Books 20 & 21
Book 20: Hatter M: The Looking Glass Wars - Volume 1: Issues 1-4 by Frank Beddor and Liz Cavalier; illustrated by Ben Templesmith - 171 pages
As I may have mentioned on this site once or twice (!), I am a big fan of the Looking Glass Wars, so of course, I spent the $30+ (books are really expensive in Australia - we have very strict publishing laws that whilst protecting our native authors - a matter I have no problem with seeing as I intend on joining this club one of these days - also pushes the price of books up) to buy this graphic novel. This was originally published as a four seperate volumes and then finally collated as one book. It basically tells the story of Hatter Madigan, body guard to Princess Alyss Heart of Wonderland, as he travels around Earth trying to find the lost Princess, encountering suspect persons and plots as he goes. Whilst I'll devour anything LGW related, someone who had not read the original books would probably get a little lost in this story as it is generally presumed that the reader knows who Hatter and Alyss are, as well as the role of imagination in the world of Wonderland. The arts also not what I'm used to, but this is probably as much to do with the fact that I don't read many graphic novels, but for the random Dragonball Z manga I may find at the library. All in all, I enjoyed it, but I would discourage anyone to go into it without being acquainted with the LGW world first - more a companion, than a stand-alone piece.
20 / 50 books. 40% done!
7663 / 15000 pages. 51% done!
Book 21: Fatal Voyage by Kathy Reichs - 432 pages
This book - the fourth in Tempe Brennan series - was probably the slowest to start. It basically tells the story of a plane crash in North Carolina's hinterland. After Brennan's finds a foot that doesn't seem to fit any of the plane's passengers, she gets pulled off the case, her superiors citing a flaunt of the rules as an excuse. The first 250 pages float around over this twist for ages, dropping tiny hints that push and pull Brennan's case, but mostly leaving the story pretty flat. It only really picks up in the last 150 pages, at which stage its as if Reichs realises that she has to wrap up the story already. I really had to push myself hard to get through that first half and though I intend to keep reading the series, I don't feel that its really making me 'love' the crime mystery genre.
21 / 50 books. 42% done!
8095 / 15000 pages. 54% done!
Currently reading:
- From Modernism to Postmodernism: An Anthology edited by Lawrence Cahoone - 600 pages
- The Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant: Volume 2: The One Tree by Stephen Donaldson - 472 pages
- Sacha Baron Cohen: The Unauthorized Biography: From Cambridge to Kazakhastan by Kathleen Tracy - 263 pages
- Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There by Lewis Carroll - 357 pages
And coming up:
- The Constant Princess by Philippa Gregory - 486 pages
- Angels and Demons by Dan Brown - 620 pages
- Next by Michael Crichton - 540 pages