Week 3 reading
Late, but I wanted to finish the Hendee book.
(10) Inu Yasha Vol 28 by Rumiko Takahashi-The band of seven arc is I think starting to come to a close. I rather like this arc, it includes both Sesshomaru and Koga, had Miroku putting words out into the universe that he can't take back(silly monk) and has Kikyo acting more and more like Priestess Kikyo(who I adore) and less like vengeance driven zombie Kikyo(who is my least favorite character in the series) Two things about this volume that I particularly like are that Inu Yasha (1) Had to fight in human form, and therefore remind us that yes, he does have a functioning brain, and (2) was using his claws to fight instead of waving around his 20 foot swords, and, again, had to plot and use strategy in the fight, something we get too little of(it seems that most of the thinking these days is done by Miroku and Sango)
(11) W Juliet Vol 14 by Emura-series already got it's own post last week.
(12) Double Dealing by Jayne Castle/Jayne Ann Krentz-Better than most romance novels that came out during it's time period, but I've read so many of her more modern books since I read one of her older ones that they don't hold up as well as they used to. On the flipside, still better than most contemporary romances that are coming out now.
(13) Ghost Hunt Vol 6 by Fuyumi Ono and Shiho Inada-A lot of my love for this series is carried over from Twelve Kingdoms(first novel comes out within the next xcouple of months! yay!) but I rather like it on its own too. This volume has Naru-chan(he must be called this) and Lin's teacher browbeating them into taking a job in Japan's version of the Winchester House, and Naru-chan acting subservient to Yasuhara was worth the price of entry. I was also very amused to realize that the entire cast has taken to referring to each other by the nicknames Mai gave them.
(14) Tail of the Moon Vol 2 by Rinko Ueda-I don't recall if I posted about this when the first volume come out...it's a ninja romantic comedy about Usagi, an extremely clumsy member of a ninja clan who's not good enough to qualify as a ninja. Because she's the leader's granddaughter, she's sent as part of a peace treaty to be the wife of Hanzo, the leader of another ninja clan, except Hanzo's advisors didn't bother clearing it with him first. He refuses to marry her, but says he'll train her to at least be a competent ninja. In the meantime, Usagi's former fiance, Goemon, comes home and realizes Usagi quit being a kid a while back and that he needs to work on removing the "former" part. The first book only got the series probationary status, but I think it's pretty firmly on my regular list now.
(15) Mugen Spiral Vol 1 by Mizuho Kusanagi-Ok, what is it with manga and anime and making demon boys being put under a spell to be a Japanese schoolgirl's...well, pet, for lack of a better word. If you count Zero in Vampire Knight as a demon boy, there's 4 cases of this off the top of my head, and several others that could fall into the category if you made it very loosely defined. Anyway, this one's about Yayoi, 78th in a line of powerful mystics and she commands over a hundred spirits. There's a succession war in the demon world, and the demons are pooring out, trying to absorb as much mystic power as they can so they can boost their owner power, and Yayoi is one of the best sources around. The first one is Ura, prince of the demon world, who almost wins before Yayoi casts a spell that turns him into a cat, and she takes him home. The demons keep coming, though, so they make a deal. He doesn't want anyone else getting her power, so if she lifts the curse, he'll help her take them on. Unfortunately, he never quite manages to do it quickly enough to try to take her powers before the curse reasserts itself. The book reminded me a lot of early volumes of Inu Yasha, when the story was a lot simpler and more straightforward. And, despite the fact that most of my favorites in Inu Yasha show up later on, I think the earlieszt books are the best. Sadly, Mugen Spiral is only 2 volumes.
(16) Adventures in Oz by Eric Shanower-Not nearly as good as Age of Bronze, but still quite good. It's a collection of 5 short GNs about, what else, Dorothy and Oz. I'm not sure if these are based on novels or Shanower's original stories, but they were pretty good, though I would have liked them a lot more if I were younger. The art was also quite different from Age of Bronze, though you can see the similarity more in the last two books.
(17-18) Naruto Vol 11-12 by Masashi Kishimoto-I've read theough around vol 35 online, so it was odd seeing Gaara still in his "squish their heads and watch their brains ooze out" stage, Sasuke still be part of the gang, all the kids being in their younger versions, etc. Vol 11 was largely transitional, various people getting training and bad guys moving into position, but vol 12 has my 2 favorite fights from the exam finals, Naruto vs Neji(because we learn what his deal with Hinata is, and the truth about it, allowing him to be one of the few manga characters to actually get his issues out in the open and deal with and resolve him. Even though he's not a favorite, I rather like Neji, though he'll never be forgiven for hurting Hinata, and hope he eventually becomes Hokage, because it'll be a nice bit of justice for him) and Shikimaru vs Temari(because not only are they among the few near-canon pairings in the series, but because it's the first time we really see how awesome Shikimaru is, and the fact that he loses because he can't make himself hit a girl, so he forfeits, is just too good)
19) Traitor to the Blood by Barb and C.J. Hendee-I think I should have reread the earlier books in the series, it's been a while and it took me a bit to mentally catch up. One thing I rather like about this series is that, while it IS riding the vampire wave, it avoids all the normal routes, and the vampires are just one part of it. That aspect of the series was almost completely absent from this book, focusing instead on elves and assassins and, to a lesser degree, shapeshifters. The Chane/Wynn subplot remains my favorite(one of the few true anti-heroes out there) though I'm very much looking forward to seeing what's with Leesil's mother in the next book.
Goal for the week is the second half of the From Far Away manga(vol 8-14) and, since they're fairly quick reads, at least 2 novels...dunno which yet. If I have time, I'll likely start either an essential or a Top Cow Compendium, as that'll wipe out the manga backlog.
(10) Inu Yasha Vol 28 by Rumiko Takahashi-The band of seven arc is I think starting to come to a close. I rather like this arc, it includes both Sesshomaru and Koga, had Miroku putting words out into the universe that he can't take back(silly monk) and has Kikyo acting more and more like Priestess Kikyo(who I adore) and less like vengeance driven zombie Kikyo(who is my least favorite character in the series) Two things about this volume that I particularly like are that Inu Yasha (1) Had to fight in human form, and therefore remind us that yes, he does have a functioning brain, and (2) was using his claws to fight instead of waving around his 20 foot swords, and, again, had to plot and use strategy in the fight, something we get too little of(it seems that most of the thinking these days is done by Miroku and Sango)
(11) W Juliet Vol 14 by Emura-series already got it's own post last week.
(12) Double Dealing by Jayne Castle/Jayne Ann Krentz-Better than most romance novels that came out during it's time period, but I've read so many of her more modern books since I read one of her older ones that they don't hold up as well as they used to. On the flipside, still better than most contemporary romances that are coming out now.
(13) Ghost Hunt Vol 6 by Fuyumi Ono and Shiho Inada-A lot of my love for this series is carried over from Twelve Kingdoms(first novel comes out within the next xcouple of months! yay!) but I rather like it on its own too. This volume has Naru-chan(he must be called this) and Lin's teacher browbeating them into taking a job in Japan's version of the Winchester House, and Naru-chan acting subservient to Yasuhara was worth the price of entry. I was also very amused to realize that the entire cast has taken to referring to each other by the nicknames Mai gave them.
(14) Tail of the Moon Vol 2 by Rinko Ueda-I don't recall if I posted about this when the first volume come out...it's a ninja romantic comedy about Usagi, an extremely clumsy member of a ninja clan who's not good enough to qualify as a ninja. Because she's the leader's granddaughter, she's sent as part of a peace treaty to be the wife of Hanzo, the leader of another ninja clan, except Hanzo's advisors didn't bother clearing it with him first. He refuses to marry her, but says he'll train her to at least be a competent ninja. In the meantime, Usagi's former fiance, Goemon, comes home and realizes Usagi quit being a kid a while back and that he needs to work on removing the "former" part. The first book only got the series probationary status, but I think it's pretty firmly on my regular list now.
(15) Mugen Spiral Vol 1 by Mizuho Kusanagi-Ok, what is it with manga and anime and making demon boys being put under a spell to be a Japanese schoolgirl's...well, pet, for lack of a better word. If you count Zero in Vampire Knight as a demon boy, there's 4 cases of this off the top of my head, and several others that could fall into the category if you made it very loosely defined. Anyway, this one's about Yayoi, 78th in a line of powerful mystics and she commands over a hundred spirits. There's a succession war in the demon world, and the demons are pooring out, trying to absorb as much mystic power as they can so they can boost their owner power, and Yayoi is one of the best sources around. The first one is Ura, prince of the demon world, who almost wins before Yayoi casts a spell that turns him into a cat, and she takes him home. The demons keep coming, though, so they make a deal. He doesn't want anyone else getting her power, so if she lifts the curse, he'll help her take them on. Unfortunately, he never quite manages to do it quickly enough to try to take her powers before the curse reasserts itself. The book reminded me a lot of early volumes of Inu Yasha, when the story was a lot simpler and more straightforward. And, despite the fact that most of my favorites in Inu Yasha show up later on, I think the earlieszt books are the best. Sadly, Mugen Spiral is only 2 volumes.
(16) Adventures in Oz by Eric Shanower-Not nearly as good as Age of Bronze, but still quite good. It's a collection of 5 short GNs about, what else, Dorothy and Oz. I'm not sure if these are based on novels or Shanower's original stories, but they were pretty good, though I would have liked them a lot more if I were younger. The art was also quite different from Age of Bronze, though you can see the similarity more in the last two books.
(17-18) Naruto Vol 11-12 by Masashi Kishimoto-I've read theough around vol 35 online, so it was odd seeing Gaara still in his "squish their heads and watch their brains ooze out" stage, Sasuke still be part of the gang, all the kids being in their younger versions, etc. Vol 11 was largely transitional, various people getting training and bad guys moving into position, but vol 12 has my 2 favorite fights from the exam finals, Naruto vs Neji(because we learn what his deal with Hinata is, and the truth about it, allowing him to be one of the few manga characters to actually get his issues out in the open and deal with and resolve him. Even though he's not a favorite, I rather like Neji, though he'll never be forgiven for hurting Hinata, and hope he eventually becomes Hokage, because it'll be a nice bit of justice for him) and Shikimaru vs Temari(because not only are they among the few near-canon pairings in the series, but because it's the first time we really see how awesome Shikimaru is, and the fact that he loses because he can't make himself hit a girl, so he forfeits, is just too good)
19) Traitor to the Blood by Barb and C.J. Hendee-I think I should have reread the earlier books in the series, it's been a while and it took me a bit to mentally catch up. One thing I rather like about this series is that, while it IS riding the vampire wave, it avoids all the normal routes, and the vampires are just one part of it. That aspect of the series was almost completely absent from this book, focusing instead on elves and assassins and, to a lesser degree, shapeshifters. The Chane/Wynn subplot remains my favorite(one of the few true anti-heroes out there) though I'm very much looking forward to seeing what's with Leesil's mother in the next book.
Goal for the week is the second half of the From Far Away manga(vol 8-14) and, since they're fairly quick reads, at least 2 novels...dunno which yet. If I have time, I'll likely start either an essential or a Top Cow Compendium, as that'll wipe out the manga backlog.