Tag: Neil Gaiman

Top 5 Books I Read in 2024

Ryan1 Comment

I’m getting to this a little late this year, but nevertheless it is time once again to look back on the year just finished and determine which books were my top five favourite. As usual, this isn’t listing books that came out last year, just the five books I read last year that I enjoyed the most, in no particular order.

I think this may be the most difficult time I’ve had making this list; I enjoyed most everything I read last year, but a good number of them don’t really feel worthy of this distinction to me. It seems I had a similar problem last year, but I feel more pointedly dispassionate this time. At any rate, let’s see what made the cut.Read More »

WWW Wednesday – November 20, 2024

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WWW Wednesday is a weekly book meme run by Sam over at Taking on a World of Words. Check out her post and others over on her blog!

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

Godzilla and Godzilla Raids AgainOn Monday, I read the lion’s share of the Godzilla novella by Shigeru Kayama from the book Godzilla and Godzilla Raids Again. So, I’ve finished the first novella of the two, putting me at about the halfway point of the book. Overall, this novella follows the plot of the film quite closely, with some added flourishes that make the reading experience unique but were understandably cut from the film version, if they were ever a part of it at all. It was a fun read, but it’s also a movie novelization from the 1950s, so it’s got a fairly pulpy style, though I wonder if that was more an intentional choice on the part of the translator. Despite being fairly straightforward, I liked how much emphasis the narrative put on people’s suffering and desperation in the face of the horror Godzilla represents.

Recently Finished

Snow, Glass, ApplesOver the weekend, I read Snow, Glass, Apples by Neil Gaiman and Colleen Doran, a graphic novel I came across at the library recently. I recall reading the original short story of this retelling of Snow White in one of Gaiman’s books, and I really liked the graphic novel adaptation of A Study in Emerald, so I decided this was worth a look. I expected to enjoy it, but I was very surprised by how much Doran’s illustrations elevated this text, creating a superior reading experience to the original short story. The visual style, heavily borrowing from the work of Irish artist Harry Clarke (to whom Doran expresses feeling indebted to), is absolutely stunning, presenting much of it like a visual stream of consciousness, occasionally reined in with traditional paneling when it calls for it. I wish I’d come across this book for my October reads, but its chilly atmosphere is still fitting for the season. I highly recommend checking this out, just for Doran’s art.

Reading Next

No real set plans on what I want to read next, other than a forthcoming reading of Acceptance by Jeff VanderMeer to finish off the Southern Reach trilogy.

Until next time, thank you for reading! Feel free to share your own post down below.

WWW Wednesday – July 24, 2024

Ryan1 Comment
www_wednesdays

WWW Wednesday is a weekly book meme run by Sam over at Taking on a World of Words. Check out her post and others over on her blog!

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

AuthorityI’m still plodding along with Authority by Jeff VanderMeer, the second book in the Southern Reach trilogy, though I haven’t read as much as I feel I should’ve in the intervening two weeks. Still, at exactly 100 pages into it I’m both puzzled and continue to be intrigued. The tone of this novel, despite having a very different narrative approach and setting, is a little dreamlike in a way that I can’t quite put my finger on. In many respects, Control’s point of view helps ground the reader, yet the situation at the Southern Reach is just so odd. Nobody can confidently quantify or understand much of anything about Area X, yet they persist as an institution, albeit a waning one, and he’s met with such passive resistance, vague answers to his questions, and oddities in the old director’s office that it feels almost feverish.

Recently Finished

Marvel 1602Over the weekend I finally finished reading Marvel 1602 by Neil Gaiman and Andy Kubert, which took quite a bit longer than I expected it to. It’s clearly meant to be a larger project, so I’m not sure why I assumed it was the length of a regular trade paperback. This definitely isn’t a favourite among Gaiman’s work, but he did manage to make the characters really compelling in a rather unlikely setting. The main weakness I’d say this book has is that it is trying to include an awful lot of major characters at once, so it sometimes felt all over the place. I enjoyed those who were more fleshed out, but it felt like we couldn’t get in too deep with their own personal stories for the sake of the universe-shattering problem they must come together and solve. This overarching plot was fine, but everything else the characters had going on was actually a lot more interesting to me, so I couldn’t help but feel disappointed by the end. Sure, the universe was saved, but so much feels unresolved.

Reading Next

The Flintstones Vol 1I found some comics at the library that caught my eye, so it’s likely I’ll be reading them soon; I picked up The Flintstones volumes 1 and 2 by Mark Russell and Steve Pugh. These two volumes are part of DC’s Hanna-Barbera Beyond imprint that gives a more modern and adult interpretation to these classic cartoons. I’ve heard a lot of interesting things about these books, such as Fred and Wilma’s monogamy being controversial in their community, so I’m excited to get a closer look at what the overall story will be about. I’ve got another library book I’m tentatively planning to start reading too, but I want to hold off on any commitments to that right now, as I borrowed it somewhat impulsively.

Until next time, thank you for reading! Feel free to share your own post down below.

WWW Wednesday – July 10, 2024

Ryan5 Comments
www_wednesdays

WWW Wednesday is a weekly book meme run by Sam over at Taking on a World of Words. Check out her post and others over on her blog!

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

AuthorityI’ve started a couple of new thing since last week. First up we have Authority by Jeff VanderMeer, the second novel in the Southern Reach trilogy. I’m pleased to learn that this novel’s narrative is different from Annihilation in a way that I anticipated; where that first book was actually a field journal, this one is told more traditionally, from the point of view of a new interim director at the Southern Reach. Though I’m not actually very far into it thus far, it has already been rather tantalizing, as 3 of the 4 members of the twelfth expedition have been found outside of Area X, including the biologist, the protagonist of the first book. Their true nature, however, remains to be seen. I’m enjoying this new perspective character too, and I’m looking forward to the greater insight his point of view will provide into the institution researching Area X.

Marvel 1602I also finally started reading Marvel 1602 by Neil Gaiman and Andy Kubert, a retelling of the Marvel universe set in the 17th century. I’m enjoying it well enough so far, though the couple of chapters I have read feel like they’re dealing more with setup, so the story doesn’t feel like its really gotten moving yet. Still, it’s a unique setting for these characters, and I’m enjoying the ways that Gaiman has interpreted them for this it, though I don’t believe I’ve met all the characters who will be making an appearance yet. The most surprising was Rohjaz, a towering Native American who is inexplicably white of skin and blue-eyed, which the story explains through contact with Welsh traders before Columbus “discovered” the continent. It took me embarrassingly long to realize this is supposed to be Steve Rogers; though it feels a little odd, I appreciate that Gaiman made him firmly American rather than a European colonist.

Recently Finished

Nothing this week.

Reading Next

This is Where We Talk Things OutI’m pretty focused on what I’m in the middle of right now, so I haven’t made any big decisions about what I want to be reading next, though I do feel it should probably be a Discworld novel. As a shorter outing, however, I have been thinking about reading the novella This is Where We Talk Things Out by Caitlin Marceau, a horror story that I’ve heard can be read in a sitting or two. I should make an effort with shorter prose too, so perhaps I’ll be reading this sometime soon. Otherwise, I really need to keep thinking about what comics to read next.

Until next time, thank you for reading! Feel free to share your own post down below.

WWW Wednesday – July 3, 2024

Ryan1 Comment
www_wednesdays

WWW Wednesday is a weekly book meme run by Sam over at Taking on a World of Words. Check out her post and others over on her blog!

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

Nothing this week; I’m between books again, which is good, though I feel bad that I missed the last couple of weekly posts. Two weeks ago I just felt like I didn’t have enough to say, and last week I just ended up being way too busy to make any time. I’m happy to be reporting back in.

Recently Finished

Hellboy The Dragon PoolOn Monday I finished reading Hellboy: The Dragon Pool by Christopher Golden, and goodness I’m really not sure how to feel about this one. In many ways, the writing is perfectly competent; I can’t think of anything particularly bad or awkward-sounding, and the regulars we know and love are characterized properly without any real issues. I just couldn’t escape the feeling that the entire story was a waste of time. An ancient dragon king is unearthed, wreaks some havoc, and then they defeat him. Hellboy’s relationship with Anastasia is touched upon, but they stay separated and it doesn’t amount to more than tension between the two. There’s tension with the Chinese government a little, because it takes place in Tibet, but that doesn’t come to a meaningful head either. It just goes through the motions, written well enough, reaching a predictable conclusion and overall being rather boring. I feel it deserves a little lower than a 3 out of 5, even, but I’m having trouble actually settling on that. I don’t know if I’ll ending up writing a full review on this one or not.

Reading Next

Marvel 1602I’ve done a rather poor job of reading comics, as I continually complain about, and I’m really thinking I need to more thoughtfully go through my digital backlog and make a more concrete list of things I want to read this year. It was so much easier when I had series I wanted to catch up on/finish, but with luck I can get myself treating such a list in the same way.  Marvel 1602 by Neil Gaiman should still be first on the chopping block, as it were, I just need to figure out what else I want to push myself to read finally. So many of them have languished there for so long, it’s about bloody time.

Until next time, thank you for reading! Feel free to share your own post down below.

WWW Wednesday – June 12, 2024

RyanLeave a comment
www_wednesdays

WWW Wednesday is a weekly book meme run by Sam over at Taking on a World of Words. Check out her post and others over on her blog!

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 The Dragon PoolAfter a lot of humming and hawing, I finally decided to start reading Hellboy: The Dragon Pool by Christopher Golden; though I made up my mind late last week, I didn’t manage to get a start on it until Monday night. There are some other series that I arguably should be getting to instead, but I realized that I haven’t read a Hellboy novel since summer 2021, so it’s nearly been 3 years. After this one, I will only have four more left to read, and this will be the last one published by Pocket Star Books before the publisher switches back to Dark Horse. I’m enjoying it well enough so far at nearly 60 pages in, though it’s doing its usual setup with the characters so the novel is accessible enough, so the story hasn’t quite gotten going yet. I’m most intrigued that Dr. Anastasia Bransfield is appearing again, an old flame of Hellboy’s that first appeared back in the first novel The Lost Army.

Recently Finished

Nothing this week.

Reading Next

Marvel 1602I’d still really like to read Marvel 1602 by Neil Gaiman soon, which I will likely get to before anything else. Reading another Hellboy novel finally has me thinking about other books related to this series that I really need to start reading; I’ve owned the first four omnibuses of the BPRD books for a number of years now, and I really ought to start reading that series finally. Part of me wants to start trying to read another book concurrently with The Dragon Pool, but I need to quell that a little so I can just get that book finished with faster.

Until next time, thank you for reading! Feel free to share your own post down below.

WWW Wednesday – May 29, 2024

Ryan1 Comment
www_wednesdays

WWW Wednesday is a weekly book meme run by Sam over at Taking on a World of Words. Check out her post and others over on her blog!

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

RoadsidePicnicI made some decent reading progress this past week, though editing work has picked up again, so I haven’t had as much free time for reading as normal. Still, I managed to get a little further along in What If? 2 by Randall Munroe. I’m continuing to enjoy this book a lot; I especially love his deadpan responses to questions that are obviously fatal. I managed to get an especially good chunk of Roadside Picnic by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky finished, such that I’m a little over halfway through it now. It’s not especially long, so I’m hoping I can get myself to finish it up by next week. The effect of the Zone on the stalkers trying to raid it and the strange devices found within is becoming increasingly disturbing. It’s not just that we don’t understand what the tech is for, but the effects they have on us are unnerving. Legs touched the “hell slime”? You’ve got no bones below the knees now. Yikes.

Recently Finished

Nothing this week.

Reading Next

Marvel 1602I think I’m being stupid with how I’m neglecting comic books lately, so I decided before I started writing this post that I’m going to read Marvel 1602 by Neil Gaiman before next week. Considering it’s a comic book by Gaiman, I’m not sure how I’ve gone so long without trying to read it, especially since I’ve owned a copy for a while now. This simply needs getting done, and I’m starting to get impatient with myself. The prospects with reading this book are actually quite exciting, as I actually know very little about it. It’s just one of those books you hear about somehow, but I’ve never actually seen anybody talk specifics or reference it in an obvious way. It seems such an odd time period to place superheroes too; I hope I enjoy it.

Until next time, thank you for reading! Feel free to share your own post down below.

Book Review – Good Omens by Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman

Ryan5 Comments

Good Omens

Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch is a 1990 comic fantasy novel by Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman, working together early in their careers, long before they became as celebrated as they are now. The apocalypse is upon the world, and according to The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch (recorded in 1655), the world will end on a Saturday. Next Saturday. This doesn’t sit well with Aziraphale and Crowley, an angel and demon respectively, who have lived among humanity for millennia and have really come to enjoy the lifestyle. So, they’ve decided to cancel Armageddon by killing the Antichrist. Problem is, they’ve somehow misplaced him. As they scramble to locate him, armies amass, the four Bikers of the Apocalypse are riding out together, and a rather nice young lad is learning he has the power to remake the entire world as he sees fit.Read More »

WWW Wednesday – August 4, 2021

Ryan4 Comments
www_wednesdays

WWW Wednesday is a weekly book meme run by Sam over at Taking on a World of Words. Check out her post and others over on her blog!

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 happy to report that I’m between books. More on that in a moment. I’ve once again left Hope is the Thing with Feathers: The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson to languish for another week. I guess that reading surge was a lot shorter than I was hoping. I’ll pick it back up again soon, maybe. There’s always hope.

Recently Finished

Good OmensIt almost didn’t happen, but last night I managed to power through and finish Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. I did want it finished before the end of July, but that become a physical impossibility over the weekend. Oh well, I’m at least happy I have it done for today’s post. I’m in a weird spot with this book, because it really does feel like I’ve read a slightly abridged version of the story I beheld in the miniseries. Since it came after, of course, the miniseries is really more of an expanded version of events, but I’m working backwards here. So, as I said last week, it didn’t have much in the way of surprises in store for me. My only real gripe, though, is that I like Aziraphale and Crowley the best and they are featured noticeably less in the book. Otherwise, as expected, I thought the book was fantastic.

Reading Next

Immortal Hulk The Keeper of the DoorWhat is this, three weeks in a row I’ve talked about reading Hellboy: The God Machine by Thomas Sniegoski next? Well, I still intend to do it. There’s not much more I can say about that. Honestly, I’m mostly wracking my brain about what comics I want to read next. I suppose the easiest option, it has just now occurred to me as I write this, is to read the next volume of The Immortal Hulk by Al Ewing et al, which I bought a couple of months ago. So there, the next book I finish will likely be The Keeper of the Door. It has been too long since I continued that series.

Until next week, thank you for reading! Feel free to share your own post down below.

WWW Wednesday – July 28, 2021

Ryan8 Comments
www_wednesdays

WWW Wednesday is a weekly book meme run by Sam over at Taking on a World of Words. Check out her post and others over on her blog!

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

Good OmensI’m just about halfway through Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, so I haven’t quite finished it like I planned to last week, have I? My attention’s admittedly been a little divided over the last week, though I’m still happy with the progress I have made on it. It is startling just how faithful to the book the miniseries was. Not just in terms of events and content, but tone as well. Gaiman did a stellar job as showrunner. Having read a lot of each author’s bibliography, Pratchett’s writing style is much more apparent than Gaiman’s. Granted, I’d they’re cut from a similar cloth as authors, though I find Gaiman’s work is typically darker and Pratchett’s more funny. It’s hard to comment much more on the story itself, as nothing is all that new to me, it’s just a really enjoyable reading experience.

I’ve also made it to the end of the first series of poems from Hope is the Thing with Feathers: The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson. I decided a reading surge was in order, so that I don’t take an eternity finishing this book. It continues to be enjoyable, though I don’t always absorb what I’m reading as much as I’d like. I came across “Because I could not stop for Death” in my last reading, the only poem of hers I’m familiar with, and that was a nice little reread.

Recently Finished

Nothing this week, unfortunately, I haven’t cracked open any comic books while making my way through Good Omens. I did manage to finish up a review of Into the Dark, though, and I’m quite happy with how that turned out.

Reading Next

Hellboy The God MachineI’m still planning to start reading Hellboy: The God Machine by Thomas E. Sniegoski next, so it’s only a matter of time. The name is really intriguing, I hope this one’s got something more interesting in store for me. As much as I like the pulpy fun of some of the previous Hellboy books, I’d like a little more substance if I can get it. I still want to get Good Omens done before the month ends, so perhaps I’ll start it this Sunday. It’s just hard to think of any that I want to get to right away, having pretty much cleaned out the Star Wars backlog. Other than that, I should probably start thinking about some comics to start reading so I can continue staying on top of those. I know I have stuff to read, but nothing feels all that urgent. I can be decisive when really I want to be, so I’m sure I can pick something soon.

Until next week, thank you for reading! Feel free to share your own post down below.