Civilian Reader

“The Secret History of Fantasy” edited by Peter S Beagle (Tachyon)

2012-02-03T09:30:00.000Z

Reviewed by Alyssa

A whole new (old) fantasy?

Step right up and buy your ticket to the impossible marvels of the Barnum Museum. Take a highly caffeinated ride through the Empire of Ice Cream. If you dare, hunt feral archetypes deep within a haunted English forest. Or conquer the New World with a band of geographically-challenged Norsemen.

Tired of the same old fantasy? Here are the stories that you’ve never imagined possible. Nineteen extraordinary writers offer much-needed antidotes to clichéd tales of sword and sorcery. Combining the best of the old and the new, these instant classics will inspire even the most jaded of readers. Beloved author and anthologist Peter S. Beagle reveals the secret: fantasy is back and it’s better than ever.

The Secret History of Fantasy comes with a lot of big names attached to it: notably Stephen King and Neil Gaiman, but also Gregory Maguire, Francesca Lia Block, Octavia E. Butler, Patricia A. McKillip, Jonathan Lethem, Yann Martel, and Susanna Clarke, to name but a few. Add to that Peter S. Beagle (whose The Last Unicorn I read only recently and loved) as both editor and contributor, and expectations are pretty high. As it turns out, it is every bit as good as it should be: Beagle has performed his task thoughtfully and with dedication, and the stories are original, varied, and distinctive. This collection is a very good read.

The intention of The Secret History of Fantasy is clearly stated by Beagle in his introduction: to reveal a tradition of fantasy that harks back to the genre’s pre-Tolkien roots. The range of authors he has chosen as a part of this tradition is impressive: from giants of the genre to lesser-known writers, this collection has them all – with winners of Hugos and Bookers alike. The variety of pieces included is also striking. Some retell classic stories and fairy-tales; others invent new ones. Some (T. C. Boyle, I’m looking at you) are just darkly, brilliantly weird. Others resist classification or generalization, accomplishing the anthology’s mandate to show just how many things fantasy can do. A recurring feature in these stories is the lurking presence of the uncanny, the mysterious, inexplicable elements of the world that we discover when we step off the beaten path or outside of the orbit of our daily lives. The journey into the woods (beloved by classic fairy-tales, and Bruno Bettelheim) occurs literally and metaphorically, taking characters and the reader to the edge of the known and looking at the shadows beyond that edge.

Each of the stories is worth reading, and I won’t go into detail about all of them. That being said, there were a few that really stood out for me. Maureen F. McHugh’s “Ancestor Money” is a quiet but thoughtful account of a major event in one woman’s afterlife, and has stayed in my mind since I read it. Stephen King’s “Mrs. Todd’s Shortcut” I found touching and oddly exhilarating. When I began Neil Gaiman’s “Snow, Glass, Apples,” I fully intended to go to sleep when I finished, but I was so unsettled by the story that I had to read the next one (Aimee Bender’s whimsical “Fruit and Words”) before I could turn out the light. Susanna Clarke’s “John Uskglass and the Cumbrian Charcoal Burner” was utterly delightful, and made me promise myself I’d finally read Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell in spite of the mammoth size of my copy and glad that I recently purchased The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories.

This collection also benefits from the inclusion of some non-fiction pieces on the fantasy genre. Ursula K. Le Guin’s essay, “The Critics, the Monsters, and the Fantasists”, examines the problematic relationships academia and literary reviewers have with fantasy (and gets bonus points for reminding me about Tolkien’s essay “On Fairy Stories,” which I’ve wanted to read since a roommate of mine in university studied it in a class). David G. Hartwell’s “The Making of the American Fantasy Genre” charts the history of the commercial evolution of what he calls “genre fantasy” as distinct from (although not necessarily at odds with) “fantastic” literature. Beagle’s own introduction positions the fantasy he has chosen to include in this book against the Tolkien-esque heroic fantasy that he sees as dominating the genre. These essays are all thoughtful and thought-provoking. I don’t agree with everything they say (indeed, I could go on at length discussing and responding to them – don’t worry, I won’t), but all three provide interesting and insightful commentary on fantasy fiction, and would be valuable reading for anyone wanting to enter into critical debate about the genre.

There is one issue raised by these essays (in particular Beagle’s introduction) that I will take up, because it relates to the way this anthology is positioned in relation to the broader fantasy genre, which I find somewhat problematic. Really, what I’m objecting to is right there in the synopsis: the idea that these stories provide “much-needed antidotes to clichéd tales of sword and sorcery,” or indeed that such antidotes are necessary. While I’m not going to insist that everything produced in the sword-and-sorcery vein is brilliant and original (that would be foolish, as it is demonstrably false), I think Beagle is too dismissive of the sub-genre (if that’s the appropriate term). He notes that the distinction between the fantastic and the literary is quite new in storytelling and publishing, but seems to redraw what he has already demonstrated to be an artificial line between the Tolkien-imitating, heroic, commercial fantasies, and what he describes as “an older, eclectic fantasy tradition.” The goal of looking at stories outside of the sword-and-sorcery tradition is laudable; I’m just not sure dismissing said tradition is necessary to justify it.

For me, a more apt image for the fantasy genre in general and this collection in particular can be found in one of the stories the anthology includes: Steven Millhauser’s “The Barnum Museum.” In this story, my favourite in the anthology, we are introduced to a museum with an apparent infinity of rooms full of colourful, mysterious, and wondrous creatures and things. The museum is visited by people of all ages and aspirations, and all find something of what they’re looking for. The house of fantasy is one with many rooms, and The Secret History of Fantasy allows us to enter a few that we don’t visit too often.

This is a very well-done collection: the stories are all, in many different ways, pleasures to read, and the essays are very interesting. While I take issue with the stated premise of the anthology, I can find no fault with the product.

Recommended.

Robert Holdstock, Terry Bisson, Michael Swanwick, Kij Johnson, and Jeffrey Ford also contributed stories to this collection.

“Broken Blade” by Kelly McCullough (Ace)

2012-02-02T09:30:00.000Z

A good, if flawed start to a new series

Once a fabled Blade of Namara, Aral Kingslayer fought for justice and his goddess alongside his familiar, a living shadow called Triss. Now with their goddess murdered and her temple destroyed, they are among the last of their kind. Surviving on the fringes of society, Aral becomes a drunken, broken, and wanted man, working whatever shadowy deal comes his way. Until a mysterious woman hires him to deliver a secret message-one that can either redeem him or doom him.

I’d been looking forward to reading Broken Blade for a while, ever since I stumbled across it through Twitter. It falls squarely within the new wave of assassin- and thief-related fantasy, which I’ve been rather enjoying, but at the same time offers some interesting twists on what have become the tropes in that sub-genre. The novel is a good beginning to a new series, with plenty going for it, but it nevertheless did not meet all my expectations. It is, however, probably perfect for fans of Steven Brust’s Vlad Taltos series.

Aral Kingslayer, former religious assassin, is now a thief, or Shadow Jack, plying his lonely trade in the city of Tien. At the start of this novel, he takes on a seemingly straight-forward and simple job, but as is the way of these things, it turns out to be something else entirely. There is a lot more going on, and the potential ramifications are considerable. Someone from his past, long-thought dead, seems to be hunting him. A dispossessed noble wishes to be reinstated in their rightful place among the elite. The novel follows Aral’s attempts to navigate these obstacles, and get to the bottom of a number of mysteries. Over the course of his travails, he will come face-to-face with warrior baronesses, the undead, the various law enforcement organisations of the city, less-savoury elements of Tien’s population, and a fair bit of cool magic, and a good number of people who want to kill him for one reason or another.

The focus of the novel is very much on Aral (it is, after all, presented in a first-person narrative) and Triss, Aral’s shadow familiar. A lot of the novel covers their relationship, which has an interesting and quite endearing dynamic. They are like a loving (platonic) couple, almost, with Triss frequently chiding Aral on his drinking but extremely devoted and protective. They are best friends. It’s unavoidable that a comparison will be drawn between this and Jon Sprunk’s Shadow series (it’s what sprung to mind as soon as I read the synopsis for Broken Blade), but I should stress that they are distinct from each other in many ways – the dynamic between Caim and Kit is very different, and Kit doesn’t actually interact with anyone other than Caim. Triss, on the other hand, has some pretty awesome and diverse abilities he can use to support Aral.

The novel is told from Aral’s perspective, in a first-person narrative. He is an interesting guide to this world, but I think he could have been better. He had one major flaw: he has no real edge to him, and I wonder if the author was maybe too cautious about trying to make him virtuous and over-sold it a bit. I struggled to connect with Aral, because there was simply nothing objectionable about him. In some scenes, when we get a look back at his early years as a Blade, a lot of his idealism and righteous indignation at the wrongs of the world can be put down to youthful naiveté and enthusiasm. In scenes set in the story’s present, however, this is slightly less forgivable and less believable – his entire life and religion were destroyed, and yet the only way his grief manifests is in a drinking problem and a proclivity for solitude. However, rather than being a real challenge to overcome, he is rather a good-natured drunk who everyone seems to like just fine. He gets hangovers, and his abilities are slightly impaired, but it hardly presents much of an obstacle to overcome as he manages some amazing escapes and still exhibits some considerable skills with subterfuge, evasion and bladed weapons. This lack of edge or real complexity, coupled with the first-person narrative, is where the rest of the novel suffered and prevented me from engaging fully with Aral. In my opinion, I think Aral could – perhaps should – have been a little more nuanced and complex, and this would have improved the novel.

Maylien, Aral’s eventual, inevitable love-interest is somewhat predictable, and I found their hook-up to be rather bland to read about. Sure, she has a lot going for her, but there are also a couple of issues I had with her personality and worldview that just didn’t make much sense (they are considerable spoilers, so unfortunately I can’t go into it much more than that). Other characters, for example the law-enforcement officer who seems to operate outside of official boundaries was really interesting, and yet she didn’t have much of a role to play. Likewise, the wizened librarian, who is clearly a mentor and friend of Aral’s, is also one of the most interesting characters in the novel and yet features in but one scene. I do hope we spend more time with them in future novels.

Aral is a taciturn sort, not given to seeking out company, which means there’s not a lot of dialogue. McCullough’s prose has a nice, brisk pacing, but without much dialogue to convey exposition and world-building, there were certainly moments when the over-description veered dangerously close to telling, rather than showing. This was a particular problem in the middle of the novel. It is a difficult balance to walk, though – Aral is a solitary figure, so in order for there to be a story, he has to show us the world through his eyes. Some of the description is really good, and I was particularly grabbed by the account of how Aral got the epithet “Kingslayer”, which I thought had a lot of imagination and originality (it’s on a par with the ingenuity of Durzo Blint’s first job in Perfect Shadow).

Now, where McCullough excels is in the magic system he has created for his characters. When Aral’s describing his magic, or we’re seeing it in action, the prose is streamlined and brisk enough that one doesn’t mind the extra detail, and a lot of this magic is pretty original and interesting. All of the various magics drawn on by Aral and the other factions in the novel, in fact, are varied and interesting – from the deathmarks, Triss’s abilities, to those of the various law enforcement personnel we meet along the way – they are all written confidently and engagingly.

The first and last quarters make up the best half of this novel, but the middle section I think needed tightening. McCullough throws up a few surprises along the way – many of them interesting – but also leaves a few things hanging, and it’s unclear if they were just random extras, or if they are going to become more important in volumes to come. I’ll be interested to read at least the next novel in the series, Bared Blade, if not all of them. There’s a lot of potential in this world and series, and I hope McCullough fulfils it over the next few novels.

Broken Blade’s synopsis would suggest a grittier read than I think the novel turned out to be, which I admit was a disappointment. Broken Blade is a novel worth trying, but I’m not entirely sure how I feel about it, just yet. If McCullough deals with the aforementioned issues with Aral and description, making him a more compelling protagonist, and allowing other characters to take centre stage for even a little bit, then this could become a very good fantasy series.

For Fans of: Steven Brust, Jon Sprunk, Brent Weeks, David Chandler, Doug Hulick, Amanda Downum, Scott Lynch

Also on CR: Interview with Kelly McCullough

Upcoming: DC Announces Watchmen Prequels…

2012-02-02T00:26:00.001Z

… and I really don’t understand why so many people are getting into such a tizzy over it. Most of my initial impression was drawn from the blizzard of tweets that have been cropping up throughout the day, so bear with me. They have been described as in DC’s own announcement “As highly anticipated as they are controversial.”

“It’s our responsibility as publishers to find new ways to keep all of our characters relevant,” said DC Entertainment Co-Publishers Dan DiDio and Jim Lee. “After twenty five years, the Watchmen are classic characters whose time has come for new stories to be told. We sought out the best writers and artists in the industry to build on the complex mythology of the original.”

Right off the bat, I should state that I’ve seen the movie (which I thought was brilliant), but have not read the graphic novel – only because I just never got around to buying it. Therefore, I do not have the connection or emotional attachment to the original material that I know some people do. I was also unaware of the long history of friction between Alan Moore and DC Publishing.

Nevertheless, I really don’t see why a lot of people are getting themselves so worked up about this. An NPR article claims that “Comic-book nerds are outraged today” resulting in much “teeth-gnashing” and the internet “hit[ing] Defcon.2”, but all I’ve noticed is some mild grumbling referring to much anger on the part of comic fans. The author of the NPR piece, Marc Hirsh, nevertheless then goes on to call DC “stupid” for making the decision to commission and release these comics, and proceeds to write an article filled with derision and far more adverbs than necessary. In fact, it’s the only piece I’ve read that includes the outrage many others have mentioned.

However. If there has been outrage, I don’t really understand it. If you don’t think there should be prequels or anything else Watchmen-related, then… don’t read them.

Or am I missing something fundamental here?

The covers look quite nice, I must say – particularly those for Rorschach, Nite Owl and Ozymandias – and I wouldn’t mind checking these out. The series will be released “this summer”, and the line-up is as follows:

RORSCHACH (4 issues) – Writer: Brian Azzarello. Artist: Lee Bermejo

MINUTEMEN (6 issues) – Writer/Artist: Darwyn Cooke

COMEDIAN (6 issues) – Writer: Brian Azzarello. Artist: J.G. Jones

DR. MANHATTAN (4 issues) – Writer: J. Michael Straczynski. Artist: Adam Hughes

NITE OWL (4 issues) – Writer: J. Michael Straczynski. Artists: Andy and Joe Kubert

OZYMANDIAS (6 issues) – Writer: Len Wein. Artist: Jae Lee

SILK SPECTRE (4 issues) – Writer: Darwyn Cooke. Artist: Amanda Conner

Each week, a new issue will be released, and will feature a two-page back-up story called CURSE OF THE CRIMSON CORSAIR, written by original series editor Len Wein and with art by original series colorist John Higgins. There will also be a single issue, BEFORE WATCHMEN: EPILOGUE, which will feature work by various writers and artists, and another CRIMSON CORSAIR story by Wein and Higgins. If I’m perfectly honest, I don’t understand the point of a two-page back-up story – why not just release it as an individual title?

Dave Gibbons, WATCHMEN co-creator and original series artist had this to say about the new series:

“The original series of WATCHMEN is the complete story that Alan Moore and I wanted to tell. However, I appreciate DC’s reasons for this initiative and the wish of the artists and writers involved to pay tribute to our work. May these new additions have the success they desire.”

Graphic Novel Artwork & Alan Moore

Moore, however, has not been as supportive, and described the decision as “completely shameless” to David Itzkoff of the New York Times. Moore added that the move indicates an “eager confirmation that [DC] are still apparently dependent on ideas that I had 25 years ago.” Itzkoff includes a number of choice quotes from Moore, including an insistence that this is not about money, but rather creative and contractual differences based on those he signed when Watchmen was first being sold. The article also includes reactions from a couple of other people involved in or familiar with the project. The issue of royalty-entitlements is rather muddled, as far as I can make out – some sources say he is entitled to royalties on any and all Watchmen-related media, but he has also refused them in the past for all five of the movies based on his creations (Watchmen, V For Vendetta, From Hell, Constantine and League of Extraordinary Gentlemen – all of which I enjoyed to varying degrees). The fact that Moore has publicly washed his hands of Watchmen only goes to make the whole issue more confusing.

As someone who has never read the original graphic novel, I think I will try these out as well. I also think it’s possible that this new line of comics will get more people to try out the original book, so I don’t really see a down-side. If it gets more people interested in the franchise, then why not? Did the movie not do the same?

[Incidentally, the BBC news piece about this was very disappointing – they included basically the whole text of the DC announcement shuffled into a different order, and took some quotes from the New York Times piece. And that’s it. They are a massive media company with plenty of resources and universal name-recognition, they should have been able to at least pick up the phone and get one or two of their own quotes.]

Artwork: “Le Baiser du Rasoir” by Daniel Polansky (Bragelonne)

2012-02-01T16:34:00.001Z

I should start this with a hat-tip to Justin over at Staffer’s Musings for showcasing this cover earlier today. (While I’m at it, his is a blog you should all be reading, so go check it out if you haven’t already.)

I offer it with but one word of comment: Wow…

Ok, maybe not just one word – you didn’t really think I’d be able to do that, did you? I really like this. I haven’t read Low Town/Straight-Razor Cure yet (soon, though), so I can’t comment on whether or not it suits the tone and content of the novel, but I really do love everything about it: the colours, composition and atmosphere are really great, and it makes me think of Sherlock Holmes and From Hell all at the same time. This is one of the best covers I’ve seen in a while.

Also on CR: Interview with Daniel Polansky

Update: Just for completion’s sake, here are the US and UK covers for Polansky’s novel:

An Interview with PHILIPPA BALLANTINE

2012-02-01T08:00:00.000Z

Philippa Ballantine is a very busy author: she has three series in or near publication, Books of the Order, Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences, and The Shifted World. I first heard of her through A Fantastical Librarian Mieneke's review of Geist, which I’ve recently picked up for my Kindle and intend to read as soon as I have a spare moment. In the meantime, after some digging on the interwebs, and finding out a little bit more about Ballantine’s series, I thought an interview would be a great way to introduce her and her work to the readers of this blog.

You’ve got a couple of series in publication, so I’ll deal with them each in turn. First up, your Books of the Order series, which thus far includes Geist and Spectyr (published by Ace). How would you introduce the series to a new reader, and where do you see it going in the future?

It’s a supernatural fantasy series, set in a world where ghosts (or geists) in this case are an established fact. In such a place, a group of people are dedicated to protecting humanity. These Deacons of the Order use rune magic, and work in pairs to fight back the unliving. Geist follows Deacon Sorcha Faris and her partner Merrick as they are thrown together and must work to not only hold back a geist incursion, but also protect the Empire from a conspiracy that threatens to tear it apart.

Where did the inspiration for the series come from? And where do you draw your inspiration from in general?

I’ve always loved ghost stories, and been interested in the mythology that different cultures have about it. I also have an unhealthy obsession with ‘reality’ ghost shows. I started thinking “what would it be like if instead of conjecture about the supernatural, it was just an accepted fact?” From there it was a natural progression to imagine the Deacons dedicated to stopping them. I modelled them after a religious order because in medieval times the church was the place civilization and learning was preserved. In the world of Geist however, the Order has turned away from religion.

You’re also working on a steampunk series with Tee Morris, the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences (Voyager). How would you introduce this series, and how did the collaboration come about?

It is set in Victorian London where Her Majesty’s Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences investigates the bizarre and the unusual. Miss Eliza D. Braun, a field agent from New Zealand with a fondness for dynamite, finds herself demoted to the Ministry Archives, where she teams up with Wellington Thornhill Books. He is horrified to be dragged into her adventures after she uncovers a series of unsolved cases. Explosions, knife fights and opera ensue.

The whole thing started as a concept for a podcast for pay, and I didn’t want to write a whole novel by myself. I brought Tee on board, and we started the podcast as a spin-off of a novel we’d talked about, but hadn’t written. Actually, that novel has not yet been written! Then, after I mentioned this project I was working on my blog there was some interest from publishers, and we turned it into a novel. It was a very circuitous route to get to publication – but those situations are sometimes the most fun and interesting. The ones you don’t see coming!

What can you tell us about your next project, The Shifted World series, coming in 2012 from Pyr Books?

It is a book I wrote back in 2006, and the first book I got my agent with. Geist sold first because back then, the fantasy market was rather dire and no one was really buying it. Now Pyr has picked it up, and with Lou Anders’ help it is ready to go. It is centered around a woman without hope, who is working reluctantly with the enemy of her people. She finds salvation – or rather has it forced on her by a rebel, and must re-examine her crimes and her decisions.

It also features civil war, an unholy puzzle and a demonic horse.

How were you introduced to genre fiction?

It was all my father’s fault. He started reading my the Hobbit and then Lord of the Rings as a bedtime story. I really didn’t have a chance – genre got its fangs into me early! Before too long I had devoured his entire shelf of genre books.

How do you enjoy being a writer and working within the publishing industry? Do you have any specific working, writing, researching practices?

I love writing, and I have even learned to enjoy editing. Sometimes the business of writing can get in the way of that – but I am learning to separate the two. There is the writer and then their is the business manager, and as long as I compartmentalize them everything goes along much better. I write on a laptop, so I can pretty much write anywhere, but my favorite location is on the sofa with Sebastian (my huge Siberian cat) lying against my leg, and my playlist of writing music going in the background.

When did you realize you wanted to be an author, and what was your first foray into writing? Do you still look back on it fondly?

Shortly after my Dad finished Lord of the Rings I started fantasizing about being a writer. One of my schoolmates from about the age of 13, says she remembers me wandering around school writing in my green notebook. I had completed my first ‘novel’ at fourteen – though I wouldn’t ever share it with the public now. My mother has it locked away in her house for blackmail purposes.

What’s your opinion of the genre today, and where do you see your work fitting into it?

I am certainly enjoying the resurgence in high fantasy, and the strong arrival of steampunk in the genre. It shows that people still want to read about worlds of wonder and adventure — which is nice because that is what I want too. I guess my corner of it is intrinsically linked with my identity as a New Zealander. I think that the independence of that place, as well as a certain sense of isolation comes through in my work. If I could bring a little more awareness of my homeland to the world through fantasy, it would make me a happy writer.

What projects are you working on, and what do you have currently in the pipeline?

Right now Tee Morris (my co-writer and new husband) and I are planning book three for the Ministry, and then I have to contemplate the final novel in the Books of the Order for Ace. Harbinger will complete the series for Ace — but that doesn’t mean I am shutting the door on that world. After that it is onto the second novel for Pyr books in the Shifted World series.

What are you reading at the moment (fiction and/or non-fiction)?

I am in the happy place of reading a book to blurb. God Save the Queen by Katey Cross is a fabulous new steampunk, and I can’t wait to get to the end. I am also reading Dreadnought by Cherie Priest. Cherie’s steampunk is very different from ours, but a lot of fun, and I love the American setting!

What’s something readers might be surprised to learn about you?

I was an absolute washout at ballet as a child, but pretty good as a tap dancer!

What are you most looking forward to in 2012?

The arrival of three more books on the shelves. The Janus Affair; a Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences novel is coming May 2012 from Harper Voyager. Then there is Hunter and Fox from Pyr Books in late June, and finally Wrayth the third in the Books of the Order series. Phew!

After that I will be looking forward to taking a break… for at least five minutes.

* * *

If you’d like to know more about Philippa’s writing, you can visit her website, and follow her on Facebook and Twitter.

Comics Round-Up (Feb.1)

2012-02-01T02:58:00.001Z

A slightly delayed round-up, but one featuring a nicely diverse selection of this week’s comics releases; including three of my favourite on-going series, the conclusion to one, and the start of something a favourite fiction author of mine.

Reviewed Herein: G.I.Joe #10, Irredeemable #34, Magic: The Gathering #1, Servant of the Bones #5 & 6, Valen the Outcast #3

G.I.Joe #10 (IDW)

Writer: Chuck Dixon | Artist: Alex Cal

The new Cobra Commander has made his first move – all-out invasion of the Southeast Asian nation of Nanzhao, a centre of the worldwide drug trade. As the world’s eyes turn toward the attack, G.I.Joe moves in to try and stop the invasion and determine Cobra’s goals.

At the temporary G.I.Joe base at Fort Baxter, Mainframe and Scarlett determine that Cobra’s goal isn’t occupation of Nanzhao – instead, Cobra seems intent on destroying the country. Meanwhile, Hawk moves onto the field, joining the Joe teams led by Flint and Snake Eyes. And, while Snake Eyes continues on his own mission, he sends Alpine back to rejoin the main squad…

As Cobra’s plans for Nanzhao unfold before the Joe teams’ eyes, we start getting a sense of just how ambitious the organisation is. Battle-lines are drawn, and finally the Joes and their allies engage with Cobra forces. Also, the extent of Cobra’s evil is revealed, as their actions move beyond consolidation to extermination. The issue also sets up the next step in the story, which continues in Snake Eyes #10.

The artwork is pretty good – it’s not overly sharp, which sometimes made a couple of panels a little less clear, but for the main it is eye-catching and suits the story.

While this issue wasn’t the best in the series so far, it nevertheless had lots of action, and it was certainly nice to see G.I.Joe actually engage with Cobra at long last. This series is shaping up quite nicely, and I’m looking forward to seeing how Cobra’s plans and the Joes’ reaction unfold.

Irredeemable #34 (Boom)

Writer: Mark Waid | Artist: Diego Barreto & Damian Couciero

BRAND NEW ARC! GREAT FOR NEW READERS! The Paradigm finds itself severely weakened by the death of in-progress megalomaniac Survivor, but the situation is even more dire than they realize, as an old enemy walks among them… meanwhile, the Plutonian wrestles with his origins as he faces…his parents. This is the perfect jumping-on point for new readers to experience Mark Waid’s superhero-gone-wrong masterpiece!

This was a pretty interesting issue. It’s something of a new beginning, as an uneasy alliance is struck between Qubit and the Plutonian, in the hope of preventing a global catastrophe. We’re kept a little in the dark as to what’s really going on, but the issue offers an interesting montage-moment for the story, as Qubit helps the Plutonian discover the extent of his powers, which have been evolving.

I really can’t recommend this series enough (which doesn’t, apparently, stop me from reiterating this recommendation at every given opportunity…). I’m not entirely sure if this is, strictly speaking, a good jumping-on point, as so much has already happened. Nevertheless, for those who have been following the series, this suggests the story is headed for big things. And I can’t wait to read of them.

Magic: The Gathering #1 (IDW)

Writer: Matt Forbeck | Artist: Martin Coccolo

The Multiverse — a boundless expanse of worlds, each different from the last. These worlds, called planes, differ as widely as the imagination. All planes are connected by the substance of the Multiverse itself: the Æther, called the Blind Eternities by Planeswalkers — the only beings who ever see it. With their ability to cross the Blind Eternities from one plane onto another, Planeswalkers are some of the only beings with the ability to explore the vastness of the Multiverse and the wonders that it holds.

In the City of Ravnica, a metropolis so vast that its name has long since become synonymous with an entire plane, our story begins…

I’m a big fan of Matt Forbeck’s fiction (be it his Blood Bowl tie-in novels for Black Library or his own sci-fi and fantasy novels), so I have been looking forward to this comic series ever since I saw mention of it on Twitter.

In this opening issue, we join Dack Fayden, Planeswalker and thief, as he flees headlong through Ravnica from a less-than-subtle job, chased by demons and thrill-kill cultists. So far so tricky. Forbeck gives us a good introduction to the series and world(s), and despite being entirely unfamiliar with the franchise, I felt quite at home. It draws on a number of fantasy tropes that are utilised well, so any fan of the genre should find something here to enjoy. I also liked that it is through Dack’s encounters that we learn about him, rather than through any clunky exposition. The issue finishes on what I assume is going to be the start of something larger, drawing on a mystery from Dack’s past, and connected to the item he liberated at the start of the issue. Coccolo’s artwork is really good – it’s clear and perfect for the genre, and the final page is a great piece. It is also colourful-but-not-gaudy, with plenty of atmosphere.

I really enjoyed this, and am really looking forward to issue two. A must for fantasy comic fans. I wonder if there are any novels based on a similar premise and set in this reality?

Servant of the Bones #5 & 6 (IDW)

Writer: Ann Rice & Mariah McCourt | Artist: Renae DeLiz & Ray Dillon

Azriel, the Servant of the Bones, saved the scholar Jonathan in his remote cabin one wintry night. He then tells him a tale of ancient Babylon, gods, kings, and secret rites. Able to see the great god of Babylon, Marduk, Azriel is sentenced to a terrible fate by his elders. But even he doesn’t know the horror that awaits him in a secret chamber, or what the centuries of serving one master after another will turn him into... until he ends up in modern day New York City.

A while back, I reviewed the first four issues of this series, and I’m finally able to bring you a review of the final two issues. Just to catch you up, Azriel’s bones have been sold to Gregory Belkin, the leader of a Church of the Mind of God – imagine a large, church-as-business, not unlike Scientology. Gregory’s daughter, Esther, was murdered and Azriel was called from the bones just before. He is still struggling to figure out his place in the world. Here, we start with Azriel in Gregory’s company, and learn of his megalomaniacal plans to increase his own power and shape the world through his church. The first half of the penultimate issue is dialogue-heavy, much of it coming from Gregory, which makes it rather heavy on the delusions of grandeur. When Azriel refuses to serve Gregory and runs away with Mrs Belkin, the church leader turns his attention to destroying Azriel’s gold-plated bones.

I really like DeLiz and Dillon’s artwork – it really suits the story and the aesthetic of Anne Rice’s writing. I’d love to see them tackle the Vampire Chronicles.

With the whole story now complete, I can recommend this to fans of Anne Rice’s fiction, and anyone looking for something a little different in comics. It’s an interesting story, and while I think the novel would probably do a better job, the creative team who worked on the comic have realised it very well. There is a lot going on in the story, and some of it moves a little too quickly, and perhaps we spent a little too long in the earlier issues setting the scene. But, nevertheless, it works rather well.

Valen the Outcast #3 (Boom)

Writer: Michael Alan Nelson | Artist: Matteo Scalera

The King is dead — long live the DEAD KING! King Valen Brand was a just ruler and a great warrior until he was killed in battle by the necromancer Korrus Null and resurrected as one of the walking dead. Now he’s considered an abomination in his own realm, an outcast with only one purpose: to restore his lost soul... Valen has slaughtered his former allies, assembled a ragtag band of renegades and smugglers, and cut a path through his war-torn kingdom as a dozen armies vie for his old throne. But when Korrus Null’s right-hand man finally catches up with him, will Valen fall back under the Necromancer’s wicked control?

After the surprising reveal at the end of the previous episode, Valen’s quest to restore his soul comes up against a more personal obstacle (I really don’t want to spoil the story, so apologise for being so vague). This is not a good issue in which to be a horse. Poor things. Overall, this is a great continuation of the story. There was just one instance of an unclear time-shift, but it didn’t come close to ruining or confusing matters unduly. The issue ends on another cliffhanger, as one of Valen’s companions’ pasts comes back to bite them in the ass. A great series, I highly recommend it to all fantasy fans.

Also Released this Week:

DC/Vertigo: Action Comics #6, Animal Man #6, Batwing #6, Detective Comics #6, Green Arrow #6, Men of War #6, Stormwatch #6, Swamp Thing #6, American Vampire Vol.3 (HC), Batman: Gates of Gotham (TP)

Marvel: Avengers X-Sanction #3, Defenders #3, Uncanny X-Men #6, Villains for Hire #3, Winter Soldier #1, X-Club #3

Dark Horse: Dawn of the Jedi #0

Zenescope: Brimstone #7 (review of #1-7 coming very soon)

February 2012 Top Picks

2012-01-31T19:44:00.001Z

The first half of this year alone sees a high number of highly anticipated titles coming out, and February is a particularly bumper month for the genre fan. So, here’s my top eight for this month. I doubt I’ll be able to read even half of them in February (the best laid plans, etc.), but I thought I’d offer at least a hat-tip for those I may not be able to get around to.

Saladin Ahmed, Throne of the Crescent Moon (Daw)

The Crescent Moon Kingdoms, land of djenn and ghuls, holy warriors and heretics, Khalifs and killers, is at the boiling point of a power struggle between the iron-fisted Khalif and the mysterious master thief known as the Falcon Prince. In the midst of this brewing rebellion a series of brutal supernatural murders strikes at the heart of the Kingdoms. It is up to a handful of heroes to learn the truth behind these killings:

Doctor Adoulla Makhslood, “The last real ghul hunter in the great city of Dhamsawaat,” just wants a quiet cup of tea. Three score and more years old, he has grown weary of hunting monsters and saving lives, and is more than ready to retire from his dangerous and demanding vocation. But when an old flame's family is murdered, Adoulla is drawn back to the hunter’s path.

Raseed bas Raseed, Adoulla’s young assistant, a hidebound holy warrior whose prowess is matched only by his piety, is eager to deliver God’s justice. But even as Raseed’s sword is tested by ghuls and manjackals, his soul is tested when he and Adoulla cross paths with the tribeswoman Zamia.

Zamia Badawi, Protector of the Band, has been gifted with the near-mythical power of the Lion-Shape, but shunned by her people for daring to take up a man’s title. She lives only to avenge her father’s death. Until she learns that Adoulla and his allies also hunt her father’s killer. Until she meets Raseed.

When they learn that the murders and the Falcon Prince’s brewing revolution are connected, the companions must race against time – and struggle against their own misgivings – to save the life of a vicious despot. In so doing they discover a plot for the Throne of the Crescent Moon that threatens to turn Dhamsawaat, and the world itself, into a blood-soaked ruin.

I’ve had the ARC for this for a while, now, but I forgot it in New York. I’d thought I’d be back in the US mid-January, with plenty of time to read and review this before it’s release, but sadly events have conspired to make this impossible. Therefore, this will be the first novel I read upon my return (February 9th, in case anyone’s around and fancies meeting up for drinks) – and I’m really looking forward to it. I’ve heard great things from a few other reviewers whose opinion I trust, so I can’t wait to get stuck into this.

Robert Jackson Bennett, The Troupe (Orbit)

George Carole ran away from home to join the Vaudeville circuit. Sixteen years old, uncommonly gifted at the piano, he falls in with a strange troupe – even for Vaudeville. Under the watchful eye of the enigmatic figure of Silenus, George comes to realise that the members of the troupe are more than they appear to be. And their travels have a purpose that runs deeper than entertainment. George must uncover the mysteries of Silenus’s company before it is too late. He is already entangled in their web of secrets and, if he doesn’t learn where they are taking him, he may never find his way out.

I really enjoyed The Company Man, despite a personal wish that it had been a bit quicker-paced. This new novel sounds pretty cool, and again I’ve heard some very good things from others. I’ve pre-ordered it for my Kindle, so with luck I’ll get to it very soon.

Vince Flynn, Kill Shot (Simon & Schuster)

For months, Mitch Rapp has been steadily working his way through a list of the men responsible for the slaughter of 270 civilians including his own girlfriend in the Pan Am Lockerbie bombing – bullet by bullet.

His next target – a Libyan diplomat – should be easy. Prone to drink and currently in Paris without a bodyguard, Rapp quickly tracks the man down and sends a bullet into his skull while he’s sleeping. But in the split second it takes the bullet to leave the silenced pistol, everything changes. The door to the hotel room is kicked open and gunfire erupts all around Rapp.

When the news breaks that Libya’s Oil Minister has been killed along with three innocent civilians and four unidentified men, the French authorities are certain that the gunman is wounded and still on the loose in Paris. As the finger-pointing begins, Rapp’s handlers have only one choice – deny any responsibility for the incident and race to do damage control. Rapp has become a liability, and he must not be taken alive by the French authorities. But alone in Paris, on the run from the authorities and from his own employers, Mitch Rapp must prepare to fight for his life.

Flynn writes excellent international thrillers, and with Kill Shot we get the second novel focusing on Rapp’s early career. I like that Flynn hasn’t attempted to extend the series too far, and is instead going back to Rapp’s early years. This means he’s able to explore the events that shaped Rapp’s worldview and also his skills as a sanctioned assassin. I do not know, however, what this means for the protégé Rapp was grooming in the later (continuity) novels, Mike Nash. Has he been done away with? I suppose he did suffer from a bit of a breakdown, but still. Nash was a good character.

Matt Forbeck, Carpathia (Angry Robot)

All they dreamed of was rescue. And when the Carpathia steamed over the horizon, the survivors of the Titanic disaster thought their problems were over. But their rescue ship is carrying something. Something old, undying. Something hungry. The lucky ones went down with the ship, in this outrageous tale of icebergs... and vampires.

Vampires and the Titanic? Yeah, there was no way I was going to miss this one. Add to that the fact that I’m familiar with Forbeck’s writing already, and really like it, this really was very high on my to-read list ever since I heard of it. (As a side-note, Matt is also writing the new Magic: The Gathering comic strip for IDW, which is also really good.)

Ari Marmell, The Thief’s Covenant (Pyr)

Once she was Adrienne Satti. An orphan, she had somehow escaped destitution and climbed to the ranks of Davillon’s aristocracy in a rags-to-riches story straight from an ancient fairy tale. Until one night a conspiracy of forces – human and other – stole it all away in a mist of blood and murder. Today she is Widdershins, a thief making her way through Davillon’s underbelly with a sharp blade, a sharper wit, and the mystical aid of Olgun, a foreign god with no other worshippers but Widdershins herself. It’s not a great life, certainly nothing compared to the one she once had... but it’s hers. But now, in the midst of Davillon’s political turmoil, an array of forces is rising up against her, prepared to tear down all that she’s built. The City Guard wants her in prison. Members of her own Guild want her dead. And something dark and ancient is reaching out for her. Widdershins and Olgun are going to find answers, and justice, for what happened to her – but only if those who almost destroyed her in those years gone by don’t finish the job first.

It’s strange. I’ve only read one of Marmell’s novels (The Conqueror’s Shadow), which I thoroughly enjoyed, but I read none of the others despite own all of them. I just always seem to be distracted whenever I go to read one. It might be because I have them all on my Kindle, which means I sometimes forget I have them (I’ve now made a list of everything I have on my Kindle, with the intention of working my way through them all and not consigning them to electronic oblivion – or buying too many more, but that’s probably going to happen, list or no). Thief’s Covenant, however, I have as a printed ARC, so I’ll definitely be reading it pretty soon – probably after Throne of the Crescent Moon. It will also be the first YA novel I’ve read since before “YA” was a named genre, almost.

Matthew Reilly, Scarecrow & the Army of Thieves (Orion)

At an abandoned Soviet base in the Arctic, a battle to save all life on Earth is about to begin...

THE SECRET BASE: It is a top-secret base known only as Dragon Island. A long-forgotten relic of the Cold War, it houses a weapon of terrible destructive force, a weapon that has just been re-activated...

AN ARMY OF MURDERERS: When Dragon Island is seized by a brutal terrorist force calling itself the Army of Thieves, the fate of the world suddenly hangs in the balance. But there are no crack units close enough to get to Dragon in time to stop the Army setting off the weapon.

ONE SMALL TEAM: Except, that is, for a small equipment-testing team up in the Arctic led by a Marine captain named Schofield, call-sign SCARECROW. It’s not a strike team; just a handful of Marines and civilians. It’s not equipped to attack a fortified island held by a small army. But it will go in anyway, because someone has to.

Ah, I love Reilly’s novels. They are great fun, mixing mystery, action, adventure and occasionally some conspiracy into fast-paced, exhilarating thrillers. Like his peer James Rollins, I usually snap up a new Reilly novel as soon as I can, and I’ve pre-ordered this for my Kindle, so expect a review pretty soon after it’s released (probably towards the end of the the month, then).

Anne Rice, The Wolf Gift (Knopf)

The time is the present.

The place, the rugged coast of Northern California. A bluff high above the Pacific. A grand mansion full of beauty and tantalizing history set against a towering redwood forest.

A young reporter on assignment from the San Francisco Observer. An older woman welcoming him into her magnificent family home that he has been sent to write about and that she must sell with some urgency. A chance encounter between two unlikely people. An idyllic night — shattered by horrific unimaginable violence, the young man inexplicably attacked — bitten — by a beast he cannot see in the rural darkness. A violent episode that sets in motion a terrifying yet seductive transformation, as the young man, caught between ecstasy and horror, between embracing who he is evolving into and fearing what he will become, soon experiences the thrill of the wolf gift.

As he resists the paradoxical pleasure and enthrallment of his wolfen savagery and delights in the power and (surprising) capacity for good, he is caught up in a strange and dangerous rescue and is desperately hunted as “the Man Wolf” by authorities, the media, and scientists (evidence of DNA threatens to reveal his dual existence). As a new and profound love enfolds him, questions emerge that propel him deeper into his mysterious new world: questions of why and how he has been given this gift; of its true nature and the curious but satisfying pull towards goodness; of the profound realization that there may be others like him who are watching — guardian creatures who have existed throughout time who possess ancient secrets and alchemical knowledge. And throughout it all, the search for salvation for a soul tormented by a new realm of temptations, and the fraught, exhilarating journey, still to come, of being and becoming, fully, both wolf and man.

I’m a huge fan of the first five novels in Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles (which I’d like to write a review for, at some point). I’ve not read her Christ series, nor have I read her most recent Heaven-and-Hell duology, her Mayfair Witches series, or actually anything other than the tales of Lestat and company. This year, I hope to change that. As is clear from the rather long synopsis (and more-succinct title), in Wolf Gift Rice turns her attention to werewolves. I’m interested to see how she interprets this supernatural species. I really hope it doesn’t devolve too much into paranormal romance…

David Tallerman, The Giant Thief (Angry Robot)

Meet Easie Damasco, rogue, thieving swine and total charmer.

Even the wicked can’t rest when a vicious warlord and the force of enslaved giants he commands invade their homeland. Damasco might get away in one piece, but he’s going to need help.

Big time.

I’ve heard some great things about Tallerman’s debut – that it’s a fun fantasy that doesn’t take itself too seriously, most notably – so I have been looking forward to this for a while. I am, in fact, about halfway through it at the moment. It’s too early to tell what I think of it exactly, as I think there are strengths and weaknesses throughout. I’ll write a more considered review, of course, but it is proving to be a brisk and quite fun read.

So, what novels are you looking forward to in February?

“Cobra: Season 2” (IDW)

2012-01-31T08:00:00.000Z

Continuing my newfound addiction to G.I.Joe-related comics… The Story of Cobra

In the second season of Cobra, readers get a deeper look inside the Cobra organisation than ever before, as Tomax, Xamot, and Erika continue to feel the effects of the previous miniseries, and more important and powerful players are introduced into the mix. Several Cobra operatives of old are also reintroduced to this new continuity.

So, in order to catch up with the new IDW-published G.I.Joe and Cobra timeline, I decided to buy the back issues. Thankfully, they were all going for quite cheap on comiXology (a site/service I am coming to feel extremely fond of), so I snapped up all of the issues. This series has three main acts, and the cover images have been split up accordingly.

Needless to say, I thoroughly enjoyed these.

Reviewed herein: Cobra Special #1, Cobra II #1-13, Cobra Special #2

Cobra Special #1

Writer: Mike Costa | Artist: Antonio Fuso

Spinning out of G.I.Joe: Cobra, this one-shot follows up on #4’s surprise reveal and focuses on the Paoli Twins.

I found this special issue pretty interesting. It focuses on the Cobra twins, Tomax and Xamot, and explains their working and personal relationship, and how Chuckles’ infiltration of their organisation effects their bond and agendas. I can’t go too much into the story, but it’s very well written, and it’s very interesting to see what happens to two identical villains, physically and intellectually, who have shared everything, when one of the twins, Xamot, experiences something painful and unique. Their shared lack of emotion to others for once is turned back on them, and fractures start to appear in their relationship. The events of this special will have repercussions throughout the Cobra series, right up until the final page of issue thirteen.

Cobra Volume II: 1-13

Writer: Mike Costa & Christos Gage | Artists: Antonio Fuso, Lovern Kindzierski, Sergio Carrera, J.K. Woodward, Peter Dawes

Chuckles is the only man alive to have successfully infiltrated Cobra… and he’s M.I.A. Has he been killed? Defected? Gone rogue to fight a one-man war against the enemy? None of these alternatives are acceptable to General Hawk. He wants Chuckles back with G.I.Joe, so he’s sending a new Joe to retrieve him. But what she finds may be worse than anyone could have imagined…

The first story arc focuses on the aftermath and fallout from season one, and we also see the above-reviewed Cobra Special start to have an impact on the Paoli’s operations. The arc starts with the attempted rescue of Chuckles by his new handler, Chameleon. Things don’t go quite how Chameleon and General Hawk intended, however, because Chuckles is still stuck on his previous mission, uninterested in coming in or answering to anyone else. Chuckles’s storyline is interesting. He’s been hollowed out by the events of the first season, and he’s becoming a bit suicidal. Erika le Tene, Chuckles’s former lover and assistant to Tomax and Xamot, is noticing an escalation in her employers’ illegal activities and brutal methods. At the same time, she must navigate working for the two Paoli brothers, one of whom is becoming ever more erratic. Erika becomes ever more uncomfortable with her position in the Paoli’s organisation, and things soon come to a head that leave her no other choice but to attempt to escape.

One of the most interesting things for me, alongside the greater insight into the Cobra organisational idiosyncrasies and operatives, was how ruthless General Hawk is when it comes to Chuckles’s mission. He’s almost as bad as Cobra (something Chameleon calls him out on), and this adds the nuance and anti-sheen I’d been hoping for – in other instances, the G.I.Joes are just a little too clean, and little too virtuous and perfect. That being said, Hawks’s dismissal of Chuckles was a little more cold than expected, and this certainly added to the story.

The first arc finishes on quite a bombshell, and offers exciting hints for what is to come in the future (events I’ve already read and written about on the blog).

Serpent’s Tale: General Hawk has lost all contact with Special Agent Chuckles, whose mission was to infiltrate the mysterious and evil organisation COBRA. With few clues about the nature of the shadowy organisation, Hawk is forced to turn to unorthodox measures in his quest to find the intel essential to bringing Cobra down…

The second story arc in this series focuses on the more unusual Serpentor, and his cult, The Coil. I’ve always thought this was probably the weakest part of the whole G.I.Joe universe, but I came in with a relatively open mind and hope that this would be written and composed as well as the rest of the series. As it turns out, the Coil is a handy narrative device to introduce us to some of the more strange members of Cobra.

It’s an interesting opening scene, in issue five, when the head of the cult – so far only identified as Manasian – explains and defends the public nature of the Coil (lots of tired and over-used phrases from politicians, as should be expected; attention is nicely diverted).

In order to find out more about this cult, General Hawk turns to Scoop, an off-the-books civilian private investigator. This was an interesting change – in the early G.I.Joe comics I read, Scoop was a full member of G.I.Joe (in fact, my first comic was the one that introduced the character – his first mission was, to say the least, not a walk in the park…). I have a soft-spot for journalist characters (see, for example, Jason Pinter’s novels), especially those who have fallen on hard times, chasing a huge story only to get burned for having the balls to do so. A cliché? Yes, I suppose it is, but when put in this setting, it doesn’t feel tired.

I have to be honest, though – the second issue in this arc (#6) wasn’t the best. Half of it offered some weird, religious-art representations from texts aimed at younger people, explaining the history of The Coil, going back centuries. This was rather off-putting, and kind of detracted from the main story, which I won’t spoil. The actually story-part of that issue is very good, and builds nicely on the previous issue. But the other stuff (every other page) wasn’t so good, and therefore this issue was only half as satisfying as the ones that had come before and after.

Issue seven takes us on a slight detour away from the Coil and Scoop’s investigation, and gives us a look at the origin of one of the stranger Cobra operatives, and Coil member: the Croc Master. He appeared in the first couple of issues, when Erika le Tene confronted him, but I didn’t know much about him. He seems to be the lone non-lefty eco-terrorist. It’s an interesting story, nicely done (written, drawn and coloured), and adds a nice extra layer to the readers’ overall picture of the types of people attracted to and employed by the Coil and Cobra in general. Issue eight introduces us to Cobra’s psychotic war trainer, and the unbelievably brutal training regimen the prospective troops are put through. Survival rate? Very, very low. As all the threads are drawn back to Scoop’s story, it builds to a tragic end that I had not at all seen coming.

Death of Cobra Commander: At last we return to the story of Chuckles, who was last seen in the custody of Cobra. But is he a prisoner… or an honoured guest? Can the man whose life was ruined pretending to be join Cobra have finally given in?

The final story arc brings us back to Chuckles and his fight against Cobra. He’s in a strange position – he’s held at Cobra headquarters, but nobody’s interrogating him. In fact, he seems to be rather comfortable. Nevertheless, his mission remains his driving motivation, and he does everything he can to escape. The penultimate issue in the series I’ve already covered in a previous review, as it was contained in the Death of Cobra Commander Special. Just for a quick re-cap – Chuckles’s plans come to fruition, just as the Paoli twins crack under the pressure of having Chuckles actively recruited by their boss, and Xamot’s increasing unpredictability proves deadly, all followed by the fallout of the Chuckles’s bloody success. The whole series is brought to an explosive, quite moving finale.

The artwork across all three story arcs is distinctive and well composed. It’s a little sketch-like, for the main, with attention to the overall composition than individual details. That being said, there are some great, eye-catching and detailed full-page pieces sprinkled throughout these issues. The colouring is often dark and gloomy, but with occasional brighter panels to add welcome contrast. Very atmospheric, and perfectly suited to the tone of the story.

Cobra Special #2

Writer: Mike Costa | Artist: Antonio Fuso

Her name is Chameleon, and she is the Joe’s newest recruit in Cobra II. Now we see the rest of her story – her recruitment, her first mission, and her mysterious connection to… [censored].

This is an interesting extra, filling us in a little bit about the Joe’s newest recruit. She’s a broken and abandoned young woman, but one with a gift for blending in. This is her induction into the Joe’s covert operations, as well as her interrogation by Firewall. Her first mission goes well, as Chameleon taps into reserves of aristocratic arrogance, calling forth a performance she was possibly meant to play her entire life. I don’t think it’s essential reading, if you’re following the overall story, but it’s a nice extra, should you want some more G.I.Joe comic action. The artwork’s not so ‘clean’: there is an almost rushed quality to a lot of it, with a few more detailed panels for contrast and to draw specific emphasis to plot points.

***

Cobra Series II (pre-Civil War) has been collected into three trade paperback editions:

“Strata” by Brad Beaulieu & Stephen Gaskell

2012-01-30T10:00:00.000Z

Sci-Fi Novella

It’s the middle of the twenty-second century. Earth’s oil and gas reserves have been spent, but humankind’s thirst for energy remains unquenched. Vast solar mining platforms circle the upper atmosphere of the sun, drawing power lines up from the stellar interior and tight-beaming the energy back to Earth. For most of the platforms’ teeming masses, life is hard, cramped — and hot. Most dream of a return Earthside, but a two-way ticket wasn’t part of the benefits package, and a Sun-Earth trip doesn’t come cheap.

Kawe Ndechi is luckier than most. He’s a gifted rider — a skimmer pilot who races the surface of the sun’s convection zone — and he needs only two more wins before he lands a ticket home. The only trouble is, Kawe’s spent most of his life on the platforms. He’s seen the misery, and he’s not sure he’s the only one who deserves a chance at returning home.

That makes Smith Pouslon nervous. Smith once raced the tunnels of fire himself, but now he’s a handler, and his rider, Kawe, is proving anything but easy to handle. Kawe’s slipping deeper and deeper into the Movement, but Smith knows that’s a fool’s game. His own foray into the Movement cost him his racing career — and nearly his life — and he doesn’t want Kawe to throw everything away for a revolt that will never succeed.

One sun. Two men. The fate of a million souls.

In this novella, Beaulieu and Gaskell introduce us to a dystopian, corporate-dominated far future, in which workers struggle for their rights while slaving away on the energy harvesting platforms that orbit the Sun. With echoes of many of today’s political issues, Strata is an intelligent, well-written, and character-driven story of personal and political struggle.

Strata manages to pack quite a bit of action and tension into such a short amount of space. Presented from two perspectives – Poulson’s and Kawe’s, the authors offer us a glimpse into the brutal, soul-destroying lives of the workers on the Sun platforms. Contracted as indentured slaves, effectively, the working population of these platforms have few outlets or diversions. One of them is the racing, which mixes speed and danger in equal measures sure to excite the down-trodden workers of the platform and give them a momentary respite from the brutal, baking work conditions to which they are subjected daily.

Through the discussions between Poulson and Kawe, as well as the work of the Movement (an underground resistance to the official, corporate overlords), we learn more of the “extra-legal” status of these platforms around the sun and the illegal work conditions this allows, and the power of the corporations to change rules to suit their needs and profit-margins. The Movement are fighting for their rights against the corporations that seem to be winning “stunning” legal victories for even more perfect deals and so forth. It’s not difficult to spot parallels with today’s legal and political battles in the United States and elsewhere (but particularly Wisconsin – Beaulieu’s home state). I think the authors have taken the modern-day concerns and transposed them onto this speculative setting very well while not detracting from the character-story that is also at play here.

The authors draw on two classic character types, as well as their dynamic – the old, grizzled and cynical former freedom fighter, and the more radical and idealistic new generation activist. Rather than offer a retread of standard trope, however, they manage to make it their own in a way that feels both fresh and original. Poulson is clearly the father-figure Kawe always wanted and needed, and that comes with similar disappointments and confrontations that would imply. As we learn more of Kawe and Poulson’s situations and pasts, the reasons they are each drawn to the Movement and approach it the way they do become clearer. Poulson is suffering from memories and experiences of defeat in the past; while Kawe is idealistically taken in by the promise of a better life, and wishes to be an agent of change for the only life he’s ever known. Poulson’s cynicism has become pretty entrenched, and it’s almost as if he’s given up.

“Management cannot be stopped. Not by me, not by you, and not by your little friends.”

“They’re not gods.”

“The men in the offices? No, you’re right. But the platforms themselves... I couldn’t call them gods so much as machines – cold, relentless machines. And you and me? We’re just tiny cogs to be replaced when we get bent out of shape.”

As events take a turn for the deadly, Poulson becomes more paranoid, as he questions much of the good in his life, wondering if it’s all a lie, put in place to keep him quiet, distracted and docile. He also has to confront reality, and decide whether or not he should re-join the fight. Kawe, who spends most of the story looking up to Poulson, eventually becomes an inspiration for the older character.

It’s a classic “beware unfettered corporations” tale, transposed on a new and interesting setting. I’m sure this could have worked as a full-length novel, which would have allowed for greater fleshing out of the world. This, actually, is my only complaint about the novella – although, “wanting more” is hardly something to worry any author. With more space and time, I think more could have been made of Kawe and Poulson, their pasts and relationships with other characters. Nevertheless, this was still a satisfying story.

It’s a story of redemption, and it’s an examination of how far people will go for what they believe, and what they’re willing to sacrifice (in terms of personally and also, in one particularly chilling instance, collateral damage): “When your enemy was so ruthless, so casual in their regard for human life, you could only win if you rose to their level of brutality.”

Ultimately, Strata was a thought-provoking and engaging novella. Poulson and Kawe were great, well-drawn protagonists. I really hope Gaskell and Beaulieu can be convinced to write either more novellas in this world or even venture into novel-length territory.

This is a highly recommended, great-value novella.

Guest Post: On Co-Authoring STRATA, by Brad Beaulieu & Steve Gaskell

2012-01-30T08:00:00.000Z

First of all, thanks to Stefan for inviting us to stop by and talk a bit about Strata, our new dystopian sci-fi thriller. When Stefan first asked us over, we thought a bit about what would make for a good post, and it seemed as though discussing the characters we initially developed and how they changed would make for some interesting reading, especially for those that have wondered how collaborations work.

Steve:

I’m not sure how universal this feeling is — although I’m sure it’s part of what makes any piece of fiction “work” — but when I read a great story I experience a tangible “realness” to the world and the events; a feeling that the things portrayed couldn’t have been any other way, that the place the characters inhabit truly exists in some Platonic realm and is happily chugging along in its own dimension regardless of whether a writer is recording things for posterity or not. The writer as journalist sending postcards from the edge. A feeling that somewhere this stuff actually happened. As a writer it’s a terrifying thing to know. You bumble through your stage-managed scenes one painful sentence at a time, knowing that the thin strut that holds up the background could break irretrievably at any moment.

So how does this relate to Strata? Well, hands-down Strata is the best piece of worldbuilding I’ve ever worked on. When Brad came to me in early 2008 with the seed for a SF story — solar windsurfing in the sun — I think neither of us had any idea what an amazing journey we were about to embark on. A combination of ruptured schedules and the creative back-and-forth that co-writing entails meant that, for me at least, before we really started writing the novella in earnest we had some seriously solid worldbuilding down. Whereas if I’d been working on my own I would have begun writing much earlier in proceedings, writing with Brad meant that we both got our ideas on the table before that stage. Of course, the act of writing a scene still involves plenty of creation, but with everything we’d fleshed out in terms of the platforms, the social make-up of the workforce, the skimmer racing, etc., it felt like we had a safety net for the high-wire performance.

Poulson was, I think, the first character mooted for the story, and it was a very energising experience watching him develop in tandem with the world. Like most fictional characters, to begin with he didn’t have a name, a job, a family, and outlook — anything. Well, maybe he had one thing: an ex-job. He used to be a skimmer racer. Everything else accreted around him, and gradually he changed from cliché to workable player to someone who lived and breathed, someone I could picture walking down my street with his crutch and his limp and his gruff integrity. And then we put him through the wringer and I could really feel his pain. Aside from the worldbuilding lesson, I think what Strata underlined to me most was how much more compelling, how much easier a story is to write, when you have a firm handle on your characters. Settings come alive as you paint the world through their eyes. The plot falls into place because you understand their motives. The emotional heart of the story is easier to identify because you know how they feel. Smith Poulson. Hmm, maybe it’s time to write another tale about Smith Poulson and Exx-Pac...

Brad:

On my blog, when I announced Strata, I mentioned that I had only bare bones when I came up with the initial story idea. I had a vision in my mind for how the solar racing might work, but even that was a pretty loose concept at the time. I did this on purpose because I wanted to work with a collaborator on this story. I’d been to Clarion with Steve, and he was the one I immediately thought of. His writing is not only great, but similar to my own in terms of style and tone. We (normally) stand on opposite sides of the sci-fi/fantasy divide, and for me that was one of the draws: to learn from Steve as we worked in his playground.

When I say “I didn't have much” for the story, I mean it. I didn’t even have characters in mind. That came later after Steve and I started hashing this back and forth. However it happened, I was the one that created Kawe’s initial concept. In the beginning, Kawe was young and brash. He was young and brash in the end as well, but this early version of Kawe didn’t have much outside of himself. He was a straw man. I knew that he was self-centered; the only thing that really mattered to him was racing. And this, I think, was one of the keys to the deepening of the story. We started digging into his past, into who he was and what had shaped him. One of the most gratifying parts of the brainstorming process was to figure out not only where he’d been raised, but how, and this turned out to be a link that had been missing from the story thus far: a strong connection to Earth. Unlike Poulson, Kawe hadn’t been born on the platform; he’d been born on Earth, in Sudan, and from this — his underprivileged upbringing — we saw just how difficult it can be to protect yourself when signing a contract with a corporation that has a GDP the size of, well, Sudan.

And then we understood. Kawe raced (at least initially) in order to escape. And not just Kawe, but everyone on the solar mining platform where the story takes place. This deepened Kawe immensely. He started to think outwardly instead of inwardly. He started to care for something other than his own well being. Even so, that younger version of himself was still close by, which to me made for a very compelling character. He became a great foil for Poulson, who at one time was every bit as bright and idealistic as Kawe but through misfortune has become apathetic. Kawe eventually became a proxy for those on the platform — the growing few — who believed that something had to be done about management’s power grab, that it wasn’t okay to trample the Everyman. I hadn’t meant it to, but it clearly tapped into some of my own feelings about corporate power, and it was not only interesting but enlightening to see it personified in this headstrong young man.

* * *

Strata is available now as an eBook.

Brad’s debut novel, The Winds of Khalakovo, is available now in print, and on the Kindle and Nook. The sequel, The Straits of Galahesh, will be published by Night Shade Books in April 2012. You can find out more about his writing on his website and twitter.

Information about Steve’s writing and published works can be found on his website and he can be found on twitter as well.

“Marksmen” #1-5 (Image)

2012-01-29T08:00:00.000Z

Writer: David Baxter & Dave Elliott | Artist: Javier Aranda, Garry Leach & Jessica Kholine

Sixty years ago the oil ran out and debts were called in. Civil war followed that splintered America into warring fiefdoms. New San Diego is a technocratic utopia that offers the last bastion of peace and prosperity, provided you live within its walls. Drake McCoy is its best protector. McCoy, an expert marksman, defends the city from the numerous threats in the wasteland outside the walls. But when the oil rich Lone Star state sends a powerful army to steal New San Diego's energy technology, even Drake’s leadership and skill may not be enough to fend off the siege.

Marksmen is a post-economic-apocalypse mini-series. It takes the current dire economic state of America and extrapolates a worst-case scenario. Blending a number of post-apocalyptic tropes (feral gangs living in the wilds and cannibals, for example) with some original elements, this is a pretty good series. It has a few more flaws than I would ordinarily like, but it should still appeal to fans of the genre who want a short series to read.

After a massive recession the United States government collapsed, leading to civil war between the cities and states, all of whom hoped to keep any last resources for themselves. The war destroyed America’s infrastructure and most of its population were killed. Much of America now looks something like this:

New San Diego is one of only a few cities to survive, because it cut itself off from the rest of the country. The city has been rebuilt, and is protected by the Marksmen, the descendants of the Navy Seals who were stationed at the Coronado Navel Base at the time of the collapse.

The story kicks off with Drake, one of the Marksmen, out on a mission apparently to salvage some data from an abandoned settlement. On the way, he acquires a canine companion and is ambushed by a gang of cannibals – and so begins our introduction to this world. He is rescued by some emigrants from Lone Star (a surviving Texas city) making their way to New San Diego. They hope to warn NSD authorities that a Lone Star army is headed their way, intent on acquiring solar technology at any cost – preferably one measured in bullets and dead NSD inhabitants. As it turns out, wars will still be fought over energy resources and technology.

As we read more, we learn of the tensions within the NSD military ranks, as well as a few bombshells that could spell disaster for certain relationships – new and old. The writing’s not bad, but sometimes it doesn’t have quite the natural feel I had hoped for. Some of the rivalries between a couple of the Marksmen felt forced, for example, as if put into the story just so we could have some intra-unit friction. I’m not sure it was entirely necessary, to be honest, but it does add an extra element to the story and I think there may have been a better way to do it, if the series had been longer. At just six issues, though, I suppose expediency was a real issue. By the end of the second issue, we learn more of Lone Star’s leader’s plans – the Duke is willing to use some pretty ruthless tactics to unite his people behind an all-out attack on New San Diego.

The artwork’s quite nice – it’s cleaner than the cover art would suggest, with some great full-page pieces (especially at the end of each issue). The action’s portrayed nicely, and not exaggerated (same cannot be said for one of the female emigrant, Cammy’s figure – silicone implants and Wonderbras appear to have not died out with society and the economy…). There were a few moments when perspectives seemed a little off – a large group of warriors from one side surround a captive, who nevertheless manages to escape rather easily. There were too many coincidental moments in the story that could have been handled a lot better.

The tension is ramped up over the course of these five issues, and for the most part it’s done very well. I think the writing could have been a bit stronger overall; the dialogue sometimes just didn’t really feel right, and the ease with which characters flipped their allegiances or broke loyalties didn’t always ring true. Ultimately, I think this series needed more space – more issues, which would have allowed for a little more world-building and character development. Nevertheless, this is overall an interesting and enjoyable title, and I look forward to reading the final part of the story.

Editor Amanda Rutter talks Strange Chemistry

2012-01-28T13:11:00.000Z

Earlier this year, Angry Robot Books announced their new Young Adult fiction imprint, Strange Chemistry (they have also announced a new crime fiction imprint). To find out a little more about the new imprint, I got in touch with Amanda Rutter, Strange Chemistry editor and former blogger on Floor to Ceiling Books.

So. Let’s start things off easy. Launching in September 2012, what is Strange Chemistry all about?

Hi Stefan, thanks for having me!

Strange Chemistry is the new YA imprint introduced by Angry Robot Books. It aims to bring you the very best in unique and wonderfully-written YA novels, under the general banner of SF/F. As you’ve come to expect from Angry Robot, you’ll get some weird and wonderful books that really stretch the boundaries of your imagination.

Any authors we should be looking out for?

As it happens, we have very recently announced the first two signings from the imprint! We’re thrilled to say that we’ll be publishing Kim Curran’s SHIFT and Sean Cummings’ POLTERGEEKS. Both fabulous novels, but very different – the former is a taut SF thriller involving the idea of ‘shifting’ decisions, while the latter is a teen urban fantasy featuring a rather snarky apprentice witch.

As you can see, we really want to represent the full spectrum of SF/F ideas and the YA arena is perfectly placed to host these novels, with its progressive and inclusive approach to ideas.

For aspiring authors thinking of approaching Strange Chemistry, what sort of novels are you most interested in?

For us, the sort of novels that will appeal the most are those with a fully rounded and believable protagonist. Good world-building will thrill us (we are currently considering a novel that has a truly wonderful far future setting, for instance), but, without that powerful central protagonist, novels will feel a little flat.

In terms of SF/F/Horror – well, we’re willing to look at any and all of these (and any combination of them as well!)

Other than Strange Chemistry authors, who are your top picks for 2012?

YA has opened with a truly astounding January and only looks to get stronger! We’ve already had Cinder by Marissa Meyer and a new novel by the always brilliant John Green, The Fault in our Stars. Over the rest of the year Veronica Roth is bringing out the impatiently-awaited sequel to Divergent – Insurgent – and we have the start of a new series by Julie Kagawa, called The Immortal Rules.

In terms of adult SF/F we’re looking forward to Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed, 2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson and Whispers Underground by Ben Aaronovitch (three very different novels, but which demonstrate the vitality of what can be achieved in SF/F).

How does it feel to be the editor of a new imprint, after being an avid reader and blogger for so long?

Well, I don’t think anyone is going to be surprised to hear that, personally, it is an utter dream to be working as an editor! In the first two months, I have already chosen novels that will be published later this year and started the editing process. I have experienced the art of negotiating contracts with agents and enjoyed the publicity planning to accompany the releases from Strange Chemistry.

Every day has been so different – and, unquestioningly, I am excited to face every new day.

Anything else you’d like to share with readers?

Well... you might have heard by now that Angry Robot is running another Open Door period for unagented submissions. Having seen the success achieved last year, we have decided that Strange Chemistry would also get involved – we’re absolutely sure that there is talent out there just waiting to be spotted! So that is happening very soon.

As the SC editor, I’ve also been invited to be involved in a slush pile challenge for the British SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators). More news on that will be on their website. I’m certainly being kept busy, that's for sure!

Oh, and of course there will be a mass attendance of the SFX Weekender in the UK by Angry Robot and Strange Chemistry, so do come and find us to say hello.

Thanks so much for hosting the interview.

Guest Post: “Influences & Inspirations” by Claire McGowan

2012-01-27T08:00:00.000Z

Claire McGowan grew up in a small village in Northern Ireland. After a gaining a degree from Oxford University and “spells in exciting places” including France, Oxford, and China, McGowan moved to London, where she lives with a very cute beagle (check out her website for more on that) and is the Director of the Crime Writers’ Association. The Fall is her first novel, and to celebrate its release I asked her if she’d be interested to write a short piece about some inspirations and influences.

Some places seem to lend themselves to dark deeds – the creaking old house, the sinister woods, the mysterious island. When the main character in a novel sets off in the dark, during the storm, when the murderer’s on the loose, we just know something bad is about to happen. It’s like watching a bad horror film where the victims decide to split up and look for help in the disused fairground/mine shaft/home of the supposedly dead killer – clearly, it’s not going to end well. The setting tells us everything we need to know, so we can settle back and look forward to being scared, shocked, and gripped.

I’ve always loved reading crime novels with a strong sense of place, whether Agatha Christie’s Orient Express, the dark side of Colin Dexter’s Oxford, or the bleak seaside setting of what may be the first crime novel – Wilkie Collins’ The Moonstone. One writer I hugely admire is Barbara Vine, who makes brilliant use of both setting and period in her books. I read The House of Stairs long before I ever visited west London, but it perfectly captured for me both the atmosphere of Notting Hill, and the feel of the city in the sixties. Period is also part of setting – there’s an extra thrill to be had reading about the dark history (real or fictional) of a street you’ve actually walked down.

I myself come from what should be a fertile setting for crime: a small village on the Northern Ireland border. The North is a place of contradictions – stunning scenery, a dark history, isolated villages where everyone knows your business, distrust and resentment, warmth and humour. Being Irish is a real gift for a crime writer.

However, when I started to write my first novel, The Fall, I wanted to set it on streets I’d known more recently – north London, specifically Camden and Hampstead. I first moved to London in 2007, when I rented a flat on Kentish Town Road. After that I lived round Hampstead and Belsize Park for a few years. I was fascinated by the different people I saw living there, and how I could move in ten minutes from the estates of Gospel Oak, to the well-heeled houses round the heath. In the book I’ve tried to reconcile the London I know, of office jobs and Soho bars, with the one that abuts it, of homeless shelters, laundrettes, and violent crime.

I found that, as I wrote, the setting became bound up in the theme of the book – how a violent act can bring us into contact with strangers, and link us to them in ways we can’t control. In my London, I might sit next to anyone on the bus or stand behind them in the supermarket queue, but most of the people I got to know were just like me, with similar backgrounds and interests. The Fall is about what happens when very different people have to work together in the aftermath of a crime, to rebuild their lives and discover what really happened that night. And although I love books where the past returns in sinister ways, I was very clear that this book was rooted in contemporary London, the one I’d lived in.

Setting is a key aspect of a good crime novel, I think. Used well, it can become almost another character in the book. The best type of setting will seep into the book, driving the plot, defining character – what happens when this person is placed in a difficult or isolated place, or a situation of violence? A change of setting is the classic catalyst for a plot – the protagonist may go to a new place (often to escape a personal trauma), or someone new may arrive, upsetting the order of things. I’ve said that some places are classic crime settings – dark, spooky, and sinister -but the truth is crime can happen anywhere. It would be an even greater challenge to make an innocuous place deeply frightening – a playground, say, or a beautiful house (something Sophie Hannah often does), or somewhere unusual like a train or a boat, or even a plane (I’ll have that one if no one’s done it yet). After all, it’s not really the setting that’s dangerous – it’s the characters we put into it that you have to watch out for.

Upcoming: “Magic: An Anthology of the Esoteric and Arcane” (Solaris)

2012-01-26T12:32:00.001Z

Forthcoming anthology draws big name authors

Following in the wake of two other critically-acclaimed Solaris themed anthologies, The End of the Line (set on the London Underground) and House of Fear (haunted house stories), Solaris Books will be publishing Magic: An Anthology of the Esoteric and Arcane in November 2012 in both the US and UK.

Before I get into who’s contributing pieces for the anthology (it’s a great line up, so just bear with me) – how cool is that cover? Really like it.

Anyway, back to the content. There are a couple of genre-fiction big-name authors taking part in the anthology – for example, Civilian Reader favourite (and New York Times bestseller) Dan Abnett, and also Sophia McDougall and Will Hill. There will also be contributions by some newcomers, such as Lou Morgan, who had this to say about working on the anthology:

“I’m thrilled to be part of a line-up which includes so many authors I respect and admire, as well as to be working with Solaris again. There’s such a great mix that I’m really looking forward to seeing what everyone comes up with! My own story revolves around a man who can never quite get away from his past – and for whom magic is far more of a curse than it is a blessing...”

Lou is on my list of Authors To Watch in 2012, and her debut novel – Blood & Feathers – will be published this year in July. I will also be posting and interview with Lou on February 15th, so be sure to check back for that.

Sophia McDougall, author of the Romanitas trilogy (Romanitas, Rome Burning, Savage City), says:

“Surely everyone has at some point tried to do magic. Wishing on birthday cake candles, or willing an exam hall clock to turn back, or quietly trying to levitate a pencil with your brain – if you have not, I suggest you give it a go right now – 0r how are we to know you are not the wizard we have been waiting for? The concept of a source of incredible power that humans might be able to access, is deeply seductive.

“Magic makes the world amenable to human patterns – willing to bargain, tameable. Yet magic is frightening, because it also does the opposite. Even before you give up your soul or your firstborn, the price of magic is accepting we might have fundamentally misunderstood the way the universe works. Magic means you don’t know what’s going on under your nose: it means threats could lurk in the seemingly harmless and you might not be able to make yourself safe. And while, outside fiction, we can probably be pretty sure that magic does not exist, it remains a good lens for looking at our relationship with the unknown and with our limits. Magic works in the overlap between our strongest desires to control the world and our worst fears it will control us. ”

But, the name that has topped every press release and other blog post about the coming book, is Audrey Niffenegger – mega-selling author of The Time-Traveller’s Wife, who is writing her first short story for a commercial trade anthology. Here’s what she had to say about the anthology:

“I'm delighted to be involved in this project… My story is called The Wrong Fairie and is about Charles Altamont Doyle. He was a Victorian artist who was institutionalized for alcoholism. He was also the father of Arthur Conan Doyle, and he believed in fairies.”

As far as I can tell, the full line-up has not been finalised, but here are the names already announced: Alison Littlewood, Dan Abnett, Christopher Fowler, Storm Constantine, Robert Shearman, Paul Meloy, Sophia McDougall, Will Hill, Gemma Files, Sarah Lotz, Lou Morgan, Thana Niveau, and more.

“Goliath” by Scott Westerfeld (Simon & Schuster)

2012-01-26T08:00:00.000Z

Reviewed by Alyssa

The exciting conclusion to the Leviathan Trilogy

Alek and Deryn are aboard the Leviathan when the ship is ordered to pick up an unusual passenger. This brilliant/maniacal inventor claims to have a weapon called Goliath that can end the war. But whose side is he really on?

While on their top-secret mission, Alek finally discovers Deryn’s deeply kept secret. Two, actually. Not only is Deryn a girl disguised as a guy... she has feelings for Alek.

The crown, true love with a commoner, and the destruction of a great city all hang on Alek’s next-and final-move.

I am a big fan of Scott Westerfeld, and have particularly enjoyed the Leviathan Trilogy (see my review of Behemoth, the second book in the trilogy, here). Goliath delivers on all of the promise of the first two books. It is a fast-paced adventure that takes us around the globe, filled with fantastic creatures and machines. The rest of the review will contain minor spoilers for the first two books, so if you haven’t already started this series, stop reading now, track down Leviathan and start there – the Leviathan Trilogy is well worth your time.

Goliath begins with Alek and Deryn newly returned to the Leviathan and re-adjusting to the structures and routines of the ship after the independence of Istanbul. Alek is becoming increasingly frustrated with the limitations he encounters as a foreign civilian on a military ship, and firmly believes he is destined to end the war, while Deryn struggles with her feelings for Alek and her fear of discovery, which could ruin her friendship with Alek, destroy her career, and disgrace the airship she considers her home. When the Leviathan picks up Nikola Tesla in what can only be described as mysterious circumstances, the stakes are raised for both characters.

Westerfeld does a masterful job of constructing his story: the pace is fast, with personal revelations and risks interweaving with events of broader import. He does not give us time to get bored. While I don’t know that I had an idea of how it would happen, the manner and timing of Alek’s discovery of Deryn’s secret surprised me in the best possible way, and worked very well to further the plot. Both Alek and Deryn have grown over the trilogy, and continue to do so: in order to get what they want, and even to survive, they will have to give up some of their illusions, and to consider new and different ways to pursue their dreams.

One of the great achievements of these novels is that they broaden our understanding of our own history, even as they create a new one: Alek and Deryn’s journey around the world shows them the hand of the war beyond the European fronts that readers are familiar with – this war is at work in Japan, Mexico, and the United States as well as Germany, France, and Russia, and Westerfeld enables us to reflect on its imperialist underpinnings as we marvel at the Darwinist beasties and Clanker machines. Westerfeld also reveals a dark side to all of these fascinating technological developments: a weapon of large-scale destruction becomes a realistic possibility thirty years earlier.

Goliath sees the return of most of the secondary characters from the first two novels, all of whom I love to read: Dr. Nora Barlow and Count Volger are great, as is Eddie Malone. Bovril and his fellow perspicacious lorises (is that the plural of ‘loris’?) remain some of the most endearing and delightful creatures I’ve encountered in fiction, and we get to see a lot more of them in this book. They bring humour and energy to every scene in which they appear, and Westerfeld distils wit and incisive observation into the very few words they speak. The lorises are mysterious beasties, and even at the end of the novel, I felt like there was much more to them than what I had seen. They are a brilliant creation on Westerfeld’s part. We also get appearances from William Hearst and Pancho Villa, which are a lot of fun.

Goliath also introduces us to some of the more unsettling fabrications of Westerfeld’s world. Through the Leviathan’s encounters with the other countries involved in the war, we see more of the Darwinist militaries. Up until this point, most of the fabrications we’ve encountered have tended towards gentle, even cute – such is not the case in this novel. The attack on an Austrian warship by Japanese Kappa is really unnerving, both for the reader and for Deryn and Alek. The Russian fighting bears are another of the scarier additions to this world’s menagerie, and provide a chilling example of what happens when humans lose control of fabricated creatures. Westerfeld’s imaginative work continues to impress – this world is detailed, nuanced, and completely immersive.

Keith Thompson’s art is particularly good in this volume of the trilogy, capturing the tone of scenes and characters perfectly, by turns playful, dramatic, and creepy. The two-page spread of the fighting bears gone feral in particular is beautiful and striking, and Thompson’s drawing of Bovril playing with Eddie Malone’s fake moustache is just delightful. The illustrations work perfectly to enhance and complement Westerfeld’s story.

This is a fantastic conclusion the Leviathan Trilogy. Westerfeld has given his readers a brilliantly-imagined world and a story that lives up to it – this was a treat to read.

Highly recommended.

Leviathan Trilogy: Leviathan, Behemoth, Goliath

Upcoming: SUPERBIA (Boom Studios)

2012-01-25T16:38:00.001Z

What goes down when the capes come off?

There is a new series debuting this March from BOOM! Studios (easily one of my favourite comic publishers), which has piqued my interest, because it sounds like it could be a lot of fun: SUPURBIA.

Written by Grace Randolph (Marvel’s Nation X, HER-OES) and drawn by Russell Dauterman, the new series focuses on the secret lives of the world’s greatest heroes’ spouses. After all, behind every great hero is the woman or man who makes their world run. The series is only going to run for four issues, but it will give readers a Desperate Housewives-esque look at the private lives of superheroes and the drama, conflict and outrageous behaviour of their everyday lives.

Here’s what Randolph had to say about the series:

“So often in superhero comics, the girlfriend or boyfriend is left totally in the dark and unable to participate in their loved one's heroic activities. But in the real world, significant others not only know what their other half is up to, but they have an opinion! These couples have a fabulous and fascinating mix of ordinary problems seen through the superhero lens, and superhero problems seen through the ordinary lens. However, what really makes this book soar is that with BOOM! I’m able to push these characters in directions that the bigger publishers simply can’t or won’t [allow]. See your favorite archetypes explored as you only wish they could be and should be.”

And here’s a synopsis for the mini-series:

Meet the Real Housewives of Earth's greatest super-team, the Meta Legion! It’s the egos, the tantrums, and the betrayals of the super set. Find out what happens behind the masks as superhero families are faced with the sordid problems of everyday life – and then some! This series takes the familiar super-team and turns it on its head with a scandalous, TMZ-fueled look at what it’s like to live with a superhero! Let the battle for the neighborhood begin!

SUPURBIA #1 by writer Grace Randolph and artist Russell Dauterman will ship in March, with an Alè Garza cover and 32 pages of story for $3.99 carrying a Diamond Order Code of JAN120927 .

Introducing JOHN R. FULTZ

2012-01-25T08:00:00.000Z

John Fultz and Seven Princes, his debut fantasy, were all over the Orbit Books blog a few weeks ago (articles, wallpapers, and the like). Naturally, this publicity push made me even more curious about the novel. So, as I am wont to do, I got in touch with the author and asked if he’d be interested in an interview. Luckily, he was, so here we go…

As a debut novelist, I thought I’d start off this interview with something easy: Who is John R Fultz?

Well, I’m a storyteller first and foremost. I’m also a teacher, writer, guitar player, music lover, and general all-around humanist. I was raised in Kentucky but have lived happily in California since 1998. I also spent a stint in Chicago, an amazing town that I still love.

Your debut novel, Seven Princes, was just recently published by Orbit, so I was wondering if you could tell us a bit about the novel and what we can expect from the trilogy as a whole?

Seven Princes is about blood. Both the literal and metaphorical kind. Human blood, Giant blood, it’s all the same in the end. The main characters are the descendants of royalty, seven princes and a single princess. It’s about how they deal with the immense pressures of living up to their family’s expectation, the demands of their royal lineage, and the threat of ancient horrors that arises out of the distant past. Seven Princes is an epic fantasy with a dark fantasy flavor; an excursion into sorcery. The trilogy, Books of the Shaper, will consist of two more books: Seven Kings and Seven Sorcerers. There is also a mysterious figure known as Iardu the Shaper, who has many guises in many different kingdoms, and who may be secretly “shaping” the world into a vision of his own design; or he may have given up on this vision after so many centuries. Seven Princes delivers its share of swashbuckling action, but it also explores the metaphysical nature of the universe and the immense power of creative consciousness (which most people call “magic” or “sorcery”). Sorcery itself is a huge part of the novel and the series. And like anything else, it can be used for noble purposes or nefarious schemes.

Where did the inspiration for the story come from? And where do you draw your inspiration from in general?

Well, literally everything inspires me. Everything I’ve ever done, seen, heard, or experienced. Writers train themselves to reflect EVERYTHING in their work in some way. But, to be more direct, my biggest influences in the fantasy genre are probably my favorite fantasy writers: Tanith Lee, Lord Dunsany, Clark Ashton Smith, Robert E. Howard, H.P. Lovecraft, and more recently George R.R. Martin and R. Scott Bakker. And there are many, many other writers I could mention, but I’ll just say that anything I’ve ever read is an influence. Seven Princes began with the story of Vod the Giant-King, “the Man who was a Giant, and the Giant who was a Man.” Vod’s story serves as the backdrop for Seven Princes – three of the princes and their sister are Vod’s offspring. Vod’s story eventually comes out during the first book. However, someday I’d like to go back and tell Vod’s story in more detail as a graphic novel. I’m a huge comics fan and have written several of them already, so I think the Vod of the Storms is a legend that would be perfect for the comics page. Yet everything you need to know about Vod to enjoy Seven Princes is contained in that novel. Diving into a fantasy world is like jumping down the legendary rabbit-hole: There are always more twists, turns, and wrinkles to discover as you continue to examine the world you’ve built. It’s part of the fun of fantasy fiction – exploring a whole new world of possibilities.

How were you introduced to genre fiction?

Through comic books. I was born in 1969, so I grew up reading comics in the 70s – my favorite classic era of the medium. I used to read comics before I could actually read – I’d make up my own pictures. Later, when I actually learned to read for real, I enjoyed going back and reading all the comics I hadn’t been able to read earlier. Comics eventually led me to paperbacks – I was an insatiable reader of Conan, John Carter, Lord Of The Rings, Elric, and whatever other fantasy-adventure books I could get ahold of. I always loved going to the local used book store and finding some abandoned treasure – I still do! In college I discovered amazing writers like Darrell Schweitzer, Robert Silverberg, Harlan Ellison, William Gibson, Thomas Ligotti, and the granddaddy of fantasy, Lord Dunsany. My ongoing goal as a young writer was to get published in Weird Tales. It took me fifteen years but I finally did it. My first professional sale was “The Persecution of Artifice the Quill”, which appeared in Weird Tales #340, back in 2005. This set me on the path to many more short stories, and then to novels. Although I had written a novel (longhand!) in college, it was more to see if I could actually DO it than out of any hope of getting published. After you do short stories with some success, the next logical step in today’s world is moving to novels.

How do you enjoy being a writer and working within the publishing industry? Do you have any specific working, writing, researching practices?

I love being a writer, and I love being a published author even more. For years I sold a short story here, a short story there, did some comics, even drew my own graphic novel (took me two years). But when I decided to make the “leap” to prose novels, I decided to write MY version of everything I wanted to see in a fantasy. I called it my “Big Fantasy Novel”. My first effort was a misfire – but I ended up with the great story of Vod the Giant-King. It just wasn’t a proper novel. Instead of rewriting the whole manuscript, I decided to start over and, this time, tell the story of Vod’s descendants (among others). It worked; I found a great agent who believed in the novel, and the rest is history. Being a writer is something I’ve wanted to do my whole life... and the things we really want, well, we never give up on them. As for my writing practices, well I often like to create playlists that set a “mood” while I write. I do loose outlines for the books, but I don’t plan everything in too much detail. Basically, I have “tentpoles” that I want to reach as I go along, but I listen to my characters and follow where they lead me. Everything, for me, comes from character.

When did you realize you wanted to be an author, and what was your first foray into writing? Do you still look back on it fondly?

It must have been 6th grade when I first tried to be an author. There was a contest for elementary school writers – we created our own books and they were judged. I didn’t win, but looking back I realize it was probably because I copied all my drawings from the John Buscema/Ernie Chan Conan The Barbarian comic. I created a new story called “Garth the Wanderer”, but it was thinly disguised Conan. Then in 7th grade I wrote an original short story about a knight who goes out to fight a dragon against advice and gets annihilated. I’ll never forget my 7th grade teacher, Mrs. Kimberlaine, who not only gave me an “A”, she also read my story aloud to the whole class. That was an important day in my life. It definitely gave me the confidence to keep writing, and it also got me into a Gifted and Talented Class for a few years. I already mentioned the sci-fi novel I wrote during college – it filled about five spiralbound notebooks. It wasn’t very good, but I have this theory that everything you write makes you a better writer, so it was a necessary part of the journey.

What’s your opinion of the genre today, and where do you see your work fitting into it?

I think the fantasy genre today is in great shape. There are so many different sub-genres and so many great writers, it’s amazing to me. I have no idea where my work fits into the scene; others will have to make that determination. Some people call Seven Princes “sword-and-sorcery”, but nobody can define exactly what that is. John Joseph Adams is doing some great fantasy anthologies, like Way Of The Wizard and Under The Moons Of Mars, as well as his great Lightspeed online magazine (which recently merged with Fantasy to combine genres). Marvin Kaye is getting ready to relaunch Weird Tales in yet another new incarnation. Fantasy films are invading the mainstream consciousness, and the crown jewel in the fantasy genre right now is Martin’s A Song Of Ice And Fire, which gave birth to the amazing HBO series A Game Of Thrones. You can’t get a better advocate for the power and worth of fantasy fiction than Martin’s achievement (both on the page and on the screen). Fantasy is definitely a major force in both literary and cinematic culture. That makes me smile.

What projects are you working on, and what do you have currently in the pipeline?

I’ve finished the Second Book of the Shaper, Seven Kings, and I’m currently working on the third, Seven Sorcerers. I’ve got short stories popping up here and there – most notably, in an issue of Space And Time coming sometime soon, I’ve got a great story about gnomes. There should also be a piece from me in Weird Tales sometime this year, and I’ve heard that Archaia is finally releasing the long-awaited hardcover collection of PRIMORDIA. It’s a 96-page tale of a savage world where the Sun Lord and Moon Lord battle one another in a cycle of primal conflict; it’s also a love story. Absolutely gorgeous artwork by the great Roel Weilinga (PRIMORDIA’s co-creator) makes it a fantastic creation. The hardcover includes tons of extras, such as a new short story from me and a gallery of guest artists.

What are you reading at the moment (fiction and/or non-fiction)?

Between teaching and writing, I never have enough time to read as much as I’d like. But thanks to the holiday break I’ve been able to dive into George Martin’s A Dance With Dragons. Sitting beside that massive tome is a pile of other Can’t-Wait-To-Reads including Tanith Lee’s The Birthgrave recent hardcover re-issue, the last two Thunder Moon novels from Max Brand, Patricia McKillip’s classic The Harpist In The Wind (third book of her Riddle Master trilogy), and several short-story collections by Laird Barron, Robert Silverberg, Manly Wade Wellman, and a bunch more. I’m also re-reading one of my all-time favorite series, Tanith Lee’s Tales From The Flat Earth novels, as they are re-released one at a time in superb hardcover versions from Norilana Books’ TaLeKa imprint.

What’s something readers might be surprised to learn about you?

I have a tremendous love of the crime/noir genre. Sometimes writers get pigeon-holed as “fantasy”, or “horror”, or “sci-fi” writers, but I think most writers want to explore new ground and try new challenges. As much as I love the fantasy genre, I will eventually find an outlet for my crime/noir ideas as well. Comics would be ideal for this type of thing, since the play of light and shadow in noir is so very visual. Yet I also enjoy the tightly-woven crime/noir novel. I enjoy a lot of the Hard Case Crime novels, as well as Ed Brubaker’s Criminal and Jason Aaron’s Scalped comics.

What are you most looking forward to in 2012?

Finishing the Third Book of the Shaper. Seeing people enjoy Seven Princes. The next World Fantasy Con. Finding my one true love and making her mine. All the usual boring stuff.

Guest Post: “The Lure of the Stacks”

2012-01-24T15:57:00.001Z

by Mieneke van der Salm

As some of you may know, I'm an academic librarian. This actually doesn't mean I spend my day surrounded by books, even though the building I work at is assuredly filled with books, since the focus of my work is mainly on Information Services and Information Literacy instruction. However, it does mean that whenever I read an interesting historical fiction or non-fiction book, it's very easy for me to find further information on the subject of said books. And this is a terrible, terrible trap I can tell you.

There is nothing quite like the lure of the stacks. I'm sure you've all encountered this lure before, maybe when walking into your favourite book store or your local library, when all you want to do is spend time among those books and pick out which ones you want to read, ending up with loads and loads of books, which you then have to whittle down to a manageable number. The first time I encountered it, was when our neighbour took me to my local library for the first time when I was eight and I saw how many books there were to choose from. I could spend hours just wandering around and selecting that week’s reads. Later on, when I really got into Fantasy, the library became less important, as being Dutch, there weren't that many English language fantasy works to be borrowed. In fact, I first read David Eddings’ Belgariad and Malloreon in Dutch and after comparing those to the English editions I bought myself, I decided to never do that to myself again. So while my love affair with the library dwindled fiction-wise – in the end, I only borrowed books I had to read for my language classes in school – in non-fiction it kept going. I read historical biographies voraciously and loved looking stuff up about the background of the historical fiction I read from my parents’ bookcases.

After a bit of a dry spell at university, where I had to read so much for classes, that in my free time I just wanted to read SFF and escape from the dry reading of the more classical works, my enticement by the stacks returned when I started as a lending counter librarian at the Social Sciences library. Being an English Lit BA myself, this certainly wasn’t my field of expertise, but all too often as I was lending out or taking in books I’d run across titles that looked super interesting, or I’d wander the stacks retrieving books to be sent out as part of the interlibrary loans program and stumble across a book that was just fascinating. And sometimes these books would find their way home with me, if they weren’t already on the way out with a patron and I had almost finished my current read. Most of the time though, I’d write them down on a list: the “one day I will read these books”-list. And it got longer and longer... and then I switched jobs and in the process lost my list. In hindsight, this may have been best for my sanity!

But my new job is even more enabling: I now work at the main library, which houses the humanities collection. So any time I read a fascinating historical novel I can go into our catalogue and see whether we have something on the era it’s set in or about the person it’s about. Sure enough, we almost always do. And mostly, these books get added to a new list, as I’m forever in the middle of a book I need to read for review and reviewing non-fiction is not my forte, nor do I think the people who read my blog would enjoy too much of it. Right now, I have about thirty books on there, a mixture of academic works on the SFF genre and history books about different era’s and persons. And still, sometimes I wander by the new acquisitions cases and go: “ooh, I’d like to read that and that looks interesting as well and I’d like to know more about that topic.” And yes, I keep promising myself that one day I’ll read these books... I just hope that when I do get around to them, the list won’t have grown so big it’ll smother me.

So how about you? Do you recognise this siren call of the stacks? Have you ever wandered around a library to get one book and gone home with a completely different, non-fiction title? Or is this just my librarian’s quirk?

* * *

Mieneke is another great book-blogger, and I highly recommend her blog – A Fantastical Librarian – from which I have learned of many new and old novels I would not otherwise have tried or stumbled across. Also, follow her on twitter! (That’s an order…)

Comics Round-Up (Jan.25)

2012-01-24T08:00:00.000Z

Another varied selection, with a couple of continuing series as well as the starts of a few more. I must admit that I’m really starting to miss my DC and Marvel fixes every week. I’ll make sure to do a couple of catch-up reviews when I get back to New York, but in lieu of being able to review any DC, Marvel, Dark Horse, Image and Dynamite titles that might have caught my eye, this week also sees a new section to these Comics Round-Ups, and that’s a simple addendum that’s going to appear at the end, “Also Released This Week”.

Reviewed Herein: Incorruptible #26, Incorruptible Volume 5 (TPB), Infestation: G.I.Joe #1.1-2, Infestation #2.1, Cobra Volume 1, Key of Z #4, Witchblade #1

Incorruptible #26 (Boom)

Writer: Mark Waid | Artist: Marcio Takara

Don’t miss the final issue of the crossover event answering the question that’s been teased since the beginning of IRREDEEMBLE and INCORRUPTIBLE… how did The Plutonian and Max Damage become sworn enemies?

I love this series, just as I love Irredeemable, the other Waid title set in this world. In this issue, we see how Max got his powers (apparently, an inappropriately-dressed sexy nurse is part of every evil doctor’s staff…). It’s interesting to see how Max was perhaps the only person who thought something was off about the Plutonian – even taking Max’s sociopathic tendencies into account, his inability to believe anyone could be as good or self-controlled as the Plutonian proved ultimately, tragically correct. This was a very good issue, and shows Max had a little more depth even when he was a criminal. Really good. Highly recommended.

Incorruptible Volume 5 is also now available, and is another highly recommended collection. Here’s the synopsis:

A savage array of supervillains has overrun the barely-recovering Coalville and Max Damage struggles to find a way to rally the city. Meanwhile, his shaky alliances have become even more unstable, as Alana Patel, the Plutonian’s ex-girlfriend, continues her backdoor dealings with a shady businessman and Police Lt. Armadale finds that enforcing law in a post-Plutonian world can drive a man to the edge of sanity. Can Max find the last good man in Coalville to be the inspiration the city needs? Or will his past return to destroy the city’s last hope?

In this collection, we see Max’s working-relationship with Alana Patel, the Plutonian’s ex-girlfriend grow, as they attempt to get a handle on the situation in Coalville. The delicate state of affairs in the city are made worse by the arrival of a group of super-villains, who decide to make sport in the wounded city. We learn of one of Max’s unforgiveable crimes from his past, which causes more immediate problems as he tries to work with the powers in the city to appoint a moral leader to put the pieces of the city back together. Little does he know, certain forces have discovered his secret weakness; and a person from his past makes a short appearance to help out. On top of this, the women in his life continue to give Max a variety of headaches.

We also meet a new character who is going to play a bigger part in the story for a little while, Safeword – a woman with a great, very useful power, who seems to undergo a moral change much like Max’s.

Infestation: G.I.Joe #1-2 (IDW)

Writer: Mark Raicht | Artist: Giovanni Timpano

In a different dimension, a zombie hive-mind takes over the body of a covert vampiric soldier code-named Britt. Aiming to spread the zombie apocalypse to all dimensions using magically enhanced technology, Britt is able to open portals to four different dimensions before she is stopped. To what extent, and in what form, the Infestation has spread to these four dimensions

remains to be seen...

With the release this week of the introductory issue to IDW’s second Infestation event, I thought I’d get a little caught up with these. The G.I.Joe strand of this series seems to be a little different – rather than gribbly beasties, the Baroness, some Cobra Vipers and scientists, along with a captured Joe scientist, are confronted with a sentient, homicidal computer virus that takes over a Cobra installation and proceeds to kill… well, everybody it can. It’s an interesting conceit, and it’s nicely put together. I prefer the main G.I.Joe titles, but this was a pretty interesting diversion.

Infestation Vol.2#1 (IDW)

Writer: Duane Swierczynski | Artist: David Messina

Last year’s ground-breaking Infestation series, IDW’s first-ever event, saw many teams from multiple universes fight off a zombie invasion. Now, an even bigger threat has risen to threaten the growing IDW multiverse: Lovecraftian demons threaten to reach across time and space and destroy everyone everywhere and everywhen! Also featuring Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, this framing issue presents a threat that perhaps not even TRANSFORMERS, G.I. JOEs, Danger Girl, and others can surmount!

So in this introductory issue, we get a broad-brush approach to this new infestation. There’s a rapid-fire round-robin through some of the characters that are going to feature in the cross-over Event, and see just how large the infestation is. And some wonderfully gribbly Lovecraftian monsters, so that’s an extra slice of awesome right there.

One thing this issue did do for me, however, was inform me of another of IDW’s comic series: CVO: Covert Vampire Operations, as some of their characters feature quite prominently in this issue. I haven’t been able to figure out if it’s still on-going, or if it’s sporadic, but I rather liked the idea. The characters presented here, I thought, were pretty interesting, so I’m going to see if I can get hold of the start of the series and find out if my interest is justified. I’m also a sucker for a lot of vampire-related things, and this seemed to have a bit of an Underworld vibe to it. Suits me. I shall hunt some of the issues or trade paperbacks down.

Cobra Volume 1 (IDW)

Writer: Mike Costa & Christos Gage | Artist: Antonio Fuso & Lovern Kindzierski

His name is Chuckles. He's the Joes' top undercover agent. And he's just infiltrated a top secret, highly organized terrorist organization... one the Joes aren't familiar with... one with a snake motif. As Chuckles is pulled deeper and deeper into the dark underbelly of Cobra, where one misstep means death, can he pull off the ultimate deception and bring them down from within?

So here I go with more G.I.Joe-related comics. Ever since I read the Cobra Civil War stuff, I’ve found my love of this franchise reawakened in a big way. I can’t seem to get enough of the Joes and their terrorist nemeses. So, after seeing this mini-series going cheap on Comixology (the first issue’s free!), I zipped through them. The series is darker than G.I.Joe, as Chuckles has to deal with having to whole-heartedly assume the persona of amoral mercenary. He’s put in some morally ambiguous situations, as well forced to make a couple of horrific choices. I think Costa and Gage have written a superb story, while Fuso and Kindzierski’s art and colouring is gritty and atmospheric – it really matches the tone of the story and enhances it in many ways. The four-part series ended on an interesting note, as I couldn’t figure out how they went from there to Chuckles’s ultimate victory which kicks of the latest round of G.I.Joe titles (Cobra Civil War and then Cobra Command). I guess I’ll just have to keep reading, won’t I?

The next in the story continuity is the first Cobra Special.

If you’ve ever liked the G.I.Joe franchise, you need to be reading the various comic titles. If you haven’t tried anything Joe-related, then I highly recommend you do. Great military/action stories, filled with great characters and solid storylines.

Key of Z #4 (Boom)

Writer: Chondra Echert & Claudio Sanchez| Artist: Aaron Kuder

An epic, jaw-dropping finale! With the one man holding the key buried in chains, the two remaining human factions in zombie-filled New York City are ready for war. Will Ewing be able to escape his shackles and exact his revenge… or will a triumphant Lavoe finish what he started? All this in the pulse-pounding conclusion that redefines the zombie genre!

I really enjoyed the first three issues in this series, and have been eagerly awaiting this final issue. We rejoin Ewing in lock-up, after his ploy in issue three didn’t quite work out as he’d hoped. Eddie Alvarez, his young protégé (for want of a better word), makes the decision to join a side he believes in, rather than the side foisted on him by fate. As the tempers and tensions between the various criminal organisations now in charge of the New York Boroughs boils over, Ewing and Alvarez make their way to Rikers Island, to execute Ewing’s grand plan.

Echert and Sanchez bring the series to a great close, with some intense action, and some touching moments as well. Kuder’s artwork and Charlie Kirchoff’s colouring are great – very expressive and atmospheric, they bring the story to vivid life on the page. This is a great creative team, and I’m hoping they continue producing such good comics and stories. I’ll have to check out the Amory Wars series. Very highly recommended.

Witchblade #1 (Top Cow)

Writers: David Wohl, Brian Haberlin & Michael Turner | Artists: Michael Turner & D-Tron

New York Police Officer Sara Pezzini is the bearer of the Witchblade, a mysterious artifact that takes the form of a deadly and powerful gauntlet. This is the story of how she came to be the bearer.

This was an interesting read. I’ve seen Witchblade comics and collections on numerous occasions, but despite picking up the first trade paperback (which is only $4.99), I never got around to reading it. After seeing this first issue going for free on Comixology, I figured I really didn’t have any excuse to not give it a try. And, despite a few cliché cop thriller tropes, I really enjoyed this.

The first issue focuses on introducing us to the main character, the future wielder of the Witchblade: Sara Pezzini is a rule-breaking, gung-ho, and head-strong female cop of the NYPD. We get to know all about her character and skills when she goes after a drug dealer who is responsible for the death of a friend, and has somehow managed to beat the courts. She wasn’t invited to the operation, so she gets chewed-out by the precinct captain (who is basically her father-figure). Afterwards, her recklessness leads her to crash the Tournament, a competition held by one of New York’s crime bosses – the possessor of the Witchblade, but not its master (it won’t bond with him). Through the tournament, he hopes to discover the next wielder of the gauntlet, and then control that person. Little does he know, things aren’t going to turn out like he wanted.

This is a great intro to the series. I knew nothing about Witchblade except that it recently hit a milestone (issue #150), and that it was meant to be pretty good. As I said, I’ve already got the first collection, so I’ll be reviewing it pretty soon. If you fancy a taste of the series, check out this free issue on Comixology.

Also Released This Week

As mentioned in the introduction, this is the first time I’m including this feature. There are so many comics released each week, and for one reason or another I am not able to feature them all (much to my chagrin). I thought this feature might at least inform readers of some of the other titles being published that I think they may find of interest, especially new or “young” series and collected editions that it wouldn’t be too difficult (or expensive) to catch up on.

DC Comics: All Star Western #5, Aquaman #5, The Dark Knight #5, I Vampire #5, Justice League #5, Justice League Dark #5, Superman #5, Teen Titans #5, Absolute Kingdom Come (HC), Resurrection Man (TPB)

Marvel: Daredevil by Mark Waid Vol.1 (HC – really interested in trying this out, given how great I consider Waid’s writing to be)

Dark Horse: Angel & Faith #6,

Dynamite: Game of Thrones #5

Image: Marksman #5 (I’ll be putting together a review of all five issues currently available very soon)

Zenescope: Alice #1

“Babylon Steel” by Gaie Sebold (Solaris)

2012-01-23T07:22:00.000Z

The debut of a different kind of heroine

Babylon Steel, ex-sword-for-hire, ex-other things, runs the best brothel in Scalentine; city of many portals, two moons, and a wide variety of races, were-creatures, and religions, not to mention the occasional insane warlock.

She’s not having a good week. The Vessels of Purity are protesting against brothels, women in the trade are being attacked, it’s tax time, and there’s not enough money to pay the bill. So when the mysterious Darask Fain offers her a job finding a missing girl, Babylon decides to take it. But the missing girl is not what she seems, and neither is Darask Fain. In the meantime, twomoon is approaching, and more than just a few night’s takings are at risk when Babylon’s hidden past reaches out to grab her by the throat.

Babylon Steel: a heroine who gets really up close and personal.

I had no idea what to expect from Babylon Steel. I’d read the synopsis and thought the premise sounded interesting. What I found was a novel that has a strong central character, and a fun and well-constructed plot, which was a blend of fantasy and thriller with a dash of humour. There’s also some pretty good social commentary. This is a very good debut, and I really hope we see more of Babylon Steel, and certainly more from Gaie Sebold.

Babylon Steel is an interesting novel. There are three distinct acts, but also an additional, ‘historical’ thread of chapters that alternate with the main story set in the ‘present’. It’s a little difficult to go into too much detail, but the search for the missing girl is only part of the overall story, as Babylon and her companions (also her employees) find themselves mixed up in some local politics, and Babylon’s own past catches up with her.

The setting is an interesting one. In Sebold’s reality, there are multiple “planes”, connected by various portals (some stable, some not), and Babylon’s home is on a plane situated on an intersection between a number of them. As a result, the place is populated by a large number of intelligent and morphologically different species. I’m not sure if this would technically make the novel Sci-Fi or still fantasy... I suppose both? The technology levels remain low – for example, people still fight with swords and not guns.

Usually, I find the alternating-time-periods structural device frustrating, but the way Sebold has written the novel, I found myself getting invested in both threads equally. The importance of events in the historical chapters becomes clear relatively early on (not explicitly, but it’s easy to figure out where the story’s probably going), and informs the final act of the novel.

The historical chapters also gave Sebold the space to add layers and complexity to Babylon, to explain her evolution from orphan to tough-as-nails warrior-madam. The young Babylon (not yet going by that name) was selected to join a religious order by an Avatar of one of her plane’s gods. She is one of a few chosen, and through her eyes and the other initiates’ experiences, we get an examination of the predatory, manipulative nature of relationships between the “low-born” and members of an elite. Sebold gives voice to teenage frustrations, confusion and emotions very well, in a way that I think anyone can relate to: it’s written from a female character’s perspective, but I imagine only the most confident and arrogant teen male has never had similar insecurities. I thought it was handled very well, without any pretension or gloss. Babylon of this time is so tragically naïve. Ultimately, I really liked the way the two threads wove together, allowing us to get to know Babylon on a deeper level. It offers a great contrast between the older and younger heroine.

Sebold’s writing is very good, with fluid prose and a steady pace to the story. Her sense of humour lacks the frenetic “look, I’m being funny!” feel that some debut authors seem to suffer (even Terry Pratchett’s first few novels were a bit much), and instead Sebold deploys it when necessary and to maximum effect. It’s calm and observational, more than quippy (though there are some good quips, too). The levity peters out about a third of the way into the novel, as the story takes on a more serious tone to match events. The humour in Babylon Steel is more likely to make you chuckle or smirk than laugh out loud, but I thought that was perfect, and therefore liked it a hell of a lot. Also, given my rather more conservative tastes when it comes to sex scenes in fiction, I was glad that Sebold keeps them short and restrained, never descending into over-description or exaggeration.

Along with her superb writing style, Sebold has a gift for characterisation. For example, each of the employees at Babylon’s brothel – be they entertainers, security or the cook – is colourful, realistic and often good fun. They have quirky names (the bondage twins, for example, are called Cruel and Unusual; one of the guards is called Previous; and the cook is called Flower, because he’s big and green). More minor characters are equally well-conceived and realised on the page.

Babylon Steel ends on a relatively upbeat note, which suggests there may be more adventures to come for the eponymous heroine. Given how much I enjoyed this, I really hope there are more novels.

Highly recommended, Babylon Steel is a fun novel, from a very talented debut author.

For Fans of: Amanda Downum, Gail Z. Martin, Kate Elliot, Karen Miller, Terry Pratchett (sort of), Will King, Michael Sullivan, Anne Lyle, Scott Lynch, Juliet McKenna

Music Review: “Post Mortem” by Black Tide

2012-01-22T11:18:00.001Z

Black Tide are a band I missed completely when they released their debut album, Light From Above (2008). At the time, I wasn’t following the scene as much as I had before, and tended to focus on the bands I already knew, who have released a slew of amazing albums in recent years. I only learned of them when YouTube threw up “That Fire” as a recommendation for a video playlist I’d been putting together. And I quite liked it. So off I went to get the album.

I’m not entirely sure which genre or sub-genre of rock they belong in, if I’m perfectly honest. I suppose the best place to put them would be “neo-thrash”, seeing as they blend some of the best elements of thrash, while also bringing a more modern pop-sheen. Really, this is pretty light metal, and purists will sneer at it (as they are wont to do at almost anything), but I think it’s a pretty great album. And it’s criminal how young the band members are…

You can find hints of so many other bands in Black Tide’s sound, but they don’t come across as rip-offs; they pay homage to their influences, but this outfit manages to take all these elements and make them distinctive from most, if not all, of their peers. Most impressive of all is that vocalist Garcia was only sixteen when their debut album was released: he has a great set of pipes, able to switch from a roar to a more melodic tone easily.

[I’ve since investigated their debut, which seems to have a sound much more indebted to Guns ‘n’ Roses and Bon Jovi than anything on this album, while retaining the Metallica and Megadeth homage but it’s also worth a listen. Post Mortem forges a path and sound far more their own.]

“Ashes”, which features guest vocals from Matt Tuck (Bullet For My Valentine) is a great opening track, blending chugging, driving riffery. True, this doesn’t really set them apart from many new, young metal bands, but they do it very well. Where they stand out is in the vocals, which are always one of the first things I look for in an album.

“Bury Me” maintains the up-tempo momentum, giving us another mosh-happy track with a soaring chorus, which should get anyone with a pulse at least nodding along or tapping their foot.

“Bury Me” and especially “Let It Out” were strongly reminiscent of a little-known band From Zero (who released albums in 2001 and 2003), with sweeping melodies and a higher, slightly nasal melody to the vocals. “Honest Eyes” brings the tempo back up, sprinkling a few background screams in for extra metal chops, and then “That Fire” hits the listener over the head again. (Watch the music video, below.) This song is indicative of much of the music on the album.

The second half of the album is interesting, and sees the band stretching their skills and sound a little more. For example, “Fight To The Bitter End” was almost Linkin Park-esque if you stripped away the hip-hop/rap stylings (and still retained an uncanny similarity to From Zero); and “Take It Easy” has a glorious pop-sheen to the sub-punk vocals – it won’t impress the hardcore kids or metal heads, but it’s a good (if a tad soft) song. “Into the Sky” is an almost symphonic ballad, with sweeping and layered melodies. It took my completely by surprise, coming after “Walking Dead Man” – a song I can’t help but sing along to, which morphs from a Trivium-lite roaring start to a more diverse rock anthem, complete with widdly guitar solos. “Alone”, the penultimate song on the album, has hints of early Incubus. “Give Hope” closes the album on a more straightforward, rocking number.

The album’s not perfect, but it is certainly polished and GGGarth Richardson’s done a superb job with production. Black Tide are not reinventing the wheel, but they write and play this music extremely well. I’ve grown to like this album with every successive listen.

Ultimately, this is a pretty safe, rather inoffensive rock-metal hybrid album. It won’t impressive metal purists (it’s too commercial), but it’s easy to mosh along to, and there are plenty of hooks and melodies to get you humming or singing along.

“That Fire”

“Walking Dead Man”

For Fans Of: From Zero, Lostprophets, Bullet For My Valentine, AFI, Trivium, Linkin Park, Black Veil Brides, Rev Theory, Dope, and no doubt a few other young bands I’ve not yet heard of.

Tracklist:

“Ashes”

“Bury Me”

“Let It Out”

“Honest Eyes”

“That Fire”

“Fight Til The End”

“Take It Easy”

“Lost In The Sound”

“Walking Dead Man”

“Into The Sky”

“Alone”

“Give Hope”

Band Members:

Vocals & Lead Guitar: Gabriel Garcia | Guitar & Backing Vocals: Austin Diaz | Bass & Backing Vocals: Zakk Sandler | Drums: Steven Spence

Producer: GGGarth Richardson (one of my favourite rock/metal producers, actually)

“The Traveler” Vol.1 (Boom)

2012-01-21T08:00:00.000Z

Writer: Mark Waid | Artist: Chad Hardin | Grand Poobah: Stan Lee

A mysterious band of super-powered assassins, the Split-Second Men, have begun terrorizing seemingly random victims. The only one powerful enough to stop them is THE TRAVELER, an equally unknown masked crusader who knows just when they will strike. But where did THE TRAVELER come from? Whose agenda does he serve? And will his actions cause an even greater cataclysm of time and space?

In my quest to read everything I can by Mark Waid, I stumbled across this title (co-created with Stan Lee, the man behind many of Marvel’s greatest heroes). It’s an interesting title, certainly, with plenty going for it (Hardin’s excellent artwork, for example) but it didn’t quite live up to my expectations.

This comic is filled with a lot of interesting uses of time, time-travel and time-bending. Couldn’t comment on the soundness of the theoretical physics, but it’s pretty good fun and offers some original spins on popular superhero tropes.

The Traveler is a very good character, and we only slowly become aware of his mission and motivation. When we do, things start falling into place and certain actions by characters start to make sense. What seem like strange, random occurrences, prove to be very important and sometimes poignant.

If the series has one weakness, it’s to be found in some of the dialogue and interactions between a couple of the characters. Overall, these weren’t as well-written as in Waid’s other work – particularly Irredeemable and Incorruptible (which are now basically the standard to which I hold most, if not all, comics against). There are times when it just doesn’t feel as natural as it could. And a couple of the characters lacked the realism one would expect from such a talented writer, and one villain comes across as an adult going through the teenage angst of a psychopath (can’t name which, as it would spoil things).

That being said, there are a couple of good surprises that crop up, which make the series even more fresh, and also plenty of amusing quips and asides throughout the book. There’s even a cameo by a Stan Lee-esque old man (just like in the Marvel movies).

So, a comic with some strengths, and plenty of imagination and originality, but also one that lacks consistency, I feel. While it didn’t meet my expectations, it’s still worth checking out if you want some time-travelling fun rendered in some great artwork. It also ends on a strong note, which bodes well for Volume Two, which I will read and review soon.

Guest Post: Inspiration – by Brad Griffith

2012-01-20T14:59:00.001Z

A few days ago, I got an email from author and small-press owner Brad Griffith, asking me if I might be interested in having a look at his latest novel, Blue Fall. It sounded pretty interesting, with a premise that ticked a few boxes in the ‘Of Interest’ column: it draws on the historical notion of wars or international conflict being fought between chosen champions; only in this time, it is underground and probably illegal (I’ll have to report back after I’ve read the novel). I hope to get to it in the near future, but in the meantime, I asked Brad if he’s be interested in writing a short piece on the nature of inspiration. He agreed, so here it is…

Where have all the Muses gone?

Old timers in the writing industry have a saying, it goes something like this: “A writer without inspiration is just a sack of meat with a pen.”

Ever heard that before? No? That’s because I just made it up. One might say I was inspired. Rest assured that when I’m an old timer I will be repeating it to anyone who will listen, when I’m not busy scowling at the ducks in City Park, that is.

Inspiration is a funny thing. It comes at strange times, and it disguises itself in many forms. Not unlike the common cold, or indigestion, although it is a good deal more beneficial. So beneficial, in fact, that it is the lifeblood of writing. So let’s break it down.

The Nature of Inspiration:

What is inspiration, really? Is it just a “great idea”? Not quite. I get a lot of great ideas. Just the other day I had this idea to modify my windshield washer to shoot directly over my car and right onto anyone that might be tailgating me, something like a car-powered squirt gun. Now that is a great idea, but it is hardly inspired. I heard of this other idea, too, which I wish I had thought of myself: you go out and get a parrot, and the only thing you train the parrot to say is “Help! They’ve turned me into a parrot!” Now that is a great idea. But is it really inspired? Nope.

Inspiration is deeper. Inspiration is less the unearthing of a new way of thinking than it is a breakthrough in the way of viewing the things we see every day. A hard truth of life, and of writing in particular, is that it’s all been done before. Whatever you’re thinking about, whatever plot idea is circling around your head, has already been hashed out before in some form or another. Hundreds of thousands of books are written yearly, so if you’re looking to write a totally untouched, completely original book, you’re out of luck. The good news is, there’s always a better way to tell a story.

How about this story line: An orphaned child with a mysterious background finds that they have special abilities and are destined to take on an evil power. Heard that one before? Only a million times. It’s the basic plot of Star Wars and Harry Potter and the Mistborn series and the His Dark Materials trilogy, and countless others. But nobody would call these books copies of each other. It’s because they are inspired. They take the old and make us see it in completely new ways.

The Timing of Inspiration:

Whenever someone is hit by inspiration they often say something like, “It came out of nowhere!” As if it was one of those strange, errant drops of moisture that falls on you while you walk around downtown. It’s commonly believed that inspiration comes randomly, willy-nilly. That your muse walks around with a blindfold on looking to pin the tail on the donkey, and if you’re lucky enough to get stuck in the ass then voila! You’ve got a novel now, buddy!

This is not true.

Think about the times most people get inspired: those hazy minutes before you go to sleep, for instance, or while sitting outside, or while taking a walk. A lot of people get inspired in the shower, and, yes, even when sitting on the toilet. All of these places have two common themes:

1.) You’re alone.

Although inspiration and creativity can hit in group settings, specifically in workshops and the like that are tailored for it, I’ve noticed it most often comes to me when nobody else is around. Other people have the habit of focusing your thoughts elsewhere, usually on them. But when you are alone, you don’t need to focus on anything, and that’s when the muse will stick you.

2.) It’s quiet.

Music can be inspiring, yes, and so can other works of art like movies and plays [and books like Blue Fall, written by a handsome devil named B. B. Griffith, details below – end plug], but I’ve found that, in general, things come to me when all of the distractions of the world shut up for a bit. Perhaps this is why inspiration is so fleeting and can be rare; we’re bombarded with so much data all of the time that our lives have become big white noise machines. How are we expected to become inspired when we can’t hear ourselves think? Try unplugging for a bit. It does the body good.

So next time you need inspiration, why not take a walk, sit on a bench, and ponder your story. Then flip your story on its head and walk around it and try to catch it from a different angle. That muse will be tiptoeing your way in no time.

- Brad Griffith

Brad Griffith runs Griffith Publishing, a small press based out of Denver, Colorado. He is also the author of Blue Fall, a conspiracy thriller with a strong sci-fi backbone, out now in both ebook and paperback from Griffith Publishing. More information on Blue Fall can be found on their website.

For further ramblings about writing and publishing, check out the Griffith Publishing blog.

“G.I.Joe” Season 2, #1-8 (IDW)

2012-01-20T06:32:00.000Z

Writer: Chuck Dixon | Artist: Javier Saltares & Will Rosado

COBRA has lost its Commander. Fallen in battle to a G.I. JOE operative. Now, COBRA is out for blood. For JOE blood. Seven COBRA agents are now competing for the Commander spot by doing the most damage to G.I. JOE.

A COBRA agent infiltrated The Pit – G.I. JOE’s headquarters – disguised as General Hawk. A second COBRA agent – Storm Shadow – also infiltrated the The Pit. As the Joes tumbled to the infiltration, Zartan finished his mission, killing a captured Cobra Viper, but was caught himself during his escape. Storm Shadow remains on the loose, being tracked by Flint.

Meanwhile, in Washington, D.C., General Hawk and Dial-Tone are caught off from their G.I. JOE teammates and are on the run from a Cobra hit squad out to get them. Who ordered the hit is not yet known...

Here I review the third G.I. Joe series of comics that covered the Cobra Civil War. As far as I can tell, the story rotated through the three titles, but I was only just able to get hold of all of these issues. To summarise, this is another great title! It was also great to get the final pieces of the contest to become the new Cobra Commander. Really enjoyable.

It’s a difficult review to write, without offering loads of spoilers. Which is quite frustrating. Each issue is packed with story, and plenty of surprising events, and the pace is maintained throughout. After all, it’s open season on the Joes, and Cobra is far from a squeamish organisation. And the competition starts with quite the bang, as Cobra target the Joes’ headquarters, to devastating effect. G.I.Joe covers many of the Cobra candidates, without focussing too much on any specific character. It also features some of the more interesting Cobra operatives – the ninja Storm Shadow, and master infiltrator Zartan. One of the most important things, though, is that the G.I.Joe forces don’t know why Cobra has stepped up its attacks, and are left to scramble for safety. The contest for a new Commander is secret, much like Cobra itself – the Joes’ leadership comes up against official surprise and raised-eyebrows at their insistence that there is such a thing as an international terrorist, mega-crime-syndicate.

The Baroness seems to have an interesting role in the Cobra organisation, and therefore across the G.I.Joe-related series – she seems far more informed about the wider operations of the terrorist group than anyone else, and acts as administrator far better than any of the other candidates. She’s also the most interesting Cobra character, so I’m glad she crossed over into both this title and Cobra. She’s also involved in one of the many beatings the G.I.Joe forces receive from their enemies. Cobra seem to be one step ahead of General Hawk and his forces, at almost every stop along the way.

One thing I found quite interesting, was the fact that this title, and not Cobra, covered the victory of the eventual winner of the contest. Storm Shadow also plays a bigger part in this series, which I thought would have made more sense in Snake Eyes, given their shared history and obvious animosity for each other.

If I had one criticism, it’s in the characters of the G.I.Joes. They’re almost all too perfectly “good”, and therefore lack some much-needed nuance. They rarely bicker between themselves, and they are all so damned noble. Thankfully, Cobra’s in the picture, and they are all – with the exception of Snake Eyes’ team and Scarlett – far more interesting than the Joes. They are Machiavellian, they are ruthless, arrogant, and diverse. It would be nice if the Joes were made just that little bit less ‘good’ – if they had a little more of the less noble human qualities, I suppose.

The artwork is pretty strong throughout, with a high level of detail and sharpness for the most part, but still at times exhibiting a sketch-like approach, which ensures a not-too-polished visual – it’s also pretty good for portraying momentum. It really suits the story and tone of the comic very well. I also liked some of the artistic tricks Saltares and Rosado use to convey events without spelling them out. For example, in one scene, Beachhead drops a few grenades before taking cover with Roadblock behind a bank’s safe door. To indicate that the grenades have gone off, instead of some cartoon sound-effect written in comically large lettering, the focus of the frame is tweaked:

Overall, as with Cobra and Snake Eyes, I thought this was another entertaining and engaging comic title. Recommended for any fans of action, military and espionage fiction and comics, and if you can swing it, get all three of these series. In fact, I would go so far as to say that this should only be read with the other two titles as well – otherwise, there’s the chance it’ll appear as if the leadership contest was rather short.

“Irredeemable” Vol.7 (Boom)

2012-01-19T08:00:00.000Z

Writer: Mark Waid | Artist: Peter Krause & Diego Barreto

Plutonian has been banished by the Paradigm to an off-world insane asylum… but it’s proving too weak to hold him. Meanwhile, upon seeing a darker side of Survivor, Qubit has entered into an uneasy alliance with Modeus, the Plutonian’s arch-nemesis and one of Earth’s most feared supervillains to figure out how to stop the Plutonian once and for all. But what will happen when the Mad God returns to Earth?

This collection brings me up to date on the Irredeemable trade paperback volumes currently available. It’s another great addition to the series, but it was not the strongest of the bunch.

[As with all of my recent Irredeemable reviews, here is your Minor Spoiler Alert.]

Well this is interesting… I think I’ve found the first thing I didn’t love about the series. In the first Chapter of this collection, Qubit and Modeus are discussing Plutonian’s powers and where they come from. While interesting and very well thought-out, I thought by giving the reader such a long explanation some of the magic disappeared. The alliance between Modeus and Qubit has a lot of potential for future conflict, but for the moment it’s also fun to see them attempting to one-up each other on their knowledge of and theorising about the Plutonian’s nature and how to beat him.

The chapters of this collection focus more on the Plutonian, who still stuck in the intergalactic insane asylum. We see how, with the help of another, mysterious inmate, he plots his escape. Along the way, they collect a band of super-powered nutcases who they use to further their ends. The most interesting character for me? The suicidal cutter with a telekinetic problem, who suffers from a very cleverly-conceived problem: when she cuts herself, she remains unharmed, but others receive the wounds. The Plutonian manipulates her (and the other members of their little group) expertly. It’s a dangerous road, through multiple levels of progressively dangerous foes, and the Plutonian’s and his companions’ powers are tested to the limits. In addition, we get some more, interesting flashbacks to the days of Plutonian as a hero (including his superhero debut), which further expand our understanding of his past. Throughout the series, these flashbacks help make the story more satisfying and complete. Waid has integrated them very well into the story.

Survivor’s ego continues to grow, as well as his anger at Qubit’s and other original Paradigm members’ concern about his shift in character. He doesn’t feature much in this collection, however, although I’m assuming, given how this book ends, he will be more central in the next few issues. It’s been a while since we spent any time with a number of Paradigm members, actually. Those we do visit with continue to be interesting, but we only see small bits of how their stories are developing. Kaidan is a central component of Qubit and Modeus’s alliance, but there’s not a whole lot of movement there. It’s a pity, as I think this is the first collection that felt a tiny bit like it was treading water, taking its time to get somewhere. It’s interesting, and there’s lots of great artwork throughout, but I felt the story didn’t move forward as much as it could have.

The artwork throughout is brilliant – both Krause and Barreto have great styles that suit the story and are visually pleasing. They are two of my favourite comic artists, and their work complements Waid’s writing and story perfectly.

As always, a very well-put-together comic, even if this wasn’t my favourite collection. I would still highly recommend the series to all, though.

Introducing ANNE LYLE

2012-01-18T08:00:00.000Z

The first in what I hope to be a string of interviews with 2012 Debut authors, today Anne Lyle tells us a little bit about her highly anticipated upcoming Elizabethan fantasy, The Alchemist of Souls, her writing practices, and confesses to a history of impersonating a snowflake…

As a debut novelist, I thought I’d start off this interview with something easy: Who is Anne Lyle?

Hmm – not sure that is an easy one! I’m a zoology graduate and former non-fiction production editor turned web developer; a technophile and all-round Mac geek who also loves history and languages. I’m an England cricket fan, a tolerably good cook and partial to a glass of single malt. None of this, apart from the love of history and languages, has anything to do with my fiction. Oh, well maybe the zoology, too. I love creating interesting non-humans for my stories.

Your first novel, The Alchemist of Souls, will be published by Angry Robot Books in April. It’s one of my most anticipated novels of 2012, but for those who haven’t heard of it, how would you introduce it to a new reader?

The Alchemist of Souls is the first instalment in an alternate history fantasy trilogy, set in an Elizabethan England where the Age of Discovery hasn’t turned out quite the way it did in our world. The conquistadors have been turned back by an alliance between the Native Americans and a powerful magical race known as skraylings, and the latter have recently formed an alliance with England against Spain. The hero of the series, Mal Catlyn, is a down-at-heel swordsman who is plucked almost literally from the gutter to act as bodyguard to the skrayling ambassador, and finds himself drawn into a conspiracy that could cost England her powerful new ally – and Mal his soul.

Where did the inspiration for the story come from? And where do you draw your inspiration from in general?

The inspiration comes from the depths of my twisted imagination – but also from extensive non-fiction reading. I’d read Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs and Steel and was inspired to come up with a scenario that would have made it much harder for Europeans to conquer the New World, so that’s basically where the skraylings come from. The choice of Elizabethan London for the setting was based on my love of the period in general, and in particular my fascination with the Elizabethan secret service.

How were you introduced to genre fiction?

I guess through teachers at school. I remember one teacher reading The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis to the class (in the equivalent of third grade, I think), and then when I was a bit older I started gravitating towards the science fiction shelves in the local public library. Andre Norton was an early favourite, and James White’s Sector General stories - anything to do with aliens and xenobiology!

How do you enjoy being a writer and working within the publishing industry? Do you have any specific working, writing, researching practices?

Well, it’s very enjoyable – I get to go to conventions and have a fun time with all my writer friends, and charge it as a business expense. :) As for specific working practices, I just write regularly. Not necessarily every day – sometimes life gets in the way - but it’s my number one priority after the basics like eating and sleeping!

When did you realize you wanted to be an author, and what was your first foray into writing? Do you still look back on it fondly?

I don’t recall having some great epiphany about “being an author” – I just always liked writing stories and gradually came to realise that I wanted to get published. My first foray was probably the script my best friend and I wrote for our favourite kids SF show – we got a lovely letter back from the production team, with signed photos of the cast. Best. Rejection. Ever.

What’s your opinion of the genre today, and where do you see your work fitting into it?

I think there’s a lot of exciting stuff going on in fantasy in the 21st century. We’ve moved on a lot from the days when it was mostly love letters to Tolkien, and now the genre is a lot more varied – for one thing, it’s not all straight white guys any more!

I see my writing as fitting somewhere between the grim ‘n’ gritty fantasy of Martin, Abercrombie et al, and the more (for want of a better word) elegant historical fantasies of Ellen Kushner, Guy Gavriel Kay and Tim Powers. My publishers like to describe my book as “GRRM meets Shakespeare”, which is a hell of a comparison to live up to, but at the same time I can see where they’re coming from.

What projects are you working on, and what do you have currently in the pipeline?

I’m currently working on the sequel, The Merchant of Dreams, and I have a third book, The Prince of Lies, in the pipeline. After that, who knows? I have a few ideas on the backburner, but nothing solid planned.

What are you reading at the moment (fiction and/or non-fiction)?

I’m reading The White Road by Lynn Flewelling. No non-fiction on the go at the moment (apart from snippets of research).

What’s something readers might be surprised to learn about you?

I once appeared in pantomime as a snowflake (I was about eight or nine).

What are you most looking forward to in 2012?

My book coming out, obviously! Apart from that, the two big UK conventions of the year: Eastercon, which is the weekend after my book is published, and FantasyCon, because last year’s was brilliant.

Find out more on Anne’s website, blog, Facebook, and Twitter.

The Alchemist of Souls is published by Angry Robot Books at the beginning of April 2012.

Two Awesome Upcoming DC New 52 Covers

2012-01-17T19:45:00.001Z

A simple artwork post, this, but many of the great covers for the eighth issues of DC’s New 52 titles were unveiled today on DC’s blog. There were two in particular that stood out for me (not just because they’re series I’ve been enjoying), so I thought I’d share them on here.

First up, Batwoman:

Cover: Amy Reeder | Writers: J.H. Williams III & W. Haden Blackman | Artist: Amy Reeder & Rob Hunter

Second, Resurrection Man:

Cover: Rafael Albuquerque | Writers: Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning | Artist: Fernando Dagnino

“Dracula: Company of Monsters” Volumes 1-3 (Boom)

2012-01-17T14:30:00.000Z

If you resurrect a Vampire King, you should expect to get bitten…

Writer: Daryl Gregory & Kurt Busiek | Artists: Scott Godlewski & Damian Couceiro

A powerful, predatory corporation acquires a valuable asset – Dracula! They think they own him, but no one can own the Son of the Dragon. There’s a monster in their midst that puts Hannibal Lecter to shame – and he plans to gain his freedom in blood.

Evan, a scion of the corporation finds himself caught in between his crazy uncle and his schemes, and Dracula’s calculating cruelty. As the forces of the corporation and Dracula draw battle-lines and face off against each other, Evan must enter into an unlikely alliance. Can Evan work to rally a rebellion that will be able to withstand the onslaught…?

It’s bloodsuckers vs. bloodsucker.

Just a quick review of this series, which I stumbled across by accident. Regular readers will know I’m a fan of vampire fiction, and the premise for this series just really appealed to me. The books bring the Dracula myth kicking, screaming and biting into the modern day. It blends activist corporate agendas with the supernatural and undead, and examines man’s obsession with power, our tendency to greed, and the age-old quest for immortality.

The artwork is mostly clean and detailed, although on occasion it becomes sparse and rougher (depending on the artist handling the issue/chapter in question). The change in style is nicely deployed, and the transition was never jarring. In fact, I often didn’t notice a change in artist while reading – this had a lot to do with the writing and pacing, of course, but the two styles were also seamlessly integrated. I really like the way each of the characters has been realised – both main and peripheral members of the cast – and the colouring is superb, with the different palettes well chosen to match the mood and atmosphere of the scenes. It’s a very good looking series, although I admit that the artwork doesn’t have anything about it to make it particularly distinctive.

The story was really good – I sat down, started reading the first volume, and didn’t stop until I’d read all three collected editions (with only a break in the middle to eat). The story has a steady pace, and the dialogue is very fluid and natural. Evan and a few of the other core characters have good story arcs of their own, and develop nicely over the course of the series. It hooked me, for sure. There are shades of Supernatural and Buffy/Angel, but they are in the region of things that feature in a number of Dracula-/vampire-related literature, TV and movies.

Recommended for anyone who wants something a little different, and a new spin on one of the all-time classic mythologies.

Comics Round-Up (Jan.18)

2012-01-17T08:00:00.000Z

A very nice and varied selection of new titles again this week. International terrorist syndicates, thrill-seeking female agents, a lost young lady in a bizarre world, frightfully British spies, and robots in disguise. I also catch up this week with a review I’ve keep forgetting to include – Josh Fialkov’s excellent Last of the Greats (issues one and two).

Reviewed Herein: Cobra #9, Danger Girl:Revolver #1, Last of the Greats #1-2, Memorial #2, Steed & Mrs Peel #1, Transformers: Autocracy #1, Y The Last Man #1

[Warning: There are some minor spoilers for G.I.Joe & Cobra readers.]

Cobra #9 (IDW)

Writer: Mike Costa | Artist: Alex Cal

The new Cobra Commander has made his first move — all-out invasion of the Southeast Asian nation of Nanzhao, a center of the worldwide drug trade. As the media’s eyes turn toward the attack, G.I. Joe — already gutted by Cobra forces during the Commander’s ascendency — move in to try and stop the invasion and determine Cobra’s goals.

Helix, Iceberg, Alpine and Snake Eyes board the transport along with Flint’s team, under special orders from carlett. They discover a Cobra base, hidden by a jamming signal, emanating from a transmitter tower. Snake Eyes moves in to destroy the tower, and Helix follows. They elect to take the direct route.

“Combra Command” is shaping up to be quite an interesting new ‘event’ in the G.I.Joe storyline. The new leader of the international paramilitary crime syndicate is playing quite a long game, and it’s still not clear where his plans are leading – for Nanzhao and for the region at large. He is keep both the reader and the Joes guessing, as events throw up more confusion and curveballs.

The artwork is very eye-catching, with characters rendered more like portraits that comic-characters. It’s difficult to describe. Snake Eyes’ participation in story allows for some great images and action scenes. He seems to be casually walking away from quite a number of explosions he’s caused, in this issue… Major Bludd poses an excellent question:

Overall, my affection for the G.I.Joe brand and various series just keeps growing with each new issue I read. Highly recommended.

Also on CR: Cobra Civil War Review

Danger Girl: Revolver #1 (IDW)

Writer: Andy Hartnell | Artist: Chris Madden

For the first time ever, creators J. Scott Campbell and Andy Hartnell introduce a new Danger Girl to the team! Who is she? What are her skills? Where is she from? What are her measurements? You'll find those answers and more as she joins the world's sexiest spy agency in their most explosive adventure yet! And not only that, but we also up the action and thrills by welcoming soon-to-be-superstar, artist Chris Madden to his first-ever Danger Girl epic! Consider yourself debriefed!

This was a blast to read. It’s a little silly, mixing James Bond, Charlie’s Angels and some great, humorous action. After a quick introductory mission, the Danger Girl team receive their new orders. Their destination? Peru! The issue is very much a laying-the-groundworks affair, but it does it with enough tongue-in-cheek and insouciant humour that it’s over before you have time to care about that sort of thing. There’s a bit of a bombshell at the end, too.

One thing, though: The new member of the team is not introduced in this issue. Seems a bit of a red-herring promoting the new member on the cover and in the synopsis, only for her not to appear…

The artwork is very colourful and bright, reminiscent of modern-day Disney, with a slight manga-inflection. A nice alternative.

A bit early to tell how this is going to shape up in the short-, medium- or long-term, but I’ll keep my eye out for issue two and report back.

Last of the Greats #1-2 (Image)

Writer: Josh Fialkov | Artist: Brent Peeples

There were seven, possessing the power of gods, and representing all that could be right with the world. But now... he is the Last. As humanity stands on the brink of annihilation, he is our only hope. And he hates us for what we’ve done…

The apocalypse is stopped before it can start, and the Last has taken his place as ruler of Earth. His beneficent rule may not be all that it seems when his siblings’ sins begin to surface.

Fialkov throws us in at the beginning of the end – the Greats are all dead, save one. We join the story when a delegation has been sent to the Last’s stronghold, and he confronts them about his siblings, about the failures and weaknesses of humanity. The representatives – former guides of the now-dead greats – strike a bargain with the Last for help against an imminent threat to humanity’s existence. There are plenty of surprises along the way (some of them unpleasant). The Last is far more ruthless, callous and contemptuous of humanity than one would expect from a race of “saviours”, and his agenda is only slowly revealed to the reader.

This is a great title. It’s full of cynicism about humanity, concerned with how far we as a race are willing to go to survive, and how duplicitous we can be – but, instead of just preaching to the reader, the Last turns our worst traits back on us: a hunger for power, capacity for betrayal, and so forth. It’s a very well-written, intelligent comic.

Last of the Greats reminds me a little bit of Irredeemable, and if given time, it could easily come to rival Mark Waid’s series in stature and quality. Very highly recommended. [Issues 3 and 4 are already available.]

Also on CR: Interview with Josh Fialkov

Memorial #2 (IDW)

Writer: Chris Roberson | Artist: Rich Ellis

A year ago, Em found herself at a hospital with no memory, her mind a complete blank. After spending a year rebuilding her life, she is thrust into the middle of a supernatural conflict between immortal beings representing fundamental aspects of the universe itself when she is given the key to a magical shop, the kind that appears in an alley one instant and disappears the next. With nothing but a talking cat to guide her, she finds herself targeted by living statues, an evil ventriloquist’s doll, and the mysterious Court of Shadows…

I really liked the first issue of this series, so was very eager to read more. In issue two, we are still getting to know the worlds in which the story is set, as Em gets caught up by Schrodinger, the talking cat. We’re introduced to the different worlds (the Lands of Is, Was and Maybe). There’s a surreal, Alice In Wonderland-feel to some of this story, but it is – as far as I can tell – highly original as well, spinning a new approach to some of the more esoteric fairy tales and fantasies.

This is a wonderfully well-conceived and highly imaginative comic, with a strong flavour all its own. I really like the writing and art (which is clean and clear – and suits the story perfectly). I would really recommend this to fans of Locke & Key, Neil Gaiman, and Grimm Fairy Tales (the original stories and also Zenescope’s take on them).

Steed & Mrs. Peel #2 (Boom)

Writer: Grant Morrison | Artist: Ian Gibson

THE GOLDEN GAME Part One: “Crown and Anchor!”

Your favorite Avengers finally return! When Tara King is kidnapped by a mysterious organization, John Steed and Emma Peel must reunite to solve this new mystery.

The original British TV series The Avengers helped define the “Spy-Fi” genre: from January 1961 to May 1969, for 161 episodes, The Avengers was a staple of fandom; one of the longest-running hit espionage series alongside Mission: Impossible, and a small screen counterpart to that other famous United Kingdom spy, James Bond! A science-fiction/ spy fiction mash-up from Grant Morrison and two of TV’s most iconic heroes!

I should state right off the bat that I’ve never seen any of The Avengers TV show, and the 1998 movie was the first I ever walked out of. So, this series is starting from a pretty shaky position from the get-go. Nevertheless, I thought it was quite fun. The story has potential, and the artwork has something of a vintage feel to it. It took me a while to place Gibson’s style, but after a quick Googling, I realised it’s because he’s been involved with 2000AD for 35 years(!), including working on many titles that I enjoyed when I read the comic.

Steed & Mrs Peel is not my preferred type or genre of comic, but I think this could still have broad appeal for people looking for something a little different. And, of course, I have no doubt that fans of Grant Morrison will lap it up.

There’s mystery, espionage, a hidden antagonist, and some good fun thrown in. It’s also pleasantly British. A title to watch, this could shape up to be pretty cool.

Transformers: Autocracy #1 (IDW)

Writer: Chris Metzen & Flint Dille | Artist: Livio Ramondelli

[I couldn’t find a publisher synopsis for this, which I thought was rather strange]

This is an interesting title. This first issue is a very short (eight pages) digital only comic, and it paints a harsher, grittier picture of the Transformer franchise.

The story follows a squad of Autobots on Cybertron, patrolling a region of the city Nyon, looking for a Decepticon arms dealer. All of the characters are recognisable: Bumblebee, Ironhide, for example, who alongside Prowl and Hound make up the unit. The leader of the unit, however, is “Orion Pax”, an Autobot who is identical to Optimus Prime… I’m not well-versed enough in the comics franchise to know what this means, or if this is pre-Prime days, but this character is far more ruthless and violent than the Optimus Prime I’m familiar with. It was an interesting change in dynamic.

The artwork is darker, and also some of the best I’ve seen connected to the Transformers’ franchise. It matches the different tone, and it quite striking. I’d be interested to see how this series shapes up. I certainly like what I’ve seen of this more than Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye. One to watch.

Y The Last Man #1 (Vertigo)

Writer: Brian K. Vaughan | Artist: Pia Guerra & Jose Marzan

This is the saga of Yorick Brown – the only human survivor of a planet-wide plague that instantly kills every mammal with a Y-chromosome. Accompanied by his pet monkey, Yorick searches for his lost love… and the answer to why he’s the last man on Earth.

I tried this out because the first issue was free through Comixology, and after starting it I didn’t stop until I turned the final page. I was hooked. It’s a relatively gentle pace for this first issue, as we’re given the events of the 29 minutes before the event that killed off all-but-one male. I was hooked! This is expertly written, complemented by great, clear artwork. I have to find out what happens next!

Interestingly, there’s a mention of the Culper Ring, which also featured in Brad Meltzer’s The Inner Circle.

I know it’s a bit early to do so, but based on just this one issue, I would highly recommend this series to everyone looking for something different.

Music Video for Fantasy/Sci-Fi Fans

2012-01-17T03:38:00.001Z

Is this a band who like their genre or what?

“Warriors of Time” by Black Tide

I’ve actually got an album review for the band’s second album, Post Mortem, in the works at the moment. It was while checking out their other work that I stumbled across this, and thought it was (somewhat) relevant to the rest of the content of the blog. The album review will go live in the next couple of days.

“Age of Legends” edited by Christian Dunn (Black Library)

2012-01-16T07:21:00.000Z

A collection of dark fantasy fiction

The dark origins of the Warhammer World are soaked in blood. Epic wars between kindred races reshaped continents, vast civilisations rose and fell, the dead walked the earth in legions. This is an age of mighty heroes whose like will never be seen again, such as the mangod Sigmar and Caledor, the Phoenix King of the elves. It is also an era of dread villains like the Witch-King Malekith and Nagash, the Lord of the undead. In these troubled times, dragons still flock the skies and magic exists that can doom or save the world.

It used to be that all Warhammer fiction came in the form of short stories, so it’s nice that Black Library are maintaining output of shorter slices of Warhammer (and WH40k) action and adventure. In Age of Legends, we have ten stories from a number of established masters of the world, as well as some new blood. Overall, this is another great anthology of dark, engaging fantasy fiction, with some particularly enjoyable contributions from newer authors.

“A Small Victory” by Paul S. Kemp

The great temple-cities of Nehekhara are in turmoil. As the undead forces of Nagash the Usurper sweep across the deserts, the armies of the priest-kings fall before them, every death a double loss as another soldier is added to the Usurper’s unliving horde. Refugees flee the city of Bhagar, among them the betrothed of the merchant Masud. Determined to find and protect his love, Masud escapes from the city and takes to the desert, but Nagash’s reach is long, and no one is safe from the curse of unlife...

This is a solid start to the anthology. Kemp has a gift for evoking the horrific aspects of the Warhammer world. Masud’s fight against the undead is nicely done – it’s tense and atmospheric, and the enemy is grotesque and creepy. Kemp also manages to give the story a tragic ending, which was very well written. His prose style is tight and well-paced. The only problem is that it was maybe too short for Kemp to really show us what he’s capable of. A very good start – this also bodes very well for his next fantasy novel, The Hammer and the Blade (coming soon from Angry Robot Books).

“Bloodraven” by Sarah Cawkwell

For many long years, the remote dwarf hold of Karak Ghulg has stood against the attacks of Chaos-touched human marauders. But now the last assault is coming. With the women and children sent to safety, King Skaldi Ironjaw and his stalwart warriors prepare to sell their lives dearly to stop the crazed killers, led by the greatest of Khorne’s champions, Valkia the Bloody.

This is another great story, and just goes to show why Cawkwell is one of the more popular of Black Library’s new authors. She has a real gift for writing Chaotic characters and battle scenes. In this story, though, I also really liked the way she wrote the dwarfs – evoking their doughty pride and stubbornness very well. I’d certainly be interested in reading a Dwarf-centric novel from her in the future. But, of course, we’re reading for the Chaos side of the story, and here, Cawkwell is very good. She manages to keep the Chaos host realistic (relatively speaking, of course) and brutal, without making them too over-the-top or turning them into cartoon monsters. Valkia is an excellently conceived daemon princess, and her otherness is horrific and frightening to behold (or imagine, really), so I’m very glad she’ll feature in a full-length novel (to be published in July 2012).

I do have one issue with the story, though, and that it Cawkwell’s tendency to over-describe. Not by much, just adding occasional, extraneous adverbs or adjectives that aren’t necessary. This leads me to privately nitpick about some descriptive inconsistencies. If Cawkwell can reign in this tendency, then she will definitely deserve to be considered one of BL’s best authors.

Also on CR: “Influences & Inspirations” Guest Post

“City of Dead Jewels” by Nick Kyme

The dwarf hold of Karak Azgal, once the glittering City of Jewels, is now a dead city, a warren of tunnels and ruins infested by foul creatures. Hidden in the depths is a powerful beast of an unknown nature, the killer of King Durik’s son. A band of dwarfs form an uneasy alliance to seek it out, revenge in their hearts, but the creature is more powerful than they can imagine...

This story has a bit of a slow start, but when the combat kicks off things really start to get going. Kyme has a great prose style (with only a couple of florid sentences), and this story has a great pace. Kyme, who has written novels focusing on the Dwarfs, has a great way of writing them, and manages to make all the characters individuals as well. This story is, basically, a very nicely put-together dungeon quest: we have a beast-slaying goal, a great beastie to slay, tragedy along the road, and a weary victory. I really enjoyed this.

I really don’t know why I haven’t read any of Kyme’s novels. I’ll remedy that this year for sure (probably starting with Salamander).

Also on CR: Author Interview

“The Last Charge” by Andy Hoare

The city of Brionne, the jewel of Bretonnia, is under siege, the latest victim of the rapacious dark elf warlord Rakarth, the Beastmaster. As the dark elves and their monstrous hordes surround the city, the defenders turn to Duke Corentin for leadership. Rallying his troops to meet the attack, Corentin prepares to defend the city, even as he knows that in this place, at this time, he and his knights will make their last charge.

Be careful what you wish for – that is the message of this story. Hoare has a great writing style, and a great eye for description. Despite this, though, the story feels a little thin. One of the shortest in the anthology, the first half of the story seems to be deal with deployment and a bit of posturing on the part of the Dark Elves. It feels a little more like a roll-call of Druchii regiments and rare units. A pity, as Hoare is a great writer. Maybe if he’d had a larger wordcount to play with? Still, it’s well written and there are some good combat scenes.

“The Ninth Book” by Gav Thorpe

Norse mercenaries, heading south to fight in the civil war that divides the Empire, take shelter from a storm in an ancient Kislev fortress. Drawing the attention of nearby enemies, they find themselves under siege. But the greater threat may come from within. Deep in the bowels of the fort, the mercenaries find a tomb with the name ‘Von Carstein’ engraved upon it. And it is empty...

This story is filled with good tension and atmosphere, with a little mystery towards the beginning. A watching nobleman wants something in the tower, something he needs the Norse mercenaries’ help to get. Fortuitously for him, but unluckily for the Norsemen, a Chaos warband lays siege to the tower, and he offers his help in return for the item he covets. Thorpe gives us a mixture of Chaotic and Undead combat. The story is tightly written, and the characters are nicely constructed and portrayed. This is one of the strongest stories in the collection, and Thorpe continues to impress with his writing.

The story has an interesting ending, and offers a perspective we don’t often read from a Warhammer vampire, but one that should make perfect sense: the idea that an apocalypse or widespread Chaos taint is not good for a vampire’s food supply. (Which reminded me of Chuck Wendig’s Double Dead.)

Also on CR: Author Interview

“The Gods Demand” by Josh Reynolds

For twenty-two days, the city of Hergig has stood strong against the beastman horde that has laid waste to Hochland. But now the gates have broken, and the beasts have entered the city. Elector Count Mikael Ludendorf leads the defence, his runefang in hand and his stalwart personal guard at his side. As the beasts rampage through the city, the count seeks out his foe, intent on killing the leader of the horde, the Beastlord Gorthor. The result of their combat will decide the fate of Hergig.

This story was probably the biggest surprise of the bunch. It’s awesome. Elector Count Ludendorf’s got some giant-sized brass balls, which is a polite way of saying he’s nuts. He is ruthless, and slightly unhinged from reality, unable to back down in the face of overwhelming odds. It is his eventual undoing, but he is not alone. There’s also an interesting parallel to be drawn between the human and beastmen forces. Where Ludendorf ignores his advisors’ call for caution, Gorthor ignores his own sense of caution to placate his near-mutinous horde of bloodthirsty beasts. I liked that Reynold’s characters, as well as being very well written, also broke the mould of what you might expect from them.

The author has a superb writing style, that pulled me through the tale, and I was engrossed. I bought his latest – Knight of the Blazing Sun – based solely on the strength of this story (and I’ll review it pretty soon, hopefully).

The battle scenes are no-holds-barred, intense and ferocious. The final confrontation between Ludendorf and Gorthor is brutal and gripping. This was excellent..

“Plague Doktor” by C.L. Werner

As the black death sweeps across the Empire, indiscriminately killing rich and poor alike, the people cling to any hope of deliverance. When a ragged group of scavengers, on the run from Imperial authorities, enter the town of Amorbach, one of them is mistaken for a plague doktor – a sinister figure, but one who brings hope. Can he maintain the deception long enough to escape from the town, or will the truth be discovered?

This is another solid contribution from Werner. His characters have suitably questionable morals and worldviews, particularly Grau. He is offset by his idealistic former-knight companion and guard, Kahlenberg, who provides disapproving commentary on Grau’s broken moral compass and attempts – successful and not – to maintain a level of honesty that his employer does not appreciate. Grau, posing as the plague doktor, gleefully takes advantage of desperate townspeople’s need for hope and salvation, any potential cure for the plague is welcomed, regardless of how ridiculous it might seem. Kahlenberg resists only as much as necessity will allow. As they stay longer in Amorbach, they slowly come to realise that this plague may not be natural at all, and come face-to-face with some deadly, scuttling fiends…

Deliciously sinister and cynical, this is a great, short and dark story that sets things up nicely for Werner’s upcoming novel, Dead Winter (to be published in May 2012).

“The City is Theirs” by Philip Athans

The army of Gorbad Ironclaw is at the gates of Nuln. The defence is over, the walls are about to fall and all hope is lost. Count Brutus Leitdorf oversees the evacuation of the city’s remaining citizens when an advisor comes to him with an audacious – and dangerous – plan that might just help them survive – if they can find someone desperate enough to carry out the suicidal endeavour.

This is the first time I’ve heard of Philip Athans, and I must say this is a very promising first read. Despite a slow start, the story builds to a well-executed, tragic ending. His characters are interesting and well-drawn, as well as diverse; Athans avoids cliché and looks beyond the more predictable cast of characters. Dr. Isaak Meitler is a delightful curmudgeon, an alchemist utterly incapable of observing social niceties when in the presence of the ruler of Nuln. The characters are all good, and I found myself zipping through the story. It’s one of the longer ones in the anthology, but it didn’t feel like it.

Great writing, an original story, and fun. I look forward to reading more by Athans in the future, and would certainly be very interested to see what Athans can do with something novel-length.

“The Second Sun” by Ben Counter

In the bowels of the Bright College in Altdorf, Associate Comprehender Mohr investigates an ancient and mysterious artefact that tells the story of a long-dead wizard and his search for a spell of incalculable power – the Second Sun. As he reads the tale, Mohr finds himself drawn into a dark mystery that threatens to claim his soul as it did that of the wizard Malofex many hundreds of years before.

This is a pretty interesting story. It focuses on the Bright Wizards of the Empire, whose aesthetic and power are both linked to fire. We get a lot of interesting and detailed insight into their College, and some of their secrets and methods. There remains an unsolved mystery at the end, which makes me wonder if there’s either something I missed (not knowing much about them prior to reading this), or if this is the start of something bigger – a novel or more short stories yet unpublished, perhaps?

It’s well-written, with a confident and relatively clipped prose style. I think it could have been longer, though, as I didn’t feel like I’d got the whole story, and would have liked a little more closure.

“Aenarion” by Gav Thorpe

The Sword of Khaine resides upon the Blighted Isle, veiled in mystery and guarded by forces both living and dead. Despite the warnings, Aenarion rides out upon his dragon Indraugnir to seek the prize in order to save his homeland of Ulthuan. The journey is fraught with danger, and Aenarion must confront daemons, spirits and the elemental forces of nature itself if he is to succeed. But in drawing the blade from the Black Anvil, he will unleash the ancient and malevolent force that will tear the elven race apart…

This story was originally released as an audiobook of the same name, and it’s an interesting way to close off the anthology. Focused on one of the greatest Warhammer heroes ever, it is an account of the first Phoenix King of the High Elves’ battle against the hordes of Chaos. It’s presented in an interesting style – almost like a saga, or grand historical re-telling of the age. At times, this makes some of the language a little too arch, perhaps. Compared to Thorpe’s other story in the anthology, this is not as strong. It’s still good, enjoyable and well-written, it just provides a bit of a flat ending to this otherwise very strong anthology.

If you’d like to read more High Elf fiction, I’d recommend Gav Thorpe’s The Sundering series (Malekith, Shadow King, and Caledor), Will King’s superb Blood of Aenarion and Graham McNeill’s Defenders of Ulthuan and Sons of Ellyrion.

“Incorruptible” Vol.4 (Boom)

2012-01-15T08:00:00.000Z

Writer: Mark Waid | Artist: Marcio Takara

The Plutonian has been defeated, leaving the world’s most notorious supervillain-turned-superhero, Max Damage, adrift. But Max's work is never done, and being a superhero in a post-Plutonian world is far more difficult than he imagined... especially with a mentally unstable new sidekick and a new team of reluctant allies... the superhero team the Paradigm!

Tying in with the events of Irredeemable Volume Six, these Chapters in Max Damage’s story take a look at how the former villain takes the news of the Plutonian’s incarceration, and where he’ll go and what he’ll do next.

In quick summary, I’m enjoying Incorruptible almost as much as Irredeemable, and I really think people should read them both. Waid shows us how comics can be at their absolute best: enjoyable, entertaining, brilliantly written, and thought-provoking.

[Be warned: Minor Spoilers after the break…]

The story picks up right where Volume Three left off, with the Plutonian’s ex-girlfriend, Alana, defending her decision to ally with the newly-good Max Damage, and insisting that their relationship is purely platonic.

Alana’s a good partner for Max as, in her words, he lacks the inner compass that keeps other people on the straight and narrow. His guide to being a hero is to just do the opposite of what he would do when he was still a villain. She’s having a little difficulty adjusting to his eccentricities and mannerisms. In the meantime, they both have to keep an eye on Headcase, Max’s new sidekick, as she seems determined to make their lives difficult – she’s completely escaped into the masked-hero role, taking reckless risks. Max really doesn’t have a lot of luck with sidekicks… I really like how Waid has developed these characters and relationships – taking them down interesting and original routes.

Once again, Waid manages to pack in a hell of a lot of story into this collection, and it’s very nicely illustrated by Takara. The cross-over with the Paradigm (the Plutonian’s former teammates from Irredeemable) is nicely done, and should help draw a few more people across to the other title – assuming, of course, that they’re not reading it already.

Perfect companion to Irredeemable, and a great comic in its own right. Highly recommended.

G.I.Joe: Cobra Civil War (IDW)

2012-01-15T06:11:00.001Z

IDW’s line of G.I.Joe comics went through quite an important ‘event’ last year – the Cobra Civil War – and after reading the Cobra Annual 2012, I had catch up with the story.

I seem to have a knack for joining the continuity when something big happens involving Cobra Commander (my first comic was G.I.Joe Real American Hero #100, when he comes back from the dead).

Reviewed Herein: Death of Cobra Commander, Cobra Civil War #0-8, Snake Eyes #1-9, G.I. Joe #9

[Huge thank you to Lorelei at IDW for providing me with the issues I was missing!]

I thought I’d break this review up into a loose chronological order, starting with the Death of Cobra Commander, followed by Cobra: Civil War, then Snake Eyes, and finally a couple of issues that focus on the aftermath, and the next story arc “Cobra Command”. The story rotates through the three G.I.Joe titles, but I haven’t managed to get hold of all the G.I.Joe series, so that will have to be reviewed at a later date.

The Death of Cobra Commander

Writers: Mike Costa, Christos N. Gage, Chuck Dixon, Larry Hama | Artists: Antonio Fuso, Neal Adams, Rod Whigham, Marshall Rogers, M.D. Bright

This issue is a 100 page commemorative issue that takes a look back at Cobra Commander through the ages. It starts off with his death, a story that perfectly portrays Cobra as a ruthless organisation built on and riddled with treachery, distrust, and paranoia, staffed by not a few sociopaths. And, hidden amongst them, is a “rogue” G.I.Joe officer, who’s been biding his time.

I thought this was a very nicely put together book – there’s a great story leading off, and a wealth of bonus material to please long-time fans of the franchise and also newcomers. For example, it includes a biography of Cobra Commander (in the form of a newspaper article); written responses from members of Cobra and G.I.Joe to news of Cobra Commanders death (most dry and serious, but a couple were funny). I particularly liked the reprints of the old comics (including the first G.I.Joe comic I ever read). The art and colouring style are simpler, a bit more garish, and hasn’t quite aged as well as hoped, but the old issues are still enjoyable to read and nicely composed.

Cobra: Civil War #0-8

Writer: Mike Costa | Artists: Antonio Fuso, Arianna Florean, Chee, Werther Dell’Edera

Cobra Commander is dead! Long live… Cobra Commander?! But the question is, who will be the next Cobra Commander? The role of Commander must be filled — now the most lethal and cunning Cobra
operatives will compete to reign supreme. The winner? Whoever kills the most G.I. JOES.

It’s quite engaging, watching the command candidates attack each other and compete for the top spot. It shines a light on the dysfunctions of Cobra as a paramilitary organisation. As mentioned in the Death of Cobra Commander review, above, this is an organisation populated by sociopaths and psychopaths – each an accomplished Machiavellian operator, attempting to twist every opportunity in their favour. We’re introduced to all the main candidates as the issues rotate in perspective, and see how their particular style might lead Cobra – from blunt violence, to subtlety and even economics. Certain candidates are aware that they have no chance whatsoever, so are just working for themselves, strengthening their positions in general in the organisation. They also exhibit an equal mix of arrogance and insecurity. In the meantime, Serpentor (a type of intelligence priest), is pulling strings in the background – manipulating Cobra candidates and also controlling a mole inside G.I.Joe. But other covert operatives are also in place, and starting to work at cross-purposes.

The Cobra characters offer a stark contrast to the G.I.Joes, who have a strong sense of brotherhood and trust cementing their ranks together. Knowledge of a Cobra plant amongst them leads them to a radical solution: task a former Cobra operative to root out the traitor. This forms a fair bit of the story, and is nicely done. That being said, some of the key “good” characters are not without their insecurities – as the Cobra-centric narratives start with “I’ll never be Cobra Commander…”, so too do the G.I.Joe-focused narratives start with “I’ll never be G.I.Joe…”. It’s a nice way to offer further parallels and similarities between these two otherwise diametrically opposite groups.

As mentioned above, the story also features in G.I.Joe (review to come at a later date) and Snake Eyes (reviewed below), and there are a fair number of references to what’s going on in the other titles. However, there’s no necessity to read all three, as important information is conveyed as and when needed. Costa has a very interesting writing style and approach – he is very good at striking a balance between levels of information: sometimes he’ll give us a lot, through dialogue, while at other times he utilises minimal-to-no dialogue for a page or more, allowing Fuso and Florean’s artwork to show us everything we need. I liked the balance, and thought it helped strengthen the story – giving it nuance and atmosphere. The more I read, the more invested I became in the fates of these characters (good and bad), even though I already knew who wins the contest ahead of time.

The artwork throughout is varied, given the number of artists who worked on the title. Some of it is not the sharpest – at times blocky – but with strong colouring and good shading, and some sketch-like qualities, it is nevertheless eye-catching, clear and distinctive.

If I had one complaint, it’s that the winner of the contest doesn’t actually feature in the Cobra title, except for the prequel #0 issue, and in #8 as Cobra Commander – we know nothing of who he is (although, the new focus he gives Cobra should be a clue). Therefore, I don’t know how or why he won over the others. I’ll really have to read G.I.Joe #1-8 to get the full story.

Snake Eyes #0-8

Writer: Chuck Dixon | Artist: Robert Atkins, Augustin Padilla, Alberto Muriel & Casey Maloney

In the prequel issue, we learn that someone has decimated the Joe’s best fighters – members of Snake Eyes’ squad of warrior students. We then follow Snake Eyes as he hunts down the man who ordered his team killed. And that man is part of the Cobra Commander contest. The hunt takes Snake Eyes and his team to the Himalayas, and a hidden base cut into the side of a mountain. But Snake Eyes’ quiet thirst for vengeance gets the better of him, and things don’t go well for the team. We also come face to face with some long-time favourite bad-guys (who I actually remembered from almost twenty years ago). After the Himalayas, we move on to another mission, this one featuring a corrupt pharmaceuticals corporation with Cobra affiliations, who are spreading a virus that turns ordinary people into vicious, near-mindless psychopaths. The arc finishes with some rather poetic justice.

The tone is slightly different for this title, more thoughtful, with far more sneaking about, and plenty of ninja-action. So, naturally, I absolutely loved it. At the same time, there are a few amusing asides about Snake Eyes’ silence, as well as generally good banter between characters.

Right off the bat, I can say I much prefer the art style for Snake Eyes over Cobra. The art for the first four issues is much cleaner, with a very high level of detail. Each panel and frame looks meticulously drawn, coloured and inked, and the artists who have worked on these issues have given the story a very attractive, cinematic feel. There are some really great full-page pieces, too. The artist changes for the following four issues, but the style remains clean and detailed.

Overall, I would say this is a great comic.

Cobra Command: G.I.Joe #9 & Snake Eyes #9

Writer: Chuck Dixon | Artist: Alex Cal

When Cobra Commander was killed by an undercover G.I. Joe agent, the Cobra council began a contest to find a new Commander. The rules were simple: whichever member of Cobra High Command caused the most damage to G.I. Joe would be elected the new leader of Cobra. At the end of the contest, the victor ascended to the role of Cobra Commander.

Meanwhile, G.I. Joe has been hit hard: they lost the Pit and had to find a new base of operations, their Washington, D.C. installation was
infiltrated by a Cobra double-agent, and Duke was almost eliminated by a deadly virus developed by a member of Cobra High Command. Now, Hawk must answer to his superiors in Washington in order to justify the catastrophic losses... but Cobra isn’t done yet.

The new Cobra Commander is asserting his position, moving forward aggressively with his plans. In the meantime, G.I.Joe commander Hawk comes up against Washington bureaucracy, who struggle to accept that Cobra exists – until Cobra Commander’s plan is executed. It’s an ingenious plan, really, one guaranteed to benefit Cobra while the Joes and the world scramble to figure out how (or even whether) they should react. There’s also an appearance from a character I’m surprised has featured in neither Snake Eyes or Cobra: Snake Eyes’ nemesis, Stormshadow!

The issue has great artwork – strong colouring, detail, and nice composition throughout.

Writer: Chuck Dixon | Artist: Alex Cal

The new Cobra Commander has made his first move—an all-out invasion of the Southeast Asian nation of Nanzhao, a center of the worldwide drug trade. As the media’s eyes turn toward the attack, G.I. Joe — already gutted by Cobra forces during the Commander’s ascendency — move in to try and stop the invasion and determine Cobra’s goals.

Helix, Iceberg, Alpine and Snake Eyes board the transport along with Flint’s team, under special orders from Scarlett. Meanwhile, Cobra forces begin devastating Nanzhao’s opium fields, moving through the jungles with impunity…

This issue picks up right where G.I.Joe #9 finishes, as Snake Eyes and his team deploy to Nanzhao. They cut a bloody swathe through the cocky Cobra forces, in their attempt to figure out Cobra’s endgame. Like the other Snake Eyes issues, it’s very nicely composed and coloured, but I felt there wasn’t as much story in this issue as there was in past issues. Maybe it’s because the story now rotates through the three G.I.Joe titles properly that it might take a little while to get used to the new rhythm.

The story of Cobra’s Civil war also featured in the on-going G.I.Joe series, but I wasn’t able to get hold of two issues (#2 and #8) in time to do this review, so I will have to revisit that side of the story in a future post.

* * *

The first of these issues have now been collected into trade paperback editions:

“Irredeemable” Vol.6 (Boom)

2012-01-14T08:00:00.001Z

Writer: Mark Waid | Artist: Peter Krause & Diego Barreto

The Plutonian, once Earth’s most powerful hero, now Earth's most feared villain, has finally been captured. A ruthless alien race now holds Plutonian as their captive in a distant galaxy. But are they prepared to hold one of the universe's most dangerous men? And now that Plutonian is off-world, how will his former teammates, the Paradigm, deal with the worldwide clean-up?

Regular readers will know how much I’ve been loving the Irredeemable collections – it’s a great comic series, with a superb premise, that sets a very high standard. This volume finishes with Chapter 23, and even after two years, Irredeemable maintains a very high quality and remains gripping. If you’ve been following the series, you won’t be disappointed. Check out my review of the Definitive Collection (collecting volumes one to three) for more on the start of the series.

[Before I get on with the review – which contains minor spoilers: how cool is that cover? Well done Scott Clark & Dave Beaty!]

Cary, the powerful member of the Paradigm also known as “Survivor”, gets rather carried away after the news of the Plutonian’s capture goes public. He’s an interesting character, having become far more arrogant and assertive since the death of his twin brother. This is an interesting development – the most powerful remaining member of the Paradigm seems to be going bad as well – resorting to blackmail, threats, etc., to get his way – but unlike the Plutonian, who fell due to relentless disappointment, Survivor seems to be falling due to hubris. He’s a lot more aggressive in pursuing his newfound agenda of reconstruction, and isn’t afraid of twisting arms to get his way – and to bring super-powered villains into the fold to help with the clean-up. As a result, Survivor looks to be on a collision course with Qubit, who remains strangely reserved in the face of their victory, and above all disappointed that he wasn’t able to save the Plutonian.

In the meantime, the Plutonian was put in a fugue state for transport to a prison mine facility, but despite efforts to snap him out of it, he stubbornly refuses to do so. In his state, he has created an ideal reality for himself, but events in the real world start effecting his dreams, and threaten to knock him back into reality. Which could have dire consequences for his captors. A lot happens in his story in this volume, and it’s pretty varied (and at times a little odd), so I don’t want to spoil things. The collection finishes with a couple of very exciting cliffhangers and revelations about the Plutonian’s location, too. I’ll have to get to Volume Seven (the last collected book thus far) as soon as I can.

Yet again, this is a great collection. Mark Waid is a master, and Krause and Barreto do a wonderful job of illustrating and realising his story. Twenty-three issues in, Irredeemable is still engaging, entertaining, and superb.

DC Comics New 52 Shake-Up

2012-01-13T14:34:00.001Z

Announced today in a USA Today exclusive, DC Comics will be releasing six new titles this May. (I’ve borrowed some quotes and information from DC’s own announcement and the USA Today piece.) In order to make room for these new comics, six of the New 52 titles will be cancelled. Thankfully, and rather selfishly, I’m happy to report that none of the six titles to be cancelled were on my preferred list of comics.

Long-time readers will know that I’ve developed a bit of a passion for the DC New 52, having read, reviewed and loved rather a lot of them. For a full list, as well as links to my reviews, scroll down to the lower part of the blog’s Review Index.

The six new series will replace Blackhawks, Hawk & Dove, Men Of War, Mister Terrific, O.M.A.C. and Static Shock, all of which will conclude with their eighth issues, to be published in April. Of these, I’ve only read the first issue of Blackhawks (didn’t love it), and have read the first four issues of Men of War (again, didn’t love it). Apparently some of the characters from these cancelled titles will apparently make appearances in other, continuing New 52.

Here’s information and some thoughts on the second wave titles that will be starting in May:

BATMAN INCORPORATED – Writer: Grant Morrison. Artist: Chris Burnham.

The acclaimed ongoing writer of ACTION COMICS, Grant Morrison, presents a fresh take on BATMAN INCORPORATED, in which the Batman brand is franchised globally in preparation for a major international threat.

I’m actually really looking forward to this. I am already reading all of the Batman-related New 52 titles, so one more – while it could be considered overkill – is automatically going to pique my interest. This one will pick up where the previous Batman Incorporated and Leviathan Strikes one-shot left off. There’s already an element of Batman Inc. apparent in the New 52, in that Batwing focuses on an African-based franchise. It’ll be interesting to see how it’s expanded in this new title.

For USA Today, Grant Morrison described this as a “big emotional story”, and focuses on Batman’s fight against Leviathan, and organisation led by Talia al Ghul, who – as I discovered in the New 52’s Batman & Robin – is Robin’s mother (a development I quite like, as this incarnation of Robin, also known as Damian, is a bit of a sociopath). One thing that wasn’t clear was how long this title was meant to go on for, but Grant told the paper that he has a number of issues planned with which he’ll finish his Batman story, assuming “we survive the Mayan apocalypse”.

Batman Incorporated Vol.1 will be released as a deluxe edition hardcover (which will include the Leviathan one-shot) on April 11th 2012 – just in time for people to catch up with the story before the new series begins. I’ll do my best to review the book in as timely a fashion as possible.

EARTH 2 – Writer: James Robinson. Artist: Nicola Scott.

The greatest heroes on a parallel Earth, the Justice Society combats threats that will set them on a collision course with other worlds.

Hmm… Parallel worlds… I must admit I’m not particularly keen on that type of premise, so I tend to take a very wary view of books that feature it. (This is, in part, because of All-Star Superman, which came across like a mess of dimension- and time-hopping that left this inexperienced and uneducated reader utterly confused, frustrated and uninterested.) Nevertheless, I’ll try out at least issue one – that way, I may understand roughly what’s going on, and be able to develop an appreciation for the plot device.

WORLDS’ FINEST – Writer: Paul Levitz. Artists: George Perez and Kevin Maguire.

Stranded on our world from a parallel reality, Huntress and Power Girl struggle to find their way back to Earth 2. Perez and Maguire will be the artists on alternating story arcs.

Huntress is currently enjoying a limited-run series (six issues – see image, right), so I’m not really sure why they want to re-boot her story again in this title – I’m waiting for the collected edition of that series, so maybe they’re going to end it in a way that doesn’t bring the Huntress’s story to a conclusion? I’ve never read any Power Girl, but it was recommended to me by someone whose opinion I trust, so I will probably give this a try.

With reference to Earth 2 and Worlds’ Finest, and the alternate-dimensional angle, DC Editor-in-Chief Bob Harass said “We thought it’d be a nice thing to bring this concept back and to really, as we did with the 52 initially, reconceive it and freshen it up.” I am, as has been made clear, on the fence about this…

DIAL H – Writer: China Miéville. Artist: Mateus Santoluoco.

The first ongoing series from acclaimed novelist China Miéville, this is a bold new take on a cult classic concept about the psychological effects on an everyman who accidentally gains powers to become a hero.

It’s written by China Miéville: at the very least, the first issue’s going to have a massive number of interested buyers – I admit, myself included. (I will not, however, camp outside a comic store or rush to one in order to pick up a copy – I’m far too dignified for that.)

There were some very quick posts about this news around the genre blogosphere (e.g. Mad Hatter and Gavreads), which wasn’t at all surprising. It certainly caught my attention as well. But, while I count The Scar as one of my favourite books ever, I have not been particularly floored by or fond of Miéville’s more recent novels, so tend to lack the exuberant anticipation that usually surrounds the announcement of a new Miéville novel. That’s not an indictment on his writing style (which is superb), I just tend not to like London-based fantasies, so The City & The City and Kraken didn’t appeal. His next novel, Railsea, could be interesting, though. I’ll have to give Embassytown a try at some point, too.

Back to the comic, though: I like the concept, so I’ll definitely want to pick up issue one, and I’m sure I’ll give it at least the Three Issue Test, if nothing else. In his interview with USA Today, Miéville said of his attachment to the series:

“I cannot believe that I get to just make up superheroes. It’s what you did as a kid… The whole point of Dial is that the roster of capes is changing every single month, often two or three times.”

Miéville has promised a darker series than in the past, with “horror, sci-fi and lots of psychological ramifications for its dialing protagonist”, and that some of the situations our protagonist will find himself in are “going to mess with [his] head”, which he would like to explore further. This does sound like a very interesting comic.

G.I. COMBAT – Writer: J.T. Krul. Artist: Ariel Olivetti.

Featuring the return of a classic DC Comics series, THE WAR THAT TIME FORGOT, along with rotating back-up stories and creative teams – including THE UNKNOWN SOLDIER, with writers Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti and artist Dan Panosian; and THE HAUNTED TANK, with writer John Arcudi and artist Scott Kolins.

I couldn’t find out much more information on this title other than the synopsis, above. To me, this sounds rather like DC wanted to get a slice of the G.I.Joe market, but considering it will be bringing back a number of older titles, that’s probably an unfair comment. Without knowing more, and without being familiar with the older titles it’s reviving, I don’t think I can comment any more on this. I might give it a try, though.

THE RAVAGERS – Writer: Howard Mackie. Artist: Ian Churchill.

Spinning off from TEEN TITANS and SUPERBOY, this series finds four superpowered teens on the run and fighting against the organization that wants to turn them into supervillains.

Not really sure why this title is necessary. I’m not overly familiar with Teen Titans, having only read the first three in the New 52 series, and I’ve not read any of Superboy (I’m still not really sure of the wisdom of having Superboy a main character in Teen Titans at the same time as giving him his own series). This series will focus on four meta-human teens, attempting to avoid the attention of N.O.W.H.E.R.E. Which is the same premise as Teen Titans… The title suggests it might focus on less “good” teen superheroes, but I wouldn’t put money on it. If I’m honest, I’m not really that fussed about getting this one. Maybe if I could find a little more information on this one (and G.I. Combat, while I’m at it), I’d be able to make a more informed decision.

Overall, it seems like there are a couple here I’d be interested in trying, and since I’ve already given up on the two of the titles they're axing I’ve tried, this means I’ll have a couple more fun shiny comics to try out! I’m optimistic about a couple of them, cautiously so about a couple others. I will probably end up getting the first issue of all six new titles, just to give them a fair shake.

There are a few more new DC titles coming up (for example, Dan Abnett’s eight-part The New Deadwardians, coming in March 2012), and when I have some time and enough information, I’ll put together a post highlighting some of the most interesting and intriguing ones.

“The Buntline Special” by Mike Resnick (Pyr)

2012-01-13T08:00:00.000Z

The OK Corral! Gunfights! Zombies!

The year is 1881. The United States of America ends at the Mississippi River. Beyond lies the Indian nations, where the magic of powerful Medicine Men has halted the advance of the Americans east of the river.

An American government desperate to expand its territory sends Thomas Alva Edison out West to the town of Tombstone, Arizona, on a mission to discover a scientific means of counteracting magic. Hired to protect this great genius, Wyatt Earp and his brothers.

But there are plenty who would like to see the Earps and Edison dead. Riding to their aid are old friends Doc Holliday and Bat Masterson. Against them stand the Apache wizard Geronimo and the Clanton gang. Battle lines are drawn, and the Clanton gang, which has its own reasons for wanting Edison dead, sends for Johnny Ringo, the one man who might be Doc Holliday's equal in a gunfight. But what shows up instead is The Thing That Was Once Johnny Ringo, returned from the dead and come to Tombstone looking for a fight.

This is the Wild West like you’ve never read before. The undead drink in saloons, electric lights shine on the streets of Tombstone, and horseless stagecoaches protect passengers from the angry natives. It took me quite a while to get to this novel, for some reason. I’m a big fan of westerns, and Doc Holliday and Wyatt Earp are particular favourites. A Steampunk reimagining of the US Western Expansion era and the gunfight at the OK Corral? This was great fun.

Despite thoroughly enjoying this novel, it remains a difficult review to write. The story of the OK Corral is well-known, and Resnick does an exceptional job of weaving his new, Steampunk elements into the tale. They’re well-conceived, and it really does feels very seamless and natural that Edison and Buntline were in Tombstone, inventing cyborg prostitutes and other fantastical contraptions.

The characters – famous, infamous, and new – are very well drawn, and I particularly liked Doc Holliday. The banter between all of the characters is excellent and feels natural, and Resnick doesn’t resort to cliché or pulpy dialogue once. (It would have been nice to see at least one use of “varmint”, though…) The relationship and camaraderie between the Earp brothers, Doc and a couple of extra characters that are brought along for the ride, is very natural – there’s a tight bond, there, but it goes unspoken. They are taciturn bros, their friendship, trust, and loyalty do not need to be explicitly stated or reaffirmed. They take it as fact, and carry on.

I read The Buntline Special very quickly, and stayed up well into the night on two occasions. My quick reading notwithstanding, it should be stated that the novel has an overall gentle pace – not unlike what you imagine the characters to live at, given the Tombstone sun... It’s not lethargic, but nor is it in a rush to get to the end. It is a ‘comfortable’ read, but in the best way.

Some of the more fantastical additions to the story are interesting – for example, the way Native American/Apache curses and magic work in this Weird West. It’s particularly important when discussing Bat Masterson and Johnny Ringo, but I won’t say any more about them because I don’t want to spoil it for you.

One way to describe this novel would be “plenty of flair, but not much fanfare”. Resnick’s writing is tight and sparse – it really feels like there is no padding whatsoever to this story, and he writes in a stripped-down prose style. Along with the steady pace, the gunfights aren’t drawn out – they are over in seconds (or lines, if you will), which keeps things realistic and very well-paced. The steampunk stylings do not dominate the story, nor do they detract from the source material overly much.

Overall, this is a very fun and well-written novel. I look forward to diving into the second book in the series, Doctor & the Kid.

I read this book on my Kindle and I must say, Pyr have done another great job making it a top-quality product. Indeed, Pyr eBooks are usually some of the best-quality available on the market, with plenty of nice touches throughout, and maintaining any graphics from the physical books over into the electronic format. Here are a couple of the nice touches from Buntline Special. First, an example of the chapter headers:

The book also a few full-page illustrations, of which this is an example (and the least spoilerific):

“Incorruptible” Vol.3 (Boom)

2012-01-12T08:30:00.000Z

Max & Jailbait search for the Plutonian’s ex-girlfriend

Writer: Mark Waid | Artist: Horatio Domingues & Marcio Takara

Reformed supervillain Max Damage, and his sidekick Jailbait, travel to the ruins of Sky City. A vicious gang of Plutonian-worshipping white supremacists are wreaking havoc on the survivors and ruling with no mercy. But there’s one thing they didn't count on... Max Damage. The key to victory may lie in the hands of Alana Patel, Plutonian’s ex-girlfriend. But how will Max ally himself with Alana when she hasn’t come close to forgetting about Max kidnapping and torturing her in his days as a villain?

This collection delves a little more into Max’s past as a villain, and some of the evil stuff he did in his fight against the Plutonian. In this story, that past comes back to bite him, as his action unintentionally revealed his weaknesses, which have made their way into the wrong hands. Another great book in the series, I can’t recommend it – or anything by Mark Waid, actually – enough.

[NB: A few minor spoilers feature after the break, but if you want to know more about the book, then keep reading.]

There’s a whole new dynamic, now, between Max and Jailbait – the original Jailbait, who was sixteen, has been replaced by an equally troubled young lady, Annie. Annie, however, is not coming from a life of crime, but one destroyed by crime. This fits better with Max’s reformed character, but she’s still a burden for him – due to a promise he made after she saved his life, he now has someone else he must look after.

The look back at Max’s past also reveals more of the original Jailbait’s devotion to Max, as well as the lengths she would go to please him and help him. It’s pretty dark stuff, and makes this a far more complicated read than one might expect from a ‘standard’ reformed-villain story. Normally, the new hero tends to not have been quite that bad – a minor hoodlum or something – but Max was 100% bad, and in some instances evil. It makes our connection with him as a hero a little tenuous, as revelations from his past can set back any sympathy or respect we might be developing for him. It does also lead to some pretty funny lines, which are delightfully twisted and subversive.

There are a few surprises for Max and Jailbait. They discover the true scope of the Plutonian-worshipping white supremacist group, and their insane plan (just wait ‘til you finish Chapter 10…). It’s quite ingenious, and again Max’s past comes back to haunt him. Max makes some more progress towards figuring out how to be a good guy, gaining another member for his motley team. All his new friends and allies are great, and it’s easy to grow very fond of them (particularly “Headcase”, as his sidekick is re-christened).

In this volume, the artwork is split between two artists – Chapters 9 and 10 were drawn by Horatio Domingues, who also handled the art for Volume Two; Chapters 11 and 12 were drawn by Marcio Takara. They’re both talented artists, with distinctive styles that complement Waid’s writing very well. We get more full-page set-pieces, and the variety adds to the reading experience. It’s a book that is pleasing on the eye as well as the imagination. Again, a great book.

I really like this series. Highly recommended. Waid is a genius.

An Interview with LINDA POITEVIN

2012-01-11T07:45:00.000Z

Canadian author Linda Poitevin has only recently come onto my radar, but after looking some more at her work, I think she has something new and interesting to offer Urban Fantasy readers. Self-described as a “wife, mother, friend, gardener, coffee snob, freelance writer, and zookeeper of too many pets”, I was most interested in the writing aspect (although, I could get on board with the “coffee snob”, too), and so got in touch with Linda and asked her some questions about her work.

Your first novel, Sins of the Angels was released in 2011. The next novel in the Grigori Legacy series, Sins of the Son, will be published in 2012. How would you introduce the series to a new reader?

One reviewer called it “a different kind of angel story” and I would have to agree. The series doesn’t follow your standard angels are good and fallen angels are bad theme, but instead explores the very fine dividing lines that sometimes exist between good and evil. Part police procedural, part angel mythology, and part thriller, the series crosses a number of genre lines. I like to call it a supernatural thriller, but because there’s no such category in bookstores, we had to go with urban fantasy.

Where did the inspiration for the series come from? And where do you draw your inspiration from in general?

The seed for the idea came from a song by Sarah McLachlan, Angel. One line in the song, “You’re in the arms of the angel, may you find some comfort here,” had me wondering what if the arms of an angel didn’t hold comfort, but were instead a dangerous and forbidden place to be? To be honest, when I started writing the initial story, I planned it as a paranormal romance. Then I had a brainstorming session with a good friend who is well versed in angel lore. The more I found out, the more I wanted to know and the bigger the possibilities became for the story. Next thing I knew, I had an entire series on my hands!

In more general terms, I draw inspiration from everywhere. Books, movies, television, news stories, conversations I overhear (me, an eavesdropper? Never!), people I observe, places I visit... the world is filled with story ideas. Granted, most of those ideas will never make it onto paper, but they’re still great fuel for my imagination.

How were you introduced to genre fiction?

My parents were both avid readers, particularly my father (I grew up in the 60s and 70s and suspect he had more disposable time than my mother!). He read a lot of science fiction and I would read whatever was lying around the house. SF led me to fantasy, a bagful of books from a neighbor led me to romance, my husband introduced me to thrillers, and I’ve never really looked back. I read a LOT in my teens and 20s (before kids!), often going through a book a day even when I was working full time. I don’t read nearly as much now as I’d like, but my tastes are still pretty broad.

How do you enjoy being a writer and working within the publishing industry? Do you have any specific working, writing, researching practices?

I love, love, LOVE being a writer. What isn’t to love about getting to make up stories for a living? Well, okay, maybe not a living yet, but I’m hopeful! Seriously, though, being able to escape into an alternate reality over which I have absolute power... bwhahahaha! Oops... sorry... let’s try that serious thing again!

I do love writing. I love the creativity of making up a story, the discipline of the craft, the challenge of getting the details just right... and the enormous satisfaction of the entire process (and I say this despite the many, many times I question my abilities when I’m in the middle of a story!). Working within the publishing industry has been a much greater learning curve than I had anticipated, but I’ve been blessed with a fabulous – and very patient! – editor and agent, both of whom have taken me under their wings.

As for practices, I’d like to say that I’m very disciplined and organized, but I’m afraid I’m a constant work-in-progress. When I’m in the research stage, I do a lot of reading but very little note-taking. This tends to result in a mad search through mountains of books when I need a particular detail later, so I’m working on that... sigh.

When did you realize you wanted to be an author, and what was your first foray into writing? Do you still look back on it fondly?

I always wanted to be a writer but never thought it achievable until my husband read one of my stories and began pushing me towards publication. My very first foray into writing was having a poem published in my high school newspaper... and yes, I have very fond memories of that, because it gave a certain young gentleman the nudge he needed to finally ask me out!

What’s your opinion of the genre today, and where do you see your work fitting into it?

I think the urban fantasy sub-genre is filled with potential. There is so much room for creativity – the retelling of myths and fairy tales in a real world setting, the twisting of mythologies and legends, the creation of new and fantastical creatures... the possibilities are endless. For books like mine, which have a supernatural element to them but cross genre lines, UF seems the perfect home.

What projects are you working on, and what do you have currently in the pipeline?

I’m currently working on book 3 of The Grigori Legacy series, SINS OF THE RIGHTEOUS, and book 4, SINS OF THE FORSAKEN, is in the pipeline. Those should occupy the next year or so of my life, after which I have a possible new series in mind as well.

What are you reading at the moment (fiction and/or non-fiction)?

Fiction: Shadow Fall by Erin Kellison

Non-Fiction: The Lightness Of Being: Mass, Ether and the Unification of Forces by Frank Wilczek.

What’s something readers might be surprised to learn about you?

I may be able to write gritty, suspenseful scenes, but when it comes to watching them, I’m the world’s biggest wuss. My husband is forever laughing at me for hiding behind a cushion/blanket during the scary parts of TV shows and movies!

What are you most looking forward to in 2012?

December 22nd, when everyone realizes we’re still here and the world didn’t end after all!

If you’d like to know more about Linda’s writing and novels, visit her website and her blog. She can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.