A quick review of some of this week’s comics. It’s another broad and pretty high-quality selection, with some of the best new series and intriguing continuing series.
I wish I could still offer more DC and Marvel series reviews, but I may be able to in the near future. Watch this space.
Reviewed: The Cape 1969 #2, Deadworld – War of the Dead #1, Higher Earth #3, Hypernaturals #2, Infected #1, Love & Capes – What to Expect #1, Magic the Gathering: Spell Thief #2
Reviewed by Abhinav Jain
Last time I talked about Before Watchmen, my experience with these prequel series had been largely positive, with the exception to Brian Azzarello’s Comedian #1, which I rather disliked. The other three, Minutemen #1, Silk Spectre #1 and Nite Owl #1, I’d really liked and couldn’t wait to read more. You can find my review of them here. So it was with quite a bit of enthusiasm that I dipped back into the Watchmen-verse this month.
Reviewed: Ozymandias #1, Silk Spectre #2, Minutemen #2, Comedian #2
The latest legal thriller from the master of the genre
David Zinc has it all: big firm, big salary, life is in the fast lane.
Until the day he snaps and throws it all away.
Leaving the world of corporate law far behind, he talks himself into a new job at Finley & Figg. A self-styled ‘boutique’ firm with only two partners, Oscar Finley and Wally Figg are ambulance-chasing street lawyers who hustle nickel-and-dime cases, dreaming of landing the big win.
For all his Harvard Law Degree and five years with Chicago’s top firm, Zinc has never entered a courtroom, never helped a client who really needed a lawyer, never handled a gun.
All that is about to change.
Ever since I read Grisham’s The Brethren over a decade ago, I’ve been a big fan of the author’s work. I’ve tried to read as many of his new releases as possible (one day I’ll probably try his YA thrillers), as well as catch up with his back catalogue (to date, I’ve managed to read 15 of them). There have been very few disappointments, and each new novel I’ve found addictive and engaging. In fact, there’s only been one Grisham novel that I’ve not been able to finish (The Street Lawyer), despite trying to read it twice. I have no idea why I can’t get into that one. Anyway, with The Litigators, Grisham is on good form and, despite a second-half wobble, I was not disappointed; it was a very enjoyable read.
Undeveloped & Sadly Cliché
Writer: Ralph Tedesco | Artist: Gabriel Rearte | Colours: Jason Embury, Milen Parvanov
Grace is lost and restless in a big city where her nightmares seem all too real. Suffering from a form of amnesia, she only feels empty and confused.
Her therapist overmedicates, her boss sexually harasses her and her boyfriend beats her. The world is quickly closing in around Grace but when she learns the truth of her past she might just find the power within to redeem her life and battle her demons, no matter how real they might be.
I’ve been meaning to read this for a little while, now, and I finally decided to give it a go. I’m of two minds about what I thought – it has an interesting premise, one that is by-now typical of Zenescope’s output, but it suffers from weak characters and very weak dialogue and writing, not to mention ticking off almost every cliché of single-white-female-lost-in-the-big-city stories in the first chapter (thankfully they go away, and the story starts ticking off all the sarcastic-ass-kickin’-heroine clichés). To keep things interesting, Tedesco has thrown in some pretty weird stuff, and I did think the portrayal of Hell was rather well done.
Just a quick run-down of my ten most-anticipated novels of August 2012. Given the lack of stability, frequent travel and relocation of the past few weeks, I’ve not been able to keep on top of my reviewing as well as I would have liked. Therefore, these books may not be reviewed in a particularly timely fashion (some because I don’t have them, others because I don’t have them with me at the moment). Nevertheless! Each of these is near the top of my to-read list, and I fully intend to feature more of them in the near future. Of course, the best laid plans…
Featured: Madeline Ashby, vN; Charles Cumming, A Foreign Country; James Enge, A Guile of Dragons; Jim C. Hines, Libriomancer; Darius Hinks, Orion: The Vaults of Winter; Mark Lawrence, King of Thorns; Tim Lebbon, The Heretic Land; T.C. McCarthy, Chimera; James Rollins, Bloodline; James Swallow, Fear To Tread
I recently finished reading Bitter Seeds, the superb first novel in Ian Tregillis’s Milkweed trilogy. To celebrate its release in the UK, and the release of the sequel, The Coldest War, in the US, Ian was kind enough to write a guest post for Civilian Reader….
Bitter Seeds features a cadre of soldiers who have been imbued with superhuman abilities thanks to a liberal dose of mad science. The twisted genius who created these übermenschen is Doctor Karl Heinrich von Westarp: a sick but brilliant man, short on compassion but long on determination.
After being distracted by Cherie Priest’s latest Twitter video of her new puppy (who is very cute), I noticed this photo had also been posted by the author:
These are cover flats for the UK editions of two of Priest’s Clockwork Century novels – in this case, books three and four. First off, I think that cover for Ganymede is really good, but the Inexplicables cover is a narrower zoom on the US artwork, which I saw at BEA2012, and much prefer:
I had mixed feelings about Boneshaker, but I fully intend to catch up with the series at some point (I bought Dreadnought and Ganymede while I was in the US, but ran out of time before I could read them – Alyssa is kindly storing them for me until I return). The premise for each novel is great, and I think Priest has done a good job with the world-building. Perhaps the second, third, and fourth books in the series will live up to my expectations. I really hope they will, so expect reviews of them in the near future.
Cherie Priest’s Clockwork Century series will be released in the UK through Tor. The series will be released on a monthly schedule, according to Amazon UK’s listings: Boneshaker (November 2012), Dreadnought (December 2012), Ganymede (January 2013), Inexplicables (February 2013).
On USA Today yesterday, Craig Wilson published a story about “mini ebooks”, which are “being served up this summer as bite-size appetizers for the main course to follow”. I wasn’t aware that this was particularly news-worthy, having seen plenty of these short stories and prequel minis released over the past couple of years. Also, Amazon’s been releasing it’s Kindle Singles for a long time, so there’s more evidence that it’s not a new idea.
They are, however, clearly on the rise. Wilson picks up on three – a new Rizzoli & Isles short from Tess Gerritsen (John Doe UK/US), an early Jack Reacher story from Lee Child (Deep Down UK/US) and a new Walt Longmire story from Craig Johnson (Divorce Horse).
I am entirely in agreement with Johnson, who said these eBook shorts were “a good way of providing a bridge between books,” and also Wilson’s support for them:
“[They are] an opportunity to feed a voracious, digitally savvy public no longer willing to wait between books. The public appears willing to plop down a couple of bucks for a teaser before paying $25 for the real deal.”
Even excusing the impatience-born appeal, I think they really serve best as tasters for new readers – which is why I’ve bought both of Child’s eBook short stories – Deep Down and last year’s Second Son (I’ve never read a Reacher novel, and to this day I have no idea why not…). I’m not sure if I’ll buy Gerritsen’s, as I have the first full-length novel in the Rizzoli & Isles series, and John Doe isn’t a prequel.
In the SFF genre, I’m not aware of too many examples, but off the top of my head T.C. McCarthy’s Somewhere it Snows, Brad Beaulieu & Steve Gaskell’s Strata, Nick Harkaway’s Edie Investigates, Brent Weeks’s Perfect Shadow, and Orbit Books’s Short Fiction initiative, which now has 22 titles (sadly still only available in the US, except for Perfect Shadow).
I would certainly be interested to read more short stories from other authors I already know and like, so I definitely see this as a win-win for eReading fans.
The real issue, I suppose, would be more about whether or not the short fiction should be series prequel, a continuation, or something entirely unrelated to the author’s next full-length release. I personally would like a mix of all three.
How do other people feel about this?
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CORRECTION: Orbit Short Fiction initiative HAS rolled out for UK customers! Just go to the website, and each title has a handy list of vendors. Hurrah! This is great news! I really want seven of them…
Writer: Ed Brubaker | Artist: Mike Perkins | Colours: Frank D’Armata
Captain America has fallen into a clash with his government and his friends, and the people close to him are paying the price. The life of Cap’s girlfriend, Agent 13, is torn apart as her superiors use her divided loyalties against her. Elsewhere, a new villain emerges; the Red Skull begins to make himself known; and the Winter Soldier again comes face-to-face with Cap. But which side will he choose?
Collects: Captain America (2004) #22-24 & Winter Soldier: Winter Kills
I read the first two volumes of Brubaker’s Captain America – Winter Soldier and Red Menace – quite a while back. However, despite really enjoying them, I decided I wanted to read the Civil War collection before diving into this third installment to the series. The main event book was a little disappointing, but this volume as a part of the Captain America series was far more satisfying.
A smaller selection this week, and a pleasantly varied one yet again – some horror, off-beat thriller (with an alien), some ninja-military action, and a pair of Star Wars adventures. I’m not entirely impressed with all the issues (in fact, I only really liked two of them, while each of the others fell slightly short of meeting my expectations).
Reviewed: Bad Girls #1, B.P.R.D. Hell on Earth – Exorcism #2, Resident Alien #3, Snake Eyes #15, Star Wars: Blood Ties – Boba Fett Is Dead #4, Star Wars: Darth Maul – Death Sentence #1
