‘The Clockwork Sky: Volume 1’ – Madeleine Rosca (Tor)

So I’ve been feeling a little jaded with my reading, at the moment, with nothing really inspiring me to feel… well, anything really. That’s not a good place to be in, not if I want to give everything a fair shot, and (the other day) Sue suggested that it might be an idea if I started reading a few books that I wouldn’t normally look at. I thought she might be onto something, in a ‘jolting me out of a rut’ kind of way, and a couple of books have turned up that I wouldn’t normally look at so… lets do it :o) I still want to read those other books I spoke about but I’m going to try and shake things up a little with a few other books. Books like ‘The Clockwork Sky’ for instance.

I’ll quite happily read all the Manga you can throw at me, it’s just that not a lot of it seems to head my way and I don’t really know where to start myself. That’s why you will see some Manga here but not an awful lot of it. ‘The Clockwork Sky’ turned up at just the right time then, killing two birds with one stone. It’s not a bad read but I’ve got my reservations… Here’s the blurb,

London, 1895: Riots in the streets!

Erasmus Croach’s miraculous factory, Ember, has flooded London with steampowered automatons. The already suffering working class take to the streets to protest the jobs lost to these machines, and to quell the riot, Captain Thorn of Scotland Yard calls in Ember’s latest and greatest creation, the automatic police boy, Sky!

Meanwhile, Sally Peppers, Croach’s headstrong and brilliant niece, dreams of a life beyond manners and marriageability. When she escapes her overbearing governess on a motorized velocipede and joins a no-rules road rally through the slums, Croach sends Sky to bring her back, preferably alive. Together, the impulsive Sally and the naive Sky crash headlong into a mystery involving rogue automatons prowling the sewers, children disappearing without a trace, and a dark secret so big it could overturn all of London. But the biggest mystery of all is why Sky is the first robot who can dream....

‘…the biggest mystery of all is why Sky is the first robot who can dream...’ I’d say that the biggest mystery of all is why Rosca felt the need to signpost things so clearly with a cartoon villain who may as well just tell the police what he is up to. It really is that obvious right from the start. It was a good job that there was enough action, in the plot, to draw attention away from just where it was headed. I should be fair and say that there are still two more volumes to come where anything could happen. On the strength of this opening though, I can take a pretty good guess at what’s coming.

Why did I keep reading then? The dynamic between Sally Peppers and the steambot policeman Sky is one that you can’t help but follow. Sally’s rebellious nature and Sky’s programming bounce off each other in ways that may not affect the overall plot but make the ‘now’ really unpredictable and interesting. Sky’s dreams are also very intriguing and I can’t help but want to be around when we find out what’s going on there.

The ‘steampunk London’ setting isn’t particularly original but I did like how Rosca, albeit briefly, examines how this setting impacts on the life of regular people who have suddenly found themselves out of work because a steambot does it quicker and better. Some detailed artwork really captures the atmosphere here, I loved the moment where Sally and Sky find the massive pipe under London (no dialogue, minimal art and a lot of darkness…) but it tends to feel a little ‘rushed’ when things hot up. I had real trouble working out what was going on in the race for example. Sky also looks a little too much like Astroboy for my liking and what was Doctor Robotnik doing hosting the big race? I’m pretty sure this wasn’t done on purpose but it really didn’t help when I was trying to get into the swing of things.

I can see myself reading Volume Two though, despite my having a pretty good idea how it’s all going to end up. Sally and Sky are two characters that I’d like to get to know a little better and I’ll definitely be taking that opportunity when it arises.

Seven and a Half out of Ten

‘Laddertop’ – Orson Scott Card, Emily Janice Card & Honoel A. Ibardolaza (Tor Seven Seas)

It was way back when that I started the blog and for a whole load of reasons. One of these reasons was to see if I could expand on my usual ‘liked it’/’didn’t like it’ reactions to books and come up with an analysis that was a bit more detailed at least. The results have varied in the last four and a bit years but one thing I can say is that I’ve always managed to write a little bit more than ‘I liked it’ or ‘I hated it’. A large part of this is down to the fact that I love the genre so much that I can always find something to say but, even then, there are still books out there that will leave me struggling to find the words that express how I feel. Most times this is actually a good thing as it means that I’ve just read something absolutely amazing. Other times though... Well, we’re talking about books like ‘Laddertop’.

Here’s the blurb,

Twenty-five years ago, the alien Givers came to Earth. They gave the human race the greatest technology ever seen— four giant towers known as Ladders that rise 36,000 miles into space and culminate in space stations that power the entire planet. Then, for reasons unknown, the Givers disappeared. Due to the unique alien construction of the Laddertop space stations, only a skilled crew of children can perform the maintenance necessary to keep the stations up and running.


Back on Earth, competition is fierce to enter Laddertop Academy. It is an honor few students will achieve. Robbi and Azure, two eleven-year-old girls who are the best of friends, are candidates for the Academy. They will become entangled in a dangerous mystery that may help them solve the riddle of the Givers...if it doesn’t destroy the Earth first!

Usually, I’ll write my own blurb but ‘Laddertop’ left me feeling so apathetic that I couldn’t even do that. You’ll have to settle for some ‘copy and paste’ action today I’m afraid... Seriously, we’re talking about a book that failed to engage me on any level here.

The thing is though; the blurb looks quite interesting doesn’t it? There’s a definite ‘Harry Potter in Space’ vibe going on there; I also like the occasional Manga read so thought I’d give it a go. The thing about ‘Laddertop’ though is that it’s a Manga with all the good stuff stripped right out (and that ‘Harry Potter’ vibe gets a little tired after a while).

What I love in my Manga is artwork that really captures who a character is and a storyline that lets you get right inside their head. ‘Laddertop’s’ artwork is functional, to say the least, and the same goes for the plot. You will get an idea of what the story about but don’t expect to make any great connections with the characters. Everything is presented to you in a very ‘X happened and because X happened, Y followed...’ style with nothing really going on underneath. The friendship between Robbi and Azure (and what they must face) holds no surprises whatsoever and is a lot more superficial than the writers would have you believe. I could see what was going to happen and ended up turning the pages through habit rather than anything else.

The idea of the ‘Givers’ was interesting enough and there is a mystery to be solved but neither of these themes are enough to get me back for the next volume based on what I read. Fans of Orson Scott Card might get something out of this and if you’re after some, incredibly light, Manga then this might do the job for you as well. Me though, I’m bailing out here.

Turns out that I had a lot more to say than I thought :o)

Four and a Half out of Ten

World of Warcraft Wednesday! ‘Death Knight’ – Dan Jolley & Rocio Zucchi (Tokyopop)

It’s only going to be a little ‘World of Warcraft Wednesday’ today as there was only the one book that came through the post. It’s not a bad one though…

The Lich King’s Scourge rampages through the land of Azeroth, led by his fearsome Death Knights. Thassarian is one such knight who will commit the foulest crimes until the day that an attack on a temple causes the Lich King’s control to vanish. Thassarian is now free to use his own considerable powers to avenge himself on the Lich King but finds himself hard pressed to gain the trust of his new allies, especially when some of them are more than they seem. While Thassarian seeks to establish himself, his past is trying to make itself a part of his present once more…

Any book about a character from a computer game is only really going to strike a chord with readers who have already met that character in the game itself. To be fair to ‘Death Knight’, the book doesn’t try and get away from this fact, making no secret about embracing its target audience fully. Not being part of that target audience however, I found myself wondering if I should have been playing the game to totally ‘get’ just how ‘tragic’ Thassarian’s story really was…

To be blunt, things really weren’t that tragic at all apart from one moment where Thassarian’s dark master made him kill someone very close to him. The events leading up to Thassarian’s fall will be familiar to anyone with a passing knowledge of ‘falling into evil and then gaining redemption’ in fantasy literature. Thassarian is likeable enough as a character but he’s not engaging enough for it to really hammer home when the inevitable happens to him. The guy is basically a generic sword swinger with not a lot else going for him…
Not being overly familiar with the background setting I also found myself a little confused at the motivations behind certain characters and what they did. To be fair again, I think this was down to my never having played the game. If I had then perhaps things would have been a little clearer.

Despite all this though, ‘Death Knight’ was a read that (although a little formulaic) was a lot of fun. Jolley struck just the right balance between scene setting and moments of outright carnage, creating a story that flowed very smoothly and made sense at the same time. He was more than ably assisted by Rocio Zucchi whose artwork made the story come alive in more ways than one. The characters may have been formulaic but I came away from the book with a real idea of who they were and Zucchi’s action scenes were brutally rendered on the page. A good combination that kept me focussed.

‘Death Knight’ is by no means ground breaking fantasy and it is very much one for ‘World of Warcraft’ gamers. Don’t let this put you off too much though, if you’re after a quick read that’s both light and fun then I don’t think you’re going to go too far wrong here.

Seven and Three Quarters out of Ten

Manga!

Just how long has it been since I’ve featured any Manga here? Far too long, it’s time to sort that out with some bits and pieces that I’ve been sent over the last couple of days…



‘Roureville #1’ – E. Hae (Net Comics)

I have to say that I found it hard reading a comic book featuring American characters none of whom looked American in the slightest. It was hard to believe that the story was taking place where it was meant to be. The artwork wasn’t bad, it just felt misplaced somehow…
Once I got past that though, E. Hae’s story of a reporter sent to cover a ghost sighting in a secluded village really had me hooked with the questions that it was throwing up. The character of Evan Pryce isn’t particularly easy to engage with (although I suspect that will soon change) but the townsfolk certainly are with their hostility to Evan’s presence. There’s a real undertone of darkness here that will have me back for more, 8.5/10.



‘100% Perfect Girl’ – Wann (Net Comics)

This is the kind of thing that I’d normally stay well clear of but was more than pleasantly surprised with what I found this time round. We’ve all heard the tale of the foreign prince falling in love with a beautiful girl that he’s only just met and Wann pretty much plays us the same song here, complete with all the usual romantic misunderstandings and differences arising through class and culture. Where ‘100%’ rises above the rest though is in it’s absolutely gorgeous artwork and a more thorough examination of the two main characters as they get to know each other. There was enough of the ‘Cinderella’ story here for me to read this book for the blog and I’ll certainly check out the next instalment (although given events near the end of the book, I’m not altogether sure how the next book will continue in the way that it says it will…) 8.5/10



‘Starcraft: Ghost Academy #1’ – DeCandido/Furukawa (Tokyopop)

I’ve read a few ‘World of Warcraft’ books through Tokyopop but have only ever really read teasers for ‘Starcraft’. ‘Ghost Academy’ was my first proper look at ‘Starcraft’ and it wasn’t bad at all. What you get for your money is another ‘kids in Battle School’ scenario with the requisite teenage politics that come with it. DeCandido balances this out though by giving us some interesting characters to follow and raising intriguing questions that will be answered in future volumes. Furukawa’s art is a joy to view, I’m hoping for more of the same in the future as I’ll be back for more. I may have seen this all before but it’s worth a read anyway. 8/10



‘Alice In The Country of Hearts #1’ – Quinrose/Hoshino (Tokyopop)

This was the book that I had the highest hopes for and it was the book that ended up falling slightly flat. Part of this was down to Hoshino’s artwork that didn’t really stand out for me, there was nothing there that was any different from other Manga… It wasn’t bad by any means, there was just nothing there to hook me.
The story did slightly better with its skewed vision of Wonderland and the mob wars running through it. I guess I was just after something a little more than a bunch of gun slinging characters all falling in love with Alice and stalking her. It got a little repetitive after a while although I did find it refreshing to see Alice commenting on how messed up all the make attention was. The world of Wonderland will be what has me coming back to check out the next volume in this series (especially finding out about ‘ones with duties’); I’m hoping for a little more from the plot next time round though… 7.5/10

‘Star Trek: The Next Generation – The Manga’ (Tokyopop)

If the cover is anything to go by then it’s a hard life being a Starfleet Captain... The burden of command is such that you never have a moment to yourself and you never get a chance to do all the things that you like doing. One day Captain Jean Luc Picard found that he needed to get away from it all and get back into one of his favourite hobbies. Beaming down to the nearest deserted planet, he waited until the ship had gone and... started dancing like a robot! Seriously, you take a look at the cover and tell me that Picard doesn’t have an ‘eighties body popping’ thing going on! It’s either that or he’s a closet mime artist...

Anyway...

The last Star Trek manga was a bit of a mixed bag for me but there was enough there to make me want to give this one a go when it arrived. As with any compilation of stories, I found ‘The Next Generation’ to be a bit hit and miss in terms of what the stories did for me. This time round it was a straight 50/50 split in terms of the stories themselves although the artwork was consistently good (in my opinion) throughout.

I’ve never liked stories where a character is taught an obvious lesson so they can ‘grow as an individual’. Unfortunately, ‘Changeling’ is just that and we see Wesley Crusher get taught valuable lessons on his first mission on an away team. There’s no attempt at subtlety here and the story comes across ham fisted as a result.

‘Sensation’ is a lot more enjoyable with a mystery that slowly unfolds (a mysterious illness strikes down an archaeological team and then moves onto the Enterprise) and kept me guessing the whole way through. You might see the ending coming but I didn’t! Funnily enough though, I found that the ending didn’t quite match up to the promise that the rest of the story had set...

It wasn’t ‘The Picardian Knot’s’ fault that I didn’t get much out of it. Here’s a tale (of the Captain’s loss of emotion) that demands further knowledge of the Star Trek universe and isn’t particularly forgiving if the reader doesn’t have this. I don’t have much of a clue about events outside whatever tale I’m reading (or film that I’m watching) and I felt that I missed out as a result. Hard core fans will get a lot more out of this than I did...

‘Loyalty’ also demands a wider knowledge of Star Trek but, unlike ‘The Picardian Knot’, makes allowances by bringing the reader up to speed with past events. The end result is that I had more time to concentrate on the story itself and the interaction between characters in a highly charged situation. It’s funny that this story (where hardly anything happened compared to the others) actually became my favourite in this book; I’m putting this down to the in depth look we get at Riker’s character and what he is prepared to do to defend his captain and friend...

So, another ‘hit and miss’ Star Trek manga but once again there’s enough there to make me want to see what comes along next. I’m looking forward to it...

Manga Monday!

Coming at you a little later than normal today, I ate something that disagreed with me last night (and got absolutely no sleep because of it…) so spent today in bed! Anyway, here we go…

‘Burst Angel #1’ – Gonzo and Minoru Muaro



One thing that I really love about Manga is how all of life’s problems can be solved by the introduction of leggy blondes with guns. In this book, bullied school kid Takeru begins to overcome his issues once he meets the two leggy blonde mercenaries that are holed up in his bedroom. Jo is the crack shot and Meg is the one who keeps getting kidnapped by mistake, facing down bullies at school is one hell of a lot easier once you’ve faced down gun toting cyborgs on the mean streets…
I loved reading this book, it’s action packed and laugh out loud funny the whole way through. ‘Burst Angel’ is also a really touching read on more than one occasion. The artwork is very clearly laid out on the page and you’re never in any doubt as to what is going on. I’ll be reading more of these :o)

‘Peace Maker #1’ – Nanae Chrono



This one has been sat in the pile for far too long and the arrival of ‘Peace Maker Kurogane #1’ made me decide to give both of them a go together. Maybe I shouldn’t have done that but more on that later…
Tetsunosuke is the orphaned son of a diplomat who wants to gain revenge on his parent’s killers by joining the Shinsengumi, the unofficial police force of the Shogunate. When their secret is revealed though, Tetsunosuke has a decision to make. Will he allow his rage to send him on the path to demonhood or will he be able to set it to one side and pursue through more honourable means…?
You never get to find out the answer to this question as #1 is very much a scene setting piece where you are introduced to all the main players and their motivations. There are a number of characters to get to know, perhaps too many for me to keep track of. I certainly had trouble keeping them all separate in my mind (especially when the artwork isn’t clear who’s who…) but the story is an engrossing one that demands your attention. I think I’ll give this one at least a couple more books to see how it turns out…

‘Peace Maker Kurogane #1’ – Nanae Chrono



I completely missed the bit that said ‘Kurogane’ and read this as a continuation on the ‘Peace Maker’ story. Big mistake to make, I was propelled three months into the future and found out more about the ‘Peace Maker’ series than I really wanted to know without having read it first! I’m not going to give too much away here, in case you want to go ahead and read ‘Peace Maker’, but suffice it to say that there is a new threat for the Shinsengumi to face. ‘Kurogane’ is another scene setting piece and, as such, suffered from the same problems that I had with ‘Peace Maker’. There’s enough going on here to make this a series that I want to read more of but I’m going to see how ‘Peace Maker’ turns out before tackling this series…

Manga Monday! ‘Priest’ (Volumes 2-4) – Min Woo-Hyung.

There is an unspoken law on this blog (until now that is!) that anything with zombies in it will eventually find its way here and have a post dedicated to it. It may take a while to get there but it’s inevitable, just like zombies... :o)
I checked out volume one of ‘Priest’ back in March and very much liked what I saw, Wild West zombies with a hint of so much more to come in the background... This weekend was all about reading and yesterday morning was all about getting into ‘Priest’ and seeing where the story took me....



These three volumes show us the results of Ivan Isaac’s confrontation with the demon Jarbilong in the town of Saint Baldlas (zombie carnage on a grand scale with the introduction of a demon to spice things up) and his inexorable march on Temozarela’s castle in a hail of bullets and blood. They also broaden the scope of the story, showing the reader events from the Crusades as well as taking the story three hundred years into the future where Catholic priests attempt to unlock the mystery of Temozarela through Ivan’s journal.



Focusing on significant past events is a good approach here in that it fleshes out both the story and the characters in it. Ivan Isaacs is suddenly a lot more than just a gun toting undead priest who’s full of rage, he has a background history which starts to make his actions a lot easier to understand. I found myself starting to feel sorry for the guy, especially as I know what is to come in his future... There are some really poignant moments and Hyung shows that his artwork is just as capable at taking on these scenes as it the scenes of brutal carnage that have been prevalent up to now. On the negative side though, the change in pace (all out war to filling in the background) is a bit jarring even though there are good reasons for doing it this way.



Focusing on future events though... well that’s a bit trickier. While there’s some intriguing stuff taking place it comes at the expense of the reader finding out Ivan’s ultimate fate. That’s a pretty big spoiler and although there are enough questions raised to make me want to continue reading, I was left feeling a little deflated by this revelation. Having said that though, I could be completely wrong about all this. After all, who lets the ending slip after only three volumes of a fifteen book series? We’ll just have to wait and see I guess...

‘Priest’ remains an ‘in your face zombie horror western’ that promises to be so much more. I’ve got a few reservations about what the story might be revealing so early in but that hasn’t put me off reading the rest of the series...

‘Battlestar Galactica: Echoes of New Caprica’ – Various (Tokyopop)

My name is Graeme and I have a confession... I haven’t seen a single episode of the new ‘Battlestar Galactica’ TV series. Everything I’ve heard about it suggests that it would absolutely be my kind of thing but the fact that I didn’t have Sky (and then didn’t have a TV that I could watch) put paid to any ideas of getting into it. The great thing is though that thanks to the good ol’ internet I don’t really need to watch ‘Battlestar Galactica’ at all. There are loads of sites where you can find out what is going on and Adam in particular has written a whole load of Galactica posts that are more than well worth checking out.
Because of this, when Tokyopop sent me ‘Echoes of New Caprica’ I knew that these would be stories based around humanity’s ill fated sojourn on New Caprica (funnily enough) under Cylon rule. I didn’t know a lot more than that though other than that the new ‘Battlestar Galactica’ is meant to be gritty and pretty hard hitting stuff.
‘Echoes of New Caprica’ made for some brutal reading at times; I might just have to search out the TV series on DVD...

New Caprica is a planet that’s under an oppressive regime and the authors in ‘Echoes’ explore how this affects people living under this regime and how they cope afterwards. It’s not just regular people either; ‘Echoes’ makes it clear that the authority figures in the fleet can easily find themselves right at the bottom of the ladder in an instant. One day you can be president and the next day you can be a school teacher in a shanty town... Humanity is right on the edge.

While the actions of New Caprica’s population are examined as a whole it’s three well known figures that are the focal points for each of the three tales. Laura Roslin is the former president of the Colonies but is now a teacher trying to protect her class against the subtle indoctrination of the Cylon occupiers. This is harder than it looks though when anyone could be an informant, even the children...
Tom Zarek leads the interim government after the escape from New Caprica (not much of a spoiler given the discussion over the series finale that has been rattling around the web these last couple of weeks) and must find a way to counter the growing hatred of those who collaborated with the Cylons at the expense of others. There is really only way to deal with this but when Tom’s friend is accused of being a traitor how far will Tom be able to go in his mission?
Kara Thrace thought she had a child on New Caprica, now it turns out that she never did. She cannot get the thought of Kasey out of her head though, especially as the child is living in poverty in a fleet shantytown. How far will Thrace go to save her child...?

It seems like it’s been a real long time since I read anything quite as dark as ‘Echoes of New Caprica’. Like I said, humanity is on the edge and these desperate times mean that the line between good and evil is blurred by necessity. We get to find out just what people will do in order to survive and a number of times we are asked whether the needs of the many outweigh those of the few. The answer isn’t that simple but it really got me thinking...

For such a dark and brooding book it’s fitting that the artwork follows a similar line; Chrissy Delk, Christopher Schons’ and Anthony Wu’s art does this admirably by foregoing colour, resulting in work that comes across as sombre but really knows when to land the killer punch.

Having never watched the series I did get a little bit lost with who was who and in that respect I’d say that long term fans will get the most out of this book. It was still an intense and gripping read though. Like I said, I think I’m going to have to make a point of checking out the TV series now...

Nine out of Ten

Lazy Wednesday Manga Reading...

Days off from work are just the best aren’t they? I’ve just spent the last hour reading manga books when, on any other day, I would be hiding under my desk waiting for my boss to look in the other direction… Here’s what I thought (it was a strange case of the good, the meh’ and the ‘I thought it was going to be bad but ended up being surprisingly good…)




‘Psy-Comm’ (Volume One): Jason Henderson, Tony Salvaggio, Shane Granger.

This is actually a really hard one to write about as it just left me completely cold. I liked the concept (psychic commandos battle each other for TV ratings in an all out network war) but the ‘top commando starts to question his role’ plot just seemed a little too much like volume one of ‘Phantom’ which I read the other week… The characters didn’t really offer all that much to get interested in either although the promise of the ‘big chase’, starting in volume two, looks like it has some potential… I’ll probably give the next book a go just to see if things pick up.



‘Sgt. Frog’ (Volume One): Mine Yoshizaki

Aliens crash landing on Earth? Seen it before… An alien taking refuge in a nearby house and befriending two young children? Yawn… The alien is a cute looking frog who still plots world domination from a bedroom haunted by a grudge-bearing ghost? Now I’m interested…
I had a great time reading ‘Sgt. Frog’ and have made this a series that I will definitely be reading more of if I get a chance. It’s the first manga book that’s had me laughing out loud and there is a lot to laugh as the treacherous alien frog plots to escape his captors but is easily seduced by sunshine holidays, Gundam models and the prospect of his own room. The fact that Keroro (the frog) is so cute just makes it all the more funny as far as I’m concerned. I’m looking forward to volume two already.



‘Ghostbusters: Ghostbusted’: Various

‘Ghostbusters’ is one of those films that I can just watch over and over again (in fact, why haven’t I made it a retro classic…?) so a book about their further adventures in New York seemed like a great idea for a read this morning. At least it did until I read the first story, ‘The Theater of Pain’, which turned out a slightly anti-climatic tale of reconciliation that didn’t really gel with what I remembered of the films at all. And when you can’t tell which Ghostbuster is which then you know there’s a problem with the artwork…
I stuck with it though and was glad that I did as a story arc began to build up which was worth hanging around for. Not too sure about the fashionista ghost story right at the end though…

‘World of Warcraft’ Wednesday!

Because alliteration is always cool... :o)

I’ve always found it odd that while I can sit and read for hours I’ve got the attention span of a gnat when it comes to spending a similar amount of time playing computer games. Grand Theft Auto is one of my favourite games but you can guarantee that within ten minutes I’ll have stopped trying to complete the mission and decided to drive around Liberty City mowing down innocent pedestrians instead. It’s the same kind of thing with Star Wars: Battlefront, while my comrades are holding out against stormtroopers I find myself shooting ewoks and seeing what happens if I climb out of my X-Wing in mid-flight. I won’t tell you what I did to the citizens of Mos Espa, suffice it to say that a young Anakin Skywalker refused to help me onto the next stage of the game...

It’s no surprise then that I’ve never felt the urge to give the ‘World of Warcraft’ a go. A game that demands you sacrifice hours out of your day to complete quests? I wouldn’t last an hour before I got bored, tried to do something stupid and got myself in so much trouble that I would never be able to show face in the World of Warcraft ever again. ‘World of Warcraft’ books are a completely different deal though, I could read these and not do anything silly at all. Thanks to Tokyopop, I got the chance to check out some of their ‘World of Warcraft’ manga. Here’s what I thought...



‘Warcraft: Dragon Hunt’ - Richard Knaak & Jae-Hwan Kim

‘Dragon Hunt’ is the opening shot in Richard Knaak’s ‘Sunwell Trilogy’ and is one of those books that has the weird effect of leaving me non-plussed but interested in seeing where it goes next. A mysterious power has arisen in the world of Azeroth and it’s a race to see whether the blue dragon Kalec or the forces of the Undead Scourge get their hands on it first...
While I really enjoyed Jae-Hwan Kim’s artwork (which really brought Azeroth and its inhabitants to life) Knaak’s story didn’t do so well. There’s plenty of action and betrayal but the bottom line is that it’s the beginning of a quest story with all that entails. Cue lots of characters being manoeuvred into position for questing, the discovery of where the mysterious power resides and the introduction of the evil villain. It’s all handled well but I just couldn’t escape from the feeling that I’d seen it all before. When the beautiful (yet mysterious) maiden met the down on his luck (but still rock hard) warrior I knew that I had. The thing is though, I still find myself wanting to find out what happens next so it must be doing something right...

Seven out of Ten



‘Warcraft: Legends (Volume One) – Various

This one was more like it however. The first volume of ‘Legends’ collects four different tales from the Warcraft world and, as such, doesn’t give the reader too much time to get bogged down in formulaic storytelling. The clichés are still there but at least there’s some variety. ‘Fallen’ is best read after you have read the ‘Sunwell Trilogy’ but this tale of a bid to escape a curse still makes for an interesting read.
‘The Journey’ was perhaps my favourite of the four with it’s warnings of the perils of war made recklessly and what might happen if you try to do the right thing by your family. It was nothing that I hadn’t read before but I still felt a little sad at the end...
‘How to win friends’ (a tale of a gnome who makes friends the hard way in his new town) was actually my least favourite of the bunch with a tale that was too clearly signposted to be anything other than feel good fluff. The little guy always wins through and this was very clearly the case here.
After the letdown that was ‘How to win friends’, ‘An honest trade’ was a good way to round the book off as it ends things on more of a high. A weaponsmith dwarf learns to grow a conscience (over whose hands his blades end up in) at the cost of his son’s life. His quest for some kind of redemption culminates in an encounter with the orc who killed his son... This is an intense tale and I wouldn’t have minded seeing more of Nori Blackfinger’s adventures leading up to the final encounter, good stuff.

Seven and a half out of Ten

It’s probably fairest to say that these books are most likely to appeal to Warcraft fans, they were harmless fun for me. I wouldn’t mind reading more of these books but can’t see myself going out of my way to get a copy...

Manga Monday!

It’s been far too long since I’ve done one of these posts but the plan is to make manga a more regular feature on the blog (not every Monday will be a ‘Manga Monday’ though, any day can be Manga day!) Thanks to the guys at Tokyopop for making this one possible.
So, without further ado...



‘Priest: Volume One’ – Min-Woo Hyung

There is evil brewing in the Old West. Servants of the fallen Archangel Temozarela are paving the way for his resurrection and the apocalypse is at hand. One man stands in their way; Ivan Isaacs, a fallen priest who has sold half his soul for the ability to fight evil. Cue zombies, Wild West style!
‘Priest’ raises a lot of questions (surely priests don’t need to sell their souls to fight evil and why would a devil give you the power to fight evil?) but it is the first volume so I’m guessing things will become more clear in time. I’ll certainly be around to see if these questions are answered as ‘Priest’ was a great read! The action is full on and non-stop (although a little confusing with jumps into the past when you least expect it) with hordes of zombies either causing carnage or being blown apart by Priest’s shotgun. Priest also looks like a character that I want to get to know more, plenty of ‘tortured anti-hero’ stuff going on here!
The artwork looks like its come straight from a film storyboard and really emphasises the grim brooding nature of the story itself. More please!

Nine out of Ten.



‘Phantom: Volume One’ – Ki Hoon Lee

Giant robots pounding the crap out of each other! Ruthless corporations running everything behind the scenes! Giant robots shooting each other! Just my kind of thing! Or it would be if Seung –Yup Cho’s art wasn’t quite so confusing, sometimes it’s difficult to work out just who is pounding on whom...
Other than that though, ‘Phantom’ is great fun to read. The clichés are out in full force (idealistic young cop, terrorists who are more than they seem, a cityscape recovering from the ravages of an extra-terrestrial event) but everything moves so fast that it all seems to flow together perfectly. While it’s no surprise to find out that the idealistic young cop throws his lot in with the terrorists the real joy is in finding out how it all comes about. Money talks but not necessarily in the language you would expect... I’m looking forward to seeing how this one develops.

Eight and a Half out of Ten



‘Star Trek: The Manga’ – Shinsei Shinsei

I’m probably not the person to review this as ‘Star Trek’ never really did it for me, in the same way that it does for others, but here goes...
‘Star Trek: The Manga’ is a collection of ten tales (from different writers and artists) from the original NCC-1701. The art varies in quality (as you would expect given the number of different artists in the book) but it was the stories themselves that failed to do it for me. Funnily enough, the opening tale ‘Side Effects’ promised good things for the rest of the book with its vision of how one of the Federation’s deadliest enemies came into being; tense, action packed and with that feeling you were seeing the birth of something big. It’s a shame then that the rest of the stories don’t live up to this initial promise. While they each offer a decent enough take on Star Trek, none of them stand up to ‘Side Effects’ in my opinion.
While I didn’t enjoy ‘Star Trek: The Manga’ as much as the other two books, there’s still enough there to make me want to give the next one a chance and see how it goes...

Seven and Three Quarters out of Ten

‘Lone Wolf and Cub, Volume One: The Assassin’s Road’ – Kazuko Koike & Goseki Kojima (Dark Horse Manga)

‘Yet history tells that in 1655, the year of Meireki, the Ogami Clan vanished completely, and the Yagyu Clan also assumed the post of Kaishakunin. And then, in 1681, in the first year of Tenna, at the changing of its leadership, the Yagyu Clan, too, comes to an end...
Assassin and Executioner! This story, ‘Lone Wolf and Cub’ is one answer to this mystery.’

My wife is slowly coming round to the idea that I’m an unrepentant geek at heart and, every so often, I’ll get back from work to find little ‘geek gifts’ for me to enjoy. Sometimes this doesn’t work (‘The Case of the Bloody Iris’ and ‘The Fearless Vampire Killers’ on DVD are two cases in point, more on that another time maybe...) but more often than not it does. The other day, I came home to find the first two volumes of ‘Lone Wolf and Cub’ waiting for me. Having just finished ‘The Assassin’s Road’ I wouldn’t be surprised if I found myself collecting the rest of the series and considering that the series comprises twenty eight books... my wife may have cause to regret starting me off with this one (my books are starting to take over the house...)!

An assassin and his son walk the land of ‘Edo Period’ Japan, offering themselves for hire to anyone who can match their price. The first few chapters set the scene by showing just how good our assassin is. No-one is able to match him in terms of prowess with the blade and he has an uncanny ability to second guess but the question soon arises as to why he is willing to constantly place his son in mortal danger. The answer is gradually revealed as the story progresses, our assassin seeks revenge and his three year old son ‘chose’ to join him in his journey...

‘The Assassin’s Road’ is an introductory piece and, as such, suffers slightly from repetition as certain themes are established. As the story itself comes to the fore though, things start to get very interesting indeed as we learn more about the assassin’s motivations and just what his eventual aim might be... I’ve got the next book waiting to be read but, like I said, I can see myself buying more as this looks like a tale worth following.

Like the story, Goseki Kojima’s artwork felt overly simplistic to begin with but this appearance soon proved to be deceptive. There is more to each scene than you think and Kojima is able to bring out so much facial expression using simple line drawing. I loved the use of shading as well, both in the landscape and when it is used in either ‘Samurai face-offs’ or to show the journey in progress.

Koike and Kojima combine to present an opening instalment that is both gripping and evocative in it’s depiction of Edo Period Japan. I’ll admit to not knowing anything about the period but was certainly left with a strong feeling of what it could be like...
I’m looking forward to reading more....

Eight and a Half out of Ten

‘Afro Samurai’ – Takashi Okazaki (Tor/Seven Seas)

So far my journey into Manga has been a mixed affair to say the least. For every tale of superhumans, or the undead, there’s either a Benny Hill style ‘comedy of errors sex story’ or a sex story without the comedy. It’s been a bumpy ride but I think I may just have come across something that will restore the balance, maybe even tip it over into the realms of cool. Ninjas and Samurai are cool by their very definition but an Afro Samurai on a mission of revenge....? That’s just ‘cool squared’!

In a futuristic, yet feudal, world the number one warrior has all the power. The only person who is allowed to challenge him is the number two warrior and anyone is allowed to challenge ‘number two’ (for the right to take his place and challenge ‘number one’). All fights are to the death.
Afro’s father was ‘Number One’, years ago, until Afro saw him taken down by a maniacal gunman named Justice. Justice is now ‘number one’ and Afro has spent his life rising to the position of number two so he can challenge Justice. The final battle awaits but in the meantime Afro must battle his way past countless hordes of assassins and thugs who all want a shot at ‘number two’...

The story is as simple as that and leaves Okazaki free to devote his time to throwing new dangers at Afro and seeing what happens. This can get repetitive but complements the grim tone rather nicely and also gives us little hints at Afro’s character and what he is prepared to do in his quest to reach Justice. This is a grim and violent world where survival of the fittest rules and this is no more apparent in the trail of bodies that Afro leaves behind and his using a disabled girl as a human shield against a machine gun toting assassin (well, she did want her dead brother back, Afro killed him too...) An interesting parallel is also drawn when Afro kills a man in front of his son in exactly the same way that Afro witnessed his father die. I wonder if this will come back to haunt Afro in the future...

This approach is needed as Afro doesn’t really say much (if anything), most of the dialogue falls to his side-kick Ninja Ninja who provides the light relief much needed in the midst of all the carnage and gore. There is a lot of this and if you’re not into this kind of thing (along with gratuitous swearing) then you should probably give ‘Afro Samurai’ a miss. This is just my kind of thing though so I loved it :o)

The only thing that did bug me was that the artwork in my copy, although very detailed and nice to look at, sometimes got lost in various shades of grey and it was a little difficult to make out what was going on. You can excuse this (to a point) in terms of things moving quickly (and movements being blurred as a result) but it would still have been nice to see a little more sometimes...

This is a small niggle though in a book that entertained me and had me wide eyed in awe on more than one occasion. I’m going to make sure that I’m around to see where Afro Samurai heads next, I may even have to find myself a copy of the anime DVD...

Nine and a Half out of Ten

Manga Sunday!

Reading comic books in bed on a Sunday morning, is there any better way to start the day? I don’t think there is :o)
Yen Press sent me a couple of books yesterday and I’ve just finished reading them. Here’s what I thought…



‘Alice on Deadlines’ (Part Two) – Shiro Ihara.

I have no longer have any trouble with starting to read Manga at the back, and finishing at the front, but there’s still a lot of stuff that I don’t get. For example, why are at least 95% of all the female characters spectacularly well endowed in one certain area? What’s that really all about? Another thing I haven’t quite got my head round yet is some of the content, I’m sure a lot of people would say different but opening this instalment with our heroes chasing after a ghost that steals women’s underwear left me feeling bemused more than anything else… To be fair though, things do pick up over the rest of the book, with the introduction of a powerful new Shibito and Shinigami (collector of souls that don’t want to leave this plane), but I almost wasn’t around to see it. And is there a love story quietly developing in the background? Maybe…
There’s a lot of action, and ‘Benny Hill like’ naughtiness, going on here and it is a fairly entertaining read. However, I found that there’s almost too much going on for such a slim book and it can be a little confusing if you don’t keep your eye on things. Some of the character illustrations could be a bit better defined as well as it is sometimes difficult to work out who’s who…
Not a bad read but hard going. I reckon I’ll give this one more book to see if things pick up.

Six out of Ten




‘With the Light’ (Part Two) – Keiko Tobe

From the ridiculous to the (almost) sublime… Last year I read Part One of this series, about the trials a mother must face bringing her autistic son, and absolutely loved it. (Have a read of my review over Here)
Time has passed and some battles have been fought and won but there are more problems that Sachiko and her son Hikaru must face. The arrival of a new daughter is a time for celebration but only serves to highlight Hikaru’s problems. Changes at school must also be faced and overcome, I was really gripped not only by what happened (favourite teacher leaving school and Hikaru getting lost amongst other things) but also by Sachiko’s resilience as well as the little things Hikaru said and did which marked his ability and development.
Both books have been amazing reads and this is one series that I will always be keeping an eye open for. If you’re after some Manga that is intelligent and well written then you could do a lot worse than follow this one as well. The only, slight, issue I had with this latest instalment was that it sometimes crossed the line from realism into idealism. Are people really as understanding and tolerant as Tobe made out? It would be nice if they were…
This didn’t stop me thoroughly enjoying ‘With the Light’ and rooting for Sachiko and Hikaru the whole way. Roll on part three, I really want to see where this one goes…

Nine out of Ten

Manga Monday!

Three more books came through the door this weekend and here’s what I thought of them all…

‘Y Square’ – Judith Park (Zen Press)

Yoshitaka is not a success with the ladies but his new classmate, Yagate, has no troubles in this area at all. However, in a strange quirk of fate, Yagate would much rather be a hit with Yoshitaka… Cue lots of unrequited love and teenagers getting themselves into trouble doing stupid things. The press release says this one is for ‘older teens’ and this is very much the case when you look at the characters (all teens) and the setting (a school). I haven’t been a teenager for a long time and school is (thankfully) a distant memory as well. Consequently, there was nothing there that engaged me at all. I read the whole thing but there was nothing there that made me want to keep reading if you know what I mean…
Might be worth a look if you’re fifteen or sixteen years old.

Four out of Ten


‘Black God: Vol 2’ – Dall-Young Lim & Sung-Woo Park (Zen Press)

Game programmer Keita Ibuki’s life is going from bad to worse now he has found himself entangled with a guardian of the coexistence equilibrium. He’s got an arm that isn’t his own, a friend who is suddenly in danger from shadowy strangers and Keita is about to find that it doesn’t stop there.
I loved the fight scenes in this (the artwork doesn’t pull any punches) but it sometimes felt like the rules were either being made up on the spot or I had come into something that had been going on a lot longer than just two books. As a result things sometimes felt confusing and this interrupted the flow of the story. The fight scenes take up a large chunk of the book (so there isn’t much room for the story itself) but you do get sense of plot progression and there’s quite a hard hitting ending!
This story is worth sticking with for one more book at least.

Six out of Ten


‘Zombie Loan: Vol 2’ – Peach-Pit (Zen Press)

Following the events of volume one, Michiru Kita now finds herself working for the Zombie-Loan office helping two undead agents (Chika and Shito from volume one) dispatch unauthorised zombies. The trio have their work cut out for them with the arrival of a serial killer who is intent on creating zombies of his own…
Despite some confusing moments, requiring re-reads, ‘Zombie Loan’ is starting to become a series where I want to see what happens next. The detective element to the tale keeps things fresh and the introduction of a new character puts an effective spin on established relationships, nice cliff-hanger ending as well! And it’s got zombies in it, what more could I want? Less of the confusing ‘did I just read that right?’ moments…

Seven out of Ten

Manga Saturday! 'Spiral (Part Two)' & 'Sundome'

'What is the mystery of the Blade Children?' When I read part one of 'Spiral' I decided pretty early on that I wasn't too bothered what the mystery was and put the book down very early on. For some reason though, I decided to give part two a try and see if I'd missed out at all. It turns out that I have missed out and I now need to see if I have part one still in the house. Narumi is still looking for his missing brother and is being drawn deeper into the mystery of the Blade Children. This is only the second book in what looks to be a fairly lengthy series so it's really all about setting up questions that will (hopefully) be answered later on. Having said that though, there are a couple of tense scenes, involving a bomb and killer bees, that really gripped me and the reasoning that went into the resolution was really clever. There was also some nice ongoing character development in Ayumu Narumi (the main character) and his trying to reconcile himself with his perfect older brother (whilst still looking for him). 'Spiral' is now looking promising and I'll definitely be around for the next couple of books at least.

Seven and a Half out of Ten


I should have realised what was coming when I opened the package to find 'Sundome' in it's own special wrapping... The 'Mature' label gave the game away but having read 'Sundome' I wonder if it should have had an 'Immature' label on it instead.
Fifteen year old Hideo completely falls for Kurumi Sahana but his 'physical reaction' manifests at very inopportune moments. Cue an entire book of Kurumi taking advantage of Hideo's feelings by getting him to do pretty much anything she wants in some kind of weird power game. On one level an interesting look at the dynamics of a relationship and the loneliness of being a fifteen year old nerd, on another level it's just an excuse to recreate 'American Pie' in graphic novel format. There's obviously a market for this but I'm not the target audience I'm afraid. 'Sundome' isn't one that I'll be reading anymore.

Three out of Ten

Manga Sunday! ‘Alice on Deadlines’ – Shiro Ihara (Yen Press)

When I reviewed ‘With the Light’, a few weeks ago, I made a passing comment about how not all Manga is about young girls with really long legs and large breasts. I still think this is true but (in what looks like an attempt to redress this balance) I’ve since been sent a Manga book that is entirely about young ‘over-endowed’ ladies and what they get up to…
As a punishment for reading ‘naughty magazines’ on the job, the shinagami (sort of like a grim reaper) Lapan is ordered to go to the Human Realm (in the body of a skeleton) to retrieve a wandering spirit. However; there’s a slip up and he ends up in the body of Alice, a student at an all girls school (she ends up trapped in the body of a skeleton). Lapan has a job to do but the lecherous shinagami also finds himself being able to act out some particularly lewd fantasies while Alice tries to limit the damage…
‘Alice on Deadlines’ is very much a cross between the ‘Carry On’ films and Benny Hill. There’s a lot of smutty situational comedy and sequences where Alice and Lapan are chased by buxom schoolgirls. This could get boring very quickly so luckily there’s also the story of the ‘wandering cannibal spirit’ to get into plus some events which are clearly there to have something ready for book two.
This is a strange one to call, there was enough there to make me read the whole way through but not enough there to keep me hooked as it were. The concept behind Alice and Lapin swapping bodies was good but the ramifications were perhaps a little too lightweight to last a whole book. Hopefully the supernatural element will take precedence as the series progresses, which could be interesting. I think there’s probably enough there to make me give it one more chance and see where it goes.

Six out of Ten

Manga Sunday!

Yen Press very kindly sent me three of their new releases, which I received yesterday. I fancied a change, from what I’ve been reading recently, so thought I’d have a ‘Manga Weekend’… All three books are fairly short so, as a result, you’ll be getting three short reviews! Starting with the best first…


‘Zombie Loan’ (Peach Pit)

A weak willed schoolgirl, who can’t say no to her friends, finds herself not being able to say no when two of her classmates enlist her in a battle against the undead. Only she can see the markings that distinguish the undead from the living. Her two classmates have a debt to pay and several schoolchildren have gone missing from their school… A Japanese version of ‘Buffy’ with a couple of neat twists. I forgot to start at the back of the book and managed to spoil the ending for myself… I liked the artwork but found myself with a strange desire to add some colour, the ‘balck and white thing didn’t quite work for me here. It was still a good read though and I think this could become one of the better series from Yen.

Seven out of Ten


‘Black God’ (Dall-Young Lim)

Keita Ibuki stops off for takeaway (on his way home) and finds himself caught in a cosmic battle between a sinister looking man and a girl with very long legs… There’s a whole philosophy behind this story that I didn’t quite get. Suffice it to say that there’s a cosmic balance that needs to be maintained. Because of the battle scenes (of which there were lots) this book seemed rather rushed (and rather like an episode of Pokemon)but, again, the seeds for some promising storylines were sown for the future. With this book I found that if you flick the pages really quickly then sometimes the pictures move!

Six out of Ten


‘Spiral’ (Kyo Shirodaira)

Have you started reading a book where you hate the main character so much that you can’t keep reading? Well, that’s what happened to me here… There’s supposed to be some serious philosophical underpinnings to this story but I never got far enough in to find out what they were. All I can really tell you is that a girl dies at school and our hero is the main suspect (his sister in law is the investigating detective). Ayumu (our hero) is far too cocky for his own good and while there’s a whole load of talk nothing actually happens.
I’m not going to rate this book as I never finished it, I think you could probably guess what the score would be though.

Well, two out of the three books (from Yen) got a decent score so things bode well for future books. I’ll be interested to see what they come out with next. In the meantime I’m getting a taste for Manga, can anyone recommend a good read?

‘With the Light (Part One)’ – Keiko Tobe (Yen Press)

This isn’t something that would normally fall within the remit of my blog but I’ve never read any Manga so I thought I’d give it a go. Having just finished it (literally just put it down) I felt I had to post something about it, it’s absolutely amazing and I defy anyone not to get something out of this read.
I used to think that Manga was all about post apocalyptic motorcycle warfare, demonic monsters and women whose legs were just a little bit too long to be believed. Well, the legs are still uncomfortably long but there was not a mutant or motorcycle to be seen in this book. Sachiko Azuma gives birth to a son, Hikaru, but it soon becomes clear that something isn’t quite right. Hikaru is reluctant to be held or hugged and his development is slow when compared to that of other children. When Hikaru is a year and a half old it is suggested that he may be deaf but a specialist reaches a different diagnosis, Hikaru is autistic. The rest of the book follows Sachiko’s efforts to raise Hikaru, and give him the best start in life, while faced with the prejudice of others (including her husband) and daily occurrences that take on new meaning when trying to care for a child suffering from autism.
I’ll admit that I don’t read many comics; a little bit of ‘X-Men’, some ‘Walking Dead’ and a teeny tiny slice of ‘Hellblazer’. I know where I am with western comics though so reading something that starts at the back, and finishes at the front, seemed like a daunting prospect in itself. Once I got into the story though, the format swiftly became irrelevant as I was gripped by Sachiko’s tale. I don’t know if Tobe has had a similar experience herself but she does an amazing job of capturing just what every little slight, setback and triumph does for Sachiko. ‘With the Light’ is a moving and poignant read throughout; I found myself empathising with Sachiko’s plight, cheering on her successes and getting irate on her behalf every time there was a setback.
Having never been to Japan, I couldn’t tell you how much of the prejudice (and indifference) that Sachiko has to deal with is accurately portrayed or if it’s overdone slightly in order to get the point across. I think the important thing is that it does make it’s point very clearly and makes positive moves to dispel some of the myths surrounding autism.
I couldn’t possibly review a Manga novel without making some mention of the artwork. It’s very simply done (black and white line drawings) but very effectively conveys what is going on and what it means, just like the story itself.
Like I said, this isn’t something I would normally post on here but after having read it felt that I couldn’t not draw people’s attention to it. I’d recommend it to anyone who thinks Manga is just demons and curvaceous ladies; ‘With the Light’ is something really special and I’m already waiting to see where the journey leads from here.

Ten out of Ten