WWW Wednesday – 2018/09/19

September 19, 2018 Ryan7 Comments

WWW Wednesday is a book meme run by Taking on a World of Words.

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently Reading

I’m still reading Aftermath: Life Debt by Chuck Wendig, though I’m about two thirds of the way through now. In some ways I’m finding I like this book a lot more than the first one. The amount of development and motion in the story has really made me realize even more in retrospect just how much the first book was spinning its wheels where plot was concerned. There are other hiccups in Wendig’s writing style that recur in this book as well, making them stand out worse. Nevertheless, I am enjoying it, and I’m especially happy to see core Star Wars characters like Han and Leia play significant roles in the story, rather than being more background figures.

Recently Finished

Over the weekend I finished reading Ed the Happy Clown by Chester Brown. While a big talking point about the book for me going in was just how weird things looked without any context, I must say that by the end I was thoroughly over it. Exhaustion was bound to set in, as I expected, especially reading it all at once (rather than serially, as it was originally published). That’s not to say that I think it is bad, however, just that that particular shtick stopped affecting me by the end. The story had grown out in a more coherent direction too, ending things on a surprisingly downer note for certain characters. I should have a review posted soon.

Reading Next

Like I said last week, with October a mere couple of weeks away I’ve been thinking a lot about the horror books I may want to start reading for the season. One that I’ve decided upon, and likely my next book, is The Troop by Nick Cutter. I’ve made to sure to limit my knowledge of the story to the back cover, so all that I can glean from that is it’s about a troop of scouts on a camping trip in the Canadian wilderness who encounter some sort of zombie-like threat. Nick Cutter is actually a pseudonym for a Canadian author I really like who typically writes fiction, so I’m especially intrigued to see what he comes up with as Cutter.

Until next week, thank you for reading! What did you read this week?

WWW Wednesday – 2018/09/12

September 12, 2018September 12, 2018 Ryan6 Comments

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WWW Wednesday is a book meme run by Taking on a World of Words.

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently Reading

AftermathLifeDebt I started reading Aftermath: Life Debt by Chuck Wendig, though I’ve only really just started. My impressions about these books have shifted a little bit since finishing the first one, due to some personal reflection and encountering how other people feel about these books. I stand by my review of the first one, but it is a little telling that my favourite parts of that book were the interludes. It seems this book will be just as focused on the characters introduced in this series. I’m not sure how I feel about that. At any rate, it has started out all right so far, though I’m noticing some negative points someone made about Wendig’s writing style I hadn’t noticed myself before. I shall maintain optimism, at an rate.

I’ve also been reading Ed the Happy Clown by Chester Brown, which came a little out of left field. A friend of my showed me their copy and offered to let me borrow it, which I accepted. Shortly after last week’s post I started reading it and it’s really bizarre. Apparently, Brown’s idea was to take the story in random directions with each strip, though there are twisted threads the story is following along at the point I’ve reached. It’s not completely non-sequitur throughout. I’ve read two books of his before this, though they were a biography and a memoir respectively, so this is quite a dramatic shift in content.

Recently Finished

Hellboy Bones Of Giants Over the weekend I finished reading The Bones of Giants by Christopher Golden, which you can check out my review for here. Unfortunately I didn’t not quite live up to my admittedly arbitrary expectations. I really liked the lore the novel introduced into the world of Hellboy, but a lot of the story ended up meandering, the characters dwelling on concern for one another repetitively without the plot escalating these issues much. I still liked it for what it was, since the novels are really only side stories to the series proper, but I’m starting to wonder if Golden is the negative x-factor for me.

I also finished reading Junji Ito’s Cat Diary: Yon & Mu. I absolutely loved this book. The art was great, the stories in each chapter were well told, and most importantly it showed that Ito’s got surprisingly good chops as a comedy writer. It was just the right length too; not overdoing it yet short enough to leave me wanting more without being disappointed. I should have a review posted of it soon.

Reading Next

I’m really not sure what to read next. I’m starting to suspect Life Debt will take me longer than I think it will. It’s not a dense read, but it’s still 500 pages long. With October only a few weeks away I’ve started to think more about horror books to read, though I’ve no idea what I’ll start with just yet. I do think I should start one before September is over though so I can spread some reviews throughout the month.

Until next time, thank you for reading!

WWW Wednesday – 2018/09/05

September 5, 2018 Ryan8 Comments

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WWW Wednesday is a book meme run by Taking on a World of Words.

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently Reading

Hellboy Bones Of Giants Not unexpectedly, I’m still in the middle of reading Hellboy: The Bones of Giants by Christopher Golden, nearing the halfway mark. It was a rather busy long weekend for me and I didn’t find much time to read between being busy and/or exhausted. Nevertheless, I’m enjoying this book quite a bit more than the previous Hellboy novel. It feels much more like there’s a mystery at play; I still don’t even know why Mjollnir has fused itself with Hellboy’s hand nor the extent of the forces at play against him. He’s living up to his job as a paranormal investigator a lot more here, as he should, rather than just a big guy there to clobber things.

Recently Finished

Regrettably nothing this week. I’ve been wanting to at least have a comic done for this section every week, but like I said it’s just been a tad too busy.

Reading Next

Yon & Mu I still have my plans of continuing The Dark Tower comic book prequels and starting Aftermath: Life Debt by Chuck Wendig soon, but I’ve got some new books in the pipeline too. I went to Fan Expo over the weekend and among the comics I picked up was Cat Diary: Yon & Mu by Junji Ito. In this book, the master of Japanese horror manga and creator of Uzumaki chronicles his real-life struggles with becoming a cat owner. His creepy art partnered with feline antics should make for an exceptionally unique read.

Until next time, thank you for reading!

WWW Wednesday – 2018/08/29

August 29, 2018 Ryan11 Comments

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WWW Wednesday is a book meme run by Taking on a World of Words.

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently Reading

Hellboy Bones Of Giants Last night I started reading Hellboy: The Bones of Giants by Christopher Golden and Mike Mignola, though I haven’t read further than the prologue so far. There’s something about the cover and the title that’s always given me a good feeling about this book (not the most reliable impulse) and this has been emboldened by the brief introduction in which Mignola states his belief that this book surpasses the previous novel, which he believes to have been great too. He’s probably just a little biased, but I’m looking forward to getting into it all the same. Gods have only occasionally been touched upon in Hellboy stories in the past so I’m especially curious to see how this incorporates the Norse pantheon.

Recently Finished

Over the weekend I finished reading The Princess Bride by William Goldman. Check out my review here! I ended up liking this book quite a lot. The characters were excellent, it balanced some complex themes with fairy tale ideals rather well, and played with the medium in unexpected ways. It’s now no wonder to me that it’s considered such a classic. Inigo and Fezzik especially stole the show for me. They have a great dynamic together. I only wish there were more story. My edition included the first chapter of the “sequel” called Buttercup’s Baby, and it literally ends with a massive cliffhanger. Goldman sure is a cheeky fellow.

I also started and finished reading The Gunslinger Born by Peter David et al, which is the first in the comic book adaptations of The Dark Tower series by Stephen King. While I think later volumes will cover details about Roland’s past that we have not seen before, this book specifically adapted his becoming a gunslinger from The Gunslinger and the story from Wizard & Glass when he fell in love with Susan Delgado. It was a pretty faithful adaptation, though I prefer the novel for how in-depth it goes. This felt a little bit like reading the cliff notes. I did however like getting a good visual look at the Crimson King and Walter, whose forms are often nebulously described in the books.

Reading Next

The Bones of Giants should not take me too long, so once I finish that I’m going to get started on Aftermath: Life Debt so I can continue with that trilogy of Star Wars books. I’m hoping things pick up a lot more plot-wise with that book now that origins and introductions are out of the way for the characters. It also hints at including some of the core characters from the films more, which I hope is the case (it’s got the Millennium Falcon on the cover, dang it!!).

Until next time, thank you for reading!

WWW Wednesday – 2018/08/22

August 22, 2018August 26, 2018 Ryan6 Comments

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WWW Wednesday is a book meme run by Taking on a World of Words.

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently Reading

I’m well into the thick of it now with The Princess Bride by William Goldman, just shy of the halfway point. Reading this book has been a bit of a bizarre trip for me so far. Goldman makes it hard to forget that the story is an abridgment of a fictional book, abridged by a fictional version of himself. In a nonsensical way it makes Buttercup, Westley, and the rest feel more fictional that they already are. Can anyone else who has read it relate to that? Either way I’m simply charmed by the story, its evocative characters, and tongue in cheek sense of humour.

Recently Finished

Chaos War I actually had a hard time picking another comic book to read, despite the smorgasbord I’ve got to choose from. That is until last night, when I realized I still wasn’t all the way caught up with the Incredible Hercules books that I’ve got, the last of which was the event comic book Chaos War by Greg Pak and Gus Van Lente et al. After Hercules is revived thanks to the events of The New Prince of Power, giving him the Godliest of Godly powers, he must band all heroes together to stop King Chaos from reducing the multiverse to nothing but the Void once again. It was as humorous and action-packed as always, though fairly bog-standard as far as the events I’ve read are concerned. It did make good on a lot of foreshadowing set up much further back in the series though. It was a nice way to cap things off before leading the character into a new direction.

Reading Next

The Gunslinger Born The plans I set out next week are still more or less what I have in store for myself, though on the comic book front I’ve made some more concrete decisions. For one, I’ve decided I need to finally read through the prequel Marvel comic book series to The Dark Tower by Stephen King. I made a point of purchasing the last couple books I needed last year, yet here I am a year later having left them to languish on my shelf even further. That all being said, my next comic book endeavour will be The Gunslinger Born by Peter David.

Until next time, thank you for reading!

WWW Wednesday – 2018/08/15

August 15, 2018August 15, 2018 Ryan5 Comments

WWW Wednesday is a book meme run by Taking on a World of Words.

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently Reading

I started reading The Princess Bride by William Goldman over the past couple of days, though I haven’t gotten very far yet. I was honestly thrown for a loop when starting out. I knew very little going in, so finding the inside title page saying ‘The “Good Parts” Version Abridged by William Goldman,’ I started to panic that I didn’t have the complete story (fans are probably giggling at me right now). Apparently, for reasons I haven’t fully educated myself on, Goldman fictionalizes himself around the creation of this book, giving the story a history that precedes him. The introductions further this frame, including details about the movie but maintaining the fictional history of the book he has “abridged”. It’s amusing, but was such a bizarre thing to be suddenly confronted with.

Recently Finished

Over the weekend I finished Aftermath by Chuck Wendig, book one of the Star Wars: Aftermath trilogy. Please check out my review here! The characters grew on me a lot by the end, but the story was so divided among their numerous perspectives, as well as those of more minor characters, that the plot ended up being rather thin and uninteresting. With power shifting politically in such a big way, especially in the fissures of the Empire, I’m disappointed the plot was so unremarkable. The “Interlude” chapters stood out especially well though, giving me the glimpses I craved into how familiar places in the galaxy were reacting to the events of Return of the Jedi.

I also read Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe by Cullen Bunn et al. It was pretty much exactly what I expected it to be, which is both good and bad. Good because it was a fun, morbid story where I didn’t have to worry about continuity or consequences; just some good old-fashioned carnage. It also kicked through the fourth wall as a part of its storytelling, rather than Deadpool’s usual leaning upon it. It was bad because I would have preferred it if his confrontations with particular characters were a little more drawn out and their deaths earned. He wipes out many of them far too easily and I sadly saw that coming.

Reading Next

I don’t rightly know what I’ll get to next. I want to get to Aftermath: Life Debt so I can avoid being stuck in the middle of a series for too long, but I may read Hellboy: The Bones of Giants by Christopher Golden as a shorter read before I do. I’ve bought a lot of Hellboy books over the last year, so I really ought to be reading them. Other than that I’ve got plenty of comic books to choose from too. Since they’re such a relatively shorter commitment I’m leaving my choice in that arena up to whim.

Until next time, thank you for reading!

WWW Wednesday – 2018/08/08

August 8, 2018 Ryan3 Comments

WWW Wednesday is a book meme run by Taking on a World of Words.

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently Reading

I’m a little under halfway through reading Aftermath by Chuck Wendig. I’m enjoying the book all right, though some parts more than others. I’m feeling like the ensemble cast is a little too big for its own good, especially since they’re still not all together in one place. The story is jumping all over the place too much. I do really enjoy reading about Admiral Rae Sloane though. She first appeared in A New Dawn, which I read earlier this year. She’s trying to hold the Empire together with a summit, but it’s difficult since nobody can decide who is in charge. This has been the most compelling stuff in the book for me, which is a little double-edged since not too much has happened in this arena. The story with the main characters really needs to pick up. A couple of them should maybe die as well. Thin the herd.

Recently Finished

Sadly nothing this week. Boo! The way my work schedule works combined with some travel I had to do for a wedding this past weekend resulted in me getting very little reading done since last Wednesday.

Reading Next

A few people have recommend I start it, as it is on my scrappy little to-read list for this year, so I think I’m going to start reading The Princess Bride by William Goldman. A friend highly recommended the book to me years ago, which is why I picked it up, and I have witnessed countless people since then have rave about both the film and the book. I only really know as much about the story as I’ve been able to absorb through osmosis, so it’ll be really interesting to finally learn all the ins and outs of such a beloved tale.

Until next time, thank you for reading!

WWW Wednesday – 2018/08/01

August 1, 2018August 1, 2018 Ryan11 Comments

WWW Wednesday is a book meme run by Taking on a World of Words.

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently Reading

Monday I finally started reading Aftermath by Chuck Wendig, the first in a trilogy of novels dealing with the fallout of the Galactic Civil War, following the events of Return of the Jedi. I’ve read several of the new Disney Canon novels now, though this is the first one that I’ve read that takes place after the Emperor’s fall. I know a fair amount of what goes on thanks to research I’ve done in the past, but it still feels like mostly uncharted territory for me, which makes it especially appealing. So far it has spent time establishing who I assume will become a cooperative group of characters, so I’m still not quite sure where the story is going. A new character that has stuck out to me is Mister Bones, a B1 battle droid modified to be a lethal bodyguard. It seems to have an erratic personality I will enjoy.

Recently Finished

Over the weekend I finished reading My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh. You can see my complete thoughts by checking out my review here. I expressed some misgivings about the direction of the story last week, but I held onto hope that it would come together in some way. Moshfegh really pulled through in that respect. The more I think about it the more jarring the shift felt in direction felt, though it was a change toward the positive and I was more invested while reading the novel at that point than I had been prior.

I also read Shattered Empire by Greg Rucka et al, which is the last limited series Star Wars comic book volume I had to read in my little collection. I’m all caught up on the comic book front now, though the newest volume of the main series is dropping next week. The story was all right, though a little brief. It also deals with the aftermath of Return of the Jedi too, following Shara Bey and Kes Dameron, Rebel Alliance pilot and soldier respectively and the parents of Poe Dameron from the sequel trilogy. The book had some good nuggets of lore in it and served as a good primer for Aftermath.

Reading Next

Honestly, I’m drawing a blank as far as this is concerned right now. There’s nothing else new and pressing coming out right now for me, so I’m going to turn my scrap of a list over in my mind for a bit and see what appeals to me. I really want to start Reaper Man by Terry Pratchett, but I want a bit of a buffer between Discworld books since it’s a long-haul series for me.

Until next time, thank you for reading!

WWW Wednesday – 2018/07/25

July 25, 2018 Ryan4 Comments

WWW Wednesday is a book meme run by Taking on a World of Words.

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently Reading

I’m still only about halfway through reading My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh. Admittedly, I’ve fallen a little short of giving myself adequate reading time to finish it up. It’s not particularly long, so I should have been done with it by now. On the other hand, it isn’t grabbing me as much as I’d like. Moshfegh’s writing is captivating while I’m reading it, but I find I have to work harder than normal to recall what has happened thus far in the novel. There are some notable hitches in the narrator’s plan that are making things interesting, and aspects of her past do stick out well, I’m just still wondering there will be any more of a distinct sense of direction.

Recently Finished

The only book I’ve finished in the last week is Star Wars: Obi-Wan & Anakin by Charles Soule et al. It’s one of the numerous limited series that Marvel has put out lately for Star Wars, usually focused on specific characters. The only other one I’ve read was for Princess Leia. I’m glad I read this book in particular, because its story takes place at a time not really covered in Star Wars media, namely the 10-year period between The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones. Anakin is still fairly young, so while he can be a little unruly he doesn’t yet have his rebellious streak. I really liked that the story zeroed in on the conflict of a specific planet as well, namely one that has technology but is otherwise cut off from the rest of the Galaxy. There’s always such focus on things at a Galactic level, I enjoy the emphasis on a single planet, which can be rich enough with history and context all on its own.

Reading Next

I’m still intending to start reading Aftermath by Chuck Wendig next, which I may have started by next week. I’m gonna make a push to finish up things in the next few days and over the weekend. Other than that I want to read Shattered Empire, which is another Star Wars limited series book that I want to check out, this one specifically because it takes place after Return of the Jedi. I meant to starting reading The Legend of Zelda: Encyclopedia what feels like ages ago, but for some reason I just can’t motivate myself to pick it up. I don’t know if I’ll still actually start it or not, but I’ll be sure to let you know here when and if I do.

Until next time, thank you for reading!

WWW Wednesday – 2018/07/18

July 18, 2018 Ryan13 Comments

WWW Wednesday is a book meme run by Taking on a World of Words.

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently Reading

I’ve been reading My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh, though I’m only just getting started with it. My reading plans took a slight detour. Though I’m still within the first chapter, I have read until the first section break. It was a bit of a whirlwind so far, giving a lot of information on the narrator’s daily life such as it is and her dysfunctional friendship with a college friend named Reza. The style is rather fast paced, though I haven’t exactly gotten a hold on what the story is about yet. I’m a little wary with how much I’m being told rather than shown, but that may just be Meshfegh setting the scene. I’m still optimistic.

Recently Finished

Over the weekend I finished reading Moving Pictures by Terry Pratchett! Please check out my review here. I enjoyed it well enough, though it went pretty much as I expected it to. Though it hasn’t been the case every time, there is a general skeleton of a story that Pratchett seems to use when he has more of an idea he wants to explore than a specific story he wants to tell. Gaspode the Wonder Dog did not entirely take over the role of protagonist, but he was one of the most complex characters in the story, torn between his resentment for how humans mistreat him and his innate nature as a dog (a Good Boy). I was thrilled to learn that he becomes a recurring character throughout the series.

I also read The Ashes of Jedha by Kieron Gillen et al, which has caught me up on all of the available volumes of the current Star Wars series by Marvel. This is the first book with Gillen taking over from Jason Aaron and the difference was a little staggering. Maybe I just prefer something about Gillen’s style, but I was vastly more intrigued with the story here than I was with most of Aaron’s stuff. There was some weird stuff with the Force in it, which is always a win for me, but the book was mostly about a Rebel operation yet it still had me hooked. It bodes well for me for the series going forward.

Though this is not a completed book, I also read “The Shadow over Innsmouth” by H. P. Lovecraft from my massive tome of his stories. I’ve been playing the video game Bloodborne recently and a friend of mine told me to read this—basically a homework assignment—before I begin a specific portion of the game. I enjoyed it quite a bit, though I had absorbed more about it through osmosis than I realized, since much of it didn’t surprise me. I will likely have a review up of it soon.

Reading Next

I know I gab a lot about Star Wars, but I’ve got a list with five of the newer novels still on it that I want to get to this year. So, it’s high time I started the first Aftermath novel by Chuck Wendig, which is following the Galactic Civil war after the deaths of the Emperor and Darth Vader. I’ve been wanting to read this trilogy for a long time and I’m not putting it off any longer (once I’ve finished up with Moshfegh’s novel).

Until next time, thanks for reading!