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Dec. 7th, 2007 02:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
the_rckI'm way, way behind on writing up my reading list. The last time I did it was some time in July. I'm going to try to catch up a little bit in the next few weeks during the times when I'm too distracted by what's going on around me to work on my Yuletide fic. How much I comment on anything will vary according to how tired I am, how well I remember the book, and so on.
Abe, Shana. The Dream Thief - This is the second book in a two book series. I'd seen the first referenced somewhere and was interested, but my library didn't have it, so I read this one instead. If I understand correctly, the female lead here is the daughter of the romantic couple from the previous book (which I now have through BookMooch and will read eventually). I enjoyed the story, but I never felt any real urgency about the outcome. The female lead had prophetic dreams about two possible futures, one happy and one very, very dark, but I never felt that the dark one was at all likely because it would only come about if the male lead were an utter bastard (which would make him unlikable in the romance).
Abouet, Marguerite. Aya - It took me a little while to adapt to the art style here, and I never really got into the story or quite got the characters straight. This was a bit too soap opera for my taste, and I couldn't quite bring myself to care about who was having sex with whom. I wasn't quite sure why the story was named for Aya because it didn't seem to be about her as much as about the people around her. Still, I'm glad I read it. Graphic novels don't take long.
After School Nightmare 4 - I really want to see where this series goes because I want to know what's really going on and who the various characters are in-dream. I have character speculation, but I can't write about it because, without a volume of the manga in front of me, I can't remember any of the character names. I do find myself wondering if the guy who wants the main character to be a girl really has a sister who exists outside of his own mind. I'm trying to recall if anybody else has ever seen her outside of the dream.
Ai Yori Aoshi 1 - No strong reaction. It was kind of sweet and kind of flat. The library has more, so I may read more because I can get it. (Why, oh why, doesn't the library have all of the things I want to read? Yeah, I know-- Because other people want to read other things and because budgets and space are limited. Still...)
Angelic Layer 1-5 - I kept waiting, as I read these, for a twist or a reversal or a revelation that surprised me. It never came. Is there more to this series? Did I miss something? I still had fun reading it, but I wanted something more.
Aquarian Age Juvenile Orion 3-5 - Five volumes is the wrong size for the story this manga tells. It either needed to be shorter (with fewer characters) or a lot longer. At this length, I never quite got to know the characters and felt that there were a lot of interesting threads left dangling. I'm not sure that I should have expected better from a manga made to sell a game, but I did. Of course, I can see how one could make an amazing table top game out of the setting, the powers and the factions... Maybe I shouldn't get rid of the volumes I own but should take notes.
Arm of Kannon 1-2 - I'm not sure whether or not I'll read more of this. The library has it, so I probably will, but... There's a lot of dismemberment and evisceration and detailed gore. I'm not sure how much story there is.
Basara 1 - I found volume 1-2 of this manga at the Friends of the Library book sale and picked them up. I knew I'd heard something about them, but couldn't remember what. I'm going to read at least the second volume before deciding whether or not I like this series because volume 1 ran into a literary irritant of mine-- I prefer stories that start in the middle and then flashback or in-clue. Basara starts too slowly for my taste and spends too long establishing characters and setting that are to be threatened and destroyed to give the lead character impetus. Still, I'm going to read v.2, and I've put v.3 on my BookMooch wishlist.
Beet the Vandal Buster 1-6 - I'd have read more of this series, but the library lacks v.7. I need either to ask them to replace it or to request it through ILL. This is an amusing ride with lots of fights and silliness and hints of a bigger story. It's a popcorn series about a boy who fights demons and the friends he gathers to help him.
Bizenghast 1-3 - I didn't expect to like this series as well as I do. It's farther into horror than I usually venture, and the art is complicated and dark (I'm sure there's a term for the style. I've no idea what it is). A girl stumbles into a situation where she has to find and exorcise increasingly hostile ghosts or cease to be human and end up in perpetual servitude. Her male friend helps even though he doesn't have to. The story's very episodic at this point, but there are hints of a bigger arc.
Brinley, Bertrand R. The Big Chunk of Ice - I'm glad that I'd read comments on this book before I read it. If I hadn't, it might well have hit the wall, and that's a bad thing to do to an ILL book. Unlike the two best known Mad Scientists' Club books, this is one continuous narrative, not short stories. The characters have less chance to be creative and clever. There's a supporting character who talks with an irritatingly rendered accent and two female college students who act fairly stupid and treat the twelve year old boys rather more like equals than I'd expect. Still, I had fun. I'd known that those things would be there and would annoy me, so I was able to see the rest of the story and, mostly, enjoy it. I was... irritated, however, by the insane, malicious dwarf. I don't think he served a purpose in the story, so I found him quite insulting.
Buffy- Scott picked up the first TPB of the new comic series and, after he'd read it, kept pushing it at me. I finally gave in and read it. I enjoyed it, but I think I'd like it better reading more all at once. (I can only imagine the pain of reading it issue by issue as it comes out. I couldn't do that without screaming.)
Buso Renkin 4-6 - Silly but still with potential. I picked this series up first because I love Rurouni Kenshin. I've kept picking it up because it's fun. Lots of fights. Lots of silly looking villains with weird powers. Now the hero has a big problem, and I'm curious to see how he'll solve it. I'm also curious as to whether solving the problem will be the end of the series because, once it's solved, he may be too powerful.
As usual, I welcome discussion of or questions about these books.
Abe, Shana. The Dream Thief - This is the second book in a two book series. I'd seen the first referenced somewhere and was interested, but my library didn't have it, so I read this one instead. If I understand correctly, the female lead here is the daughter of the romantic couple from the previous book (which I now have through BookMooch and will read eventually). I enjoyed the story, but I never felt any real urgency about the outcome. The female lead had prophetic dreams about two possible futures, one happy and one very, very dark, but I never felt that the dark one was at all likely because it would only come about if the male lead were an utter bastard (which would make him unlikable in the romance).
Abouet, Marguerite. Aya - It took me a little while to adapt to the art style here, and I never really got into the story or quite got the characters straight. This was a bit too soap opera for my taste, and I couldn't quite bring myself to care about who was having sex with whom. I wasn't quite sure why the story was named for Aya because it didn't seem to be about her as much as about the people around her. Still, I'm glad I read it. Graphic novels don't take long.
After School Nightmare 4 - I really want to see where this series goes because I want to know what's really going on and who the various characters are in-dream. I have character speculation, but I can't write about it because, without a volume of the manga in front of me, I can't remember any of the character names. I do find myself wondering if the guy who wants the main character to be a girl really has a sister who exists outside of his own mind. I'm trying to recall if anybody else has ever seen her outside of the dream.
Ai Yori Aoshi 1 - No strong reaction. It was kind of sweet and kind of flat. The library has more, so I may read more because I can get it. (Why, oh why, doesn't the library have all of the things I want to read? Yeah, I know-- Because other people want to read other things and because budgets and space are limited. Still...)
Angelic Layer 1-5 - I kept waiting, as I read these, for a twist or a reversal or a revelation that surprised me. It never came. Is there more to this series? Did I miss something? I still had fun reading it, but I wanted something more.
Aquarian Age Juvenile Orion 3-5 - Five volumes is the wrong size for the story this manga tells. It either needed to be shorter (with fewer characters) or a lot longer. At this length, I never quite got to know the characters and felt that there were a lot of interesting threads left dangling. I'm not sure that I should have expected better from a manga made to sell a game, but I did. Of course, I can see how one could make an amazing table top game out of the setting, the powers and the factions... Maybe I shouldn't get rid of the volumes I own but should take notes.
Arm of Kannon 1-2 - I'm not sure whether or not I'll read more of this. The library has it, so I probably will, but... There's a lot of dismemberment and evisceration and detailed gore. I'm not sure how much story there is.
Basara 1 - I found volume 1-2 of this manga at the Friends of the Library book sale and picked them up. I knew I'd heard something about them, but couldn't remember what. I'm going to read at least the second volume before deciding whether or not I like this series because volume 1 ran into a literary irritant of mine-- I prefer stories that start in the middle and then flashback or in-clue. Basara starts too slowly for my taste and spends too long establishing characters and setting that are to be threatened and destroyed to give the lead character impetus. Still, I'm going to read v.2, and I've put v.3 on my BookMooch wishlist.
Beet the Vandal Buster 1-6 - I'd have read more of this series, but the library lacks v.7. I need either to ask them to replace it or to request it through ILL. This is an amusing ride with lots of fights and silliness and hints of a bigger story. It's a popcorn series about a boy who fights demons and the friends he gathers to help him.
Bizenghast 1-3 - I didn't expect to like this series as well as I do. It's farther into horror than I usually venture, and the art is complicated and dark (I'm sure there's a term for the style. I've no idea what it is). A girl stumbles into a situation where she has to find and exorcise increasingly hostile ghosts or cease to be human and end up in perpetual servitude. Her male friend helps even though he doesn't have to. The story's very episodic at this point, but there are hints of a bigger arc.
Brinley, Bertrand R. The Big Chunk of Ice - I'm glad that I'd read comments on this book before I read it. If I hadn't, it might well have hit the wall, and that's a bad thing to do to an ILL book. Unlike the two best known Mad Scientists' Club books, this is one continuous narrative, not short stories. The characters have less chance to be creative and clever. There's a supporting character who talks with an irritatingly rendered accent and two female college students who act fairly stupid and treat the twelve year old boys rather more like equals than I'd expect. Still, I had fun. I'd known that those things would be there and would annoy me, so I was able to see the rest of the story and, mostly, enjoy it. I was... irritated, however, by the insane, malicious dwarf. I don't think he served a purpose in the story, so I found him quite insulting.
Buffy- Scott picked up the first TPB of the new comic series and, after he'd read it, kept pushing it at me. I finally gave in and read it. I enjoyed it, but I think I'd like it better reading more all at once. (I can only imagine the pain of reading it issue by issue as it comes out. I couldn't do that without screaming.)
Buso Renkin 4-6 - Silly but still with potential. I picked this series up first because I love Rurouni Kenshin. I've kept picking it up because it's fun. Lots of fights. Lots of silly looking villains with weird powers. Now the hero has a big problem, and I'm curious to see how he'll solve it. I'm also curious as to whether solving the problem will be the end of the series because, once it's solved, he may be too powerful.
As usual, I welcome discussion of or questions about these books.
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no subject
Date: 2007-12-07 10:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-12-07 11:16 pm (UTC)I've been trying not to let slow starts put me off of stories. Especially since I know that many other readers enjoy having the background details that come from that sort of story-telling.
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Date: 2007-12-07 11:29 pm (UTC)And you haven't met Zaki and Cha-Cha yet...
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Date: 2007-12-08 12:27 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-12-08 01:03 am (UTC)And is it just me, or is there a massive plothole involving Willow, Warren, and the disturbing messing with the brain? I keep waiting for the other narrative shoe to drop (Willow did *something* to escape that situation, and there's no way she got out of it for free.)
And I have a young friend who is completely head over heels for Bizenghast. I've found the art to be a little ugly, to be honest, but that probably means that I should get over myself and give it another try. :)
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Date: 2007-12-08 01:18 am (UTC)Bizenghast is... hard for me to describe. I think that the art is appropriate for the genre (horror). It feels creepy to me.