Weekly Update-age
I am reminded of why I don't do laundry on Sundays...people leave their laundry in the washer while they're in the pool, and it sits there for forever, tying up the machines. Sadly, this was the last clean shirt this morning when I went to the closet, so it was necessary.
2 down on the Negima icons...dunno how many it'll be in the end.
Between Amazon's "Big DVD Sale"(which evilly did not include Poirot DVDs) Walenbooks "4 for 3" manga sale and Hastings's recent intake of secondhand manga, all progress on backlogs save novels has been fully reversed(and that hasn't recovered yet from a few weeks ago)
The influx of manga, however, made me realize that books that came out during a school crunch were put away on the bookshelf and forghotten...books that normally wouldn't rest there long(anyone really think I'd intentionally leave "Death Note" "Hikaru No Go" "Inu Yasha" or "Fruits Basket" languishing for 2 months?)
Novels:
"White Wolf" and "The Swords of Night and Day" by David Gemmell(fantasy) These are the last 2 Druss books and the last 2 of Gemmell's Drenai books. Which is funny, as Druss is of secondary importance to Skilgannon in the books, and both books take place primarily outside of Drenai. But then, Druss works best as a chief supporting character, and the rest of the world is just as interesting as Drenai, so all is well.I was hoping "White Wolf" would focus a bit on a character in "Winter Warriors" who went by that name, but no go. Oh well...Excellent books all around. Now if Gemmell would just write the blasted book about the twins already...
"Grass for His Pillow" and "Brilliance of the Moon" by Lian Hearn(pseudo-historical fantasy) Probably my favorite contained series in a good while. I think that there were 2 deaths that wasted a lot of potential, and something popped up out of nowhere in the last book that made me go "huh?," but all in all it was excellent. Good setting, strong but not absurd or obnoxious characters and straight forward writing work quite well...more writers should take note. There's a fairly obvious sequel book coming later this year that I'll probably cave and get in HC, and James tells me there's a prequel coming, too...I can only hope that that will be about Shigeru.
"The Fox Woman" by Kij Johnson(historical fantasy) Maybe my expectations were too high because of "Fudoki" or maybe it was first book kinks, but I didn't enjoy this book nearly as much as I was expecting to. The story is the Japanese fairy tale of the fox who falls in love with a man and becomes human. The writing style was excellent, the Heian setting was great, the story was good, but I just couldn't care about the characters.
"Abadazad" books 1-2 by J.M. DeMatteis and Mike Ploog(children's fantasy) For those who have forgotten the details from when this was a comic, "Abadazad" is J.M. DeMatteis's love letter to Lewis Carroll, L. Frank Baum, and C.S. Lewis. The book never quite gelled for me in comic book form, despite considerable promise, but both the writing and art work far, far better as illustrated prose than they did as comics. I can't help but wish Stardust Kid could get the same treatment...
"The Way of the Warrior" by Laura Joh Rowland(historical mystery) Believe it or not, it's actually largely coincidence that so many of this week's novels hasppened to be some sort of Japanese history. This is the third Sano Ichiro book, and a definate step up from the second, but not quite as good as the first. I was more than a touch annoyed at Rowland's insistance that the rather uninteresting "doomed romance" from book two is so important...the one brief scene in book 2 with Sano's future wife was more interesting. In a way, this book is a reverse version of Clavell's "Shogun," focusing on Japanese sentiments towards and delings with foreigners a few decades later. This one left me a lot more eager for book 4 than book 2 left me for this one.
Trades/Manga:
Complete Jon Sable: Freelance Vol 2: Of the 3 80s properties IDW acquired that interest me(this, Grimjack, and Maze Agency) this one not only ranks 3rd for me, but also is the only one that doesn't seem to have been quietly shelved. Oh well, I'll take what I can get. A little better than book one, largely because half of it isn't devoted to revelations that should wait a bit. As a result, the wait between 2 and 3 will probably be shorter than the wait between 1 and 2 for me.
Fushigi Yugi Vol 17-18: And at long last, it ends. Mind you, it stayed enjoyable throughout, but the series had a perfect ending with part one, and part two just drags it out. Plus, I hated the sharp right turn with Tasuki's feelings and actions in the anime, and hated it even more. And I do so love Tasuki...
Gotham Central Vol 3 Unresolved Targets: Ah yes, now this is the book whose first trade I loved so much...the focus is where it should be...good cops in a city of costumed loonies, and supporting material is where IT should be. Good story, good characterization, nice art. And, interestingly, it seems that both stories here are Brubaker's, not Rucka's...
Her Majesty’s Dog Vol 3: Same as the last 2, which is a good thing. One day, I shall do research and see what came first...this or Inu Yasha.
Naruto Vol 1: Insanely popular and hyped anime and manga scares me...largely because at least 4/5 of them end up being...well...decidedly Not For Me. As a result, I never really paid attention to this one. However, James, the pickiest manga reader I know, likes it, which usually means it's pretty good. Not completely sold on the series just yet, but it's fun enough, and I rather like Sasuke and the teacher.
Rurouni Kenshin Vol 28: And so it ends. Until Inu Yasha reaches this point within the next 6 montys or so, this is the longest series I've read and stuck with. It would have been nice if Sano and Saito had gotten more closure, but it was nice to see closure for Aoshi, and then ending made me really, really wish Viz would license and publish "Yahiko no Sabato" already. "Buso Renkin" looks like it'll either be really good, or fizzle once you figure out everything that's going on. Hopefully the former...
Seven Soldiers of Victory Vol 2: I liked book 1, but 2 was a lot better. A few nice mythology twists, and it takes a while, but Guardian finally has a purpose here. Zatanna and Shining Knight, though, are the real jewels.
W Juliet Vol 11: I was planning to hold off on this until I needed a pick-me-up, but I was weak, and I knew it would be good...
DVDs:
And Then There Were None: Like so many other classics, "Remington Steele" spoiled quite a bit of this one for me, but I forgive it. Heck, the majority of my interest in the classics comes from Steele's constant babble about them. Still, it only partially spoiled it, just adding to the list of suspects as the movie went along. A very fun movie...I honestly don't think modern special effects can match the tension of loud houses clanging and old B&W film.
Monk: Season 1-2: I've been wanting to see this one for a while, and now that I have, I fell in love with it with the first scene. It's like Hercule Poirot fell off the deep end into obsessive-compulsivity. The characters are wonderful and the musdic sets a wonderfully charming and quirky pace. I've seen complaints about Sharona being too abrasive with Monk, but I think she's actually exactly what he needs, she babies him when that's what he needs, and sets him straight or drags him away when that's neede, and is unfailingly supportive and protective of him in all the ways that matter. While I like that the mystery is often more "how and why" than "who," once I figured out how the show worked, most of them I figured out fairly early. Still, a minor thing, more than made up for by the characters and dialogue.
2 down on the Negima icons...dunno how many it'll be in the end.
Between Amazon's "Big DVD Sale"(which evilly did not include Poirot DVDs) Walenbooks "4 for 3" manga sale and Hastings's recent intake of secondhand manga, all progress on backlogs save novels has been fully reversed(and that hasn't recovered yet from a few weeks ago)
The influx of manga, however, made me realize that books that came out during a school crunch were put away on the bookshelf and forghotten...books that normally wouldn't rest there long(anyone really think I'd intentionally leave "Death Note" "Hikaru No Go" "Inu Yasha" or "Fruits Basket" languishing for 2 months?)
Novels:
"White Wolf" and "The Swords of Night and Day" by David Gemmell(fantasy) These are the last 2 Druss books and the last 2 of Gemmell's Drenai books. Which is funny, as Druss is of secondary importance to Skilgannon in the books, and both books take place primarily outside of Drenai. But then, Druss works best as a chief supporting character, and the rest of the world is just as interesting as Drenai, so all is well.I was hoping "White Wolf" would focus a bit on a character in "Winter Warriors" who went by that name, but no go. Oh well...Excellent books all around. Now if Gemmell would just write the blasted book about the twins already...
"Grass for His Pillow" and "Brilliance of the Moon" by Lian Hearn(pseudo-historical fantasy) Probably my favorite contained series in a good while. I think that there were 2 deaths that wasted a lot of potential, and something popped up out of nowhere in the last book that made me go "huh?," but all in all it was excellent. Good setting, strong but not absurd or obnoxious characters and straight forward writing work quite well...more writers should take note. There's a fairly obvious sequel book coming later this year that I'll probably cave and get in HC, and James tells me there's a prequel coming, too...I can only hope that that will be about Shigeru.
"The Fox Woman" by Kij Johnson(historical fantasy) Maybe my expectations were too high because of "Fudoki" or maybe it was first book kinks, but I didn't enjoy this book nearly as much as I was expecting to. The story is the Japanese fairy tale of the fox who falls in love with a man and becomes human. The writing style was excellent, the Heian setting was great, the story was good, but I just couldn't care about the characters.
"Abadazad" books 1-2 by J.M. DeMatteis and Mike Ploog(children's fantasy) For those who have forgotten the details from when this was a comic, "Abadazad" is J.M. DeMatteis's love letter to Lewis Carroll, L. Frank Baum, and C.S. Lewis. The book never quite gelled for me in comic book form, despite considerable promise, but both the writing and art work far, far better as illustrated prose than they did as comics. I can't help but wish Stardust Kid could get the same treatment...
"The Way of the Warrior" by Laura Joh Rowland(historical mystery) Believe it or not, it's actually largely coincidence that so many of this week's novels hasppened to be some sort of Japanese history. This is the third Sano Ichiro book, and a definate step up from the second, but not quite as good as the first. I was more than a touch annoyed at Rowland's insistance that the rather uninteresting "doomed romance" from book two is so important...the one brief scene in book 2 with Sano's future wife was more interesting. In a way, this book is a reverse version of Clavell's "Shogun," focusing on Japanese sentiments towards and delings with foreigners a few decades later. This one left me a lot more eager for book 4 than book 2 left me for this one.
Trades/Manga:
Complete Jon Sable: Freelance Vol 2: Of the 3 80s properties IDW acquired that interest me(this, Grimjack, and Maze Agency) this one not only ranks 3rd for me, but also is the only one that doesn't seem to have been quietly shelved. Oh well, I'll take what I can get. A little better than book one, largely because half of it isn't devoted to revelations that should wait a bit. As a result, the wait between 2 and 3 will probably be shorter than the wait between 1 and 2 for me.
Fushigi Yugi Vol 17-18: And at long last, it ends. Mind you, it stayed enjoyable throughout, but the series had a perfect ending with part one, and part two just drags it out. Plus, I hated the sharp right turn with Tasuki's feelings and actions in the anime, and hated it even more. And I do so love Tasuki...
Gotham Central Vol 3 Unresolved Targets: Ah yes, now this is the book whose first trade I loved so much...the focus is where it should be...good cops in a city of costumed loonies, and supporting material is where IT should be. Good story, good characterization, nice art. And, interestingly, it seems that both stories here are Brubaker's, not Rucka's...
Her Majesty’s Dog Vol 3: Same as the last 2, which is a good thing. One day, I shall do research and see what came first...this or Inu Yasha.
Naruto Vol 1: Insanely popular and hyped anime and manga scares me...largely because at least 4/5 of them end up being...well...decidedly Not For Me. As a result, I never really paid attention to this one. However, James, the pickiest manga reader I know, likes it, which usually means it's pretty good. Not completely sold on the series just yet, but it's fun enough, and I rather like Sasuke and the teacher.
Rurouni Kenshin Vol 28: And so it ends. Until Inu Yasha reaches this point within the next 6 montys or so, this is the longest series I've read and stuck with. It would have been nice if Sano and Saito had gotten more closure, but it was nice to see closure for Aoshi, and then ending made me really, really wish Viz would license and publish "Yahiko no Sabato" already. "Buso Renkin" looks like it'll either be really good, or fizzle once you figure out everything that's going on. Hopefully the former...
Seven Soldiers of Victory Vol 2: I liked book 1, but 2 was a lot better. A few nice mythology twists, and it takes a while, but Guardian finally has a purpose here. Zatanna and Shining Knight, though, are the real jewels.
W Juliet Vol 11: I was planning to hold off on this until I needed a pick-me-up, but I was weak, and I knew it would be good...
DVDs:
And Then There Were None: Like so many other classics, "Remington Steele" spoiled quite a bit of this one for me, but I forgive it. Heck, the majority of my interest in the classics comes from Steele's constant babble about them. Still, it only partially spoiled it, just adding to the list of suspects as the movie went along. A very fun movie...I honestly don't think modern special effects can match the tension of loud houses clanging and old B&W film.
Monk: Season 1-2: I've been wanting to see this one for a while, and now that I have, I fell in love with it with the first scene. It's like Hercule Poirot fell off the deep end into obsessive-compulsivity. The characters are wonderful and the musdic sets a wonderfully charming and quirky pace. I've seen complaints about Sharona being too abrasive with Monk, but I think she's actually exactly what he needs, she babies him when that's what he needs, and sets him straight or drags him away when that's neede, and is unfailingly supportive and protective of him in all the ways that matter. While I like that the mystery is often more "how and why" than "who," once I figured out how the show worked, most of them I figured out fairly early. Still, a minor thing, more than made up for by the characters and dialogue.