January Reading List

So far, what I've read this year:

 5. Take Three (ua), by Karen Kingsbury
 4. Mary Through The Centuries (hc), by Jaroslav Pelikan
 3. Roil (ua), by Trent Jamieson
 2. The Devil You Know (ua), by Mike Carey
 1. Ender's Shadow Ultimate Collection (gn), by Mike Carey, Sebastian Fiumara, and Guilia Brusco. Based on the novel by Orson Scott Card.

New 52 Review: Resurrection Man

Resurrection Man, volume 1: Dead Again. Issues 1-7, by Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning, and Fernando Dagnino.    

Mitch Shelley can't die. That is to say, he can't stay dead. He always wakes up a short time after each death, alive and possessing a different super power than last time he died and resurrected. Each power comes with a particular drive to be in a particular place at a particular time, to aid a particular person. Mitch's memory only stretches back a few years, and in these first two arcs, he struggles to discover the source of his power.

The nature of this story -- life and death, resurrection -- does raise religious issues, and I give Abnett and Lanning credit for spending the first four issues dealing with this. Shelley is tracked down by both Heaven and Hell, or at least really hot lady angel beings representing Heaven and Hell. The Angel Suriel is coordinating the efforts  to deliver his overdue soul to Heaven. There is no resolution to this part of the story, which I hope gets resolved in the next batch of issues -- especially since this book was canceled after 13 issues (including the special #0 issue). The cancellation was not a surprise, as Diamond Distribution reported sales figure for issue #7 of just over 15,000 copies, more than a 60% drop from issue #1.

The angelic creatures disappear after Mitch doesn't actually die at the end of their battle, and somehow gets himself transferred to Arkham Asylum. His claims of an ability to die and return with a new power are greeted, as one would expect, as the ravings of a madman. Arkham immediately puts Shelley (who does not appear in any world database) under suicide watch, and he finds himself for the first time unable to die -- he is protected too well to die. But he manages to take advantage of a prison break to escape, to then be heroic, and to escape. Issue 7 ends at a nice point, bringing to a satisfactory conclusion that story arc.

The best art in these issues is on the covers. The first six issues had covers by the great Aquaman (and now Justice League) team of Ivan Reis, Joe Prado, and Rod Reis. Fernando Dagnino does a fine job on the interiors, but the strength of these issues for me were the stories, and the art does nothing to distract from that.

Source: public library.

Book #4

Mary Through The Centuries, by Jaroslav Pelikan.

I am a little late in writing this, as I usually try to read a book like this (about Jesus or Mary, or the Christmas story) around Christmas, but to be fair, this book is not a quick read. This is not to say that this is a book written solely for scholars, but it is clearly a book written by a scholar.

Jaroslav Pelikan is a retired historian from Yale, and he brings his scholarly mind to the topic of the Virgin Mary. This book traces the extent of her importance in theology, in history, and in the arts. He makes a strong case that Mary is the most influential and inspiration woman who ever lived. He contends that despite a general lessening of religious influence in the modern world in the last century, Mary's influence remains as strong as ever, and may even be growing. As Pelikan says in the last chapter, "It is impossible to understand the history of Western spirituality and devotion without paying attention to the place of the Virgin Mary."

He contends that considerations of Mary has continually driven theological development. Basic Christian doctrines (to Protestants, Catholics and Orthodox) such as original sin, grace, and the dual natures of Christ all had to deal with Mary's position, either as example or exception. She has continued to have a role in post-Reformation Catholicism, as doctrines such as Mary's Immaculate Conception have been made dogma by Rome. Mary even had a role in affirming the doctrine of Papal infallibility.

The chapter on Mary's portrayal in the Quran is especially interesting, as the chapters covering the Virgin's appearances in literary works of Dante, Spenser, and Goethe. I struggled with parts of these chapters, as they revolve around some literary works that I am less familiar with (in the case of Spenser, not familiar with at all). But Pelikan never lets himself get lost in the academic nature of these discussions. He is able to bring the discussion back to his main point of demonstrating the Virgin's continual relevance to these works of art, and how these works of art reflected theological views, and perhaps even fostered theological views. 

Each chapter begins with a full-page piece of black-and-white art, that Pelikan later references in the chapter. In addition, there are 16 color pages of beautiful Marian art, including works by Fra Angelico, El Greco and Salvador Dali. These also help the book seem less academic, giving the reader a visual cue as to the content of the chapter.

I enjoyed this book very much, and expect to look into Pelikan's earlier, similar work on the life of Jesus. Perhaps next Christmas.

Source: public library.

A Year for Holmes

Sherlock Holmes is one of my two favorite fictional characters (the other one is not material to this blog post). I read all the short stories when I was young, and then tackled the novels a few years later. I have a beautiful one-volume hardback of The Complete Sherlock Holmes, with an introduction by Christopher Morley. This must have been a gift, probably from my parents. I still have that copy.

Holmes' adventures have been extrapolated upon, modernized, and expanded perhaps more than any other character in the last 100 years. Some of these have intrigued me for whatever reason, and some of these have not.

I have decided that I am going to re-read as many of the 56 stories and 4 novels that I can manage this year, and write about them here on the blog. I am also going to write a short series of posts over the year about some of my favorites (and maybe not so) adaptations and expansions of Holmes.

I could say that this "Year of Holmes" is to honor the 100th anniversary of the publication of the story "The Adventure of the Dying Detective" in the Strand. Or perhaps the 99th anniversary of the beginning of the serialization of The Valley of Fear, the last Holmes novel to be published.

But no. It's just that I just thought of it a few days ago, and it is still early enough in the year to make such a proclamation and plans.

This series will in no way be comprehensive, and will simply reflect the random choices that I have made over the years in seeking out Holmes and Holmes-related stories. Maybe I will even talk about the ones that I have avoided.

Book #3

Roil, by Trent Jamieson. Unabridged audio.

This was a frustrating novel for me. The book has some definite strong points -- the premise is unique, the world-building and setting is impressive, and the lead characters have great potential. But the plot, and aspects of the writing, fell short of what I was hoping for.

Eight of the world's twelve metropolises have been consumed by the Roil. The huge storm, a mix of atmospheric turmoil and frightening monsters, is expanding, and it is up to the world's last humans to fight back. The humans use their ingenuity to build weapons and machines of a vaguely steampunk nature to fight the Roil, but its reach seems relentless. The machines and weapons that inhabit the world -- the partially organic airplanes, endothermic guns, floating citites and huge steam trains -- are incredibly fun to read about.

The three main POV characters -- a drug addict, a revenge-seeking woman, and a man who may be thousands of years old -- are all edgy and non-heroic, and these aspects fit this world well. But the process of bringing this ragtag band together seems a little slow, and I confess that I had trouble paying attention to what was happening, especially for the first two-thirds of the novel.

I am a "plot first" reader, so these weaknesses were especially frustrating to me. But readers who focus on premise, or setting, or characters, are more likely to find Roil an enjoyable read.

Source: From Brilliance Audio, via the Book Guys podcast.

20-Minute Longbox is Back!

Making an early run for the coveted "Back From The Dead Award," Stephen Lacey has released a new episode (#27) of the excellent 20-Minute Longbox podcast, after a 5-month hiatus. The "hook" of this show is that Steve uses a randomizer to select a comic from his collection, and then reviews it in less than 20 minutes.

I enjoy having podcasts of different lengths on my iPod, including nice bite-sized episodes like the ones that come down this feed. With both Thomas Deja and Tom Katers greatly reducing (or ceasing) the production of their comic book shows, 20-Minute Longbox is one of the few comics shows I listen to that fits into this short-form category.

Steve's target in episode 27 was Supergirl #48, written by Sterling Gates and drawn by Fernando Dagnino. The villain was Silver Banshee, and Steve liked the issue well enough. I was glad to have a new episode of this show, and hope that there are many more to come in 2013. I understand that Steve's other projects, including the excellent long-form show The Fantasticast (reviewed here), keep him busy. But I do hope that he is able to produce 20-Minute Longbox episodes on a regular basis -- or at least without another 5-month break!

Podcast marathon

Yesterday I was working out of my home, with plenty of time to listen to podcasts. Here is what I listened to:

Book Guys, episode 63. OK, I am a co-host on this one, and I admit I kinda skimmed through it, having been there when it was recored and all.

Thrilling Adventures of Superman, episode 65. Michael Bradley tackles every golden-age appearance of the Man of Steel. This episode covered Action Comics #27.

Tony Kornheiser Show. A sports show originally broadcast friday on local radio in Washington, DC.

Just One Of The Guys, episode 49. Host Shawn Engel did another excellent job talking about Green Lantern comics, especially Guy Gardner's nineties-testic new outfit. And he said nice things about this blog!

The Social Hour, episode 94. From Leo Laporte's TWiT network, this show is Sarah Lane and Amber MacArthur talking about social media. This episode had an interesting interview with the head of social media for the Maersk cargo shipping line. For such a non-social sounding type of company, they are very active (and successful) in social media space.

The Tolkien Professor. In the first episode of the "Riddles in the Dark" part of the feed for 2013, this show began the speculation of what would be done with the character of Beorn in the next Hobbit movie.