A group of young wannabe superheroes tries to tackle some supervillians and the battle ends up killing several kids. Now the public is outraged and wants something done now! Tony Stark, aka Iron Man, works with the government and Reed Richards, aka Mr. Fantastic, to bring about registration and training for mutants and superheroes, to have superhero task forces in every state under government control. Not all the superheroes are in agreement with the proposal and perhaps the biggest surprise is that Captain America is completely against it. Now they are going against each other in the biggest civil war ever to decide the shape of their future. But who will win: Iron Man or Captain America? And do we even know who is in the right?
Interesting idea and even more interesting to bring in everyone from the Marvel universe at some point in the books. Really interesting was who fell on which side of the issue and their reasons for it. The end wasn't a total surprise but the whole thing was engaging enough that I might continue reading a bit further to try and get some more backstory and see where things go. I'm not a huge fan of mainstream comics for a number of reasons, the biggest one being the lack of consistency in the worlds. Seventeen gazillion different Spiderman comics come out each month and each has "Spiderman" as the main character but the worlds are so different that it's not really the same person from comic to comic and it drives me nuts. Add in the different artistic styles (and I admit, I'm super fussy about what I like artistically from a comic and what I don't) and I tend to shy away but the artwork was good enough and the story well done to keep my interest for a bit longer.
Page count: 512p/41,317p ytd
Monday, December 31, 2012
Sunday, December 30, 2012
128:110 Avengers Disassembled by Brian Michael Bendis
The Avengers mansion is under attack. Tony Stark is speaking at a UN meeting as Secretary of State when he starts going off on one of the members. The Vision shows up and starts speaking of their doom before robots start coming out of him as he is torn apart. Basically, the Avengers' world has just blown up in their faces and it's not pretty. At the end of the day, they gather to mourn their losses and Tony Stark gives the blow that he can no longer afford to continue paying for the Avengers. Where will they go from here? No one is sure except that as they leave the ruins of their mansion after a last meal, they are greeted by a huge number of people showing their support.
Again, another prelude to the Civil War stuff as we see the UN decide they no longer wish to be associated with the Avengers and many of the members end up deciding to go off and pursue different lives. It will be interesting to see how this affects things in the Civil War or if this story line is brought up in it at all.
Page count: 176p/40,805p ytd
Again, another prelude to the Civil War stuff as we see the UN decide they no longer wish to be associated with the Avengers and many of the members end up deciding to go off and pursue different lives. It will be interesting to see how this affects things in the Civil War or if this story line is brought up in it at all.
Page count: 176p/40,805p ytd
127:110 Marvel Secret War by Brian Michael Bendis
Graphic Novel set in the Marvel universe. There is an increase in the number of tech villians doing petty jobs and it has attracted the attention of SHIELD and specifically Nick Fury. Tracking back has led to the discovery that the new head of Latveria is behind these attacks but when Fury takes this information to the president, he refuses to act so Fury decides to take matters into his own hands. He puts together a small squah of superheros and deals with it and then wipes their memories. A year later tho, those heros are being attacked and they don't know why.
Interesting getting into some of the politics of the Marvel universe especially as we see Fury step away from SHIELD at the end of the book. Apparently this is setting things up for Avengers Disassembled which is the prelude to the Civil War. Looks to be good!
Page count: 256p/40,629p ytd
And with that, I have completed my 40 new authors for the year which was my last uncompleted challenge. I'll be doing a wrap up post tomorrow as well as a "What I'm looking forward to" post talking about new releases coming up that interest me.
Interesting getting into some of the politics of the Marvel universe especially as we see Fury step away from SHIELD at the end of the book. Apparently this is setting things up for Avengers Disassembled which is the prelude to the Civil War. Looks to be good!
Page count: 256p/40,629p ytd
And with that, I have completed my 40 new authors for the year which was my last uncompleted challenge. I'll be doing a wrap up post tomorrow as well as a "What I'm looking forward to" post talking about new releases coming up that interest me.
126:110 The Doctor Trap by Simon Messingham
Doctor Who novel with the 10th Doctor and Donna Noble as the companion. Sebastianne is the ruler of Planet 1 and has decided to add to his trophy collection the ultimate prize, The Doctor. He lays an elaborate trap and brings in the Society for Endangered Dangerous Species, a group of a dozen hunters that specialize in making dangerous species extinct. The game is set and the pieces in place but the one thing you never want to put in a trap is the Doctor.
I enjoyed the plot, nice twists and turns although some were glaringly obvious. The only bit I didn't like was the tone for the characters voices were off. I just couldn't read anything in David Tennant's or Catherine Tate's voice as it didn't read right for those characters. You'd get a glimpse of them and then it would disappear. A bit sad although maybe if I'd been watching episodes with them recently it would have been easier but still, wasn't quite right. Still a fun book tho for fans of the series.
Page count: 247p/40,373p ytd
I enjoyed the plot, nice twists and turns although some were glaringly obvious. The only bit I didn't like was the tone for the characters voices were off. I just couldn't read anything in David Tennant's or Catherine Tate's voice as it didn't read right for those characters. You'd get a glimpse of them and then it would disappear. A bit sad although maybe if I'd been watching episodes with them recently it would have been easier but still, wasn't quite right. Still a fun book tho for fans of the series.
Page count: 247p/40,373p ytd
Saturday, December 29, 2012
125:110 The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Liesel is on a train with her mother and brother being taken to stay with a foster family in Molching, Germany, in the late 1930s. Her brother dies on the way and during his burial, she sees a book "The Grave Digger's Handbook". She steals it and her life as a book thief in WWII Germany has begun. Her new papa comes and holds her every night when the nightmares of her brother's death wake her and somewhere in that time, he starts teaching her to read her stolen book. She meets the other kids on the street and Rudy becomes her best friend and partner in crime. In the years of the war, she steals a few more books, her family harbors a Jew in their basement, and she learns to love. Death watches her life unfold and when the bomb hits her house, he is there to find the book she lost, the one she wrote, The Tale of a Book Thief. He tells us her story.
I'd heard a lot of people saying what a great book this was but no one ever said anything about what the story line was so it was a surprise to me at the beginning. The choice of Death as the narrator was inspired considering what was going on all around the main story. It was well written, beautifully descriptive, and just a wonderful read. Highly recommend.
Page count: 550p/40,126p ytd
Monday, December 24, 2012
124:110 Underworlds: The Battle Begins by Tony Abbott
The first of the Underworlds series. The day started normally enough for 10yr old Owen Harper until he got to school and watched the floor open up and his best friend disappear amongst flames with dozens of eyeballs staring at him as a voice is heard saying "The Battle Begins!" Her last words were telling him to find a book as she flung a key at him. What choice does he have but to do as she asked and try to get her back, even if it means being attacked by Fenrir, stealing the Lyre of Orpheus, and traveling to Hade's Underworld. Thankfully, he has his friends Jon and Shelly to help him along the way.
Normally not a book I would be counting as I was going to have my little guy reading it aloud to me to practice his reading skills but that lasted all of one chapter. After that, he took great delight in reading ahead and telling me to catch-up. Took him less than a week to finish the entire book which considering he's not yet 7 is pretty impressive. As a result, I ended up reading this one on my own so I could discuss it with him. I have a feeling it's going to be this way for the rest of the series. I will say tho, I found it to be a fun story. Not much in the way of character development but lots of action with some fun mythology stuff thrown in from several different mythos (Loki & Hades...Oh My!). While written simply, it doesn't talk down and manages to infuse humor even in the scarier scenes to keep them from being too scary.
Page count: 101p/39,576p ytd
Normally not a book I would be counting as I was going to have my little guy reading it aloud to me to practice his reading skills but that lasted all of one chapter. After that, he took great delight in reading ahead and telling me to catch-up. Took him less than a week to finish the entire book which considering he's not yet 7 is pretty impressive. As a result, I ended up reading this one on my own so I could discuss it with him. I have a feeling it's going to be this way for the rest of the series. I will say tho, I found it to be a fun story. Not much in the way of character development but lots of action with some fun mythology stuff thrown in from several different mythos (Loki & Hades...Oh My!). While written simply, it doesn't talk down and manages to infuse humor even in the scarier scenes to keep them from being too scary.
Page count: 101p/39,576p ytd
123:110 Fool's Errand by Robin Hobb
The first in the Tawny Man Trilogy. The Red Ship Wars are over and Verity dead. Kettriken is Queen and has tried to raise their son, Dutiful, in both the traditions of the Six Duchies and the Mountain People. Now as his betrothal is on hand in an arranged marriage to one of the Outislanders to unite their people, he has disappeared. No one is certain if he has run away or been kidnapped as the only clue is a note from the Piebalds, a group of Witted whose goal is to stop the persecution of their kind. Chade, the Queen's advisor, and The Fool, aka The White Prophet, both turn to FitzChivalry in the hopes that as both Witted and Skilled he can find the Prince and bring him home safely before it's too late. Fitz cannot help by say yes but the path it leads him on is a dark one for everyone.
It's been a while since I read the Farseer trilogy and I skipped over the Live Ships trilogy (which I do think I'll go back and read at some point) but it was still nice to come back to this world. These are still dark, heavy books but so richly detailed it's easy to lose yourself in them. There are times when they are slow and it's a bit harder to get into but then everything will start happening at once and you can't put it down. Truly wonderful epic fantasy!
And with that, I have completed my A-Z series challenge since it was about reading the first or last book in each series. I had to abandon several series part way through in order to finish up before the end of the year but now I'm done. I'm also done with the A-Z author and A-Z book title challenges as well as my personal challenges for number of books and pages to read for the year. The only one still to fulfill is number of new authors. 4 more to go but I think I will be able to make it with some shorter selections.
Page count: 662p/39,475p ytd
It's been a while since I read the Farseer trilogy and I skipped over the Live Ships trilogy (which I do think I'll go back and read at some point) but it was still nice to come back to this world. These are still dark, heavy books but so richly detailed it's easy to lose yourself in them. There are times when they are slow and it's a bit harder to get into but then everything will start happening at once and you can't put it down. Truly wonderful epic fantasy!
And with that, I have completed my A-Z series challenge since it was about reading the first or last book in each series. I had to abandon several series part way through in order to finish up before the end of the year but now I'm done. I'm also done with the A-Z author and A-Z book title challenges as well as my personal challenges for number of books and pages to read for the year. The only one still to fulfill is number of new authors. 4 more to go but I think I will be able to make it with some shorter selections.
Page count: 662p/39,475p ytd
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