Some Late Reviews
With more to come tomorrow.
Star Wars: Empire, Volume 1: Betrayal, Scott Allie, Ryan Benjamin, and Curtis Arnold
Graphic novel, Star Wars tie-in, you know the drill. No longer canon thanks to the Disney buyout, but that's okay.
Here's where I would ordinarily describe the plot, but I'm not actually sure what it was. The book was pretty confusingly put together. There was some kind of fake Jedi wandering around that Vader was trying to nab, and also a conspiracy of Moffs was trying to take down the Emperor, but that's all I got; I couldn't tell you why anyone was doing these things, or what was up with the fake Jedi, or really anything. Plus the art was weird and difficult to follow with some very strange anatomy.
Would not recommend, and will not be continuing the series.
Fuck Fascists Factor: 3--fascists have problems. Outwardly critiques the Emperor's fascist government, although the uprising is squashed in the end.
Black Swan, Mercedes Lackey
This is another in Lackey's proto-Hundred Kingdoms series, a sort of loose companion to Firebird. Black Swan is based off Swan Lake and set somewhere in a vaguely German/Holy Roman Empire area that's never really defined. But then, this is a fairy tale and it doesn't matter that much where, exactly, it is, so long as the feeling is right.
The feeling is right, and as long as you don't think about it too much it's a pretty enjoyable novel. Our heroine, Odile, is the daughter of Baron von Rothbart, he of the enchanting women to be swans by day and women by night. Odile doesn't really see anything wrong with this, due to her upbringing, although that changes via character development, as she guides and guards her father's flock and becomes friends with Odette, the Swan Queen herself. And honestly, if the book had been just them, I would've loved it so much more (and believe you me I am writing the slash fiction in my head as we speak). However, we also get Queen Clothilde and her son Prince Siegfried aaaaaand my sympathies this time around did not land where the author expected them too?
Like, okay, Siegfried most of the time is shown as a pretty cool dude, but he straight-up rapes a girl early on, and Lackey uses this as a springboard to redeem him. No. No, not cool. He's a rapist, and he never really talks about it after his redemption arc, and I'm done. Clothilde, on the other hand, spends most of the book maneuvering to keep her throne, and I can't blame her at all. She's doing a good job ruling the kingdom and her son is a huge dick with an unconvincing redemption. She's ruthless, yeah, but she's a ruler. My support landed wholly on her side there.
So, on average, resounding meh. Odile and Odette's side of the story is lovely, but everything that takes place on Siegfried's side is annoying and difficult to sympathize with. Unfortunately I can't recommend this book anymore, lovely as the description and Odile and Odette are.
Fuck Fascists Factor: 2--fascists have slight problems. They'll hate Odile and Odette, but Siegfried is probably right up their alley.
Criminal Minds, Jeffrey Mariotte
I was-- actually, am-- on a true crime bender and I ended up picking this book up because, well, true crime, and it had my favorite team from Criminal Minds on the cover. This book is a sort of overview of the various killers and criminals that inspired the Criminal Minds show through the fifth season.
Overall, it's very good. The book is well-written, with well-told stories and nice throughlines that tie its chapters together. It's not super tied in to Criminal Minds, so you can read it if you've never seen the show, but at the same time it nods to the show a lot, so those of us who are fans can see the ties between them. It delves more into the lives of serial killers than it does into their crimes, which is nice for those of us who aren't really gore fans.
That said, there's a few nitpicks. A few times references to the show are inaccurate. Once the author refers to "bisexual" as a lifestyle one of the killers was trying on, which is just... ergh, and there was at least one other moment like that. I'd recommend it, but with that one warning: sometimes there will be a comment that will just smack you in the face, and it may be hurtful depending on who you are.
Also, of course, it's about serial killers, so, yeah.
Fuck Fascists Factor: I honestly have no idea how fascists would feel about this book.
This entry is crossposted at http://bookblather.dreamwidth.org/424082.html. Please comment over there if possible.
Star Wars: Empire, Volume 1: Betrayal, Scott Allie, Ryan Benjamin, and Curtis Arnold
Graphic novel, Star Wars tie-in, you know the drill. No longer canon thanks to the Disney buyout, but that's okay.
Here's where I would ordinarily describe the plot, but I'm not actually sure what it was. The book was pretty confusingly put together. There was some kind of fake Jedi wandering around that Vader was trying to nab, and also a conspiracy of Moffs was trying to take down the Emperor, but that's all I got; I couldn't tell you why anyone was doing these things, or what was up with the fake Jedi, or really anything. Plus the art was weird and difficult to follow with some very strange anatomy.
Would not recommend, and will not be continuing the series.
Fuck Fascists Factor: 3--fascists have problems. Outwardly critiques the Emperor's fascist government, although the uprising is squashed in the end.
Black Swan, Mercedes Lackey
This is another in Lackey's proto-Hundred Kingdoms series, a sort of loose companion to Firebird. Black Swan is based off Swan Lake and set somewhere in a vaguely German/Holy Roman Empire area that's never really defined. But then, this is a fairy tale and it doesn't matter that much where, exactly, it is, so long as the feeling is right.
The feeling is right, and as long as you don't think about it too much it's a pretty enjoyable novel. Our heroine, Odile, is the daughter of Baron von Rothbart, he of the enchanting women to be swans by day and women by night. Odile doesn't really see anything wrong with this, due to her upbringing, although that changes via character development, as she guides and guards her father's flock and becomes friends with Odette, the Swan Queen herself. And honestly, if the book had been just them, I would've loved it so much more (and believe you me I am writing the slash fiction in my head as we speak). However, we also get Queen Clothilde and her son Prince Siegfried aaaaaand my sympathies this time around did not land where the author expected them too?
Like, okay, Siegfried most of the time is shown as a pretty cool dude, but he straight-up rapes a girl early on, and Lackey uses this as a springboard to redeem him. No. No, not cool. He's a rapist, and he never really talks about it after his redemption arc, and I'm done. Clothilde, on the other hand, spends most of the book maneuvering to keep her throne, and I can't blame her at all. She's doing a good job ruling the kingdom and her son is a huge dick with an unconvincing redemption. She's ruthless, yeah, but she's a ruler. My support landed wholly on her side there.
So, on average, resounding meh. Odile and Odette's side of the story is lovely, but everything that takes place on Siegfried's side is annoying and difficult to sympathize with. Unfortunately I can't recommend this book anymore, lovely as the description and Odile and Odette are.
Fuck Fascists Factor: 2--fascists have slight problems. They'll hate Odile and Odette, but Siegfried is probably right up their alley.
Criminal Minds, Jeffrey Mariotte
I was-- actually, am-- on a true crime bender and I ended up picking this book up because, well, true crime, and it had my favorite team from Criminal Minds on the cover. This book is a sort of overview of the various killers and criminals that inspired the Criminal Minds show through the fifth season.
Overall, it's very good. The book is well-written, with well-told stories and nice throughlines that tie its chapters together. It's not super tied in to Criminal Minds, so you can read it if you've never seen the show, but at the same time it nods to the show a lot, so those of us who are fans can see the ties between them. It delves more into the lives of serial killers than it does into their crimes, which is nice for those of us who aren't really gore fans.
That said, there's a few nitpicks. A few times references to the show are inaccurate. Once the author refers to "bisexual" as a lifestyle one of the killers was trying on, which is just... ergh, and there was at least one other moment like that. I'd recommend it, but with that one warning: sometimes there will be a comment that will just smack you in the face, and it may be hurtful depending on who you are.
Also, of course, it's about serial killers, so, yeah.
Fuck Fascists Factor: I honestly have no idea how fascists would feel about this book.
This entry is crossposted at http://bookblather.dreamwidth.org/424082.html. Please comment over there if possible.