This is not a children’s story. Marketed as a companion piece to HDM, this short piece is rife with sophisticated themes and adult language, along with an elegant sarcasm that operates well from an adult perspective. No prior experience with the author’s famed series is necessary to enjoy this stand-alone tale of an accidental aeronaut and an outlaw talking bear. Readers familiar with the relationship between Lee Scoresby and Iorek Byrnison will be engaged by this explanation of their first adventure together, and those without such a background will be intrigued enough to read future developments surrounding the pair.
When Scoresby finds himself a stranger in a city on the verge of a hostile political and business takeover, he stumbles headfirst into conflict, with the armored bear at his side. Scoresby has a habit of chasing trouble, if one considers the snappy remarks of his rabbit daemon, Hester, who consistently harasses him in good humor. His concern with honor, which he denies – “I don’t think too much about honor” – seems the primary motivation for these conflicts. He finds himself drawn to others with this interest, including Miss Victoria Lund, a librarian and fellow boarder. When Lund surprises him by asking his advice about a difficult personal situation, he quickly deduces the heart of the matter.
“This is about honor, ain’t it.”
“Yes, it is.”
“Hard thing to get right.”
His consideration of the upset young lady is unexpectedly rewarded at the end of the story, as is his commitment to leave the townsfolk in a better position than he found them. He expects no return on this investment, but the appreciation of certain citizens leads to assistance in his safe escape.
The author clearly holds a distaste for big business and uses the story to promote this message, but his platform does not take center stage from the fast paced adventure and valuable friendship born within these pages. Neither do the charming engravings by John Lawrence, which echo his work in Lyra’s Oxford. What does detract is the unfortunate miscellanea from Scoresby’s volume on aerial navigation; a bill of lading as described in the story; instructions to ‘Peril of the Pole,’ a board game included in a pocket inside the back cover that is “too exciting for children under 5 years of age;" a leaf from a shipping world yearbook with a description of the town, Novy Odense; a newspaper article regarding the final events in the story; two letters from Lyra regarding her dissertation; and the certificate for her dissertation, which is a study of trade pattern development with an emphasis on independent cargo balloon carriage. These, like the intrusive materials in Lyra’s Oxford, are annoying. Readers of HDM will make the obvious connection between Lyra’s work and Scoresby’s activities, but like Lyra and the Birds, the story stands better on its own.
The audio adaptation proves a two hour and 17 minute mess of the author’s narration, which is often too fast, and various actors who unintentionally make a mockery of this sharp story. “Overdramatic” does not quite cover the lengths to which the accents and emotions are carried. Unlike Lyra’s Oxford, which employs several actors but remains primarily in the talented hands of Jo Wyatt, this version falls short of the written word.

We awaken with Tynan Llywelyn from a hundred year's Sleep. Tynan is no Rip Van Winkle, however, but a powerful vampire who is not eager to return to the vampire community who shunned him. The world that greets him is vastly different than what he left behind. Society has crumbled and humanity is being controlled by a domineering techno-government called the Tyst. A small group of rebels, the Phuree, are fighting back as best they can. The Phuree have taken a radical step in allying themselves with the Predators who feed off them - the vampires. Tynan finds himself embroiled in a power struggle between vampire and human players alike.

I knew I was in for an incredible read when I became captivated by the Acknowledgments page. Ms. Faust's talents as a wordsmith far surpass anything I have read in some time. Her depiction of vampires is a delicious exquisiteness that at times had me running my tongue over my teeth to insure fangs had not appeared! She creates these beings with a deft hand, stitching common myths together with her singularly modern twist, providing a seamless and completely believable existence.

Next to such thoroughly real characters, the Tyst and Phuree pale by comparison. The Tyst are nameless and faceless; although characters are mentioned we never really get to know them. These are the Big Bad Guys, yet they seem completely untouchable and almost nonexistent. The Phuree are also a bit out of reach. Teirnan, their leader, and his sister Khanna are stereotypical and rather predictable. They appear small and ineffective somehow. This book is the first in a series, however, so perhaps the next installment will focus more on the other characters. If Faust can bring them to reality as she has her vampires, this will be a knockdown-dragout favorite!

The overall sensation of the story is very focused on Tynan, his tough and (unusual for the Living Dead) his emotions. In fact, Tynan's emotions are a pivotal point of the entire storyline. Faust captured his moral writhing quite well. He is struggling with a moral crisis, one that led him to abandon his Dark Brethren and sink into Eternal Sleep. But his despair only kept him for one hundred years, not forever. With prose the texture of deep velvet, Faust draws us down to the depths of a story as old as fear, as dark as sin, and as deep as Satan's heart. The lines between friend and foe are re-drawn. She captures desperate obsession and hunger, outlining each with the passion for existence that burns in all beings.

In spite of a lack of character development in some areas, I was very impressed with Gabrielle Faust and Eternal Vigilance. I eagerly devoured the book from cover to cover in one sitting and felt bereft when I was finished. This is not an airy-fairy, "rescue the damsel"-type of story. Gritty and dark, readers will begin to understand the "un"life of a vampire.

My first experience with Tad Williams was when I picked up his novel, "City of Golden Shadow." I found the book's opening, in which one of the main characters experiences scenes from World War I, to be marvelously descriptive and quite riveting. Though I found the culmination of that book series to be rather disappointing, I moved on to more of Williams' books. I read his "Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn" saga, which I found more enjoyable, but was once again disappointed by the ending. I then tackled "Shadowmarch," which was so bogged down I could hardly finish it. After all of these lengthy works, I wanted to try something that would give me more of what I liked about Tad Williams without the sheer weight of pages. That led me to try, "The War of the Flowers."

In this standalone novel, I was soon rewarded with exactly what I had hoped for. Williams' gift for wonderful descriptive scenes was again present as I began reading. The scenes and events involving Theo and his mother stand out as some of the most poignant I've ever read.

The premise of the book is interesting, if not completely new to fantasy readers. Theo, the main character, finds himself transported to the land of Faerie and encounters danger and adventure as he is caught up in the affairs of the ruling houses, named for flowers. I found the title misleading, as actual war in the sense of pitched battles and combat heroics is not a major element of the plot.

The book is not so much about fantastic elements, though these are certainly present, as it is about interaction between its well-developed characters. Many are dark, with sinister aspects hinted at and revealed slowly by the author. Theo begins as a sympathetic loser, but grows as the story progresses. Love interests abound throughout and feature prominently in his fate. There are some aspects of "Romeo and Juliet" here, in fact, though with a less tragic outcome.

There is some social commentary as well, though I perceived it to be understated, perhaps even underdeveloped. The inhabitants of Faerie, in an interesting twist for a fantasy novel, are discovering all the problems of industrialized society, class inequality, exploitation, and greed.

Unfortunately, the excellence of the early parts of the book begins to wane by the middle to late chapters. This is a common problem with many of Williams' books, in my opinion. The mysterious elements in the plot begin to be explained -- but the details seem overly contrived. I was disappointed with some of the plot twists, and others I found predictable. In a few cases, I felt as though I was left hanging with no explanation at all.

These complaints would have been forgivable but for the end of the story. It almost seemed as though the author had lost interest in the book chapters ago, and just needed to get it wrapped up so it would be finished.

In fairness, I enjoyed reading this book, flaws and all. Tad Williams once again succeeds in creating another world for the reader to explore, though at times the writing is frustrating. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a short -- if 700 pages may be called short – introduction to the style of Tad Williams. His best and worst are both present in this novel.

Fans of Asimov will recognize the bare bones of later works in Pebble in the Sky, his first published fiction novel. This story takes place many years before the Foundation series and contains some hints of these stories yet to come. The Galactic Empire has spread and continues to grow in all directions. Trantor is the capital and central world of the Empire, operating a massive bureaucracy from its political hub. At this time, however, Earthlings are still living on the surface of the planet and are isolated from the rest of the human population. Planetary prejudice and political unrest have reinforced this separatist notion, making Earth a backwater assignment no imperial servant wants.

Life on Earth is hard. There are limited resources and the suspicion of radiation poisoning colors everything. Society is run by a quasi-religious order that enforces the life limitation of sixty years, ostensibly to make room for others who are being born. Many seem content to live only sixty years, but others are always on the lookout for ways to avoid the mandated euthanasia.

Into this world drops (literally) Joseph Schwartz. Due to an unfortunate accident in a nuclear lab in 1949, Mr. Schwartz is thrown forward in time by millennia and finds himself living in an ultra-modern Earth. Not as easy as it seems, as language has continued to evolve and he can’t understand anything. In addition, humanity itself has physically evolved which makes Schwartz an ancient version of unknown homo sapiens. Even worse, Schwartz is 62 - two years past the enforced Sixty rule and destined to die.

This is not a dark, dystopic story, however, and is infused with Asimov’s usual intelligent humor. Political maneuvering and scientific discoveries go hand-in-hand as Schwartz makes new friends and struggles to survive. The Empire is forced to recognize Earth as a power to be reckoned with, but this may or may not be good for the Earthlings in general and Schwartz in particular.

Asimov was truly a master, delineating the scope of science fiction as a genre. He breathed intelligence and real science into his fiction, making his writing one of the best examples of what true science fiction is. His characters are believable, some likeable and others not, and somehow he always works a twist into the plot where the reader least expects it. Even more, Asimov pushes the readers to examine both self and society. He seems to want readers to acknowledge the negatives of humanity and then celebrate the positives. That which makes us as humans great can also be that which causes us to destroy ourselves.

If you are a fan of Asimov, you should read his first scifi book Pebble in the Sky. If you have never dabbled into Asimov, or any science fiction for that matter, dip a toe into this book. I think you might find the water is just to your liking!

Pulp seems to be in these days in all mediums and let me just say: It’s about time. It is inevitable such a phase will be sniffed out by charlatans (and in some cases have already) and we will soon be drowned in the coming wave of mediocrity but we should not let I had been waiting for people to once again take heed of another man who seems always a step ahead - one Alan Moore in this regard and while I am not sure if Powell gives a damn I’m pleased to see a minor pulp-renaissance occur and Powell is part of that in comics. I should note that I while I have read some scattered issues of Eric Powell’s Goon, I am not an authority on the series as a whole. I am not reviewing the Goon’s adventures in its entirety, but a hardcover collecting an arc that takes place in an original graphic novel and titled Chinatown and the Mystery of Mr. Wicker. As I have said before I think all comics should be published in this manner so I love seeing the product.What you find is a completely accessible book that will allow us to visit three stages of Goon’s life and succeeds as both a current adventure and allowing you to get the gist of the character without seeming obtrusive: Lifelong streetwise crook who has worked himself to be the big fish. Pretty basic concept that allows unlimited opportunities and quick assimilation no matter when you want to tell a story. Afterall, there are crooks everywhere, and there has been a long American-romantic love affair with crime. The world you are in is your own, except there are brushes with the fantastic – an Eastern God, a cursed book – aspects that are assuredly not normal but are choices that aren’t completely out of leftfield. They could be real; in the reality right next to ours, too the slightly mad, or those slightly more perceptive - take your pick - and what you are left with is a Polanski directing Big Trouble in Little China but take it back 80 or so years.

The current Goon is dealing with a takeover from somebody who has information that only somebody who has broken bread with you can have and what is apparently – an beautifully more apparent - his right hand has gone missing. On top of that we get this incredibly atmospheric story from his past as he consolidates turf power, meeting with the Triad, and finds what has the look of love. On the back cover Chinatown and the Mystery of Mr. Wicker is described as a ‘formative chapter from Goon’s early years’, so of course it’s about a dame – I don’t where the female Life Dojo is, but not only are all men given life by women – we learn life’s hardest lessons from them. And that classic image we formulate of that same girl that walks into a 40’s P.I. office or once resided in a Matt Baker’s sketchbook that just kind of stroll into our lives and makes things…more interesting. What I found in this experience is the presence of two distinct stories, the former is forgettable and latter is truly – and I think a bit surprisingly - fantastic and it has nothing to do with a dragon. What is supposed to occur is a layering that acts as an echo and source of tension in the current story from the past, and the flashback provides a soul – in this it is partially successful.

”This aint funny”

While a admittedly starting a funny book in this manner is indeed funny, humor always seems a second away, it is there, but it resides underneath – Powell is able to show humor in an atmosphere that doesn’t call for it. We could be having fun and we may later, but we got to handle shit right now and Chinatown is ultimately about handling your business and loyalty. We can laugh later, or better yet, we once laughed and perhaps more than anything we want to see a chuckle.

For any men who have those chapters in our lives that would not have not have taken a turn for the fictional in thinking the possibility of getting knocked was a daily thought and ultimately not surprising if it became an outcome – you know when every house you frequent has bent blinders on the windows because every car that goes by gets a thorough look-over and mentally-cataloged – we have all met a woman that we at one point propped up as an excuse to enter the real world, to give it all up, to go straight, to live happily ever after, a view that can be seen as romantic but is more a door to the skewed, controlled-madness that to often turns from a phase to a lifestyle. At any rate, either way it is an acceptance and desire of being shackled. To catch a dream we would bet against reality and the first rule of gambling is the house doesn’t lose. I think there may be danger in Chinatown when viewing the female characters that may lead one to conclude a stance or agenda by the writer. Let me first say that stances and agenda don't tend to bother me - there are all types of people in the world and a creator should be able to use any of them in that context. What we have in Chinatown actually are women who merely refuse to rescue Goon from himself – he on both occasions is the pleader and while neither Bella or Mirna are examples of what we would likely attach with the word ideal – they were certainly desirable to Goon and in this story they are depicted as any other – wandering their own way, and the exception (Franky) is the power in the story, but not I feel an accusatory one. There is a lot of truth in these pages or ones that I find to be - if we all had some competition and gods to kill right after our heart is broken I dare say a lot of Playstation controllers would have been saved.

Franky is a ridah. You are going to have your circle, but you are also going to have your ace – and the segments of Chinatown that felt the most emotional were the actions of Franky. Simply put, this guy holds it down; he takes care of Goon and does so in a way that defines the strongest of bonds - he doesn’t have to tell him about it. Proven, the guy that is down forever, that let you look past him once, forgave you – and possibly loved him (Goon) more for it. I felt myself oddly moved by some panels where Powell taps into the essence of friendship – if you ever lost your ace, the last pages of Chinatown, brings back memories. Powell exhibits the ability to render more than emotion, but relationship as well as anyone I have read in sometime and you can see it in a phone conversation Goon is having when someone questions the loyalty of Franky – there is no answer because the question has no substance – it is a verbal absurdity that can’t be heard, as if a foreign language to a mono-lingual mind. Absolute trust is a rare commodity and in that instance we want to warn him that such is foolhardy, we can almost taste betrayal around the corner – but the more powerful outcome is to see him justified.

These are themes we are all familiar, that we know carry gravity and they do in what would seem telling the part of Goon’s life that would in later incarnations look like a scab. It’s ugly, but it protects something tender, a layer closer to you and they work really well but there is a what I perceive as a weakness in the conflict – the situations and feelings are wonderfully captured and framed magnificently by Powell’s art and story-telling tone but they are in someway betrayed by a hokiness that oversteps even the obvious pulp sensibilities of the series itself. It is a story that should be an amazing, poignant; certainly familiar, but in a manner that is never outdated, and it is until we get the reason in the story why Goon has to beat something up. I want to say that the story would have been an excellent chapter, perhaps a deviation, that didn’t require the actual conflict in the current storyline. I realize that such a statement possibly may grate on existing fundamental Goon traditions that I’m not aware of but the conclusion and dynamic involving Mr. Wicker comes off as severely campy when in the presence of an otherwise beautifully rendered story. I guess some could say that it is that very element that makes Goon, but it doesn’t come off as charm in Chinatown it come off as a burden. Powell may have felt the same (admittedly, more likely not) as he does choose to end the story with the thread from the past and due to that, Chinatown is able to conclude with its better half in some way insuring the aroma of satisfaction as we close the door.

I collect original comic art and while across the board I feel much of the modern work is a bit overpriced and I expect that to correct itself after a surge of awareness and the market stabilizes from an influx of buyers and while I think more vintage work will keep escalating as legitimate, relevant, pop-art there are some contemporary artists who have even seen their work go to another level and generally on creator-owned work – a Mignola Hell Boy page, an older Wagner Grendel page, a Keith Maxx page, a Smith Bone pages, a Sim Cerbebus page and while Powell I don’t think has achieved quite that status, Goon pages have shown to be very desirable and you can tell why from thumbing through Chinatown. While some comics seemed to be filled mostly with panels to lead to the next, Powell finds reason for each individual one. Splash pages almost seem to have become added strictly for the purpose of selling them at premium prices in the OA market but Powel utilizes them for a purpose on story– not comely to begin with, we see a man buckle, we see realization, we see a man gain clarity and he has to look at himself to find it. He stood before a mirror to bear witness his own pain and like a man he would not learn from his mistakes he attempts to conquer them. From the perspective of art, Powell can really do no wrong – it’s absolutely gorgeous and while it is an industry that traditional lies in duos and even more in current comics, something about comics that have only one name next to ‘by’ – for what I think obvious reasons – have a more cohesive vision. It is here, where it seems you will most likely find true creative outlets that remind us comics are art, in an industry that is more and more a factory production line.

I fee like I’m riffing VanderMeer and the Post, but somewhere within Chinatown and the Mystery of Mr. Wicker is a great story and I think we can find the lines of separation quite easily. I think I love Chinatown but the Mystery of Mr. Wicker I could have done without – it doesn’t deliver what is weird in the manner that I think pulp masters would see translated today, it comes as quite goofy and honestly has the feeling of being thrown in. I come away from my first prolonged experience with The Goon with a definite interest in reading more; Powell is undeniable as an artist and with Chinatown we see a storyteller that is able to capture a classic and mundane story and infuse it with personality that makes it Goon’s classic story and through it, ultimately a recommendable read and in Mystery of Mr. Wicker we get the feeling that we haven’t seen the best of Powell - that perhaps there may be a haphazard inclination to include certain elements just to have them in-story and I think what we wanted was Anthony Shaffer and we got Nicholas Cage instead.

I’m going to cop more Goon for Franky baby.

Jay Tomio
The Bodhisattva

The government of 2057 is regretting the deregulation of time travel as private companies deluge the past with tourists. As the delicate web of history flexes under the weight of interference from the future, Jacynda struggles to locate the man who made time travel a reality - Harter Defoe. Cynda’s friends Dr. Allistair and Detective Keats also continue their struggles with Victorian Transitives and a mysterious bloody murder. The stakes are high as Jacynda and her companions attempt to fulfill their duties. With Keat’s life on the line and Jacynda facing eternity in prison if they fail, the odds have never looked worse.

Jana C. Oliver has crafted a sequel that packs a whallop! Virtual Evil is a sensory overload of spine tingling adventure and mind-tickling wit. I absolutely love how she has deepened the characters in this second book. Dr. Allistair and Keats come alive here, standing aside Jacynda as they struggle to put the pieces together in this inventive mystery. Oliver splits her focus between these three characters, yet is able to maintain the momentum and tension in the tale. The action is non-stop as readers follow all three in their struggles to identify an invisible killer that can take on the image of anyone.

If anything, Virtual Evil is even more complex than the first book in the Time Rovers series, Sojourn. Oliver builds the suspense and intrigue, causing readers to doubt the integrity of just about everyone. Not knowing who to trust is one of my favorite aspects of this story. I am also impressed with her concept of time travel as she fills in even more details for readers. In fact, the only weakness I see in the story is the role of government as the Big Bad Brother looking over Jacynda’s shoulder. I feel the writing on that aspect is a bit clichéd and is the only predictable part of this book. However, this did not interrupt my enjoyment of a thoroughly rolicking tale.

Readers, please prepare for this book by reading the first in the series and then jump into this second story. Hopefully, we will not have long to wait to find out just what befalls our heroine and her two companions after the cliffhanger ending of Virtual Evil. I promise you will be breathless waiting for the third book, Madman’s Dance, to arrive sometime in the fall of 2008.

At The City’s Edge by Marcus Sakey: A Review

Say one thing for Marcus Sakey; he can make a reader keep turning pages. Honestly, I have spent more time contemplating what to write for this review than I needed to read his sophomore novel. Initially, upon finishing At the City’s Edge, it struck me as an enjoyable crime story that was fine for the moment, but would ultimately be forgotten.

But At the City’s Edge lurked around the edges of my thoughts while I moved on to other books. Little things kept coming back to me, snippets of character or feelings and impressions that At the City’s Edge delivered as well or often better than whatever I was currently reading. It isn’t just a case of absence making the heart grow fonder either. At the City’s Edge simply never left me.

My one complaint about this novel-and indeed, it is a complaint I had of Sakey’s first novel: The Blade Itself-is that when you boil his plots down to their simplest elements you feel that you have read them before. Sakey seems to enjoy playing with the tried and true plot devices of crime fiction. The Blade Itself featured a reformed criminal whose old life collides with his new existence personified by his vindictive old partner. In At the City’s Edge, discharged soldier Jason Palmer returns to Chicago from Baghdad to be caught up in the conspiracy the killed his brother. From the time I read the back cover copy until I finished the book I thought, this story could be a bad Steven Segal movie.

And it would have been, but for those little things. Sakey deftly builds his novels around a series of character moments and interactions. They weave themselves together to become much more than the “soldier back from the war.” The author's use of music for instance. It was always there, from seemingly incongruous moments like our lead, Jason Palmer listening to Bjork while on duty in Baghdad, to a subtle nod to Canada’s Rolling Stones: The Tragically Hip, as Sakey name drops lead singer Gord Downie. A conversation about Tom Waits is the centerpiece that Jason Palmer and Elena Cruz come to trust each other over. The most significant of these "little things" is how Sakey writes the characters of Jason Palmer and his nephew Billy. When Billy’s father Michael is murdered, Jason’s desire to protect his nephew is overshadowed by his need for revenge. Sakey has shown how Jason’s desire for revenge impacts the shell-shocked Billy. And when Jason realizes how selfish he has been, how he has been avoiding his responsibilities as an uncle to play at being a soldier again and how he must now be uncle and more to an orphaned boy, it is one of the most powerful scenes I have read in any fiction.

Jason is a believable, though not entirely sympathetic protagonist, a competent soldier who never quite tumbles over the cliff into action movie cliché. He manages to ably move the story along at a good clip, but it is Elena Cruz, the Latina cop who really shines through. Elena has as many strong moments as Jason, and is in many ways, a more relatable character. Elena has worked hard to get to where she is: she is the first woman to work Chicago’s elite Gang Intelligence Unit. Unfortunately a moment of weakness with a superior has caused her to be working a desk instead of walking the beat. Despite getting dragged into the conspiracy that caused Michael Palmer’s death, and the aid that she gives to Jason, you never lose the sense that Elena is a cop. The rest of Sakey’s Chicago is populated by a racially diverse crowd that never seems shoehorned in, or assembled by committee.

The majority of At the City’s Edge takes place in the Crenwood area of Chicago. While Sakey’s Crenwood is based on a very real part of Chicago, it is a narrative invention. The author himself says this in the afterword, that out of sensitivity to the residents of that part of Chicago, who have lived their whole lives there, he didn’t feel a couple of rides with the police had earned him the right to tell their story. It struck me as an incredibly humble position for an author to take.

At the City’s Edge will blister your fingers as it keeps you up late into the night, but unlike most quick reads, its subtleties will linger with you far longer. Sakey is a growing talent, whose stories live up to their hype and reviews, and who with any justice, will one day be considered side by side with the likes of Michael Connelly and Elmore Leonard.

Jacynda is a Time Rover from the year 2057, escorting academic tourists back and forth in the river of Time to engage in historical research. Called upon to recover a reluctant tourist who is enjoying the past a little too much, she finds herself in one of the most terrifying times and places during the Victorian Era - East End London, 1888, the playground of Jack the Ripper. As if a tourist refusing to return isn’t enough, Jacynda finds out a Rover has also gone missing. Woven throughout her escapade is the presence of the Transitives, a group of people with the mysterious talent to alter their appearance by shifting their shape completely. Jacynda must decide who to trust as she finds she is running out of the very commodity she has always controlled - Time.

Winner of the Daphne du Maurier award, Sojourn is an exquisitely crafted tale that takes readers back to the very bowels of the East End. Squalid, derelict, and desperate, the people there are simply trying to survive another day. Jacynda can’t help but compare her life in 2057 with the existence of those in 1888. The author lays the stark and sterile society of the future next to the teeming life of the Victorian Era. Jacynda begins to realize filth and struggle serve to heighten the pleasures of the simple things in life, such as fresh hot scones and a quiet bath.

Jana G. Oliver has performed a masterful feat, balancing the multiple threads in the storyline to culminate in an ending that both satisfies and leaves questions unanswered. The only threadbare aspect to the plot was the relationship between Jacynda and her employer in 2057, but this pales in comparison to the rest of the story. Readers will find non-stop action from the beginning as they tumble from 1888 to 2057 and back again. Ms. Oliver introduces characters and creates personalities, capturing the Victorian fussiness and the “ladies of the night” with finesse. Her addition of the Transitives, shape shifters, serves to add a different twist on the activities of Jack the Ripper. Ripperologists, fear not, this is not an attempt to lay to rest the identity of that cruel fiend. Jack does, however, have a place in the plot (as readers will find out for themselves).

Sojourn was a wonderful adventure, full of unexpected twists and turns. I encourage you, Reader, to experience this time trip for yourself.

A condemned man known only as Prisoner Zero. A Chinese emperor in the distant future. A young street punk in Marrakech. These are the players in a struggle that spans space and time, a struggle that the fate of humanity will hinge upon. Stamping Butterflies chronicles the roles, no matter how small or large, they will have in deciding not only the future, but the past...

Jon Courtenay Grimwood's followup to his excellent Arabesk trilogy is at once brilliant and frustrating. Grimwood excels at depicting political intrigues and rendering locales in crystal-clear prose that lends immediacy to the streets of Marrakech or the far reaches of the 2023 worlds. Nor can his creativity or his ability with characters and dialogue be disputed.

Yet for all of Stamping Butterflies' ambition that reaches for the stars (both literal and figurative), it falls short. The three main storylines and their associated subplots never come together in a meaningful fashion - leaving the ending rather tacked-on. Furthermore, Grimwood's style of leaving blanks in the story and either filling them in gradually or leaving them for the reader to deduce - while effective at points, all too often breeds confusion here.

It is unfortunate, as there's a lot of potential here, but Stamping Butterflies ultimately can be likened to a runaway train - powerful but uncontrolled. What worked for the Arabesk books just never hits the mark on all counts here. I did enjoy certain aspects of the book in the end - but I honestly can't recommend it otherwise.

The titular heroine of Mike Shepherd's Kris Longknife series returns in Kris Longknife: Audacious.

As the story opens, Kris has arrived on the planet of New Eden, ostensibly for some long-overdue rest after a tour of duty in the Rim Territories. Unfortunately, her hopes for peace and quiet are brought to a halt by a series of assassination attempts. Kris is quickly drawn into not only a struggle to stay alive, but also to discover who wants her dead and why she was sent to New Eden in the first place.

"Audacious" stands alone fairly well, despite being the 5th in a series. I hadn't read any of the previous books, so that was a plus for me. As a whole, "Audacious" is a pretty decent read - Shepherd's naval background shows itself in the verisimilitude given to the military aspects of the book. Kris herself is a strong female character, although there isn't much character development throughout - the book focuses on action, with some interesting sci-fi twists thrown in.

The central storyline could have used some work, however. It seems rushed and some of the plot threads aren't developed clearly (the kidnapping, etc.). Perhaps more explanation of the antagonist's motives would have helped. I'd also have to say the prose and dialogue are readable but were rough at times. That said, it excels as a page-turner with some good action scenes.

VALIANT as a universe began with the Solar: Man of the Atom and Magnus: Robot Fighter, two former Gold Key titles given new life and chosen to draw the first breath in a universe that would in its early years rival the creative height any other company – large or small – would reach. It is against our nostalgic sensibilities to makes such claims, but there is a magic to early VALIANT that I relate to in feeling – obviously not industry or social impact – but in terms at being in its bare roots gee-whiz science fiction and kindred to the magic of Ditko Spiderman, or Kirby and Lee Fantastic Four, or O’Neil and Adams Green Lantern; explorative works of wonder that still catered to our sense of the reality around us. With VALIANT it was a universe; and featured a not always linear manner of storytelling but fit with a tight continuity and if Magnus and Solar were the lungs that initiated breath in the setting with two era-essential storylines (Steel Nation and Alpha and Omega respectively) then RAI was its heart.

I wasn’t able to get these books when I was younger as when I became aware of the top-notch storytelling the prices of VALIANT back issues simply exceeded my weekly allowance. VALIANT was on fire, and caught in the speculator boom of the early 90’s when coupled with a miniscule print runs really priced these out of my range excluding reading about them in Wizard Magazine, cementing spots in their Top Ten hottest comics (this was when Wizard was a comic book magazine and practiced some form of journalism in its pages) feature.

This TPB collects and chronicles the first four issues of Rai, the first major original VALIANT character, as well as the pivotal issue #0. These do not account for his first appearance as they would occur in the pages of Magnus as the secondary story in a flip-book format in that title. It is there where the story of Magnus and Rai joining forces to defeat an alien invasion was chronicled, a victory that’s ramifications would include the country of Japan to be cast into the atmosphere orbiting the earth and its god-like patron to depart for love. Japan now floating above the rest of the world, not cut off but instead just serving a Tokugawa-like, symbolic and active isolationism but also has the more immediate impact on the central character. One cannot even pretend there has been no change, you live in the same place but the horizon seems different – it is gone – and you cannot run from it, there is no place to go and Rai would not want to but the comfort of knowing you can is a unknown presence you are not alerted to until it is no longer an option.

Rai is the traditional guardian of Japan, a responsibility of blood that served Grandmother – the robot that effectively maintained and managed the country. Their robo-obachan lost, Japan enters a scared new world and the symbol of the old world is going through personal crisis, he finds himself without a master, a ronin, and left without someone to dictate his cause he is forced to confront his identity not just a role. He struggles to find his place in a civil war, in his family, in the world he helped save. The people of Japan are shown to be in two rival social-political camps during this transition period and the country is in involved in a civil war between what could be considered the legitimate government, a government of the people, ran by humanity for humanity and that of those who yearn and try to facilitate the return of their mechanical god. It is all however, not so simplistic – yet certainly fundamentally – at the heart of it all are just individuals who seek power for themselves. What is left is a country that doesn’t know which to embrace more; its past, present, or future, a dilemma that is personified and magnified in Rai’s personal life by his father (the previous Rai), his wife, and his infant son. We see choices and not too subtle political and social options played out, we see the development of a drug culture and how one governs individual self and how to fit that into government. In the end you can’t help anyone or stand for anything until you are satisfied with doing either for yourself.

It is an interesting project for Micheline who probably has more quality runs on several glamour titles than anyone who is not more of a household name helming some classic Iron Man work with Bob Layton that’s probably the definitive run for many not to mention being the writer during Spiderman run that saw the creation of Venom that was also the mega-popular McFarlane Amazing Spiderman era. He offers an unfixed view of Rai, VALIANT readers had already been introduced to him, and while he is clearly a noble-hearted figure at his core he does not offer him to us on a pedestal, we make our choice, as Rai himself does. As a reader, it wouldn’t be an unfair observation to label Rai’s personal struggle to border on incessantly whiney and bordering on annoyance on par with the worse examples that occur currently in comics, you find yourself wanting him to take any advice just to give him a direction – we pity him, we are annoyed of him, we root for him, and before we know it, we care. In many ways he is Peter without Ben, with power and conscious of responsibility but not the direction or anchor mimicked by his free floating nation.

The art for the first four issues was supplied by Joe St. Pierre and the third issue sports one of the great covers of that decade, a traditional beast created with a future technology attempting to swallow Rai whole. While VALIANT certainly had high profile (or those that would become such) and even legendary figures working for them in various degrees like Steve Ditko, Barry Windsor-Smith, Frank Miller, Dave Lapham, Bob Layton, Dave Lapham, Rags Morales, Sean Chen, Bart Sears, Joe Quesada, Bart Sears, Paul Gulacy among others, their early accomplishment was a brand of storytelling that seems almost a vintage novelty in today’s market: that art and writing combined to make a greater whole – the story. The art tells a story, it’s not just splash art around dialogue; it’s a synergy between two skills to craft story, the very essence comic books and the first issues of Rai like the rest of the Pre-Unity VALIANT aren’t only worthwhile reads but also combines with the others to create a unique corner in the medium that represent the most impressive attempt at a superhero universe outside of the big two.

Forgive me a moment as I practice the very height of arrogance, I will quote what I said in May when I made this comment at my blog about VALIANT:

"People ask me about the television show: Heroes. I dig it, I really do - and the reason why is that it’s essentially Valiant-lite, they keep you in reality, revel in it, but understand wonder is a fundamental ingredient, it is not the escape it is the diving into the exploration of, and reestablishment of what can and cannot be real."

Which brings us to a weakness in the TPB. Understanding and applying it as a piece - a significant piece - of the tapestry, it’s a fundamental cog in a project that‘s whole is better than the parts. RAI#1-4 are real nice reads, but isn’t a brilliant example of comic book storytelling, it is part of a greater dream. The VALIANT fan cherishes the pieces with the benefit of the image of the whole picture, and no matter how nice some won’t be able to appreciate a piece of the frame completely especially how the fourth issue ends. What you get in Rai is not only the next piece in the grand scheme but you get the contrast with the Magnus character, two that are as close to being reflections of each other but are still opposites.

Holy blood, holy grail…

The VALIANT universe was rendered to readers via titles that were published simultaneously at two different parts of the timeline, present day (and in real time) and in the far future (4001). The blood of a future Rai is one of and perhaps the most significant binding element of the two threads, as the remnants of the nanotech that resided in a character of the present day VALIANT setting, a former mob hitman Bloodshot, through history will be over what wars were fought for and why revolutions would begin and affect entire generations of the VALIANT universe. It became a real sangreal and openly desired by one of the most powerful men on earth, Toyo Harada whose corporation would come to control the majority of the world and himself was an Omega Harbinger, a being of almost unsurpassed natural ability and power – and one of the two or three most potent minds not just in the world, but in its history. The last arc of the collection is Rai#0, a time jumping mosaic piece that tells the story of the Blood of Heroes and works in a manner much like Brad Meltzer’s zero issue for the recent JLA relaunch – it casts the possible and inevitable, creating different perspectives running in both directions of the timeline. We witness heroes fall and heroes born, of legacies earned and lost and of familial bonds that spanned centuries. It is a piece that is often the subject of differing opinions and represented a transition period for the company’s creative infrastructure, for myself however, it remains the fulcrum, an issue that echoes the greatness that was and a view – even if fractured and tainted – of what could have been, an issue on reflection that is a memorial of VALIANT’s rising sun in the process of burning out. Still hot – but not the light in the industry it once was.

Jay Tomio
The Bodhisattva

A movie producer hurtles to his death from the top of the Golden Gate Bridge, an apparent suicide that shocks the film community and puts a two hundred million dollar production in jeopardy.

His colleague, Grace, doesn’t believe it was suicide and turns to private detective Cape Weathers to find the truth. To solve the case, Cape and his friend Sally—an assassin raised by the Triads—take on the Russian mob, a major movie studio, and a recalcitrant police department by enlisting the help of rogue cops, computer hackers, and an investigative journalist who just doesn’t give a damn. But with a sniper on their trail, the challenge will be staying alive long enough to find out the truth.

Beating the Babushka is the second book in the Cape Weathers series following Stealing the Dragon earlier in the year. As with the earlier book Beating the Babushka is a lot of fun to read. I normally am not one to get caught up in a series but Maleeny's books have quickly become must-haves for me upon their release.

It is not necessary to have read the earlier book in the series to understand and appreciate what happens in Beating the Babushka. But I will say this, that a fuller understanding of Sally, one of the reoccurring characters in the series and Cape's back-up in tight situations, can only be had with a reading of the earlier book. But, Sally's character is just as vibrant and interesting without that prior knowledge though readers of the first book may feel that she is underused here after she had such a dominating role in the earlier book. Like all of the great deadly sidekick characters her time spent in the story isn't enough but Maleeny knows better then to spoil a good thing and ultimately leave us wanting more.

One of the things that are interesting here is the sustained Hollywood theme. Not only is the death of a movie producer at the heart of the story here but Beating the Babushka is filled with movie allusions and references as well as offering up a behind the scenes look at the business side of movie making.

Reflecting the shift in the power structure of organized crime in the U.S. it’s the Russian mob that dominates here. An outline of their history and their methods of dealing with other organizations (both legal and not) provide an interesting sub-plot. One of my favorite characters in Beating the Babushka is the retired Russian mobster known as The Pole. It will be an anecdote of his that will provide the title of the book. His character is one that you see sometimes in fiction, regardless of medium. A kind of idealized, gentlemen criminal, usually from the old country, who has a strict code of conduct. He doesn't care who he deals with as long as they adhere to this code and those that follow it have his trust and friendship. He proves to be a carefully crafted, intelligent, thoughtful friend to Cape who just happens to be on the wrong side of the law.

During the climatic fight scene at the end of Beating the Babushka it will be revealed to the astute reader that the events here take place a year before those in Stealing the Dragon, making it a prequel. This shows Maleeny's willingness to jump around in the timeline of these characters, which could make for some interesting stories down the road.

--Brian Lindenmuth

The 28th issue of G.I.JOE: America’s Elite present an interesting opportunity for this reader as the opportunity to find out if somebody can miss an issue or two and still come back on and enjoy the storyline and also to see if avoid its tendency to inch even more toward the hyper-dramatic, team-Horatio pop television story via sequential art. At the beginning of every issue there is a file-card styled report that successful catches a reader up to the pertinent gist of recent events. That aside, and to something I noted in my first dip back into G.I.JOE with this series all preconceived worries are once again put to rest. The broken record spins, but if one flips through the Powers-helmed run what becomes evident is that this creative team knows how to introduce every single issue in a manner that invites at least momentary clarity. All thoughts are brushed to the side an instead Is it a Eel? Is it a Plague Trooper? Who is snuffin’ people from behind on nuclear submarines? The fun is not diminished even when you’re wrong. Powers is able to instill this due to credibility established in previous issues, surprising old and new fans alike with utilizing players never used before in a singular vision.

In many ways this creates an atmosphere that was similar to Valiant’s line in the early 90’s when any panel or any page could bring you to the next major player and I this case, with an established identity with deep roots in a generation, it is a reintroduction of one’s own memories to current continuity. It’s a balance between gimmick and craft but for now the title is given the benefit of the doubt as in this issue there are more old comrades introduced that make you tilt your Vodka, giving the devil his due in a page that needs to find a way on my wall.

This issue is the continuation of yet another event in the comic industry, part 4 of the 12 part World War III storyline continues and what seems to be a focus on Duke. To see what was for at least part of the time the character that was the figurehead of G.I.JOE delved into, to meet the father of the man, and to meet Connie is a part of the morphing of Joe from toy and cartoon line adaptation to comic book individuality. In truth these are the moments that make some otherwise bearable popcorn television shows into cringe-fests (Lana shut up, Bone’s quit talking about his son, H, I don’t care about your brother) but are the quiet moments needed on paper in the midst of a World War. Something tells me that perhaps there have been too many in the two issues I have missed - as its seems WWIII started just here in this issue but in this single issue it works.

The art that I have remarked that has grown on me and was at first questionable is now remarkably atmospheric. When you get your issue Put your hand over “Dawn” on the first page and tell me if you actually need it. Backdrops have a vibrant, poor man’s Guarnidoesque feel, it’s a vivid picture but as if viewed through a fog. Dark alleys, doctor offices, clandestine meetings in the middle east, a special operations war room - all carry the intensity and dangers one would associate with them.

My favorite part of the issue may have been instances of dialogue. Kicking down doors, ‘Wassup Snakes!’ - as strange as it sounds it maintained a real non-comedic, intense quality while also living as a source of a smile as I could almost hear the M60 totting cartoon character taking back his family’s Red Rocket restaurant. These are self-made moments to some extent by a reader but even the “Don’t you ever shut up” leveled at Falcon takes me back to the animated movie (a good and bad memory). No, this isn’t exactly your childhood’s G.I.JOE - and thankfully it isn’t your child’s G.I.JOE - but it continues to be more than a best of worlds through various incarnations and medium - it has become its own world, a crisis that found its way. There are pacing issues throughout the run, instances where you feel that the storyline is either rushed or prolonged in each issue but I attribute this with a smaller company always trying to maintain a schedule in terms of the story and issue numbers (the events are really not events they are more pre-announced mega-arcs) but these are stumbles not crashes.

A licensed out political intrigue, spy, war, and cloak and dagger book, America’s Elite may be targeting a specific audience groomed by the brand name, but is worthy of even more readership. G.I.JOE has the catch phrase and now you know attached to it, this series would be best suited with you better ask somebody.

Jay Tomio
The Bodhsiattva

For three months now, ex-bookmaker Bobby G has been heading down the straight and narrow. He's got the girl and he's bought the ring. He's also stashed away a tidy, slightly tainted retirement fund. Then his old boss, a captain with the Vignieri crime family, flips and rats on his Mafioso associates. And Bobby's past begins catching up with him. Soon the wiseguys' shakedown is escalating into warfare in the heart of Little Italy.


Bobby G has got trouble.


Hello fellow, potential and future crime fiction readers, I think that an introduction may be in order. I'd like you to meet Charlie Stella. Mr. Stella here is a friend of ours and also happens to be the best-kept secret in crime fiction. His first four novels, Eddies World, Jimmy Bench-Press, Charlie Opera & Cheapskates were published in hard back only and are now, unjustly, out of print. His fifth novel, Shakedown, came out in hard cover last year and just recently became the first of his novels to be released in paperback, something long over due. These novels, coveted by readers and spoken of highly by writers, are some of the most exiting crime novels being written in the new millennium. So, in other words, come on in, the waters fine.


Let me tell you a little bit about Shakedown.


Stella, one of the best dialogue men in the business, honed his skills as an Off-Broadway playwright. The dialogue he writes is realistic and vibrant. It also becomes the vehicle through which a lot of the plot is conveyed. In lesser hands this would come across as info-dumping or false exposition but Stella's verbal exchanges are never this dull or heavy handed.


Stella would never dream of telling you that something happened, instead he's much rather show you. He'll have a character mention something about it in an off-handed manner and leave it for you to pick up on. In this manner the plot is presented in such a way that, at times, it maintains an illusion of being thin. But in fact the opposite is the case and the story line is much deeper and more resonant then that first glimpse might seem. Of all the various subplots in Shakedown perhaps the proof of this can best be found in the all out gang war that takes place? Not once is it ever explicitly stated that a war between the Italian, Chinese and Irish is happening. Instead we are given an insider’s perspective and are told of this through actions and dialogue. We bear witness.


I want to take a closer look at a small piece of dialogue from later on in Shakedown (no spoilers) that acts as a microcosm and shows a lot of the strengths of the book, overall. The exchange is between an old-school Italian mobster and a young member of one of the newer, upstart, Chinese gangs.

The first thing is that it has a great flow to it, conversational in tone. Also there is a slight mis-use of the language that never devolves into phonetic style dialogue. There is also the added element of subtext; the Italian gangster is possessed of an inherent superiority and entitlement, its almost as if he is scolding a child.


It also offers up a real world history lesson. That last part refers to a bit of New York underworld history. The comment refers to such Irish gangsters as Mickey Spillane who held a patent disregard for the Italian mafia’s rules and kidnapped Mafiosi for ransom in the 1960; Jimmy Coonan and Mickey Featherstone who kidnapped and chopped up into pieces associates of the Italian families as retaliation; and Jimmy McBratney who kidnapped members of the Gambino family in the early 1970’s and paid for it with his life. This is exactly the type of off handed comment that would be made by this character, in this environment, in this situation. In the hands of a lesser writer all of this background and subtext would have been explained, and sure it would have been interesting as a history lesson, but the way that Stella just leaves it hang out there as part veiled threat, part secret history lesson, part scolding is much more effective.


In order to successfully tell a story in this manner, from the inside out, the single most important ingredient is strong, interesting, fully developed character. Every single one of Shakedowns large cast of great characters fit the bill here. It’s the vibrancy of the characters that partially helps to maintain that ruse of a simplistic and thin plot because you get so caught up in their interactions that you might miss that crucial detail.


Over the last 20 years or so in most forms of popular fiction we have seen a trend in storytelling that has veered away from the near Shakespearean heights of the upper echelons of organized crime power structures and has maintained a steady gaze at the more tumultuous existence of the earner, or those in the middle. The character types that permeate the pages of Shakedown and its underworld are all middle management types. They may be possessed of a certain amount of autonomy in their actions but its important to note that they all have someone to answer to. Someone, in fact, quite a few levels higher up then they are. The Irish characters answer to the IRA; the Italian characters answer to the Under boss; the Chinese characters answer to the Tongs.


Reflecting the state of the Italian mafia s it exists today it is shown as an organization on the back side of its existence, plagued with FBI infiltration and those easily willing to break a silence code that hasn’t existed in decades, but still exerting a formidable amount of influence even as it draws its near to last breath. They are to be feared in much the same way that an injured or cornered animal would be. In many ways the Italian Mafia is like the man behind the curtain all the while trying their best to maintain the ruse that they are still the wizard. But, the younger gangs are tougher and more ruthless and are taking more and more of the pie as the immigrant face of the country changes.


On a final and side note there was one character in particular that I really enjoyed -- Father John Scavo. Scavo is a former tough guy and car thief who went to the seminary, turned his life around and became a priest. This character type is one of my favorites in fiction and one that we have seen before, what I like to call the urban whiskey priest. A bit of a misnomer perhaps because he doesn’t carry a vice around with him but instead he is of the streets, from the streets and very comfortable in them but he is now a man of the cloth. He therefore has a foot in two worlds. His words and actions have more resonance and carry more weight because of his experience and his faith has been tested. A very interesting character and one that I was glad to see. Pat O’Brien as Father Jerry Connelly from the classic movie Angels With Dirty Faces may very well be the archetype for this character type and as a part of this history Father Scavo doesn’t disappoint


Mr. Stella, I’d like to introduce you to your new audience.


--Brian Lindenmuth

What woman doesn't have a bad boy fantasy?

Ex-marine turn security specialist Joel Wilde loves his jet setting dangerous job. It keeps romantic entanglements at arm's length. But then an old military buddy calls in a favor. Deep in gaming debt, Zach mistakenly sets up his sister and her life insurance policy as a possible out. Now she has hit-men on tail and doesn't even know it.

Joel sets out to keep watch on an unsuspecting Lora at her night time job, as a cocktail waitress at The Electric Blue, a Coyote Ugly type bar. His bad boy looks and the fact that he only has eyes for Lora stir up her nearly dead libido. Working two jobs, she has no time for romance. But she can not deny what the darkly attractive leather clad man is doing to her pulse rate.

Determined to keep things platonic, Joel invites Lora for coffee. She figures out he is her troubled brother's comrade and decides to throw caution to the wind. She tries to seduce him on his Harley, but Joel manages to resist, mostly. Even tho she finds this incredibly sweet, it also sparks her desire more. She is bound and determined to get him between the sheets.

Then a warning comings in the shape of two hit men with a very sharp knife. Shaken, Lora turns to Joel for comfort. Realizing that she came very close to dying rattles him. He should not be feeling these emotions for her. Nor should he take her to bed. But he does both.

The passionate night spent together is obliterated when the vagabond brother calls and lets Joel's undercover work out of the bag. Lora is incensed that Joel lied to her. Fulfillig his promise, he whisks her off to a secluded cabin to keep her from harm and sets a tentative plan in motion to erase the threat against her life. Lora thaws to Joel when she realizes he does having feelings for her that he is denying even to himself.

She uses his lust for her as a lure and he can't resist. She employs the erotic skills of her day job as a masseuse. When her brother shows up and Joel tells him of his plan to erase his debt, Zach balks as any addict would. But then he hits rock bottom and has no choice. He accepts help and rehab and the threat which kept Lora and Joel together is gone. And Lora lets him go. She can't keep him if he doesn't want to stay. Ultimately, Joel realizes he can not live without Lora and returns to her.

There is a wonderful romantic sub-plot with Lora's boss and friend Sydney and her daughter's Math Teacher Daniel that threatens to overshadow the main story. It was like a mini book inside the primary one. Those characters were refreshing and a engaging with a spicy plot-line.

While the premise of the book was a little weak (If Joel couldn't offer the money to fix Zach's debts in the first chapter, hows can he do it in the end?), the overall effect was believable. The female aggressor is always a nice change and by, is Sydney a go-getter!!

The sex was spicy but not overly erotic and scattered enough to not be just one long string of bedplay. The emotions were well thought out and true to character. But the shaky plot really bothered me in the end. Zach seems to just deflate and accept the offer of help without much fight. And the fight he did show was not too aggressive. Having read other books by the author, I was a little disappointed. It was good but not her best work.

As part of the series, it did stand alone very very well. You didn't get the sense of a huge back story you missed out on. The sub-plot was almost more creative than the main line and I found myself more interested in them as a whole. This line would have made a fantastic read alone.