Monday, December 31, 2007

December '07

DOMBEY & SON Part I
-C. Dickens-classic
-582-follows the life of one Florence Dombey, whose mother dies and father ignores, because she is not the son he wanted. A younger brother, the cause of the mothers death, lives until his 6th year or so and then dies. A sad story so far.

THE SWORD OF TRUTH: CONFESSOR
-T. Goodkind-fantasy
-603-ends the Sword of Truth saga. It is obvious that Goodkind has an axe to grind against organized religion and it really comes through in this book. A socio-philosophical diatribe in many respects. Quite a few of the conversations between characters were simply mouthings of Goodkind's thoughts on Determinism. I am glad this is done.

DOMBEY & SON Part II
-C. Dickens-classic
-588-Dombey betrayed by his second wife and pride, Florence marries Walter. Florence and her father reconciled after his ruination. I cried at the reconciliation, which goes to show how sick I was at the time.

YUYU HAKUSHO #1-9
-Y. Togashi-manga

AMBER: KNIGHT OF SHADOWS
-R. Zelazny-fantasy
-251-Zelazny delights in blindsiding his characters [and readers] with all sorts of father issues, family issues and friend issues. Turns out the Pattern and the Logrus are sentient powers and that Chaos and Amber may simply exist to give them place to battle. Merlin is in the position that Corwin was, in the first 5 books, ie, confused and with a bad case of a dad doing something that nobody else knows about.

INTERESTING TIMES
-T. Pratchett-fantasy
-368-Rincewind ends up in the Counterweight Continent, along with Cohen the Barbarian and the Silver Horde. They are attempting to take over the Empire. Rincewind ends up in XXXX, the unknown land.

MASKERADE
-T. Pratchett-fantasy
-368-first off, you have to a fan of Phantom of the Opera to really get this book. Pratchett lifts the story wholesale, and proceeds to slaughter it with the witches of Lancre and one witch-in-training, who doesn't want to be a witch. Good stuff.

AMBER: PRINCE OF CHAOS
-R. Zelazny-fantasy
-225-Ok, Merlin is going to become the King of Chaos, to keep peace between the Pattern and the Logrus. Corwin has been imprisoned, and basically it is Corwin/Oberon all over again. How dumb can guys get? Zelazny simply cannot seem to allow his characters to live their lives. I believe this is the last original Amber novel. I've heard there are prequels written by another author, but I don't have any interest in those.

TALES OF THE OTORI: HEAVEN'S NET IS WIDE: THE FIRST TALE OF THE OTORI
-L. Hearn-historical fantasy
-484-follows Shigeru and his brother Takeshi; Otori who are betrayed and fall under the power of Iida. Gives the back story of all that happened before Takeo is found. This series is a brutal look at feudal life. Women were helpless, those not of nobility were helpless and death was but one step away for almost everyone. Also delved into the Hidden a lot more. Showing the difference between their regard and love for life in contrast to the Warrior Class's lust for death and personal power. Truly, Christianity is the only thing that will save this world.

HYPERION CANTOS: HYPERION
-D. Simmons-scifi
-512-The Hegemony of Man, the TechnoCore[AI's] and the Ousters[humans who fled into space to escape the Hegemony] all collide on the world of Hyperion. A world where Time Tombs are in an entropic field which seems to be moving backwards. 7 travelers come together to seek the Shrike, mystical/mythical Lord of Pain, thinking that one of them will be granted their wish and the other 6 taken in sacrifice. This book concentrates on their backstories and what brought them to Hyperion. Excellent writing. The only things I had against it was the profanity used, frequently, by one character and a couple of instances of semi-graphic sexuality.

THE SPACE VAMPIRES
-C. Wilson-scifi
-214-oh man, written in the 70's, this was pure crap! The whole story is centered around Freudianism, masochim/sadism and some mumbojumbo about "lifeforce". Why anyone would consider this entertaining is beyond me!

HYPERION CANTOS: THE FALL OF HYPERION
-D. Simmons-scifi
-528-the Tombs open, Mankind destroys the Farcaster web to escape domination by the TechnoCore and the Ousters show the Hegemony the path to the future. Full of philosophical dialogue, religious overtones and weird ideas. Well done.

THE TWELVE KINGDOMS: SEA OF SHADOW
-F. Ono-fantasy
-462. A girl is confronted by a stranger who gives his allegiance to her and then is swept into another world. Yoko starts out as a self-centered, cowardly whining girl. By the end of the novel she is a strong, capable woman. Turns out she is the next Queen of Kei. This is the book that the anime was based on but this was much tighter and focused exclusively on Yoko. I really liked it and look forward to the next 10 novels as they are released.

KING RAVEN: SCARLET
-S. Lawhead-historical fiction
-449-Continues the tale of Robin Hood, set in a more historic Welsh setting. Thoroughly enjoyed this tale. I have to say, I think that this series is fast moving up in my favorites list.

THE MAGIC OF RECLUCE
-L.E. Modesitt Jr-fantasy
-501-definitely a shallow book, but enjoyable. You don't see the character grow up, they simply change. But I liked the whole reversal of the typical White, Grey and Black of the types of magic. This is a series about Order vs Chaos.

CHILDHOOD'S END
-A. C. Clarke-scifi
-216-humanistic. Humanity gives up its individuality and becomes one with some great Over-mind. Depressing.

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

November '07

BLEACH #21
-T. Kubo-manga
-192

MISTBORN: THE WELL OF ASCENSION
-B. Sanderson-fantasy
-578-Everything I thought I knew from Final Empire is turned on its head! Vin and Elend get married, Luthadel is sacked, but Vin realizes she has powers unlike any other Mistborn. Goes to the Well of Ascension to destroy the Deepness, only to set free some being that has been manipulating the Terris religion for that very purpose. The Hero of Ages is a deception wrought by this being. Looking forward to the next volume.

AN ANTHOLOGY OF ORIGINAL SF STORIES: ORBIT 10
-Edited by D. Knight-scifi
-208-this was released back in '72, and man, does it show. Every story seems to involve some sort of sex, some form of psychological front and a lot of angst, whining and general immaturity. If this was a true representation of SF back then, I'm glad I missed it.

DISCOVERING THE MIND OF A WOMAN
-K. Nair-counsel
-250- I have to admit, I was expecting a bit more. I was looking for specific insights on how to deal with the feminine and instead he went into generalities about being Christlike. Good stuff, just not at all about the "mind of a woman", imo. It should have been entitled "...the Emotions of a Woman". I'm going to have to read it through in another year or so and see what I think then cause right now, I got nothing.

LANDOVER: THE TANGLE BOX
-T. Brooks-fantasy
-334-some evil faery creature gets loose and traps Ben, Nightshade and Strabo in his old trap. Willow gives birth. The inept conjurer who started all this mess fixes things by releasing Ben & Co and trapping the Gorse again. I enjoyed this novel the most since Magic Kingdom for Sale/Sold, which is surprising. Cause I remember hating this when I read it for the first time. Now I'm looking forward to the next one :-)

AMBER: THE NINE PRINCES IN AMBER
-R. Zelazny-fantasy
-192-Too choppy a narrative style for my taste. Quite effective though considering. A man with amnesia discovers that he is a Prince of Amber, the True City on which all other cities are but shadows. Fights, and loses, to be the king. Ends with him fleeing after imprisonment.

XXXHOLIC #9&10
-Clamp-manga

HUNTER X HUNTER #17
-Y. Togashi-manga
-208

MEN AT ARMS
-T. Pratchett-fantasy
-400-The Night Watch embraces diversity and someone tries to set things up so Cpt. Carrot comes into his royal birthright.

SOUL MUSIC
-T. Pratchett-fantasy
-384-Susan, Death's granddaughter, has a go at the family business. Some bard discovers a magical guitar which uses him and his band to play the "Primal" music played at the beginning of the universe. Nothing memorable.

AMBER: THE GUNS OF AVALON
-R. Zelazny-fantasy
-222-Corwin allies with another brother against Eric and gets a gunpowder that works in Amber. Takes over just as Eric dies from repelling forces from Chaos

AMBER: SIGN OF THE UNICORN
-R. Zelazny-fantasy
-192-It becomes apparent that there is more than just intriguing for the Throne of Amber. It would seem that some faction has allied with the Courts of Chaos, the reality where Dwork and his son Oberon came from.

AMBER: THE HAND OF OBERON
-R. Zelazny-fantasy
-261-Oberon, long thought dead, is shown to be alive and orchestrating everything to date, all to save Amber from complete destruction at the Hands of the Courts of Chaos. Amber is NOT the ultimate Reality, but simply the First Shadow.

AMBER: THE COURTS OF CHAOS
-R. Zelazny-fantasy
-183-Amber fights against Chaos while Oberon tries to restore the Pattern. He succeeds, but Corwin also creates a new pattern. In the end, everything is back in balance, with Corwin about to enter the Realm of Chaos to travel with his son Merlin.

EQUAL RITES
-T. Pratchett-fantasy
-213- a wizard, about to die, confers his powers on what he thinks is the 8th son of an 8th son. Only "he" turns out to be a "she". Deals with Granny Weatherwax and Esk, the girl who wants to be a wizard. Only kind of funny.

STAR WARS: DEATH STAR
-M. Reaves & S. Perry-scifi
-363-ties in characters from Medstar. Basically about the 1st Deathstar from about halfway through its construction to its destruction. Follows 4 different sets of characters. They escape in the end because they can't countenance working for something that destroys millions and billions of lives just to make a point. A very interesting look at the flow and ebb of life on the Death Star.

AMBER: TRUMPS OF DOOM
-R. Zelazny-fantasy
-183-The adventures of Merlin, son of Corwin and Dara. Half Amberite, Half Lord of Chaos. More machinations. Someone is trying to kill him and other Amber royalty. The whole fragmented sentence thing used for shadow traveling is visually effective, but I simply skip it. Nothing happens in it.

AMBER: BLOOD OF AMBER
-R. Zelazny-fantasy
-215-turns out the assassin is Brand's son. Who is Merlin's best friend. But that is not all. More family and outer family rivalry. Corwin has disappeared and no one can walk the pattern he created. This is truly the 2nd Chronicles of Amber. More of the same "keep the reader in the dark and guessing right up til the end and give lots of false, confusing info and trust no one, etc, etc" but with a new generation added to the mix.

AMBER: SIGN OF CHAOS
-R. Zelazny-fantasy
-184-the Masked one turns out to look like Merlin's old girlfriend Julia, who was attacked and killed right at the beginning of Trumps of Doom. I can't speculate, simply hold on for the ride that Zelazny insists on us riding to read his books. Oh, we now have a self aware AI that Merlin created that is able to manipulate Shadow too. Add another confusing factor.

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

October '07

CHRONICLES OF THE CURSED SWORD #1
-Y. Beop-ryong-manwha
-168-this was crap. It was stupid and I won't be reading anymore.

ONE PIECE #15
-E. Oda- manga
-212

DAVID COPPERFIELD Part I
-C. Dickens-classic
-578-David is born, his father is dead, his mother a poor stupid woman. She remarries, David goes through many hardships, and ends up under the care of his great-Aunt. He makes many friends and we see how their lives go on. One particular friend, Steersforth, I am convinced will end up being the ruination of a childhood friend of David's. Nothing of his childhood hardships are gruesome, for which I am glad.

HUNTER X HUNTER #16
-Y. Togashi-manga
-192

ERIC
-T. Pratchett-fantasy
-197-Rhincewind is mistaken for a demon by a 14year old Demonologist. Hilarity ensues.

DAVID COPPERFIELD Part II
-C. Dickens-classic
-583-Copperfield grows up, marries Dora, rescues Mr W, has Dora die sees friends off to Australia, and ends up marrying Agnes. I really enjoyed this, enjoyed my wrong predictions, enjoyed how it all ended up.

REAPER MAN
-T. Pratchett-fantasy
-353-Death is given his walking papers by servants of Azrael, the Ultimante End. Chaos ensues and Ankh-Morpork is over run with Life force and a City Predator [a mall] begins to evolve. Death faces the New Death [and takes his old job back] and one Un-dead Wizard helps destroy the Mall. Several Laugh Out Loud moments.

YOTSUBA&! #4
-K. Azuma-manga
-190- Hilarious! I read this late one night and had to cover my mouth several times to stifle laugher so as not to disturb the neighbors.

STAR WARS: LEGACY OF THE FORCE: SACRIFICE
-K. Traviss-scifi
-367-Ben is sent on an assassination mission, grows up quick. He finds out that Lumiya and Jacen are in cahoots and Mara tracks down Jacen and tries to kill him. Mara dies, leaving clues for Ben and Luke about her true killer. Luke kills Lumiya. On the Mando side, Boba finds the clones who aren't aging and gets the treatment, finds precious metal on Mandolore and recalls all Mando's. At the very end he finds out his wife is not dead. Jacen becomes a Sith Lord, Darth Caedus.

SANDWORMS OF DUNE
-B. Herbert & K. Anderson-scifi
-494-The End of the Dune Saga! Lets see. Sandworms are modified to live in water. Facedancers plot to bring down Humanity AND Thinking Machines. Omnius and Erasmus are sweeping all before them. Norma Cenva, aka the Oracle of Time, aka the Guild Navigators 'god', is searching out for Omnius, to completely eradicate 'him'. The No-ship passengers are captured by Omnius. In the End of All, ie Krazilec, Oracle of Time removes Omnius; Duncan Idaho[who is the last and perfect Kwisatz Haderach] melds with Erasmus, much like Leto II did with sandworms, so that Humanity and Thinking Machines may live together instead of seeking mutual destruction; Erasmus activates a death code in the Facedancers and tells their leader he was aware of their plots the whole time; sandworms, with the Leto II ghola absorbed into them hence making them not so susceptible to water, make the homeworld of Omnius their new home. There is a lot. This is what happened. My thoughts on it are another whole matter. I think I'm going to write a post and put a link in here to it.
Thoughts on the Dune Saga

YOTSUBA&! #5
-K. Azuma-manga
-192

WITCHES ABROAD
-T. Pratchett-fantasy
-350-Magrat becomes a Fairy Godmother, for awhile, and with the 'support' of Nanny and Granny, goes head to head with the evil Godmother, who thinks that she is the good one.

THE ACT OF MARRIAGE
-T. & B. LaHaye-counsel
-393-a frank, indepth and educational book about sex. By Christians for Christians. It made me realize how much I didn't know or what I thought I knew was wrong.

FOR MEN ONLY
-S. & J. Feldhahn-counsel
-183-rather simplistic, but a good look for men on how the mind of a woman works. I'm just glad I am a guy :-)

FOR WOMEN ONLY
-S. Feldhahn-counsel
-184-I did a lot of underlining so Crystal knew what applied to me.

LORDS AND LADIES
-T. Pratchett-fantasy
-374-'bout time Magrat gets married. and Elves as the badguys and witches as the good guys, well, that is an interesting perspective.

CROWN OF THE ISLES: THE MIRROR OF WORLDS
-D. Drake-fantasy
-333-More of the same. I figure if I wait 3 years to read the final book [whenever it comes out], I should be able to make it through. Ilna's "hating of the world" just really wears thin really quick. AND, how did the world survive? It seems like there are super gods, or superbadpowerful men, or creatures, just lined up to the horizon to personally make the world hard for Garric and Co.

STARWARS: LEGACY OF THE FORCE: INFERNO
-T. Denning-fantasy
-312-Luke is shown for the Grand Master of the Jedi Council that he is. The Society of One Sith are revealed and pave the way for the Legacy Comics. I hope Caedus dies a slow painful death.

Saturday, September 29, 2007

September '07

STAR WARS: BLACKFLEET CRISIS: BEFORE THE STORM
-M. Kube-Mcdowell-scifi
-336-Blah, blah, blah. This is definitely NOT canonical, considering that Luke and Leia's "mom" is named Shira and is some sort of weird White Force Witch. The more I read of Kube-McDowell the less I like the idiot.

THE COLOR OF MAGIC
-T. Pratchett-fantasy
-210-the beginning of the Discworld hilarity! I wish I had read this before "The Light Fantastic". Luggage is GREAT! :-D

MORT
-T. Pratchett-fantasy
-243-Death takes on an Apprentice, who fails miserably and almost upsets the whole universe. So Death fixes things by appealing to the gods and the Apprentice, Mort, marries Death's adoptive daughter. A light enjoyable read.

WYRD SISTERS
-T. Pratchett-fantasy
-265-Cross Hamlet and other Shakespearian plays with Pratchett, and this is what you get. Good stuff.

HUNTER X HUNTER #15
-Y. Togashi-manga
-197

CYGNET
-P. McKillip-fantasy
-406-comprising The Sorceress and the Cygnet & The Cygnet and the Firebird.
The first book I got really annoyed at the Wayfold man, who seemed insistent on being pigheaded and stupid. But it made the story, and it worked.
I really enjoyed the second one more. Dragons hunting Cygnets, love, time, magic and far away places. This wasn't as poetical as some of her other stuff, but would be a great intro, since it is a bit more "prosey".

PYRAMIDS
-T. Pratchett-fantasy
-323-reading this felt very familiar, but I couldn't place it. Then I checked my reading list, and sure enough, I had read it back in '04. Figures. It was enjoyable and I'm used to his stuff enough now that nothing grated :-)

SAMURAI GIRL: REALBOUT HIGHSCHOOL #1-2
-R. Saiga-manga
-anatomically impossible figures, no plot, some sort of "romance", nothing was stable. Bleh.

GUARDS! GUARDS!
-T. Pratchett-fantasy
-355-The Story of how Vimes gets hitched, and Dragons are involved. Not as funny as some, but still a good brainless read.

STAR WARS: BLACKFLEET CRISIS: SHIELD OF LIES
-M. Kube-Mcdowell-scifi
-338-the only reason I read this was because I had ordered it through Interlibrary loan before reading the first one. This was no better. Ugh. I shall NOT be reading the final book. I simply don't care and it isn't worth my time.

BLEACH #19-20
-T. Kubo-manga

OTOGI ZOSHI #1&2
-N. Seto-manga
-these are the only 2 volumes in this series. Based off the anime, I gather, and just covers the opening chapter. Interesting.

OH MY GODDESS #26
-K. Fujishama-manga
-170-The Eater of Angels is defeated and Keiichi takes on Bell's "familiar", but it is wearing his body out, and Bell is being worn out; so Urd, Skuld and Peorth take things into their own hands to exorcise it. Ends with Kei flying out of the house to escape. While I really like the new unflipped versions, they are a little short to be paying $10.95 a volume. Sigh, the life of a fan ;-)

GENESIS OF SHANNARA: ELVES OF CINTRA
-T. Brooks-fantasy
-376-Very enjoyable. Logan takes the Ghosts under his wing, Hawk/Morph is rescued by the River Master and told his destiny. Angel meets the elves and goes off with one of the Chosen and a tracker to find the Lodenstone. They find it and 2 demons are destroyed. This story just continues to show how humanity completely fell apart. Because of the spiritual aspect of it, I can really relate. It is the worst of humanities nightmares brought forth without the hope of Jesus. Thank God there is a God and not just demons.

COMIC PARTY #1-5
-S. Inui-manga

FRUITS BASKET #17
-N. Takaya-manga
-198-Akito is a woman! and she has a crazy mother. This family just gets weirder and more and more screwed up.

Friday, August 31, 2007

August '07

ALVIN MAKER: ALVIN JOURNEYMAN
-O.S. Card-fantasy
-400-Alvin is well on his way to creating the Crystal City. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop though.

DEATHNOTE #12
-T. Ohba-manga
-210- a satisfying conclusion. Melo dies, but Near is Triumphant over Light/Kira/NewL. Light was simply over the edge, a psycho mass murderer. But in the end, I was hoping that Kira would win, to create a better world. I REALLY liked this series. Confusing, and forcing you to read VERY carefully, but oh so worth it in the end. This series is one that I am looking forward to enjoying reading again. And quite possibly again :-)

ALVIN MAKER: HEARTFIRE
-O.S. Card-fantasy
-336-A good ending, imo, to the Alvin Maker series. Alvin has gathered a group of people with knacks who believe in the Crystal City like he does. But the book ends as they are setting out. Card does not make the mistake of actually showing the Making of the City, for that will be Heaven on Earth, and no man knows how to accurately write that out.

THE HOWLING STONES
-A.D. Foster-scifi
-330- a Humanx commonwealth novel. 2 xenobiologists uncover a great power/mystery in an aboriginal tribe on a new world. Through it, one of the protagonists comes across the "great, mindless, relentless evil" that Flynx has been tasked to deal with. A good standalone novel.

FRUITS BASKET #15-16
-N. Takaya- manga
-I am getting sick of everyone feeling sorry for themselves. If it were just a couple of people, that would be one thing, but when it is EVERY single one of the Zodiac family, all feeling "bad", it gets on my nerves. Probably because I want to read encouraging, positive stories and these don't seem to be. If Tohru is supposed to be some kind of Curse Breaker/Savior for them all, she is taking her sweet time doing it. It is just weepy/girly, too much so.

NICHOLAS NICKLEBY PART I
-C. Dickens-historical fiction
-556-a man dies, leaving his wife, son[19] and daughter[15] to the mercy of his brother. Said brother is a money-loving scoundrel. The son, Nicholas, sets out to earn money to support them while the Uncle throws the daughter[Kate] into the path of a foppish nobleman and the older lord who is leaching off of him, to entice them for money's sake. Ends with Nicholas returning to London and getting into a fight with the older lord.

DRAGON AND HERDSMAN
-T. Zahn- teen scifi
-299- The best of the Dragonback novels so far. Alison comes back into the story, Jack and Drayco find a "colony" of K'da, who seem to have reverted back to animalism, and one of them bonds with Alison and becomes intelligent again. Right at the end there are "leads" that point to Alison working for Neverlin. Personally, I think she is working for Braxton. The plot starts to be less simplistic and more "Zahn'y" ;-). I really am liking this series, the more it goes on, the better!

FOOL'S RUN
-P. McKillip- scifi
-221-what McKillip has done for her fantasy novels, she does for scifi. Incredible vivid words. Swirls, colors, thoughts, emotions. All dancing, colliding, drawing away and in the end telling a good story.

JEEVES IN THE OFFING
-P.G. Wodehouse-humor
-200-yet another story about how stupid Bertie is. This series just goes to show how dumb the idle rich become. I find it funny, but not as funny as other people do, because the sheer idiocy of the characters turns me off.

FEET OF CLAY
-T. Pratchett-comedic fantasy
-249-golems make themselves a king and some kind of Ankh-morpork politics going on. And a lady dwarf. It was just odd. Funny bits, but not funny overall.

ON STRANGER TIDES
-T. Powers-fantasy
-325-magical, piratical adventures. Follows one man who is sucked into the world of pirates and magic against his will. Many of Powers ideas from The Anubis Gates are present here: reincarnation, destiny, magic. I really enjoyed this book. Maybe more so than The Anubis Gates.

CHOBITS #1
-CLAMP-manga
-183-borders on the pornographic. Will not be reading any more.

SOURCERY
-T. Pratchett-comedic fantasy
-214- the 8th son of an 8th son is a Sourcerer. This ten year old is taken over by his father [who has escaped Death, for the time being, by becoming part of his son's staff] and the End of the World is almost brought about. Rincewind the Wizzard manages to stave it off. I love the 4 Horsemen of the Apocrylipse, they crack me up!

DRAGON AND JUDGE
-T. Zahn- teen scifi
-318- Jack goes to the planet where his parents died. Finds out that they were Judge-Paladins and that someone from Braxton Universi engineered it. Drayco and Jack are discovering even more abilities, telepathy. Alison and Taneem go off to another planet and are kidnapped by Neverlin to work on cracking the safes that tell where the rendezvous point for the incoming K'da fleet is. She succeeds. Jack also rescues a Starforce pilot who then begins to infiltrate Neverlin right at the end of the book. Enjoyable.

NICHOLAS NICKLEBY PART II
-C. Dickens-historical fiction
-548-Nicholas marries Madeline, Kate marries Frank Cheeryble, Ralph hangs himself after Smikes dies. Good prevails and Evil fails.

THE AGE OF DISCOVERY: THE NEW WORLD
-M. Stackpole-fantasy
-399-The trilogy finishes, very quickly in my opinion. The problem I had with this series were the massive number of side characters, names/places/thing/positions in italics[which made them somehow special?] and he just wrapped everything up in 2 chapters. I was hoping for something a little more drawn out. Oh well. I'll still be buying it.

Monday, July 30, 2007

July '07

STARWARS: THE APPROACHING STORM
-A.D. Foster-scifi
-344- taking place before Attack of the Clones, it is the story of 2 Jedi and 2 Padawans forging an alliance on a world so that it doesn't secede from the Republic and draw many others with it. Obi-wan, Anakain, and Luminara Unduli and Barris Offee. This story was plodding, to put it nicely. It bordered on the "I'm not gonna finish this" line. Would never buy it, for sure.

STARWARS: MEDSTAR I: BATTLE SURGEONS
-M. Reaves & S. Perry-scifi
-309-Barris Offee is the only "Jedi" in this book. Much more medically oriented. Also ties the droid from Darth Maul: Shadowhunter in. I enjoyed it thoroughly. Not action oriented, or super Jedi oriented. Very character driven and I could see why many people wouldn't like it. I have to say, I was surprised to like it, given that I have NOT liked Reaves & Perry's previous stuff. Always nice to be surprised.

BLEACH #18
-T. Kubo-manga
-203. Ichigo rescue Rukia, but now its all about escaping.

NARUTO #1
-M. Kishimoto-manga
-187- a boy, who is training to become a ninja, finds out that his body is the holding vessel of a demon known as the 7 Tailed Fox.

DRAGON AND SOLDIER
-T. Zahn- teen scifi
-293-Jack and Draycos continue their search for the ships that destroyed Draycos' scouts. Introduces a female character who is setup so that she will obviously be in later books, investigating Jack and Draycos. I enjoyed this very much.

STARWARS: MEDSTAR II: JEDI HEALER
-M. Reaves & S. Perry-scifi
-302-the Bota is mutating itself out of usefulness. The spy is revealed and everybody leaves. I really enjoyed this series. I'd buy it if I could find it through SFBC [they no longer carry it]. Very character driven and very few instances of flashy force stuff. It ended well too.

ALVIN MAKER: SEVENTH SON
-O.S. Card-fantasy
-241-an alternate history of the USA. Frontiers time, about a boy who is the 7th son of a 7th son. He can do things, and it becomes apparent that he is to walk a greater path than most. This book ends when he is 10. There are several more in this series, I look forward to reading them.

FRUITS BASKET #14
-N. Takaya-manga
-196

NARUTO #2
-M. Kishimoto-manga
-206-I have up to volume 5 reserved at the library. I shall not be reading any more. Naruto is a spoiled brat and I feel no sympathy for him at all.

OMBRIA IN SHADOW
-P. McKillip-fantasy
-298-I still don't understand the ending at all. I understood the beginning, the middle and very close to the end. But the end? Everything got switched and I couldn't follow.

THE WHITE WITCH
-E. Goudge-historical fiction
-439- This book, the last Goudge book I plan on reading, typifies what I dislike about her. A banal, feel good, all good things are God mix. Her obvious dislike of an ordered Christian life comes through very strongly in this book. There is no such thing as "white" magic and Goudge refuses to acknowledge that. In her world there is God, "good spirits" and "bad spirits", 3 sources, not just 2. Her sentimental blather about children, nature, love, and life itself really got on my nerves. I couldn't recommend this to anyone.

THE LIGHT FANTASTIC
-T. Pratchett-fantasy
-217- Rincewind, a young wizard, has 1 of the Great 8 spells in his head. His comical adventures about why he has it and how he saves Discworld. I laughed out loud at least 5 times reading this. Pratchett is just funny...

NARUTO #3
-M. Kishimoto-manga
-205-

THE FORGOTTEN BEASTS OF ELD
-P. Mckillip-fantasy
-217- a young sorceress is given a child to raise. He goes back to his father when a teen and the sorceress is caught up between her love for the boy, her love for a prince and her fear of the boy's father. Not so poetic as some of her others, but it made for an easier to understand story.

ALVIN MAKER: RED PROPHET
-O.S. Card-fantasy
-311-This takes the viewpoint of the Indian who becomes The Prophet mentioned in 7th Son. A bit too much of "redman is just SO in touch with the land and practically perfect and the whiteman is nothing but evil". Other than that, it was a good story.

ALVIN MAKER: PRENTICE ALVIN
-O.S. Card-fantasy
-342-Alvin's apprenticeship as a blacksmith, but it is also his apprenticeship as a Maker. Very good story, but a little to graphic right at the beginning.

CLAYMORE #1-2
-N. Yagi-manga

DRAGON AND SLAVE
-T. Zahn- teen scifi
-320-Jack and Drayco infiltrate a slave camp to gain access to computers with the info they need. They get the info, but not from the computers. This is a good series and it gets better with each book.

HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS
-J.K. Rowling-fantasy
-759-My general thoughts. I enjoyed the book overall. However, the ending in no way diminishes Harry's pisspoor attitude ever since book 5. I have no problems with Harry Potter on a theological level, but I sure wouldn't let my kids read this series until they are well into their teens. His attitude was horrible and I wouldn't want that passed on.

In no way can Harry Potter be considered a Hero. The Protagonist, yes, Hero, no. Any and all sacrifices were because Harry was selfish and refused to believe in his friends, to trust them, to trust that what he learned about them was true. Instead of trusting what he knew about them from personal experience, he chose instead to believe half truths and lies from sources that he KNEW would twist things to their own ends.

Harry Potter is the worst kind of friend to have. He will believe the guttersnipe that tells him his friend would stab him in the back. All the while the friend has shown himself true OVER and OVER again. But does this mean anything to Harry? No. His inherent selfishness forces others to prove themselves, to Harry's satisfaction, to him over and over again.
Friend: "But Harry, I've saved your life 38.89 million times!"
Harry: "Doesn't matter. You never told me you liked red socks. You must hate me and want to really kill me cause a REAL friend would have told me that fact when we first met!"

Ridiculous, yes. But that is how things have been since The Order of the Phoenix.

The only redeeming part of this book is the end. I enjoyed it and I thought it ended the storyline satisfactorily. AND, more importantly, there is no real room for sequels, thank goodness!

THE CANDIDATE FOR GODDESS #1-5
-Y. Sugisaki-manga

THE NIGHT GIFT
-P. McKillip-teen fiction
-156- 3 highschool freshman girls spend the summer making a "happy" place in an abandoned house for the older brother of one of them who has depression issues. During this time they learn about love, heartbreak and their families.

THE HOUSE ON PARCHMENT STREET
-P. McKillip-teen fiction
-190- a young girl moves to England for a month to visit relatives. During that time, she and her cousin Bruce uncover and solve a 300 yearold mystery of a young girl's ghost. This novel, like the one above, was very much about self-discovery and finding out about other people. Enjoyable simply because they are completely different from her fantasy writings.

Saturday, June 30, 2007

June '07

SEIKAI TRILOGY: CREST OF THE STARS
-H. Morioka-manga
-245-this was the manga adaptation of the anime by the same name. So pack 13 episodes into one manga and this is what you get. But considering, they did a bloody fine job! The only complaints I have are that there was a bit more fanservice in the Baron Febdash arc & most of the nuances of the Human/Abh differences simply could not be shown. Watch the anime, if you like it, you'll like the manga.

BLEACH #15
-T. Kubo-manga
-184-don't remember. That is the problem with manga, longer series tend to blend story arcs, there are no concrete plot points per se in each volume.

HUNTER X HUNTER #14
-Y. Togashi-manga
-202-Gon and Killua are within the Hunter game of Greed Island. They are taken under wing by the Hunter who trained the Hunter that trained them.

THE KINGKILLER: THE NAME OF THE WIND
-P. Rothfuss-fantasy
-662-a Chronicler finds a Hero and is told his story in 3 days. This book is day 1. Very well written, but it is of the darker variety. Too much sensuality and several instances of taking God's name in Vain. No need for that at all. I also don't care for the darker edge to this. So I am waiting until this trilogy finishes before I decide if I want to buy it or not. Book 1, no. Maybe Book 2 and 3 will redeem it, I hope so.

LANDOVER: THE BLACK UNICORN
-T. Brooks-fantasy
-239-Meeks tries to take over Landover again and it is shown that the Books of Magic are actually captured unicorns, whose magic is siphoned and used. It is like Brooks has taken the whole WORLD of Shannara and tried to push it into one small fairy land. It was interesting, but rather flat.

WINTER ROSE
-P. McKillip-fantasy
-262. McKillip weaves her web about a young woman who is wild. She falls in love with a cursed man, who is in love with her sister, who is engaged to another man. It was very sad and depressing but turned out ok in the end. Her words were downright seductive.

STARWARS: LEGACY OF THE FORCE: EXILE
-A. Allston-scifi
-337-I really enjoyed this. After the "darker and darker'ness" of the last 2 books, this was refreshing. Allston has a humor all his own and it shone through. Ok, Ben is sent on a mission by Jacen, which is really a test of whether he is capable of being Jacen's sith apprentice. Thankfully, Ben has some revelations and it looks like he is back on the correct path. In the end, Jacen still hasn't decided who he must sacrifice to become the Sith Master, but he has decided to take out his parents either way. The Skywalker and Solo clans are starting to pull back together, with the obvious exception of Jacen. Jag Fell comes back and is around Jaina. I hope good things come from it.

CERES: CELESTIAL LEGEND #6
-Y. Watase-manga
-189. I don't really care about this series, just one that the library has, and I want "new" manga to read.

BLEACH #16-17
-T. Kubo-manga
-more fighting. Find out that if Rukia is executed, it will somehow bring about the downfall of the Soul Reaper Society. Lots of infighting amongst the Captains.

HARROWING THE DRAGON
-P. Mckillip-fantasy
-308-a collection of her short stories. Interesting.

THE CHANGELING SEA
-P. Mckillip-fantasy
-137- a story about a fisher girl, a magician, and two princes's. One born of the Land, one of the Sea and how everything is straightened out in the end.

LANDOVER: WIZARD AT LARGE
-T. Brooks-fantasy
-238-Questor Thews attempts to turn Abernathy back into a man, but bungles up as usual. As a result, Ben and Willow go back to Ben's world after Abernathy, while Questor must deal with a demon and Nightshade. Everything gets solved right at the end. I liked it much better than Black Unicorn. Just no character development though.

THE GOLDEN GATE
-A. Maclean-action fiction
-233-a megalomaniac takes the President and a Middle East King & Prince hostage in the middle of the Golden Gate Bridge. It is up to the secret Agent buried among the Journalists/Reporters to solve the situation. Amazing how much action Maclean packs into 36hrs and in an area less than 1mile square.

BONE: ONE VOLUME EDITION
-J. Smith-graphic novel
-1332- 3 "Bone" cousins are run out of Boneville because one of them, Phoney Bone, is a scam artist. They come into an unknown valley, begin living there and meet new people. They end up getting sucked into a long simmering war between the Lord of the Locusts and the Royalty of the Valley. Starts out light and funny, almost vignette'sh, but then it gets more serious once the idea of the long standing war comes into play. It keeps its humorous side though all the way to the end. Very well done and executed.

GOODBYE CALIFORNIA
-A. Maclean-fiction
-310- A madman has 10 nukes and is threatening to blow up California unless he is given a huge amount of money. A local detective, whose wife and daughter are being held hostage by the madman, works to bring him down. Maclean is more fitted for teens and young 20's, or those who can't appreciate a subtle plot. Not badmouthing Maclean at all though.

STAR WARS: SPLINTER OF THE MIND'S EYE
-A.D. Foster-scifi
-182-Takes place between ANH and ESB. So Foster didn't know that Luke and Leia were siblings, in which case he can be excused for the romantic leanings in this book. Still grossed me out though. The Force was certainly not a developed idea like it is now, that was obvious from the battle between Luke and Vader at the end. But considering it was written in '78, it isn't a bad book at all. I'm sure there are some continuity things that are a little off, but nothing major stuck out to me.

DRAGON AND THIEF
-T. Zahn-teen scifi
-248. A young former thief, on the run for a crime he actually didn't commit, hooks up, literally, with a dragon who is the sole survivor of an ambush. Their enemies are linked, so they help each other out. This was meant for teens, and it shows, but it isn't a bad thing. I'd introduce Zahn to a preteen with this series[Dragonback series] and then lead them on from there :-)

PRINCE OF TENNIS #1-2
-T. Konomi-manga
-a 12 year old tennis protege comes to a new middleschool. Considering that the oldest males are in 9th grade, it was kind of disturbing to see romance going on between girls and guys, they are still kids, hahahaha. A really cool storyline and I intend to keep on reading.

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

May '07

GENTIAN HILL
-E. Goudge-historical fiction
-317-the romance that grows between a young girl and a young man as they are separated and eventually come back together. Goudge likes to describe things in too much detail. I don't care how the elderberry bush looks as it waves in the wind next to the potted gardinias that are riot in full bloom in the 17th century pot that is pure white with an image from a legend about a Saint in the Crusades who... and on and on. I am thinking I will read The White Witch and then be done with her. Even still, I'm going to need a couple of months break before tackling it.

FRUITS BASKET #10-13
-N. Takaya-manga
-Tohru meets Akito. He appears to be severely warped, psychologically, somehow. He is scary.

ANGELMASS
-T. Zahn-scifi
-430-There is a blackhole that spits out particles, which come to be known as Angels, since they seem to "make" people good. About a spy/scientist, the Pax, the Empyerian and how the lack of Angels makes the blackhole a malevolent force.

FANTASTIC MR. FOX
-R. Dahl- juvenile fiction
-88-this was 88pages long only because the pages were half taken up with pictures, hahahaa. Should have been a short story. A fox outwits three men who are hunting him and his family.

DEATH NOTE #11
-T. Ohba-manga
-210-Near and Light are both positioning for the final Showdown. Near is flying to Japan to meet "L" aka Light. Next volume or the next will be the end. Looking forward to see how it all wraps up. Some of the "Rules" could make things really interesting, since they involve the shinigami.

LANDOVER: MAGIC KINGDOM FOR SALE/SOLD!
-T. Brooks-fantasy
-308-A man who is widowed, "buys" a Magic Kingdom because he has nothing left to live for. Ends up saving the Kingdom and himself. Isaac Demme pointed out that this Landover series was not good because there was no depth to the characters and that we only enjoyed the first one because it was all new. Since this is my 3rd or 4th time reading this, I was looking to disprove that. Sadly, I couldn't. A good read, as long as you don't read any of the following :-)

SHAMAN KING #12
-H. Takei-manga
-184-the team defeats 2 of Hao's minions, but come across a gang of Shamans known as the X-laws, who utilize some sort of "angel" overspirit and are on a mission to crush Hao, as they see him as the embodiment of evil. And crush whoever gets in their way. This does not sit well with Yoh. We shall have to wait to see if and when they battle it out.

ELEMENTAL GELADE #1
-M. Azuma-manga
-180-airpirate boy looks through a treasure, finds a "girl" who is some sort of superweapon and wakes her.

KARE KANO #1-3
-M. Tsuda-manga
-"perfect" girl meets "perfect" guy. Both discover the other is a fake, fall in love and try to balance school, being perfect and being themselves.

ONE PIECE #14
-E. Oda-manga
-186-Luffy beats Mr 3.

BLEACH #8-12
-T. Kudo-manga
-skipped volume 7 cause the library copy was damaged. So, Ichigo takes off to rescue Rukia in the realm of the Soul Reapers. To much fan service. I shall not being reading any more.

SKETCHES BY BOZ, part I
-C. Dickens-fiction
-421-part I consists of humorous sketches of different places in England.

RAVE MASTER #1-5
-H. Mashima-manga
-boy becomes next Rave Master. Rave is the opposite of the Darkbring. Cliched to the hilt, uninteresting, and very sketchy character development. Not a series worth continuing.

BLEACH #7,13
-T. Kudo-manga
-so I lied. The fanservice comes and goes. I will probably read as much as the library has. Anyway, Ichigo continues learning about his own inherent Soul Reaper capabilities as he battles up the the Soul Reaper Society Army Ranks, on his way to rescue Rukia.

TRIGUN MAXIMUM 1-8
-Y. Nightow-manga
-the sequels to the Collected Triguns volume 1 & 2. The artwork was packed, making it very confusing to tell what was going on and the storyline is still Vash whining about how he will stop Knives, but without killing anyone. So Wolfwood is always doing the dirty parts and Vash seems fine to let him do it. It is lame and preachy. I am glad the anime ended where it did.

TRAVELING WITH THE DEAD
-B. Hambly-fiction
-343-a sequel to Those who Hunt the Night. Didn't finish it. Didn't catch my attention and couldn't get me interested in the 105 pages I read. I am done with reading a whole book just to finish. It was boring political intrigue and the vampires played almost no part in the bit I read. I want action, no "oh, lets jump on THIS train and follow Count X blah, blah, blah".

BLEACH #14
-T. Kudo-manga
-200-Ichigo battles some really powerful guy, loses, is rescued and given 3 days to "Up" his powerlevel. No point in recaps on single volumes of manga really.

SKETCHES BY BOZ, part II
-C. Dickens-fiction
-465-sketches of humanity, mostly humorous.

BLADE OF HEAVEN #1
-Y. Hwang-manwha[korean]
-290-stupid. Whoever the translator was, they obviously weren't sticking to what the creators had originally written, as seen by the loads of american slang and ghetto talk. Nothing more needs to be said.

ICARUS HUNT
-T. Zahn-scifi
-362- I really liked this novel. An outlaw captain is hired to pilot a ship with a secret cargo with a random crew, with someone from within trying to sabotage them and an alien government without trying to get their hands on whatever the secret cargo is. This novel was like Zahn tried to be Alistair Maclean, and succeeded brilliantly in my opinion. Hints, clues, saboteurs, murder, shadowy criminal masterminds, supersecret agents, and all mixed with aliens, spacetravel and scifi goodness :-)

Monday, April 30, 2007

April '07

CROSSROADS: SPIRIT GATE
-K. Elliott-fantasy
-445- a new world, a new adventure. I shall not be buying this series. To much unnecessary sexual innuendo. It just pervaded everything. I was really looking forward to this series too. Sigh...

ONE PIECE #11-13
-E. Oda-manga
-Captain Arlong is defeated, the crew finally make it into the Grand Line. I laugh so much reading this, it is SO silly. Great stuff

SHAMAN KING #10-11
-H. Takei-manga
-Yoh and the gang begin the journey to the Patch Village. But they come across another Indian who shows them that all is not what it seems. Hao, another contestant, is actually a 1000 year old shaman, intent on world domination. Journey across America continues.

FRUITS BASKET #3-5
-N. Takaya-manga
-Tohru-san meets more of the Sohma family. I am enjoying this series. It gets complicated with so many characters who all have nicknames and pet names though.

TALE OF TWO CITIES
-C. Dickens-fiction
-469- haven't read this in over 6 years, so its time. During the time of the French Revolution. A man goes to France to save an old vassal[he has renounced his holdings and aristocratic living though], is arrested and charged with death. Another man, a dissolute wastrel, who looks just like him, takes his place so that he can be with his wife and child. It showed the horrors of the French Revolution and just how self-gratification oriented it was.

RAGNAROK #1-2
-M. Lee-manwha
-a story about Ragnarok, the legendary "last battle" of the Norse gods, in which they will all die. Manwha is the korean variant of manga. Not suitable reading due to excessive sensuality.

BLEACH 1-2
-T. Kubo-manga
-a boy who can see ghosts becomes a Reaper, one who sends ghosts to their rest. Reminded me of Yu Yu Hakusho, with spirit power, ghosts, etc.

THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME
-V. Hugo-historical fiction
-586-this was a very tough start. Hugo goes on and on and ON about architecture. He gives a whole chapter over to describing Paris, another chapter describing the Notre Dame Chapel and another one that waxed philosophical about architecture. Once you got passed those though, it was a truly Gothic tragedy. A mother and daughter separated 15 years ago. A Priest dedicated to knowledge. A terribly deformed man. 3 different aspect of love-casual lust, all consuming lust, selfless love. 3 different men, 1 woman. All but one die in the end. Sad, to see a man consumed by his lust, to see a selfless spirit trapped in a fallen body, to see a woman throw her love away on a libertine. Get rid of all the boring blabberings on architecture and this would be a fantastic read.

BLEACH #3-6
-T. Kubo-manga

FRUITS BASKET #6-9
-N. Takaya-manga

DOWN THE LONG HILLS
-L. L'Amour-western
-150-2 children survive an Indian attack on their wagon train. Face the Elements, Indians and 2 outlaws as they try to survive while the boy's father tracks them down.

HANGING WOMAN CREEK
-L. L'Amour-western
-151-a lone cowpoke outlives rustlers and vigilantes to inherit a man's stake and marry the man's sister.

PSYCHIC ACADEMY #1
-K. Aki-manga
-187-fan service.

HUNTER X HUNTER #10-13
-Y. Togashi-manga
-Gon finally gets into the Hunter Game "Greed Island".

FULL METAL PANIC! #1-8
-S. Gatou-manga
-fanservice. Funny though. and Gatou is a woman. Weird.

UTAH BLAINE
-L. L'Amour-western
-191-man takes on the management of a ranch, kills all the badguys and marries the pretty girl.

SHADOWMARCH: SHADOWPLAY
-T. Williams-fantasy
-641-So much happens, so many side by side threads, that to summarize it is really hard. Ok, Briony escapes, ends up alone, is in the process of making contact with a possible ally. Barrick, with companions, is captured by a demi-god, escapes. Quinnitan is recaptured by the Autarch.

THE KING'S FIFTH
-S. O'Dell-historical fiction
-264-about a young cartographer who finds gold, and everyone in his group, except him and a young native woman, die. His trial for failing to take the treasure and give the Spanish King his "fifth". Just shows how greed destroys a man from within.

Saturday, March 31, 2007

March '07

FLAME OF RECCA #1-3
-N. Anzai-manga
-Recca is a teen who wants to be a ninja. Gets his wish, is now the protector of a girl who has healing powers, he has flame powers himself. Reminds me of Yu Yu Hakusho, shinobi style. But there was some fan service and semi-nudity. So I'm done with it.

CASTLE ON THE HILL
-E. Goudge-fiction
-346-takes place in 1940's, during the height of the bombing of London. A 40 year old woman is displaced and ends up being the head of the household of a castle out in the country. I found this to be a tough book. People loving, people dying, people sacrificing for eachother. In the end, Miss Brown, who loved the owner of the castle, is rejected by him, but then is asked in turn by another man, and she sacrifices so that he, and some orphan children, can have a Home. Referred to as "Second Best" love. I would rather die alone than have a woman marry me out of some sense of pity, duty or friendship.

ONE PIECE #8-10
-E. Oda-manga
-no library had #7. and I don't feel like I missed a thing.

84, CHARING CROSS ROAD
-H. Hanff-non fiction
-113-the correspondence between a writer in NY and the workers in a Second Hand Bookstore in Great Britian. Very amusing as they get to know eachother.

STARWARS: LEGACY OF THE FORCE: TEMPEST
-T. Denning-scifi
-392-Denning, while not totally redeeming himself from the Darknest fiasco, has certainly gone a long ways toward it. Jacen is becoming more and more powerful, and sets up Lumiya and Luke & Mara to face off, to see what happens. Ben is becoming a little "yes man" for Jacen, Han and Leia are now hunted by Jacen for supposedly trying to assassinate Tenel Ka and Allana. Jacen is completely over the edge, the galaxy's "peace" means more to him than the individual, and it is hinted at that there might be a hidden Order of the Sith, in defiance of the One Master, One Student sith rule. Just hinted though...

THE DEAN'S WATCH
-E. Goudge-fiction
-383-A story about an old clockmaker, a Dean of a City, and several other people. Misc feel goodism's about "wuv, sweet wuv" and how everything would just be better if we all wuvved eachother. I don't know why I keep reading Goudge's books. They tend to irritate me with their rose tinted outlook.

OH MY GODDESS! #25
-K. Fujishima-manga
-173-Hild unleashes the Eater of Angels upon the household. Keiichi hosts an angel temporarily.

DEATHNOTE #10
-T. Ohba-manga
-188-Light has Misa pass her notebook onto another Kira worshipper. Light also begins to start a relationship with another woman to better control the "new kira" and in anticipation of getting rid of Misa. Shows just how cold hearted Light truly is.

THE PICKWICK PAPERS
-C. Dickens-classic
-759-the adventures of 4 englishmen as they go about the countryside "observing" different aspects. Originally a serial, so it is broken down into shorter chapters, with no over arching plot. Very funny! A good introduction to Dickens.

W JULIET #13-14
-Emura-manga
-Mako and Ito graduate, are accepted into a troop and end up marring eachother a year after graduation. Alls well that ends well.

STARWARS: ALLEGIANCE
-T. Zahn-scifi
-324-taking place between New Hope & Empire Strikes Back, this follows 3 different storylines and tries to tie them all together. Follows a young Mara Jade, as the Emperor's Hand, as she tracks down a traitor in the Imperial higherups. Follows Leia, Han and Luke as they carry out a mission for the Rebellion. Follows a group of 5 stormtroopers[recruits, not clones] who go AWOL after witnessing civilian slaughter per Orders of the Empire. Enjoyed this more than the Hand of Thrawn duology, but if he'd gotten rid of 1 storyline and focused more on the other 2, it would have been a better, tighter, story.

READ OR DIE #3-4
-H. Kurata-manga
-ok, so I lied. I thought it was a longer series, but its only 4 books. So I saw these 2 and figured I'd finish what I'd started. No fanservice like previously, but man, how dumb. I couldn't connect with the main character on any level and all I wanted to do was slap her.

FRUITS BASKET #1-2
-N. Takaya-manga
-A girl ends up living in a household where the people are the chinese zodiac. if they are hugged by someone of the opposite sex, they turn into the animal they represent. The lead female is a very "optimistic" and "cheerful" type. I enjoyed these two enough to keep on reading it for awhile anyway.

Wednesday, February 28, 2007

February '07

HUNTER X HUNTER #7-9
-Y. Togashi-manga
-Kurapika is on the hunt for the killers of his[and I'm still not convinced that "he" is a "he". either an extremely bishie guy or a female in disguise] clan, and in cahoots with Hisoka, who while a Spider himself, wants to kill the leader.

ONE PIECE #4
-E. Oda-manga

SHAMAN KING #7-9
-H. Takei-manga
-Yoh finishes the prelims, saves Ren and they become friends. The Tournament takes place in America and book nine ends with the Patch Jumbo Jet dissolving and dropping all the contestants at 40,000 feet, and if they survive the drop, they have 3 months to make it to the Patch reservation.

BROTHERS KARAMAZOV
-F. Dostoyevsky-russian classic
-822-man, I think I am done with russian classics for at least the next 6 months. Ok, this follows the Karamazov family. Father, 3 sons by 2 different wives, and one illegitimate son. The father is a dissolute, sensualist who amasses a great fortune, and tries to buy the affection of a loose young woman. This Woman is also being sought by one of the sons. But he is engaged to a young lady in town. This young lady, is in turn, loved by another brother. The 3rd brother is a monk, who comes out into the non-monastic life after his spiritual father dies. Eventually the illegitimate son kills the father, implicates the eldest son, and drives a wedge between the 1 and 2 son. The third son is the only good one of the whole bunch. I know now why I don't really like russian classics. They go on and on about subjects that have nothing to do with the story. Usually philosophical, religous or political speeches, stories or writings by a sub character. Ugh.

MEGATOKYO #1-3
-F. Gallager & R. Caston-Amerimanga
-follows the adventures of Piro and Largo. Starts with them going to E3[an electronics get together, super big, etc], being denied entrance and going on a drunken binge. They end up using the rest of their money to fly to Tokyo. About their adventures in Tokyo and trying to earn money to fly back to America.

THE TIME TRAVELER'S WIFE
-A. Niffenegger-scifi romance
-518-a man is able to spontaneously time travel. But he has no control over it. He always comes back to where he left. This is the account of his romance with his wife to be and his wife. The author[who is a woman] seems to be sex obsessed. That is my only problem with this book, there are enough graphic scenes that I can't recommend it to other singles. It is fantastically written, an emotional tour-de-force, compelling, it forced me to finish it, keeping me glued to it the entire time. I read it in 3 days. If I ever get married, I will buy this book. But not until then. Love Across Time.

FLCL VOL 1&2
-Gainax-manga
-the artwork is incomprehensible, so much so that I couldn't really follow the storyline. Something to do with a boy, a girl, some robots and just general weirdness. I have no desire to watch the anime now.

DEATH NOTE VOL 7-9
-T. Ohba-manga
-L dies, Light takes his name, but there is a whole orphanage filled with talented youngsters being trained as potential "L"s. The 2 front runners take over where L left off, in trying to uncover Kira. Another Shinigami enters the picture, but is dispatched quickly enough. The new two "L"s are young, and not truly "L"s, but one takes the name of "Near" and the other, who turns out to be a practical sociopath, goes by the name of "Mello".

CONGO
-M. Crichton-scientific fiction
-313-written in the early 80's, about the "greatness of computers" and a lost city in Congo. A new type of gorilla and blue diamonds. Gorillas trained to kill humans. Slower than Jurassic Park, but not nearly so as Andromeda Strain. I'd like to see the movie now.

BEOWULF'S CHILDREN
-L. Niven, J. Pournelle, S. Barnes-scifi
-382-sequel to Legacy of Heorot. The next generation, leaving the island of Camelot to explore the mainland of Avalon. New terrors, external and internal also. An intelligent grendel. Interesting.

OH MY GODDESS! #24
-K. Fujishima-manga
-Keiichi lets his dad win the race. Mom and Dad still don't find out that Bell is a goddess, and finally, Lind[a Valkery] sets a protective barrier around the house because some device was stolen in Heaven.

W JULIET #11-12
-Emura-manga
-graduation is only 2 months away. Makoto shows his talent in the school festival play, despite sabotage and a side story about criminals taking one of the players hostage. This series is almost saccharin sweet with all the believe in yourself's thrown around. But I still like the overall romance and the twist about Makoto :-)

ONE PIECE # 5-6
-E. Oda-manga
-Luffy saves the village, Usop joins the crew, and they all end up at the floating restuarant where things really start to brew.

CERES: CELESTIAL LEGEND #1-5
-Y. Watase-manga
-based on the Japanese version of the swan princess. A man steals a goddess's clothes, she marries him, and their children reveal where her clothes are hidden and off she goes back to heaven. Well, this centers around what happens if the goddess never found her clothes. Follows a family in which the original goddess reincarnates until she finds a suitable host. This series centers around that happening.

THE HARSH CRY OF THE HERON: THE LAST TALE OF THE OTORI
-L. Hearn-fantasy
-508-an unexpected, and final, tale of the Otori. Takeo is threatened by the Emperor, who is taking an interest now that the Three Countries are doing well, and also by Zenko Arai, who's life was spared by Takeo. Deals with his eldest daughter, twin daughters, and the son who is being raised by Akio, to fulfill the prophecy of his son being the only one able to kill Takeo. In the end, Takeo is betrayed by Kaede, allows himself to be killed, and through it all keeps the peace of the Three Countries. Sad but fulfilling. Not depressing.

MEGATOKYO #4
-F. Gallagher-amerimanga
-233-more of Piro and Largo. I love this series :-)

DEBT OF BONES
-T. Goodkind-fantasy
-119- short story sequel to the Sword of Truth series. About Zed and Abbey and how Zed raises the barriers between the lands. Interesting indeed.

TSUBASA RESERVOIR CHRONICLE #12
-Clamp-manga
-184-Sakura wins, but "Dr Kyle" shows up and proves that he too can travel between worlds. A drunk Mokona, black or white, is absolutely hilarious. Probably wouldn't let a younger teen read this because of its funny portrayal of alcohal. Not a good example for impressionable minds.

Wednesday, January 31, 2007

January '07

TAILCHASER'S SONG
-T. Williams-fantasy
-326-a story about a cat, cats and their forebearers. It was an earlier book of Williams. I just found it boring. Maybe because I don't like cats anyway?

PLUM PIE
-PG Wodehouse-fiction
-252-a series of short stories about various Wodehousian characters. The first one is a Jeeves and Wooster, but the rest all deal with other such nimwits as seem to populate England :-) I didn't find these particularly funny, perhaps because I just couldn't get into mocking dumb people? I don't know.

TSUBASA RESERVOIR CHRONICLE #10
-Clamp-manga
-185- I have decided to include manga and graphic novels in my book reading list. Not as a way to artificially inflate my numbers, but just because they are books and this about all the books I read, period.

THE RIDDLEMASTER OF HED
-P. McKillip-fantasy
-222-the first in the Riddlemaster Trilogy. A destiny is forced upon the Landheir of Hed, a peaceful island of farmers. Stylewise, this was very prose. I could see the hints of her verse poking through, but nothing like some of her later books. Found this to be a little confusing and hope the next 2 books will shed more light on this new world.

TSUBASA RESERVOIR CHRONICLE #11
-Clamp-manga
-183-the race for Sakura's Feather continues. Only the top 6 make it through somebody's sabotage of the race so far. And I like the Black Makona in XxxHolic better. The White Makona is just too "wanna-be-cute". Of course, White can't hold his liqueur like Black, so that is hilarious.

THE CIRCLE: BLACK: THE BIRTH OF EVIL
-T. Dekker-fiction
-408-Thomas Hunter, the main character, goes between worlds in his sleep and perceives each as a dream of the other. In one world, our world, it is 2010 and a virus is about to be released that will destroy all humanity unless the demands of the evil villian, the only one with a vaccine, are met. In the other world, the world is divided between good and evil. An unfallen world in the good side, where the "first man" is tempted to fight the evil, on its own terms, and he loses, dooming his world to terrible slaughter, with only 7 enclaves of safety. And that is where Black ends. I am looking forward to the next 2, Red & White.

THE CIRCLE: RED: THE HEROIC RESCUE
-T. Dekker-fiction
-381-the adventure continues. In the Forest world, 15 years pass, in which Thomas becomes a warrior and defends the enclaves. The Enclaves fall, and Ellyon[God] comes as a man and saves a small remnant. In "our" world, Thomas saves Monique, but her antivirus doesn't appear to work and Thomas is shot by Carlos, point blank in the head and has been dead for 3 days when the book ends. I like Dekker. The "Books of History" are precursors to the books in Showdown. I find it interesting to see authors who use and reuse specific ideas and whatnot.

THE CIRCLE: WHITE: THE GREAT PURSUIT
-T. Dekker-fiction
-370-finishes up the series. Thomas dies in our world, giving his blood as the antidote, but in the other world, Rachelle dies, and a year later he meets the daughter of Qurong[Tanis] and falls in love and sacrifices everything[or so he thinks] to gain her. A picture of Justin's love for them, His bride. The books? They are not a precursor, but the real deal. Showdown is a direct sequel to this series in dealing with the Books of History. Now I want to go read it again.

FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST #1
-H. Arakawa-manga
-183-just saw this at the library and wanted to see how it compared to the anime. Most instances if falls short, many scenes are not as fleshed out as in the anime, probably due to size constraints. Won't be tempted to buy it, that is for sure.

NEON GENESIS EVANGELION #1
-Y. Sadamoto-manga
-171-after watching the anime, I thought it was time to read the manga. A series as full of hopelessness and despair as the creator was during his 4 year mental breakdown. Rejects and castoffs trying to save the world. All hope and optimism are gone. I am going to try to read up to the current volume[#9 I believe]. Depends on if the local libraries have them or not.

BLINK
-T. Dekker-fiction
-389-as you can tell, I am on quite the Dekker kick. I like his stuff. A genius[IQ of 190 and Einstein was 165'ish] suddenly starts being able to see the possible futures. At the same time, a Saudi princess is embroiled in the schemes to overthrow the current king and install a hardline Muslim. Their paths converge and God is shown to be the One True God. A little romance, a little action, a little intrigue and a little worldwide action, and this is what you get. Thoroughly enjoyable.

ONE PIECE: ROMANCE DAWN
-E. Oda-manga
-207-Luffy D Monkey wants to be a pirate as a child. He can't be. He accidently eats the devils fruit and becomes a gum gum man[ie, he is elastic now], but is cursed with never being able to swim[a very bad thing for a pirate]. Fast forward several years. Luffy is now trying to be King of the Pirates by finding One Piece[the greatest treasure of all]. Starts out in a rowboat by himself. Starts trying to pick up crew. Hilarious! I just burst out laughing several times.

ONE PIECE: BUGGY THE CLOWN
-E. Oda-manga
-194-The continued adventures of Luffy. Has one pirate hunter on his "crew" and tries to pick up a girl for his navigator. She's a thief and that brings Luffy into conflict with Buggy, another infamous pirate, who also ate of the devils fruit, but he can separate his body at will and move the parts independently. Ends as they face off.

ONE PIECE: DON'T GET FOOLED AGAIN
-E. Oda-manga
-195-beats Buggy and is about to foil a plot to kill a rich heiress.

DEATH NOTE #1
-T. Ohba-manga
-195-ok, this is a seriously disturbing series. A shinigami[demon] drops a deathnote book, which shinigami use to kill humans to gain their life, and it falls into the hands of a teenage genius, who then starts killing criminals. A super investigator, also a supersmart teen, called "L" is called in to investigate. This series is a battle of wits between L and Light. The thinking that goes on reminds me of myself, in a scary way, not a complimentary way.

DEATH NOTE #2
-T. Ohba-manga
-197-non-criminals are now killed. Light has crossed the line. He will kill criminals, but also whoever attempts to apprehend him. This definitely deserves the Older Teen rating. The mind of a psychopath.

HEIR OF SEA AND FIRE
-P. McKillip-fantasy
-207-sequel to Riddle Master of Hed. Mainly about the woman he was betrothed to. Turns out she has shapeshifter blood. I don't remember much about it, and I just finished it today. That says something, not good.


DEATH NOTE #3
-T. Ohba-manga
-194-gets deeper into the battle between L and Light. But a new Kira appears on the scene.


DEATH NOTE #4
-T. Ohba-manga
-204-the new Kira turns out to be a model who is in love with Light. She has made the eye deal with her Shinigami. Turns out to be a hindrance to Light so she ends up giving up her deathnote, and hence all her memories about it are gone. Light ups the ante and requests lockdown for himself to prove he isn't Kira to L. Ends as he is going into his cell.

DEATH NOTE #5
-T. Ohba-manga
-200-Light gets Ryuk to get rid of his Deathnote, so he forgets everything concerning it. Rem gives Misa's deathnote to someone else to save her, per Light's orders. So "Kira" is now a business person amongst a group of 8, and L and Light[who is now dedicated to bringing Kira to justice since he doesn't remember that he WAS Kira] are trying to figure out who. I like this series. I was wondering how the author was going to stretch out the battle of wits between L and Light, but with this "give the Deathnote" away plot, it really is good. I will probably buy this unless the later volumes make that impossible.

R.O.D.-READ OR DIE #1
-H. Kurata-manga
-214-a woman with the power to manipulate paper as she wishes is in the employ of a english govt agency finding rare[read dangerous] books. I was not at all interested.

R.O.D.-READ OR DIE #2
-H. Kurata-manga
-194-read it because I'd gotten volumes 1 and 2 out, so I had them both at home. Won't be reading any more.

SHAMAN KING #1-6
-H. Takei-manga
-I really like the story line-a young boy is training to be a shaman and it is the time of the choosing of the new Shaman King[happens every 500 years]. I saw the anime, thought it was definitely Foxboxed[or f*boxed to be honest], but interesting. I like the story so far, but I will never buy it, the layout was pretty crappy. Cheap, scenes cut off at the bottom or sides was what I noticed the most. I'll keep reading it though.

HARPIST IN THE WIND
-P. McKillip-fantasy
-257-the finish up of the Riddlemaster Trilogy. I hardly understood a thing that was happening; it was much more poetically oriented like her later books. Morgon becomes the land-heir of the One and defeats the shapechangers, locking them into a mountain. It was just extremely confusing. I would not recommend this series as a first tryout for McKillip.

TRIGUN #1
-Y. Nightow-manga
-358-the anime covers this same territory. I liked the anime better.

HUNTERS OF DUNE
-B. Herbert & K. Anderson-scifi
-524-the immediate sequel to Chapterhouse. I liked it, a lot! Follows the escaped no-ship, which breeds some gholas of Dune's past, and Murbella, who rises to unite the Bene Gesserit and the Honored Maitres against the Enemy who drove the HM's into the Old Empire. Meet Norma Cenva, who is the Oracle of Time now, and Omnius and Erasmus, who survived and for the past 15,000 years have been building up forces to once and for all wipe out humanity. Very complex threads. The 2 prequel trilogies are a must read to fully understand the ending and certain references. I look forward to the concluding novel.

DEATH NOTE #6
-T. Ohba-manga
-217-the 3rd Kira is uncovered and Light's plan seems to be unrolling. Just don't have a clue what it is. Misa is dumb, period. Ends with the 3rd Kira being cornered.

HUNTER X HUNTER 1-6
-Y. Togashi-manga
-a young boy wants to be a Hunter, like his father. These volumes cover his, and the friends' he meets, trials to become Hunters. I like it. Optimistic, upbeat, but lots of fighting.

Monday, January 01, 2007

2006 in Review

1. Prydain Chronicles-Lloyd Alexander
2. Star Wars: The Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader-James Luceno
3. Tales of the Otori: Brilliance of the Moon-Lian Hearne
4. Talion: Revenant-Michael Stackpole
5. Quadrail: Night Train to Rigel-Timothy Zahn
6. Enchanted Forest Chronicles-Patricia C. Wrede
7. Ivanhoe-Sir Walter Scott
8. Heart of Midlothian-Sir Walter Scott
9. Star Wars: Darknest Trilogy-Troy Denning
10. Spinneret-Timothy Zahn
11. Conclave of Shadows: Talon of the Silverhawk-Raymond Feist
12. Conclave of Shadows: King of Foxes-Raymond Feist
13. Series of Unfortunate Events: The Slippery Slope-Lemony Snicket
14. Umbrella Man-Roald Dahl
15. Star Wars: Outbound Flight-Timothy Zahn
16. The Prince in Waiting-John Christopher
17. Beyond the Burning Lands-John Christopher
18. The Sword of the Spirits-John Christopher
19. Conclave of Shadows: Exile's Return-Raymond Feist
20. Sense & Sensibility-Jane Austen
21. Pride & Prejudice-Jane Austen
22. Crown of Stars-Kate Elliot
23. Star Wars: Republic Commando-Karen Traviss
24. Elantris-Brandon Sanderson
25. Danny, Champion of the World-Roald Dahl
26. Wayfarer-Dennis Schmidt
27. Kensho-Dennis Schmidt
28. Satori-Dennis Schmidt
29. Sentenced to Prism-Alan Dean Foster
30. Wanderer-Dennis Schmidt
31. Mansfield Park-Jane Austen
32. Emma-Jane Austen
33. Flinx's Folly-Alan Dean Foster
34. Northanger Abbey-Jane Austen
35. Persuasion-Jane Austen
36. A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Grim Grotto-Lemony Snicket
37. Sliding Scales-Alan Dean Foster
38. Blackcollar: The Judas Solution-Timothy Zahn
39. Exiles: Mageborn Traitor-Melanie Rawn
40. Postman-David Brin
41. Road to Dune-Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson
42. Angelfire East-Terry Brooks
43. The Dreamers: The Crystal Gorge-David and Leigh Eddings
44. High Druid of Shannara: Straken-Terry Brooks
45. The Age of Discovery: Cartomancy-Michael Stackpole
46. Star Wars: Tatooine Ghost-Troy Denning
47. Star Wars: Legacy of the Force: Betrayal-Aaron Allston
48. The Complete Book of Swords-Fred Saberhagen
49. The Mark of the Cat-Andre Norton
50. Lost Swords: The First Triad-Fred Saberhagen
51. Celtic Crusades: The Black Rood-Stephen Lawhead
52. Celtic Crusades: The Mystic Rose-Stephen Lawhead
53. Mistborn: Final Empire-Brandon Sanderson
54. The Complete Robot-Isaac Asimov
55. The Space Trilogy-CS Lewis
56. Lost Swords: The Second Triad-Fred Saberhagen
57. Pendragon Cycle: Taliesin-Stephen Lawhead
58. Pendragon Cycle: Merlin-Stephen Lawhead
59. The Dreamers: The Younger Gods-David and Leigh Eddings
60. 2001: A Space Odyssey-AC Clarke
61. 2010: Odyssey Two-AC Clarke
62. Chainfire: Phantom[Sword of Truth book 10]-Terry Goodkind
63. Lost Swords: Endgame-Fred Saberhagen
64. 2061: Odyssey Three-AC Clarke
64. 3001: Final Odyssey-AC Clarke
65. Pendragon Cycle: Arthur-Stephen Lawhead
66. A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Penultimate Peril-Lemony Snicket
67. Invasion of the Sea-Jules Verne
68. Silvercall: Trek to Kraggen-cor-Dennis McKiernan
69. Silvercall: The Brega Path-Dennis Mckiernan
70. King Raven: Hood-Stephen Lawhead
71. Taken: Lost and Found-Alan Dean Foster
72. Iron Tower: Darktide-Dennis McKiernan
73. Armageddon's Children-Terry Brooks
74. Iron Tower: Shadows of Doom-Dennis Mckiernan
75. Star Wars: Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter-Michael Reaves
76. A Series of Unfortunate Events: The End-Lemony Snicket
77. Goddess of the Icerealm-David Drake
78. Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire-Steve Perry
79. The Awakeners: Northshore-Sherri Tepper
80. The Awakeners: Southshore-Sherri Tepper
81. Monster-Frank Peretti
82. Paradise: Showdown-Ted Dekker
83. Master of the Cauldron-David Drake
84. House-Frank Peretti & Ted Dekker
85. Fortress of Glass-David Drake
86. Starwars: Darth Bane: Path of Destruction-Drew Karpyshyn
87. The Idiot-Fyodor Dostoyevsky
88. Iron Tower: The Darkest Day-Dennis Mckiernan
89. Temeraire: In the Service of the King- Naomi Novik
90. Star Song & Other Stories- Timothy Zahn
91. Thr3e- Ted Dekker
92. Obsessed- Ted Dekker
93. The Anubis Gates- Tim Powers
94. Perchance to Dream & Other Stories- Michael Stackpole
95. City of Pearl- Karen Traviss
96. Masks of the Outcasts- Andre Norton
97. Star Wars:Legacy of the Force:Bloodlines- Karen Traviss
98. Song for the Basilisk-Patricia McKillip