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