This Week in Reading

BOOKS: 
Rumours of Glory (hc), by Bruce Cockburn, pages 102 - 163.
The Hit (ua), by David Baldacci, COMPLETED. Reviewed here.
Lois Lane: Fallout (hc), by Gwenda Bond, pages 1 - 98.












COMICS:
Atari Force 1
Convergence Catwoman 2
Convergence Superboy 2
Convergence Supergirl Matrix 2
Crisis on Infinite Earths 4
Doctor Strange Annual 3
Fantastic Four Annual 20
Flash 27
Hawkworld, Book 1
History of the DC Universe, Book 2
Justice Society of America 1
S.C.I.-Spy 1-6
Solarman 1 & 2

Review of The Hit

Book #17: The Hit, by David Baldacci. Unabridged audio.

Will Robie was one of Baldacci’s more interesting recent character creations. Introduced in The Innocent (reviewed here), Robie is one of US government’s leading assassins. Perhaps only one other hitman can match his skills – Jessica Reel. It appears that Reel has gone rogue, and Robie has been tasked to dispatch of her. But there might be more to Reel’s supposed betrayal than meets the eye. Perhaps she discovered that the greatest threat to American security is right in the middle of her intelligence services.

The cat-and-mouse game that Robie and Reel engage in here is thrilling, and their hesitance to trust each other is very reasonable. That slowness to trust also leads to some very compelling and exciting scenes. The depth of the conspiracy (and the players) are revealed slowly, and this tension is a strength of the novel. Readers spend much of the novel in the same state of confusion as the main characters, again adding to sense of tension.

Two of the characters introduced in The Innocent appear here, as well, although neither is a main character. The series is about Robie, and Baldacci spends the most effort developing his character. I enjoyed the book thoroughly, and look forward to Baldacci writing future books about Robie and his supporting characters.

As always, the production elements of this audiobook were excellent, with both Ron McClarty and Orlagh Cassidy turning in excellent vocal performances.

Source: public library

Podcasting Update

The Book Guys Show has been on an unanticipated hiatus for a month or so, but I have stayed busy with my own podcasts, and occasionally guesting on my friends' shows.

For the 50th episode of my Quarter-Bin Podcast, I was joined by fellow podcasters Paul Spataro, Ed Moore, and Tom Panarese to talk about the most over-hyped, over-produced, and discount-binned comic book of all-time, Turok Dinosaur Hunter #1. When then used that issue book as a jumping-off point for a longer discussion about the state of the comic book industry. We were joined by The Irredeemable Shag for this part of the conversation, which was released as an episode of Relative Geeky Presents.

A few of my podcasting buddies were also kind enough to invite me on to their shows:

Unofficial 75 Greatest Marvels Countdown Podcast #59. I talked with host W. Blaine Dowler to talk about the "Armor Wars" storyline that ran in issues 225-231 of Iron Man, in 1987 & 1988. The story is rightly considered a classic.

Just One of the Guys #163. I joined Shawn Engel to talk about two issues of the six-part Black Circle mini-series. We talked about Green Arrow #24 and Green Lantern #163. Considering that they were the middle 2 parts of a longer story, they were surprisingly good issues.

This Week in Reading

BOOKS: 
Rumours of Glory (hc), by Bruce Cockburn, pages 42 - 102.
All Tomorrow’s Parties (ua), by William Gibson, COMPLETED. Reviewed here.
Paul & The Faithfulness of God (pb), by N.T. Wright, pages 321 - 350.

COMICS:
Alter Ego Magazine 126
Convergence Nightwing & Oracle 2
Convergence Question 2
Convergence Speed Force 2
Convergence Superman 2
Convergence Titans 2
Free Comic Book Day: Avengers
Free Comic Book Day: Captain Canuck
Free Comic Book Day: Doctor Who
Free Comic Book Day: Steampunk Goldilocks
History of the DC Universe, Book One
Justice League Dark 30 - 34
Justice League of America 188
Millie the Model 161

Review of All Tomorrow's Parties

Book #16. All Tomorrow’s Parties, by William Gibson. Unabridged audio.

On a recent episode of my solo podcast, I commented about how hard it is to convincingly write about future technology. It is extremely difficult to project technology into the future, and when it is done badly, it can be laughable. William Gibson knows how to write the future convincingly. The book was written more than 15 years ago,

Before starting this book, I knew that it was third in a series, but was convinced by online reviews that I could read this as a stand-alone. Now, I was not always sure what was going on in the story all the time, but I don’t know if that was due to picking up the series here. My recollection of the prior Gibson novels I read was that they were also a bit hard to follow on occasion. 

The book is made up of three overlapping main plot threads, with shared characters and a shared location for the novel’s conclusion. Despite the narrowness of this focus, Gibson manages to tell a story with an epic sweep. We have a hacker who lives in a cardboard box in Tokyo. We have a bicycle messenger in San Francisco. We have a virtual reality pop singer. And all of these characters (and many more) are involved in a story involving pharmaceutical trials gone wrong, the ubiquity of the net, and the consequences of technology on humanity. 

Gibson’s strength as a novelist lay in his ability to express his themes, and to create compelling worlds and interesting characters. This novel marks a move away from his hard science-fiction “cyber-punk” roots, into a more mainstream form, albeit one still informed by technology.

Source: received from Brilliance Audio, for discussion on the Book Guys Show podcast.

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of A Daily Rhythm. 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 Page 3 of  Rumours of Glory: A Memoir, by the wonderful Canadian musician Bruce Cockburn:

" ... my songs are multifaceted. They are not just about war, injustice, and exploitation, though these subjects are well represented. They are certainly not just about Jesus, though faith and grace frequently find a place in the lyrics and in the tunes themselves. Mystery, beauty, love, pain joy ... the power of a wild place ... the power of people to rise above oppression, above pettiness: these are the things I have worked to portray.”

This Week in Reading

BOOKS: 
Rumours of Glory (hc), by Bruce Cockburn, pages 1 - 42.
All Tomorrow’s Parties (ua), by William Gibson, pages 1 – 231.
Paul & The Faithfulness of God (pb), by N.T. Wright, pages 290 - 321.


COMICS:
Back Issue Magazine 75
Convergence Action Comics 1
Convergence Blue Beetle 1
Convergence Detective Comics 1
Convergence Infinity Inc 1
Convergence Justice Society of America 1
Convergence Plastic Man & the Freedom Fighters 1
Convergence Shazam 1
Convergence World’s Finest 1
Justice League Dark 19 - 29
Micronauts (Devil’s Due) 1 - 5
Micronauts (Marvel) 3 - 5