Review of The Unwritten, vol 6

The Unwritten, volume 6: Tommy Taylor and the War of Words, by Mike Carey, Peter Gross, and M.K. Parker. Graphic novel collection, consisting of issues 31-35 and 31.1-35.1.

What if JK Rowling had a son named Harry Potter Rowling, whose life was made miserable by his famous fictional namesake? That could be dramatic enough, but what if this Harry learned later in his life that he was in fact a wizard, and that the books in fact told the story of the coming apocalypse, and his role therein? In essence, that is the premise for the terrific comic series The Unwritten.

Novelist Mike Carey (whose The Devil You Know was reviewedhere) does a great job turning this crazy premise into a gripping and dramatic story. In this world, Tom Taylor is the chosen one, and he has to use clues found in his late father’s “Tommy Taylor” novels to save the world. Fortunately, he has a few allies, and legions of fans.

The theme of this arc is the power of words, and the power of the faith of readers. The theme is not original to Carey, but the execution here is interesting. The bad guys of the evil cabal weaken Tommy by hiring unknowing minions to read aloud Tommy Taylor stories of their own making. But by pulling together the power of fans and fandom, evil can be averted. At least for now.

Issues 31.1-35.1 tell an interesting backstory to the events of this story. This tells the tale of the immortals who formed the cabal, to keep the power of words from affecting their vision of the world they wished to create.

This is high-concept comics at it best, a great idea told well. The Unwritten continues to be among my favorite current comic series.

Source: public library

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along!

Just do the following:

Grab your current read.

Open to a random page.

Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page.

BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

From Chapter 6 of Doom's Day. Book 3: Wreckage, by Eric Fein & Pierce Askegren 

  "Doom's dark eyes smoldered as they glared through the slits in his steel mask. 'I did not retrieve you from your place of incarceration so that you could pursue your own goals, he said. 'Only mine.' One armored hand reached for the circuit board.”

Review of Standup Guy

Book #46. Standup Guy, by Stuart Woods. Unabridged audio. 

I have read all of Stuart Woods’ novels up to this one, and have enjoyed most of them, despite finding the last half-dozen or so to be a bit repetitive. This one was a return to form for Woods, as the story had more intrigue than some of the most recent books have had. It was also nice to see lead character Stone Barrington portrayed as less than the perfect super-spy he seemed to be recently.

The book starts simply enough, with Stone Barrington landing a new legal client, a man with an interesting and lucrative dilemma. It seems that he knows the whereabouts of money that was stolen many years ago. Stone recognizes that the statute of limitations on the original crime has run out, and the man seems to have legal claim to the money.

But the police officers who originally investigated the crime are still interested in finding the money. As are the mob figures who were involved in the crime. Stone finds himself in unexpected crosshairs. And when he midjudges the intentions of a woman, he may in fact be out millions of dollars, if he manages to stay alive.

Woods’ novels are always quick reads, and Standup Guy is no exception. A few ongoing subplots are accounted for, and a few members of the standard supporting cast appear, but most of the novel deals with the specific case. And that plot goes a few directions I did not see coming.

I am a big fan of Woods’ ability to create a coherent and cohesive universe for his novels. President Will Lee and his wife are players here, and groundwork is laid for further novels featuring the power couple. The story of Teddy Fay, who was an antagonist for a half-dozen novels, was brought to a close in a satisfying manner.

Narrator Tony Roberts does his usul fine job bringing life to the various characters in this novel.

source: public library. .

Between Audiobooks (7)

I have written before of my habit of listening to a few episodes of PodCastle or Escape Pod in between audiobooks -- short story palate cleansers between novels. I am still waaaay behind (12+ months!) on these podcasts), so I listened to a bunch of Podcastles last week, just after reading Christmas Mourning. I listened to these episodes:

Escape Pod 394: Good Hunting, by Ken Liu. An interesting mix of steampunk, technology vs. tradition, and magical demon-hunting in post-colonial China.

Escape Pod 395: Robot, by Karina Bell. A very interesting take on the idea of human-to-robot transformation.

Escape Pod 396: Dead Merchandise, by Ferrett Steinmetz. When marketing companies upgrade their pitches to customized "ad-faeries," what is a disgruntled customer to do? Especially one taking a gasoline can to the mall.

Escape Pod 397: A Gun For Dinosaur, by L. Sprague de Camp.A classic writer taking on the classic Sci-Fi trope of the time-traveling dinosaur expedition.

Escape Pod 398: Subversion, by Elisabeth R. Adams.Thought-provoking take on cloning (of a sort). When we can split off portions of ourselves, to perform certain tasks, interesting questions (and plot points) arise.

Escape Pod 399: My Heart is a Quadratic Equation, by Shane Halbach.Sort of super-villain team origin story. But a love story, too. My favorite among this batch.

October Reading List

45. Christmas Mourning (ua), by Margaret Maron
44. The Equalizer (hc), by Michael Sloan
43. Severed Souls (ua), by Terry Goodkind
42. Doom's Day, Book #2: Sabotage (pb), by Pierce Askegren and Danny Fingeroth


Earlier in the year:
40. & 41. Left Behind: The Kids, books 31 & 32, by Tim LaHaye, Jerry B. Jenkins, and Chris Fabry.
39. The Divine Hours: Prayers for (pb), compiled by Phyllis Tickle
38. The Martian (ua), by Andy Weir
37. Batman Unmasked (hc), by Will Brooker
36. Star Wars: Kenobi (ua), by John Jackson Miller
35. Faith of the Fallen (ua), by Terry Goodkind
34. Unintended Consequences (ua), by Stuart Woods
33. The Valley of Fear (ua), by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
32. Blood of Tyrants (ua), by Naomi Novik
31. Both / And (pb), by Rich Nathan and Insoo Kim
30. The Forgotten (ua), by David Baldacci
29.The Cat Who Robbed a Bank (ua), by Lillian Jackson Braun
28. Fairest, book 1: Wide Awake (gn), by Bill Willingham, Matthew Sturges, and many artists
27. Ghost Train to New Orleans (pb), by Mur Lafferty
26. Hickory Dickory Dock (ua), by Agatha Christie
25. Saints Behaving Badly (hc), by Thomas J Craughwell
24. Justice League Dark, volumes 2 and 3, graphic novel collection. Written by Jeff Lemire, with art by Ray Fawkes, Mikek Janín, and others.
23. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (ua), by Steig Larsson
22. Identical (ua), by  Scott Turow
21. The Athena Project (ua), by Brad Thor
20. The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime (ua), edited by Phyllis Tickle
19. Billion Dollar Batman (ua), by Bruce Scivally
18. Wonder Woman: Iron (gn), by Brian Azzarello, Cliff Chiang and others
17. The Innocent (ua), by David Baldacci
16. Song of the Quarkbeast (ua), by Jasper Fforde
15. Uncle Scrooge: Only a Poor Old Man (gn), by Carl Banks
14. Doom's Day, Book #1: Rampage (pb), by Danny Fingeroth and Eric Fein
13. The Guild of the Cowry Catchers: Book 5 (ua), by Abigail Hilton
12. Aquaman: The Others (gn), by Geoff Johns, Ivan Reis, and Joe Prado
11. Doing Hard Time (ua), by Stuart Woods
10. Star Wars: Scoundrels (ua), by Timothy Zahn
  9. Shadow Ops: Control Point (ua), by Myke Cole
  8. Little Black Sheep (Nook), by Ashley Cleveland
  7. The Last Dragonslayer (ua), by Jasper Fforde
 6. Before Watchmen: Comedian & Rorschach, by Brian Azzarello, J.G. Jones, and Le Bermejo
 5. Inferno Revealed (hc), by Deborah Parker and Mark Parker
 4. The Gearheart (ua), by Alex White
 3. The Great Fables Crossover (gn), by Bill Willingham, et. al.
 2. Silent Partner (pb), by Terrence King
 1. His Last Bow (ua), by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Review of Christmas Mourning

Book#45. Christmas Mourning, by Margaret Maron. Unabridged audio. 

I am a few books behind in Margaret Maron’s Deborah Knott series of novels. The last one I read before this one was 2009’s Sand Sharks, which I read before I even started this blog. So I figured it was time to work on getting caught up.

Judge Deborah Knott and Deputy Sheriff Dwight Bryant are getting ready to celebrate their first wedding anniversary, while the rest of the folk in Colleton County, NC are getting ready to celebrate Christmas. But the death of a beautiful young cheerleader in a car crash devastates the community.

It quickly becomes clear that the girl’s death was more than a simple accident, and more lives may be at risk if Deborah and Dwight can’t discover why she died. Some combination of prescription drugs, alcohol, a cell phone call, and a strange bright light all contributed to the girl’s death. But who provided what parts of this dangerous mix to the girl needs to be discovered, in order to determine who is in fact responsible for her death.

The mystery’s solution is solid, and the scenes capturing the perpetrator were exciting and suspenseful. The continuing characterization of the main characters continues to be strong here. Deborah and Dwight’s relationship are the main focus of character development, but both Dwight’s son Cal and (surprisingly) his boss Sheriff Poole also receive attention.

As always, CJ Critt does an excellent job narrating the books in this series. Overall, I was very satisfied with this novel.

source: public library

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along!

Just do the following:

Grab your current read.

Open to a random page.

Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page.

BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

From Pages 5 & 6 of Christmas Mourning, a Judge Deborah Knott mystery by Margaret Maron.

"A tattooed green viper circled his wrist and streched its triangular head across the back of his hand. Judging by his stubbly chin, he was probably closer to sixteen than the average freshman and had probably been left back a time or two. ”