Discuss and rate the last thing you read

[Dalisclock]

Stormlight: The Way of Kings: Part 1 (3/5)

When I finished this book, I was glad to have done so, without any desire to move onto part 2. And in case it isn't obvious, that's never a good sign.


So, yeah. Can't say I like Stormlight. Maybe it gets better, maybe not, but if so, I shouldn't have to read over 500 pages to get to the good stuff. At this point, I think I'm pretty much off Sanderson - I liked Mistborn, but that's about it. Also, I think I'm going to go back to reading tie-in stuff and/or short works, because while they may not be literary greats, they can at least be read in reasonable timeframes.

I'm currently re-reading this book and I'm around 900ish pages in...out of 1200. I read it back in like 2010ish when it was the only book in the series and now that I've got the next two on my bookshelf I feel like I have to re-read it because I only remember bits and pieces of it.

Yeah, if you're not feeling it, I'm not sure I can tell you that you're wrong. It's LONG and The Way of Kings is basically a prolouge to the Stormlight Saga(which is supposed to have like 10 books when it's done). Honestly, while some interesting things do happen by the end of the book, a lot of the most interesting stuff is worldbuilding, rather then plot.

I'll probably start the next book sometime this year, after I finish a couple more books that aren't 1000+ pages long.

 

[Palindromemordnilap_v1legacy]

Jurasic Park. At a litte over 500 pages it can seem intimidating, but once you get through some of the technobable its a good read, and doesn't leave you feeling board. If you seen Jurasic World and Fallen Kingdom, they even get to use some lines and ideas they didn't get to use in the first three films such as the Diolauge Malcom uses in the court room, or Woo explaining that they never made perfect replicas of dinosours nore did they ever try to.

And yet there's still no screen version of the "Muldoon sits in a storm drain blowing up raptors with a grenade launcher" scene

 

[Hawki]

Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea (3/5)

This is by the same author who wrote 'Jerusalem: Chronicles of the Holy City', and in both art style and approach to the subject matter, it really shows. That said, Jersualem is the stronger of the two, but I'm reluctant to describe it as the fault of the author.

Here, De Lisle stayed in North Korea for two months, acting as a liaison between a French animation company and SEK. The novel's in black and white, and it's quite fitting, given the grey architecture presence and the uptightness of those around him. I say those around him, but I mainly mean his assigned translators (read: people who make sure you toe the line). If anything, this is why I feel that Jersualem is more impactful, because he was able to get unfiltered thoughts from both Israelis and Palestinians. Here, everything he gets from North Korea is, with one exception, within the party line. His own thoughts in the story ask (paraphrased) "do you actually believe the bullshit that you're spitting out?" Chances are it's a bit of both, but we can only guess.

There's a kind of surrealness to the story, and it really fits, because there's an absolute surealness to North Korea itself. Pyongyang has three hotels. The highway that leads out of the city is completely bereft of cars. There's villages outside the highway, but no roads to them. There's blackouts, but a monument to the Great Leader is always shining. There's a film industry, but it's devoted to WWII/Korean War films (spoilers: North Koreans hate the Japanese). There's an impressive subway, but it has about four stops, and it's designed to withstand nuclear attack. Everywhere, there's portraits of the Great Leader and his son, or in one case Marx - someone that "capitalists know nothing about."

So, yeah. Jerusalem has more humanity in it. But the tragedy of the work, of North Korea as a whole, isn't that the people of the country lack humanity, it's that they're forced to suppress it. What we're shown is a society that's both normal, and terrifying. So, um, yay for Juche? Y'know, the thing that is studied in universities around the world because everyone outside North Korea is in awe of the Great Leader?

Remember that?

 

[Hawki]

On Fairness (3/5)

On Hate (3/5)

Technically these are two separate 100 page books, but they're part of the same series, and approach their subject matter in the same way. Thus, I'll comment on them both together.

On Fairness is written by a union leader, and can basically be seen as a critique of neo-liberalism/trickle down economics. The idea that Australians value the idea of a "fair go," but this idea doesn't translate to a widening wealth gap, not to mention historic injustices against indigenous Australians. This gets an average rating because while I'm no economist, the book's arguments are basically preaching to the choir (least in my case). Like, I've always been dubious of the lack of market regulation and privatization (especially with prisons, which is turning to a disaster in the US as far as I'm aware), but at 100 pages, the book can't go into that much detail.

On Hate is written by Australia's former race-discrimination commissioner. This kind of suffers the opposite from the former book, because on one hand, the book does present new information...sort of. Like, I think it's fair to say that white supremacy/right-wing extremism is becoming a big problem, and the book could basically be summed up as "yeah, no shit - it's worse than you think." That's a bit of a glib reading of it mind you. Still, the book doesn't really spend that much time on offering solutions to the issue. Like, the former one at least identifies a problem and gives a solution to said problem (don't trust in an unregulated market to serve society), whereas On Hate is far more ambiguous.

So, not bad reads, but at 100 pages each, neither of them can reasonably be expected to go that in-depth.

 

[Hawki]

Pokemon XY: Volume 1 (2/5)

So, I've been going on a semi-Pokemon binge since Sword & Shield were revealed. Nostalgia dies hard it seems. That said, nostalgia isn't enough to cover this manga issue. And no, it's not because it's XY, when I stopped playing the games after Gen 2, and stopped watching the anime during the Orange Islands segment. No, it's because of the fact that the characters are insufferable. We have one, "X," who spends the entire issue moping because he's scared by the papparazi, as everyone had such high expectations of him when he won a tournament. As a concept, it isn't bad. In execution, it's trite and simplistic. And the other characters fare little better because they're all such little angels, while Team Flare are evil, and...yeah.

Okay, in fairness, this is clearly a manga meant for kids, but even material meant for kids can be engaging for people above the intended age range at times. However, this isn't such a case.

 

[Hawki]

Dragon Ball: Vol. 1 (3/5)

Dragon Ball: Vol. 2 (3/5)

Dragon Ball: Vol. 3 (4/5)

I'm grouping these together as I read them as part of a collection. While the ratings vary, as do my thoughts on the issues (in some cases), I feel it best to discuss this in one go.

So, Dragon Ball. This is a series I knew existed, but never really consumed until now. Disillusioned with DBZ ages ago for various reasons, I've always wondered about Dragon Ball, as to whether it might be free of said issues (power levels, saiyans, long speeches, the whole "get stronger to win, fight the next guy who's always stronger, rinse and repeat" thing). Well, so far it is, but in its place are a whole set of other issues, and at least for the first two volumes, these issues really weighed down the experience. Thing is...okay, there's too many sex jokes. Call me a prude if you want, but by the end, we'd gone into some pretty cringy, even creepy territory. This begins right from the start - Goku having never seen a girl before? Sure, okay - fits his backstory. Bulma explaining that no, they can't share a bed together, even if he did snuggle up with Grandpa Gohan as a kid? Well, yeah, okay - nice to know Bulma understands boundries at least. Goku nevertheless falling asleep between her legs, waking up, patting around them, and telling her she's lost her balls (she thinks the Dragon Balls at first)? Um, points for the pun, but you're really pushing it there.

It gets worse. It keeps coming. Roshi is absolutely insufferable. Bulma ends up wearing a bunny outfit because of plot contrivance. The sexual oogling/references go on, and on, and on. They're mostly not funny, and given their nature, plus the age of the protagonists (Bulma is 16, Goku is slightly younger), it's actually kind of creepy when you think about it. It also doesn't help that Bulma's goal in finding her, um, balls, is...the perfect boyfriend. Yep, that's her wish. And she gets a 'perfect boyfriend' with Yamcha at the end, so...yay for character development? I mean, look, usually I try to give the author's the benefit of the doubt. I've been accused of being too Watsonian. But when every female character is sexualized (Bulma, Chi-Chi...okay, maybe not Puar), when every male is either oogling the female or being oblivious, I'm left to ask who the manga's actually for. Horny teenage boys? Yeah, probably.

It also doesn't stop there, because the plot's very sloppy in some places. For instance, a key plot point is Goku growing into a giant ape under the full moon. They're trapped, fated to die in the morning, but the full moon is above, turning Goku into an ape that smashes the prison. Y'know when the whole "full moon plus Goku = ape" ability is set up? A few pages before it actually happens. Like, no. Just no. Chekov's gun, FFS. If the gun is fired in the second act, set it up in the first act.

And it's kind of a shame, because despite all this, there are elements that I like, though in fairness, a lot of them likely stem from a lack of elements from DBZ that I found off-putting. Like, there's no hard line between the usefuls and the uselessnesses. There's no long drawn out monologues about power levels, or channeling power. Least Yamcha isn't completely useless here. Least there's a kind of quirkiness and charm that comes through when characters aren't being pervs. Least it can be kind of funny at times when there's the author's note at the end of the chapter, usually at least prodding the fourth wall if not breaking it At least...ugh. Am I being too kind to this manga, or too harsh? I dunno. But it's a very mixed bag.

...or at least the first two volumes are, because volume 3 is an improvement. Not that you'd think so at first, because at the start, we get into really, REALLY uncomfortable territory. So, Goku wants Roshi to train him, but he needs to bring the old man a "hot babe" first. I mean...wow. Just wow. Like, it's not as if Goku is actually kidnapping females, but this is getting really, REALLY close to...well, close to a territory I don't want to get a visa for. Also, we get an ejaculation joke. Yep. We've gone there.

Thankfully, that stuff is minimzed as Goku and Krillin actually begin training. It's not exactly deep, but it's a much more plesant experience in that we can now play to the manga's strengths - humour (not of the dirty kind), quirkiness, and well drawn fight scenes. Of course, I know that in the future, Goku is going to be Super Saiyan God something something, and Krillin's going to be "useless human guy," but at least for now, it's endearing to see them train and spar. Goku's a bit of a Gary Stu in the manga, but it's not nearly as aggravating as what DBZ/Super bring to the table. And the martial arts tournament is fun. Seeing Yamcha again is fun. Seeing the fight scenes if fun. Seeing the results of Roshi's training is fun. The manga is, at last, fun in a genuine sense, rather than being a guilty pleasure. But that brings me to the end of Vol. 3. Whether I read beyond that will depend on library stocks.

So, yeah. Something something super saiyan something something perv joke something.

 

[Agema]

It's LONG and The Way of Kings is basically a prolouge to the Stormlight Saga(which is supposed to have like 10 books when it's done). Honestly, while some interesting things do happen by the end of the book, a lot of the most interesting stuff is worldbuilding, rather then plot.

Brandon Sanderson wrote some decent standalone novels. Decent in large part because they're relatively short, although he seems rather overfond of a "puzzle" mechanic where there is a logical system underpinning how magic functions that the heroes have to work out to save the day. After he was invited to finish off the massively overlong Wheel of Time, however, he seems to have contracted a severe case of Jordanitis. Peter F. Hamilton can be a similar offender here in the genre of science fiction. Slogging through 1000 pages of text that only tell 300 pages worth of story makes reading feel more like a chore than a hobby to me.

But some readers do love worldbuilding. It doesn't matter to them that page after page achieves nothing except to describe things they don't need to know in order to get on with the story. So as there is that demand, so there will be people like Sanderson to supply something they'll enjoy.

 

[Hawki]

But some readers do love worldbuilding. It doesn't matter to them that page after page achieves nothing except to describe things they don't need to know in order to get on with the story. So as there is that demand, so there will be people like Sanderson to supply something they'll enjoy.

I'm kind of beating a dead horse, but I'll reiterate that Sanderson's quite capable of a "plot first, worldbuilding second" approach - again, see Mistborn. Of what I read, Stormlight is more "worldbuilding first, plot second." And as you said, I guess there's a market for that, but I'll always put plot, storytelling, and characters above worldbuilding.

 

[Grouchy Imp_v1legacy]

The Mind in the Cave by David Lewis-Williams.

An in-depth study into Upper Paleolithic cave art - it's form, structure, and place in early society. Incredibly well written, detailed and yet not assuming of prior knowledge on the part of the reader, it's a fascinating read. Using reference points from more modern rock painting cultures, notably the San African tribes and tribes from across North America, Lewis-Williams puts forward some incredible ideas for not only how and why cave art developed in our early history, but how the development of art may well have impacted the societies that created them. If you have any interest in the development of the early human psyche, find time to pick this book up.

 

[Hawki]

The Walking Dead: Volume 9 (4/5)

The Walking Dead: Volume 10/11 (3/5)

I read these three in a single sitting, and like Dragon Ball, I'm going to review them in one go.

I don't have much to say about 9, other than that I like it more than the others. It's quieter, slower, more character focused, in that it focuses on Rick and Carl in the aftermath of the fall of the prison. So, character rather than plot driven, and after the events of previous volumes, it's a refreshing change of pace.

10/11? Not so much. It's at this point where Abraham, Rosita, and Eugene turn up. Like many points where the show adapted plot elements from the comic, this is another case where I feel the show did it better (the show adapted vol. 9 as well, but both are more even there). There's like, not anything particuarly wrong, but I feel it's really shaky logic to abandon the farm to go off to Washington because some strangers told you that they can end the zombie apocalypse. Even their reasoning that the farm isn't safe because of herds doesn't really equate to "let's go on the road where we'll still be vulnerable."). So, yeah. Stuff happens. It's fine, but whether it be psycho twin, or cannibals, or Gabriel, or whatever else, again, seen it done better. I'm left to ask how quickly Kirkman has to come up with new storylines, because a lot of it comes off as having been made up on the fly.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

In Between the Sheets by Ian McEwan (1978)

Second collection of short stories of Ian Macabre, all sharing the themes of existential ennui and sexual perversion. They're intriguing and fairly disquieting although a couple feel like failed experiments.

"Pornography" is about a two-timing pornographer getting a nasty, emasculating comeuppance. "Reflections of a Kept Ape" has the title ape recall his sexual affair with a female writer who now ignores him. "Two Framents" shows two scenes in the life of a father caring for his young daughter in post-apocalyptic London. "Dead As They Come" tells a classic tale of love, bliss, jealousy and betrayal between a man and a... mannequin. "In Between the Sheets" focuses on another father-daughter story bordering on incest. "To and Fro"... I have no idea what it's about. "Psychopolis" is about a Brit expat having an existential crisis in "the vast, fragmented city without a centre" that is L.A.

I like the way McEwan sketches psychological profiles with effortless precision and the ever troubling yet subtle hints at the true depths that connect one character to another. The collection is great overall, though a few of the stories feel like facile writing exercises.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Batman: Earth One by Geoff Johns (2012).

I don't usually read comics but you know. I was that bored. And I like Batman, or at least the Arkham games and the Nolan trilogy.

"Earth One" is to Geoff Johns what "Year One" was for Frank Miller: an opportunity to reimagine the Dark Knight's origins, albeit not as radically this time. It essentially keeps the same pieces and follows the same beats, but shakes up the mythos by reimagining the characters and their relationships (everything and everyone is even more tightly compacted around the Waynes than usual). Bruce Wayne, looking more than a fair bit like Sterling Archer, overcomes the usual arc of moral testing and early-day self-tuning as the Caped Crusader while never quite maxing out in badass (I guess that's Volume 2). I was more interested in what was going on with GCPD's Jim Gordon and Harvey Bullock, who appear to switch seats as the bitter cop and his idealistic counterpart. Penguin also gets a special mention for his newfound creepiness. I enjoyed "Earth One", but aside from some intriguing departures and remixes it's still also more of the same, again.

 

[Hawki]

Dragon Ball: Volume 7 (3/5)

Dragon Ball: Volume 8 (3/5)

Dragon Ball: Volume 9 (4/5)

So earlier, you might have seen my reviews of volumes 1-3. I didn't skip 4-6 by choice, but rather borrowed what was available from the library I worked at. That said, I didn't really feel lost, as I quickly got the sense of what was happening. So with that said, I will say that I did enjoy these volumes more than the previous ones, because while they have their own set of problems, the issues with the previous ones are mimimized. Basically, preferring one set of issues to another.

The issues that are mostly absent is that the volumes here are far less lewd than before when it comes to sex jokes and the like. Now, that's not to say it's entirely absent - for instance, Bulma tries to flirt her way around danger, there's gay jokes, and a moment where Krillin pulls down Bulma's shirt, causing Roshi to have a massive nose bleed, which covers the Invisible Man in blood, allowing Yamcha to see and defeat him. Because, y'know, classy. Still, it is a reduced issue. What isn't a reduced issue, and is in fact a growing issue, is that by now, we're have a clear precursor to DBZ's paradigm of "you're a saiyan or you're useless." Here though, it's not "you're Goku or you're useless," but Goku's easily the strongest character here, to the point where characters are in awe of him, and he can take out the entire Red Ribbon Army by himself. I will admit though, that I found myself being taken back to the Sonic the Hedgehog comics I read as a kid and...no, hear me out. The reason I say that is because with the Freedom Fighters, while they were a team, and each had their own strengths and weaknesses, Sonic was still the 'uber' character. This is arguably a similar situation here, in that while all the other characters are outclassed by Goku, they're not at the stage of being useless yet. Like, Yamcha is actually more competent than Krillin in this run, believe it or not. So, while it does bother me, especially in the context of knowing what DBZ will bring (and as far as I'm aware, GT and Super are just as guilty), it's a level of irritation that is amplified by context, while the whole sex jokes thing were confined just to Dragon Ball, and made it all the worse for it.

Now that that's aside, I can actually delve into what I like here. Basically, it's still fun. I usually gloss over fight scenes in manga and comics, but here, it's well done. Also, as powerful as Goku is, it's a level of power that he does have to earn, such as climing the Karrin Tower to get an elixir that'll make him more powerful, only to discover that it was the act of travelling and fighting for it that made him powerful. He goes up against an assassin in an enjoyable showndown - no long drawn out speeches and powering up here folks, just 90% martial arts, 10% ki blasts. The Penguin Island sequence is a drag, but other than that, it remains fun. It's absolutely bonkers at times, such as where we have a witch deploying Universal Studios monsters to fight the heroes (Dracula, the Mummy, the Devil, etc.), but it's bonkers in a good way. So in essence, while many of the worst elements of DBZ can be found to have their roots here in some form or another, it's not nearly as grating here. So nice job there Toriama.

 

[Saint of M]

Aliens Omnibus 2

Didn't read the first one, don't need to. The two books in the 600 odd pages take place sometime after the Xenomorphes had infested Earth, and Humans have reclaimed large chunks of the planet. Book one follows a group of marines and a pharmaceutical exec try to find a purer form of Royal Jelly that a queen alien produces for a performance boosting miracle drug called Xeno zip. Its a good read, that seems like its going to be a strait up action film then you have a moment where things go to crap and you remember this is a book in the Alien franchise. Its also interesting to see to rival hives on an distant world go at it like two ant hives that cross paths.

Book 2 of the Omnibus is a heist story set within the Alien franchise. A dying scientist and former millionaire, a thief that is as skilled as she is beautiful, a down on his luck captain, and an android as well as an assortment of other characters go off to a distant world to snatch up a ship's worth of Royal Jelly from a Pharmaceutical group that acts as the big bad of both stories, and how things go down hill fast. Its more of a human drama, focusing on the characters and their personalities and development.

Its an easy read, probably 7th grade in difficulty, with many chapters being a page or two in length, and plenty of stopping places in case you have to. Surprisingly it has little in the way of gore. Sure aliens go splat a whole lot, but there are only a few moments when you see what they do, which I think works to its advantage. It makes the oh crap moments have more impact that way.

If I had any complaints, I think its how it does sex. It has American sensibilities in that it glosses over it, or we get to the day after. The closet we get is the Executive in Book 1 putting the moves on a soldier in a moment of weakness, even copping a feel on her, only to get cock blocked by the tough broad, hard drinking hard fighting brod of a comandign officer. Even then it has its moments, as its mostly to show how he puts on a show of confidence and drowns his sorrows in hot women and expensive liquore.

I'd give it a read.

 

[Hawki]

The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages (3/5)

This is the first of two LoZ mangas I read recently, and I'll deal with this one first. Short version is...I don't like it.

That's not to say it's bad, but I have too many gripes to say that this is "good." First, it's adapting its story from the Oracles games. Now, I've never played them, but as early 2D Zelda games, I'm guessing that they don't have much in the way of story. Given how thin the plot feels, I have a feeling that a lack of narrative in the source material has transported itself to the adaptation. This in turn leads to the second issue I have with it, the character of Raven - Link's ancestor from 300 years in the past. Now, thing is, I actually like this idea in principle, the idea of Link meeting one of his ancestors. However, it's an idea that at this point in time, I feel needs to have certain acknowledgements to work, among them that Link is fated to be constantly reincarnated due to Demise's curse. What's weird is that the manga actually touches on this through some words from Nayru, that Link is basically fated to keep appearing through infinity, but Raven...sorry, he looks like Link, arguably acts like Link, but he's not Link. And because he's basically perfect, he reminds me of a self-insert type of character. The type of characters that I'm just as guilty of writing way back in the day. In the end, it's taking a nice idea, but not fully engaging in it.

Third issue is that the manga feels designed for kids. Now, granted, it almost certainly is (it's listed in YA after all), and the Legend of Zelda series has undoubtedly had children as its primary audience for at least some of its games, and that aside, it's never been inaccessible to them (not in my experience at least). But given the story, and how it's presented, there's the sense that this is not only targeted at children, but that adults needn't bother checking themselves in. This is seen in the story itself (simple), how it's presented (simply, very binary), and in its characters (two-dimensional at best). So, while not outright bad, it's easily my least favourite LoZ installment out of all the ones I've read.

 

[Hawki]

The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (4/5)

This is the second of the two LoZ manga installments I read. This only barely manages to get into "good" rather than "average" territory, but it's there all the same, and there's one reason for that - Linebeck.

With the original Phantom Hourglass, it's a game that lurks near the bottom of all the LoZ games I've played. Linebeck, as he's portrayed in the game, isn't really a major reason as to why that is, but he's not a character I'm fond of either. Reason for this is that his character arc is insanely predictable - coward becomes a hero. Yay. In the case of the manga however, it does alter things slightly with how it portrays his arc. It isn't really a case of X to Y, but more the idea that Linebeck's inherently a good person, and he's dwelling with the guilt of that one time he was a coward. It's a slight difference, but it makes his arc all the better for it. Plus, unlike the Oracles games, Phantom Hourglass has a bit more story to draw from, so the adaptation's working with a much stronger foundation.

That's not to say it's perfect though - Ciela's my favourite fairy companion (suck it Navi), but here, she kind of gets the short end of the stick. Plus, at the end of the day, it's still a manga aimed at kids. But unlike Oracle of Ages, I didn't feel barred from admission, so to speak.

 

[gorfias]

I'm doing the "Super Powered" series on Audible. I'm on year 3 and loving it but did the spin off between 2 and 3, "Corpies". https://www.amazon.com/Corpies-Super-Powereds-Spinoff-Book-ebook/dp/B01D9C21DE/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=corpies&qid=1555971372&s=books&sr=1-1-catcorr Terrific narrator, compelling characters in a well fleshed out sci fantasy world. The Super Powered series itself is like a serious version of the movie "Sky High" with super hero candidates in a 4 year college program. Can be silly in that they have "healers" by to fix people after they have been injured in training combat. Sorry but in real life, if people are intentionally causing others to have broken limbs, even the shock from that can kill someone.

Corpies was a lot of fun: taking place where a hero grad joins a team of corporate supers that are not licensed heroes but use their powers to rescue people. Glad I "read" it. (3 hour a day round trip commute. Audible helps.

 

[Hawki]

Dragon Ball: Volume 4/5/6 (3/5)

So, finally got volumes 4-6, after skipping from 1-3 to 7-9, as I described earlier. Question is, did I miss much?

Well, in terms of plot, not really - as I stated, starting from volume 7, I'd already got a good idea of what was going on. In terms of the collection itself? Well, it's a mixed bag. With the martial arts tournament, let's cut to it - Jackie Chun is Roshi, and the manga does a terrible job of hiding it. I'm not even sure if it's actually trying to hide it, though I did think that it wasn't going to reveal that they're one and the same, because that would be too obvious a plot twist, but no, obvious plot twist is obvious. On the flipside, something that's remained true throughout the manga is that the fight scenes are fun to read (is read really the word?) Usually I gloss over action scenes in manga and comics because so often it feels separate from the plot. And while that's arguably true here as well, here, I felt entertained by them. If the arc can be considered an excuse plot for martial artists beating the crap out of each other, than well done, it's at least entertaining to watch them beat the crap out of each other. Also, the sexual innuendo jokes have been toned down - not removed, but I'm glad for the reduction regardless.

What I'm not as glad about is the absurdity of Roshi destroying the moon. Like, that's a thing. That's actually a thing. Like, serious question, is Toriyama even aware what destroying the moon would do to Earth? Tides? Axial tilt? Debris? The cultural impact? The manga makes a joke about moon pie, Moon Festivals, and werewolves, but no-one even really mentions it. No-one seems to even care. The manga's played fast and loose with physics up to this point, but this is the point where it well and truly jumps the shark into any credibility.

Moving onto the Red Ribbon Army stuff...well, already know how it ends, so can't comment much. It's fine. It's okay. Goku's still a Gary Stu and the other characters are left without much, if anything to do. Characters like Krillin and Yamcha may get the odd victory, they may get their odd moment of triumph, but by Shenron, don't ever consider that they could rival Goku in power. This problem is more pronounced in volumes 7-9, as I described in my review of them, but it's clear that at this point, there's a 'paradigm of power' that the manga can't (or won't) move away from. I've given DBZ a lot of flak for this, but I have to concede that the 'power paradigm' DBZ portrayed had its origins in Dragon Ball Vanilla. And while Dragon Ball is far from the only series to have this problem. key difference is that here, it's far more pronounced, in part because it actually revels in it.

So, yeah. Despite all this, I did enjoy the volumes. It's fluff, at the end of the day, but enjoyable all the same.

 

[Hawki]

StarCraft: Soldiers (4/5)

This was very nearly a 3/5. That's what comes when the last issue of a series is basically one giant action scene. Remember in the last review how I explained why Dragon Ball's fight scenes engaged me when so many comics/manga didn't? This is the case of "didn't."

Still, at the end of the day, I do feel the series does earn a 4/5, even if it's more a 3.5 (but I don't do decimals). It's better than Scavengers in that it's paced better, and has a more engaging main character - Shivani at least undergoes a character arc, even if the arc itself is quite simple. On the flipside, I'm left to ask how this factors into the wider StarCraft universe. So far, almost all new lore has come from the Dark Horse comics, and I'm kind of reminded of how Dark Horse handles the Xenopedia IPs - you can state that they're in canon with the films, but in many ways, they feel like their own sub-universe. Since we've gone Scavengers, Soldiers, then the upcoming Survivours, this appears to be the case. So, yay for Dark Horse ,but not sure how it factors in otherwise.

God, am I out of things to say? Well, whatever. Comic's good. Not great, but good.

 

[davidmc1158_v1legacy]

Those Angry Days: Roosevelt, Lindbergh, and America's Fight Over World War II, 1939-1941 by Lynne Olson (2013)
Back into the non-fiction realm with this one. After dealing with all the bile, divisiveness, and general partisanship that plagues today's news, it was rather refreshing to dive into a work pointing out how we have been here before. In the years before the United States' entry into the war, we were as bitterly divided then as today. I can only hope it doesn't take another world war to finally get people to snap out of their tribalistic headspace and deal with the world again.

As for the book itself, I can highly recommend it to anyone interested in the history of the this particular period. It is very well written and researched. I learned quite a bit of the behind-the-scenes rivalry and maneuvering that took place in the fights between the isolationists and the interventionists (as they called themselves). In looking back at American history, the general unity that the U.S. had during WWII overshadows the divide that existed beforehand. The perspective offered by Lynne Olson is very interesting indeed.