Whats everyone reading?

[Barrington Boots]

I'm still reading Tarzan books!

Comic-wise I did get a bunch of stuff from the Forbidden Planet sale and have been chewing my way through it and realising why the stuff that was in the sale was in the sale.

I mostly enjoyed Chimera Brigade, although I can best compare it to TLOEG but where you really have to pay attention - the storytelling is not always straightforward and some of the pulp references are very obscure (I'd forgotten all about Felifax!). It's not a conventional superteam book but it's beautifully strange and the art is very Mignola-esque 'although points are lost for having the only female in the brigade itself naked. I only got volumes 1-3 and the next volume seems well out of print which is annoying.

The there's Sally of the Wasteland which I picked up for Tazio Bettin's art and turned out to be a story about an exceptionally annoying Whedon-esque idiot killing her way through the post-apocalypse. Sets out to be grindhousey, so lots of violence and some nudity. If you switch your brain off it rattles along and looks glorious but not sure I need to read it again.

Disappointingly It Came! was pretty drossy. Loved the presentation of it being a 50s B-movie and again looked lovely but the story lacked interest, the protagnoists were annoying at best and the 'old thing' gag was overused to the books great detriment.

Non sale stuff, top of the list is David Petersen's exceptionally beautiful Mouse Guard which was much better than War of the Bounty Hunters, which was my first foray into Star Wars comics in years and turned out to be one of those things where you have to read the main series and about a dozen other comics to get the full story. Never change Marvel!

[pictsy]

I finished reading all of the main series Discworld novels last night.
It has been a ride seeing how the series changed and developed from one book to the next.
The peak of the series happened before The Last Hero
I was certainly less impressed with the last few books and I'm really unsure about the final one.  The afterword seemed to contained a caveat that it wasn't actually finished and I can see that.  On the one hand I can see how it may be regarded as a nice way to end the Tiffany Aching series and the series in general... on the other hand I think it should have been left on the shelf and Raising Steam was the last book.  That book was about how the Discworld was changing and would never be the same again and that would have been a great beat to end on.  I also think I Shall Wear Midnight was a nicer point to end Tiffany Aching's story.
Still good books and enjoyable reads.  Going to need to cleanse my palette after this, though.

[BadlyDrawnKano]

I've been reading and enjoying Bob Balaban's Close Encounters Of The Third King diary, though it makes it very clear how dull making a movie can be, he includes lots of amusing anecdotes, and his description of Spielberg is fascinating, for a director to have so much confidence at a relatively young age and tackle this huge project with such enthusiasm has really impressed me.

[Barrington Boots]

I've moved on from Burroughs and am now reading some 1960s spy books by pulp master John Glasby under one of his many pen names. They're slim volumes where a generic, bland tough spy bloke called Steve stoicly has a spy adventure. Villainous 'Reds' and femme fatales abound.

Finding them alright so far: they're a bit like James Bond books, which are very different beasts to the films, but less violent and Steve the Spy is more bland which actually makes him preferable to Bond tbh. Obviously the covers rule.

I finished reading all of the main series Discworld novels last night.
It has been a ride seeing how the series changed and developed from one book to the next.

How did you find the general shift in the Discworld books Pictsy?
I don't own them all but I did a re-read a while back and found the earlier works less enjoyable than I remembered: then they got really good, and then they started falling off again. Not read Last Hero, but of the books following I didn't enjoy Unseen Academicals or Snuff. Interested to see if your experience mirrored my own in any way.

[Tjm86]

I have to confess to having loved Pratchett's work for many a long year.  That may possibly have affected my view of the last book in the Aching sequence.  I would however agree that the last few books lacked some of the joie de vivre of some of the earlier works.  Hardly surprising considering that he was grappling with his embuggerence during that period.

Always said that the first few books don't often stand up too well to prolonged scrutiny.  Not bad, just not as good as stuff once he got into his stride which was really around about Mort.  As time goes on Ankh Morpork seems to evolve from a sort of standard medieval fantasy scene to something resembling a sort of Victorian London, albeit with some lingering residue of his earlier perspectives. 

The Long Earth books seem more influenced by Baxter than Pratchett, certainly as the series progresses.  Fortunately not as pessimistic as his work can get.  Never come across a writer who so cheerfully kills off his entire cast in the closing pages as Baxter does.

As for his sci-fi books Strata and Dark Side of the Sun, strictly for completionists if I'm honest.  Strata's best gag is on the back cover.  Good Omens is a little bit like that in some respects.  It starts off with a great idea but seems to get to a point where Gaiman and Pratchett realised that they needed to land the book somehow.  That's the point at which it started to wobble a little.

I'd have to say that your experience mirrors mine, Bootsy.  Last Hero is not bad but probably more in line with some of the earliest books from the Discworld series.  There is also Eric, a take-off of Faust that is probably about on a par.

As for my current Reading list ... let's see, on a bit of a Fantasy kick right now with Feist's Kings Buccaneer on a re-read to see if the series deserves some of the dissatisfaction I once had with it.  That said, IIRC this is still in the phase where it felt like reasonable brain candy.  Feist is a writer that requires little if any cognitive engagement at times so ...

Alongside this then is the latest Moorcock (for me, anyway) Sailor on the Sea of Fate for a more stimulating read.  Plus a dip into Cooper's Dark is Rising sequence and Garner's Weirdstone of Brisinghamen. 

Yes, I know these are technically children's classics but I guess I'm looking at contrasting different writers.  Cooper is interesting for the difference between the first and second book.  The first reads very much as a sort of fantasy version of Famous Five whilst the second is more akin to the Robin Hood series of the eighties with its exploration of olde-English paganism.  My recollection of Weirdstone is that it is more in this mold.  Be interesting to see how it stacks up.

Feist's work very much draws on American D&D perspectives on medieval Britain.  Sort of an idealised feudalism, full of honest but noble commoners elevated for service to the crown alongside nobles with a "deep sense of duty" to those they rule over.  Mixed in with mystical beings and generally a plot that revolves around some sort of evil that turns out to be the catspaw of a much greater evil ... hence my previous dissatisfaction.  The only saving grace is that Feist generally manages to write sympathetic characters and sets a pace that just rattles along so you don't notice the flaw too much. 

[Jim_Campbell]

After a brief(ish) diversion into the delights of Alan Moore's short story collection, 'Illuminations', I've returned to Joe Abercrombie's 'Age of Madness' trilogy for the final volume.

Moore's book is great — generally fairly light and playful in tone with prose as dense and erudite as one might expect. The lengthy centrepiece, 'What Can We Know About Thunderman' (270ish pages... a short story? Really, Alan?) could, IMO, have used the sterner attentions of an editor. It's very funny, but as the caustic vignettes of thinly disguised figures from the American comic industry pile up, after a while it's a little... much. None of it is bad — far from it, but, somehow, there's just too much of it. Kind of like the literary equivalent of overdoing it at the all-you-can-eat buffet. Nonetheless, well worth a read.

Bit of a change in pace/tone going back to Abercrombie after that. His prose remains oddly artless (though much-improved from his earlier work) but he knows how to tell a story and 'The Wisdom of Crowds' rattles along like, well, pretty much all of his books. Unchallenging, nasty fun.

[Colin YNWA]

I've just finished Stray Bullets - Sunshine and Roses and let it be said once again David and Maria Lapham's Stray Bullets is the very, very best comics out there. Not just crime comics, not just any type of comics its they very best comics full stop. Do I like it more than Concrete, Cerebus (1-200), whatever other comcis get to the very, very top of my pile when the dealings done... maybe, maybe I do. Today certainly after just reading it the answer is yes. But that would like flip when I'd just finished some other classic or other.

Sunshine and Roses feels different and yet so the same than the first 42 issue run, specifically as it tells a single story over about a year in relatively chronological order. There's the odd deviation, side story, or non-chronological bit but overall this is a far more focused narrative.

So confession time there are some things about Stray Bullets I don't like, namely (and don't hate me Stray Bullets fans) the Amy Racecar issues. They just bounce off me and I know they are many folks favs. Here they feel particularly distracting. We are getting all the insight and character pieces without these fantastical diversions. Ginny isn't about so it interesting to think of them being Ginny's storytelling insights into a tell she's told by Beth and that should add a layer of interest, but for me it just doesn't and they bounce off me. The way they creep through alien mindwaves into the main tale is intriguing... but still they bounce. BUT what the heck they are appear every 7 to 8 issues and don't get in the way too much of the regular flow.

You could also argue that the ending getting a little over the top. I've felt this before with Stray Bullets, sometime they ending can be a little bombastic and drama played with a little too much violence and bloodshed and here we reach level like never before. Yet its entirely compelling and in the context of main themes of the piece, how violence crashes into lives utterly destroying them, at the end of a single 42 issue story the scale of it all might actually be needed to carry that theme through.

So these comics aren't perfect... and yet they are. The focus on Beth, Orson and Nina and the Baltimore crew that at first hold them 'captive' as Beth makes plans upon plans and then chase them across the country is amazing. We know the story that sets all this in motion its one of the first in the original series. We know how this ends up we get a final end to Beth and Orson's story around issue 20 of the original series and going into this when it dawned on me that the gap between those two stories in the first series was 'all this would be' I was a little disappointed. I mean it worked as it was in the original series. I didn't need the gap filling... or so I thought. Spending so much time with Beth, getting to meet her family, being introduced to Kretchmeyer a cast of simply astonishing, wonderful and despicible characters was an utter delight and horror. As Stray Bullets is almost always.

Anyway look don't listen to me, stop reading this and go check out these simply amazing comics. You will not regret it.

Cool Beans.

[JohnW]

Cool Beans.

I have to agree with pretty much all of this.

I don't like everything Lapham's done, but this - while not perfect - is one of my absolute favourite comics.

[Dash Decent]

I'm enjoying Taxtopia by the Rebel Accountant (no relation to Rebel Wilson).  It's sort of like the "Secret Barrister" books, discussing the shortfalls and goings-on of a particular profession.  The Darkest Judge is on hold over in the corner as some of the art is just woeful and there's a panel or two where the action is unclear, which stopped me enjoying it.  Also slowly re-reading* Uncle by J P Martin, a mid 1960s children's book about a rich elephant.  Eventually spawning another five titles, the books were madly driven up in price for a long time thanks to being illustrated by the young Quentin Blake.  (Pre-Dahl, I think.  It was his second or third commission, from memory.)

* "Slowly re-reading" as in, when I feel like picking it up.  Not, running my finger along the page as I slowly sound out the syllables.

[Link Prime]

I started the first "Metrobook" collection of Kurt Busiek's Astro City last night.
Been meaning to pick up collections of this series for a while, as I only have sporadic single issues (gold dust in the 90's) from the initial, aptly named, Homage run(s), and never really gave the later Vertigo iteration a chance (cruelly pre-cut from a then sprawling pull-list. How times have changed).

This format suits the armchair reader quite comfortably - just chunky enough of a softcover, with pretty decent reproduction values.

So far so good - a fond re-read of the classic Confessions, and a few one-off stories that I had never read previously.
Busiek is a master of the genre, I had forgotten just how good a writer he is.
He seems to have that rare ability to effortlessly hold the readers attention.

I'm in for the next Metrobook collection at the very least, and find myself pleased that there is a bit of a spandex flavour back in my regular reading material.

[pictsy]

I have been ploughing through Naruto recently.  Mostly by accident.  I felt like reading something light for 20 minutes one day, plucked the first book from my shelves and have been almost obsessively reading it since.

I find it fascinating trying to figure out what I love so much about an incredibly flawed series.

[Hawkmumbler]

It's iconic to people of my particular generation for a reason, and though it never gelled with me I can not deny Kishimoto is an accomplished artist with a singular vision I'm glad worked out for him.

Now, Eichiro Oda and his modern odyssey One Piece, that was and will always be my jam...

[Hebrew613]

I recently picked up vols 7 and 8 of a Cinebook comic called Orbital. They're kids comics really but the Pelle & Runberg combo makes for a very engrossing story and art. The story is sci-fi with great characters that are likeable and engaging and the art is to die for - warm soft colours, very detailed and really takes you right there. They have even started a spin off so looking forward to vol one of that when it arrives. Strongly recommended for just a fun sci-fi trip

[BadlyDrawnKano]

I started the first "Metrobook" collection of Kurt Busiek's Astro City last night.
Been meaning to pick up collections of this series for a while, as I only have sporadic single issues (gold dust in the 90's) from the initial, aptly named, Homage run(s), and never really gave the later Vertigo iteration a chance (cruelly pre-cut from a then sprawling pull-list. How times have changed).

This format suits the armchair reader quite comfortably - just chunky enough of a softcover, with pretty decent reproduction values.

So far so good - a fond re-read of the classic Confessions, and a few one-off stories that I had never read previously.
Busiek is a master of the genre, I had forgotten just how good a writer he is.
He seems to have that rare ability to effortlessly hold the readers attention.

I'm in for the next Metrobook collection at the very least, and find myself pleased that there is a bit of a spandex flavour back in my regular reading material.

I really liked Astro City, but it's so long ago now I can't remember how much of it I've read. I noticed that Image have started reprinting the series in Omnibus editions (or "Metrobooks", as they call them) and at around £20 for 18 or so issues they seem a bit of a bargain, so I'll add them to my Amazon wishlist and hopefully around Christmas pick up a couple.

I've just finished Jason Aaron's Thor run, for my money it peaked with Jane Foster taking on the role, and after all of the build up The War of the Realms disappointed, but I loved his final four issues, and they ended on a very satisfying note, which is all too rare with mainstream DC and Marvel fare.

[Barrington Boots]

I've just read Blood of the Serpent, which is the first of the 'all new Chronicles of Conan'. I was pretty interested to read a new Conan novel but a bit dubious it would be any good.

The author has, probably wisely, decided to not try to imitate Howard at all and instead the book is written in a completely modern style. That's a mixed thing, because it means the book isn't a rubbish pastiche like a lot of pulp fantasy, but it also loses all the poetry and visceral nature of pulp work. I'm not a big fan of modern, slightly self aware style but it wasn't too jarring here. The take on Conan himself is pretty good, and the world is brilliantly researched and portrayed, both in terms of Howard's Hyborian age and the flora, fauna and landscape of Stygia / Darfur which does bring it very much to life. As an adventure set in psuedo-Africa it's very evocative and thankfully there's none of the racist attitudes and portrayals that litter Howard's stuff or the creepy misogynistic-torture stuff of Sprague de Camp: instead the book highlights strong black and female characters throughout.

On the downside... there's no real plot. It moves very quick and is very easy to read, but any overall story is missing - it sets up a rebellion, then abandons it, sets up a gold heist, then abandons it, then moves to a travel / chase story but there's no climax: the book leads directly into Red Nails, which feels like a huge mistake because instead of a climax / resolution we just sort of meander along till that (superior) tale starts. Conan is under some kind of curse that involves him being attacked by animals, so the second half of the book is get attacked by a lion, get attacked by a rhino, get attacked by a crocodile etc etc and it's pretty tedious, not to mention a bit of a glum read if you're into wildlife conservation. The primary antagonist is dispatched very early and a secondary one is introduced in a rush, built up a bit and eventually defeated with no real effort.

I've read far worse Conan books but I wouldn't read this one again.