Fancies and Goodnights, by John Collier

Tuesday, September 30, 2008



isbn: 9781590170519


I wrenched this book out of Mike's hands as soon as I found out it was being compared to Roald Dahl. If you have read and enjoyed "Lamb to the Slaughter", the short story by Dahl, you will adore this book. A collection of short stories (3-12 pages each, ish), it is a fun ride through Hollywood, hell, suburbia and downtown. It has fleas in love, myriad murders, strange and unusual destinations and tons of fun. It is comparable to Roald Dahl for darkness and to Stephen Leacock for social satire. It was a super fun read that I cannot wait to shove into the hands of unsuspecting customers.

5/5

World of Warcraft Graphic Novel by Simonson and Lullabi

Saturday, September 27, 2008




isbn: 9781401218362

I used to be way more into comic books than I am now. Then again, I am way more into World of Warcraft than I have ever been. When I saw this sitting at the library, I grabbed it. I feel that a graphic novel created by many people can never really be rated on one thing alone. Art-wise, Lullabi does a great job. He keeps the bright, slightly cartoony look of the video game and knows how to draw fights, which is rarer than you might think. His elves are pretty, his bears are vicious and have big butts (wow inside joke) and his armour totally fits the over the top style. Writing wise, they also did a good job. It keeps moving and the dialogue does not feel overdone. Plot wise, though, ouch. They tried to cram in so much lore... Wow lore is best discovered slowly, through series of quests that make you understand the motivation of one group or another. This thing bounces around the horde, the alliance, all the main towns (which are beautiful, don't get me wrong. Seeing Darnasus, the giant tree, or the high peaks of Thunderbluff is amazing) but then you throw in the furbols, the naga, warsong gulch.... They are trying to cram about 40 levels of lore into a hundred pages. Ouch, my head!

Art: 4/5
Writing: 3/5
Plot: 2/5

Average: 4/5

Zombie Haiku, by Ryan Mecum

Wednesday, September 3, 2008



isbn: 9781600610707

This is cute. Really cute. In a gory, horrible, flesh-eating way. The story told is lovely, interestingly paced and fun. There is even an awesome video on youtube advertising the book: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pd1Ws9QnmZY The book is classified as humour at the store, but I will put it squarely in the horror genre just because of the grape/eye reference. It was a bit short but the artwork inside was fun, matching the poems and the movement of the character. How a zombie can still write is beyond me, though I guess we are supposed to forget about that part.

3/5