The first reader review for The Dragons of Jupiter is in, and it is GLOWING!
Review by: Dan Pederson
Great plot, great characters, great world, and one heck of an awesome ending. That’s pretty much how I would describe The Dragons of Jupiter if someone asked me about the novel. The story centers around two brothers Ryu and Kaneda, their personal war, as well as the ongoing interplanetary conflict that is raging around them. The author does an excellent job of introducing the characters as well as the universe they exist in. The characters are done extremely well and it is interesting as a reader to become aware that you are favoring one side of the conflict versus the other. Some of the characters follow stereotypical sci-fi archetypes but that is one of the charming things about this book. The plot ranges from huge battles to small scale one-on-one fights and it handles each equally well. I won’t include any spoilers but will note that I thoroughly enjoyed the ending.
The review was posted on Smashwords and can be seen here.
Well, what can I say? Wow! Just … wow! That is one satisfied customer! Thank you, Dan Pederson, for your very enthusiastic praise!
And this is how I feel right now:
So, does this sound like a novel you’d enjoy? Do you like your novels action-packed? Do you crave interesting characters? Do you enjoy a kickass ending?
Why not give The Dragons of Jupiter a try?
Click here to learn more.
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Review
The Friday Society by Adrienne Kress – Book Review
Caution: Contains one spoiler.
Anyone who has ever spoken to me at length about steampunk will know this: While I do love steampunk, I’m a bigger fan of the idea of steampunk than I am of most steampunk books. My main complaint against them is that they tend to treat the pseudo-Victorian aesthetic as a decoration, rather than an integral part of the world of the story. Occasionally, though, I happen upon a steampunk novel that takes that decoration and rocks it.
The Friday Society by Adrienne Kress rocks hard in all the ways that steampunk should.
In the novel, Cora is assistant to a mad scientist, with all the science brains and cool tech knowledge implied; Nellie is assistant to a magician, armed with sparkly dresses, sneak tactics galore, and a parrot sidekick; and Michiko is a Japanese assistant to an English fight instructor, who knows more about katana combat than her present charlatanic master. When heads start rolling in the London streets—the first right at their feet, in fact—they take it upon themselves to solve the mystery with sassy, street-smart girl power and more than a little technological mayhem.
These are combinations that could not exist outside a steampunk novel and still make sense.
At its heart, The Friday Society reads like Kress said, “OK—I’m going to take everything that is awesome about steampunk, trash the rest, put it in a blender with some glitter and Japanese swordplay and see what happens.” Which is why there is almost no affected fake-Victorian language in this thing, and why the novel foregoes the tedious details of Victorian manners and society to toss an explosion at readers in the first sentence. There are also magical gravity-defying minerals and a super fancy gun that can be worn like armor until an electromagnetic pulse calls its pieces into weapon form.
The protagonists, too, are sneakily developed, looking like stereotypes on the surface—the tomboy, the girly girl, the samurai—but revealing some clever variations on their types as the novel progresses. Michiko, for example, is the stoic, silent, samurai sort one would expect—but only because she doesn’t know enough English to use the language and so stays quiet to avoid making herself look foolish. Cora and Nellie take it upon themselves to teach her the language, and ultimately, it is these three characters and their interactions that make the novel worth the read. Stylistically, it aspires to read like a steampunk cousin of sassy fantasies like The Princess Bride or Stardust, a feat largely accomplished through the girls’ banter. Though they never actually reach Princess Bride levels of wit—though, really, what other than The Princess Bride itself can do that?— its sense of humor was close enough and uncommon enough in steampunk novels that it kept me reading.
However, even though the strengths outweighed them for me, the book does have some weaknesses worth mentioning. There’s an attempted romantic storyline that falls absolutely flat—but this is a book about girls kicking butt, so that’s ok. The story also involves a secondary murder mystery that I found completely throwaway once it was solved, and once readers find out the eventual bad guy’s motivation, it is frustratingly feminist (that is, feminist in a negative way). BTW THIS IS THE SPOILER PART. WATCH OUT. This seems odd to say about a book that is unabashedly about girl power, but when the antagonist’s reason for murdering everyone (and then some) comes down to “THE MEN DIDN’T THINK MY IDEAS WERE GOOD BECAUSE I WAS A GIRL SO I’LL SHOW THEM >( ” it’s a bit anticlimactic, and not entirely believable. (A younger me was a tomboyish girl who wanted to excel at boy things like science and blowing things up, but I was never motivated to do such things because people told me I was too girly to succeed at them. I simply wanted to do them because I wanted to do them.) Finally, the novel makes a noble stab at having a diverse cast—Michiko is trained by a local Japanese expatriate, and Nellie works for an exotic Oriental magician—but most of the multicultural characters in the novel ultimately fall into convenient stereotype. Nellie’s magician, though interesting, exists only to be exotic and mysterious, and Michiko’s mentor reads like he popped out of The Karate Kid.
Taken as a whole, though, The Friday Society ranks among the best steampunk novels I’ve encountered in the past year. It’s not flawless, but it’s still the most entertaining piece of steampunk quirk that I’ve read since Phil and Kaja Foglio’s classic Girl Genius.
***
Note: Holo Writing is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program and, as such, may earn a small commission from any product purchased through an affiliate link on this blog.
BZRK by Michael Grant – Book Review
Conjoined twins Charles and Benjamin Armstrong have a vision of a utopian future—a future in which war, hunger, even minor conflict is nonexistent. They wish to see human society perfected. Which sounds pretty sweet, except that they hope to achieve it by sending brain-manipulating nanobots into the minds of the most powerful leaders on the planet, and then rewiring their brains to serve their cause. Which involves doing the same to the rest of the world. BZRK is not about to let that happen. Armed with sets of biots—microscopic bug-like creatures that can alter brains as well as the nanobots—this guerilla organization is ready to fight for the free will of the human race.
I like to picture Michael Grant’s BZRK as the summer action movie of YA books. It’s noisy and fast-paced with colorful characters and just a tiny hint of deeper substance, asking questions like “Is world peace worth the cost of free will?” A tiny, tiny hint. After all, The Matrix asked deep questions like “What is reality?” but no one watches The Matrix solely to have their intellect teased. BZRK is the same kind of entertainment.
That said, BZRK would make a ridiculously fun action movie (and, in fact, has already been optioned). Look at the very premise: The battle for humanity’s freedom is being fought, secretly, INSIDE PEOPLE’S BRAINS by MICROSCOPIC GENETICALLY ENGINEERED BUGS against ARMIES OF NANOBOTS and the uniquely skilled people who control them LIKE THEY’RE PLAYING A VIDEO GAME. On top of that, the leader of the bad guy camp is a set of twins conjoined at the face, who run a massive technology corporation disguised as a line of gift shops. The whole cast of “twitchers”—that is, the people who control the biots and nanobots—is made of characters with definite action-movie eccentricities. One, for example, is physically unable to feel pleasure due to the makeup of his brain. Another has a QR code tattooed in a snarky place that leads to a snarky video. Another rewired the brain of a hot girl so she’d be his girlfriend. Oh, there’s a normal guy, among them, too, for readers to relate to, but he is also really attractive and therefore separate from us, in his own fantastic action movie world.
Though the technology of the story is cool (and terrifying—Never again, after reading this, will you have a headache and not think “OMG THERE MIGHT BE BIOTS BATTLING IN MY BRAIN RIGHT NOW”), the characters are a mixed bag of epicness and mediocrity. What the novel has in abundant character distinctness, it absolutely lacks in character development. When I tried to recall any major transformations that happened in this book, the only one I could come up with was this: One character gets her legs blown off. Which does not a dynamic character make, at least in terms of characterization. (The scene itself is certainly a dynamic one, what with pieces of characters flying everywhere.) An attempt at development is made between Noah and Sadie, two protagonists new to BZRK who have been paired together, had biots grown from their DNA, and told to keep each other’s biots alive—to help out when the other’s brain is under attack. Their inevitable physical closeness—they’re crawling all over each other’s brain meat, after all—suggests to both that physical closeness of a more intimate, hormonal, and emotional sort is bound to occur, and both are conflicted about this idea. They’re hesitant about romance, but at the same time, have already been placed close by technological necessity. The conflict here was interesting to read about, but in this novel, it never develops beyond mere uneasiness. BZRK is going to be a series, so I imagine that their relationship will be better developed over the course of the larger story (which is what I anticipate of the character development in general). However, it was disappointing that this interaction was no better developed than any of the other character interactions. This will be a difficult hurdle for some readers to jump; if you’re looking for characters to relate to and care for, you’re probably going to find it hard to care about this book. But you’re also probably not the audience this book is aiming for, either.
Mediocre characterization aside, one of my favorite elements of the book was the incredible diversity of its cast. Nearly every globally significant culture is represented amongst the characters, good and bad. Granted, at the beginning of the novel, character introductions came so quickly and ferociously that the diversity seemed almost pandering, especially when the book reaches the American character who looks Chinese but has a Russian name. And who, you find out later, is also a gay model. So maybe it is pandering. But in a book like this, a diverse cast makes logical sense. When the threat being combated is a global one, it’s only natural that the team assembled to fight it would consist of something other than a bunch of white guys and one random other race thrown in for flavor. So kudos to Michael Grant for acknowledging that.
Ultimately, there’s little more to BZRK than cool technological action and ridiculous characters, which is fine by me. I wasn’t expecting intellectual stimulation from a book that sells itself on brain bugs. My only genuine complaint about the book, then, relates to its ending. It’s not a bad ending. In fact, it definitely satisfies on the action level. But, like many series books these days, it doesn’t conclude the story so much as suggest that there’s more to come. This makes sense for a series book, but I do miss the days when novels—even series novels—were complete self-contained units. I can’t complain too much, though, because when BZRK Reloaded arrives at the library, I’ll be the first to check it out.
***
Note: Holo Writing is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program and, as such, may earn a small commission from any product purchased through an affiliate link on this blog.
Epic – Movie Review
IN SHORT: A race of miniature tree elves are about to choose their next leader in a really stupid way. Hordes of personified tree rot plan to crash the party.
WHAT IT IS: Fun and visually striking, Epic took me on a ride I genuinely enjoyed from start to finish.
WHAT IT IS NOT: Don’t expect much depth beneath the flash. We’ve seen these characters before by different names in different movies.
WHAT I THOUGHT: With a title like Epic, I was expecting more, I don’t know, epic-ness? Is that even a word? But I suppose it’s better than calling the movie Didn’t Suck.
And that’s generally my feeling towards the movie. The characters were likable. The plot was zany, but entertaining. The action was good. The villain was serviceable. Art direction was very cool. Voice acting was solid. The comedic relief was absolutely hilarious (I loved the slug character)!
Yes, this movie genuinely didn’t suck.
Now, that’s not to say it blew me away. While I liked the characters, there really wasn’t anything exceptional about them. They’re all characters we’ve seen before, familiar and not overly complicated. But that’s okay. They weren’t annoying. They didn’t get in the way of my enjoyment of the movie.
I also appreciated the complete absence of a Hollywood Environmental Message™. I generally don’t like it when movies get preachy at me. It’s something of a pet peeve, and honestly, this was my biggest fear going into the movie. Being an engineer who works in Evil Corporate America™, a lot of movies portray people like me or people I work with in a really bad light.
So kudos this time for not making us out to be the villains! Again. For like the millionth time. Seriously, we’re just normal people trying to get by like everyone else.
So, yeah, fun movie. Not deep. Not really all that epic. But fun.
VERDICT: Recommended.
Beasts of Burden, Volume 1 by Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson – Book Review
In Animal Rites, the first volume of graphic novel series Beasts of Burden, Pugsley, Jack, Ace, Whitey, Rex, and the Orphan are 5 dogs and a cat living fairly normal lives…until they encounter a ghost in Jack’s doghouse, a coven of witches, a werewolf, and several other supernatural oddities. Eventually, they combat so many paranormal dangers that they are invited to become apprentices of the Wise Dog Society, a group of dogs (and now one cat) devoted to defending their territory from paranormal threats.
This description might lead one to think that the story illustrated in the pages of this book is a fun little happy-go-lucky read. I mean, it’s got talking animals in it, right?
True, Beasts of Burden is a talking animal story. But it is not a talking animal story that you want to show your little siblings. Not unless you want them to grow up traumatized, anyway. In which case, go for it. You will succeed dramatically.
This series is billed as horror mystery. It fits that genre quite nicely, and with more originality and skill than many entries in the genre. One would expect a story like the one in the description—the adventures of a bunch of canine paranormal investigators—to be illustrated in a rather fun, cartoony style, and possibly to show up as a Nickelodeon series sometime in the near future. Instead of that rather trite approach, readers are instead given lavish watercolor illustrations to gaze at, not of anthropomorphic, but realistically-rendered creatures, with some liberties taken to allow for facial expression. The art in this book is marvelously expressive, and gorgeous to skim.
Whether it remains so upon a closer look is entirely up to the individual reader, as the art of this book puts the “gore” in “gorgeous.” If you are the sort of animal lover who cries when you see cute puppies in sad situations, you may as well steer clear, because this book will leave you traumatized, too. And if you are a curious animal lover, but iffy about the animal horror content, let me present you with this image from the third story: a pack of zombie dogs getting run over by a truck in vivid, splattery detail, then being left in the road because the drivers don’t want to handle the hassle of cleanup and owner contact. If that makes you uncomfortable, you might as well stay away, too, because the horror only gets worse from there. And for horror readers, this is a treat.
Before you think me an absolutely heartless person for saying so, let me say that I’m the sort of animal lover who can’t go to a pet shop without wanting to adopt all the cats, and then coming up with a list of sad things that might happen to those cats should I not adopt them, and then leaving the pet shop sad because I already have enough cats and they don’t want any friends anyway. So I am a fan of animals. However, I am also a fan of well-done horror, and this book is definitely that. Any artist can illustrate lots of blood and gore and call it horror, but only a skilled artist can make the reader care about the characters that it’s happening to, which is the key to the success of this volume. This book is great horror not because it’s disgusting (which it is) but because it has an emotionally wrenching effect on the reader, largely fueled by the art and its careful juxtaposition of the mundane with the horrible, as well as its well-designed, emotionally sensitive panel progressions. This level of artistry is makes the work one worth appreciating, perhaps even admiring.
This isn’t to say that being able to appreciate the work renders it an easy read. There were moments—many, many moments—when I cringed, or had to take a break from reading, or said to myself, “OMG. Did that really happen on that page? I have to look again. Yep. It totally did. It’s a book about talking animals, and that totally happened. This makes Watership Down look like Peter Rabbit.” (By the way, I have not actually read the Watership Down novel. I have seen the animated film, which is significantly less graphic than this comic, but still contains rabbits killing each other and doing otherwise disturbing things that would have messed me up as a child viewer, but thoroughly entertained me as a giddily morbid high schooler.)
Animal Rites, then, is a graphic novel best appreciated by lovers of well-executed horror, and by readers who can stomach animal tragedy. Everyone else will probably find it too sad or gross to read. Due to the genuinely graphic nature of this graphic novel, I don’t recommend it for younger teens, even precocious ones. Older teens and above who are looking for an intelligent and affecting horror experience, though, will find a rewarding read in this.
***
Note: Holo Writing is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program and, as such, may earn a small commission from any product purchased through an affiliate link on this blog.
Blue Exorcist, Volumes 1-2 by Kazue Kato – Manga Review
Occasionally a manga comes along that makes me squee with glee every time a new volume is released. Though I’ve only read the first two volumes, I can tell that Blue Exorcist is going to be one of those manga.
Volume 1 introduces Rin Okumura, a well-meaning but short-tempered teen who has been raised by Father Fujimoto, a high-ranking exorcist, in place of the father he has never known. When a sharp argument between the two causes Father Fujimoto to drop his spiritual guard, Rin finds out why his father has been so absent: The lapse causes Father Fujimoto to be possessed by the demon lord Satan, who reveals that Rin is, in fact, a son of Satan (skip to the end of the review for more on that), and can possess all the demon powers that come with it when he unsheathes the magic sword that contains them. Generally, it’s not a good thing to be the son of the devil in the presence of exorcists, so Rin finds his life in mortal danger. Rather than run, though, he makes a rather unexpected decision. Feeling himself responsible for Father Fujimoto’s death, and determined to defeat Satan, he decides to become an exorcist. He is thus allowed to enter True Cross Academy, the training ground for exorcists, under the watch of eccentric Academy president Mephisto Pheles, who has plans of his own for Rin’s powers. In Volume 2, Rin meets his classmates and begins preparing for the Exwire Examination, the passing of which is his first step to becoming an exorcist. His successes are varied—He’s not an enthusiastic student, preferring field work to studying, and his snap-quick temper sometimes gets him into trouble with other equally hot-tempered students. However, he does form enough alliances to have help when powerful demons attack the school. Perhaps most importantly, though, he learns of the Blue Night, a night 16 years ago on which powerful exorcists around the world died after exploding into blue flame—the same blue flame that is the mark of Satan, and that identifies Rin as his son.
Blue Exorcist reads like a direct successor of D.Gray-Man and Soul Eater, two other familiar demon-hunting manga. It combines the quirky-cast-of-exorcists model found in the first with the bizarre artistic flair of the second, and then one-ups them both by featuring a surprisingly complex set of character relationships, and stellar art to boot.
The basic story of the series is, unfortunately, very familiar: boy-looking-for-his-place-in-the-world-gains-magic-powers-and-goes-to-school-to-learn-to-use-them. But the abovementioned good points easily make up for this. While the individual character types (for the main characters, at least) are about as familiar as the story type, the ways in which they interact are interestingly plotted. In Volume 1, for example, Rin’s high-powered abilities and his twin brother Yukio’s weakness around bullies would lead readers to expect Rin to be Yukio’s constant protector. (Rin got all of Dad’s demon powers, leaving Yukio with nothing but brains and a cute, squishy face.) However, the story works in such a way that Yukio ends up being Rin’s defender and even his teacher at the Academy…while at the same time knowing that he’ll be responsible for destroying Rin if his demon powers get out of control.
Most of the individually interesting character types are introduced in Volume 2, which sets up most of the supporting cast. These characters are also made of clever combinations of traits, my favorite being Ryuji Suguro, the class muscle who also happens to be a really intelligent student, and another favorite being Izumo Kamiki, an initially manipulative girl who, instead of spending a whole series figuring out that It’s Bad to Manipulate Friends!, learns it early, and then uses the damage caused by her actions as the driving force behind her future choices. For me, the only uninteresting character is Shiemi Moriyama, whose main goal at True Cross Academy seems to be to make friends and be adorably shy while doing it, but even she serves an eventual purpose in Volume 2, which is more than I can say of other manga characters who exist only to be The Cute One. And by the end of the second volume, Shiemi does become legitimately endearing. That said, this is one of the few manga in which I’ve found all of the characters appealing on some level.
Equally as appealing as the characters is the art. Kazue Kato uses a smart balance of simple character-focused frames and immensely detailed setting-focused frames, throwing in the occasional detailed character shot, too, for extra spice. It’s a clever, practical way to produce art that is both dynamic to look at for the readers and turned in on time for the comic’s editor (always a concern for these deadline-driven series), and it works well here. And then there are the covers. Blue Exorcist is a series that I considered buying for the covers alone, even before I read the actual books. Kato has a brilliant sense of color and character design, and when I tried to think of other manga covers to compare these to, I couldn’t. They are truly in a class all their own. The character designs themselves are worth some mention, too, not merely because they’re great, but because they’re also pleasantly varied. The absurd and clownish (and even iconic) design for Mephisto Pheles is one of the most memorable character designs that I’ve seen in recent manga. A series full of character designs like his, though, could have become overwhelming to look at, which is why I consider it a good choice on the part of the artist that most other characters in the series were rendered in fairly normal clothing—normal for a manga, anyway. The variety of face designs is commendable in this series, too. Many manga suffer from having too many characters that are simple variations on one basic character design, rendering them all basically indistinguishable. Everyone in Blue Exorcist is unique and recognizable.
The series’ only real problem, if it can be called one, is this: Some readers may be uncomfortable with the fact that the series’ protagonist is the son of Satan. However, as most anime/manga fans will already know, this isn’t intended to be a religious statement. In anime and manga, priests regularly wield ridiculous guns (Trigun, and virtually every manga involving a priest), nuns blow up things with abandon (Chrono Crusade), bible verses have magical power (Le Chevalier D’Eon and also this series) and the Vatican possesses an airship force and employs vampire-eating-vampires (Trinity Blood). In short, Japan’s take on Christianity, in its comics, at least, is pretty much like America’s take on Greek and Roman Mythology: We entertain ourselves with the parts we like and then add explosions to the rest.
For those who can jump this latter hurdle, Blue Exorcist comes highly recommended. If you like D. Gray-Man, Soul Eater, or shonen manga in general, this is a definite title to try.
Foundling by D. M. Cornish – Book Review
Rossamund Bookchild is a foundling boy with a girl’s name. This name was given to him by the paper pinned to his blanket when he was left on the front stoop of Madam Opera’s Estimable Marine Society for Foundling Boys and Girls, and it has tormented him ever since. As the object of frequent jibes and bullying fists, he eagerly looks forward to the day when he can leave the foundlingery and enter the navy, and thus a life full of adventure on the high seas. His dreams are dashed, though, when he is chosen to be a simple lamplighter. The hopelessly boring life that he anticipates, though, ends up being anything but (at least for the moment), as he is abducted, rescued, and then forced into service by one of the most famous monster hunters on the Half-Continent.
Foundling is the first in the interchangeably titled Monster Blood Tattoo/The Foundling’s Tale trilogy by Australian author D. M. Cornish. (This trilogy was titled Monster Blood Tattoo for its first American release but didn’t do very well, which prompted the publishers to change the name to the more benign and significantly less interesting The Foundling’s Tale.) Because of the depth the author has built into its world, the trilogy has been compared to J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, a classic renowned (and notorious) for the level of detail put into the cultures that populate the setting. This is a deceptive comparison at first, as there is nothing remotely epic about the storyline, nor any high-stakes goal that has to be reached (nothing on the level of Destroy-This-Ring-or-The-World-Will-End!, anyway). It’s just a kid running into trouble as he travels to a distant city. The deeper into the story one reads, however, the more sense these comparisons begin to make.
Cornish is a detailed creator; his dark, pre-industrial, monster-ridden world of the Half-Continent is among the better-realized in modern YA fantasy. The majority of his detail, though, is devoted to the culture of his monster-hunters and the alchemy-like magic surrounding them. These monster-hunters are not born magicians but people who, for example, employ a violent form of chemistry to dispatch monster threats or even have extra organs sewn inside their bodies to attain near-magical powers. Half the fun of reading this novel is simply relishing in its morbid world-building.
The novel’s main strength, however, ends up causing some of weak points, too. Early on, I felt so overwhelmed by the intricacy of novel’s world that I had to stop reading for a while, just to get it all organized in my head, and even after I picked it back up, there were multiple times when I thought, “GRRRRGH! When is something going to HAPPEN?” So much energy is spent introducing the reader to the mechanics of the world that its plot and pacing suffer significantly, at least at the beginning. Once I hit the middle of the book, I read voraciously to the end and was disappointed to discover that the last hundred pages of my book were actually not story, but appendices about the world of the novel (another similarity shared with Tolkien, who was a huge fan of super-detailed appendices).
All this said, this is not a novel for casual fantasy readers. This is a novel for readers who have read the popular fantasy novels and are ready to graduate to the deeper cuts. This is a novel for the readers who are okay with a little bit of slowness because the setting in which the slowness happens is just that awesome.
Romeo and Juliet: The War by Stan Lee, etc. – Graphic Novel Review
Comic adaptations of Shakespeare are hardly new, but in my experience, rarely are they well-done enough to be appreciated outside of a “Here, read this comic because you’re having trouble with the Shakespearean language in the play” context. Of the several that I’ve attempted, only a few have been books that I’ve reread for their entertainment value. Most of the others I haven’t been able to finish, and all of those left me with exasperated groans in my throat, just waiting to be unleashed when I came upon the next Shakespeare comic.
In fact, that is exactly what happened when I came upon this comic. When I first saw a thumbnail of Romeo and Juliet: The War, my reaction was *EXAGGERATED SIGH-GRUMBLE*, “Does the world really need another futuristic Romeo and Juliet ripoff?” The fact that it was Romeo and Juliet made it worse. Generally I hate stories that feature protagonists being both in love and stupid at the same time, which is what Romeo and Juliet is, at its heart. Oh, the original has all that iambic pentametered loveliness, too, but I can get that in every other Shakespearean work, many of which are far more interesting than this one.
Key to my exasperation with this book was the fact that I was looking at a thumbnail that was the size of, well, a thumbnail.
Then, one day, I came upon the actual cover in person, which sent me into fits of fangirlish glee:
This version of Shakespeare’s classic sets the familiar story in the far future, making both families consist of cybernetically- or genetically- enhanced supersoldiers, and then having them duke it out in a wondrous spread of futuristic glowing lights and shiny metal that makes the book look like a printed cousin of the Mass Effect games (which is not a bad thing because even the loading screens are fun to look at in Mass Effect games.)
Romeo and Juliet: The War is not simply a slapdash adaptation of a classic made for SparkNotes purposes, either. (Not to hate on SparkNotes, by the way. The SparkNotes graphic novel version of Hamlet is one of my favorite Shakespeare-inspired comics.) It’s an impressively crafted work, and despite all the crazy technological changes, the basic story is still intact. I wouldn’t recommend reading in lieu of the original if you’re reading it for class, as you’ll end up answering questions like “Why were the Montagues and Capulets enemies?” with “Because they were such awesomely superpowered soldiers that they defeated everyone else in the world, leaving only themselves to fight!” (which, FYI, is not the Shakespearean reason). However, as a complement to the original text, it’s pretty good. Some changes are made to certain minor points in the plot, but—dare I say it?—these changes actually improve upon Shakespeare’s story, or at the very least make it more dramatic reading.
Basic accuracy is the least of this book’s good points, though. All of the other good points rest in its art. The art in this comic is not merely pleasant to look at. Everything about it is expertly accomplished, from the dynamic panel layout, to the characterful color design, to the wondrous and colossal scale of it all. The book makes frequent use of detailed full-page and multi-page spreads, and more than once I found myself stopping in the middle of reading simply to gawp at what was on the page before me. This is a graphic novel that comes very close to reaching the height of Capital A Art.
The only truly disappointing part of the book, for me, was the lack of an author or artist’s note in the back, as I was genuinely curious to know what happened to make this unexpected bit of awesomeness come about. The only extras included are some pieces of concept art, which are cool, but not as interesting as a look into the writer’s and artist’s minds would have been. I also had a problem with Romeo’s hair, which being the shaggy mop that seems to appear on every stylish teen boy’s head these days is going to look dated as soon as we’re out of the 2010s. But that’s just me being picky because there’s nothing else to complain about.
In Death Ground by David Weber and Steve White – Book Review
IN SHORT: A race of genocidal alien bugs has targeted humanity, and they’re coming after us with a lot of ships. I mean, A LOT OF SHIPS.
WHAT IT IS: Expect lots of extremely detailed and well-written combat. Stuff blows up in this book. LOTS of stuff. The military tech of In Death Ground is coherent, detailed, and well thought out. There’s a lot to take in, but I never felt overwhelmed. Even with all the SBMs, AFHAWKs, primaries, heterodyne lasers, force beams, plasma cannons, sprint-mode missiles, and a ton of different ship classes, the novel delivers it at a controlled pace, doling out a few new pieces of tech in each battle. This keeps the combat fresh and exciting.
WHAT IT IS NOT: The characters, while distinct and entertaining, are not the real stars here, and it shows. The viewpoint bounces around quite a bit. As soon as I got comfortable with one group of characters, I had to learn a whole new cast. These viewpoint shifts paint a great picture of a war on multiple fronts, but at the cost of character development.
WHAT I THOUGHT: In Death Ground is fun. The action is fast paced and exciting. Every battle has some sort of interesting twist to it. It’s just a great page turner. Without a doubt, I enjoyed following humanity’s struggle against this unstoppable, genocidal alien juggernaut.
The technical details give it a layer of depth and consistency that just feels right. Humans have the technology advantage. The bugs have massive numbers and just don’t care about casualties. The tactics each side employs are well thought out and consistent within the setting … for the most part. Sometimes the bug “we don’t care how many of us die” mentality can come across as a little stupid.
On a thematic level, this is not a complicated book. The military characters are very heroic. The politicians are complete scum. And the bugs are the bad guys. Period. No question about it. I mean, they even eat human babies, for goodness sake. There is no ambiguity here.
The novel does show a little of the bug perspective, but only in a military tactical sense. At no point does the reader get any insight into why the bugs invaded or who they really are. They are faceless, remorseless killers that serve as foils for the heroic humans. That’s it.
But that’s okay. This is an action novel. I wanted spaceships to blow up in exciting ways, and I got it. If that’s what you’re after, then In Death Ground will not disappoint.
VERDICT: Recommended.
Hordes Gargantuans Review: Circle of Orboros
IN SHORT: The Horde Gargantuans rulebook is here, and once again Privateer Press shows their top shelf support for an excellent gaming system.
As with previous releases, every Hordes army gets a host of new additions that mix up the game in exciting ways. In the past, Privateer Press has shown their skill in maintaining game balance while still adding tons of exciting new options. Fortunately, this rulebook does not disappoint. Every main faction gets a new warlock, one of the new gargantuans, and a mix of beasts, units, and solos. The rulebook itself is full color, and the artwork is absolutely gorgeous!
Today, let’s take a look at the new additions to the Circle arsenal!
MORVAHNA THE DAWNSHADOW: Morvahna is back and she’s riding a goat! Okay, granted it’s a really cool looking mountain goat, but it’s still a goat.
As before Morvahna is most comfortable surrounded by lots of infantry. At first glance, she looks like a risky warlock that can either really pay off or blow up in your face. She has no less than 3 abilities that drain her health. Her feat, Blood Sacrifice, returns infantry in exchange for health at a 1 for 1 ratio. These models lose their actions the turn they come back.
Second, Scales of Fate allows friendly attack or damage rolls in her control area to be rerolled. Very powerful, but pricey. This ability costs her d3 damage each time. And last, her weapon has Life Trader, allowing her to gain an additional damage die by suffering 1 damage point. She’s also squishy with DEF 15, ARM 15, a large base, and only 16 damage points. Ouch!
To counterbalance this, she has two abilities that help her regenerate health. Imperishable Conviction gives her 1 damage point for each friendly killed in her control area. Carnivore gives a friendly model or unit +2 to MAT. Any living models they kill means d3 damage points for Morvahna.
Is this enough? I’d say that’s up to player skill more than anything else. Liberal use of Scales of Fate can be absolutely devastating under the right circumstances (say, an assassination run), but if the attack goes south, it can leave Morvahna very vulnerable.
RAZORWING GRIFFON: It slices! It dices! It’s a trampling light warbeast!
The Razorwing Griffon has a slew of rules that make it appealing to trample with this light warbeast. The very fact that it can trample at all is novel, though I picture it swooping over its enemies while slicing their heads off.
First, it tramples over anything, regardless of base sizes or obstructions. Second, it adds the POW of its weapons to the trample, which gives it P+S 12. Third, it has Amuck, which means all those trample attack rolls are going to be boosted.
And if you can’t trample, it has 3 P+S 12 attack. For 5 points? Yeah, I’d buy that.
RIP HORN SATYR: At 9 points, the Rip Horn is the most expensive Satyr to date. It also hits the hardest and has the best ARM. Basically, there’s not much to this guy. He’s a solid beat stick. Nothing too flashy. He has the typical Satyr Hard Head rule, so slams from this guy are going to hurt. His animus, Bulldoze, helps him get to the target of your choice, and Aggressive gives him a little extra Fury efficiency. SPD is excellent for a heavy. Just point him at a target and smash it to bits.
THARN BLOOD PACK: Here’s a new type of heavy infantry for Circle, and they’re built for offense. They have high SPD, MAT, and RAT scores, but their DEF and ARM aren’t too great. However, they have the potential to put out a lot of attacks.
First, they can shoot and then charge thanks to Assault & Battery (Order). Next, they share the Lord of the Feast’s Heart Eater rule, allowing them to collect corpse tokens from living enemy models and use those tokens to buy melee attacks or to boost rolls, including ranged attack rolls. Did I mention those ranged attacks are POW 13? Imagine boosting a few of those, eh?
Given that this unit relies on corpse tokens to maximize its effectiveness, and is kind of squishy, I think they’re a little tricky to get the most out of.
WARPBORN ALPHA: At 3 points, this unit attachment is pricey, but he greatly enhances his unit of Warpborn Skinwalkers. First, they hit harder thanks to Tactics: Rapid Strike. Every Skinwalker gets an extra attack! Second, they have some added resilience thanks to Granted: Blood Drinker. When they kill living enemy models, they get to heal a little. The Warpborn Alpha is a fantastic addition to this unit, and really helps bring it to the next level.
Finally, I assume the lack of Reach on his Pole Axe is simply a typo and will be corrected in a future FAQ.
WOLDWRATH: Now that is a health spiral! And ARM 20 too! Nice!
Okay, let’s get this out of the way. Spell Ward is a double-edged sword. You’re either upset Circle buffs can’t affect it or you’re glad enemy spells bounce off its stone hide. Me, I think Spell Ward is worth it because it’s a powerful denial tool. There are a lot of absolutely nasty spells out there that can really cripple a gargantuan’s effectiveness.
Imagine Warwitch Deneghra’s Crippling Grasp on this model, dropping its SPD, DEF, STR, and ARM. Not a pretty sight. Now let out a sigh of relief, because this guy can’t be targeted by enemy spells. Gargantuans are prime debuff targets, but not the Woldwrath!
Its animus is also pretty neat. Magic attack rolls against models within 10” of the Woldwrath gain an additional die, which can then be boosted for a total of four attack dice. Many warlocks and especially Druids can benefit from this synergy. Extra accurate Force Bolt rolls? Bring it on!
On top of this, its ranged attack can put down electric POW 10 AOE’s, and its fists will knock down nearby targets. You don’t even have to hit your target. Just hit something near them. This is great for setting up assassination runs. All in all, I really like this gargantuan.
SUMMARY: Privateer Press continues to release exciting new models for every faction at roughly the same time. They have shown a strong commitment to game balance and to supporting owners of all factions. The releases in this rulebook are a fine example of their dedication to the game and to the fans.
All in all, Gargantuans is another top-notch release for a top-notch game.
Check out the complete list of Warmachine and Hordes articles here.
Hordes Gargantuans Review: Trollbloods
IN SHORT: The Horde Gargantuans rulebook is here, and once again Privateer Press shows their top shelf support for an excellent gaming system.
As with previous releases, every Hordes army gets a host of new additions that mix up the game in exciting ways. In the past, Privateer Press has shown their skill in maintaining game balance while still adding tons of exciting new options. Fortunately, this rulebook does not disappoint. Every main faction gets a new warlock, one of the new gargantuans, and a mix of beasts, units, and solos. The rulebook itself is full color, and the artwork is absolutely gorgeous!
Today, let’s take a look at the new additions to the Trollbloods arsenal!
HUNTERS GRIM: Trollbloods get a warlock unit! Plus, anything with a bowler hat gains extra cool points in my book. I love these Trollblood models!
Grim’s feat is excellent for ranged-heavy Trollblood armies. Any Cygnar player with Rangers knows the power of Mark Target. Toss in Snipe for extra range, mix and serve. With a few models forward marking targets and the rest of the battle-line holding back with Snipe, Grim’s feat turn can be absolutely devastating!
The guns of the Hunters Grim are pretty nice too. Grim’s Headhunter lets warbeasts charge enemy models for free. Muggs can knock enemies down, and Krump can lay down large POW 10 traps to keep the team safe. Nice!
Once the range drops, Grim’s spell list has some neat tricks. Mirage gives a model or unit Apparition, which can help the target close faster or disengage from melee. Mage Sight can let his battlegroup ignore Stealth, cloud effects, and forests. Good stuff. But I think Mortality is the best. This debuff will drop DEF and ARM by 2 for a whole unit. Just picture that with the Mountain King’s spray attack on feat turn. A 10” spray attack at effective RAT 9 POW 18? Yes, please!
Overall, the Hunters Grim look like a flexible addition to the Trollbloods team. They have support for both warbeasts and infantry as well as a potent feat with ranged armies.
NIGHT TROLL: Wow, this guy is one freaky-looking troll! Can’t wait to see the model!
For 4 points, this light warbeast brings some interesting stuff to the table. Its claws can paralyze living models, reducing their DEF to 7 among other maladies. It comes with Stealth and Eyeless Sight, stock. And it has an interesting animus, Beguile. Basically, living enemy models within 5” of him have to advance towards him.
Note that this is not “directly” towards, just towards, so it’s not as powerful as it first sounds, but it is still very potent. Still, I can see this ability really messing with enemy charges. It creates a 5” bubble around the Night Troll, and that can mean a lot of failed charge vectors. Not bad for a 4 point light warbeast.
TROLLKIN WARDERS: These guys are slow, heavy infantry that are going to take a concerted effort to get rid of. If you want to bog down an enemy, these guys look like they’re up to the challenge. As soon as you damage one, their ARM shoots up to 19, among other benefits. They don’t have the same offensive power as, say, Trollkin Champions. But they’re cheaper and are going to stick around much longer. Not bad at all.
TROLLKIN SORCERER: Here’s a 1 point solo that brings some very interesting tools into the mix. He has an attack spell, Ice Bolt. Nothing too exciting there. However, he also has Arcane Antidote and Winter Storm, and these are worth a look!
While the Sorcerer is a solo, it is assigned a client Trollkin unit thanks to its Adjunct rule. Arcane Antidote allows the Sorcerer to clear enemy upkeep spells off his client unit. Very nice, especially against foes like Cryx or anyone who likes to toss around debuff spells.
If the Sorcerer uses Winter Storm, enemy models activating in his command range lose Eyeless Sight, Flight, and Pathfinder. Yikes! That’s going to be nasty against Legion!
All in all, this guy brings some nice abilities to the table for only 1 point. And you can have 2 of him.
FENNBLADE KITHKAR: So here’s a 2 point Fennblade solo. Nothing too flashy. Good offensive abilities. Good defensive abilities. The main synergy with this model is Tactician [Fennblades], which allows nearby Fennblades to ignore other Fennblades for line of sight. Again, nothing too flashy. I could see some potential use out of it, since the Fennblades are medium based models and sometimes a big mob of them can get in the way of each other.
That said, the Fennblade Kithkar is not a part of the unit, so if the Fennblades have a buff spell on them, he won’t benefit from it. Same goes for Fell Calls. So, yeah. Nothing too exciting here. Just a solid solo with good rules and stats.
MOUNTAIN KING: At first I was like, MAT 5? Really? On a 20 point model? What the flip? But then I saw its animus, Amuck. Ahh, now it makes sense.
With Amuck and Kill Shot, this guy can charge forward, Sweep a whole mess of infantry with boosted attack rolls, eat them for health, and then cut loose with a free ranged attack. He may not start with high health, but his regenerative abilities are top notch. Between that and the ARM buffs Trollbloods have at their disposal, the Mountain King is one tough customer to put down.
Just think about this for a moment. +2 ARM from the Krielstone. Maybe another +2 ARM from an Earthborn Dire Troll’s Elemental Communion. Add in double doses of Whelps for munching on, and the aforementioned boosted Sweep attacks. Let’s face it. If the enemy doesn’t kill this guy in one turn, all they did was piss him off!
SUMMARY: Privateer Press continues to release exciting new models for every faction at roughly the same time. They have shown a strong commitment to game balance and to supporting owners of all factions. The releases in this rulebook are a fine example of their dedication to the game and to the fans.
All in all, Gargantuans is another top-notch release for a top-notch game.
Check out the complete list of Warmachine and Hordes articles here.
Hordes Gargantuans Review: Legion of Everblight
IN SHORT: The Horde Gargantuans rulebook is here, and once again Privateer Press shows their top shelf support for an excellent gaming system.
As with previous releases, every Hordes army gets a host of new additions that mix up the game in exciting ways. In the past, Privateer Press has shown their skill in maintaining game balance while still adding tons of exciting new options. Fortunately, this rulebook does not disappoint. Every main faction gets a new warlock, one of the new gargantuans, and a mix of beasts, units, and solos. The rulebook itself is full color, and the artwork is absolutely gorgeous!
Today, let’s take a look at the new additions to the Legion of Everblight arsenal!
LYLYTH, RECKONING OF EVERBLIGHT: A battle engine warlock? Why not!
This third versions of Lylyth certainly knows how to shoot. She has Auto Fire [3]. Not d3. Just flat out 3 shots every time, no need to buy more attacks. On top of that, if she kills a living enemy model, she gets to cast one of her spells for free thanks to Blood Boon. Not bad, especially given her low Fury of 5.
Her feat, The Reaping, encourages a lot of shooting in her army list. Directly hit an enemy with a ranged attack in her control area and they have to give up either their movement or action. It doesn’t even have to be damaged by the attack, just hit. Ouch!
Lylyth is also quite a bit tougher to kill this time. Her base ARM is 16, but can go up to 18 thanks to her Escort spell. Add in Wind Wall, which she can trigger with Blood Boon, and non-magical ranged attacks automatically miss. Top it off with Spiny Growth or Tenacity for a very durable warlock.
And speaking of Escort, that spell also gives her warbeasts an extra 2” of movement. ALL OF THEM. More speed for an already speedy faction. With lots of shooting, high speed, and a feat that can leave enemies frozen in their tracks, Lylyth can definitely put up a fight!
AFFLICTOR: This guy is so disgusting and cool at the same time. When it kills living enemy infantry, it spawns an Incubus model. It can do this once per turn. On top of that, when it gets hit by ranged attacks, its animus allows it to pawn the hit onto soulless warriors, such as the Incubus it just created. For 4 points, it’s a nice light warbeast.
NEPHILIM BLOODSEER: This light warbeast brings some interesting tools to the Legion arsenal. It can make any spell more accurate with Telemetry, which can be a huge benefit to several warlocks or models like Hex Hunters. The Bloodseer has to get close to use this, but its fast and it can fly, so it’s not too tough to pull off. It can also cast the animi of warbeasts in its command range, which has a wide range of applications.
The Bloodseer isn’t for every army, but with the right list, it can definitely pull its weight.
WARSPEAR CHIEFTAIN: For 2 points, this unit attachment gives Warspears the Huntsmen and Relentless Charge rules. Select a prey and go to work. He makes Warspears faster, more accurate, and harder hitting. If you use Warspears, I say take him and be done with it. Auto-include. He’s that good.
BEAST MISTRESS: Legion is known for its ability to run large numbers of warbeasts, and the Beast Mistress brings a new set of tools to that already formidable arsenal. Oh yeah, Legion has what is basically a lesser warlock! And they can take 2 of her! Too bad she can only take lesser warbeasts.
The Beast Mistress not only allows for more warbeasts to be fielded, but brings two interesting abilities into the mix. Energize allows her to move models in her battlegroup up to 3”, and Field Marshall [Aggressive] lets them charge for free! Talk about an alpha strike!
She has Flank [lesser warbeast], so a pack of Shredders makes sense.
ARCHANGEL: At first sight, the Archangel is a little underwhelming. It has the lowest ARM and health of any Gargantuan. The range on its Dragon Breath is kind of short. Its attacks hit hard, but not much harder than a Carnivean. Plus, its animus is underwhelming to say the least. So why would anyone take this guy?
First, this dragon has Ride-by Attack. It can move, attack, then move again. This effectively means its ranged attack is anywhere from an okay 10” to an insane 16”! And we’re talking d3+1 POW 14 AOE’s every turn, too! Without spending 1 Fury and with Critical Fire!
For protection, a 2 point Shredder could be considered an auto-include. Add Tenacity on the Archangel, and suddenly this gargantuan is at DEF 12 and ARM 19. Respectable, but not fantastic. But we’re not done yet! Absylonia can boost its DEF, Bethayne can boost its DEF against living enemies, and Epic Thagrosh can give it more ARM, while many of the warlocks have more offensive enhancements to give it. Heck, prime Thagrosh can even bring it BACK FROM THE DEAD!
With Absylonia, that’s DEF 14 on a model that cannot be knocked down, has 46 hit boxes, and can move AFTER it blasts your face off. Yikes!
With that being said, I think the Archangel is going to be trickier to use than other gargantuans, which have much more straight forward play styles. The Archangel isn’t unplayable, but it’s definitely not an easy model to use.
SUMMARY: Privateer Press continues to release exciting new models for every faction at roughly the same time. They have shown a strong commitment to game balance and to supporting owners of all factions. The releases in this rulebook are a fine example of their dedication to the game and to the fans.
All in all, Gargantuans is another top-notch release for a top-notch game.
Check out the complete list of Warmachine and Hordes articles here.