Lumberjanes to the Max Volume 2
(The Lumberjanes series, issues 9 - 12 and 14 - 17)
Noelle Stevenson, Grace Ellis, and Shannon Waters, writers, illustrations by Brooke A. Allen and Caroyln Nowak
BOOM! Box
Fiction, MG? Comics/Fantasy
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: After solving the riddles and defeating a pair of rogue godlings, the girls of Roanoke cabin thought they'd settle down to a somewhat normal
summer camp experience... only to find even more unusual adventures waiting for them (and occasionally stalking them, or outright attacking them.) From an adventure
in a lost world to a scary story contest to the mystery of a former camper living in the woods, the Lumberjanes are at it again.
This special deluxe volume includes special notes and behind-the-scenes sketches.
REVIEW: I really don't know what's going on with the volume numbering on this series. Technically, this should be the third collection, but it's listed
as the second. Apparently, it's a compilation of Volumes 3 and 4 (with issue 13 withheld, for reasons I don't know), though I see no sign of an independent Volume 3
on Hoopla. In any event, these episodes build on the previous series to create more magic, more mayhem, and more mirth. It's still sometimes a bit tough to tell
a few of the characters apart, an issue not helped by changing art styles. Still, it's fun, and mostly maintains the spirit and quick pacing of the previous
Lumberjanes adventures.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Bad Unicorn (Platte F. Clarke) - My Review
Lumberjanes Volume 1: Beware the Kitten Holy (Noelle Stevenson) - My Review
The Adventurer's Guide to Successful Escapes (Wade Albert White) - My Review
Sunday, October 8, 2017
Saturday, October 7, 2017
Down Among the Sticks and Bones (Seanan McGuire)
Down Among the Sticks and Bones
(The Wayward Children series, Book 2)
Seanan McGuire
Tor
Fiction, YA? Fantasy
***** (Great)
DESCRIPTION: Once upon a time, twin daughters Jacqueline and Jillian were born to a man and woman who perhaps never should have been parents. They created boxes to place the girls in - Jill designated the tomboy to appease a man who wanted a son, Jack placed in ribbons and lace for a mother who saw a daughter as a vanity doll - and did not care how much it hurt them to be squeezed into shape... or how it might threaten what little bond there was between them.
One day, when they were twelve and already growing into the shapes prescribed for them, they found a strange staircase in the bottom of a trunk in the attic. Had they been raised in a family where fairy tales were told and books read, they might have known to be more cautious about exploring strange passageways - but no fairy tale could've prepared them for the Moors. Here, in a bleak land under a ruby-red moon, where monsters walk and swim and prey upon the humans who manage to survive (as often as not under the fickle protection of a predator), the girls may finally learn who they really are, and what it means to choose their own path: Jack becomes apprentice to a mad scientist, Jill the protege to the vampire overlord of the local town, and the passing years see them grow further apart. But they are still twins, of the same blood and bone, which means their fates will always be bound - if not as friends, then as enemies.
REVIEW: The second book of the Wayward Children series follows the backstory of Jack and Jill, two girls from Eleanor West's boarding school for children who had been to magical worlds and returned to Earth. Like the first book, an almost lyrical narrative creates the feel of a fable or fairy tale, if a rather dark one. From before their conception, the twins were destined to lead harsh lives, largely bereft of love and understanding, even between each other. That twisted upbringing comes to morbid life in the world of the Moors. Without knowing the events in the first book of the series (Every Heart a Doorway), the ending would be extra-bleak... and even then, it's a bitter story of the harm ultimately wrought by parents who see their children as mere extensions of their own ambitions, not people who may need guidance, but ultimately have their own lives to live and lessons to learn. There's a certain bleak, compelling beauty to this story, which can be read as a stand-alone but has extra weight if you've read the first book in the series.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Casting Shadows (J. Kelly Anderson) - My Review
Coraline (Neil Gaiman) - My Review
Every Heart a Doorway (Seanan McGuire) - My Review
(The Wayward Children series, Book 2)
Seanan McGuire
Tor
Fiction, YA? Fantasy
***** (Great)
DESCRIPTION: Once upon a time, twin daughters Jacqueline and Jillian were born to a man and woman who perhaps never should have been parents. They created boxes to place the girls in - Jill designated the tomboy to appease a man who wanted a son, Jack placed in ribbons and lace for a mother who saw a daughter as a vanity doll - and did not care how much it hurt them to be squeezed into shape... or how it might threaten what little bond there was between them.
One day, when they were twelve and already growing into the shapes prescribed for them, they found a strange staircase in the bottom of a trunk in the attic. Had they been raised in a family where fairy tales were told and books read, they might have known to be more cautious about exploring strange passageways - but no fairy tale could've prepared them for the Moors. Here, in a bleak land under a ruby-red moon, where monsters walk and swim and prey upon the humans who manage to survive (as often as not under the fickle protection of a predator), the girls may finally learn who they really are, and what it means to choose their own path: Jack becomes apprentice to a mad scientist, Jill the protege to the vampire overlord of the local town, and the passing years see them grow further apart. But they are still twins, of the same blood and bone, which means their fates will always be bound - if not as friends, then as enemies.
REVIEW: The second book of the Wayward Children series follows the backstory of Jack and Jill, two girls from Eleanor West's boarding school for children who had been to magical worlds and returned to Earth. Like the first book, an almost lyrical narrative creates the feel of a fable or fairy tale, if a rather dark one. From before their conception, the twins were destined to lead harsh lives, largely bereft of love and understanding, even between each other. That twisted upbringing comes to morbid life in the world of the Moors. Without knowing the events in the first book of the series (Every Heart a Doorway), the ending would be extra-bleak... and even then, it's a bitter story of the harm ultimately wrought by parents who see their children as mere extensions of their own ambitions, not people who may need guidance, but ultimately have their own lives to live and lessons to learn. There's a certain bleak, compelling beauty to this story, which can be read as a stand-alone but has extra weight if you've read the first book in the series.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Casting Shadows (J. Kelly Anderson) - My Review
Coraline (Neil Gaiman) - My Review
Every Heart a Doorway (Seanan McGuire) - My Review
Friday, October 6, 2017
Crosstalk (Connie Willis)
Crosstalk
Connie Willis
Del Rey
Fiction, Romance/Sci-Fi
**+ (Bad/Okay)
DESCRIPTION: Briddey Flannigan, like most people in the modern age, is always connected: texts from work, phone calls from her always-needy sisters and meddling Aunt Oona, Facebook and Twitter on her phone, and more. But soon she'll have one more connection with her boyfriend Trent. They're scheduled for EED implants, a cutting-edge procedure that's all the rage among the rich and famous. While not offering true telepathy - there's no such thing, after all - the device allows a couple to communicate emotions directly to each other, strengthening bonds (not to mention apparently making for mind-blowing sex.) It's supposed to take at least twenty-four hours to kick in, but right after she wakes up she hears a voice - not Trent, but a co-worker, C.B. Schwartz. As unintended consequences go, this is just the beginning, as Briddey finds herself plunged into a telepathic nightmare that might endanger not only her relationship and her job, but her very sanity.
REVIEW: I've heard good things about the author, so I figured I'd give her a try. Unfortunately, if this is a typical example of her work, I won't be trying her again anytime soon. The core ideas aren't terrible, with some decent descriptions, but the plot is fouled up by Briddey, a character I could barely stand to be around, let alone care for. She's the kind of woman who, told that a room is on fire, would first ignore the warning because she's thinking of something else, then get resentful at someone telling her what to do, then walk into the room and sit down for a while while ignoring a growing sense that something wasn't right, then bar the door against those nasty, pushy firefighters who keep yelling at her to let them in, then - upon belatedly realizing that the room is, in fact, on fire - run in circles in a panic, jump out a window, and later need to be rescued from the middle of the interstate, where she's curled up in the express lanes with her hands over her ears, wailing about how the horns won't stop. She's so willfully obtuse and distracted that she fails to pick up on numerous blatant clues, meaning I had the basics of the story worked out long before she got on board. Briddey's family is little better, a dysfunctional gaggle of emotionally needy people, though perhaps the most annoying is her niece Maeve, who becomes far too pushy in a way that I suspect I was supposed to find endearing. (I didn't.) By the time the story really picks up, I'd already given up on caring about such a dense, helpless character, who perpetually needs rescuing (by a man, of course) and needs numerous metaphorical blows with a two-by-four to drive anything through her thick skull... and even then it might not take. Given that I was so far ahead of her, I wasn't particularly surprised (or interested) in how things unfolded, or in how Briddey managed to delay events or misinterpret them or otherwise blunder through her story. The ending relies on several accumulated plot conveniences/sudden revelations that were less shocking than eyeroll-inducing. Despite the hype about the award-winning author, I've read better tales of telepathy, and of romance.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Forbidden Mind (Kimberley Kinrade) - My Review
ExtraNormal (Suze Reese) - My Review
Connie Willis
Del Rey
Fiction, Romance/Sci-Fi
**+ (Bad/Okay)
DESCRIPTION: Briddey Flannigan, like most people in the modern age, is always connected: texts from work, phone calls from her always-needy sisters and meddling Aunt Oona, Facebook and Twitter on her phone, and more. But soon she'll have one more connection with her boyfriend Trent. They're scheduled for EED implants, a cutting-edge procedure that's all the rage among the rich and famous. While not offering true telepathy - there's no such thing, after all - the device allows a couple to communicate emotions directly to each other, strengthening bonds (not to mention apparently making for mind-blowing sex.) It's supposed to take at least twenty-four hours to kick in, but right after she wakes up she hears a voice - not Trent, but a co-worker, C.B. Schwartz. As unintended consequences go, this is just the beginning, as Briddey finds herself plunged into a telepathic nightmare that might endanger not only her relationship and her job, but her very sanity.
REVIEW: I've heard good things about the author, so I figured I'd give her a try. Unfortunately, if this is a typical example of her work, I won't be trying her again anytime soon. The core ideas aren't terrible, with some decent descriptions, but the plot is fouled up by Briddey, a character I could barely stand to be around, let alone care for. She's the kind of woman who, told that a room is on fire, would first ignore the warning because she's thinking of something else, then get resentful at someone telling her what to do, then walk into the room and sit down for a while while ignoring a growing sense that something wasn't right, then bar the door against those nasty, pushy firefighters who keep yelling at her to let them in, then - upon belatedly realizing that the room is, in fact, on fire - run in circles in a panic, jump out a window, and later need to be rescued from the middle of the interstate, where she's curled up in the express lanes with her hands over her ears, wailing about how the horns won't stop. She's so willfully obtuse and distracted that she fails to pick up on numerous blatant clues, meaning I had the basics of the story worked out long before she got on board. Briddey's family is little better, a dysfunctional gaggle of emotionally needy people, though perhaps the most annoying is her niece Maeve, who becomes far too pushy in a way that I suspect I was supposed to find endearing. (I didn't.) By the time the story really picks up, I'd already given up on caring about such a dense, helpless character, who perpetually needs rescuing (by a man, of course) and needs numerous metaphorical blows with a two-by-four to drive anything through her thick skull... and even then it might not take. Given that I was so far ahead of her, I wasn't particularly surprised (or interested) in how things unfolded, or in how Briddey managed to delay events or misinterpret them or otherwise blunder through her story. The ending relies on several accumulated plot conveniences/sudden revelations that were less shocking than eyeroll-inducing. Despite the hype about the award-winning author, I've read better tales of telepathy, and of romance.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Forbidden Mind (Kimberley Kinrade) - My Review
ExtraNormal (Suze Reese) - My Review
Thursday, October 5, 2017
My Father's Dragon (Ruth Stiles Gannett)
My Father's Dragon
(The My Father's Dragon series, Book 1)
Ruth Stiles Gannett
CreateSpace
Fiction, CH Fantasy
****+ (Good/Great)
DESCRIPTION: When young Elmer Elevator helps an old stray cat, she rewards him by telling him of Wild Island, where a young dragon is held captive by the local animals. He sets out to rescue it with a bag full of surprises, but can he outwit the beasts?
REVIEW: This award-winning classic children's story has the feel of a fairy tale. Elmer encounters several memorable characters, coming up with clever solutions to a number of problems on his way to free the dragon. The illustrations are whimsical, adding to the fun, and if the ending's a bit abrupt, well, it is a story meant for young kids, so once the main problem is resolved there's little reason to linger. Though a bit lightweight for my personal tastes, I can see this book becoming a beloved read-along memory for children, and Elmer's a resourceful young hero for them to look up to.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Dragon (Jody Bergsma) - My Review
The Book of Dragons (Edith Nesbit) - My Review
Sir Toby Jingle's Beastly Journey (Wallace Tripp) - My Review
(The My Father's Dragon series, Book 1)
Ruth Stiles Gannett
CreateSpace
Fiction, CH Fantasy
****+ (Good/Great)
DESCRIPTION: When young Elmer Elevator helps an old stray cat, she rewards him by telling him of Wild Island, where a young dragon is held captive by the local animals. He sets out to rescue it with a bag full of surprises, but can he outwit the beasts?
REVIEW: This award-winning classic children's story has the feel of a fairy tale. Elmer encounters several memorable characters, coming up with clever solutions to a number of problems on his way to free the dragon. The illustrations are whimsical, adding to the fun, and if the ending's a bit abrupt, well, it is a story meant for young kids, so once the main problem is resolved there's little reason to linger. Though a bit lightweight for my personal tastes, I can see this book becoming a beloved read-along memory for children, and Elmer's a resourceful young hero for them to look up to.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Dragon (Jody Bergsma) - My Review
The Book of Dragons (Edith Nesbit) - My Review
Sir Toby Jingle's Beastly Journey (Wallace Tripp) - My Review
Sunday, October 1, 2017
Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are? (Frans de Waal)
Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are?
Frans de Waal
Norton
Nonfiction, Animals/Science
****+ (Good/Great)
DESCRIPTION: For centuries, despite anecdotal evidence and the work of a few often-belittled pioneers, the idea that nonhuman animals might possess active cognition, or be more than simple stimulus-response machines, was scoffed at by layman and scholar alike. Over the years, under the weight of increasing evidence, the study of animal cognition has bloomed, leading to surprising revelations about the minds of everything from wasps and fish to elephants and apes. Tool use, social politics, self recognition, delayed gratification, theory of mind, and more have been found across the animal kingdom. From his own studies with primates and others in the field, de Waal presents findings that challenge humanity's traditional seat atop the imaginary ladder of evolution and enlightenment.
REVIEW: If there's one thing humans excel at, it's storytelling - particularly, telling ourselves stories of our own superiority and uniqueness, stories that have colored our perceptions of the world around us for generations. Even as evolution has moved from radical notion to accepted fact (or at least the theory that best fits all available evidence), it's amazing, and a little depressing, how even highly educated people still cling to those stories that grant humans a place apart from other species. The author delves into the history of evolutionary cognition, from before Darwin through the strict behaviorist models to more recent revelations, and some speculation on what discoveries might be coming as techniques improve and exploration continues. It's fascinating, even watered down for us uneducated laypeople. The studies of de Waal and other scientists increasingly show how cognition - yes, even human cognition - couldn't evolve in a vacuum. It's a tool evident, to some degree, across many branches of the tree of life, even if it doesn't always manifest in easily recognized ways. And why should it? Human cognition fits human lifestyles; other animals' cognition would, by necessity, best suit their own lifestyle, their anatomy and environment and challenges. As human scientists relinquish the idea of humans as the defining pinnacle of intelligence and awareness, learning to see each animal on its own terms, they make some amazing discoveries. Yet for each discovery, "slayers" move the goalposts, changing the stories they tell themselves, determined to preserve their idea of human superiority. (de Waal differentiates these from skeptics, which are a necessary part of any scientific field, challengers that drive new experimentation and ensure self-checking on results and methodology, rather than outright dismissing anything not fitting preconceived ideas.) At the end, de Waal expresses hope that the "slayers" of the field appear to be a dying breed, comments I couldn't help reading with a slight twinge of sorrow; with a disproportionate number of "slayers" elevated to positions of outsized power, my own country seems bound and determined to roll the clock backward on all manner of science, particularly science that challenges their stories. For the sake of science and the future of the world, I sincerely hope de Waal is right...
You Might Also Enjoy:
Being a Beast (Charles Foster) - My Review
Animal Wise (Virginia Morell) - My Review
Last Ape Standing (Chip Walter) - My Review
Frans de Waal
Norton
Nonfiction, Animals/Science
****+ (Good/Great)
DESCRIPTION: For centuries, despite anecdotal evidence and the work of a few often-belittled pioneers, the idea that nonhuman animals might possess active cognition, or be more than simple stimulus-response machines, was scoffed at by layman and scholar alike. Over the years, under the weight of increasing evidence, the study of animal cognition has bloomed, leading to surprising revelations about the minds of everything from wasps and fish to elephants and apes. Tool use, social politics, self recognition, delayed gratification, theory of mind, and more have been found across the animal kingdom. From his own studies with primates and others in the field, de Waal presents findings that challenge humanity's traditional seat atop the imaginary ladder of evolution and enlightenment.
REVIEW: If there's one thing humans excel at, it's storytelling - particularly, telling ourselves stories of our own superiority and uniqueness, stories that have colored our perceptions of the world around us for generations. Even as evolution has moved from radical notion to accepted fact (or at least the theory that best fits all available evidence), it's amazing, and a little depressing, how even highly educated people still cling to those stories that grant humans a place apart from other species. The author delves into the history of evolutionary cognition, from before Darwin through the strict behaviorist models to more recent revelations, and some speculation on what discoveries might be coming as techniques improve and exploration continues. It's fascinating, even watered down for us uneducated laypeople. The studies of de Waal and other scientists increasingly show how cognition - yes, even human cognition - couldn't evolve in a vacuum. It's a tool evident, to some degree, across many branches of the tree of life, even if it doesn't always manifest in easily recognized ways. And why should it? Human cognition fits human lifestyles; other animals' cognition would, by necessity, best suit their own lifestyle, their anatomy and environment and challenges. As human scientists relinquish the idea of humans as the defining pinnacle of intelligence and awareness, learning to see each animal on its own terms, they make some amazing discoveries. Yet for each discovery, "slayers" move the goalposts, changing the stories they tell themselves, determined to preserve their idea of human superiority. (de Waal differentiates these from skeptics, which are a necessary part of any scientific field, challengers that drive new experimentation and ensure self-checking on results and methodology, rather than outright dismissing anything not fitting preconceived ideas.) At the end, de Waal expresses hope that the "slayers" of the field appear to be a dying breed, comments I couldn't help reading with a slight twinge of sorrow; with a disproportionate number of "slayers" elevated to positions of outsized power, my own country seems bound and determined to roll the clock backward on all manner of science, particularly science that challenges their stories. For the sake of science and the future of the world, I sincerely hope de Waal is right...
You Might Also Enjoy:
Being a Beast (Charles Foster) - My Review
Animal Wise (Virginia Morell) - My Review
Last Ape Standing (Chip Walter) - My Review
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