4/27/2025 Great first chapter/volume of an ongoing story. Full review tk at .4/27/2025 Great first chapter/volume of an ongoing story. Full review tk at ....more
4/26/2025 Some parts really great, some bits felt a bit YA fantasy transposed to the real world, but overall a solid read. Full review tk at 4/26/2025 Some parts really great, some bits felt a bit YA fantasy transposed to the real world, but overall a solid read. Full review tk at ....more
4/24/2025 Those Smashed Potato Pizzas are amazing! Full review, with recipe photos, tk at .4/24/2025 Those Smashed Potato Pizzas are amazing! Full review, with recipe photos, tk at ....more
Am I getting jaded? I love mythologies and the ways that comic books spin up brand new gods and pantheons and legends and dramas, but reading this booAm I getting jaded? I love mythologies and the ways that comic books spin up brand new gods and pantheons and legends and dramas, but reading this book -- that feels very much like a cross between Kieron Gillen's prior (with Jamie McKelvie) and Warren Ellis & Bryan Hitch's The Authority -- I just felt tired. I love when amalgams create something new. And while this was definitely a fresh take on the superhero genre, it did not, for me, feel fresh enough.
Which doesn't make it bad at all. There are, in the book's present day, six great superpowered people. Others have also been born into the powered Family, tho with lesser gifts. Collectively, they're all known as Atomics, as they began to appear when the first atomic bomb was detonated. But it's the Big Six who hold sway over the world, striving to preserve the delicate balance of peace and keep the fragile web of humanity alive against threats both internal and external. And perhaps, most importantly, to police each other from doing anything that could irreparably harm the world and the sacred timeline (yes, really) that Saint Valentina protects.
Saint Valentina is one of the first Superpowers we meet, as she has a discussion with the second, omnipath Etienne Lux, in the 1960s. Etienne believes that the ethical thing for Superpowers to do is to take over the planet as benevolent rulers and protectors. Valentina disagrees, and they nearly come to blows. Instead, they settle on the balance of powers and oversight that will carry them through the ensuing decades, to 1999 where our story picks up.
Gravity-manipulating Heavy wants to put on a show of Superpowered force for the United States government, which reacts with predictable stupidity. Heavy wants indiscriminate vengeance, which Saint Valentina will not tolerate. Etienne picks up the slack instead. We soon learn that this is just what he does, frantically and thanklessly keeping his fellow Superpowers in line in order to make sure that the minimum number of human beings dies while on his watch. YMMV, ofc, as to whether you think this makes him the hero or antihero of the book. Given Mr Gillen's track record, I will place no bets on how Etienne continues to evolve with the series.
In that respect, The Power Fantasy is a brilliant twist on the question of Who Watches The Watchmen? Etienne is tired and over-worked, but there's no one else to do the bad shit that needs to be done, no matter the scheming of The Magus or Eliza, two of the other Superpowers. Saint Valentina would rather live by herself in the wilderness where no one else can get hurt should someone make the mistake of trying to target her (again.) Heavy surrounds himself with Family on a floating fortress. Masumi, the sixth, is an artistic wreck who needs to be coddled lest her powers destroy, if not the world, then a too large part of it.
As a metaphor for the atomic era, with countries vying for influence and power, this is a terrific personification and exploration of world history between World War II and 9/11. The USA plays a huge role in the proceedings ofc, getting rightfully skewered for its imperialist leanings even as the basic decency of its intent is rarely questioned -- in this, it's effectively if perhaps ironically embodied by Etienne, a Black Frenchman who, like all of us, contains multitudes. Given the complexity of even one human being, the book seems to ask, how can we fathom the complexity of a nation as it moves to do what it believes to be good in the world?
Perhaps I am reading too much into it. But as the US' current administration strives to put us firmly into the global bad actor camp, it's hard not to read this book and almost long for the time when American government would make hard choices for the greater good, instead of cartoonishly enriching itself at the expense and suffering of everyone it doesn't care about (so, almost everyone on the planet) the way that the present administration does. Yes, I'm tired, emotionally wrung out by both the personal and political and the particularly annoying cross-section of the two. Perhaps that fatigue is coloring my reading of this book, to its detriment. I know what happened in the past, and a host of other books have already asked and explored the same questions -- books that other, more enthusiastic readers of TPF may not yet have encountered. What I want to know is how we can do better moving forward.
Yes, that's a lot to expect of any art. Tho speaking of, I can safely say that Caspar Wijngaard's work continues to be outstanding. His characters are beautiful and diverse, expressive and recognizable through each era. His differing palettes and styles for different times and places are chosen with real intelligence. And this is going to sound weird to say without spoilers, but his ability to show us the truth of Masumi's paintings is extraordinary.
So while, overall, I think that this is a good, solid title with phenomenal art, Vol 1 felt very much like five chapters of prologue. I'm optimistic that my opinion will improve as the series continues, tho in fairness, I was not terrifically thrilled by the ends of the other two series of Mr Gillen's that I've read through so far. I definitely won't be passing up the chance to find out for myself, tho!
The Power Fantasy Volume 1: The Superpowers by Kieron Gillen & Caspar Wijngaard was published February 11 2025 by Image Comics and is available from all good booksellers, including
4/22/2025 The best book I've read all year, my God (and perhaps several other years!) Full review tk at .
Came back to add this one 4/22/2025 The best book I've read all year, my God (and perhaps several other years!) Full review tk at .
Came back to add this one quotation, that pierced me to the core of my existence:
"She knew me. Someone knew me and I am not a stranger, not here in my own life. She saw me and knew me and left me everything because I am real."...more
4/24/2025 Winner of the Prix Goncourt, and translated from the original Frenc4/21/2025 Lord, what a book. Full review tk at .
4/24/2025 Winner of the Prix Goncourt, and translated from the original French by Cory Stockwell.
There is an unusual form of French novel, of which this is a prime example, called the recit. It's a sort of self-aware narrative, in which the narrator knows that they're telling a story, with all the inherent discomfort of self-consciousness. This approach is what makes the tale told in Live Fast less autobiography than auto-fiction -- a distinction that may seem overly cute to readers in English but which acknowledges the fact that reality is what we make of it, and who truly knows what lies in the heart of others?
The story itself is based on the death of the author's husband Claude, killed too young in a motorcycle accident while heading home from work one day in 1999. Only 41 years-old, Claude loved music and motorcycles, and had borrowed a particularly powerful example of the latter on the day he died. The death was clearly accidental, but over two decades after the fact, the narrator still grieves and, understandably, finds herself looking for ways in which things could have turned out differently. Where she differs from the usual mourner is in how she delicately teases out the minute and myriad possibilities in which a single change in the tapestry of their lives could have kept him alive: things she could have done, things he could have done, things the entire universe could have made happen so that he would not have met his end so suddenly on that sunny afternoon.
As an obsessive thinker myself, I immediately identified with the thought processes that drove her to this. "What if I hadn't insisted on buying that house?" she asks herself. "What if Claude hadn't borrowed my brother's motorcycle? What if the weather had been rainy instead of fine?" The long list of If Onlys tortures her as she combs through their histories, musing on everything from her grandfather's suicide to global trade regulations to the seemingly inconsequential little choices that can change your life irrevocably. It is a crushing survey of guilt and responsibility and desire and, above all, futility in the face of death's finality.
For that reason alone, LF is a hard read for anyone who's ever known the grief of abruptly losing someone adored. You can't help but want to blame something, especially yourself, in order to reassert control over and make sense of the world. The fact that Brigitte Giraud's pain still persists over twenty years on calls to the most tender and still unhealed parts of any grieving reader's psyche. I wept several times reading this, both in recognition of and in solidarity with her lasting emotions.
Yet the writing is compelling and not without hope. While I thought the ending could have used a little more exploration, I did take comfort in the flipside that Ms Giraud found in her exacting scrutiny of her own tragedy. Fueled by the love of music she shared with Claude, she tells us:
You can make song lyrics say anything you want. Just like you can find meaning in any form of reality.
That, perhaps, is the main reason her story could only have been told as a recit, this acknowledgment that situations and details may differ but the underlying emotions will always reach out and resonate -- and, if we're lucky, provide comfort. Meaning can be found in so much and so little, and the truly important thing is to remember the love and the joy and to carry them forward with you throughout the rest of your life. To quote from another book that I recently read and enjoyed ( by Stephen Spotswood, that I'll be reviewing separately at ):
What will be will be, and all we can do is learn from it. We must contend with the world that is, not the one that was, or the one that could have been.
I'm (obviously) going through a weird ass time, so it's been heartening to be reminded of all this, that love and joy are worthy in themselves and that while blame can be a temporary salve for pain, embracing the happiness of memory is better. Because life does go on for us survivors. We get to make our own choices going forward, and we get to decide how we process our pain. We don't need to forget or deny: we only have to learn and accept and remember that the existence of love has always been its own reward.
Live Fast by Brigitte Giraud was published February 11 2025 by Ecco and is available from all good booksellers, including ...more
4/21/2025 I spent entirely too much time not figuring who whodunnit because of the excellent use of emotion here. Full review tk at 4/21/2025 I spent entirely too much time not figuring who whodunnit because of the excellent use of emotion here. Full review tk at ....more
4/19/2025 Another solid entry, just as compelling for the heroine's personal travails as for her sleuthing. Full review, with recipe photos, tk at 4/19/2025 Another solid entry, just as compelling for the heroine's personal travails as for her sleuthing. Full review, with recipe photos, tk at ....more
4/17/2025 A rather brilliant spin on post-apocalyptic noir. Full review tk at .
4/18/2025 What a clever post-apocalyptic spin 4/17/2025 A rather brilliant spin on post-apocalyptic noir. Full review tk at .
4/18/2025 What a clever post-apocalyptic spin on the noir genre! Bingo Finder is a scavenger in the utopian farm village of Ellay, venturing into the ruins of urban neighborhoods to find anything that might be worth bartering. On one trip with her best friend Fenn, she finds what, to her, is a veritable jackpot: a treasure trove of books hidden away for decades or more. One with a crumbling cover that says "Tectiv" especially appeals to her, even tho no one else really cares.
This is likely because no one else in Ellay reads. Instead, they live peaceful lives of subsistence and trade, guided by a benevolent mayor and his many sons. Mayor, as a matter of fact, keeps trying to set up Fenn with Eldest, his unimaginatively named first child. Fenn has little interest. Instead, she surprises Bingo with a kiss one evening but doesn't want to talk about it afterwards, claiming that Bingo is the kind of person who just won't let it go if she does.
Bingo is, understandably, affronted. But she's even more shocked when she's awoken from a sound sleep later to find Fenn on her rooftop, with an attacker in pursuit. Fenn plummets from the roof and Bingo is knocked out. Yet when Bingo wakes up again, she finds no trace of Fenn.
After hearing her story, everyone else assumes that Fenn was eaten by the giant coyotes that stalk the countryside. But that doesn't explain the cloaked attacker, or the mystifying things Fenn was saying to Bingo before she fell. Inspired by the books she's been reading -- and driven to figure out what happened to her best friend -- Bingo takes on the role of Tectiv, crossing the length and breadth of Ellay to uncover the truth. In the grand tradition of all noir gumshoes, she'll discover that very little of what she ever believed was true, forever changing not only her existence but Ellay's as well.
Gosh, this was such a clever riff on noir tropes, with puns and wordplay that made me laugh out loud in appreciation. Bingo is a terrific heroine, plucky, resilient and resourceful, and I hurt for her every time she, well, got hurt (which was appallingly often, in line with the tropes of noir fiction.) The post-apocalyptic setting was also really well done, beautifully melding the two different genres while working to the strengths of both.
Marco Matrone's art is expressive and fluid, with vibrant colors that suit this mashup perfectly, whether exploring the village utopia, delving into gritty dock areas or navigating a surreal headspace. I'm honestly so impressed by how much territory he and Richard Ashley Hamilton cover over the course of this story, and look forward to seeing where they go next in Volume 2.
Tectiv Vol 1: Noirtopia by Richard Ashley Hamilton & Marco Matrone was published December 10 2024 by Maverick and is available from all good booksellers, including ...more
4/18/2025 I feel like this would have been better as Books 1 & 2-ish of a series. Full review tk at .4/18/2025 I feel like this would have been better as Books 1 & 2-ish of a series. Full review tk at ....more
Even if one of the supporting cast wasn't named after an Arsenal Football Club legend, I would still rate this sensitive, witty a4.5 stars rounded up.
Even if one of the supporting cast wasn't named after an Arsenal Football Club legend, I would still rate this sensitive, witty and heartbreakingly realistic exploration of the effect of police brutality on a Black autistic teenager very highly.
All Aiden Wright has ever wanted to do is play football on the same team with his older brother Brandon. Brandon isn't just the star quarterback at their Florida high school: he's also being courted by multiple schools for his athletic prowess. Aiden is no slouch himself when it comes to both football analysis and speed. He'd be the perfect running back to complement his brother's skills.
But Aiden suffers a massive sensory overload during his junior year tryout, so isn't selected for the team. To add insult to injury, his Life Skills teacher is adamant that he use his ample free time to get an after-school job. At least his assigned partner for the task, Isabella, is both understanding and kind.
Things might start looking up even more when a running back position suddenly opens on the football team. Brandon persuades Coach Davis to give Aiden another chance, and the team acquit themselves well in their first game. While Aiden would really rather not go out with the rest of the team to celebrate at a local diner afterwards, he knows that it means a lot to Brandon, so does his best to return the support that his brother has always given him.
Unfortunately, not everyone on the team is thrilled that Aiden has joined them. When a fight breaks out, the police are called in and Aiden gets hurt. Worse: Brandon is arrested for allegedly assaulting a police officer while trying to come to Aiden's aid, putting his football career and entire future in grave jeopardy.
Thus begins a nightmare for the Wright family, as Brandon is put on trial and Aiden tries to make sense of everything that happened that night. Their lawyer mother drilled it into her kids to comply with the cops, so Aiden knows that there's no way that charismatic, good-natured Brandon could ever be guilty of the charges. But how will he clear his brother's name? And will he finally be able to confront what it means to be Black and autistic in America?
While told entirely through Aiden's perspective, this is a thoughtful look at racism from multiple angles, as Aiden's autism has him approach the issue in less than conventional ways. It's also a terrific examination of what it means to be autistic, of the general decency that's all that most autistic people expect, and how the disorder isn't a blanket excuse for lack of accountability. As the parent of autistic kids myself, I know that it's important for them to be treated in age-appropriate ways that help them develop the skills that they'll need to grow up to be happy, functional and independent adults.
And as an eldest child who's also felt the pressure to be perfect, I really sympathized with Brandon, who's a good kid put into an impossible situation. The way that everyone pulls together through this, how DeAndra Davis recognizes the humanity in everyone and has no trouble pointing out bad behavior even as she, through Aiden, refuses to condemn people as just straight up evil, is honestly a soul-elevating experience. While there may be reprehensible people in power who need to be checked from committing abuses and removed, and while we all absolutely need to do some self-reflection on how we're each culpable in exacerbating the effects of racism, holding onto bitterness only poisons the soul -- and this is coming from me, a person who does not forgive easily, at least not in the sense that the concept is used in American popular culture.
This is a phenomenal, assured debut novel that needs to be widely read. Highly recommended.
All The Noise At Once by DeAndra Davis will be published tomorrow April 15 2025 by Atheneum Books For Young Readers and is available from all good booksellers, including
4/12/2025 A solidly 3.5 star book, but I decided not to round up for reasons I'll explore more fully in my review later at .
44/12/2025 A solidly 3.5 star book, but I decided not to round up for reasons I'll explore more fully in my review later at .
4/17/2025 What an odd and interesting metaphysical novel! Told primarily in the second person, this tale of magical realism flits between fantasy, science fiction and the everyday as it explores what it means to truly be in charge of your own life.
The "you" addressed in this novel is the frustrated, fake-it-till-you-make-it everyperson (tho tends to skew, in my reading, as male.) Pressured by family to succeed at capitalism, You blow a coveted job interview by being fearful of authenticity. Depressed, obsessing over minutiae and living on a friend's couch, You stumble across a strange storefront while taking a walk one day. At first repelled by the sign saying (more or less) "Captains Wanted", You eventually make your way inside, and begin a journey towards enlightenment that You'd never imagined possible.
What struck me most about this short but meaty novel -- it took me a while to get through it, honestly, because there was so much to think about! -- was the way in which Andres Schabelman incisively gets to the heart of what's wrong with so much of modern existence today. We're so preoccupied with how we look to others that we don't stop to consider how we truly feel and why that matters, not only to our own health but to society's. Does society really need more people lying through their teeth about how happy and competent they are, so as not to let others see their vulnerability? Or do we as a people need to learn to extend empathy and kindness to both ourselves and to others?
This is by no means a call to selfishness or to trauma dump. It is, instead, a measured consideration of the perils of pretending that you're a certain way when you're really not. It's also not one of those "you're perfect just the way you are" nonsense books. Instead, Captains Wanted acknowledges that it's hard to improve yourself when you won't make an honest reckoning of who you really are to begin with, and of how we're all connected, for better and worse. Those are very valuable lessons for everyone to learn.
The only thing that gave me pause with this book were the Artificial Intelligence bits. Mr Schabelman made his money as one of the first employees of AirBnB. He and I do not see eye to eye on the future of AI, tho his ideas certainly feel far less offensive to me than most tech bros' and boosters'. I did appreciate, tho, the care he took to address social issues like cultural appropriation and the undervaluing of minority labor, in the writing of this novel.
This is definitely a book for the dissatisfied, for the seekers, for anyone who's grown weary and disenchanted with what modern capitalism has told us is the key to happiness. It doesn't hold all the answers -- and could have used a slightly better editor -- but is overall a terrific way to start questioning our current roles and figuring out where to go next.
Captains Wanted by Andres Schabelman was published February 11 2025 by Morgan James Fiction and is available from all good booksellers, including ...more
Oh my goodness, what a smart and funny way to start an advancing reader's graphic novel series!
It's Casey's eleventh birthday, and she's thrilled to Oh my goodness, what a smart and funny way to start an advancing reader's graphic novel series!
It's Casey's eleventh birthday, and she's thrilled to be able to open two of her presents before school, saving the rest for her birthday party later on. She's especially thrilled to discover that she's been gifted a magnifying glass and binoculars, both of which will help in her quest to be a Super Detective.
As she's waiting for the bus with her frenemy Dina, she spots a new girl arriving. Thus begins The Case Of The Mysterious New Girl, as Casey investigates this strange new student who's wearing a tie to school. Subsequent cases ensue, as Casey befriends Jan (as the new girl is named) and they embark on a series of small but important adventures. It's honestly one of the cutest and funniest things I've ever read, and I don't want to spoil all the pleasant surprises of this book by saying too much more about the plot.
The art... well, it's certainly distinctive. Everyone's sort of triangle-shaped and nobody has a neck, but none of this detracts from the expressiveness of the story (tho I admittedly found some of the fuller-length depictions a bit vertiginous.) That said, the layouts and lettering are terrific, and really make the story sing.
I'm super glad I already have the sequel in my hot little hands, tho given my reading schedule, I definitely won't be able to get to it till much closer to its September pub date. I'm just glad I'm assured of the opportunity to continue enjoying Casey's excellent adventures.
Casey's Cases, Vol 1: The Mysterious New Girl by Kay Healy was published February 11 2025 by Neal Porter Books and is available from all good booksellers, including
4/6/2025 Lol, live action this, Disney. Full review tk at .
4/7/2025 Lol, Live Action this, Disney.
I actually haven't seen the4/6/2025 Lol, live action this, Disney. Full review tk at .
4/7/2025 Lol, Live Action this, Disney.
I actually haven't seen the movie that this graphic novel is based on, tho I vaguely remember the criticism of it being generally positive. While the story was originally created by Mike Mignola (who also provides the cover art here,) this adaptation was written by Greg Ehrbar, with lead pencils by Claudio Sciarrone.
The story itself is pretty interesting. An early 20th century academic named Milo Thatch is banished to the basement of the museum where he works, in part due to the reputation of his "crazy" grandfather Thaddeus, who died insisting that the lost city of Atlantis is real. Thaddeus was, understandably, laughed out of academia for trafficking in myths and rumors. Milo is facing the same reaction, even tho he now has definitive proof of a way to access the allegedly mythical city.
With the help of an unexpected benefactor, Milo joins the crew of a functional submersible ready to follow his map to Atlantis. The crew is diverse and of differing degrees of friendliness to our young explorer, tho that friendliness drops significantly as greater dangers are encountered and the body count begins to rise, even before they reach the ocean floor. Will Milo and the crew be able to band together, to not only find Atlantis but to survive the trip and safely make their way home?
I don't believe that there are any surprises in this book for readers already familiar with the movie, but it does serve as an interesting entry point for readers who aren't. The pacing probably isn't as good as it is in the movie so some of the jokes don't land as well, but the inherent liveliness and quality of a Disney product shines through.
As for the art, Sig Sciarrone et al do a perfectly competent job of hewing closely to the Disney standard. I was actually a little surprised to learn that Mr Mignola did the concept art for the movie, but was really pleased with the inclusion of his sketchbook and notes at the end. The bit about the "blind" fish was especially fascinating, making this volume a collectible for any Mignola fan.
This is a must-have for the Disney completist, and definitely for fans of the Atlantis property. I was entertained.
Disney Classic Graphic Novel: Atlantis by Mike Mignola, Greg Ehrbar & Claudio Sciarrone was published December 10 2024 by Papercutz and is available from all good booksellers, including ...more
subtitled: Preparing For A Criminal Crisis In Orbit. And this subtitle is very important, as while the authors acknowledge that piracy 3.5 rounded up.
subtitled: Preparing For A Criminal Crisis In Orbit. And this subtitle is very important, as while the authors acknowledge that piracy in space is not a serious problem yet, it certainly has the potential to be so in the not too distant future.
With humanity's increasing exploration of space beyond our atmosphere, it's almost inevitable that crime will follow. And not just the usual crimes of passion one can expect, but crime for profit, including the types of piracy common terrestrially. This isn't just the historical picture of scallywags boarding a ship and taking the booty for themselves but also includes the hijacking of satellites by drones or other means that don't require a physical human presence in outer space. An Intelsat satellite was taken over by Sri Lankan Tamil separatists, for example, to broadcast their propaganda in 2007, leading to a small but significant international incident, with fascinating ramifications for international law going forward.
In that sense, space piracy is already happening, and Marc Feldman and Hugh Taylor use this book to explore not only the current state of affairs but the likely trajectory along which criminality will continue to develop. For grounding, they include an illuminating look at piracy through the ages, to give readers unfamiliar with the history a better idea of how surprisingly crucial it has been to the rise and fall of nations. Ofc, law enforcement has grown in step with the criminals it pursues, but the authors argue that following established maritime law, for example, as precedent for dealing with space crimes is still a case of shutting the stable door after the horse has already bolted. Better for us to be proactive about regulating lawful behavior and its inverse, and establishing jurisdiction -- or, as its stated better in this book, first principles and onward -- so we can be prepared for when the worst happens.
Space Piracy is written in a manner accessible to the generalist, making this an invaluable tome not only for people genuinely interested in the expansion of the legal field but also for science-fiction writers wanting to build complete future worlds. The tone does feel more neo-con than otherwise, with the strange naivete that often accompanies that worldview when it comes to how governments actually work: I bookmarked far too many places where the authors' (hopefully unconscious) bias towards oligarchy was too obvious. Interestingly, the authors' polite disdain for Elon Musk is hilarious given what's happened since this book was written.
That said, the book's thesis is sound, as are most of the suggestions, particularly the idea of establishing principles vs laws. I mean, we can't even agree on internationally acceptable terrestrial laws, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't get a start on the ones that apply to space. This book is a more than decent place to begin.
Space Piracy by Marc Feldman & Hugh Taylor was published February 11 2025 by Wiley and is available from all good booksellers, including
4/6/2025 Pacing was a bit off, but solidly entertaining. Full review tk at .4/6/2025 Pacing was a bit off, but solidly entertaining. Full review tk at ....more
4/3/2025 This book might not have made me laugh or cry but it's so visually stunning, and the message so important, that I'm giving it 5 stars anyway.4/3/2025 This book might not have made me laugh or cry but it's so visually stunning, and the message so important, that I'm giving it 5 stars anyway. Full review tk at ....more
4/3/2025 Not quite as compelling as book two but still extremely good. Full review tk at .4/3/2025 Not quite as compelling as book two but still extremely good. Full review tk at ....more
Loading...
