The final 10 reviews of 2015 have been archived and cross-linked on the main site.
Enjoy!
Thursday, December 31, 2015
Sunday, December 27, 2015
Fairy Quest: Outcasts #1 (Paul Jenkins)
Fairy Quest: Outcasts #1
(The Fairy Quest series, Outcasts Issue 1)
Paul Jenkins, illustrated by Humberto Ramos
Boom! Studios
Fiction, YA Comics, Fantasy
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: In the world of Fablewood, all stories live side by side, re-enacting their roles faithfully under the eye of Mister Grimm and his Think Police. Deviants are captured, their minds erased, lest the ordered tales fall into chaos and anarchy. Young Red and Mister Woof only want to be friends, but their story dictates otherwise. They flee into the Dark Woods, pursuing the faint hope of the Mapmaker beneath the mountains, in hopes of finding a new world where they can live and think as they please... but this is one fairy tale that Grimm doesn't mean to end happily ever after.
REVIEW: Starting quickly, with Red and "Mister Woof" (the Big Bad Wolf) already in flight through a fairy tale world that's dying under Grimm's harsh rule, Fairy Quests maintains a good pace throughout. Red can be a bit naive, almost irritatingly so, but such is how she was written, and even as she clings to free will, old habits remain. Woof gets the best lines and the best expressions, though sometimes his more direct method of dealing with problems isn't the best. Meanwhile, Grimm is established as a truly formidable opponent; if he sees how his tight grip on Fablewood is squeezing the life from the stories, he doesn't care, so long as order is maintained. It has touches of whimsy, but with a dark and devious subtext, enhanced by the artwork. I expect I'll read onward for at least another issue or two, to see where Jenkins is going with this intriguing setup.
You Might Also Enjoy:
The Sisters Grimm: Fairy Tale Detectives (Michael Buckley) - My Review
Goblin Quest (Jim C. Hines) - My Review
(The Fairy Quest series, Outcasts Issue 1)
Paul Jenkins, illustrated by Humberto Ramos
Boom! Studios
Fiction, YA Comics, Fantasy
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: In the world of Fablewood, all stories live side by side, re-enacting their roles faithfully under the eye of Mister Grimm and his Think Police. Deviants are captured, their minds erased, lest the ordered tales fall into chaos and anarchy. Young Red and Mister Woof only want to be friends, but their story dictates otherwise. They flee into the Dark Woods, pursuing the faint hope of the Mapmaker beneath the mountains, in hopes of finding a new world where they can live and think as they please... but this is one fairy tale that Grimm doesn't mean to end happily ever after.
REVIEW: Starting quickly, with Red and "Mister Woof" (the Big Bad Wolf) already in flight through a fairy tale world that's dying under Grimm's harsh rule, Fairy Quests maintains a good pace throughout. Red can be a bit naive, almost irritatingly so, but such is how she was written, and even as she clings to free will, old habits remain. Woof gets the best lines and the best expressions, though sometimes his more direct method of dealing with problems isn't the best. Meanwhile, Grimm is established as a truly formidable opponent; if he sees how his tight grip on Fablewood is squeezing the life from the stories, he doesn't care, so long as order is maintained. It has touches of whimsy, but with a dark and devious subtext, enhanced by the artwork. I expect I'll read onward for at least another issue or two, to see where Jenkins is going with this intriguing setup.
You Might Also Enjoy:
The Sisters Grimm: Fairy Tale Detectives (Michael Buckley) - My Review
Goblin Quest (Jim C. Hines) - My Review
Friday, December 25, 2015
A Bad Spell in Yurt (C. Dale Brittain)
A Bad Spell in Yurt
(The Royal Wizard of Yurt series, Book 1)
C. Dale Brittain
Baen
Fiction, Fantasy
*** (Okay)
DESCRIPTION: Newly-graduated wizard Daimbert thought he'd found the perfect job when he accepted the role of Royal Wizard of Yurt. It's an insignificant little kingdom, a perfect match for his meager skills. Cast a few weather spells, work a few illusions, keep the king amused and the populace awed - what more could such a place demand of him? But something's not right in Yurt, an evil presence that lurks at the edge of his perception. Someone's been dabbling in black magic, and whatever they've summoned won't leave without a fight, and likely a soul. This will take high-end wizardry, not to mention cunning and deduction to root out the mage and a keen grasp of demonic negotiations. Too bad Daimbert can't even touch his book on demonology without getting the willies...
REVIEW: It looked like a lightweight, fun little fantasy, with whimsy and a dash of detective work around the edges. Unfortunately, it reads very stale and dated, even for having originally been published in 1991, riddled with tired cliches. Daimbert's highly ineffective as a wizard and a character, spending more time making excuses for his lack of knowledge and ability than actually doing anything about... well, anything, from locating the source of the shapeless evil to detecting the source of the black magic to bringing his own skills up to par for the inevitable confrontation. He even fails to win much respect from Yurt's inhabitants, most of whom see through the facade to the fairly flimsy, barely-passing neophyte behind the robes. Most of his time is spent socializing with Yurt's inhabitants (shallow stereotypes, every one of them), none of whom ever come off as credible suspects, and navigating a tempestuous friendship with Joachim, the castle chaplain. Speaking of the church, this is another pothole that kept my suspension of disbelief from getting airborne: Brittain imports Christianity whole-hog into this otherwise independent fantasy world - making it a source of even greater miracles than wizardry can dream of, to the point where one wonders why people even bother learning magic when the church stands just across the road. Indeed, a good portion of the plot is about the concept of damnation and how one's soul is judged. Even leaving out the question of why inhabitants of an imaginary world would follow a real-world religion, I wanted a fantasy, not a treatise on salvation. I also wanted fun, but the humor's as vapid as the story and characters. The plot unfolds slowly, usually in spite of Daimbert rather than due to anything he actually does to advance it, winding up with a climax that I just plain couldn't care about. The wrap-up is far too long, full of explanatory speeches, and it ends on an odd, ill-struck final note that doesn't quite feel like a conclusion, even the conclusion of Book 1 of a series. A Bad Spell in Yurt is, as I expected, a lightweight tale - but more due to lack of substance than whimsy.
You Might Also Enjoy:
The Wiz Biz (Rich Cook) - My Review
Off To Be The Wizard (Scott Meyer) - My Review
The Accidental Sorcerer (K. E. Mills) - My Review
(The Royal Wizard of Yurt series, Book 1)
C. Dale Brittain
Baen
Fiction, Fantasy
*** (Okay)
DESCRIPTION: Newly-graduated wizard Daimbert thought he'd found the perfect job when he accepted the role of Royal Wizard of Yurt. It's an insignificant little kingdom, a perfect match for his meager skills. Cast a few weather spells, work a few illusions, keep the king amused and the populace awed - what more could such a place demand of him? But something's not right in Yurt, an evil presence that lurks at the edge of his perception. Someone's been dabbling in black magic, and whatever they've summoned won't leave without a fight, and likely a soul. This will take high-end wizardry, not to mention cunning and deduction to root out the mage and a keen grasp of demonic negotiations. Too bad Daimbert can't even touch his book on demonology without getting the willies...
REVIEW: It looked like a lightweight, fun little fantasy, with whimsy and a dash of detective work around the edges. Unfortunately, it reads very stale and dated, even for having originally been published in 1991, riddled with tired cliches. Daimbert's highly ineffective as a wizard and a character, spending more time making excuses for his lack of knowledge and ability than actually doing anything about... well, anything, from locating the source of the shapeless evil to detecting the source of the black magic to bringing his own skills up to par for the inevitable confrontation. He even fails to win much respect from Yurt's inhabitants, most of whom see through the facade to the fairly flimsy, barely-passing neophyte behind the robes. Most of his time is spent socializing with Yurt's inhabitants (shallow stereotypes, every one of them), none of whom ever come off as credible suspects, and navigating a tempestuous friendship with Joachim, the castle chaplain. Speaking of the church, this is another pothole that kept my suspension of disbelief from getting airborne: Brittain imports Christianity whole-hog into this otherwise independent fantasy world - making it a source of even greater miracles than wizardry can dream of, to the point where one wonders why people even bother learning magic when the church stands just across the road. Indeed, a good portion of the plot is about the concept of damnation and how one's soul is judged. Even leaving out the question of why inhabitants of an imaginary world would follow a real-world religion, I wanted a fantasy, not a treatise on salvation. I also wanted fun, but the humor's as vapid as the story and characters. The plot unfolds slowly, usually in spite of Daimbert rather than due to anything he actually does to advance it, winding up with a climax that I just plain couldn't care about. The wrap-up is far too long, full of explanatory speeches, and it ends on an odd, ill-struck final note that doesn't quite feel like a conclusion, even the conclusion of Book 1 of a series. A Bad Spell in Yurt is, as I expected, a lightweight tale - but more due to lack of substance than whimsy.
You Might Also Enjoy:
The Wiz Biz (Rich Cook) - My Review
Off To Be The Wizard (Scott Meyer) - My Review
The Accidental Sorcerer (K. E. Mills) - My Review
Sunday, December 20, 2015
The Screaming Staircase (Jonathan Stroud)
The Screaming Staircase
(The Lockwood & Co. series, Book 1)
Jonathan Stroud
Disney Hyperion
Fiction, YA Fantasy
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: Since the dawn of history, humans have started at darkness, shadows, and things that go bump in the night. Since the Problems woke spirits across England, those things have become all too real - and the touch of a ghost is just as deadly to grown-ups who barely sense their presence as to more sensitive kids. Iron, silver, salt, and lights help keep the wraiths at bay after sundown, but thus far the most effective ghost-fighters have been gifted children. Armed with silver-tipped rapiers, salt bombs, iron filings, chains, and other gadgets, they prowl the nights dispersing specters and, where possible, identifying and neutralizing the Sources, the item (often mortal remains) to which the spirits are bound.
Lucy Carlyle is one such girl. She had a promising career ahead of her, until a disaster led her to be blamed for the deaths of several fellow agents - a disaster caused by the cowardice of their adult supervisor. She came to London hoping to find a new job, but her record holds her back, until she makes it to the door of Lockwood & Co. Anthony Lockwood's an inscrutable boy, prone to mercurial moods, not to mention a certain eccentric streak. For one, he tolerates George, who's tooth-grindingly annoying on his best days. For another, he runs his agency without adult supervision - a serious risk, and one that puts him at odds with DEPRAC, England's official government department for handling the Problems. Lucy might've passed if she'd had other options, but she needs the job, and Lockwood and George need a new partner. Little does she know what adventures lay ahead... particularly the case of the Screaming Staircase, which begins innocuously enough with a standard suburban haunting, but leads to a forgotten murder, a vengeful spirit, and deep into the blood-soaked halls of one of England's most haunted sites.
REVIEW: Stroud creates another interesting twist on modern-day London with his latest series, creating a haunted world where children - traditionally the victims of formless nocturnal fears - are forced onto the front lines of a supernatural battle. In a country with as long and bloody a history as England, there's no shortage of spirits to haunt the night, and for every one dispatched a dozen more are waiting to take their place. It's not a victimless fight, either; agents (and their adult supervisors, often those who have outgrown most of their Talents) frequently die confronting spirits, sometimes to return as wraiths themselves. Even those who survive are haunted by what they see and experience. This adventure acts as a pilot episode, establishing the characters and the world as the story unfolds. As such, at times it seems a bit slow, backtracking through Lucy's history and other things, but even when it's simply laying groundwork it's interesting enough to keep reading. Lucy's Talent for psychometry (picking up residual memories and emotions off haunted objects) draws her deeper into the world of the ghosts than either of her partners, an empathy that threatens her more than once; even a victim of terrible injustice is deadly to the living. George is the comic relief, chubby and food-obsessed and always ready with a smart line, though his research skills and other talents make him a fully competent team member when it counts. As for Lockwood, he's almost annoyingly inscrutable at times, a junior version of Carnacki with touches of Sherlock Holmes around the edges. The three work fairly well together in their investigation, which tangles paths with the living as much as the (un)dead. All in all, it's a fine, spirited adventure, with some truly chilling moments and a decent mystery at its heart. I expect I'll read on if and when I track down Book 2 at a reasonable price.
You Might Also Enjoy:
The Ghost in the Third Row (Bruce Coville) - My Review
Carnacki, the Ghost-Finder (William Hope Hodgson) - My Review
Glimpse (Steven Whibley) - My Review
(The Lockwood & Co. series, Book 1)
Jonathan Stroud
Disney Hyperion
Fiction, YA Fantasy
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: Since the dawn of history, humans have started at darkness, shadows, and things that go bump in the night. Since the Problems woke spirits across England, those things have become all too real - and the touch of a ghost is just as deadly to grown-ups who barely sense their presence as to more sensitive kids. Iron, silver, salt, and lights help keep the wraiths at bay after sundown, but thus far the most effective ghost-fighters have been gifted children. Armed with silver-tipped rapiers, salt bombs, iron filings, chains, and other gadgets, they prowl the nights dispersing specters and, where possible, identifying and neutralizing the Sources, the item (often mortal remains) to which the spirits are bound.
Lucy Carlyle is one such girl. She had a promising career ahead of her, until a disaster led her to be blamed for the deaths of several fellow agents - a disaster caused by the cowardice of their adult supervisor. She came to London hoping to find a new job, but her record holds her back, until she makes it to the door of Lockwood & Co. Anthony Lockwood's an inscrutable boy, prone to mercurial moods, not to mention a certain eccentric streak. For one, he tolerates George, who's tooth-grindingly annoying on his best days. For another, he runs his agency without adult supervision - a serious risk, and one that puts him at odds with DEPRAC, England's official government department for handling the Problems. Lucy might've passed if she'd had other options, but she needs the job, and Lockwood and George need a new partner. Little does she know what adventures lay ahead... particularly the case of the Screaming Staircase, which begins innocuously enough with a standard suburban haunting, but leads to a forgotten murder, a vengeful spirit, and deep into the blood-soaked halls of one of England's most haunted sites.
REVIEW: Stroud creates another interesting twist on modern-day London with his latest series, creating a haunted world where children - traditionally the victims of formless nocturnal fears - are forced onto the front lines of a supernatural battle. In a country with as long and bloody a history as England, there's no shortage of spirits to haunt the night, and for every one dispatched a dozen more are waiting to take their place. It's not a victimless fight, either; agents (and their adult supervisors, often those who have outgrown most of their Talents) frequently die confronting spirits, sometimes to return as wraiths themselves. Even those who survive are haunted by what they see and experience. This adventure acts as a pilot episode, establishing the characters and the world as the story unfolds. As such, at times it seems a bit slow, backtracking through Lucy's history and other things, but even when it's simply laying groundwork it's interesting enough to keep reading. Lucy's Talent for psychometry (picking up residual memories and emotions off haunted objects) draws her deeper into the world of the ghosts than either of her partners, an empathy that threatens her more than once; even a victim of terrible injustice is deadly to the living. George is the comic relief, chubby and food-obsessed and always ready with a smart line, though his research skills and other talents make him a fully competent team member when it counts. As for Lockwood, he's almost annoyingly inscrutable at times, a junior version of Carnacki with touches of Sherlock Holmes around the edges. The three work fairly well together in their investigation, which tangles paths with the living as much as the (un)dead. All in all, it's a fine, spirited adventure, with some truly chilling moments and a decent mystery at its heart. I expect I'll read on if and when I track down Book 2 at a reasonable price.
You Might Also Enjoy:
The Ghost in the Third Row (Bruce Coville) - My Review
Carnacki, the Ghost-Finder (William Hope Hodgson) - My Review
Glimpse (Steven Whibley) - My Review
Thursday, December 17, 2015
Sector 7 (David Wiesner)
Sector 7
David Wiesner
Clarion Books
Fiction, YA Picture Book
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: On a foggy field trip to the Empire State Building, a young artist meets a playful cloud. It carries him to the secret factory high above the world, where clouds are created and dispatched around the globe - but the clouds aren't happy with the plans they've been given. Maybe the boy can help...
REVIEW: This wordless picture book was on top of a bin at work during some down time, so I gave it a try. It's an imaginative adventure, from the hat-stealing cloud to the great floating factory of Sector 7, with interesting illustrations. The story is simple but satisfying.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Quest (Aaron Becker) - My Review
The Cinder-Eyed Cats (Eric Rohmann) - My Review
Mr. Wuffles! (David Wiesner) - My Review
David Wiesner
Clarion Books
Fiction, YA Picture Book
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: On a foggy field trip to the Empire State Building, a young artist meets a playful cloud. It carries him to the secret factory high above the world, where clouds are created and dispatched around the globe - but the clouds aren't happy with the plans they've been given. Maybe the boy can help...
REVIEW: This wordless picture book was on top of a bin at work during some down time, so I gave it a try. It's an imaginative adventure, from the hat-stealing cloud to the great floating factory of Sector 7, with interesting illustrations. The story is simple but satisfying.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Quest (Aaron Becker) - My Review
The Cinder-Eyed Cats (Eric Rohmann) - My Review
Mr. Wuffles! (David Wiesner) - My Review
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