The Blue Fairy's Bookshelf

Hit List Laurell K. Hamilton, 2011 Note: this is the 20th paranormal thriller-romance featuring Anita Blake. Some unavoidable spoilers follow.   Premise: Anita's out of town for a change, wearing her federal marshal hat. She, Edward and a bunch of endangered newbies are hunting a serial killer targeting weretigers. But is it all a plot by the Harlequin to expose Anita to The Mother of all Darkness? Of course it is. Because at this point it would be silly to have a book in this series that was just a mystery, that wasn't linked to the nonsensical overarching plot. (/sarcasm) That gripe stated, the plot of this one wasn't so bad, except that it was enough plot for a novella, or a long short story, not a novel. The rest was padded out with poor description and restating the same points over and over. Seriously, does anyone read these books before sending them to print? Anyone? On the upside, there was only one sex scene! I'm shocked at the restraint! If...

It came to my attention last year that many of my friends, despite being aware of my affection for American Vampire, have not yet tried out this series. They claim to not be comic readers themselves (LAME) and/or seem to be of the opinion that vampires are played out. While I will admit that the series is not for everyone, I wanted to take a moment to clarify just how awesome it is. Caveat: Before we go any further, I should mention for anyone new, American Vampire is a currently-running comic book series which is “suggested for mature readers.” That means there is nudity, sex, and graphic violence. Just FYI. Okay! I first heard about AmVamp in Spring 2010, when I was finishing up my series of reviews of vampire novels , both classic and modern. I found it somewhat randomly; I was researching something else related to the books I was reading and saw that Stephen King was involved with a new comic book about vampires. I had just re-read and loved Salem's Lot , so I decid...

Favorite Book This Week: American Vampire #24 Books were new in stores on 2/22/12 American Vampire #24 (Death Race Part Three) Writer: Scott Snyder, Artist: Rafael Albuquerque, Colors: Dave McCaig I have been loving this plot arc, but this issue especially has a nice rhythm to the writing, and absolutely amazing art. I can't see how the next (and last) issue of this arc could possibly go well for Travis, but I've really enjoyed the ride so far. All of the character work in this book is awesome, but I have become really fond of Travis the greaser-teenage-vampire-hunter in just three issues. I love his attitude, I love his look, and I love that every so often you get a moment that reminds you that he's still very young, and up against some real horrors. Wolverine and the X-Men #6 Writer: Jason Aaron, Pencils: Nick Bradshaw, Inks: Walden Wong, Jay Leisten, Normal Lee & Cam Smith, Colorists: Justin Ponsor & Matthew Wilson The action-packed and very zan...

Treespeaker Katie W. Stewart, 2011 Premise: Jakan is the Treespeaker for the Fifth Tribe of Arrakesh. His people live deep in the sacred forest, and speak to their god through special great trees, one in each tribe. The Treespeaker names the proper Chief Elder for the Tribe, foretells the weather, and generally advises the people so that they can live in balance with the forest. But this year, all Jakan can foresee is danger and death. A danger is coming to the tribe from outside, even though that should not be possible. It is also impossible for a Treespeaker to leave the forest and live, but Jakan will have to try, if he wants to save his people. I thought the writing in this book was quite strong, although I didn't love the last third or so. The world of the Tribes is colorful and interesting. I liked the use of magic, the mystery surrounding the impending doom, the internal politics of the group and the families. There's some romanticizing of their pastoral way...

The Lies of Locke Lamora Scott Lynch, 2006 Premise: Locke Lamora is an orphan and a sneak thief, but one with tremendous ingenuity and potential. He is brought into (and up by) the Gentlemen Bastards, possibly the most unusual gang of thieves in the complicated underworld of Camorr. When a newcomer threatens to overthrow the head of all the gangs, the Gentleman Bastards - and their current confidence scam - are caught in the middle. I don't say this often, but I have a sneaking suspicion this would be a better movie than it is a book. I enjoyed this book, but not as much as I hoped to. I think it largely comes down to style, though. It's an action-intrigue caper plot, with plenty of double-dealing, late reveals, close calls, death and bloodshed. It does this perfectly well, but I never really connected with the protagonist. Locke is a skilled thief, con artist and actor, and very little ink is spilled on developing the man under all that. There are moments that se...

In other comics news, I'm reading a fair number of graphic novels that I need to sit down and review, but here's a quick preview: Batman: No Man's Land 1: ugly 90's art, good stories Locke & Key 1: little too gory for me, but well structured Blacksad: Flat-Out Brilliant Okay, back to business. Favorite Issue This Week: Star Trek/Legion of Superheroes #5 Issues new in stores on 2/15/12 Batman #6 Writer: Scott Snyder, Penciller: Greg Capullo, Inker: Jonathan Glapion, Colorist: FCO Hmmm. There are a few pretty good moments here, and a win of sorts? It's not a bad issue, but I do feel like everything in the last three issues could have been dealt with in one and a half. The art is beginning to really grate on me with this series. It's unclear how much of what was happening early on in the issue was delusions, for one thing. (Frankly, I was pulling for the whole damn labyrinth being a delusion. I just can't buy the idea that something that si...

A Morbid Taste for Bones Ellis Peters, 1977 Premise: Brother Cadfael has been many things in his long life, but now he is content to tend the garden in Shrewsbury Abbey. When the ambitous Prior Robert proposes a journey to acquire Saint Winifred's bones for the Abbey, Cadfael gets himself invited along as Welsh translator. What they find in the quiet village of Gwytherin involves a lot more scandal and murder than Prior Robert was anticipating, and Cadfael sets himself to discovering the truth. I loved this book. The characters are colorful and entertaining, and Cafael in particular is wonderful to follow. I found his practical, grounded attitude - born of being an old campaigner - completely irresistible. The plot is twisty, with an appropriate number of red herrings and revelations, a good balance of adventure, romance and humor, and the ending feels both completely unexpected and absolutely appropriate. Plus it's a medieval mystery about a crime-solving mo...

March to the Stars (Empire of Man Book Three) We Few (Empire of Man Book Four) David Weber and John Ringo, 2003, 2005 Parts three and four of this series, one and two reviewed here . Premise: Prince Roger, the rag-tag remnants of his Marines and their new Mardukan allies continue to fight their way around the planet, trying to get the prince home. There's only one more major political area between them and their goal, but they are ogranized and hostile. There's another new wrinkle too: it looks like he wasn't the only member of the Imperial Family who was attacked, Roger's being blamed in absentia, and now they have to capture the spaceport, get off planet, and get back home in time to save the Empire...while hiding their identities. I have trouble with March to the Stars . It has some of the best character-based scenes, and some great action, but it also has excessive infodumps, weird tangents, and plain boring parts. Particularly the first third o...

Favorite Issue This Week: Why do Wolverine and the X-Men and Demon Knights come out the same week? Either would win against almost anything else I collect... All issues new in stores on 2/8/12 Batgirl #6 Writer: Gail Simone, Penciller: Adrian Syaf, Inker: Vicente Cifuentes, Colors: Ulises Arreola Hmm. I liked this more than last month's, but it still had plenty of weak parts. I found the reveal of the villain's story clunky and boring, although she-got-hypnotic-power-over-men-from-being-shot-in-the-face is kind of a silly explanation anyhow. It's not a bad issue, and there are a few good Batman moments (and at least one over-the-top cloying one, your mileage may vary there). It's not good enough to prevent me from probably dropping this title from my pull list, though. Batwoman #6 Writers: J.H. Williams III & W. Haden Blackman, Artist: Amy Reeder, Inkers: Richard Friend & Rob Hunter Colors: Guy Major This issue was incredibly odd. There were ...

The Last Man on Earth Club Paul R. Hardy, 2011 Premise: There are many Earths. Parallel worlds. The Interversal Union is an organization which travels between many of these worlds, and unfortunately one of their largest responsibilities is the relocation of refugees. With so many Earths, there are endless ways for humanity to be killed, or to destroy itself. Asha is a therapist who works for the Refugee Service, and her current assignment is unusual, even for her line of work. She is put in charge of a group therapy project for six individuals. Each one is the last survivor of their species. Each one's situation is unique, but she's hoping the little they have in common will allow her to help them. But can even the most well-intentioned therapist help the last person on Earth? This was a fascinating book, completely original and totally intriguing. I liked the structure, in which the reader only really knows what Asha knows, and you have to draw your own further con...

Red Hood's Revenge (Princess Series, Book 3) Jim C. Hines, 2010 Premise: The famed assassin, the Lady of the Red Hood (aka Red Riding Hood), comes to Whiteshore with a challenge. She plans to lure Talia back to her ancestral kingdom, where darker plans are afoot between the fairies who put her to sleep and the family who stole her throne. Side Note: What is Talia doing with her foot? That... isn't standing. It might be modern dance. I didn't like this one quite as much as its predecessors -   The Stepsister Scheme and The Mermaid's Madness  -  but it was still an enjoyable read. There was a lot of expansion of Talia's (Sleeping Beauty) backstory and her kingdom here, and it was interesting, but didn't completely come to life to me. The way the human and fairy societies intersected around tradition and religions almost worked, but I just didn't find it fully coherent, or all that compelling. I did like the Temple of the Hedge, a monastic ...

Favorite Book This Week: Action Comics #6 All issues were new in stores on 2/1/12 Action Comics #6 Writer: Grant Morrison, Penciller: Andy Kubert, Inker: John Dell, Colorist: Brad Anderson Backup: Writer: Sholly Fisch, Artist: Chriscross, Colorist: Jose Villarrubia An interesting, if weird, issue. This wraps up the story from last time, the one about the Legion helping to fight the anti-Superman army, who stole the Kryptonite engine from Kal's rocket. It's not boring, but I'm not sure that it's all that coherent either. The twists are quite zany, the end makes comic-book sense but ignores a bunch of plot holes and runs the risk of making the Legion origin more recursive than it already was. All of that said, at least there was a plot. That's more than I can say for a lot of DC issues these days. There's a back up story as well that fleshes out some of Clark's childhood, although I didn't find it anywhere near as interesting as the little fla...