August 2017
Monthly Archive
August 31, 2017
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Top 5
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Top 5 Wednesday is GoodReads group where people discuss different bookish topic each week. Yesterday the topic was bromances.
Bromance = platonic relationship between two characters who identify as male.
1, Miles Vorkosigan and Ivan Vorpatril by Lois McMaster Bujold
Miles and Ivan are cousins. They often get into adventures together. Miles is the irresistible force for forward momentum while Ivan is the innocent bystander (at least he claims so).
2, Legolas and Gimli by J. R. R. Tolkien
They start off as enemies but end up being the best of friends. LotR is just full of male friendships.
3, Cutter and Skywise from ElfQuest by Wendy and Richard Pini
The two elves who are brothers is all but blood.
4, Robin Hood and Little John
The legendary outlaw and his best friend.
5, Data and Geordi LaForge
This might be cheating a little, but lots of books have been written about Star Trek: TNG. đ Iâve always thought their friendship one of best things on the show.
August 30, 2017
The first book in the SF series Mars Ascendant. It leaves some questions open at the end but can be otherwise read as a stand-alone

Publication year: 2016
Format: ebook, kindle
Publisher: Fuzzy Slipper Publishing
Page count: 268 in the paperback version
Melanie Destin is a doctor aboard a company starship, a merchant freighter. However, the job doesnât pay much and recently the captain was changed and Mel doesnât like the new captain. Her only friend among the crew has gotten a better job, too. Mel is on leave at home, at Luna, until the ship leaves again. Sheâs saving up so that she can move to Mars and live in luxury there. One of the best ways for her to earn money is to sell medicines under the table which the new captain prevents. Also, when she returns to Luna she realizes that sheâs done more harm than good to one of her former clients and so feeling enormously guilty she gives most of her saved money to the clientâs family. But then reason returns and she realizes that she doesnât have any other choice but to get back to what she was doing before medical school: prostitution. Unfortunately, sheâs caught by Lunaâs Morality Police and promptly fired. Fortunately, one of her old friends from med school can offer her a new job. However, that new job turns out to be something quite different than what she was told beforehand.
From the start, Mel is a shady character. But she knows it and sometimes tries to make up for what sheâs done in the past. Sheâs also distrustful of others and looking out for herself, because nobody else will. Butâs sheâs extremely loyal and always trying to work herself up and out of her situation.
As you might expect, bad guys are really bad. They donât hesitate to murder, blackmail, and manipulate. The main baddie, known as Regis Mundi, has a thing for Ancient Roman customs. Although it seems that the others have the same because the Terran military space ship which we see is called Athena and a couple of other space ships are called Helios and Requiem.
The plot has more mystery and intrigue elements than action. Many of the characters manipulate each other and the reader is left guessing which character is going to betray who next. Melâs chapters are written in first person but the others are from third person POV. There are several other POV characters, most of them the bad guys, plotting to get what they want.
The world-building was good. We only visit one city on Luna, Armstrong, which seems to be pretty run-down place. Thereâs also a sharp contrast between the old freighter Mel is on first and the new spaceships. We donât really see Mars yet just what people think about it. Pretty much everyone has cortical implants and nano-tech plays a big part.
Unfortunately, the book has lots of typos. Also, I ended up wondering why Mel didnât rent her apartment when she was away. After all, she clearly needed the money and she knew when she was going to come back. But she did live in the seedy side of town so maybe it would have been too much of a hassle to try to get a reputable renter. However, leaving the apartment for squatters seems to me a lot riskier option. Also, sometimes the choices of some of the characters didnât make much sense.
Otherwise, this was an enjoyable read. Mel was definitely an entertaining main character and the plot moved at a good pace.
August 27, 2017
A Babylon 5 novel, set near the end of the second season.

Publication year: 1996
Format: print
Publisher: Boxtree
Page count: 279
President Clark has rewritten the death penalty for murder into law. The law is applied to both humans and aliens. This is the first time itâs going to happen, and on Babylon 5.
The Tuchanq are an alien race who were conquered and abused by the Narn, after their war with the Centauri because they needed their planetâs resources. However, the Narn ruled very cruelly and when they left, the planet was used up. A delegation of Tuchanq comes B5 to look for help. Several governments, Earth and the Centauri among them, are eager to help and the Tuchanq have to decide which people to turn to. However, soon after they come to the station, they get into a brawl and Ivanova decides to stun everyone involved. This turns out to be horrible mistake because the Tuchanq donât sleep. For them, unconsciousness is the same as death. When the stunned ones return their consciousness, theyâre effectively insane. The other Tuchanq can help them but they donât get to one member of their delegation in time: she slips away intent on wanting a life for the life she has lost. So, she kills a human. Unfortunately, the human has a PPG gun and makes a big mess, plunging a cargo hold into vacuum. The human dies and the alien is apparently brain damaged. But because she killed a human, President Clark is adamant of punishing her and orders Sheridan to go through with a modern Western style trial. The racial (or species) tension on the station is running very high.
Apparently, this is a book about the cons of death penalty. Iâm a pacifist and live in a country without death penalty so heâs preaching to the choir in my case. The only character in this book who supports the death penalty is Garibaldi, because itâs his job to uphold the law. All the others view it as a horrific aberration. Yet, quite a few people, both human and others, are killed and the only death viewed with any significance in the Tuchanq killing the human and then the upcoming execution. This seems a bit strange and limiting, too. The aim of the book is quite ambitious but unfortunately it falls short. Also, the plot would have probably worked better in another universe. This book makes Sheridan and some others somewhat different from their canonical selves. Also, there are some strange and inconsequential differences to canon. For example, Lyta Alexander makes a brief appearance during which we learn that this Lyta has been deaf her whole life, unlike the real B5 Lyta. Also, this GâKar is married to JâNtiel who gave him the book of GâQuan which was her familyâs heirloom.
The Tuchanq are an interesting species. Theyâve gone through a terrible occupation under the Narn but theyâve managed to keep their culture. Theyâre also physically quite different from humans (and Narns). For example, theyâre a lot taller and have spikes which they use to say yes or no. They also have no eyes. In fact, I sort of think that they were wasted in a one-shot tie-in book because thereâs no chance theyâre seen again.
Unfortunately, the plot has some holes. The people at the station seem divided along the lines of âlove the alienâ and the Home Guard who hate all aliens on principle. Nobody seems to be interested in if the alien murdered someone or not, which seems more than a bit weird. Of course, humans are known for getting sidetracked in pretty much every issue. Clark is adamant at wanting a guilty verdict and a quick execution, no matter what. Nobody is really concerned with the law, even those who are supposed to uphold it. And like I mentioned, the other killings arenât even mentioned about much less prosecuted. Also, people seem to know stuff they couldnât have known. Thereâs a second plot line with Londo and GâKar (who are as entertaining as ever) which at first glance seems fine, but when I started to think about it, doesnât make any sense. The B5 characters are also uncharacteristically unsympathetic to the murdered manâs widow, especially Sheridan who is also a widow and so should have behaved quite differently.
Somewhat entertaining but the problems kept me from fully enjoying the book.
August 25, 2017
The very first BoP collection. Collects BLACK CANARY/ORACLE: BIRDS OF PREY #1, BIRDS OF PREY: REVOLUTION #1, and SHOWCASE â96 #3, BIRDS OF PREY: MANHUNT #1-4

Writers: Chuck Dixon, Jordan B. Gorfunkle
Artists: Gary Frank, Stephano Raffaele, Matt Haley, Jennifer Graves, Sal Buscema
Iâve read the Birds of Prey comic for some years and when I bought the newest version (Batgirl and the Birds of Prey) it was time for a reread. Despite her prominence in the cover, the Huntress is in only one story, the last one.
These are the very first stories where Barbara Gordon, as Oracle, and Dinah Lance, as the Black Canary, work together. In the first story, Dinahâs life is a mess and Oracle actually saves her by recruiting her to get close to multi-millionaire Nick Devine. Apparently, he helps African countries to get high tech and become wealthy and has become himself quite wealthy, too. But recently, his efforts have been undermined by eco-terrorists. Heâs a notorious womanizer but Dinah manages to get hired as his bodyguard. However, he already has a bodyguard, Lynx who is the queen of Gothamâs Chinese mafia. Sheâs not happy to see the Canary. Things get more interesting when Nick takes both Dinah and Lynx with him to Bwunda.
In the next story, Oracle sends Dinah after a white slavery ring. The job takes Dinah to the Caribbean and a small island paradise Santa Prisca. In this story, Barbara and Dinah disagree enough that they discontinue their friendship.
However, in the next story theyâre back together. Lois Lane and Dinah are both investigating a slaver place in US. They bond over their romantic troubles.
In the final story, Manhunt, the Canary is after Braun, a former one-night-stand who turned out to be a criminal. Huntress is also after him because he made her fall in love with him and the dumped her without a word. The Catwoman is after him because he didnât pay her. Against Oracleâs advice, Dinah teams up with them.
Barbara has been paralyzed from the waist down. Sheâs a wizard with computers and directs Dinah through earpieces. Sheâs very analytical while Dinah is quite passionate and rash. (In fact, I donât think Dinah was this rash in the JLA.) But sheâs also very good at crimefighting. Of course, she has been the Green Arrowâs partner for years.
I mostly enjoyed these comics but they arenât the best Birds of Prey stories Iâve read. I also really enjoyed the small reminders Barbara has in her office that she was Batgirl. However, all of the women are very sexualized in the art. In the final story, the womenâs motives were exceptionally weak. They also talk a lot about their former boyfriends and bond over how they were dumped. I donât think that male superheroes do the same, except maybe Spider-Man.
While this a superhero comic none of the main characters have any superpowers.
August 23, 2017
The second book in the series.

Publication year: 2016
Format: Audio
Running time: 15 hours and 23 minutes
Narrator: Jordanna Max Brosky and Robert Petkoff
Itâs Christmas time and three months has gone by since the end of the previous book. Theo and Selene are still together and their relationship is pretty much the same; Selene struggling with her feelings and keeping Theo at an armâs length away.
Selene isnât a fan of Christmas, indeed, she loathes it. Fortunately, there are some women in distress whom she can help instead of beating up Christmas tree sellers. But soon, the police calls her and Theo to a grisly murder scene and they have so much investigative work on their hands that they almost forget the upcoming holiday, especially when they realize that the murdered man was a former Greek god.
And when a man in a winged cap attacks Selene, she realizes that her extended family is in danger.
Selene DiSilva is Artemis, the Greek goddess of hunt and the protector of the innocent. Sheâs remained chaste and alone for hundreds, thousands of years. Itâs hard for her to be in a relationship and she doesnât take Theo into account of her plans at all when heâs somewhere else. Sheâs fierce and fiercely independent. Sheâs also a shitty girlfriend and Iâm not talking about sex or the lack of it, but her complete lack of consideration for Theo and his feelings. I began to wonder why he puts up with her. Granted, the book actually addresses this which is great.
Theo is the same nerdy ancient history professor. He does research and also gets to be pretty heroic. Heâs very accommodating of Selene and her standoffishness but fortunately, he does have his limits, too. He also has two female friends whom I enjoyed a lot.
This time we get to see more of Seleneâs celestial family. Her twin is a rock star and they have a strained relationship at best. Many other (former) gods appear, too. I really enjoyed them.
The book is mostly told from the POV of Selene or Theo. There are also some shorter chapters from the POV of one of the conspirators. This structure worked well. The audiobook has two narrators and they change according to the POV.
The book has a couple of things I donât really care for, such as jealously and the female friend who turns out to be in love with her male friend. Also, Iâm not a fan of bickering couples. But overall I really enjoyed this second book, too. It doesnât end in a cliffhanger, exactly, but Iâm very excited for the next book.
August 21, 2017
Collects the Secret Wars tie-in issues 1-5.

Writer: Dustin Weaver, Gerry Duggan
Artist: Dustin Weaver
The characters at the center of this miniseries were created for this series, at least as far as I know. However, the Nova Corps are part of the Marvel U but I donât know much about them. I read these alternative universe tales to get a different spin on familiar characters so I wasnât really sure at first if I wanted to read this one. But in the end, I rather enjoyed it. Lots of cool black female characters in action, even though it doesnât impact on the primary SW tale at all. And a German Shepard with the Nova powers!
Anwen Bakian is a black teenager living on a warzone which has been overrun by giant bugs, apparently the annihilation bugs. Luckily, she doesnât need to survive alone: her father, little sister, grandfather, and dog are there to help her. They live in the ruins of a modern city, barely scraping a living. Her mother was part of the Nova Corps but she died years ago. Bugs attack Anwenâs family and her grandfather sacrifices himself to save her.
Then her mother returns, but unfortunately not in time to save Anwenâs grandfather. But she gives the rest of her family the Nova stars and so they have a bigger chance of survival.
Starlord and Gamora are also in this world. Theyâre thieves and scavengers. Even though they want to kill the bugs, too, can Anwen and her family trust them?
Thereâs a twist in the story when everyoneâs (well alright my) favorite purple Titan enters into the story. Itâs a twist I enjoy so it made the story better for me. Others might not like it as much. So, despite the new characters I enjoyed this story a lot, more than I expected.
August 19, 2017
The first quarter of an SF book. Itâs available for free at Amazon.

Publication year: 2017
Format: ebook
Publisher: Epic Journeys entertainment
Page count: 133
This is labeled as book 1 and a science fiction thriller. But itâs neither. Itâs not a complete book; instead itâs the beginning of a story. Itâs also not a thriller because, again, itâs the start of a story. But I enjoyed this story taster.
The story starts with a very tense situation: astronauts Brent Carlson and Calvin Williams are rescuing people from the first commercial space station, the Pisces III. Unfortunately, someone dies and because of that the plans for a manned Mars mission are put on hold.
However, Brent and his wife Shayla manage to convince the UN to continue the mission which requires co-operation from all nations. Some mysterious people are against the mission and set plans into motion to stop it.
Then we jump ahead four years. Shayla is dead and Brent has lost his will to live. Heâs convinced that she was murdered but no evidence of foul play was found. NASAâs chief Mike Johnson tries to convince Brent to go on a tour to speak for the mission and eventually, Brent agrees. The mission is going to happen, and now Brent and Mike go on a tour around the world to see the astronauts who will go.
I enjoyed this beginning of a story. For the most part, itâs moves along briskly. Because thereâs no conclusion as such, a lot of questions are raised but not answered. The writing style isnât complex.
Brent was a child prodigy in astrophysics and in dangerous situations, he can calculate odds and deduce outcomes really quickly. Heâs also a pretty nice guy, at least at the beginning of the novella. However, after his beloved wifeâs death he becomes more cynical and in convinced that there are conspiracies around him. Even his old friends donât trust him anymore. There are a couple of chapters from othersâ point-of-view, but mostly from Brentâs. If Brent was a female character, readers would be calling her a Mary Sue. I donât have anything against people like that and in space you have to very competent to succeed and especially to excel, as Brent has done.
We donât see much of the other characters. Iâm not sure why anyone would want to stop humans from going to Mars, but someone does seem determined to undermine the effort.
August 16, 2017

Publication year: 2017
Format: print
Publisher: Quirk Books
Page count: 240
From the 1930s to 2010s, this book offers a variety of heroines from the US comics. Most of them are actually pretty obscure and havenât been reprinted, which is a shame because they sound fascinating. The book is arranged by decades and each decade has a short essay about what was going in the US comics industry at the time. Each heroine has about a page of text and most have pictures, too.
I was expecting a lot more superheroes but they are a distinct minority. Instead the book is filled with early science heroines, intrepid journalists, and private detectives. This was good! It would have been great if their stories were readily available. Maybe the writer wants to shy away from more popular characters but itâs quite frustrating to read about a potentially fascinating character and not be able to read her adventures. Also, Iâm not so sure how influential the character was, even when they were published, if they appear in only a couple of issues.
I was at first baffled by the absence of heroines like Modesty Blaise and Laureline, until I realized that only characters from US and Canada are in the book. Also, the book has far more DC superheroines than from Marvel. Over here in Finland, Marvel comics were, and still are, published far more than DC.
There are even a few characters who start out as exploited pin-ups but end up having adventures of their own, which was great. Overall, I enjoyed visiting these heroines and it was great to see that interesting female characters have always been part of comics, even a small part.
August 9, 2017
The third Babylon 5 book, set during the middle of the second season, before âComing of the Shadowsâ. It draws heavily on the first season episode âThe Parliament of Dreamsâ.

Publication year: 1995
Format: print
Publisher: Boxtree
Page count: 232
GâKar receives a data message where the daughter of his old enemy DuâRog swears the blood oath against him. The ShonâKar is a powerful part of the Narn culture and GâKar is very much afraid. Shortly, he leaves the station in a one-man craft which explodes before reaching the jump gate. Garibaldi suspects murder and it seems that GâKarâs craft was tampered with. He investigates but before any conclusions can be drawn, Sheridan sends Garibaldi and Ivanova to the Narn Homeworld, to participate in GâKarâs funeral and to tell everything they know about the ambassadorâs death to the Narn ruling body, the KhaâRi. NaâToth will travel with them and also a new character Al Vernon whom Garibaldi meets just before he leaves. Vernon used to live in the Homeworld and offers up himself as a guide to the two humans. Garibaldi accepts but is determined to keep a close eye on him.
Of course, GâKar isnât dead. He faked his own death in the hopes of resolving things with DuâRogâs family, one way or the other, before heâs really killed. He travels to the Homeworld, too.
Most of the book is set in the Homeworld, which was a fascinating place. Temperatures are really cold during the night and really hot during the day, in the same place. This doesnât seem to bother the Narns but does bother the humans a great deal. Weâre shown the rigid caste system of the Narns; people who donât make it are shunned and live in horrible slums which are practically lawless. The Rangers who are supposed to keep up the law are bullies.
We also meet GâKarâs wife DaâKal who is apparently a well-connected woman whom GâKar loves â but whom he just cast aside when he moved to B5. I donât think there was ever a mention of GâKar being married in the series.
This was another quick read. It was mostly enjoyable but there were pretty significant typos, like Garibaldiâs and GâKarâs names exchanging places. Also, I rather liked DaâKal but GâKarâs abandonment of her made him a really callous character. I also really like MiâRa who was DuâRogâs spirited daughter hellbent on getting her revenge on GâKar. So, interesting alternate version of GâKar.
August 8, 2017
Collects B:tVS 1-8, 12, 16, Annual â99, Play with Fire.

Writers: Christopher Golden, Andi Watson, Tom Sniegoski
Artists: Hector Gomez, Sandu Florea, Christian Zanier, Marvin Mariano, Draxhall Jump, Jason Pearson, Cliff Richards, Joe Pimentel
Apparently, these stories take place after during third season. But theyâre some of the first Buffy comics ever. They are pretty short and quick reads, nothing Earth-shattering. Of course, they canât be. Oz is in many of the stories but Angel is only in two of them. The art isnât too bad but not great, either. In fact, Xander and Giles donât look like themselves at all.
âWu-Tang Fangâ: the gang is coming home from Bronze when theyâre attacked by vampires. But one vampire hangs back, observing the fight and finally saying: âYouâll make a worthy adversaryâ. Then he disappears. Giles is nervous about him. Meanwhile, Xander doesnât want to be a damsel in distress anymore and he enrolls to a martial arts class.
âHalloweenâ: the Halloween episodes are some of my favorites! Unfortunately, this one wasnât as good as the TV episodes but it did have a few comedic moments. The Principle volunteers Buffy, Xander, and Willow to take some kids out trick or treating. However, right before Halloween Willow has a huge fight with her parents about Oz and goes missing.
âCold Turkeyâ is set right before Thanksgiving. Joyce is away and Buffy has to shop for the Thanksgiving meal ingredients. Even then, vampires give her trouble.
âDance with meâ is only a few pages long. One boy asked Buffy to dance dozens to times, but in vain. Now, heâs a vampire.
In âWhite Christmasâ Buffyâs broke and has to get a job at the Popsicle Parlor. Even though sheâs very embarrassed about the outfit, itâs a good thing because strange things happen at the Parlor.
In âHappy New Yearâ a hell hound attacks the library. While the gang investigates, Willow is angry at Buffy and Cordelia finds a surprising skill: sheâs really good with the crossbow.
In âNew Kid at the Blockâ a new girl, Cynthia, joins the high school and befriends the gang. She doesnât know about the Slayer and the gang tries to keep things that way.
In âFood Chainâ Buffy tries to help a girl from her school who seem to end up with bad company.
âPlay with Fireâ is another very short comic. Buffy, Willow, and Giles chase green skinned vampires to a seemingly abandoned house.
In âFood Chain part 2â loose ends from the previous story come back to haunt the gang again.
âThe Final Cutâ is my favorite story in this collection. Marty is big into movies and then he finds a really strange movie and a deal he canât resist. He recruits the gang to his movie, Willow to write the script, Oz for the sound, Cordelia to lead etc. but of course things to south.
In âThe Latest Crazeâ young people in Sunnydale start buying ugly little dolls called the Hooligans. Everyone must have one, or better yet the newest limited edition doll. When fighting starts to break out, Buffy suspects something strange.
These are fun little story for the most part. The last two stories are better than the rest, though.
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