Pure Magic: Waifs and Strays (De Lint)

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Graphic novel Double Feature

I seem to be on a graphic novel kick, but grad school puts a serious constraint on my free-reading time. I will consider these last couple of posts as another way to explore literature. This time, I will review two graphic novels, Alan Moore's V for Vendetta and Jonathan Lincoln's Tracker.

Let's start with the classic. For anyone not familiar with the plot or has not at least seen the move, V for Vendetta takes place in a Fascist England where the government follows the whims of a computer program named Fate. The government has extremely strict restrictions and a force of agents to enforce matters. Times are hard, and orphan Evey gets caught trying to prostitute herself. Enter the masked vigilante--known only as V--who saves the girl and takes her in. V has a bit of a score to settle with certain members of the party before he can gear up for his big show-down with the government. He tries to enlist Evey's help, but Evey must settle some issues of her own.

I was glad that I finally read the graphic novel; I really enjoyed the movie when I saw it, but the graphic novel had further character development and revelations that the movie was unable to convey. The water-color style artwork took a bit of getting used to, but I thought it worked well with the story being told. As someone who's increasingly become more attuned to character development, I was pleased that I got such insight into so many characters' changes in such an elegant and subtle fashion. I was also extremely satisfied with the ending and felt that the overall plot did not overshadow some of the finer aspects of the graphic novel. I would definitely recommend checking this one out.

Tracker follows FBI tracker Alex O'Rourke, who becomes a werewolf after he gets bitten while trying to capture an elusive serial killer by the name of Herod. As Alex comes to understand the full connotations of what he's become, he must struggle with this new monster inside of him and what it does to those around him. He gets help on that from a mysterious organization called the Handel Foundation, a shady organization that specialize in werewolf research. Oh, personal problems aside, he still has to catch Herod before the guy kills again.

This novel is simply fun--there's a lot of action and gore, plus the whole supernatural element. I would say that the concept overall was not as well-developed as other stories I've read (and I'm not just referring to V for Vendetta). I wasn't quite sure how all the pieces fit together. The characters and plot also seemed fairly hackneyed, with little to distinguish itself from other crime and supernatural thrillers. The exception to that comment is the way they handled the werewolf condition, which was interpreted as a virus that heightened a host's fight or flight instincts. I liked the artwork, but did not enjoy the story as much as I had hoped when I picked this book up off the library shelf. It was a fun quick read, but nothing more.

"Nothing ever ends": Watchmen (Moore)

It's the Cold War, and America's on the verge of nuclear disaster. Not so different from history, except that there are superheroes as well. However, these superheroes have been ostracized from society and are no longer allowed to fight crime. The story begins with the murder of the cynically laughing superhero, the Comedian. Other former heroes are targeted, and vigilante Rorschach and the other surviving heroes rush to solve it. However, the matter is far different than they expected.

This graphic novel is absolutely incredible. The story-telling is gorgeous---each chapter fits nicely together and resonates with previous and future chapters. The characters--particularly the superheroes--and the questions they ask are so very poignant. I've been meaning to read this graphic novel for a long time, and I am so glad that I finally did.

An American Stieg Larsson Novel: Blink and Caution (Wynne-Jones)

Blink is a homeless boy on the streets. Caution is a girl living with a drug dealer and running from her own private guilt. However, when Blink finds a cell phone in a hotel room, he stumbles into a strange puzzle regarding a kidnapping where the facts don't quite add up. Soon, Cuation is pulled into the mix as well, and she and Blink work together to solve this mystery.

I was pretty pleased with Blink & Caution. Wynne-Jones alternates writing the book from Caution and Blink's point of view, and this choice helped pick up. I also greatly enjoyed the plot--it was a well-written thriller that reminded me of Stieg Larsson's Millenium Trilogy in terms of secrets and puzzles. Definetely check it out if you're looking for something quick. I would not recommend it for younger teens, but eighth graders and above could handle it.

A Crew of Drunken Pilots: The Black Lung Captain (Wooding)

No, they're not airship pirates, but that hasn't stopped Darian Frey from daydreaming about it from time to time.* The crew of the Ketty Jay are back in The Black Lung Captain, the second installment in Chris Wooding's Tales of the Ketty Jay series. When Captain Grist approaches the crew with a job offer, Darian Frey thinks that this money-making scheme sounds pretty straightforward. Getting Crake, the crew's daemonist, to open a magical door in exchange for a split of the profits sounds easy, even though Crake has been quickly driving down the path of alcoholism. Needless to say, things are not as straightforward as they seem, and things go bad for Frey and his rag-tag crew. This time however, in addition to fighting for himself and his crew, Frey is rushing to make sure thousands don't pay for his mistake.

SFFWorld commented that The Black Lung Captain was better than the first, Retribution Falls. I agree--I got to know the characters better, and this fact made the book feel a lot more lively to me. The conflicts between the crew and with themselves also made for an interesting read, especially paired with the well-written action scenes. I also liked the fact that the stakes were higher than the last book and that the characters were forced to confront their own problems--many of which have been present since the first book--in order to deal with the greater problem. It was a thrilling and funny book, and I look forward to the third (out in October, I believe).

*If you have not listened to Abney Park's "Airship Pirate", I highly recomend it as it goes well with the book.

13 Reasons Why (Jay Asher)

Have you ever wanted to know what pulled someone to suicide? What drove them to pull the trigger, tie the noose, take the pills? 13 Reasons Why takes you into the factors into the decision of one Hannah Baker.

Clay Jensen receives a package with several cassette tapes inside. When he plays the first one, he hears the voice of Hannah Baker, a girl from school who had recently killed herself. She explains that the tapes give thirteen reasons for why she killed herself, and that those involved are the ones on the list of the tapes' recipients. Clay starts to listen and soon becomes drawn into her story. In doing so, he sees a very different side to his world.

Trust me when I say you will also be drawn in. I plowed through this book and had some extremely strong reactions to this book. 13 Reasons Why is not unnecessarily graphic ( the book does not go into the details of Hannah's death nor some of the more sexual scenes), so my reactions were not tied to that. This book is simply powerfully constructed. The novel is written as a kind of dialogue between Hannah's voice on the tapes and Clay's reactions and responses. This dialogue both takes the reader to an understanding of how one can get into such a dark minds and, more importantly, demonstrates how everyone affects the decision. That includes those around the one who does the deed and those around that individual. I think that Asher's perspective adds something to the discourse on suicide. It seems like suicides portrayed as either severely ill individuals or simply victims. That is not how life works, and Asher makes that gray area, well, quite clear.

A side note: If you want to hear excerpts from the tapes, go to http://www.thirteenreasonswhy.com/tapes.php.

Beautiful prose, compelling plot, and excellent gore: The Reapers Are The Angels (Bell)

...Yeah, that pretty much sums up my opinion of The Reapers Are The Angels, a young adult novel by Alden Bell. The novel is set up in a United States--with a focus on the South--where the dead walk, and certain precautions (i.e. head-shots) must be taken to make sure the dead stay dead. The novel follows Temple, a teenage girl with a thoughtful personality and a wicked skill with a gurkha knife (seriously, she does) as she navigates a world that has been badly broken. However, the world may not be the biggest thing Temple has to contend with...

There were so many things I liked about this book--my three part summary in the title pretty much sums it up, but let me explain myself. Alden Bell has written a captivating piece of work--his descriptions, use of the third person present, and lovely diction and imagery really drew me into the work. Additionally, as stated in the third part of the action, the gore--er action--is pretty fantastic and well-described. Don't worry-it's not horribly over-the-top, but is still well-described like the rest of the book. The plot itself--while it could have gotten old because it was fairly episodic--was compelling, particularly because, at the same time, the reader gets a lot of Temple's personal ruminations. Temple's self-exploration is what makes a lot of the book so interesting and to an extent relatable. There's a great twist at the end...I won't tell you what it is. Just know that it's very well-done. All in all, The Reapers are the Angels was a rather enjoyable book--not necessairly the deepest book I've ever read, altough it did have some meaning. Definetely check this one out if you're looking for something quick, but well-written and fun to read.