A Wolf at the Door: And Other Retold Fairy Tales Edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri WindlingReimagined fairytales from Cinderella to Arabian Nights by authors such as Ellen Datlow, Neil Gaiman, and Jane Yolen just to name a very few.
There was nothing magical here for me, and I am so glad that I was able to borrow this book rather than buy it. It's a quick read, but it's not something I consider spectacular or would dare tell anyone to spend money on (or at least not full price on). At times, it really felt like something that was slapped together when I know many of these authors are capable of so much better. I didn't expect any real twists given the age group this is for, but some of the stories made me ask: "Did you even try?" And of the stories I liked the moral of better than the actual story such as Yolen's Cinder Elephant which ended with: "If you love a waist, you waste a love." This is one of those young adult/kids' books that's fluff and cheeky humor more than anything else. I can see this being a great read for kids.
Final Verdict:
2 of 5 stars
I like noir, even campy, pulpy noir. I like the X-Men. I like stories where they are living in a powerless world. I'm not even particular (most of the time) about what they do with these characters in AUs as long as they present a compelling story. So, how in the world did this story turn out so bad? "Who killed Jean Grey?" is the question that everyone is asking or at least they want you to think that everyone is asking that. I really don't know to be honest. Xavier's institute has been imagined as a former home for wayward kids branded with X tattoos where heroes like Cyclops are on the wrong end of the law and Xavier is serving time in prison for something I can only vaguely recall. Magneto is head of the police department and has corrupted it to his purpose with his "Brotherhood." Sounds like it should've been okay. Sounds like, she said...
It breaks my heart that this wasn't better than it was. Why? Because this legitimately had so many ideas that I loved like Magneto trying to fit into what America thinks he should be. He tries to erase anything that identifies him as a "dirty immigrant," even going as far to turn on other immigrants to achieve this goal, blaming Xavier for not turning his "wayward" children over to him to become part of his vision. I liked the idea of Xavier's home for wayward kids and what he was trying to accomplish in his own misguided way. I like how the artist managed to give characters trademarks we associate with them. One of my favorites was seeing why Cyclops was still called Cyclops. I even liked the twist(s) at the end, even if they were a little obvious. But the story was just so scattered, rushed, and aimless. I couldn't enjoy it even for all the things I liked. This probably would've worked better as a longer series.
Final Verdict:
1.5 of 5 stars
Morning Glories, Vol. 1: For a Better Future by Nick Spencer
I'd like to write something really compelling here, but I'm not sure what I could possibly say about this. This is billed as LOST with teenagers, and that's about right. However, that doesn't necessarily mean a thing to me since LOST much of the time was so... ridiculous, for lack of better word. Oh, they knew how to build things up and get the viewers tense, but then, they lacked in bringing it all back together. This is just the first volume of this book, so I can't be that harsh on it as that. All I know is some gifted teenagers are taken to Morning Glory, which is a school of some sort. Why? Don't know. Who are the people who took them? Don't know that either. What does this have to do with Spain in the 1400s? I don't know, dude. What do I know? They all have the same birthdays and seem to be scientifically/technologically gifted? Okay, I don't know.
I thought this was well-written and it's easy to get sucked into the story, but just like my torrid affair with LOST, once I was done and all the excitement faded, I was left in a fog of nothingness. I really don't have time for that. I don't want to follow an incomplete series that has too many questions and too little answers. Mystery and all that is nice, but there comes a point when it just starts to get a little ridiculous and you wonder if the writers are still living on the same planet as the rest of us. And I was already starting to get those vibes with this one which in turn made me fidgety. I'll give this one another go when it's closer to being completed or whatever because right now I'm not here for this drama. I have too many other things to read for this.
Final Verdict:
3 of 5 stars
This was my surprise in the bunch. I expected to like it. I didn't expect to love it as much as I did, though. This follows the Locke kids (Tyler, Kinsey, and Bode) after surviving a brutal attack on their family which leaves their father dead. The children and their mother move to Lovecraft, MA from the west coast where their father's brother still resides in a large family house with many doors, a house their father sometimes spoke of as if it were a living person. Bode is the first Locke child to discover some of the house's many secrets. And while the story doesn't go into too much detail in the first volume as far as the house's secrets, you can tell from the context that these kids are on a path, that they're starting a journey toward some unknown fate, a journey their father and their uncle made before them.
This is definitely a Lovecraftian horror story, make no mistake. It doesn't rely on gore more than the fact that reality is fragile. What hides behind reality? Is reality actually reality or a just a gilded illusion? It's a story of "what lies beneath" to put it simply. The fact that so few are in touch with this world beneath, how so many people walk around thinking the world is nothing more than what they can see while unknown forces plot, is what really gives stories like this power. The writing and the art come together to make a visually and narratively compelling story. There is something so sublimely perfect when a writer and an artist make a story that is so skillful that it feels like there's no way you could separate the two and still get the same result with this book. It feels like I can't have the words without the art, and I can't have the art without the words. Everything as a whole came together to make this story what it is.
Final Verdict:
4.5 of 5 stars
This is sort of a slice of life police procedural. I've always wondered how the Gotham City P.D. feel about Batman. I mean, I know there's tension there, and it's been shown in the comics. But sometimes I wonder how a typical day, a typical case, is like for them. I wasn't disappointed by what I read. Gotham's finest are presented here as dedicated (or the ones that have appeared so far).
They try to deal with a city where they're ill-prepared to deal with someone like Mister Freeze, where they feel they want to take care of things, to be the one who brings these lunatics in, but in reality, they know that, sometimes, they're resigned to Batman's help. They want to serve and protect. They do serve and protect. They're not bumbling. They may not be on Batman's level, but they're not incapable. Despite Batman making many high profile busts, they still have small victories with "lesser" criminals and crimes, but feel eclipsed by Batman's deeds. And in their own way, they want to impress Batman just like Batman's little family does. They want to show him they're competent, and they want him to acknowledge the work they do. Batman can't be everywhere after all. They have such a thankless job.
Final Verdict:
4 of 5 Stars
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