch.

[usuallyhats]

Fingers crossed!

[ladymercury-10.livejournal.com]

I've heard some good things about The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet --how was it? And ooh, how did you like Ancillary Mercy?

[usuallyhats]

I really liked The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet - all the characters were so nice! It felt very episodic, but I didn't mind that once I'd adjusted to it a bit. (I'm also about 90% certain it started life as Firefly fanfic, but that's an observation rather than a criticism!)

I LOVED Ancillary Mercy! I really enjoyed that it was both serious and hilarious, and I had a lot of feelings about all the characters. ♥