June Book List

Meant to do this yesterday, but you know, sleep...

June 1st: Neil Gaiman - Stardust: Gaiman's story of a young man's quest to find a fallen star and win the girl he loves. With magic kingdoms, lost princes, cruel witches and the like...

June 2nd: Greg Rucka - Critical Space: One of the Atticus Kodiak books. I actually like this one, even if about halfway Kodiak seems to completely lose his freaking mind. But it works if I just assume that the character in the 2nd half is some OTHER guy named Atticus Kodiak. Who knows all the same people...

June 3rd: Spider Robinson - Callahan's Key: I mostly reread this one to confirm something. And yep, it turns out I don't like this series anymore...

June 5th: Larry Niven - Destiny's Road: A far future story of human colonists in a mildly hostile world. I liked that people had to keep adding an additive to their food to keep from growing stupid. And so when the lead character has to flee his home after killing a member of a merchant's caravan, finding a steady supply of these "speckles" is a regular problem for him...

June 6th: Joel Rosenberg - Not Really the Prisoner of Zenda: Most recent, and so far final, book in Rosenberg's Guardians of the Flame series. Court intrigue and unfriendly sibling rivalry and counterfit nobles...

June 8th: H.P. Lovecraft - The Best of H.P. Lovecraft: Bloodcurdling Tales of Horror & the Macabre: Like the title says, a collection of Lovecraft's best. Including "Shadow over Innsmouth", "The Rats in the Walls" and more...

June 10th: Michael Chabon - The Yiddish Policemen's Union: After the collapse of Israel, the United States creates a temporary Jewish homeland on a smallish area of the Alaskan coast. And with the refuge soon to revert back broken down homicide detective Meyer Landsmen has to investigate a dead junkie in the hotel he lives in. This was really, really good. Jewish mobsters, dead Messiahs and chess...

June 11th: Tamora Pierce - Protector of the Small: Along with Bekka Cooper: Terrier, I just enjoy rereading this omnibus (First Test, Page, Squire and Lady Knight. After several hundred years, the kingdom of Tortall is allowing girls to undergo training as potential knights again. And 10-year old Keladry is determined to succeed against whatever obstacles are placed in her way...

June 15th: Joan D. Vinge - Psion: More far future scifi. Cat is a half-alien who's been living on the streets his whole life. But when the government needs psychics to infilitrate a terrorist orginization, the latent telepath has his whole life changed...

June 17th: Michael Crichton - Eaters of the Dead: Probably the only one of Crichton's books I continue to enjoy. A retelling of Beowulf that was also made into the surprisingly decent 13th Warrior movie...

June 18th: Terry Pratchett - Making Money: The second Moist VonLipwig book. After succesfully rebuilding the Anhk-Morpokh Post Office, Moist gets drawn into solving the city states banking problems...

June 20th: Glen Cook - Cruel Zinc Melodies: Latest Garret Files book. Garret is brought in to investigate problems at a new theater being built by his friend and regular employer the beer-making Weiders. The book also seems to be moving Garret & Tinnie's relationship forward finally. Moving it further from its roots as a mash-up of fantasy and hard-boiled detectives like Spade or Hammer and closer to something like the Spenser series I'd say. Though the Garret/Morley Dotes relationship has always been pretty close to the Spenser/Hawk one I'd guess...

June 22nd: Simon R. Green - The Man With the Golden Torc: Start of a new series from Green, about a family that uses super-science and magic to guard humanity from its enemies in secret. Has most of the familiar writing tics of previous Green series, especially the Nightside and Deathstalker ones. But even so Green writes an enjoyable story, even when going back over familiar ground...

June 24th: Vinge - Catspaw: 2nd book about half-breed telepath Cat. Cat, now spending his time as a student, gets recruited by one of the powerful corporate families to serve as a bodyguard for one of their members...

June 25th: Pratchett - Jingo: Discworld story on war and patriotism. From the middle part of the Ankh-Morpokh Watch/Vimes sub-series...

June 27th: Martin Millar - Lonely Werewolf Girl: Outcast and fugitive Kalix is a royal werewolf living on the streets. Wanting to die, but unable to give up to those sent to kill her by her oldest brother. Full of all kinds of characters. Perky goths, werewolf fashion designers, spoiled other-worldy fire elemental princesses and depressed college students...

June 29th: Vinge - Dreamfall: Most recent book about Cat. As part of a research team Cat visits one of the few worlds with any sizable population of the Hydran race he's part of. A population in danger from the corporation that owns their world now...

June 30th: David J. Schwartz - Superpowers: Five college students gain super-human powers one night inexplicably. And so they decide to put on costumes and fight crime. I probably could have put up with the depressing final act. OR the hints at the Vast Conspiracy. But not both. And a couple parts don't make sense given the explination for how the Omnipresent Narrator works...

Total books: 20

Nasty Dan

New Comics Day 7/2

Another big haul week. Plus I got in a comics nerd fight. Something I try to avoid in the store, since I want my friend's shop to do well. And if that means idiots buy crappy books, so be it. But I just couldn't let someone slide on saying Wanted was good. The comic, not the movie. From what I hear the movie is likely dumb, but kind of fun. Not that I'll bother watching it...

Anyway on to comics. Only one book for Marvel this week, Patsy Walker: Hellcat. Sadly while Kathryn Immonen is writing, her husband is only doing the covers. Lafuente is decent enough. Though I'll have to agree with kali921 that he makes Patsy look a little too young. Anyhow, in the first issue Iron Man and the Initiative send Patsy up to investigate some psychic hoodoo going down in Alaska. Since apparently thats one of the few states not to get ANY kind of actual permanent team. She gets to fight some magic bear monsters...

Then a new Brit, with Invincible putting in a guest spot. Though the cover lies! Donald the Cyborg isn't in this book at all. Spider-demon things that posses people yes. Government cyborgs no...

Over on Dynamo5, with the team basically disbanded Tower City is getting pillaged by every two-bit bad guy in a mask. Can the new female hero Vigil pick up the slack for the missing Dynamos? Well she puts in a good effort at least...

And Larsen manages to put out another issue of Savage Dragon. Dragon's still looking for his missing wife. Of course he and the Centurions have to take down the Powerbroker and his minions first. Hopefully, now that Larsen is stepping down as head publisher dude for Image, this book will start coming out more often and the story will stop feeling so scattered...

Next on Angel: After the Fall, Angel takes much of his newly reunited forces out on patrol, searching for a new vamp power player. And Illyria lets the cat out of the bag about Angel's non-vampire status. Plus Gunn begins moving his plans for George the Giant Psychic Fish forward...

And on the sister Buffy the Vampire Slayer title, Dawn suffers a new equine themed transformation and Buffy and Willow go visit Kennedy in New York. Seems there is something hinky up with a potential temporal anomaly thingy. No surprise really given the cover with the title of The Return of Fray...

Then Fables continues its war story. With the airship Glory in a massive aerial fight, Boy Blue finding that Pinnochio has switched sides and the Adversary's capitol getting hit by the Fabletown's Sleeping Beauty "bomb". Also, I would sell my roommate to the Gypsies to get a book with all the Jean covers when this series ends. Because, holy hell is this one great...

After that we've got another new Manhunter, with Kate investigating the death's of hundreds of attempted illegals near the border with El Paso. Leading to a brief confrantation with the local hero, Blue Beetle. For some reason their costumes do NOT like one another...

And speaking of Blue Beetle, Pfiefer's second issue is out. And its ok. A decent enough super-hero book. But, despite putting forth a good effort, Pfeifer just doesn't capture the voices of the characters. There isn't anything truly BAD here. But there isn't anything that would have prompted me to start picking up the book either. I think that Sturges should be starting his run soon. I'm trying to be optimistic...

And we'll end with Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam! by Mike Kunkel (best known for writing Hero Bear & the Kid). This is a sequel to last year's Shazam & the Monster Society of Evil by Jeff Smith. And so far its looking good. Especially with what looks to be a kid version of Theo Adam (Black Adam) as the potential bad guy...

The Japanese are strange