The Blue Fairy's Bookshelf

Favorite Issue This Week: American Vampire #17 All Issues were new in store on 7/27/11 American Vampire #17 (Ghost War Part 5) Writer: Scott Snyder, Artist: Rafael Albuqueque, Colors: Dave McCaig There's a strong ramp up in tension in this issue, piling violent twist onto violent twist. I wish we'd gotten a hair more from some of the soldiers, especially after one interchange that seemed to be hinting at a reveal yet to come. The final splash page was expected, but welcome and satisfying. I am getting a bit tired of this arc, though. Secret Avengers #15  Writer: Nick Spencer, Penciler: Scot Eaton, Inker: Jaime Mendoza, Colorist: Frank D'Armata I have mixed feelings about this issue. It had quite a bit more of a metatexual vibe than I generally prefer, although I think it was fairly well done. The premise: Black Widow debates the merits of comic book style death with a bunch of civilians. It flirted with the edge between intriguing commentary on the genre...

The Silence of Medair Andrea K. Höst, 2010 Premise: Medair was a Herald for the Palladium Empire. When the far-off Ibisians' home is destroyed by wild magic, they come to the mainland, but instead of forging peace with the Palladians, they sweep through as an unstoppable army, threatening everything she knows. Medair is sent on a last-ditch mission to capture a magical artifact that could save them. She finds it, but soon discovers that she has returned too late - 500 years too late. The book opens about six months later. Wow. I was just swept away by this book. It was so unique and beautifully written. I simply loved it. There was one section near the climax that I thought struck an odd note, but other than that I loved every bit of this book. It's an exploration of honor and justice in the context of the sweep of history, juxtaposing truth and myth, personal prejudice and cultural shifts. Can you stay true to your beliefs when the entire world has changed with...

Favorite Issue This Week: Power Girl #26 All issues were new in stores on 7/20/11 Last week's books were so strong that this week feels a bit like a let down, even though the issues are fine, overall. Avengers Academy #16 Writer: Christos Gage, Penciler: Tom Raney, Inker: Andrew Hennessy, Colorist: Jeromy Cox This came close to taking top marks this week. It's the second Avengers Academy/Fear Itself tie-in issue, but it isn't quite as strong as the last one. The first section, about Giant-Man fighting the (now-powered-up) Absorbing Man was fine, if a little simple. The second part, a small story about Veil trying to help one person in the warzone, was a touch predictable, but came quite close to being emotionally powerful. The hit-and-miss art on Veil's expressions holds it back for me, though. Batman: Gates of Gotham #3 Story: Scott Snyder & Kyle Higgins, Writers: Kyle Higgins & Ryan Parrott, Artist: Trevor McCarthy, Colors: Guy Major This mi...

March Upcountry (Empire of Man Book One) March to the Sea (Empire of Man Book Two) David Weber and John Ringo, 2001 This is a re-read for me, because I recently realized that I had the series in ebook format from a CD that came with another book. Premise: Nobody thinks Prince Roger, third son of the Empress, is much of a prince, or much of a decent human being. Of course, with a political traitor for a father, no one has ever given him the benefit of the doubt either, and that includes the marines that form his bodyguard. But when sabotage means their ship is grounded on a low-tech planet full of warring aliens, Roger has a chance to grow up fast, and if he does, everyone has a chance to get off the rock alive. One of main the reasons this series amuses me is that it's like a simplified history of warfare overlaid on an action-oriented sci-fi story. The marines start out with sci-fi weaponry: powered armor and plasma guns, but the humid climate soon damages their e...

This is Follow Friday, hosted by  Parajunkee's View Today's Question is: Q. What do I do when I am not reading? I assume this question refers to other leisure activities ;) I watch geeky TV and Movies on Netflix (no cable for us!) and I make art. Check out my custom dolls and action figures on my other blog, The Blue Fairy's Workshop . The Book Blogger Hop is hosted at  Crazy-For-Books.com Today's Question is: How/Where do you get your books? Do you buy them or go to the library? Is there a certain website you use like paperbackswap? The vast majority of my books come from the library. I don't have the space or money for it to be otherwise. One of the biggest things I love about living in New York City is the extensive library systems, and the fact that my closest branch is only a 5 minute walk from my front door! Next in line is the internet for free or cheap ebooks for my Kindle, usually found on either Amazon or  Baen...

Favorite Issue This Week: Batgirl , by a landslide! All books new in stores on 7/12/11 American Vampire: Survival of the Fittest #2 Writer: Scott Snyder, Artist: Sean Murphy, Color: Dave Stewart Solid second issue. More about Felicia and Cash's unease with their mutual history. Cash gets a pretty good scene to show off his smarts and bravado. Good cliffhanger. Entertaining, but not quite as good as Issue 1. Batgirl #23 Writer: Bryan Q. Miller, Artist: Pere Perez, Colorist: Guy Major This issue ROCKED! The super-jerks Steph has been fighting for the last year finally put their brains together enough to actually be dangerous. There is a lot of action, a dollop of pathos, a kicking cliffhanger and some truly excellent surprise guests. ( Slight spoiler: Dear DC, for my birthday I would like an ongoing or a mini written by BQMiller about the Junior Birds. Teen Titanesses. Super-Chicks. Whatever. Pretty pretty please?) Dollhouse: Epitaphs #1 (of 5) Writer/Story: Andr...

Read Part One first if you missed the introduction ... Here's my analysis of the rest of our FCBD haul: Path of the Planeswalker     Wizards of the Coast      Not bad. More than a little disjointed, and I'm not all that interested in where it goes from here, but not a bad little issue.      Rating:     4     Buy another?      Probably Not Pep Comics     Archie      BORING. But not quite offensively bad.      Rating:     2     Buy another?      No Way Phazer: War of the Independents     Red Anvil      Back Issue. WTF? The writer was giving this away at one of the comic shops we visited on FCBD. It's a mash-up of indie characters brought together for something, but the writing was terrible and I didn't understand the plot. Maybe you have to know all the characters already for this to mak...

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted at  The Broke and The Bookish This Week's Prompt is: Top Ten Authors I Would DIE to meet (living or dead) Well, I'm going to agree with a few other posts I've seen this morning and say that "Die" is language I'm not willing to get behind here. Here are some authors I would go out of my way to meet: 1: Lois McMaster Bujold   Because I'm a huge fan. Duh. 2: Louisa May Alcott  (requires time-travel) Because it would be interesting to find out whether she was pissed that her book which she personally disdained became what she is most known for. 3: Stephen King Just because I think it would be interesting. 4: Peter S. Beagle Because I'm not sure whether he's brilliant, or just really lucky, and it would be interesting to try to figure it out. 5: J. K. Rowling Because the woman has fascinating business sense. I don't see the need to make this a long list, partially because I of...

Adulthood Rites Imago Octavia E. Butler, 1988, 1989 Premise: The second and third book of the series variously called “Lilith's Brood” or “Xenogenesis”. These volumes concern the continuing intertwining of the remnants of Humanity and the alien species called the Oankali. Adulthood Rites follows Akin, Lilith's first son, and Imago follows Jodahs, one of her later children. I really enjoyed these two books, although I didn't connect to the characters as much as I did with the first one, Dawn ( review here ). This trilogy might be best understood as a sort of triptych. While the larger plot moves forward under the story of each book, each book has a different main character, and each character brings a new perspective on Human/Oankali relations. Both Adulthood Rites and Imago deal largely with the unexpected results of the genetic blending; what it means for both races and how they can move on from where they stand. There's a dark undercurrent through...

This is Follow Friday, hosted by  Parajunkee's View Today's Question is: Q. Let's step away from besties...What is the worst book that you've ever read and actually finished? Ever? Ever is a tall order. Some books I've absolutely hated in recent years include The Fat Man : A Tale of North Pole Noir and  The Seven-Percent Solution , Twilight and Little Women . I have problems with all of these books, although the most annoying to me personally might be Little Women. I don't think it quite qualifies as worst book ever, though. The worst book I ever finished I've probably forgotten the name of. I read a lot of terrible novels back in high school, not to mention some of the stuff I had to read for classes.

Yes, this is quite belated, but I offer it nonetheless. Here are my thoughts on all 42 comics we received on Free Comic Book Day 2011. Most were specifically released for this year's event, but there are a scattering of back issues, recent and not-so-recent, that were on offer or in grab bags as well. Same as  last year , for each book I'll tell you the title, the publisher, what I thought, and how likely I am to buy an issue, based on the experience of reading the free one. Atomic Robo     Red 5 Comics   I always enjoy Atomic Robo on FCBD, but never quite enough to buy an actual issue. I think it's better in short bursts. This one was particularly cute, too. The previews of Foster Broussard and Moon Girl are each interesting, but the art in Moon Girl is too busy. Foster Broussard has a nice attitude, but it takes more than attitude to carry a whole series. Which is, again, why I don't collect Atomic Robo, despite how much fun it is.   Rating:   ...