Tag: Neil Gaiman

WWW Wednesday – July 21, 2021

Ryan8 Comments
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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

Nothing at the moment! 👻 I’m between books. No progress made on Hope is the Thing with Feathers: The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson either.

Recently Finished

Godzilla Kingdom of Monsters Vol3Over the weekend I read through Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters Volume 3 by Jason Ciaramella et al, finishing up this little trilogy of Godzilla comics. This time around the creative team was entirely overhauled. Something tells me higher-ups somewhere weren’t happy with the way the comic was going. I don’t blame them, I haven’t been fond of this series at all, though this was certainly the best one. Gone is the weird cynicism and painfully unsubtle cultural commentary. This is simply wrapping up the story, such as it is, having the psychic twins try to control Godzilla himself and having the soldier man pilot Mechagodzilla and square off against the old King of the monsters as well. It’s more action-packed with the clear objective of just ending it all. In that way it made for simple fun, with platitudes about the human spirit tacked on at the end.

Into the DarkThe other night I also finished reading The High Republic: Into the Dark by Claudia Gray, the first YA novel in the Star Wars: High Republic multimedia series. Overall, I really liked this book, though it’s not one of Gray’s better Star Wars novels. My biggest gripe with it was how it introduced the Drengir, carnivorous plant-like beings that are deeply tied to the dark side of the Force. This is technically their first appearance in the series, but I first met them in the comic book series, which made them a lot more menacing. This made them feel too much like just another sapient species, when they’re supposed to be nightmarish. I wish I’d read this novel first too, because the conflict with them seems tentatively resolved by the end, which would have made their resurgence a bigger deal. Nevertheless, I’m excited to see how this conflict spans the series.

Reading Next

Hellboy The God MachineGood Omens by Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman is next on the docket! I’m hoping I can get it finished and reviewed before the month is out. It’s a little over 400 pages long, so I’m going to have to really push some reading quotas to get through this. Seeing as it is such a dream duo as Pratchett and Gaiman, however, I’m hoping that I’ll fly through those pages. After that, I think I’m going to start reading Hellboy: The God Machine by Thomas E. Sniegoski, which is the next book I plan to read for my series challenge. I’m particularly curious about this book, though given the series track record I shouldn’t get my hopes up.

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

WWW Wednesday – July 14, 2021

Ryan2 Comments
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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

I’ve made a bit more progress on Hope is the Thing with Feathers: The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson, though only a little. I read through the chapter of poems about Love from the first series.

Into the DarkI’m still making my way through The High Republic: Into the Dark by Claudia Gray. I’m closing in on 300 pages, but I’ll still have a little ways to go after that. I think I could have finished it over the weekend under normal circumstances, but I had made some summer plans that ate up that time. Can’t dedicate all of my summertime to reading. At any rate, I’m still really enjoying this book, though it hasn’t yet leaned into the horror like I was hoping. It’s been taking its time building up to that, though it’s still a lot more foreboding than Star Wars novels typically are. One of the most interesting things about all of these High Republic stories I’ve been reading is that they’re doing what the prequels should have done but never really did: actually giving a nuanced look at what it’s like to be a Jedi Padawan. I’m really enjoying the world-building that this is doing.

Recently Finished

Godzilla Kingdom of Monsters Vol2Last night I read through volume two of Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters by Eric Powell et al. It wasn’t as blatantly critical of pop culture and politics as the previous volume and some of the story was actually halfway decent. The idea of the emergence of giant monsters being something humanity is utterly unprepared for is an interesting idea. I’m definitely interested in a story like this, examining the human cost of all of this destruction, the refugees it would create. Problem is, the book is still weirdly irreverent and painfully cynical, to the point where the shortcomings of humanity’s countermeasures always felt like a punchline. It’s woefully on-the-nose too. I think I rolled my eyes the hardest when a mob of people were desperately fighting over supplies, and an onlooker remarked “Makes you wonder who the REAL monsters are…” Give me a break.

Reading Next

Plans have not changed on this front. I’m sure I’ll be finishing volume three of Kingdom of Monsters, just so I can finish this weird little trilogy up. I’m still committed to reading Good Omens by Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman next too, it’s only a matter of finishing up Into the Dark first.

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

WWW Wednesday – July 7, 2021

Ryan2 Comments
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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

Still no progress on Hope is the Thing with Feathers: The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson. I’ll pick it back up any day now. 😅

Into the DarkMeanwhile, I’ve started reading The High Republic: Into the Dark by Claudia Gray, the first YA novel set during the High Republic era of Star Wars. I’m a little over 150 pages in at the moment. Though this book has been a bit of a slow burn so far, I’m really into how this story is integrated with Light of the Jedi, the cataclysmic incident at the start of that book being the reason a trio of Jedi and a bunch of other refugees find themselves holing up in a derelict space station. While I’m sure it won’t get too extreme, it’s developing into a genuine horror story, which is an uncommon thing to see in the franchise. I believe this is actually setting up the monsters I’ve seen in the High Republic comic book series, so it’s a shame I didn’t read this book first.

Recently Finished

Godzilla Kingdom of Monsters Vol1Over the weekend I read through the first volume of Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters by Eric Powell et al. Oh geez, this was not what I was expecting. I think I need to retroactively thank my old comic shop for botching my subscription all those years ago. The art is very good and the monster mayhem is just fine, but the story is a weirdly shallow and irreverent critique of popular culture circa the late aughts. Potshots are taken across the board at the Media, Democrats and Republicans, aggressive rednecks, judgy liberals, and more! There was a laser focus on fictional equivalents of Lady Gaga and the Jersey Shore for some reason, making me painfully aware that even back then we lived in a Society. I didn’t hate it, though, it was a humorous relic. There were two murderous psychic schoolgirls who bond with one monster and declare themselves the new Queens of France too. The whole book should have been about them.

Reading Next

Good OmensI do intend to continue with the second volume of Kingdom of Monsters, for whatever that will be worth, but I think for my next novel I will finally crack open Good Omens by Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman. I’ve been a big fan of both authors for so long, and really loved the miniseries, so it’s about time I actually get around to reading this book. It is a bit of a shame that most of the story will be familiar to me, but I will not be deterred. Maybe it will touch upon some elements left out of the miniseries that will better justify a second season. I’m excited about that, but also confused. I liked it as a one-and-done sort of thing.

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

Book Review – Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman

Ryan1 Comment

Norse Mythology

With a title that obscures nothing, Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman is a 2017 collection of old Norse myths, retold by the author, a longtime lover of these old stories and heavily influenced by them in his own writing. Using the best primary sources available to him, such as the Poetic Edda and the Prose Edda, he regales readers with tales including the creation of the universe, the nature of the World Tree, the adventures of powerful gods like Thor and Odin, the misadventures and mischief of the giant Loki, and many more, weaving each tale into a loose narrative arc that starts with the beginning of all things and ends with their destruction.Read More »

WWW Wednesday – April 14, 2021

Ryan4 Comments
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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

I’ve only gotten a little further along in Where Have You Gone Without Me? by Peter Bonventre, since I was more focused on getting Norse Mythology finished and getting the Feet of Clay review written. So, I haven’t got much more to say about the book itself right now. With those other things out of the way, though, I’m hopeful I’ll be able to finish this up by next week.

Recently Finished

The other night I finished reading Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman, which served as an excellent introduction to the subject. I’ve actually got another book of Norse tales that seems a little denser, and I’m hoping that will be more accessible now that I’ve read this as a primer. It’s so amusing how this mythology seems to have no real concept of scale, describing so many beings as impossibly massive, yet gods like Thor, who is sized more or less like a regular person, is so easily able to kill such massive beings. That really must have been some hammer. I’m surprised the book didn’t include a story of how Loki came to be blood brothers with Odin and dwell among the gods in Asgard, especially considering he causes them as much trouble as he helps to resolve.

Reading Next

Though I’ve got a few books on the brain for what to read next, I’m most certainly going to read Lovesickness by Junji Ito next, which is the newest collection of the manga author’s short horror stories. I haven’t been enamoured with all of the author’s short fiction, but I think my expectations have been decently tempered after having read so much of his work over the passed couple of years, I’m hoping that’ll help me enjoy the book more overall. All the same, I do hope there are some gems in this book that I haven’t heard of before.

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

WWW Wednesday – April 7, 2021

Ryan6 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

Norse MythologyI started reading Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman last week and I’m a little over a third of the way through it at the moment. My only frame of reference for Norse mythology has been popular culture so far, but it turned out to be a decent primer. In the past I’ve had trouble with mythology books because I have no frame of reference for names and terms, which makes it harder for me to remember things. For the most part this hasn’t been the case with this book, plus Gaiman writes in a really accessible way. It still feels like I’m reading myths, which don’t flow quite like standard prose, but I’m enjoying it all the same. I had no idea our sources on Norse myths are so scant either, with most not even being from a time when the beliefs were practiced.

Where Have You Gone Without MeI also started reading Where Have You Gone Without Me? by Peter Bonventre, an eARC I received a little while ago. I’m a little behind on starting it, since it came out at the end of March, but wanted to make sure I read through it all the same. I’m only about 30 pages in so far, during which I’ve had a range of reactions to it. At first I was feeling a little iffy, but I think that had to do with the fact that I don’t read a lot crime thrillers. There have been a few recurring technical errors as well, but I’ll chock that up to it being an advance copy. By the end of my last reading session, it had grown on me a lot more. I’m still waiting for the story to hook me, though, but it’s very early on in the book so I’m sure it’s only a matter of time.

Recently Finished

Feet of ClayLast Wednesday I succeeded in finishing Feet of Clay by Terry Pratchett by the end of the day, in keeping with my personal challenge to read at least one Discworld novel every quarter of the year. I should have a review up within the week. This was a good novel, and I appreciated how different it felt from other Discworld books, but I couldn’t help feeling that there were facets of it that I enjoyed more than the whole of it put together, if that makes sense. I feel like I’m still collating my feelings on the book, even a week later. The mystery at play was a little too convoluted for me, but I really liked some of the ideas explored along the way, such as the questions of how life is defined when confronted with some truths about golems, which at first seem animate but not truly alive.

Reading Next

I’m not really sure what I’ll be reading next, especially with two books on the go right now. I should probably just shift focus towards some comics until I’ve got those two finished. I’ve been neglecting them again anyway, so I’ll probably go back to the Star Wars well.

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

WWW Wednesday – March 31, 2021

Ryan5 Comments
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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

Feet of ClayI’m just over halfway through Feet of Clay by Terry Pratchett, the 19th Discworld novel. As is usually the case with me, I wanted to be done with the book by now, but clearly that’s not the case. I might be blitzing through the rest of it today so I can have it done before April. I do think I have the time today, but we’ll see if I can manage it. Nevertheless, I’m really enjoying this book, which feels rather distinct from the many other Discworld novels that have come before it. It still has its comedic edge, but it’s taking itself a lot more seriously than other plotlines have. I’m really intrigued by the way he’s introducing golems into the world too, which function more or less like robots and seem to be gaining sentience, with all of the ethical dilemmas that come along with that.

Recently Finished

I haven’t finished anything else this week, as my focus was meant to be on Feet of Clay. Progress on it over the weekend was stunted by exhaustion, if I’m honest, and I have nobody to blame but myself for that.

Reading Next

Norse MythologyEyeballing my to-read list for the year, I have just this moment decided I’m going to read Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman next, which I expect will be a unique offering from the author considering he is adapting folklore and mythology, rather than crafting a novel all on its own. That’s what I presume, anyway. It’s been well over a year since I’ve read any Gaiman too, so it’ll be nice to get back into some of his writing again. I’ll probably try catching up on more Star Wars comics soon too, but with my Goodreads challenge nicely on track I’m not in a hurry to rush through comics at the moment.

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

Book Review – Stardust by Neil Gaiman

Ryan3 Comments

Stardust

Stardust is a 1998 fantasy novel by Neil Gaiman. It’s been a part of my personal backlog of books to read by the author for a while, and in a lot of ways it was not what I’d been expecting. The story concerns the small village of Wall in England, known for the ancient wall that is its namesake that separates our world from that of the Faerie. The only way to pass through the wall is a small passage, typically guarded to keep village folk from wandering into the unknown. Tristran Thorn, however, is hopelessly in love with the captivating yet disinterested Victoria Forester, and after the two witness a falling star he pledges to fetch it for her in exchange for whatever his heart desires. Though it has landed beyond the wall, Tristran will stop at nothing to fulfill his oath and win Victoria’s heart. This is complicated, however, when he finds that the fallen star is not a celestial rock, but a beautiful young woman named Yvaine, with no interest in coming back with him.Read More »

WWW Wednesday – December 25, 2019

Ryan12 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

Lords and LadiesIt’s a Christmas Wednesday! I should probably take a day off, but how often will this come around? I’m barely 15% in to Lords and Ladies by Terry Pratchett, though I’m loving it so far. With a preface from the author declaring it so, this is the first book in the series since The Light Fantastic that you would do well to have read the previous books in the sub-series beforehand. The witches have returned home after their exploits in Witches Abroad, and already it’s hit the fan. Circumstances are still fairly mysterious for me at the moment, but it seems to have something to do with elves, or fae folk, which haven’t been a common or even present thing in the series as far as I can recall.

Recently Finished

StardustI finished reading Stardust by Neil Gaiman last week, and with all said and done I must honestly say I was a little disappointed, though with some caveats. The writing and the characters are simply lovely, with plenty of evocative elements that kept me invested in this lengthy fairy tale. There are some good lessons to be had about being over zealously romantic too. That all being said, the story is almost bereft of conflict. A number of villainous elements are introduced, each of them interesting characters in their own respect, yet except for one scene they don’t really have a significant impact on the characters for the majority of their journey. Conveniences keep the characters out of harm’s way, and that made everything a little less compelling.

Reading Next

Lords and Ladies shall be my last book for the year, so I’ll just leave it at that for now.

I hope everybody has a happy Holidays, and very merry Christmas Day.

Until the New Year, thank you for reading! Feel free to share your own post, or what you’re reading, down below.

WWW Wednesday – December 18, 2019

Ryan12 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

StardustCurrently a good ways into reading Stardust by Neil Gaiman. Of course, this means that I came up short on my little challenge to myself from last week. Can’t say I’m too surprised, but it did motivate me, so it had its intended effect. 67% of the way through in a week’s time, with other books along the way, feels pretty good. That all being said, I’m actually surprised with how much I’m enjoying it, which is saying something since I had no misgivings about it. It’s a more whimsical, lighter read, while still brimming with Gaiman’s imagination. I’m most surprised with how naughty the book is. I don’t think it’s especially explicit, but there’s a lot more sex and risqué descriptions than what its YA-fairy-tale appearance suggested to me.

Recently Finished

Saturday night I finished reading Star Wars: Thrawn by Timothy Zahn. I enjoyed it as a more character-focused novel (as the title suggests), but all the same I do wish the narrative through-line had built up to something a little more climactic. I should have a review up soon.

Marley's GhostI also read through Marley’s Ghost by Harvey Kurtzman et al, which actually has a much more complicated history than I realized. Kurtzman had the idea of adapting Dickens’ story as a comic book back in the 1950s, when the idea of a “graphic novel” was inconceivable. Kurtzman’s adaptation notes were expanded into a full graphic novel for publication in 2017 by Gideon Kendall, Josh O’Neill, and Shannon Wheeler. The result is really lovely. It’s an adaptation of A Christmas Carol, so most of us already know the story, but it appears to use writing lifted right from the original book. The art is also gorgeous. It made me realize why I love this story too: not just for its messages, but also the fact that it’s a ghost story. Hadn’t quite thought of it in such terms so consciously before.

Reading Next

Lords and LadiesDespite the incoming holidays, and my usual brief interlude from reading, I am determined to read one more Discworld novel, Lords and Ladies by Terry Pratchett, before the decade is out. The trick with this is it will really bother me if I don’t get it finished before midnight on December 31st. With the holidays keeping me busy, this may be difficult. This will likely being my last book for the year, period, as well. I’ll save cracking open another graphic novel until 2020 (maybe). Let’s see if I can pull this off, friends.

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