humour Archives - Page 2 of 4

Yzabel / April 8, 2016

Review: An Unattractive Vampire

An Unattractive Vampire by Jim McDoniel

My rating: [rating=3]

Blurb:

Jim McDoniel’s debut novel, An Unattractive Vampire, is a darkly comic urban fantasy of ancient horrors in suburban cities. After three centuries trapped underground, thousand-year-old Yulric Bile—also known as the Curséd One, the Devil’s Apprentice, He Who Worships the Slumbering Horrors—awakens only to find that no one believes he is a vampire. Apparently he’s just too ugly—modern vampires, he soon discovers, are pretty, weak, and, most disturbing of all, good. Determined to reestablish his bloodstained reign, Yulric sets out to correct this disgusting turn of events or, at the very least, murder the person responsible. With the help of pert vampire-wannabe Amanda; Simon, the eight-year-old reincarnation of his greatest foe; and a cadre of ancient and ugly horrors, Yulric prepares to battle the glamorous undead. But who will win the right to determine, once and for all, what it truly means to be a vampire?

Review:

[I received a copy of this book through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.]

A fun read, even though in the end I didn’t find it the laugh-fest I had expected.

This is for all of us who like their vampire stories, but don’t necessarily want to read about a sanitised, mainstream, “fangless” version of vampires, with glitter and beauty, but little punch otherwise. Yulric Bile is an old school vampire: ugly, fearing crosses and running water, with nothing in the way of glamour, yet also adept at dark magic and much more resilient than the “modern vampyrs” with their glitz and life of night-clubs. Of course, both the former and the latter at cliché. Of course, the story pokes fun at Twilight-like vampires… although, all things considered, I think it pokes even *more* fun at wannabe-Camarilla vampires. (Any “Vampire: the Masquerade” player will see where I’m going with this. All the more if they’ve played the first edition. Ah, those good old days when we thought emo!vampire was all the rage…)

There are ridiculous and sympathetic characters on both sides. Amanda, the sexy blonde who’d like nothing better than to be turned a vampire, but maybe not for such obvious reasons. The cast from the “Phantom” TV series, clearly a mirror of contemporary paranormal and urban fantasy stories, complete with forums and fangirls, convoluted romance and Face-Hell (and Heel-Face) turns. Simon, Amanda’s little brother, too serious for a kid—also to enamored with weapons. Yulric, dangerous and ruthless yet also mesmerised by modern inventions like TV (and let’s not talk about his first meeting a car).

Mostly this book was a light read perfect for moments when you do need something fun, something that shall make you smile. It has its own brand of a sense of humour, including Yulric’s, who’s not so unsympathetic.

On the other hand, some things were a bit too… all over the place? Not in the right places? Vermillion’s involvment, for instance: I see where this is going, but it was strange to see so much of him, considering how he was involved. Or Simon: both cute and creepy in his own way, yet no real use was made of the whole “the eight-year-old reincarnation of his greatest foe“ hint from the blurb (it wasn’t mentioned until late, it didn’t bear much weight on his relationship with Yulric…). Or Catherine: good for her, but how did she go from 4-year coma-patient to sauntering about in a matter of a few days?

The writing was also jumpy in quite a few places, mixing points of views in a way that wasn’t really omniscient POV, and so felt weird to read. The footnotes were funny in general; some could’ve been omitted, though, as those didn’t bring anything to the fun factor.

So, funny in general, although in the end it didn’t amuse me as much as I hoped it would have when I read the blurb. Still, this is the kind of book I’d recommend borrowing, at least.

Yzabel / February 29, 2016

Review: Hell’s Bounty

Hell’s Bounty by Joe R. Lansdale

My rating: [rating=2]

Blurb:

If the Western town of Falling Rock isn’t dangerous enough due to drunks, fast guns and greedy miners, it gets a real dose of ugly when a soulless, dynamite-loving bounty hunter named Smith rides into town to bring back a bounty, dead or alive—preferably dead. In the process, Smith sets off an explosive chain of events that send him straight to the waiting room in Hell where he is offered a one-time chance to absolve himself.

Satan, a bartender also known as Snappy, wants Smith to hurry back to earth and put a very bad hombre out of commission. Someone Smith has already met in the town of Falling Rock. A fellow named Quill, who has, since Smith’s departure, sold his soul to the Old Ones, and has been possessed by a nasty, scaly, winged demon with a cigar habit and a bad attitude. Quill wants to bring about the destruction of the world, not to mention the known universe, and hand it all over: moon, stars, black spaces, cosmic dust, as well as all of humanity, to the nasty Lovecraftian deities that wait on the other side of the veil. It’s a bargain made in worse places than Hell.

Even Satan can’t stand for that kind of dark business. The demon that has possessed Quill, a former co-worker of Satan, has gone way too far, and there has to be a serious correction.

And though Smith isn’t so sure humanity is that big of a loss, the alternative of him cooking eternally while being skewered on a meat hook isn’t particularly appealing. Smith straps on a gift from Snappy, a holstered Colt pistol loaded with endless silver ammunition, and riding a near-magical horse named Shadow, carrying an amazing deck of cards that can summon up some of the greatest gunfighters and killers the west has ever known, he rides up from hell, and back into Falling Rock, a town that can be entered, but can’t be left.

It’s a opportunity not only for Smith to experience action and adventure and deal with the living dead and all manner of demonic curses and terrible prophecies, it’s a shot at love with a beautiful, one-eyed, redheaded-darling with a whip, a woman named Payday. But it’s an even bigger shot at redemption.

Saddle up, partner. It’s time to ride into an old fashioned pulp and horror adventure full of gnashing teeth, exploding dynamite, pistol fire, and a few late night kisses.

Review:

[I received a copy of this book through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.]

A crossover between western, horror and dark comedy, where a bounty hunter who blew himself up to Hell (literally) is recruited to prevent the end of the world. This mix is full of saloon pillars, hardened girls, flash-eating ghouls, not too clever zombies, and heroes (and foes) out of the Far West legends and dime novels. A bizarre and mismatched posse, and none is guaranteed to come out of this alive.

I found this novel fairly weird: entertaining to a degree, but sort of straddling a fence, as if it never knew what it really wanted to be. Horror? Comedy? It would lean alternatively towards one or the other, swinging back and forth between both genres, sometimes successfully, sometimes with results that were a bit silly. There’s a Lovecraftian-like threat, and a mesmerising long night with vivid imagery of a moon cleft in two by a tower… and there’s the villain that looked like a cross between a gargoyle and a bat. There’s Falling Rock, with its resident bully who hits prostitues and shoots down just about anyone out of his own feelings of misery… and there are all the stereotypes, perhaps too much like stereotypes, of, well, stereotypical western stories (drunk doc, undertaker, kid playing at being a big gun…). There are scenes both gruesome and funny—like the short-lived moment when Jenny comes out of her grave—and there are others where the humour doesn’t take too well. The ghouls are often dumb and presented more like comic relief… and then dismember and eat people like there’s not tomorrow.

The writing itself was disjointed and weird at times. I got an ARC, so I wouldn’t expect it to be flawless, yet often a sentence would jump out of the page, looking twisted and not fully grammatically correct. Though it wasn’t absolutely unreadable, it was distracting enough to pull me out of the story at times. The dialogues, too, were hit or miss: some lines made me smile and snort, befitting dark humour western characters, while others just made me roll my eyes. Some parts were action-packed and a funny ride, and others ended up feeling repetitive (attack zombies, get hurt/maimed/trampled/killed/devoured, not necessarily in that order, rinse and repeat).

I’d deem this the kind of quick read definitely worth it when you don’t need to focus and just want to spend a few hours with an entertaining story. Which in itself is not a bad thing, nor anything to be belittled. However, the writing and the wonky pacing don’t make it much more than “enjoyable then forgettable”. 2.5 stars.

Yzabel / February 21, 2016

Review: The Paladin Caper

The Paladin Caper by Patrick Weekes

My rating: [rating=4]

Blurb:

A thief’s good deeds are never done.

Loch and her crew are determined to stop the ancients from returning to reclaim the world they once ruled, but a kidnapped friend throws their plans awry. When a desperate rescue turns into a shocking reunion, the ancients return and seize power. Determined to stop them, Loch and the crew look for a way to close the gate to the ancients’ world, but this time, they find themselves up against an enemy that has insinuated itself into the highest ranks of the Republic. Cruel, cunning, and connected, the ancients target the crew’s families and histories, threatening to tear friendships apart.

If that weren’t bad enough, Loch must deal with her treacherous assassin sister, her turncoat ancient friend, and a daemon who has sworn to hunt her to the ends of the earth. In order to save the Republic and pull off her largest con ever, Loch will need her friends…and maybe her enemies too.

Review:

[I received a copy of this book through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.]

The tone in this last volume of the trilogy is different: somewhat darker, dealing with a more “end of the world”-oriented plot, following several plot points set in place in the previous books, and bringing a nicely-wrapped conclusion to the series. Perhaps too nicely-wrapped? I liked it in general, but I guess I would’ve appreciated finding more of the first installment’s humour.

Loch’s usual band of misfits gathers again to disrupt the Ancients’ plans, starting with one of their typical heist/cons, in a fashion any reader of this series will recognise. As usual, too, the story goes through a lot of twists and turns: events where our heroes find themselves in dire straits, but had planned for contingencies and switch to Plan B, and so on.

The characters remain well-rounded, resourceful each in their own ways, with their strengths and weaknesses: the ones we know, the ones we see them overcome. Desidora has to deal with her desire to get revenge on the friend who betrayed her, and Ululenia with the transformation she started going through in volume 2. Kail, Loch and Tern get struck where it hurts, as they have to worry for their loved ones. Dairy, definitely not the naïve young man anymore, has to go through his own ordeals, and try to discover himself in the process. Other, secondary characters are brought back into the fray as well. As for the enemies, they are cunning enough, don’t hesitate to resort to villains’ tactics (hostages, etc.), and manage to be both out of this world and curiously human at times, too.

The story circles through these themes both seriously and humorously. Kail and his “your mother” jokes, for instance: what does it say about his loyalty to his own family? Ululenia and her new urges: they get expressed in ways that correspond to her, making her gradually switch from virgin-lover unicorn to a darker, more eoritcally-inclined version of herself (in amusing ways at times, such as her mind-altering alliterations turning into different words, and in much more lethal ones at other times). Tern with her reactions, the way she makes her friends understand what they need to do, not by ordering them around but through psychology—all the while having to stay away from people she still cares about. Naria with her little games and her ambivalence: it’s so hard to tell whether she’s “nice” or a “traitor”, and this makes her more interesting, as it’s never clear-cut. Pyvic and Derenky: the latter wants the former’s job, everybody knows it, and everybody (Derenky included) jokes about it. And other countless little things.

In terms of pacing, much like the characters, we never get to fully rest, and it’s obvious that something is always bound to happen. The breaks they manage here and there are never meant to last, and it makes for a grand finale, with action scenes going parallel to each other, enemies that won’t relent on the means to take our heroes down, and various settings where every person, every small team has a key role to play.

I am undecided as to some of the twists, though: the last third rests on actions that the characters have planned, but that the readers aren’t aware of, and while it’s surprising and befitting Loch & Co’s wits and abilities to improvise, it also brushes upon of a device consisting in denying information to readers—in other words, it made me wonder if there wouldn’t have been a way of letting me, reader, suspect something, without having to use what looked a lot like a deus ex machina. (Not in terms of new events happening: in terms of events that happened in the past, yet are revealed in such a way that they seem to arrive out of nowhere.)

The story’s also lacking a sense of urgency when it comes to people dying. Not everyone gets out of there unscathed, however considering the world-shaking potential consequences, the novel seemed to end just a tad bit too conveniently for some (and the scarred ones felt slightly like an afterthought, as if someone had to get hurt for this to be believable, so, hey, let’s hurt a few people).

The social commentary, finally, is a bit of an oddball: heavy-handed in some ways, yet crafted through the story in a logical manner that highlights and mocks injustices. Depending on one’s mood and sensibilities, this could be a problem. I will confess to paying more attention to the action and characters than to how this commentary was to be taken—sometimes, I guess I just happen to bypass that kind of things.

I’m still giving this novel 4 stars. In spite of my reservations about it, I enjoyed it, and enjoyed seeing all the arcs gathered and solved. The characters are clearly ones I’ll keep in my mind for some time.

Yzabel / January 10, 2016

Review: Grumpy Cat Volume 1

Grumpy Cat, Volume 1 by Ben McCool

My rating: [rating=2]

Blurb:

Dynamite proudly presents the comic book misadventures of Grumpy Cat, featuring “The World’s Grumpiest Cat” and her brother, Pokey! With her ever-present pout and sassy disposition, Grumpy Cat has won the hearts of people everywhere. Now, her unbearable cuteness and infectious sourpuss are featured in an all-new, all-sensational collection of comic stories, sure to make fans of all ages laugh! If you love the memes, the videos, and that irresistible scowl, then get ready for the wildly fun antics of Grumpy Cat and Pokey!

Review:

[I received a copy of this novel through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.]

Cute graphics, and the familiar expression of “Grumpy Cat” was well-rendered, but in terms of stories, this book didn’t do much for me. It was funny… but no more than that. It made me smile… but no more than that either.

The interactions between Grumpy and Pokey were of the silly kind (in a nice way): Pokey as the over-enthusiastic and a little simple-minded cat, wanting to have adventures with the neighbouring dog among others, and Grumpy being the sarcastic, deadpan-snarking sister (I never knew whether GP was a male or a female—well, it’s a female here, apparently). The whole book has a Garfield vibe, and I think this is clearly on purpose: Grumpy needs her coffee, the dog is as stupid as Odie, Garfield has Nermal while Grumpy has Pokey… also Pokey kind of sounds like Pooky, Garfield’s teddy bear. Not sure whether this is more homage or merely trying to use the success of both the GP meme and Garfield. Garfield, in any case, is much better in my opinion.

The graphics, as said above, were cute, and pretty good in general. I got an ARC “only”, so a few pages were a bit blurry and hard to read, even on my computer (full screen PDF) and not on my tabler; however, I don’t have any doubts that the paper version shall not display such defects.

Was it a good idea to translate this into comics form? I’m honestly not sure, Maybe it’ll work for some readers; as far as I’m concerned, though, I think Grumpy Cat is definitely better suited to demotivation posters and meme images in general, and doesn’t lend itself so well to anything longer (even if it’s only a few pages long).

It was a light, somewhat funny read, but one I’ll quickly forget. I’m going to look at my Grumpy Cat GIFs instead.

Yzabel / January 1, 2016

Review: Adulthood Is A Myth

Adulthood is a Myth: A “Sarah’s Scribbles” Collection by Sarah Andersen

My rating: [rating=4]

Blurb:

Are you a special snowflake? Do you love networking to advance your career? Have you never wasted a fresh new day surfing the internet? Ugh. This book is not for you. Please go away.

Sarah’s Scribbles — casually drawn, perfectly on-point comics by young Brooklyn-based artist Sarah Andersen — confront head-on the horrors, anxiety, and awkwardness of modern adult life. From the agony of holding hands with a gorgeous guy to the yawning pit of hell that is the wifi gone down to the eye-watering pain of eating too-hot pizza because one cannot stand to wait for it to cool down, Sarah fearlessly documents it all.

Like the work of fellow Millennial authors Allie Brosh, Grace Helbig, and Gemma Correll, Sarah’s total frankness on extremely personal issues such as body image, self-consciousness, introversion, relationships, and bra-washing makes her comics highly relatable and consistently hilarious.

Review:

[I received a copy of this novel through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.]

A very light, fluffy and enjoyable little book, and at the same time, one that also makes you think and ponder about what is supposed to define us as “adults”… versus what adulthood really means. Because in my opinion, it does have a lot of meanings, and one of those is “being old and knowing what you’re doing aren’t the same thing.”

The panels often dealt with situations that made me laugh, because they rang all so true. Sniffing books. Procrastination. Staying up late for no reason. People asking you about when you’re finally having kids. Why it’s so hard to go out early in the heart of winter. Doing things that suck because we have to. Finding ourselves in embarassing company. And so on.

And it was spot on, as far as I was concerned, and made me think after I was done laughing, because, really, even at 36+, I’m still not sure what “being an adult” is. I pay my bills and my rent on time, I perform pretty well in my job, I don’t cause harm to myself or others through engaging in dangerous behaviours. I can safely say I’m “responsible”. Yet I’ve more than once been with people who still said that I wasn’t a real adult/a real woman because I didn’t want kids. That I should “grow out of video games”. Sometimes, peer pressure will make you question your choices, and the “stories” in this book often pinpoint those very situations leading to those questions, while underlining in turn another question: “But do we HAVE to change? Should we? If we remain the way we are, and we’re happy enough like that, why should we give in and conform to a certain idea of ‘adulthood’?” Does anyone hold the truth, the exact truth, the one definition here? Is there even one?

So yeah, I found myself in many of these comic strips. Whether this makes me an “adult” or not… Frankly, at this point, I just don’t care. Still, as I said, it reminded me of quite a few encounters and conversations I had. Also, I’m positive that no matter what, I’ll never have all the answers, and I’ll keep wondering if it’s normal, if I shouldn’t know 100% what I’m supposed to be doing right now. And… it’s alright. We’re all different, after all.

The drawing style itself was very simple, and not entirely to my taste; however, it worked well for that kind of comic-strips and for the artist to exaggerate facial expressions and other positions. Now, I wasn’t looking for the next masterpiece that would eclipse Renaissance painters, so I didn’t care much, to be honest. Simplicity probably works best when it comes to humour here.

On the downside, you can likely find all this on the artist’s website and the book is a bit redundant. This said… I don’t care either!

Yzabel / October 30, 2015

Review: The Prophecy Con

The Prophecy Con by Patrick Weekes

My rating: [rating=5]

Blurb:

Book Two in the Rogues of the Republic series.

Who would have thought a book of naughty poems by elves could mean the difference between war and peace? But if stealing the precious volume will keep the Republic and the Empire from tearing out each other’s throats, rogue soldier Isafesira de Lochenville—“Loch” to friends and foes alike—is willing to do the dishonest honors. With her motley crew of magic-makers, law-breakers, and a talking warhammer, she’ll match wits and weapons with dutiful dwarves, mercenary knights, golems, daemons, an arrogant elf, and a sorcerous princess.

But getting their hands on the prize—while keeping their heads attached to their necks—means Loch and company must battle their way from a booby-trapped museum to a monster-infested library, and from a temple full of furious monks to a speeding train besieged by assassins. And for what? Are a few pages of bawdy verse worth waging war over? Or does something far more sinister lurk between the lines?

Review:

[I received a copy of this novel through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.]

I read the first book not long ago, and a lot of what I posted in my review at the time is valid again in here. The heist(s), with several levels of deception, double-crossing the opponent, thwarted plans, having to do with a situation turned for the worst… And with twists that aren’t always planned by all members of the team, ending in somewhat hilarious moments that nicely counterbalance the overall “they’re a bit too ready for absolutely everything” feeling one may get. Because something’s bound to give, to turn sour in a heist, otherwise there wouldn’t be as much interest in reading such adventures—at least not for me.

The characters are mostly the same, with some changes reflecting darker turns of events from the first book. Kail is still his old I-give-a-name-to-everything lockpick and pickpocket, and his skill in wielding “mom jokes” remains the same (also he’s contaminated Icy); however, his brush with mind-bending magic left him a bit more somber, but more decided than ever to fight this. Desidora has returned to her duties, yet is now questioning her role within the team, as she feels she is less useful. (I quite liked the conversations between these two, as their predicaments were somewhat related.) Ululenia and Dairy… well, let’s just say things didn’t exactly go as planned (not to mention that the unicorn had to make a choice whose consequences wouldn’t be so light). Loch is trying to work on the side of a law that doesn’t exactly make things easy for her in that regard. Hessler has broadened his magic, with somewhat dangerous results that however leave room to humorous dialogues: a welcome thing, considering that the tone of the novel is a bit darker and that this time, wounds aren’t only superficial.

We are given a bit more of a view of other parts of the world here: the Empire, the dwarves, the elves, as well as the Ancients themselves. A welcome addition, too. At first sight, it doesn’t stray too far from clichés (Elves had tree-ships and prefer to live far from humans, dwarves are often miners…); however, read just a little longer and the differences become obvious. I especially liked how the dwarves were so polite and orderly, while the elf dignitary was at the same time badass and insufferable (in a funny way). While the rules of magic in this world remain fuzzy, the relationship between magic and elves (through the crustals embedded in the latter) was interesting nonetheless.

This novel may have been slightly less humorous than the first one, because its stakes were higher from the beginning—not just a heist to steal a book and earn tons of money, but preventing a war, and trying not to become the sacrificial lamb in the middle of all this. Oddly or not, I liked it even better for this reason, and for another one: this time, knowing the characters, I could also better anticipate on what their moves might or might not be, and this made it more “logical”, so to speak, when something happened that I would’ve otherwise deemed a deus ex machina. Predictable? In a way. Yet the kind of predictable I like, that I *want* to see happen, and then, when it happens, I strike the air with my fist and I’m all “Yesss!”

4.5 stars. I’ll keep recommending this series, and hope book 3 is on the same level.

Yzabel / October 25, 2015

Review: The Palace Job

The Palace Job by Patrick Weekes

My rating: [rating=4]

Blurb:

Loch is seeking revenge.

It would help if she wasn’t in jail.

The plan: to steal a priceless elven manuscript that once belonged to her family, but now is in the hands of the most powerful man in the Republic. To do so Loch—former soldier, former prisoner, current fugitive—must assemble a crack team of magical misfits that includes a cynical illusionist, a shapeshifting unicorn, a repentant death priestess, a talking magical warhammer, and a lad with seemingly no skills to help her break into the floating fortress of Heaven’s Spire and the vault that holds her family’s treasure—all while eluding the unrelenting pursuit of Justicar Pyvic, whose only mission is to see the law upheld.

What could possibly go wrong?

Review:

[I received a copy of this novel through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.]

I have a soft spot for heist novels. Give me thieves, rogues, criminal jobs demanding planning, enemies getting in the way, and odds are I’ll be happy—all the more when most if the action takes place in a city, and not travelling (I have trouble with the latter). I got this here, and perhaps even more than I bargained for, as it’s not only about one job in the end: not only does each party member have his or her own little heist part first, but it’s also about a bigger con, and quite a few people here have the potential to be both a criminal and a life-saver. In general, anyway, the characters were enjoyable.

Loch, whose motives are of theft and revenge, but who’ll stay loyal to her friends to the end. The death priestess, who didn’t want the job for starters, yet has to contend with what she was given. The magician, who could very well scamper away but is growing fond of the kid. The unicorn who will not abandon said kid, even though she’d probably be better off whisking him away too. The justicar, in a typical “investigator who may or may not see the light” fashion that I still found nice to read about no matter what. The orphaned girl caught unti playing politics because her adoptive father doesn’t leave her a choice, yet sooner or later will have to revise her own position, too. The safe-cracker with apparently bottomless pockets of supplies, vials and enchanted crossbolts, who could’ve had another life, only it would’ve been one by her own choice.

There’s humour woven into the batch, even though the straits are often dire and the truth unpleasant. Loch has a comeback for a lot of situations. The flirtation bits were fun to read. The death priestess comes from an unexpected angle, to say the least (starting with her introduction scene). Kail and his “your mom” insults that never fail to work: hard to believe, but still hilarious. Dairy regularly tripping over his own feet (manner of speaking) and causing catastrophes that are fun yet wield interesting results. Ululenia the unicorn and her virgins, also her alliteration-rigged mind magic. Puppet shows to keep people informed, allowing the “journalists” to tell probably more than they would be allowed to otherwise.

There are a lot of twists and turns in this novel, too, which is longer and more complex than I expected. Some may appear as deus ex machina, as the characters seem to plan for a lot of contingencies without the reader being warned. Sometimes it worked, at others I thought “too easy”. However, thinking back on it, it’s obvious that Loch et al. aren’t naive, and after a while I started suspecting when such twists may occur, and imagining “surely they won’t fall for that,” or “I smell trap, but I’m positive that character will see through it no matter what, in a way or other, because by now they know each other too well.”

Let’s not forget the political commentary, which is maybe where I would’ve liked to see more, as the “racial interactions” were a bit simplistic (the “whites”, the Imperials who’re basically “Asians”, and the Urujar as “the blacks”). Probably there weren’t enough pages to tackle absolutely everything here, but since it *was* part of the political side of the plot (Silestin adopted Naria and paraded her as a means of showing his intentions towards “racial equality”), as well as of the heist itself (the acrobat/contortionist/martial artist had to be an Imperial with a name sounding like a translation from kanji), I think it should’ve been approached a little differently.

These qualms set apart, I really enjoyed this book, and am glad I have the next one on my reader as well.

Yzabel / October 18, 2015

Review: Homunculus and the Cat

Homunculus and the Cat by Nathan Croft

My rating: [rating=2]

Blurb:

Just a typical kitten saves the afterlife story, disguised as a book about death.

In a world where every culture’s mythology is real, Medusa’s sisters want revenge on Poseidon, Troy is under siege again, and the Yakuza want their homunculi (mythological artificial humans) back.

Near Atlantis’ Chinatown, a kitten and her human campaign for homunculi rights. Against them are Japanese death gods, an underworld cult, and a fat Atlantean bureaucrat.

The main character dies (more than once) and a few underworlds’ way of death is threatened.

There are Also giant armored battle squids.

Review:

[I received a copy of this novel from the publisher, in exchange for an honest review.]

Good ideas in this mash-up of various mythologies and their associated creatures, however, in the end, it was a bit too choppy to my taste.

The world of Gaia was inventive, fun, full of conundrums and syllogisms, all of those making for a place brimming with diversity… and with the problems associated to it, especially acceptance. This theme, along with the one of “humanity” in its largest meaning, was developed through the homunculi: artificial human-shaped beings, crafted by alchemists, gifted with certain powers, with a beautiful appearance for some, with intelligence and feelings, yet considered as unworthy because they didn’t have a soul—or so, some people said.

The political undercurrents permeating the story (the vote, the tricks used in Atlantis to thwart it against the homunculi, the strong will of a few people like Petra to help them get rights at last) were definitely interesting. Perhaps because of all the many creatures in this novel, the hypocrisy behind their reluctance to accept the “soulless” articificial beings was even more tangible, and made for a good metaphor of injustices happening in the human world. I can say I’d really have wanted this specific plot to shine more.

Where the mashup worked much less for me was in the narrative itself. A lot of things happened, more or less tied to the aforementioned plot depending on the moments, but they happened very fast, in a chaotic way. I guess it reflected the chaotic nature of Gaia, yet it didn’t male for a coherent read, and there were several moments when I had no idea anymore what was happening, why, or how the characters had come to that particular point or conclusion. Even though it made more sense once I read a few pages back, it was annoying nonetheless.

The other problem with such fast-paced events was that they didn’t leave much room to character development, and I felt I was told, rather than shown, the relationships between Tyro and the cat, Tyro and Mina, Tyro and Herakles… (Tyro wants to save him, but since I didn’t get to see them interact much, I didn’t feel very invested in knowing about the outcome. Same about Tyro and Ankh’Si: the conclusion here was so rushed I wasn’t sure if my copy of the book missed a chapter or two.)

I really liked the world developed here, however it was so diverse that it eclipsed the characters. Since I like those to be as developed in a “humoristic” read as in a “serious” one, albeit in different ways, I suppose, it didn’t work very well for me in the end.

Yzabel / October 7, 2015

Review: Harry Plotter and The Chamber of Serpents

Harry Plotter and The Chamber of Serpents, A Potter Secret Parody by M.J. Ware

My rating: [rating=2]

Blurb:

Austin comes to England knowing as an American he’ll stick out at his new school. But when an errant owl lands him at Hogwarts he’s in for more than he expected.

Review:

[I received a copy of this book through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.]

A somewhat funny idea, although in the end it didn’t go far enough to be more than quaint fanfiction. The story is basically that of the second Harry Potter book, from the point of view of an American pupil thrown into Hogwarts. It was mildly interesting, in that it inserted a different take on why some events got to unfold the way they did in the original novel (the cat hair ending up in the potion, for instance), as well as peeked into what may have been the daily life of other students than the ones we saw throughout Rowling’s series.

However, this should have been taken further, and to greater lengths, I think, in order to become a story of its own. As it was, it didn’t bring much to the Potterverse, because the “blanks” it filled weren’t many, and so it was mostly a retelling from a different perspective, rather than something really interesting. Austin being American didn’t play much of a part either; he could have been German or French, and it would’ve been roughly the same. The reason why he ended up in second year when he hadn’t attended the first wasn’t really explained either: “so that he’d be on the level with the Harry, Hermione and Draco of the official timeline” and “because he wasn’t in England before” are a bit of an easy cop-out.

Some aspects were tentatively explored (a Slytherin/Slipperen being friends with a Gryffindor/Gryffinbore, opening up to other people, all Slytherins aren’t uptight worshippers of pure blooded ancestry…), only not enough. It felt like an attempt to redeem this House by downplaying the others (Harry seen negatively…), in a “Slytherins are misunderstood” way, instead of delving further into what could’ve been complex House relationships. This is reflected in general in how the novel remained too close to the original one, and never soared away from it to become its own.

Also, seeing the names changed (Harry Plotter, Hogworts…) was strange: everything’s so close to the original that it doesn’t fool anybody. No doubt a matter of copyright, yet it made me wonder where Rowling stood regarding all of this. Did she allow it, and if yes, then why not a joint effort of sorts, using the real names and places? And if not allowed… then what? (Yes, you can tell I’m always torn when it comes to fanfiction. That said, the book’s free, which I can appreciate—making money off it would’ve been shameful.)

Fun enough if you want something light to read and on which you don’t want to focus a lot. Otherwise nothing exceptional.

Yzabel / September 13, 2015

Review: Pop Sonnets

Pop Sonnets: Shakespearean Spins on Your Favorite Songs by Erik Didriksen

My rating: [rating=5]

Blurb:

The Bard meets the Backstreet Boys in Pop Sonnets, a collection of 100 classic pop songs reimagined as Shakespearean sonnets. All of your favorite artists are represented in these pages–from Bon Jovi and Green Day to Miley Cyrus, Beyoncé, and beyond. Already a smash sensation on the Internet–the Tumblr page has 50,000+ followers–Pop Sonnets has been featured by the A.V. Club, BuzzFeed, and Vanity Fair, among many others. More than half of these pop sonnets are exclusive to this collection and have never been published in any form.

Review:

[I received a copy of this book through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.]

Clever, very clever.

And in proper rhyming structure *and* iambic pentameters (yes, I counted; not for every single sonnet, but I still counted, just to make sure).

This collection of 100 famous songs—some dating back to the mid-20th centuries, some much more recent—revisited as Shakespearian sonnets was very funny to read, as well as interesting: the poetry does respect the form, appropriates some lines from actual plays (“the winter of our disco tent”), and translates modern concepts into Elizabethan wording. Guitars become lutes, cars become coaches… However, the content of the songs is very easy to recognise. Here’s an example from Roxanne by The Police:

“Pray, do not put those bawdy vestments on
or paint that vulgar rouge across thy face;
thou needest not those wanton garments don
nor with that ruddy brush thy cheeks debase.
I beg thee to this sordid life forego:
turn not a trick, but prithee turn the page!
O, dear Roxanne, thou dost not need to go
into that den of sin to earn thy wage.”

Compare with the song’s lyrics, and there you have it. In general, although the sonnets don’t include *all* lines (Bohemian Rhapsody, for instance, would be hard to translate in only 14 lines), mostly they really fit their songs counterparts.

Of course, the “downside” is that, to fully enjoy this book, you have to a) be a Shakespeare geek of sorts, and b) know the songs and their lyrics. Without that, odds are it won’t be as amusing, or at least not more than “heh, nice”. On the other hand, it’s also a good opportunity to go and discover/listen to the songs one knows less.

I spent a merry good time reading this book, and I highly recommend it to whoever likes Shakespeare, famous songs, and wants to have a laugh. Not to mention to have fun with friends and/or try to find the real Shakespearian lines in there.