October
20,
2007
Graphic novel mini-roundup:
- Let’s start with Brian Reed’s Ms. Marvel, vol. 2: Civil War
, which is primarily of interest as a Civil War book, telling the story from the “inside”, as Ms. Marvel is a government agent who spends her time rounding up recalcitrant heroes so they can be imprisoned or re-educated. The book is unusually harsh toward the titular superhero, but hey, Civil War. This is your basically competent, but not earth-shaking, title, of interest to Civil War completists or those who are hoping that this Ms. Marvel series might go somewhere interesting yet, after all.
-
Mark Millar’s Ultimates 2, vol. 2: Grand Theft America
continues his Ultimates saga, and wraps up basically all the active plotlines in a highly-satisfying way. It’s unusually political, in that the Ultimates work for the government and are essentially a pseudo-military force used to shape foregin policy, which leads to the interesting repercussions that are the meat of this book’s story. This is excellent work, and the (four-volume) Ultimates series is recommended highly to anyone who’s interested in dark, political, adult superheroes. I continue to be baffled as to how Millar can do such great work on this title, but such uninspiring work everywhere else.
- Finally, there’s Brian Bendis’ Ultimate Spider-Man, vol. 18: Ultimate Knights
, which involves Spider-Man teaming up with a bunch of second-string heroes (Moon Knight, Iron Fist, Daredevil, etc.) to try to take down the Kingpin. This is typically well-written Bendis fare, and even 18 volumes in, Ultimate Spider-Man contines to be the superhero title with probably the highest average quality across its lifetime.
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October
20,
2007
I greatly enjoyed The Lies of Locke Lamora, particularly for a first novel, but wasn’t sure if Scott Lynch’s Red Seas Under Red Skies
would polish up the first-novel rough edges or be a sophomore slump. Turns out it’s the polishing one, and Lynch’s novel is probably the most entertaining book I’ve read yet this year.
Like the first Lamora novel, this one is told with chapters interweaving between the main timeline, beginning in media res, and flashbacks that explain how we got there from the end of the first novel. Also like the first novel, it centers on a caper (that doesn’t seem like quite the right word — heist? con? theft? plot?) that Lamora’s planning. And, again like the first novel, things do not go entirely as planned, with some serious consequences heading Locke’s way.
To say more than that is to spoil things, and I’m not going to spoil a damn thing more than I have to. This is just a plain ol’ excellent book, featuring characters you love spouting dialogue you laugh at while engaging in activities you thrill to in a world that intrigues. It’s the fantasy equivalent of Ocean’s Eleven, but deeper and more satisfying. Recommended to anyone who likes things that are awesome.
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October
20,
2007
Terry Pratchett’s Making Money
is essentially his
Going Postal
mixed with the Newton in the Mint parts of Stephenson’s Baroque Cycle, and only slightly less excellent than that description makes it sound.
Making Money is good solid Pratchett, on par with Going Postal in almost every respect, but it does have one flaw: There’s no sense of peril in the book at all. The problem is that Moist von Lipwig, the protagonist, is too clearly backed by Lord Vetinari throughout the book, and Vetinari is one of those characters whose plans are not going to fail in the Discworld; since there’s no doubt about Vetinari’s plan succeeding, there’s equally little doubt about Moist’s success, and Pratchett’s attempts to put him in danger don’t evoke the desired tension.
Still, it’s a Pratchett book and a good one, and you’re going to read it and like it.
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October
20,
2007
The titles of Dave Duncan’s Children of Chaos and Mother of Lies
are unforgivably generic (with covers that are luridly generic), and — following on the nine-book Blades series, which is the most conventional thing Duncan had written to date — a potential reader might be forgiven for wondering if Duncan had tossed aside his characteristic inventiveness and decided to just write generic genre fantasy.
But thankfully, the answer is firmly negative. This is inventive and original, both in setting and plot. The setting is a dodecahedron world, which Duncan treats in an almost SFnal way, exploring the geographical and cultural consequences of a world shaped like a d20. This unique world has a no-less-unique pantheon of gods, each of whom confers mystical benefits on their followers (but demands certain duties in return). Fantasy world-building is Duncan’s specialty, and this is work as good as any he’s done on that front.
Equally impressive is the story itself, which is something of an invasion plot, but handled with subtlety and peopled with particularly realistic characters. It’s a bad cliche of fantasy novels that when one protagonist meets up with another, they’re going to team up and work together toward the same ends, so it’s particularly noteworthy that when Duncan’s protagonists get together, they actually have different goals, and they pursue their individual goals in believable human ways, even as they sort of unite against a common foe.
I’m something of a Duncan fanboy, and have been since I first picked up Magic Casement way back in junior high. He writes the sort of fantasy adventure that I deeply enjoy, but with enough originality and competence to make his books a non-guilty pleasure, and that’s exactly what he’s done here. Good stuff, and highly recommended (along with the rest of Duncan’s canon) to anyone who enjoys heroic fantasy.
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