The art and aesthetic of this graphic novel far surpass the writing. It begins with a very typical premise for a fantasy adventure story, but it immediThe art and aesthetic of this graphic novel far surpass the writing. It begins with a very typical premise for a fantasy adventure story, but it immediately starts skipping around in a way that's arguably too ambitious. Within the first few pages, the story is readily skipping back and forth between about four major parties, and by the third chapter it makes these transitions literally once a page.
It's easy to get lost, especially when the story begins to escalate into elements such as (view spoiler)[the baby (hide spoiler)] and (view spoiler)[Nils's supernatural powers (hide spoiler)], which seemed to come out of nowhere. Even after flipping back a few times, I don't fully understand where they came from.
It's a small complaint that's probably due to translation, but there are a few one-letter typos such as "price" for "prince," or "the" for "they." It's not a dealbreaker but it was distracting enough to mention it.
The art more than makes up for it though: Every panel is lovingly detailed with an inspiring degree of personality and depth in every single frame. I would recommend this book just for the pictures—especially the beautiful two-page spreads that happen at the end of each chapter.
Although I feel that it doesn't deliver completely on story, its aesthetic is beyond satisfactory. It just makes me want to read more dystopic Norse fantasy. ...more
I wanted to like this book more than I actually did. This is a story I've been wanting to read for over 20 years, ever since I first starting reading I wanted to like this book more than I actually did. This is a story I've been wanting to read for over 20 years, ever since I first starting reading about Gerrard of the Weatherlight in the flavor text of vintage Magic: the Gathering cards.
Gerrard's Quest is a graphic novel that presents the story of the early Weatherlight saga in visual form. The story begins with our protagonist Gerrard Capashen, reluctantly returning to the multiverse-traveling skyship Weatherlight to rescue Captain Sisay from Volrath's Stronghold. This isn't immediately clear, even though it should be.
It proceeds to enter a flashback which explains the events that had caused Gerrard to leave the crew in the first place—except nobody tells the reader that this is a flashback. I found myself flipping back and forth between the first 15 pages or so for longer than I care to remember, cross-referencing information and trying to figure out why characters who were supposedly dead or kidnapped were appearing in frames where they shouldn't be. When I understood that the entire incongruous segment was a several-years flashback, the segment made 100% more sense, and I was able to start over from the top and really enjoy it. This is important, because the book is going to use that flashback technique at least 4 more times, and it will never warn you. On the bright side, that means there don't seem to be any huge continuity errors; if you think you see one, just assume it's a flashback and then back up until the scenery changes.
The art was unique, to say the least. The artist has a pretty dramatic style, with jagged elongated action poses and erratic panel framing. It was jarring at first, but I think it's aged well in the sense that a cult art film ages well: it's beautiful for all the risks it took and all the way it stood out. If I have any qualms with the art, it would be regarding the consistency in the characters' faces. Many times, several characters seemed to have the exact same face as each other, just with different coloration, hair, or effects. Other times, it seemed as though they couldn't even draw a single character's face consistently between one frame and the next. This is fine, because I had no trouble telling them apart, but it gives the work a sort of sloppy and unfinished feel.
The plot itself, aside from the frantic back-and-forth flashbacks, felt pretty rushed. There are many vignettes that I had picked up on through the cultural osmosis of playing the card game and reading its novels over the last 20+ years. Many of these vignettes were presented in the book, but often only in one or two pages before being dismissed in the rush to get to the end of the story. I often got a shallow feeling when an important character arc would be resolved suddenly without any real explanation, and with a strong sense that the characters had experienced and understood something complex and poignant that unfortunately never actually made it to the page.
The worst part, in my opinion, was the Stronghold. Every scene felt like the writers were trying to cram as many cards from the Stronghold card expansion into one volume before they ran out of pages. It felt like an awkward guided tour with a sense of, "Okay, here's the furnace of Rath, and here are the death pits. Here are the Slivers—you beat them by separating them, of course. Now, onto the Dream Halls!" I can't help but wonder how much more epic the story would have been if they had stopped for even a few moments to explore these segments further.
I have to admit that the cards instilled a greater sense of awe, wonder, and curiosity in me than this book managed to do. Even the quotes were almost embarrassingly quirky, filled with campy monologues about destiny, and edgy one-liners from Gerrard himself. A savvy reader may notice that many of these quotes seem to be ripped directly from the flavor text of cards, although some of them were reworded just a bit to fit with the framing of the dialogue.
Gerrard's Quest appears to be a collection of four independent volumes of the Weatherlight story as published by Dark Horse. However, upon reaching the end, I found that the omnibus is incomplete. The story halts abruptly with our hero on his way to confront his one true nemesis and then... nothing. I was expecting to see a sequel omnibus or additional volumes, but Gerrard's Quest ends here. For good.
This book is a treasure. Meeting my childhood heroes again in in print was fulfilling to say the least, and getting to see all the action and environments in art and full color is an experience any old school Magic enthusiast would be lucky to have. As a collector and as a fan of Gerrard himself, I'm beyond thrilled to have my own copy of this book. The story may leave something to be desired, but a good copy of the book is a relic of classic '90s Magic: the Gathering, lost to time. I'll display it proudly on my bookshelf or next to my cards, and hope to pull it out for another quick flip-through on a rainy day....more
Caveat: I completely understand that I am not necessarily the target audience for these books. I listened to the audiobook narrated by MacLeod AndrewsCaveat: I completely understand that I am not necessarily the target audience for these books. I listened to the audiobook narrated by MacLeod Andrews, and most of my commentary will be in regards to that.
One of the first things I noticed while listening to the book was the sudden bombardment of several different cats with different names, all within a short span of one another. I was initially overwhelmed, but before long I had no trouble keeping tabs on most of them. There was a very diverse representation of voice qualities and performances in the male cats, which I found quite impressive. However, when the first female cat was voiced (I believe it was Spottedleaf), I found myself asking, "Okay, but why is this one still voiced by a man?" It was at this point that I realized that every single character was voiced by the same person, which is frankly amazing considering the myriad voices that were performed even up to this point. For what it is, the narrator really goes above and beyond.
I don't have a lot of complaints about the audio. My biggest annoyance is that some characters like Silverpaw were given obnoxious voices that were difficult to listen to, and there were a few moments where the narrator made mouth noises (eg when a character had food in their mouth) which, while not a problem in and of itself, actually drew me out of the narrative because I had to keep imagining a cat making all of these sounds while speaking. It was pretty jarring.
The text itself has a silly problem that's similar. I can't think of any specific examples, but there are a few moments where the dialogue is expressed with phrases like "They mewed purringly, with a hiss." I get that there aren't a lot of synonyms for "they said," but the idea of compounding so many cat noises in a single phrase breaks suspension of disbelief far more than "the cat talked." It's distracting.
The story was actually pretty interesting. It was fun and engaging all the way through, and I was invested in a lot of the drama and mystery, especially later on. The characters and worldbuilding were average if not better. All that said, however, I just don't find myself curious to know what happens next. The story wraps pretty concisely, and knowing how many books follow, I don't know if I'm intrigued enough to try and pick up the next one....more
A Court of Mist and Fury is a story about a girl who gets roped into the convoluted plots of a charmingly handsome faerie high lord, is brought into hA Court of Mist and Fury is a story about a girl who gets roped into the convoluted plots of a charmingly handsome faerie high lord, is brought into his court against her will, is sexually harassed and/or manipulated by him for months on end, and all that is okay because he's hot. ... wait, wasn't that also the plot of Book 1?
This sequel to A Court of Thorns and Roses was both disappointing and impressive on many levels.
It begins just a few months after the first book left off, with Feyre starting her new life and engagement with High Lord Tamlin of the Spring Court. However, the Tamlin we see in this book is different: He's less gentle, his motivations and goals have changed, and he has stopped treating Feyre with the love and respect that had characterized him in the first book. It was so bad, in fact, that I believed it was more likely that Tamlin had been replaced by an impostor than to believe that Sarah J. Maas genuinely expected us to believe that this was in any way the same character.
Considering the dramatic shift in Tamlin's character (and the aftermath of the violent end to the first book), this book did an incredible job of exploring the relationships between trauma, guilt, depression and domestic abuse. All of these themes are woven together, especially at the beginning of the story, to plant the seeds of change in the hearts of our primary characters. I found the exploration very poignant, and even found myself shedding a few tears when the "broken home" vibes reached a climax in the "exploding paint" scene. I talked in my previous review about how Feyre is unwittingly entering into an abuse cycle and trauma spiral, and I'm genuinely impressed that Maas has chosen to delve into the consequences of the previous book's problematic romance rather than brush it under the rug.
Feyre's writing has, for that matter, improved significantly. Her actions no longer feel like a contrivance of plot convenience. In the previous book, I found that she was constantly making poor choice for the sole purpose of moving the author's plot forward. In Mist and Fury, though, Feyre kept me guessing in a way that made her much more likable and easier to root for.
I noticed a few changes in the author's prose itself. First, she seems to have taken on the habit of referring to most characters by their gender words (eg. "Male" and "Female" rather than words like "Girl" or "Him"). It's a jarring change that makes each character feel like they're being evaluated on their qualities as a breeding prospect, and I'm not sure what warrants the change. It would be easy to brush off if not for the fact that it also occurs in dialogue, 100% of the time, no matter which character is speaking. That's simply not how people talk.
The author also had a lot of apparent catch-phrases which were inserted into description and dialogue so much that it became distracting. First is the word "prick," which I must have heard a hundred times. Apparently Rhysand is one, and everybody uses exclusively that word, multiple times, to say so. There's also the phrase "My mouth went bone dry," which appears to be thrown in at random, but especially every time that Feyre encounters a penis.
Which brings me to my next point: There were no fewer than six graphic sex scenes in this book. The original had one such scene, and I tolerated it for the sake of an otherwise pretty good story, but this sequel is really running sexual encounters into the ground. And it's not just that there are so many: they're also just so long and boring and repetitive. Every single sex scene follows the exact same formula, the exact same beats, the exact same patterns and actions, and even the exact same anatomy/body type, regardless of which two characters are in the act. It feels almost as though the scenes were written by an auto-complete "Sarah J. Maas Sex Scene" text generator. I couldn't write a more robotic and formulaic set of sex scenes if I tried. As an aside, there was an abnormal amount of "flicking the roofs of each others mouths," which I'm pretty sure isn't a thing. Do people actually do that?
The book had a lot of segments that really dragged on, such as the breakfast and introductions at the House of Wind. By the time I was halfway done with the book, I was so bored that I promised myself that I wouldn't finish it, and if I did, it would be my last "Court of Thorns and Roses" book. However, just like the previous book, the final act roped me back in. Maas maintains her adept adherence to conservation of detail with a massive (yet appropriate) exposition dump which ties together every detail that had been left behind, from Amarantha's ring, to the treasure in the Weaver's house, to the entire reason and motive of Rhysand's introduction in the first book. If nothing else, I have to admit that the author is a master of weaving plots and details together in order to set up tremendously satisfying payoffs. It almost makes me want to go back and re-read both books just so I can admire how masterfully these clues were hidden.
Naturally this motivated me to finish the book and, I admit, I was pretty satisfied with the ending. The last four chapters were absolutely my favorite four chapters because of the sheer action and intrigue and elaborate machinations at play. These elements are the reason I picked up the "Court" series in the first place. And I was thrilled to find that the last sentence of the book promised infinitely more of that court intrigue that I'd been hoping for.
Verdict: I'd like 50% fewer sex scenes and 50% more political intrigue, then this would be pretty close to perfect. At this point, I like this series and its empty promises just enough to try and read the next one. I'll almost certainly read book 3, but I know I'll hate myself for it if I do....more
The book starts off full-force with lots of different names and lore introduced all at once. There’s a lot to keep track of, and it can be difficult tThe book starts off full-force with lots of different names and lore introduced all at once. There’s a lot to keep track of, and it can be difficult to keep up with some of the basic details for a while. I admit that I was two-thirds done with the book by the time I could consistently tell the difference between Sunny and Glory, and I still to this day do not remember the difference between a Rainwing and a Seawing. The best part about the names so far is that the Mudwing is named Clay. I laughed out loud.
I listened to the audiobook version, and that was without a doubt the best part of my experience with Wings of Fire so far. Shannon McManus has such a wide range of vocal skill that I often believed that I was listening to a full voice cast. Each character’s voice is distinct and full of personality, and she switches between them so readily. Likely due to the target audience, a lot of the humor and banter is more juvenile than the books I’m used to, and the author’s ability to deliver the awkward lines is so bad it’s good. It doesn’t hurt that she also narrates with an energy that perfectly balances gripping engagement with a soothing feeling of childhood storytime.
The themes are very high action and violent. You might already expect that from a book about dragons, but I found myself uncomfortable at a few points with the seemingly chronic neck-snapping and obsession with murder that seems to be a central point of dragon culture. That’s something I think many readers might like to know before starting the story.
The plot of the story was pretty good—fun, but nothing I haven’t seen before in any other fiction works. Also, the plot is really well-entwined and strongly foreshadowed. I found myself impressed every time a seemingly innocuous detail from chapter 1 or 2 would become a main element in a climactic moment later. There are, however, two points where I feel like the plot didn’t deliver.
First, the challenges in general seemed superficial. Every single time the characters were faced with a challenge, typically the solution was pretty boring and shallow. Without spoiling, the best I can say is that the conflict formula seems to be: “A problem occurs; the character thinks of the solution; the solution works; repeat with a new problem.� This made the story seem to drag while it was between major beats, but the characters made up for the worst of it. The other failing of the plot is that the entire third act felt like denouement. The story was already over by the time part 2 had ended, so the entire final third of the book could have been mostly omitted or condensed into just a few paragraphs at the end of part 2 and the book would probably be better for it.
My biggest complaint about this book is honestly probably just that my expectations were too high going in. I got a solid recommendation and ended up with a book that was just good. I like the characters, and I know that I won’t get bored if the author keeps jumping around to new characters to highlight their stories. Plus it ended with a chilling sequel hook, so you can bet I’ll be reading the next one!...more
The fourth book of the Artifacts Cycle feels more like the glue between two trilogies.
I think of Bloodlines as the Rogue One of Magic: the Gathering nThe fourth book of the Artifacts Cycle feels more like the glue between two trilogies.
I think of Bloodlines as the Rogue One of Magic: the Gathering novels: The Artifacts Cycle was already nicely tied up, but it was evident at this time that the writers wanted to tie it into the several-thousand-years-later Weatherlight/Invasion storyline. Hence, this book feels like a sort of prequel to Weatherlight/Invasion, tying up all the loose ends and making sense of centuries that otherwise would have been dead space in the plot.
This book is especially fun for somebody who already has a wealth of knowledge about Magic: the Gathering lore because, once you already know where it's going, you'll be nodding along with excitement, thinking "Oh, that makes sense," or "I know what big event this leads to!" Many characters and event exist both before and after this book, and you get to see a sort of Rube Goldberg Machine of chain reactions as the events of the Bloodlines project inevitably lead directly into the lore of the early Invasion saga. It's uncanny how this story sets the entire stage for the next book, even going so far as to establish the births of a few major characters who will be relevant later on.
The book admittedly drags a bit, as it's covering the key beats over what I believe is a couple thousands years of Dominarian history. Expect a lot of historical battles, a lot of timeskips, and a fair bit of politics. If you didn't want to know what happened during the several centuries between Time Streams and Rath and Storm, you'll find this to be pretty insubstantial.
If you already know a lot about MtG lore, that can be a really cute "prequel" of sorts. I found myself getting very excited on my re-read because what I knew about what happened later gave new relevance to the text. However, if you don't have that wealth of knowledge, this book is very skippable. The lore of this story is (for the most part) covered in the background lore of almost every MtG book that discusses the future of Dominaria. Unless you want some "aha" moments as you watch an admittedly clever author play the "how can this be true" game by elegantly connecting two rather unrelated sagas, you wouldn't be missing much.
Good but forgettable. Looking forward to reading up on the Ice Age and Weatherlight books now! ...more
I picked up this book expecting it to feel like an analogue for flipping through a modern-day wikia page. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised.
I dI picked up this book expecting it to feel like an analogue for flipping through a modern-day wikia page. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised.
I describe this book more as a guided museum tour. There are a variety of wonderful images, diagrams, and icons that catch the eye, all complete with various captions, descriptions, and speculations should you wish to know more. These texts are especially immersive because they treat the world as real—each blurb treats a species, text, or event as something that exists, and many "research notes" are written as speculative, as if the writer is trying to interpret the world of Thra for the reader but hasn't uncovered all of it. This gives the reader a feeling of truly taking an educational journey through a fictional land, while withholding just enough information to keep it wondrous and mystical (pun intended).
On that note, readers will be happy to know that—old as this book is—it is considered canon in the Dark Crystal universe. The foreword indicates that its purpose is to share all of the wonderful behind-the-scenes concepts that didn't make it into the film. As a result, it does a wonderful job of enriching the world we already know and love with actual substance, without feeling like a superfluous marketing ploy to prey on nostalgia or on their fans' wallets.
A self-described "coffee table book," this didn't warrant finishing. I opened it up one afternoon with a cup of coffee and flipped through it, stopping to read the detailed descriptions and faux-historic blurbs for a few minutes at a time before skimming to the next feature that caught my eye. Next time I get the chance, I would gladly put the smartphone down and spend a short break looking through this book again for a gem that I missed last time.
I would recommend this book to any The Dark Crystal fan who is looking for a deeper dive into the world as intended by its creators. Buy it if you can; it's a wonderful thing to be able to return to when you have the time. ...more
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