weekly(ish) update
Jun. 18th, 2006 09:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
meganbmooreAlso, I just popped "Steamboy" into the DVD player and it had the FF: Advent Children trailer, and now I want to watch that again...
Moving on...
"The First King of Shannara" by Terry Brooks(fantasy) The problem with Terry Brooks, I think, is that not only has he already written his best books, but he knows it. Still, his other books are quite good, including this one. If you like the Shannara books(or just straightforward high fantasy) you'll like this, and if you don't, then you want. As usual, the characters I find to be the most interesting are the ones that interest Brooks the least. However, for an "origin of the mythos" book, there was refreshingly little name dropping. In fact, I almost danced the jig when I finished the book and realized the word "Ohmsford" hadn't been said once.
"Sharpe's Tiger" by Bernard Cornwell(historical fiction) While this is chronoligically the first Sharpe book(as James assures me) it was written well after the Sharpe books I've read, and Cornwell's style has changed a lot, so this one took me a while to adjust to. I wasn't too sure about it at first, given Sharpe's plans at the time, but ended up highly enjoying it.
"The Caves of Buda" by Leah Cutter(modern fantasy) While "Paper Mage" is still my favorite of her books, this is probably the most easily accessible of them. It's a much more straightforward and streamlined story than her other books, and has characters that are easier to understand and grow attached to. So, not as good as "Paper Mage" but better than "The Jaguar and the Wolf"(which, mind you, was still quite good, just hard to adjust to)
"The First Chronicles of Druss the Legend" and "The Legend of Deathwalker" by David Gemmell(fantasy) These are the first two books about Druss, and I think the only ones dealing with his past(it soumds like the other 2 are reincarnation books but I'm not sure...I'll know this week) I tend to get worried when writers write books about stories they've abbreviated in other books...they tend to rewrite the history they established or realize they can't really work those events into a book well, as related, but I didn't need to worry(aside from a bit of rushing towards the end of the first book) "Chronicles" is about the bulk of the events related in Legend(except his falling out w/ the last Earl of Dros Delnoch...was disappointed in that) and was quite good, but I liked "Deathwalker" better. While it's a Druss book, "Deathwalker" is actually about Ulric and how he came to rule the Nadir...it not only ands a (good) new spin to some of the events of "Legend" but it also makes you wonder about how anyone could be stupid enough to doubt Tenaka Khan in "The King Beyond the Gate."
"Across the Nightingale Floor" by Lian Hearn(pseudo-historical fantasy) I say "pseudo" because, despite being a fictional world, there are only a few things that separate it from medieval Japan. Anyway, I've been meaning to check out this series for a while, and only just now got around to it. Glad I finally did. A very good book, and very faithful and detailed without becoming too stiff or unaccessible, with very strong and accessible characters.
"The Wizard of London" by Mercedes Lackey(historical fantasy) I'm used to Lackey's books taking a little while to get going, but this one seemed to take longer than usual. Like the other books in the "Elemental Masters" series, this one takes its cue very, very nominally from a fairy tale, in this case "The Snow Queen" for one aspect, and another that I can't quite place for another aspect. The first half was kind of iffy...I don't think Lackey meant to take that long to set it up, and then didn't want to cut too much of it because it's all needed, but the second half was quite good.
Trades/Manga:
Fray TPB: I actually heard about and was interested in this one before I ever watched Buffy, and then I learned it was a sequel of sorts to Buffy, so I put it off until I'd finishedthe series. Buffy or no Buffy, this is pretty good. I probably would have got around to watching Buffy a lot sooner if I'd got this when I was first interested. Maleka is fun as the far future punk spawn of Buffy and Faith, but the axe/stake is as silly looking yet incredibly functional as ever.
Inverloch Vol 1: I ordered this out of idle curiosity, and am glad I did. I haven't read the webcomic, and while I'm tempted to, I think I'll hold off and wait for the next trade instead of reading it online. It's a rather nice little fantasy, detailed enough to be original, but not too caught up in it, or in being cute despite a quite cuddly looking lead.
No Man’s Land Vol 1: One good Seven Seas book(Inverloch) and one bad. I shall now indulge in self-flagellation as penance for thinking "well, it won't be Priest, but it sounds similar enough to be worth a try."
Othello Vol 1-5: Reading this book, I realized that, with the exception of "Ghost Hunt" every Del Rey book I read is one that I initially passed off as sounding silly, then later reconsidered after high recommendations and grabbed. This one is no exception. I saw secondhand copies of 1-3 and 5 at Hasting's for around $3.75 and remembered Mattson mentioning the series, so I grabbed them. The first three books were quite good, then the writer got sidetracked with a story that started at the tail end of 3 and wrapped up at the beginning of 5, and stayed sidetracked. However, it's still quite good, and I'll be sticking with it(for the whole 2 books that are left...)
Saiyuki Vol 7-9: Gaah! Curse you Lina, for making me an addict...The last 3 books are largely one story, and it was quite fun, despite the near total absence of Kougaiji, my favorite character(partly forgiven for the heavy focus on Gojyo, though) Now for the "Reload" books to get here...
Desperate Housewives Season 1: This poor thing has been sitting in the backlog for eternity...bad Megs. On the surface, this series has one of the least interesting premises out there, but the actual show is great. The characters are largely likable(Bree has one worthwhile family member...her daughter. The other 2 are scum, as is her new pal) and the show is very clever, almost too much so for its own good. That ending, however...Watching Lost, I had a problem with the ending of season 1...primarily, that it felt like it ended a good 2-3 eps from the end of the season. This is similar, but not as bad. There are tons of revelations...almost everything...but little resolution. STill, it left me with more anticipation for season 2 than Lost, though not as much as Veronica Mars.
Hamish MacBeth: Series 1: I've heard about this series a number of times, but didn't realize it was available in the US, or that it starred Robert Carlyle. This is a very charming little mystery/comedy series about a constable who's actually brighter and better than all his superiors, but pretends he isn't and covers people's butts so he won't get transferred out of his village. The extremely heavy accents(to my Texan ears) took a little adjusting, though. Now if BBC would just put out the next set in the US...
Poirot: The New Mysteries Collection: This is a set of four of A&E's Poirot TV movies, that I understand were made after the regular series(I think there are as many movies as there are episodes of the series) If I'd known Daniel LaPaine, Paul McGann, and Megan Dodds all had roles in these movies, it probably never would have made it to the backlog, especially since McGann and Dodds had arguably the 3rd and 2nd most important roles in their respective films(assuming that one automatically places Poirot as being the most important character) The movies don't have as much slightly quirky, period-centric charm as the TV episodes I've seen, but the longer format allows for a more intricate laying out of the plot, so it balances out. Each movie, I was thinking that the current movie was going to be my favorite of the set, but I think I love them all equally.
Saiyuki: Double Barrel Collection Vol 5-6: *glares @ Lina some more* The second half of the series(this is 2/3rds of that) veers completely off from both the manga and the main plotline for a new(and quite excellent) storyline. The result, however, was a severely curtailed Kougaiji experience, which is unforgivable. Odd as it sounds, I think I like the gangs original incarnations more than the reincarnations the series mostly focuses on, and was disappointed thast that storyline wasn't completely resolved, though everything crucial to the Homura story was there. There will now be a brief intermission before "Saiyuki: Reload"
And while I'm here:
Steamboy: Tried to focus on the first 20~ minutes, but it wasn't holding my attention AT ALL. I've been listening to it the last hour or so while I did this instead...following it perfectly well without looking at it, and it doesn't sound like it's gotten any more interesting. On to Monk.