Recent books
Jun. 17th, 2014 02:12 pmGet Jiro
This short graphic novel is like reservoir dogs where the main characters are restaurateurs in a dystopian future where high-class dining is the only form of entertainment. Jiro is a sushi chef who is really good, but works in a low-class district and is initially unaffiliated with either hypocritical restaurateur mafia, but both try to recruit him. If you like beautifully choreographed graphic violence, you'll probably like this, if not, not.
Zoo City
Set in a Johannesburg slum, in a world inspired by Philip Pullman's daemons, except where you acquire a daemon out of guilt if you kill someone. Great premise, interesting setting, but I found it a bit hard to grok the first time, I want to read it again in a bit less of a rush.
Goblin Emperor
About the half-goblin fourth son of the emperor, sent into internal exile in a remote deserted hamlet, along with an older distant cousin who raises him but is also abusive. He becomes the default choice for emperor when his father and half-brothers die in an airship accident.
He learns to navigate the politics of the capital, and fight through to some sort of stable existence between the opposing factions.
I tore through this really quickly and really enjoyed it. My biggest problem was that almost everything seemed to end up too simply: he did fight off usurpers and traitors, but mostly, he trusted people who seemed nice and didn't trust people who seemed questionable, didn't have difficulty overcoming his own emotions and learning the hard way not to trust flatterers, didn't make obvious mistakes, and didn't really feel like his own character, other than "generally well-meaning".
But I think I may miss some of the strengths through not having as much of an emotional connection myself, I'd be really interested to hear other people's opinions.
Common Grounds
Graphic novel about off-duty superheros and ex-superheroes who encounter each other at a chain of coffee shops called Common Grounds. One of the best stories is scanned in its entirety, which I first saw via AndrewDucker, here: http://lalajia.tumblr.com/post/84549968362/geardrops-oldearthaccretionist
Not free from problems, but I found it interesting and memorable.
Knights of Breton Court
Retelling the arthurian stories in drug gangs in downtown Indianapolis. The setting felt like something trying to be the real thing, with all the poverty and bravado and bad choices and difficult camaraderie rather than an urban-fantasy version thereof, but I don't have any standard for comparison, I don't know how accurate it was.
But it ended up being grim and confusing to me, when a few characters were interesting, but the main character was apathetic and barely appeared, and only more confusing when it switched abruptly from being a sort of thematic retelling to having actual magic. I bounced off it about half way through, but I'm curious to know what happens, I will try it again a little more slowly if I can.
This short graphic novel is like reservoir dogs where the main characters are restaurateurs in a dystopian future where high-class dining is the only form of entertainment. Jiro is a sushi chef who is really good, but works in a low-class district and is initially unaffiliated with either hypocritical restaurateur mafia, but both try to recruit him. If you like beautifully choreographed graphic violence, you'll probably like this, if not, not.
Zoo City
Set in a Johannesburg slum, in a world inspired by Philip Pullman's daemons, except where you acquire a daemon out of guilt if you kill someone. Great premise, interesting setting, but I found it a bit hard to grok the first time, I want to read it again in a bit less of a rush.
Goblin Emperor
About the half-goblin fourth son of the emperor, sent into internal exile in a remote deserted hamlet, along with an older distant cousin who raises him but is also abusive. He becomes the default choice for emperor when his father and half-brothers die in an airship accident.
He learns to navigate the politics of the capital, and fight through to some sort of stable existence between the opposing factions.
I tore through this really quickly and really enjoyed it. My biggest problem was that almost everything seemed to end up too simply: he did fight off usurpers and traitors, but mostly, he trusted people who seemed nice and didn't trust people who seemed questionable, didn't have difficulty overcoming his own emotions and learning the hard way not to trust flatterers, didn't make obvious mistakes, and didn't really feel like his own character, other than "generally well-meaning".
But I think I may miss some of the strengths through not having as much of an emotional connection myself, I'd be really interested to hear other people's opinions.
Common Grounds
Graphic novel about off-duty superheros and ex-superheroes who encounter each other at a chain of coffee shops called Common Grounds. One of the best stories is scanned in its entirety, which I first saw via AndrewDucker, here: http://lalajia.tumblr.com/post/84549968362/geardrops-oldearthaccretionist
Not free from problems, but I found it interesting and memorable.
Knights of Breton Court
Retelling the arthurian stories in drug gangs in downtown Indianapolis. The setting felt like something trying to be the real thing, with all the poverty and bravado and bad choices and difficult camaraderie rather than an urban-fantasy version thereof, but I don't have any standard for comparison, I don't know how accurate it was.
But it ended up being grim and confusing to me, when a few characters were interesting, but the main character was apathetic and barely appeared, and only more confusing when it switched abruptly from being a sort of thematic retelling to having actual magic. I bounced off it about half way through, but I'm curious to know what happens, I will try it again a little more slowly if I can.