The Quatermass Book-Reading Blog 9: On Cloud Nine...

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Book 30...

REVIEW: Captain Vorpatril's Alliance by Lois McMaster Bujold

Last year, I purchased the latest Vorkosigan Saga book, Captain Vorpatril's Alliance, and while I was excited to have the next Vorkosigan Saga book, it took me a while to commit to reading the damn thing. Which is a shame, considering how much I have enjoyed this underrated series, a mixture of science fiction with drama and even more than a little comedy. Maybe it was because the emphasis wasn't on the main character of the series, Miles Vorkosigan, but was that any excuse?

Captain Ivan Vorpatril wants a quiet, easy life, and it seems that being a staff officer on Komarr means that he's away from his more infamous cousin Miles Vorkosigan, or his mother and her pointed remarks about his not settling down. Unfortunately, the quiet life doesn't last, as Barrayan ImpSec wants Ivan to investigate Tej and Rish, a pair of new arrivals who turn out to be on the run from the wretched hive of Jackson's Whole, and whose ancestry is sure to complicate matters. In a desperate gamble to protect Tej from those who want to take her from Komarr, Ivan marries her. But that's when his troubles really begin, for marital bliss with someone with links to one of the former Cetaganda occupiers of Barrayar is sure to get him into deep trouble, in more ways than one...

Once again, Bujold is a master of mixing drama, intrigue and comedy in a science fiction. Despite the focus of the story on Ivan Vorpatril rather than Miles Vorkosigan (to some very minor detriment), it still manages to be an excellent one. It just feels a little less high-stakes than previous Vorkosigan Saga books, which is a shame. It was still an enjoyable romp.

Certainly, Ivan Vorpatril makes a good protagonist, on a par with Miles' mother Cordelia, compared to the titular Ethan from Ethan of Athos. Tej and Rish are also interesting, as are their family, although I feel that they could have been fleshed out just a tad more. Same with the returning characters, although maybe it's because I haven't read a Vorkosigan Saga book since CryoBurn back in December 2010.

Overall, this book is a worthy addition to the Vorkosigan Saga, and well worth any fans' time, and even casual readers will like it.


9/10

First words: Ivan's door buzzer sounded at close to Komarran midnight, just when he was unwinding enough from lingering jump lag, his screwed up diurnal rhythm, and the day's labors to consider sleep.

Last words: (Not recorded due to spoilers.)

Book 31...

REVIEW: Fullmetal Alchemist volume 4 by Hiromu Arakawa

Do I have any pithy comments to open this up with? Naw, didn't think so. So, here we go, straight into the review...

Edward Elric's life is saved, ironically, by the very enemies who have been causing him and his brother strife: the mysterious beings known only as Envy and Lust. But while he recuperates in hospital, receiving a visit from Winry Rockbell, his brother Al is brooding over a matter Barry the Chopper planted in his mind. What if Al's soul is a counterfeit one, created by Ed? But there is far more at stake: the Elrics and their bodyguards get a visit from King Fuhrer Bradley, who warns them to remain silent about what they discovered. And Colonel Hughes is about to make a discovery that will have dire consequences for him...

This is the point where the story picks up a little, and while the story was pretty good from the get go, it's here that we get some more development. There's a moment of crisis between the Elric brothers, as well as the death of a likeable character. In short, while we've always been going somewhere in this series, it's gaining momentum.

Perhaps the biggest development is between the Elric brothers, when Al confronts Ed about maybe not being the real Al, with the conflict vivid and the resolution heartwarming. Winry gets some good time too. Colonel Hughes also gets more than a little development, and Scar is also seen to get some background filled in. An intriguing introduction is that of King Fuhrer Bradley, the leader of Amastris and at turns frighteningly authoritarian and charmingly amusing.

The fourth volume of Fullmetal Alchemist is a cut above the volumes so far, and promises much for the future. Here's hoping it delivers...


9/10

First words: What a troublesome child.

Last words: It's something precious that my family gave me.

Book 32...

REVIEW: Ruddy Gore by Kerry Greenwood

I'm not that big a fan of mysteries, to tell the truth. Some are excellent, some aren't, and my reading style does hamper things to a degree. But I have become aware of the Phryne Fisher series through the recent ABC adaptation, Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, set in the Twenties and featuring female detective extraordinaire, Phryne Fisher. I decided not to take the first novel, as I was told that the series improved over time, so I decided to try the seventh book in the series, partly because the concept intrigued me...

On the way to a performance of Gilbert and Sullivan's Ruddigore, Phryne Fisher is briefly caught up in stopping a fight between a group of Chinese. Befriending stage magician Lin Chung, she then makes her way to the theatre, where the actors have been seeing the ghost of a long dead actress, and soon, a death falls upon the company. Retained by the theatre's head honcho, Phryne must penetrate a web of deceit and superstition to find out what history the players have with each other, as well as whether there truly is a ghost haunting them...

Perhaps it is my dislike of mysteries and my reading style, but I found Ruddy Gore less than enjoyable. Not completely unenjoyable by no means, as the setting is given vividly, the mystery and some of the background about acting superstitions are enjoyable enough, and the tricks used by the guilty party in the end are actually quite good. It just doesn't make me want to continue with this series.

Phryne is an intriguing character, but she is also something of a Mary Sue in a few regards, though the fact that she needs the help of Lin Chung to solve the mystery and that she didn't suspect the true guilty party helps defuse this criticism. However, the characters, while mildly interesting, don't quite enthrall me enough. There's something just a touch flat about the characterisation overall, save for Phryne, Lin Chung, and the guilty party.

Ruddy Gore may be a good mystery for someone who reads books at a slower pace compared to me, but while a good book, it doesn't quite get entertaining enough for my liking. Shame, really.


8/10

First words: The hatchet flicked past, end over end, and struck a wooden shutter with a hollow thud.

Last words: (Not recorded due to spoilers)

Book 33...

REVIEW: Kingdom Come by Mark Waid and Alex Ross

After the mind-burning reading of Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth, where next could I go to to read a seminal graphic novel work? I decided on a graphic novel I had flicked through but briefly before, one that I had never actually properly read, but which is considered one of the key comic books of all time. This was Mark Waid and Alex Ross' Kingdom Come...

In the near future, superheroes of a very different, darker breed fight evil. Superman is long retired after the death of Lois Lane, and other heroes of his generation are in varying degrees of seclusion or retirement. But all of this changes when a fight between the vicious new breed of hero and the supervillain Parasite ends when Kansas is engulfed in a nuclear explosion, forcing Superman to leave retirement. Through this and the events to follow, preacher Norman McKay and the Spectre bear witness, watching as events spiral out of control, leading, it seems, to inevitable Armageddon...

The story of Kingdom Come is excellent, examining not only the conflict between old-fashioned heroes and the more modern anti-heroes of the Dark Age of Comic Books, but also between the heroes and humanity. These are themes that have been explored before, and again, but while Kingdom Come deconstructs the superhero, it also goes to the trouble of reconstructing them as well. One misses some of the nuances involved, though, here and there, and the ending is a touch too happy and contrived, but works and is enjoyable.

The artwork of the series is beautiful, and Alex Ross should be commended for it. However, part of the problem with Kingdom Come is that because it crams in so many characters, it can't pay attention to them all. In addition, while I am not a fan of Wonder Woman, I find her characterisation here disturbingly sociopathic, and I thought her normally less so, even given what happened to her in the backstory of this book. Maybe I am wrong.

In the end, Kingdom Come, while no means perfect, is certainly a masterpiece. Beautiful and thought-provoking, it deserves a place on any comic lover's shelf.


9.5/10

First words: "There were voices..."

Last words: (Not recorded due to spoilers.)

Book 34...

REVIEW: Pontypool Changes Everything by Tony Burgess


Having heard of the central conceit of the film Pontypool, I was intrigued by it. So I made it my mission to try and get a hold of the novel that inspired it, Pontypool Changes Everything. It's a zombie novel with a difference and an intriguing twist, but does that make it good?

Pontypool, a Canadian town, where an outbreak of madness has begun. Citizens have begun attacking each other in a frenzy. But no fantastical zombie outbreak is this. The psychotic Pontypool citizens are affected by something deeper than a biological virus, one that threatens to spread beyond...

Okay, I have to admit it: Pontypool Changes Everything has a good concept. A zombie virus spread by language and causing madness by locking up the speech centres of the brain, amongst other things, is a good conceit. But the story feels disjointed, confused, and quite frankly hard to follow, and at times feels deliberately surreal and obscure. It feels like someone fed The Stand and World War Z through a woodchipper.

On top of the confusing storyline is the characters. It's really hard to give a flying [EFF!] about the characters who run the gamut of repulsiveness. Quite frankly, it would be a pleasure to see them die from what happens if I actually gave a crap about them at all, but I don't.

I'm sorry, Tony Burgess. But I didn't really get into Pontypool Changes Everything. It was a major disappointment, despite some excellent concepts.


4/10

First words: That night I had terrible dreams I was killing people.

Last words: (Not recorded due to spoilers.)

Book 35...

REVIEW: Doctor Who: Zamper by Gareth Roberts


Once more, during the course of this book-reading blog, I come to a Doctor Who story, and one written by Gareth Roberts. I feel that Roberts was at his best writing stories with the Fourth Doctor and Romana, with his novelisation of Douglas Adams' never-completed story Shada being the best of them all, although The Romance of Crime and The Well-Mannered War were good too. The Highest Science, while not bad, did seem below par, though Tragedy Day was a little better. So how would another Gareth Roberts Seventh Doctor adventure pan out?

In a pocket universe on the outskirts of a galaxy lies Zamper, a world run by a consortium where the best in weapons and warships are constructed to anyone willing to pay. Their construction methods are a trade secret, but of the highest quality, overseen by the mysterious AI known as Management. But all is not well. A belligerent remnant of the Chelonian Empire, led by a leader in exile who does not wish to make peace with other species, wants Zamper's weapons. Some of the employees of Zamper, kept on the world against their will, plot their escape. And Management is beginning to fail. The Doctor and his companions land in a ship being crash-tested on the world, and now they must discover the mystery behind Zamper and the ship-building Zamps before it is too late...

The story itself is okay, but it could have been better. There are plenty of good twists and turns, but really, only the main plots about Management and the Chelonians feel relevant. The rest seems bolted on to boost up the word count of an otherwise thin plot, although the humour does help paper up the cracks and make the plot more enjoyable than it otherwise would have been.

The Doctor and Bernice are the most involving of the regulars, and while I enjoyed Roz and Chris in other New Adventure novels, here, they seem to have little relevance to the plot, or little fleshing out. The Chelonians Hezzka and Big Mother are perhaps amongst the more interesting of the guest cast, along with zoologist Dr Smith and the mysterious Management. But many of the other characters are of little consequence and just don't seem right.

A shame, and I wish it were better, but Zamper wasn't quite as good as I thought. A bit below par, and still a good novel. Just...not quite at the level I wanted.


8/10

First words: Along the eastern edge of the galaxy, a wide arc of gas clouds shone with a harsh blusih light.

Last words: (Not recorded due to spoilers.)

Book 36...

REVIEW: Supergods: Our World in the Age of the Superhero by Grant Morrison


Having been expanding my horizons with comic books lately, it's probably about time that I come to a more serious work examining comic books. Having dipped my toes into the works of Grant Morrison's seminal Batman work Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth, it is only fitting that my next venture into his works is his own treatise on comics, called Supergods. But I felt ambivalent towards Arkham Asylum, intelligently written, but not as grand as I had hoped. Would Supergods follow the same fate?

Supergods is Grant Morrison tracing the history of comic book superheroes, starting with Superman beginning at DC Comics. From the Golden Age, to the Silver Age of Comics, through the Dark Age and beyond, taking in Fredric Wertham's Seduction of the Innocent, seminal works like Watchmen, and real world events like September 11 along the way. And we see how comics intersected with Grant Morrison's life, and set him on the path to being one of the key comics creators today.

This history is an excellent one. Not actually exhaustive and comprehensive, but certainly strong enough to enthrall not only comic book fans, but those who have a mild interest in the genre, and wish to learn a little more about it. We also have some interesting insights into the comic book industry, as well as the life of Grant Morrison. Much of the book is self-evidently excellent, written as it is by a master writer of the comic book genre.

Which makes it more acutely disappointing with the negatives of the book. Morrison's biography does usually mesh well with the history of comic books, but there are times when he digresses, especially about hallucinatory paradigm-altering experiences that, while still relevant to the subject at hand, are still extremely jarring compared to the rest of it. I also can feel perhaps too much of Morrison's own opinions barging (rather than creeping or seeping) into the text, and I feel that there could have been a bit more of an examination of the Comic Code days, as well as some glossing over of some known characters in favour of others.

All the same, Supergods is an excellent work, marred by a few personal taints and weirdness here and there. A good read, and a tribute to comics, and to Grant Morrison's interesting and sometimes strange life.


9/10

First words: Four miles across a placid stretch of water from where I live in Scotland is RNAD Coulport, home of the UK's Trident-missile-armed nuclear submarine force.

Last words: There's only one way to find out what happens next...

Book 37...

REVIEW: The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, volume 3 by Nagaru Tanigawa and Gaku Tsugano

Have I got any pithy statements to make about the next volume of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya? No? Well, on I go...

Life for Kyon is going from bad to worse. The SOS Brigade is only there for Haruhi Suzumiya's amusement, and when she decides that they need to enter and win a baseball tournament, the stakes get high very quickly. Then, a day out with Mikuru Asahina has many twists and turns. But the biggest twist of all comes when Asahina sends Kyon back in time, on a mission that may prove to be the strangest of them all...

The storyline is fine enough, though the first story is a typical Haruhi-shanghais-everyone-into-her-scheme story, and the second, I don't get very well. However, the third story is far more interesting, tying Kyon into the formative events of Haruhi's obsession quite well. A clever use of time travel worthy of Doctor Who (with even a potential reference to the series) is done.

I have to admit, though, Haruhi does piss me off something fierce. She's a borderline sociopathic teenager with the reality-warping powers of a god. Asahina has some small development, but not as much as I would hope, and the same could be said about Yuki. It was a trifle disappointing.

Not a great volume, save for the third story. But it's still enjoyable enough. I just wish that it was a tad meatier...


8/10

First words: Listen and be amazed!

Last words: ...but next time, I'd prefer not to use my head so much.

Book 38...

REVIEW: Doctor Who: Tomb of Valdemar by Simon Messingham

So, have I got any pithy comments for my next Doctor Who story to be read and reviewed? No, I'm afraid not. Got nothing, save for the fact that I was surprised by Tomb of Valdemar...

On a cold world where life is hard and harsh, the trapper Ponch listens to the tale of an ancient woman. A tale of how the Doctor and Romana end up in the tomb of Valdemar on the acid-shrouded world of Ashkellia, interrupting their search for the Key to Time. A tale of obsessed theurgist Paul Neville, determined to wake up the dead god Valdemar, despite the consequences to the universe, and of Huvan, a man trapped in the puberty-ridden body of a teenager, who becomes obsessed with Romana. A tale of the novelist Miranda Pelham, whose tales of Valdemar have drawn the attention of Neville, and of the vicious Chief Prosector of the New Protectorate, Robert Hopkins, who is determined to kill Neville. And it is the tale of the Old Ones, and of Valdemar, and of the forces about to be unleashed, with dire consequences for all creation...

While a rather straightforward story, Tomb of Valdemar is nonetheless an extremely well-written one. Messingham writes the story with lyrical prose that nonetheless works well for the story. There are many twists and turns, and the ending is unexpected and enjoyable. And this is more than a story about cosmic horror and fanaticism, but also a story about stories, about the nature of fiction.

The Doctor and Romana, as with any great Doctor Who novel, sound like they stepped off the page. And this novel is populated with a panoply of characters that, in other hands, may not have worked well, but it is a tribute to Messingham's skill as a writer that the crazed Neville, the angsting adolescent Huvan, or the vicious and brutal Hopkins are actually engaging. Perhaps more so is Pelham, whose story is at the crux of the novel.

In the end, I have to say that Tomb of Valdemar joins four other Doctor Who novels (The Ancestor Cell, Love and War, The Quantum Archangel, and Shada) in getting a perfect score. Congratulations.


10/10

First words: Janua Foris.

Last words: 'Let's find out.'

Book 39...

REVIEW: InterWorld by Neil Gaiman and Michael Reaves

Neil Gaiman is an author who holds a place in my heart, partly because of his wonderful graphic novel series The Sandman, the excellent novel American Gods, and his Doctor Who episodes The Doctor's Wife and Nightmare in Silver. So I do want to read more of his works. And one of them is a collaboration with Michael Reaves, a science fiction writer, with the collaboration leading to parallel world adventure, InterWorld...

Joey Harker can get lost anywhere, even in his own house. And he's a rather average kid. Even so, on a school excursion, Joey ends up far more lost than he really meant to: he ends up in a parallel universe. Soon, Joey finds out that he is the chosen one. Or rather, one of many chosen Joey Harkers, from a near-infinite range of alternate worlds, ranging from extremes of technology and magic, with many names and personalities, all with the ability to Walk between worlds. But that means that he is also a target, of the technological dictatorship Binary, and the magical monsters of HEX. Travelling to InterWorld, Joey gets off to a bad start, and when things go sour during his first mission, he may prove not to have the right stuff after all...

The concept of parallel worlds is not a new one, but it's certainly used well here. The story is a rather simple one, written as it was for younger readers, and ends rather abruptly with a lot of things in the air, but it is written with such magic and wonder that this is not too great a problem. I just wish that it was a tad meatier. Maybe the sequel will fill things out, story-wise.

Most of the characters are variations on Joey, male and female, magical, technological, and every variation inbetween. It's a testament to the skill of the authors that they manage to make the various incarnations of Joey both different, and yet believably iterations of the same character. Unfortunately, they're not as developed as I like, and the villains are tantalisingly ill-developed. I wish they were better so, as Binary was barely glimpsed, and HEX seemed more like magical archetypes.

Even so, InterWorld was enjoyable enough, killing some time for me and providing an intriguing variation on parallel universe stories.


8.5/10

First words: Once I got lost in my own house.

Last words: (Not recorded due to spoilers)

Book 40...

REVIEW: The Long War by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter

I have to confess that I did enjoy Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter's collaboration The Long Earth, but despite being a good story, it did have its problems. It felt like far too much was left up in the air, and that a sequel was being provided for. Even so, I did feel inclined to get a hold of the sequel, The Long War, and see how it pans out...

Ten years since Joseph Valiente and the AI known as Lobsang made a fantastic voyage across so many parallel worlds. But even as the Long Earth, a vast stretch of parallel worlds, is colonised by humanity stepping sideways into new worlds, the dream is beginning to sour. Abuse of the peaceful trolls by cruel or exploiting humans is becoming rampant. The American government on the original Datum Earth is intending to take control over the citizens who have stepped away, and the President has been known for his anti-Stepper sympathies. And a new, belligerent sentient species is soon to be encountered. While Joseph and his family try to fight for the rights of the trolls, other Steppers have to confront other crises, and others embark on expeditions both belligerent and benevolent. A war is brewing along the Long Earth, as humanity seems set on conflict no matter what...

Yet again, one of the main problems is that the writers seem to be holding back for sequels. There is no full resolution, just another ending with a disaster. And while the focus on both the human politics around Stepping and the emergence of more sentients in the Long Earth is a welcome change, it does come at the expense of the wonder present in the original novel, not to mention the humour. I wonder if Stephen Baxter did far more of the writing this time around than Pratchett. It's still a great story, I just wish it had something more. There's certainly enough to entrance the casual reader, and enough is explained from the original novel that a newcomer could read it without too much trouble, though it would help explain how humanity came to Step in the first place.

As for the characters, they are generally good, but they don't tend to excel. None of them really leap out at me. Certainly, there were some brave attempts to characterise the more alien sentients, like the beagles and the kobolds. And characters both old and new are good. I just feel like it needs something a little meatier. A shame, really.

Overall, while a very good novel, there is a lot missing from The Long War. I just wish that they would put something a little more substantial in.


9/10

First words: On an alternate world, two million steps from Earth:

Last words: (Not recorded due to spoilers.)

Book 41...

REVIEW: Monster volume 6: The Secret Woods by Naoki Urasawa

Some years ago, I came across Naoki Urasawa's excellent manga series Monster. I intended to read the series from beginning to end, but when I ordered the sixth and seventh volumes of the series, only the seventh was delivered, as the sixth volume had suddenly gone out of print, and has been ever since. Nearly three years have passed since I last read Monster, but thanks to finding that a library I have access to has the entire series, I can start again on that most excellent series...

Dr Kenzo Tenma's pursuit of Johan Liebert has led him into a confrontation with Inspector Lunge, the police detective obsessed with catching Tenma, dead or alive, believing Johan to be an alternate personality of Johan's. Tenma saves Lunge's life after the inspector is stabbed by another man, but Lunge is still obsessed with Tenma. And he's not the only one. Eva Heinemann, his former fiance, has hit rock bottom in life, and her only reason to live is to stalk Tenma, and either have him come back to her, or rot in jail. But an encounter with Johan's dedicated underling Roberto may change all that. Meanwhile, university students Karl Neumann and Lotte Frank, carers for blind financier Hans Schuwald, find themselves inviegled in Johan's latest manipulations, one that involves Schuwald, a prostitute called Margot Langer, and a private investigator investigating the death of a student...

Oh, it feels to good to come back to this series, after so bloody long. It's like coming back to an old friend that you have missed. The story, as usual, is bloody excellent, though it's a crying shame that there's not more on Tenma, who, after the first arc, takes a background role (if at all) in this volume. Indeed, much of this seems to be spent setting up the next few plot arcs rather than continuing them, and most of the actual excitement of the volume is over after the first chapter. However, we get the first hints of a new subplot involving financier Hans Schuwald, charminingly nicknamed 'the vampire of Bavaria', and while not quite as interesting as the main plot, it does hold promise, if only because we have to wonder why Johan is involved.

Tenma and Dieter don't get much development so far, though Tenma gets a distinctive moment in bravely trying to help the wounded but obsessed Lunge, despite Lunge intending to shoot Tenma. Eva Heinemann gets most of the development of the established characters. However, we get some new ones, some intriguing (like Hans Schuwald), others...not so much (particularly the fake 'Margot Langer).

Overall, this volume of Monster is a great start back into a series I haven't read for a very long time. Here's hoping I can make it all the way through now...


9/10

First words: HUF

Last words: Who's this other guy...?

NOTE: An unofficial rule that I have for this book-reading blog is that I alternate between graphic novels/manga and normal books. However, I have twelve volumes of Monster to go through at the moment, and two currently in my possession, so instead of alternating Monster with normal books, I intend to (for the time being) alternate them with whatever I feel like. I also have the first volume of The Invisibles, and The Sandman: The Dream Hunters, so I'll probably read one of those first. Probably the latter, as it's more like an illustrated story than a graphic novel.

Book 42...

REVIEW: The Sandman: The Dream Hunters by Neil Gaiman and Yoshitaka Amano

Having finally finished reading the main volumes of Neil Gaiman's seminal series The Sandman, I thought that much of my association with the series might be over. However, I soon found that a library I have access to has a copy of a special volume of The Sandman. The Dream Hunters was done for the anniversary of the series, and marked a collaboration with famous Japanese artist Yoshitaka Amano, perhaps best known in the West for his concept art for the Final Fantasy games, as well illustrations for Vampire Hunter D. But how was it?

This is a tale from the depths of Japanese myth. A fox spirit and a badger make a bet to try and drive a Buddhist monk from his temple home, so that the one who does so claims it as their home. But the monk is not so easily fooled or intimidated, and while the badger flees after one such attack, the fox seeks the forgiveness of the monk, who gives it, not knowing that the fox has fallen in love with him. Meanwhile, a powerful magician is gripped with fear, and his only solution, according to a strange trio of women, is to kill the monk via his dreams, without pain or bloodshed. In order to prevent this, the fox beseeches the King of Dreams himself to allow her to save the monk. What happens next is a tragedy waiting to unfold...

This feels like a fairytale from Japanese myth, and indeed, Gaiman admits that this was the case, being a fairytale adapted from Japanese mythology. However, while the story itself is rather simple and far from complex, there is an enjoyable aspect to it, and Gaiman has plundered myths of the world before for The Sandman. The prose is simple, but has a strange lyricism that is enjoyable.

All the characters are enjoyable enough and interesting, although because this is more of a fable than a full-on work, not that developed. You do see a few cameos from characters from The Sandman, though this is not required. Perhaps the biggest star of the book, however, is Amano's artwork. Uniquely Japanese without being drawn manga-style, it nonetheless not only suits the style of the story, but also the world of The Sandman. Morpheus seems to be at his best when drawn by Amano, who specialises in the tall, thin, pale, androgynous figures that Morpheus tends to take on.

The Dream Hunters is altogether rather simple for my tastes, but it still manages to be such a beautiful work in terms of story, prose, and art that it manages to overcome that. Nowhere near the level of other volumes in the series, it nonetheless feels like a small episode in the continuing saga of the King of Dreams...


8.5/10

First words: A monk lived in solitude beside a temple on the side of a mountain.

Last words: (Not recorded due to spoilers)

Book 43...

REVIEW: Monster volume 7: Richard by Naoki Urasawa


Having restarted reading Monster after a long hiatus, I was able to start, finally, to read the seventh volume that had sat on my bookshelf for so long. Coming back to Monster was like coming back to an old, old friend after a long time. But would Monster overstay its welcome? Or will it go from strength to strength?

Richard Brown, private investigator, is investigating Johan Liebert and Hans Schuwald, the financier Johan seems set on befriending. But despite Johan giving Schuwald's bastard son Karl Neumann a heartwarming reunion with the financier, he has ulterior motives, and when Richard becomes a threat, Johan takes deadly action. Brown's counsellor, Dr Reichwein, soon finds himself in danger, but finds help from someone else obsessed with Johan...

Although this volume focuses almost exclusively on Richard Brown, Dr Reichwein, and Karl Neumann, at the expense of Dr Tenma (who only appears at the end of the penultimate chapter and in the last one), it's still a good story. We focus more on Brown, with his story developed and taken to a heartwrenching conclusion, in contrast with a far more heartwarming reunion between Schuwald and his bastard son, albeit both events being part of Johan's machinations. Certainly, what Johan does to Richard seals his monstrosity far more than any other event in the series. I just feel that this is more about setting things up for the future than continuing the main story.

Richard, the focus of this volume, gets a lot of development, as mentioned before, making his murder at Johan's hands (heavily implied, anyway) all the more heart-wrenching, and we get the deepest glimpse into Johan's depravity yet. Karl Neumann and Schuwald's story is given, if not an actual happy ending, then a happy conclusion to at least one part, while Reichwein is an intriguing Osamu Tezuka-esque character who seems to be set up to become a new ally of Tenma's. He certainly gets more than a few excellent moments, including beating the crap out of a couple of punks hired to push him in front of a train, as well as escaping Roberto, of all people.

An excellent continuation of the series, the seventh volume of Monster has me looking forward to the future installments of the series with increased fervour. Can't wait!

9.5/10

First words: You look good.

Last words: (Not recorded due to spoilers)

Book 44...

REVIEW: Doctor Who: Prisoner of the Daleks by Trevor Baxendale

I have to confess that reading fiction based on the revival of Doctor Who doesn't always grab me. Some of the bigger novels I enjoyed, like The Silent Stars Go By, and Dark Horizons, but the ones done by BBC Books to tie in with the new series don't bring me in as much as they should. They're not quite at the level of the New Adventures, the Missing Adventures, and the BBC Books series prior to the revival. However, I am still more than willing to try them on my own terms, and so, I come to a rare Dalek story in the new series tie-ins, Prisoner of the Daleks...

Hurala. A derelict frontier station, at a time when the Daleks and the human race are at war, long before the Time War consumed them. The Doctor ends up trapped on Hurala, only to be rescued by a group of ruthless Dalek hunters, led by the cold and driven Bowman. They soon end up with a Dalek prisoner, but the Doctor and the hunters clash over the hunters' methods. But soon, it may be a moot point. From the human colony of Auros to the ghost world of Arkheon, the Doctor and the Dalek hunters are caught up in a deadly Dalek plan, and not everyone will get out alive...

The story is a pretty decent one, albeit more simple than I would have liked. There's some interesting revelations about Dalek nature (including a chilling piece about their blasters that reveal how depraved Daleks truly are), and there's more than a few references to Terry Nation's other famous creation, Blake's 7, with planets like Auros and Gauda Prime being mentioned. But while the dark and morally ambiguous story is welcome to a degree, it doesn't feel like it was executed as well as it could have been.

Part of the problem is the characters. The Doctor is written fine enough, but I found it hard to give a crap about the Dalek hunters. It's all very well to be hardened by war, and sceptical about the Doctor, given the circumstances, but the only characters I felt like giving a crap for was Stella, who gets exterminated PDQ, and Koral, who is rather more developed. I found it harder to give a damn about Bowman, and his eventual helping the Doctor seems slightly abrupt in the change of attitude. Dalek X was an intriguing, but ultimately underutilised creation.

Prisoner of the Daleks turned out pretty decent. Not as great as I would have liked, but still, an enjoyable enough romp.

8.5/10

First words: It was a forgotten world.

Last words: (Not recorded due to spoilers.)

Book 45...

REVIEW: Monster volume 8: My Nameless Hero by Naoki Urasawa

Ah, it's so wonderful to keep going with Monster once more! After so long without it, coming back to it is refreshing, and I intend to keep going until the very end of the series this time. As I near the halfway point of the series, though, will it begin to falter? Let's find out...

Dr Tenma is obsessively training, readying himself to kill Johan Liebert, even if it means sacrificing everything he believed in. But he's not the only one obsessed. Lunge is still after him, and his attempts to get into Tenma's mindset are proving deleterious to his career and life. Johan himself is working steadily to not only erase his past, but also every ounce of morality in those around him, persuading children he knows to play a perverse game of chicken on rooftops. The stage is set for a showdown when Schuwald announces a donation to a local library, and Tenma is determined to kill Johan there...

Once more, the story is of high quality, but is also broken into so many parts that it's not quite at the level of the previous volume. Which is a shame, really, given that we have so many good stories, like a tale of Johan influencing young boys into rooftop duels in a perverse game of 'chicken', as well as Tenma making friends with a Vietnamese teenage back-alley doctor. And we get the hints of a big event to come, with Tenma planning to assassinate Johan at a library.

Tenma is shown beginning to sink into darkness, and while not actually going off the deep end, he is shown to be both optimistic about others, but beginning to get darker in his obsession with killing Johan. Johan himself probably gets his most humanising moment, outside reuniting Schuwald with his bastard son Karl: he is shown to have a bad reaction to a children's book, and he is seen to be in distress for the first time. Lunge also gets more development, when we are shown how truly obsessed he is with emulating Tenma's psychology, even going so far as to stand up his daughter when she tries to reconcile with him so that he can understand Tenma's social isolation. We also have many other interesting apparently one-shot characters, like an ancient ex-Nazi with a lot of guilt, or the aforementioned back-alley doctor.

The eighth volume of Monster, while not right up there with the very best of the series, nonetheless maintains the high quality of the series. And it's dragging me along for the ride to the end...

9/10

First words: I think we should call it a day...

Last words: And we'll be closed tomorrow for the ceremony.