Semiosis

Semiosis by Sue Burke. 333 pages.

When Earth's environmental and political problems have become too extreme, a group of scientists, longing for a better world, turn to space for a planet that may be habitable for humans. The scientists wake up after nearly 200 years (cryogenically frozen, of course) to find Pax, a planet much like Earth. Only, Pax is much older, and as a result, the plant life has had more time to evolve...and possibly develop a kind of sentience. What follows is a saga of this small colony fighting to survive in an environment that can be both hospitable and hostile at once.

While it is not revealed in most teasers I have read, I don't think it is much of a spoiler to reveal that each chapter in Semiosis is written from a different point-of-view throughout the generations that inhabit Pax. This leads to some incredible storytelling where we, the readers, have a broader knowledge of how events and alliances have unfolded, but such knowledge isn't always as apparent to the characters. I wasn't sure I was going to get into this book at first, but when I caught on to this structure by the second chapter, I was hooked. Semiosis brings up some really interesting implicit commentary on culture heritage, ownership, and the passage of a collective knowledge. It was a thrilling read, with definite suspense and horror elements peppering the plot. Following these characters--humans and plants--for so long garners a lot of attachment, and I was on the edge of my seat 'til the end wondering how (or even if) anyone would make it. A fantastic read and one I just may return to in the future.

Dragonar Academy

Dragonar Academy 1-5 by Shiki Mizuhci, 964 pages (5 books)

Dragonar Academy is a school on the continent of Arc Strada. A school that teaches its students how to ride and tame their dragons. Unlike the classic dragon stories, where dragons hatch from eggs, here children are chosen by a “Mother Dragon” and eventually manifest in a semi grown up form. While most students seem to be progressing with their dragons, Ash is having problems. The first being his dragon has yet to manifest. And when she does finally appear she looks more like a girl than a dragon. Will Ash be able to control/tame Eco (what he named the dragon) or will her fiery spirit make him the servant?

I wasn’t sure what to make of Dragonar Academy for the first couple books. It seemed to have a good premise, and I liked the idea of dragon manifestation vs hatching, but I thought making the main dragon in the story a young girl with horns odd. It leads to some weird ecchi moments and some overdone innuendos about how dragon trainers are supposed to be able to ride their dragon. I can see how this would appeal to the teen market I am sure this manga is aimed at, but come on.

Overall though it is not a bad series. While it has its flaws, I think it serves the purpose of a not too serious manga. If you don’t feel like you want to read it though apparently there is an anime series .

Dodgers

  

Dodgers by Bill Beverly       304 pages

East is 15 years-old and lives/works in the inner city section of South Central Los Angeles called The Boxes, that’s about as poverty stricken as can be. He has seen more than most of us ever see in a lifetime. He’s in a gang; it’s works the midnight shift keeping watch over a drug den. Most nights, after work, he breaks into an office building’s basement and sleeps, undetected, under a box.

The gang’s leader, Fin, has a soft spot for East. However, a soft spot in a drug dealer is much different than soft spots in others.

The house is busted one night, but everyone gets way. Fin has a new job for East: kill a judge who is the key eyewitness in an upcoming trial. East, ready to be a man, steps up to the challenge. Following Fin’s orders, he climbs in a ratty van along with three others: Michael Wilson, oldest of the bunch; Walter, the fat kid, and Ty, East’s equally-hardened younger brother. East has never been outside of his neighborhood, and the trip is both frightening and exciting.

The quartet sets off for Wisconsin where the judge is hiding until the trial begins. Author Bill Beverly does an amazing job of making the reader feel as h/she is along for the ride. The trip takes about half of the story, but Beverly does an excellent job in keep the sentences fresh. Writing about driving halfway across the country and keeping it fresh, even with their side adventure, is a masterful feat. Tension rides high on each page.

The hit is completed, but there are complications. Complications that have a lasting, deep impact on East. I can’t give too much away, but East is at a crossroads. Does he go back to LA and live with the consequences or does he stay in the Midwest and start over?

East winds up in Iowa, at a paintball range, sleeping in the storage room under a box. Perry, the range’s owner, becomes somewhat of a father figure to the young man. When East’s past resurfaces, it’s up to him to determine his fate.

I think this was an amazing book. I don’t often care to read book about gangs and violence, but this one captured my attention from the opening paragraph. Beverly shows a lot of empathy toward East, who in many, many ways reminded me of Richard Wright’s Bigger Thomas. Beverly writes with such first-hand knowledge of an African-American teen, I was truly surprised to discover that he is a white dude. Tagged as a young adult novel, Dodgers deftly crosses the line into adult fiction.

I give Dodgers 5 out of 5 stars. I received this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for this review.

Furiously Happy

Furiously Happy: A Funny Book about Horrible Things, by Jenny Lawson, 329 pages

Jenny Lawson writes Furiously Happy… for “all who walk the dark path, and to those who walk in the sunshine but hold out a hand in the darkness to travel beside us…” (p. 323) In other words, for the 1 in 5 Americans who suffer from a mental illness (NAMI ), but especially depression and anxiety. 

Sounds… funny?  Surprisingly… yes- at times.  Lawson manages to write about depression and anxiety in a way that is upfront and unapologetic,  heartbreaking and hilarious.

Some of the book is inexplicable and laugh-out-loud funny, like when she tries to get her cats to allow a taxidermied raccoon to ride on their backs long enough for photos.  (Check out her blog to see if her humor is for you.) Other parts are refreshing simply for her candor regarding how other people treat those who suffer from depression.  Long excerpt, but I just have to include this part that really resonated with me, about when people tell her to "just cheer up":

“It’s pretty much the equivalent of telling someone who just had their legs amputated to ‘just walk it off.’ Some people don’t understand that for a lot of us, mental illness is a severe chemical imbalance rather than just having ‘a case of the Mondays.’ Those same well-meaning people will tell me that I’m keeping myself from recovering because I really ‘just need to cheer up and smile.’ That’s when I consider chopping off their arms and then blaming them for not picking up their severed arms so they can take them to the hospital to get reattached… ‘Honestly it’s like you don’t even want to have arms.’ (p. 134)

Her writing style may not be for everyone, but I think that if you have depression and/or anxiety or want to better understand someone you know or love who does, it’s worth a read. Also, come on- the cover is the cutest one to pass through the library in awhile.  

Jupiter's Legacy

Jupiter's Legacy, by Mark Millar, 120 pages

This is one of those comics where I heard the plot and thought, "That sounds interesting"; then the copy arrived and I saw the cover and thought, "This does not look promising"; then I read it and thought, "Meh. It was... alright." Here's the general idea: a group of people discover a mysterious island and then become the world's first superheroes, with superpowers and all.  Then they have children who also have superpowers but are basically entitled and resentful of their parents.  Infighting happens, the families kind of break apart, and then there's a dramatic conclusion that paves the way for the second book that I will not be reading.  It wasn't bad- just not for me.  I was hoping more for an Astro City sort of non-canon superhero comic.

Saga, Volume 4

Saga Volume 4, by Brian K. Vaughan (Fiona Staples, art), 144 pages

In this latest collection of the Saga comics, Marko is getting lonely in what feels like a job as a single dad, Alana is finding the darker, more addictive side of acting, and Hazel is learning to dance. We also learn a little more about the Robot kingdom. It's a compelling work, but I am really losing track of what's going on when I have to wait in between volumes.  Also, this really doesn't sound like a lot, but I think it's really laying some groundwork for the next work. 

Highschool of the Dead Vol 2

Highschool of the dead Vol 2 by Daisuke Satao, 166 pages


Unsurprisingly this second volume picks up were Highschool of the Dead left off. If you missed my previous review, go read that first and then come back here... Now that everyone knows that this is about a group of high school students who witness a zombie outbreak happening at their school and decide to band together and find their families, you can continue reading this review.

What started out as a mostly cliché zombie manga series, where everyone strangely knows how to fight and have no morals about killing once fellow classmates, continues to stay in that niche and does nothing to impress. Volume 2 brings us the cliché fellow survivor held captive by rioting/out of control person and the big overused, main character risking their life, and ultimately everyone's life trying to save a child/loved one. There is even the classic government has sealed off all of the bridges to contain the zombies. The only thing that separates this most of the zombie works out there is the slightly younger age group this focuses on. But that is offset by everyone being mature beyond their years.

There was one thing that surprised me about Highschool of the Dead Volume 2 the pointless nudity. I am not talking about just random zombies in the background shuffling around, but a multipage drunken bath scene where even the characters involved are worried that they are crossing into porno. I know some of you may argue that pointless nudity is a classic cliché of modern zombie movies and to a degree I agree. But when the characters are all supposedly high school students it is nothing but inappropriate and obviously there to sell more issues. Though in all fairness this might just be a cultural thing that doesn't translate well across the Pacific Ocean.

This is likely where my reading of the series will end, namely because for some reason the library did not continue to buy this manga.(sarc) And to be quite honest I am not sure I want to risk ending up on some governmental or police watch list by trying to find and continue reading this online. I would say that maybe this is appropriate for teenagers, though the books are stored in the adult area.

Note: for everyone else that thinks highschool should be two words and not combined in the title, I entirely agree with you. But this is how it is written on the book and in the catalog.

Eustace

Eustace, by Steven Harris, 280 pages 

In this graphic novel, Eustace is a sickly eight year old, who basically stays in bed all of the time.  Such is a boring life, so Eustace distracts himself with talking to imaginary people (the reader), which is not crazy because they are not imaginary friends (an important distinction).  Eustace shares memories, whether of appalling family members or soup or taking a bath, that gradually become bizarre and outlandish and quite scandalous.  This is not a book for children, or adults who may be offended by nudity or language. It felt like reading a young person's fever dream. 

Hack/Slash Part 2

Hack/Slash Omnibus #2 by Tim Seeley, 422 pages

This continues the adventures of Cassie Heck and Vlad as the continue to hunt down and kill serial killers known as "slashers". Slashers are like your B movie killers. They kill anyone who gets in their path and are very hard to kill, they also have a bad habit of not staying dead.

This series has been quite good as it embraces the fact that rarely do the heroes walk away unscaved. Much like the low budget horror films the comic is based off it is not uncommon to see lots of skimpy outfits and some overdone nudity. If you enjoy those types of films you should give this series a try.


Note: Link goes to a book that is currently on order. I cannot tell if the order was just for the first omnibus volume or all of them. But if you are going to read this one you should read the first one too.

How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe

How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe by Charles Yu, 239 pages



Minor Universe 31, is a vast story-space on the outskirts of fiction, where the rules of science fiction govern peoples lives, and time travel is a serious business. Every day people try to do the one thing they shouldn't ever do which is change the past. Our protagonist is Charles Yu, a time travel technician helps save people from themselves, and when he's not taking clients or consoling his boss, Phil he searches for his father, who invented time travel and then vanished. Along for the ride are TAMMY, his time machine's operating system with low self-esteem, and his nonexistent but still there dog Ed.
 
This was another book I pulled off of a science fiction display, which I kind of had mixed feelings about. To me it started off really slow in that nothing really happened to the point where I almost stopped reading. This book takes place mostly in the lead characters mind and so there is a lot of narration, and some of it felt kind of repetitive, or unnecessary. That being said the book did have some redeeming qualities, I enjoyed the whole concept of the book and how they dealt with the paradoxes of time travel, as well as how time travel worked. I also enjoyed how Yu keeps building up to the end while creating a new and fresh look at science fiction. Overall I think this book will probably be a good read for people who enjoy serious science fiction. 

I also really loved the cover with all its ray guns and its one dog.

Graylight

Graylight by Naomi Nowak, 138 pages

Graylight is a graphic novel that was left on one of our tables. What really caught my eye was the coloring and art not just on the cover, but inside as well. The coloring throughout has that muted tone, as if it was being seen though a gray light. This makes the book look like the memory it is suppose to be.

Graylight is about a woman who looks back to a certain event in her past as the cause of her condition today. It has a plot that jumps around a bit and can be hard to decipher namely due to lack of explanation. But while some may find this detracts from the overall readability, I actually enjoy it. It really conveys that this is a memory with all of the gaps and disjointedness that we experience when trying to recall events.

Fables 2 and 3

Deluxe Fables Vol 2 and 3, by Bill Willingham, 474 pages

I thought I had previously blogged about Fables 2 but cannot find the post anywhere so I combined 2 and 3 here.

Fables 2 highlights why this is in the adult part of the library and not the teen lounge. Between the nudity, assassination attempts, romance, murder and political scheming this book is quite thrilling to read. It also reveals more of the backstory behind the characters and highlights the history between them.

Fables 3 shows us that The Adversary has not forgotten about the escaped Fables. This marks the first confrontation we read about since they left the old world. Seeing familiar fable characters wielding swords and fighting makes you wonder how much cooler the old stories could have been. This book left me with a lot of questions, one of which being who is Baba Yaga, but also shows that the action in this series is just heating up.

Nana

Nana by Zola, Emile, 485 pages

I started reading Nana after I saw it in a list of banned books. The book had been banned in Yugoslavia and Ireland and the writings of Zola were banned in England and was listed on the Index Librorum Prohibitorum, which was the list of books prohibited by the Vatican until the list was abolished in 1966.

As I read it I could not understand why this book was banned. I know it came from an earlier time but asides from prostitution, lack or morals and some vulgarity there is not anything overly bad about it. After some looking it seems that the reason people objected to it was the heroine of the story being a prostitute and for exposing the desires of men in the era in a bad light.

This is actually the ninth part of a twenty volume set by Zola. I did not find that out till afterwards, but apparently reading them in order gives you the proper introduction of the characters versus the casual ones provided in Nana. The book can be read on its own though, if you are patient.

The book overall is only fair and despite all of the characters falling in love with Nana by the end I was hoping she would meet some horrible fate.


If the novel would come out now it would not even receive a passing glance. If I am to continue this reading of banned books I might have to focus on the newer ones, as most of these seem to be banned just for being progressive for their time.

Forever Amber

Forever Amber by Kathleen Winsor, 726 pages

I started reading this book to see why it was banned in New Zealand and Ireland, and was burned at ports and public libraries in England. The only reason I can see is that it was indecent for its time. While it might be true that it has, as one attorney general put it, "seventy references to sexual intercourse; thirty-nine illegitimate pregnancies; seven abortions; ten descriptions of women undressing, dressing or bathing in the presence of men; five references to incest; thirteen references ridiculing marriage; and forty-nine miscellaneous objectionable passages"(Banned Books, ALA) it certainly is no worse than stuff that is published now, like Game of Thrones.

I found Forever Amber to be a pretty typical romance novel with slight hints of political thriller. Basically Amber falls in love with Bruce and power and will do anything it takes to get both of the things she wants. I truly like how the novel ends and it may be one of the best endings I have ever read. Obviously the book is for mature audiences.

Hack/Slash

Hack/Slash Omnibus V1 by Tim Seeley, 416 pages

 

Ever since I saw Nathans review of this on the blog I knew I had to read it eventually. Sadly there were no libraries close that owned it so I had to ILL (interlibrary loan) it. I was quite pleased with the book. In it a young women by the name of Cassie hunts down villains known as slashers. A good example of a slasher would be Jason Voorhees or Chuckey, who is featured in the book. She is aided by disfigured man named Vlad.

This book and likely the whole series is in graphic novel form and gives an interesting twist to the traditional slasher movie genre. The book is for mature audiences and I would recommend it to anyone that enjoys horror movies. There are at least for more omnibuses in the series, and I intend to read all of them. 

 

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Stieg Larsson's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Vol 2 by Denise Mina, 160 pages

This is the graphic novel version of Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Despite both books being rather thin and the entire book could have been released together it wasn't so. While I really was captivated by the books and the movies the graphic novels seemed lacking. The story is mostly there though in a more condensed form but the characters seem flatter and less realistic. Though that won't stop me from reading any other graphic novel adaptations that come out about this series.

The graphic novel does have one thing going for it through. While the books and movies are likely rated R (dont remember and too lazy to go look) the graphic novel cuts out or filters most of that and presents the story in what would likely be considered more PG-13 ish.

Haganai: I Don't Have Many Friends - Volume 1-5

Haganai: I Don't Have Many Friends Volume 1 - 5 by Yomi Hirasaka, 960 pages (total)

Okay, forgive me, but it's STORY TIME.

In high school, I had a classmate named Jeremy (names changed to protect the (?) innocent). A lot of people really didn't like Jeremy because he had a particular demeanor to him. He always came across as full of himself, like he thought he was cooler, smarter, better than everyone else. His screen name (back when AOL and AIM were still a big deal, yes I'm old) was even "Superior." Most people found him grating at best, and kind of a jerk at worst.

And then, in college I met Roth (again, names changed). Roth was seriously asocial - to the point that he refused to meet in person for something that could be accomplished online (and often even when it couldn't). He gave off a sort of angry/bitter aura. When you asked how his day was, he'd say "bad," even if it wasn't, just because he hated how rote "fine" and "good" had become as responses. He always had a snide comment to elbow you with.

These are real people I met. But I felt like I understood something about them that others just didn't grasp. Behind their "rough" personalities, each of them was incredibly kind-hearted. Not only would they help you out if you needed, they'd listen to your most insignificant of problems, just so you had someone to talk to. And beyond that, the personalities that most people perceived were misrepresentations - they were both really down-to-earth and self-deprecating, they just had their own way of showing it. If you weren't willing or able to see beyond their surface-level demeanor, you'd never see the wonderful souls underneath.

I feel like that is the spirit of Haganai. At first glance, this is a series about a bunch of high school students that range on the spectrum from bizarre, to conceited, to sadistic. They play horribly mean pranks on one another, mock each other with the most degrading nicknames imaginable, and fight at the slightest provocation. But even at their most offensive, underneath (and despite the title), you can tell that these characters are friends. It just resonates with me, because I've known people like this. And it also hammers home themes of loyalty, family, and (unsurprisingly) friendship.

That's not to forgive it all its faults though. Haganai is a series that consistently goes one step (or two steps, or ten steps) too far. The characters don't just playfully rib each other, they say some downright degrading stuff. It often steps beyond "tastefully offensive" (if such a thing exists) and into sleazy territory. And it revels way too much in its own perversion - it's always played for laughs, but that doesn't necessarily make it okay.

TL;DR I've always liked Haganai, and the manga version is a little tamer, less problematic, (and thus better) than the anime is. I'm not necessarily proud that I like it. Not only would I not fault anyone for disliking it, I think most people would be pretty put-off (or even disgusted?) with it.  But I think completely writing it off does it a disservice. There's some real heart here buried under the vitriol and the perversion. I just suspect most people won't find it worth digging for.