Book Review: Astonishing X-Men by Joss Whedon

This was also part of the Omnibus phase I was talking about in my previous book review post.  I read about this run somewhere (I wanna say DC Girls Kicking Ass) and I love most of what Joss Whedon has done. I was also a huge fan of the X-Men way back when so I saw no bad here (This was the omnibus that started it all). It was a great read and I couldn't put it down. I was up until 4 am reading it.

There is a great intro in the beginning that catches you up on the history of the X-Men to this point, which was really useful b/c I am clueless about Emma Frost, the destruction of Genosha and the virus. 

A small group of X-men reform the superhero team and run the school. This one is less about the team as  students and more about the adults. The four story lines I thought went incredibly well together. 

Standouts for me:  I am a huge fan of Kitty Pride and Colossus separately so the two of them together was definitely awesome. I do wish they hadn't killed Kitty Pride off b/c I felt like she was a great character for girls to relate to, particularly young girls, although as evidenced through Colossus very few characters stay dead in the comics. I also really liked this version of Beast, both artistically and his evolution/de-evolution. He is still probably one of my favorite characters. 

I also actually loved the art style of the entire volume.  I'm thrilled they stuck with the same illustrator for the duration.  A worthwhile read for any X-Men or Joss Whedon fan. 

Book Review: New X-Men Omnibus by Grant Morrison

So as often happens I go through phases with my library requests.  Earlier this year I went through a crazy graphic novel omnibus phase.  While this was not actually the book that I requested I thoroughly enjoyed it anyway so it wasn't such an issue.

Most of the story arc's flowed easily one into the next and I found a lot of the characters very interesting and different then other incarnations. The U-Men and Cassandra Nova were particularly terrifying incarnations of villains and I really liked the idea that ***spolier***being Xorn had begun to affect Magneto.***end spoiler***

I liked the students that we met, however I really wish we had been allowed to get to know them better. I often wonder if Marvel wouldn't benefit from doing a storyline on the students. Not the traditional X-Men as students but "nameless students" that will not necessarily go on to join the team with only passing mention of the X-Men as teachers; sort of like how DC does the Gotham Central books that are just about he precinct where Batman is only an incidental character sometimes or maybe just as a series of one shots.

I was very confused by the final story arc that took place in the future. I didn't quite understand how Hank became Sublime. I'm not sure if it was explained and I didn't understand or if they just never bothered to explain it and considered Jean being reborn as the Phoenix enough to keep it connected to the previous story lines in the omnibus. 

There's a lot of interesting extras here as well.  Morrison's proposed outline for the series was probably one of the most interesting. I found it intriguing to see where changes were made and found it a little bit funny that someone who claimed to have read all the X-Men trades wasn't aware of some characters deaths. I also thought that it was intriguing that he was very focused on having it be a series that new readers would have an easy time with however I often felt that some previous story lines were weaved in (such as the Shi'Ar) that without previous knowledge were confusing. (i.e. I know who the Shi'ar are but didn't remember enough to understand Lilandra and Charles relationship.) There are also some scripts and lots of pretty covers. 

As with most omnibuses where the artist's are not kept the same throughout the entire series the artwork was at times downright ick and at other times it was phenomenal, making allowances for my personal taste of course.

Sleeping Beauty: Vampire Slayer

It's been a couple of days since I finished this and I'm still not entirely sure how I feel. I've always loved any kind of a twist on a fairy tale, and the idea of Sleeping Beauty and vampires sounded like it would be entertaining. When I found out it was choose your own adventure I was a little unsure because I read this on the kindle and I wasn't too sure about how that would flow on a kindle, particularly since it was a transfered document rather then a regular e-book.

I liked the twist on the evil fairy being a vampire queen instead. I liked Lucy even though at times she made me nuts. I loved that when you were offered choices of what to do next, Lucy's rationale was explained. She wanted to this because.... or the other due to.....

I hated that regardless of what path you took, the ending was the same. I remember chose your own adventure being about how you could get all of these different outcomes. I also found it kind of silly that they listed all the different combinations at the end. I would have liked to figure it out on my own. I also did have some difficulty manuevering on the kindle. I think in the end this book was kind of half and half for me.

After the Golden Age by Carrie Vaughn

Celia West is the daughter of Captain Olympiad and Spark, Commerce City's two greatest superheroes. Unfortunately she has no powers and is totally normal, unless you count her ability to remain calm in the face of constant kidnapping. Now her parents greatest foe The Destructor is on trial and she is the forensic accountant assigned to find his assets. Her relationship with her parents has always been strained AT BEST, the events that follow can bring them together or take them apart.

As soon as I saw the cover of this book I knew it was for me. I recently discovered a love for Carrie Vaughn and I've always adored old school comics. This dealt with the realities of being related to a super hero and how it can hurt the family dynamic. Celia's pain was often palpable and it was impressive how she pulled herself out of her own drama and grew into a strong woman.

I do admit that the mystery was easy to solve. I knew who was committing the crimes, but the impetus behind it and how it related to the trial and to the past was very unexpected (I'm hoping this is vague enough not to give anything away.) I was so excited at how everything tied together at the end.

***Spoiler***
There was one thing that kind of bugged me. Sometimes it seemed like Celia was developing powers and other times it seemed like she was picking up Dr. Mentis' powers. I think you're supposed to infer that her power is more of a mental one but I'm just not sure and it was driving me insane. I want it confirmed!
***End Spoiler***

I loved who Celia ended up with. I did see it coming but not in a "of course that's going to happen kind of way" more in the "I hope that happens kind of way." They were prefect for each other.

I am Number Four by Pittacus Lore

John has been living on Earth with his Cepan Henri since he was 5 years old. Him and Henri have lived moved all over the United States in an effort to stay hidden. His home planet Lorien was destroyed by the Mogadorians and Alex and eight other children are hidden all across the planet Earth until the powers they are supposed to be developing at puberty make an appearance and they can go after the Mogadorians. The Mogadorians are also on Earth, hunting the nine in number order to get around a protective charm that was placed on the children and to gauge whether or not they can take over the Earth as well. At the opening of the book John has just had to move again and now knows that the first three are dead. They move to a little town called Paradise, Ohio where for the first time John starts making friends.

The best thing this book has going for it is that is action packed. The pace is quick and never stays in one place for long. It's all developing powers, fighting and giant battles. It definitely keeps you entertained.

The background on Lorien and the kind of planet it was and what society was like was interesting. The flashbacks of both the planets destruction and the scraps of John's life were really interesting. I also like learning about how the history of Lorien and the history of Earth have intersected. However I couldn't help but think that some of the things about the planet sounded familiar as if they had been pulled from other stories, books, televisions shows, movies etc.

My other source of contention was the relationship between Sarah and John. It was a sweet relationship, it really was, however we never get to know Sarah. All we know is she's a nice girl and she was on a bad path but straightened herself out via family and photography. Since we don't really get to know her well, it's hard to figure out exactly what it is that John see's in her.

Revolver by Marcus Sedgwick

This was another one of this years Printz Honor books, so it's another check off on my list. It also fits into the YA historical fiction challenge that I am participating in on Goodreads.

Sig finds his father frozen to death on the ice. The same day while his sister and step mother go for help a man he's met before as a child that he has no memory of appears in their cabin in Giron. Gunther Wolff claims to have been Einar's business partner and that he and Wolff were cheating prospectors and that Sig and his family ran off with Wolff's half. Sig must figure out what the truth is and whether he should get his father's revolver and try and get out. The story alternates between Sig and Wolff and what really happened ten years ago between Einar and Wolff.

This story felt like it was all about the mood. The tension just built and built as Sig tried to figure out how to escape, what he should do and what could possibly have happened ten years ago. I felt like I was on the edge of my seat wondering what Sig would do. I really liked how the Sig chose to handle the situation in the end. He was true to himself by finding a mid ground between his mother and father and their feelings on the revolver.

I also thought that learning about how Einar and the family survived in Nome in 1900 was interesting. I also liked the quotes between sections; they were interesting and gave both an interesting idea of how the colt revolver has been perceived and a few other interesting elements of the story. I also liked the very ending of the story, which I wont discuss to avoid spoilers. I felt like it gave an interesting sense of realism to the story.

Outside In by Maria V. Snyder

At the start of this volume of the Inside Out series, the rebellion is over and the committee has been reformed to help govern inside. Trella is trying to quietly step into the background and allow the committee to do it's job. Unfortunately, the committee isn't quite working out the way it was planned and there is unrest among everyone which gives Outsiders a foot hold in.

In the first book the revolution comes about quickly and with minimal blood shed. I was really glad that in this book the transfer to a new government wasn't smoothed over. I was afraid that it was going to be a book where after the rebellion everything was going to be perfect until the Outsiders came. I was very happy to that author showed how hard it was to bring everyone together and to find a good way to govern inside.

The pacing of the book is quick with action on almost every page. There is one incident after another and it seems impossible to figure out who is doing what. If I hadn't known about the Outsiders from the goodreads blurb, I don't think I would have figured it out.

Trella's temprement adds to the action because she often doesn't stop and think about things but just continues to do what she deems is necessary. Trella is a character that I have grown to love and I really enjoyed reading about her development. She could see the problems caused by the committee and slowly came to the realization that her involvement was important because she was able to help bridge the gap between Uppers and Lowers, both because of who she was and how she saw things.

There are two things that I really wished I had gotten to see though. I would have loved to have gotten some more of the history of Inside when Logan found it and I would have liked to have followed Riley a little bit. I'm not going to explain why because I don't want to give away any spoilers but it would have been interesting to see things from his perspective. However these are really minor issues for me and overall I really enjoyed the read.

(The version I read was ebook provided to me by netgalley for review)

The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley

Harry's father dies and she is sent to Daria. Once in Daria she begins to love the country although she does find herself a bit bored. Then she is abducted by the local king and grows to become a strong commander and legend among his people in her own right.

I finished this book last night and it was completely amazing. This is another book that I wasn't sure what to think about because I had heard that a lot of people weren't happy when it was awarded the Newberry and I think that's because it's high fantasy which doesn't appeal to everyone but I still think people should give it a chance.

The world building in this book was just amazing. From the depictions of the dry, windy desert of Damaria, to the stark differences between the Homelanders' very proper and polite society to Corlath's people's more equal and almost Arabian society, and the haunting descriptions of the evil northerners and their demonic mounts I just felt like I could picture everything that was going on, and imagine it as a place I might want to visit someday.

Reading about how Harry grows from someone who considers herself a misfit for being a bright girl who likes to keep busy to a both physically and mentally strong young woman but becomes a leader in her own right. She is willing to risk anything and everything to do what she thinks is right. Many of the minor characters are fully fleshed out as well, with both Harry's horse and a cat that adopts her having very strong personalities even though they aren't anthropomorphized in any way.

Insatiable by Meg Cabot

Okay so it wasn't until I was like a quarter of the way through the book that I realized that this is JUST LIKE TRUE BLOOD. Mind reader meets vampire and they fall in love. Well Meena can't read minds, just tell you when you're going to die. She works for a soap opera as a dialogue writer and she's having a very bad week. She was passed over for a promotion and the prince of darkness is in love with her and she with him, wreaking all kinds of havok in her life.

Short chapters usually mean that pacing will be quick but honestly this book just felt like it dragged a little bit. I may have liked it better if it had been a little bit pared down. It felt like it took way too long for Meena and Lucien to meet and then it took way too long for them to find out each others secrets.

The characters were mostly all likable (except for Meena's brother Jon he was kind of a pain in the butt and I frequently found myself wanting to strangle him.) There were also some minor characters I would have liked to have gotten to know a little bit better. But it was mostly fun and I laughed a lot because of how over the top things got (Is everyone I know a vampire?) I also really like Lucien and Meena. Meena isn't passive about her powers, she makes it a point to try and help people once she has seen their future, even if (Although sometimes Meena spent a little too much time going on about things...this would have been a good thing to pare down, I'm just sayin'.) Alaric Wulf was sometimes likable and other times I just loathed him. He ran the gamut from complete jerk to kind. I find myself wondering if there is going to be sequel because it was left very open, particularly in the love triangle department.

There was one thing I was a little bit confused about(I'm going to try and be vauge cause I don't want to cause a spoiler). Knowing who Lucien is descended from and due to several brief mentions of a great grandmother named Wilhemina Harker I find myself wondering if all of these characters are supposed to be direct descendents of the characters from their Dracula counterparts or if the writer was just doing an homage.

The Mermaid's Madness (Princess Novels # 2) by Jim C. Hines

I realized yesterday that somehow I forgot to post this to the blog so I thought I should get it up here quickly since I love this series and am hoping that it doesn't end with just the three books that are out now.
Lirea the undine (mermaid) princess has gone mad. She is attacking everyone, undine and human alike and breaking treaties that have stood for years. At an annual ceremony she attacks Queen Beatrice and traps her soul in a knife. The Princesses (Cinderella, Snow White and Sleeping Beauty) go on a high seas adventure to try and get the knife, save Beatrice and help the undine princess.

This was just as good if not better then the previous Princess book. Through out the book we once again get details regarding the "real stories" of the lives of all of the princesses and get to meet some new, interesting characters.This book is delves more deeply into the feelings and pasts of each of the princesses, especially Snow White's relationship with her mother and Talia's coming to the castle and feelings regarding Snow White.

The Mermaid's story is made darker as well with evil witch being her grandmother who is pursuing a very different agenda reminiscent of a mad scientists experiments reminiscint of Josef Mengala's. The book is fun but maintains an aura of darkness that keeps it from getting to silly. This is a great book about a sisterhood of women who are tough and smart. Hopefully the series maintains its drive.

Also I love the covers for these. The girls look the way they are described and you can figure out who is who which I really appreciate, and you can clearly see their personalities in the way they are drawn which I think is awesome. When I read the first one I had a lot of fun figuring out who was who.

Just Ella by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Cinderella has left her Stepmothers house to give live in the castle until the wedding and she's having trouble fitting it. She also never gets to speak to the Prince alone so she's having trouble connecting with him. The only people she's getting along with are her tutor Jed and Mary a servant. At the castle women are considered too delicate for everything, and for a girl like Cinderella who took her fate into her hands it's just against her nature.

I really wanted to like this. I love tales that are based on or twist fairy tales and Margaret Peterson Haddix is such a prolific teen author, but alot of the time I just felt frustrated when I read it. To me a lot of the characters felt like one demensional stereotypes, like they were never fully fleshed out. None of the characters ever did anything surprising, I could figure out what was going to happen based on their archetype.

***Spoiler***
I was also a little bothered by the ending. If Jed continues working for the Charmings, how are him and Ella supposed to end up together. I understand that it's important to stop the war; and a big part of the theme of the book was taking responsibility and doing something to change your situation not just being impassive but if felt like the author was setting up an impossible road block for them.
***End Spoiler***

However it wasn't all bad, I did like the way the Charmings chose to handle Cinderella's disapearance. I thought it was funny and I do hope that everyone involved got what they deserve out of the relationship.

Bite Me (Love Story, #3) by Christopher Moore

In what looks like the final entry of the Love Story series, Chet the vampire cat has become something of a problem, attacking both other cats and people, Jody and Flood are bronzed this time and Elijah's other fledglings return to the city to clean up his mess.

This is my favorite of all of the Love Story books (granted it's been a while since I read the first two, fortunately Abby spends the first couple of pages catching us up on the past two books via her blog.) This one was just as silly and irreverant as the first two, but it also has a few more serious and kind moments that I really enjoyed and that kept it from getting too rediculous.

I loved Abby's blog updates and I know that considering the time when the first book takes place blogs and texting are a little out of place but I loved it anyway. The only thing that really threw me about this book was that the book would jump from character to character and when it jumped character it also seemed to jump time sometimes and I couldn't figure out if things were happening the next day or earlier the same day. But I really liked how the ending worked out and was very happy, I hope everyone else enjoys it as much as I did.

Heist Society by Ally Carter

Kat used to be a thief (it's the family business) but she decided she wanted out and conned herself into one of the most prestigious boarding schools in the United States. But now Kat's dad is being accused of a robbery he didn't commit (mainly cause he was busy committing another one somewhere else) by a pretty scary guy. With Interpol hot on her dad's trail Kat needs to clear her dad of the second crime, or else. So Kat sets up her team and breaks into one of the most well protected museums ever.

This was an extremely fun read, think of it as Ocean's Eleven with teens and girls. Kat and her compatriots are incredibly likable characters. While technically they are criminals, they do have a code of honor that is highly important to them and their own sets of morals that are important to them. This goes a long way to making them likable. A lot of this book focuses on that code of honor and on righting previous wrongs and contextualizes an important part of how theft can sometimes be justified. (Yeah I know that sentence was really ambigious but I am trying not to be spoilery.)

Pursuing the Lioness Challenge & Terrier by Tamora Pierce

Tempting Persephone is holding a challenge called Pursuing the Lioness. All you need to do to participate is read at least one of Tamora Pierce books between January 2010 and June 2010. As a bonus part of the Challenge you can also read something off of Tamora Pierce's Ultimate Ever Fantasy List. My original plan was to read the Song of the Lioness Quartet, but when I saw the cover of Terrier the first book in the Beka Cooper Trilogy, I just had to read it. I still plan on reading the the Song of the Lioness Quartet and something off of Tamora Pierce's Ultimate Fantasy List, but I don't know if I can get it done by June so I decided to post this for now.

Beka is a Puppy (or Dog in training) which is basically like being a police cadet. She works in the worst part of the city but since this is where her life started she is happy working here. She wants to help the community where she was raised and make it better for those that are stuck living a difficult life in a hard world. Instead of going for glory, she picks difficult cases to work because she wants to help people. The cases of the diggers and the shadow snake went ignored for a long time because they were happening to people that are often ignored by those of authority. Beka with her special connection to those living in the Lower City makes it a point to help those that would otherwise be ignored. She isn't a perfect heroine either; she suffers from crippling shyness and has special abilities to talk with the spirits of the dead. What really makes me lover her is her strong desire to help people and to hurt those that make life harder for people who's lives are already exceedingly difficult. She is not in it for the glory and in an organization where bribery is actually what makes the police system work she doesn't get greedy either.

Beka isn't the only fantastic character in this work. The two dogs she is assigned to Goodwin and Tunstall are also interesting. There personalities are opposites and allows Ms. Pierce to play them off of each other. It also showcases two different styles of working and provides us with yet anothers fabulous strong female character. Rosto the Piper and his freinds Aniki and Kora were other favorites of mine and Rosto the Piper maybe my new literary crush, so I really hope he makes an appearance in the next book in the series. They come from another country and even though they are Rats, they have a strong sense of honor. They also see the importance of helping those who are weak and can't necessarily take care of themselves. (I could go on forever about these characters and others but I assume you have other things to do with your day.)

While there is alot of world building in this book I really feel that what makes Tamora Pierce's work stand out are her fabulous characters. I always find myself loving them and they are just so easy to connect to. The more I read, the more I like her work so I think eventually I will read all of it.

Prince of Persia by Jordan Mechner

This graphic novel is part of the storyline followed by the Prince of Persia video games. However it doesn't actually tell the story from the video games; it's more of a backstory. The book tells the story of twins, a boy, Guiv, and a girl Guilan who will rule Persia and a boy, Layth that grows up with them who is the prince of an enemy their father defeated. Eventually the Layth marries the Guilan, but other's interfere in the ruling of the kingdom and all end up dead or in hiding. The stor...mThis graphic novel is part of the storyline followed by the Prince of Persia video games. However it doesn't actually tell the story from the video games; it's more of a backstory. The book tells the story of twins, a boy, Guiv, and a girl Guilan who will rule Persia and a boy, Layth that grows up with them who is the prince of an enemy their father defeated. Eventually the Layth marries the Guilan, but other's interfere in the ruling of the kingdom and all end up dead or in hiding. The story then moves forward a hundred years or so to the love story of Ferdos and Shirin. Shirin finds Ferdos in a well, he is hiding in an abandoned city. At times the stories are told parallel to each other on the page so that the reader can see all of the connections between the two tales and their characters.

The story was interesting and the artistic style definitely fits the story, with vibrant colors and style that reminds the reader of the stories Arabic roots albeit in a superficial way. However Ferdos' confusion about who he is makes the story difficult to follow at times, and also makes it difficult to figure out when the two plot lines are happening in relation to each other. This is where the parallel story telling becomes especially helpful.

Legacy by Thomas E. Sniegoski

Lucas finds out that his father is wealthy billionaire Clayton Hartwell, who by night is the superhero Raptor. Clayton is getting on in age and looking for a replacement. When Lucas' mother is murdered by the Science Club he decides to try and take up the mantel of the Raptor to take revenge; however there may be more to what's going on then meets the eye.

My only complaint about this novel is that it's so short. They could have explored and gone further into several different elements of the story. The author really had the opportunity to explore good and evil and the shades of gray that exist in between them.

***Spoiler*** He also could have spent more time going into the Raptor's mental state and the explanation of his past and what exactly happened with his other children. ***Spoiler Ends***

This was an enjoyable book but it could have been so much better.

Invincible: The Ultimate Collection Volume 4 by Robert Kirkman

Invincible is Mark Grayson's tale. He is the son of Omniman, an extraterrestrial superhero. If you have read previous volume's then you know that Ominman was actually sent here to prepare the earth for takeover. When Mark found out he defeated his father and has since become a superhero in his own right, Invincible.

I love Invincible, it just keeps getting better and better. Even though this graphic novel doesn't hold back on violence, I think it's a great young adult pick because Mark is trying to deal with life as a high school and then college student; including trying to attend classes and having first loves. He is trying to figure out if going to college was the right decision for himself and a lot of people feel that way after they first start college. In the middle of this he is trying to keep the earth from being taken over by other mutants, aliens and super villains. The colors and artwork are vibrant and phenomenal as usual and I can't wait to see what's going to happen next.

Lone Wolf & Cub, Vol. 2 The Gateless Barrier by Kazuo Koike

This book is just as beautifully illustrated as the first book in the series was. Unfortunately, like the last book it was mostly focused on showcasing individual adventures rather then how each adventure relates to Lone Wolf as a person/character.

The lack of closure in individual stories was also starting to bother me in this volume. We never learn what happens to the other characters involved in Lone Wolf & Cub's adventures, which was especially frustrating in chapter where Diagoro is accidentally captured and helped by a servant girl. I really wanted to know what happened to the servant girl after she was rescued.

I am not really sure if this manga series is supposed to have an over arching story line or not, and while there are certain really wonderful attributes to this series I don't think I will be reading anymore of them.

Lone Wolf & Cub, Vol. 1: The Assassin's Road by Kazuo Koike, Goseki Kojima

Lone Wolf and Cub refer to the title character and his child, a man who was once a samurai that performs assassinations as a ronin (a lordless samurai). The beginning chapters of the manga left me a little bit disappointed. It was action sequence after action sequence that had very little story, just how the main character became involved in the current debacle and the completion of the job.

The illustrations from these stories are what really make this manga worth reading and what kept me reading even though I wasn't into the story. The illustrator uses the illustrations to create tension and mimics how movies are shot. The illustrator uses long shots and close ups in a very dramatic way. The reader should pay careful attention to these illustrations because the author relies very heavily on the drawings to move the story along, with little to no text for long sequences.

The last chapter in the book finally starts in on the personal story of the ronin and his son. This was by far the most interesting story in the book. I am hoping it will be continued in the next book, in which case I might consider reading the whole series.