So far, 2017 has turned out to be the year of the comic book for me. Here's five series that I've been reading.
 Monstress |
This is my favorite new discovery of the year. It's kind of steampunk, kind of high fantasy with definite Asian influences and a dash of Elder Gods thrown in for good measure. It's a little gory, and a lot convoluted, but I've really enjoyed it. I've read through issue #10, and I'm struggling over whether to wait for the collections, or buy the issues as they become available. The art is really really good. Although the story seems like something you've heard before (orphan girl struggling against forces much greater than herself), there are plenty of factions and intrigue to keep it interesting. |
 Mooncop |
It's sparse and a little funny and a little sad. A policeman on the moon drives through his patrol. The moon is emptying out, but still there are just enough people around to create small stories.
It's not a big book, but you will be pulled in. |
 Trees |
I didn't really know of Warren Ellis, but reading this and the next series on the list, he has a pretty incisive way of world-building. Trees are alien spaceships landed without explanation that seemed benign until the end of volume 1. Volume 2 gets a little bit more into how governments and other systems are reacting to a threat they don't understand. Volume 1 was very good. Volume 2 I hope is building toward something else that's as good. |
 Injection |
Another Warren Ellis book. Another fantastic introduction to a new world. In an attempt to spur more global innovation, The Injection occurred, and now it has taken on a mind of its own. It sounds like its the singularity, but probably not in a good way. I was really into the first few issues of this, and I have another 3 or 4 sitting on my bookshelf to read soon. Ellis loves a dystopia that's not quite a dystopia yet, and he does it pretty well. |
 Paper Girls |
I have only read the first issue of this one, but it seems very cool. Set in the 80's, a group of four newspaper delivery girls are defending their routes from Halloween pranksters when they find a ... time machine? maybe? I don't really know yet, but when I get the chance I plan to keep reading. |
So, what have you all been reading? Comic book/graphic novel or otherwise?
I've also been reading for the Hugo Awards Nomination Ballot (due in 10 days)
My ballot for Best Novel currently looks like ...
1. Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee -- military sci-fi written by a mathematician. Possibly my favorite book of all genres I read last year.
2. The Obelisk Gate by N. K. Jemisen -- Book 2 in the series. Book 1 deservedly won the Hugo last year, and I think this was just as good.
3. Too Like the Lightning by Ada Palmer -- super dense fantasy/sci-fi hybrid with a whole cast of characters that could easily be mistaken for comic book villains if the book didn't take them so seriously. Loved it. Book 2 is released today, I'll probably pick that up soon.
4. Rosewater by Tade Thompson -- A unique alien invasion story. The protagonist is the best part of this book, a fully-drawn character.
5. Wall of Storms by Ken Liu -- Book 2 in the Dandelion Dynasty. I loved book 1, and this one I just started, but I'm loving it as well.
Just off the ballot:
All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders
The Winged Histories by Sofia Samatar
Everfair by Nisi Shawl
Death's End by Cixin Liu
Way off the ballot:
The Sleeping Giant by Sylvain Neuvel -- Ugh. Supposed to be in the vein of "The Martian" but just terribly conceived and written. This one made me angry that I spent time on it.
Mentioned occasionally as a candidate, but not really the right genre for the Hugos:
The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead -- A really good book (it won the National Book Award) with alternate history, but there's just not enough fantasy elements to make me consider it for this. I would put it among the 5 on my ballot for overall favorites though.
I had been thinking of trying Sleeping Giants (it's this, not The Sleeping Giant?), as the synopses I'd read made it sound really intriguing.
Say more?
I think you're right on the title. I wasn't going to bother to look it up.
The whole thing is told through interviews, which means it's a bunch of people announcing what happened in the most info-dump way possible.
I found the characters flat and never got invested in the plot precisely because of the narrative gimmick the author chose. It made it hard to finish.
Ah... I had not realized that was the narrative approach. That immediately makes it sound less cool.
Read Rosewater instead.
Nice theme, DG! As it happens, I was just reading this morning about a graphic novel that consists of the complete text of the iTunes user agreement. The illustrations are a mashup of/homage to comics including Calvin and Hobbes, Garfield, Wonder Woman, The Simpsons, and much more.
I find it weirdly fascinating--you can see more here.
Future Sex by Emily Witt. Nonfiction. A well educated former Minnesotan in her early 30s goes to San Francisco to shed her inhibitions. Well, sort of. This book explores sex in the Internet age from both a journalistic and a personal point of view. As a work of nonfiction, I found it a bit uneven; although I enjoy essays that weave in personal experience, that approach didn't always work for me here. Perhaps it's because Witt seems uncomfortable a lot of the time, and while she makes a journey of sorts by the book's end, it's not a very . . . satisfying journey in a lot of ways. But the book does explore interesting themes and questions, and if you want to know more about what Burning Man is like, there's a chapter for you. There's also a very good chapter near the end of the book with a critique of birth control. Oh, and illicit drugs played a larger role in this book than I was expecting. The New Yorker review of this book is quite insightful, whether you plan to read the book itself or not.
I read Drew Magary's The Hike this past weekend. While it was an entertianing page turner, ultimately it was kind of disappointing to me. The basic premise is that a guy, much like DM, goes on a little hike behind his hotel and somehow gets transported into a different world where he has to confront monsters, giants, a talking crab etc. It's kind of like a video game where you come across obstacles to overcome before you can move forward.
In the end it was disappointing because there was no parable here. No metaphor or allegory. It was basically Drew getting caught up in this other world for some reason and perseveres until he gets out of it. Sure he appreciates his wife and kids more but it sounds like he was a decent husband and dad before "The Hike." So at the end, besides an sometimes entertaining read I came to the question, what was the point?
I read that too last year. It was decently done, but I probably wouldn't recommend it to anyone looking for something.
His first book The Postmortal was much better.
I read Robert Massie's Nicholas and Alexandra. The discussion of hemophilia was very interesting, but I found the biographies of the couple and the portrait of Russia at the time to be not nearly as good as his writing in his biographies of Peter and Catherine the Greats.
I just finished Alan Sepinwall and Matt Zoller Seitz's TV: The Book. It was perfectly fine as they ranked the top 100 shows all-time, but nothing particularly deep.
Also last month I finished up volume two of William Manchester's The Last Lion trilogy about Winston Churchill. This volume focused on the thirties when he was out of power, but spent the decade warning everyone about Hitler and Nazis and going crazy at appeasement. Years from now, history is not going to be looking too kindly on some of our current batch of appeasers.
Peter the Great is probably my favorite biography of all time (non-roommate division).
I would definitely put it in my top ten (along with the first of your roommates' Pulitzer winners). N and A was fine, but I want conditioned by my prior Massie experience to want a little more.
I just finished The Martian. I liked the ending of the book much better than the movie.
I started Unbroken. I like it but tough to read before bed.