Thumbs up for Promethea II, III, IV and V by Alan Moore. Graphic novels/fantasy.
Bless my boyfriend for giving me the first volume (my review) and my friend Charles for loaning me the rest. Promethea was not only an engrossing story but it also included the best popular explanation of ceremonial magic symbology/tarot/kabbalism I’ve ever seen. Not what I’d expect to stumble across in a graphic novel, no, but it worked!… >> Read more
Neither thumbs up nor thumbs down for The Steampunk Trilogy by Paul DiFilippo. Fantasy.
This was a massively weird book. It’s three novellas. The first, which succeeded in grossing me out in a nonchalant manner where Coin Locker Babies tried so hard and failed, deals with the replacement of the young Queen Victoria with a look-alike newt-creature of voracious sexual appetite, while a search for the real, runaway Queen is undertaken.… >> Read more
Thumbs up for Promethea, Volume I by Alan Moore. Graphic novel.
Since I’m going to ComicCon tomorrow it seems like it would behoove me to actually read some comics. My boyfriend was right: I loved this. It’s no War and Peace, but a good story starts to gel in this first volume and there are some brilliant moments (Little Red Riding Hood with a machine gun…ha!).… >> Read more
Thumbs up for Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold by C. S. Lewis. Fantasy.
I don’t know how, but when I was reading the Greeks back in my salad days, the story of Cupid and Psyche must have passed me by. When I learned that this book was a retelling of it, I carefully avoided anything about the original so I could enjoy this in its own right.… >> Read more
Thumbs up for A Messiah at the End of Time by Michael Moorcock. Fantasy.
A bizarre, zany little trifle (The End of Time, jello dinosaurs, the Messiah who looks rather like an overgrown chicken, the Holy Grail, and oh yes, Miss Mavis Ming) with a really freaking bizarre conclusion. I have major doubts about the last six pages. The other 186, however, were great fun, and an excellent escape from the other interminable tomes I’m trudging through.… >> Read more
Thumbs up for Blameless by Gail Carriger. Fantasy.
Since I’ve got my eye on going to Steamcon later this month, it seemed that it would behoove me to actually read some steampunk. I had a limited selection available to me, so this is what I ended up trying first. Well, once I cut the throat of my inner prose snob and forced myself to read it in the spirit in which it was intended, it was fun; enough so that I was tempted to read some of the earlier books in the series.… >> Read more
Thumbs up for The Fairies of Nutfolk Wood by Barb Bentler Ullman. Young adult.
A very cute story about a girl who moves with her recently-divorced mom to the country, and discovers something out of the ordinary. Well-written (for its age group), and perhaps more importantly, well-constructed; I was surprised to read in the back that it was the author’s first book.… >> Read more