false 26 152 91 true 5689899 read 6 true 369122 currently-reading 55 true 369121 to-read 52 false 6701604 comics-graphic-novels 29 false 621587 speculative-fiction 27 false 566825 fantasy-and-adventure 15 false 2869100 drama 13 false 2190080 humor 9 false 621589 memoir-and-biography 6 false 3652405 science-sociology 5 false 621522 theology-and-spirituality 4 false 4152721 horror 4 false 1317239 history-documentary 3 false 2129889 reference 3 false 643561 art http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/74792790 to: The Rabbi's Cat 2 (Hardcover) by Joann Sfar
bookshelves: comics-graphic-novels, drama, fantasy-and-adventure
This contains the fourth and fifth chapters of Sfar's continued tales of the rabbi's cat who gained, and then lost, the gift of speech. Like the latter half of the first book, these chapters focus less on the cat than on the stories and doings of the humans he travels with. Racism and religious intolerance are dealt with here, but again, the philosophical dueling of the cat is missing. I didn't find this book as engaging as the earlier volume. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/28847426 to: Hellboy Library Edition Volume 2: The Chained Coffin, The Right Hand of Doom, and Others (Hellboy) by Mike Mignola
bookshelves: comics-graphic-novels, fantasy-and-adventure
There's not a lot to be said here that I didn't already say about Volume 1 of the Hellboy Library Editions: gorgeous, richly colored oversized artwork, fascinating tales involving elder gods and Nazis and demons and folklore from all over the world, and just plain great storytelling. There were a few pages that seemed to have printed with slightly lighter colors than the rest of the book, but that was a very minor disturbance. It is a solid, beautiful volume.

This hefty hardback contains the third and fourth paperback books of Hellboy, which were collections of short stories spanning Hellboy's entire career in paranormal investigations, from some of his earliest cases in the Fifties to recent events in the Nineties that foreshadow revelations concerning Hellboy's true nature and purpose. Nearly all of these shorts deal with folklore or demonology of some manner; indeed, most of the tales from The Chained Coffin and Others are adaptations of old European folktales, which Mignola explains in his notes on each story at the end of the book. One of these tales, "The Corpse", bears the distinction of being what Mignola once thought was his worst story, even while many, many fans and critics alike hold it aloft as the greatest little Hellboy tale ever told (Mignola has come around, too). I happen to agree, because it shows us everything there is to love about the Hellboy character himself. Despite being a world renowned investigator of the occult and ass-kicker of demons and other ill-bred creatures of the night, Hellboy has a rock-solid sympathy for and devotion to every single human he meets that has been touched by the work of strange or malevolent supernatura; nobody is below him. And no matter the challenge, he marches on into every situation as if he had no choice, seemingly having no fear. And, best of all, he remains almost blithely nonchalant in the face of most of the weird stuff he finds, for example simply remarking "that's odd" when he happens across a massive levitating stone in the English countryside that thumps the ground where there is ancient buried treasure while the talking corpse strapped to his back screams "there's gold, GOLD!". It is this casual, down-to-earth nature (as well as his dry sarcasm) that makes him such a likable character, especially when his circumstances would seemingly demand anything but casualness.

I know some folks prefer the longer Hellboy tales that deal directly with his overarching backstory and destiny and all that (some of which is touched on near the end of this volume), but I find these short tales to be the most exciting, as they act as an exploration (however apocryphal) of our common folklore and legend as well as fleshing out what Hellboy is all about. I'm sure if I were Mignola I'd get sick of doing too many of these little tales, but as a fan I could do with another couple volumes of these various cases and adventures in Hellboy's history! ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/11906365 to: Hellboy Library Edition Volume 1: Seed of Destruction and Wake the Devil (Hardback) by Mike Mignola
bookshelves: comics-graphic-novels, fantasy-and-adventure, speculative-fiction
The Library Editions of Hellboy collect Mike Mignola's brilliant comic into oversized, hardcover volumes loaded with extra material for the first time, and this is a treatment of which Hellboy is absolutely worthy. Each volume of the new editions will contain two of the trade paperbacks, and so this first Library Edition has both Seed of Destruction and Wake the Devil. The additional material included here consists of notes from Mignola, two four-page comics that were created as teasers for the strip in its early days, early Hellboy promotional art, and a sketchbook section.

These books will rival the Absolute Sandman volumes in terms of being the most beautiful graphic novels in my library; the cloth-bound hardcover has set within it a reproduction of a beautiful watercolor by Mignola, and the printing inside the book will make you either drool, purr, or both; Mignola's unique, signature illustration style is reprinted with the most blood-red reds, the deepest purples, and the blackest blacks, and I've never seen more beautifully colored artwork.

The stories, of course, can not possibly fail to entertain; Mignola combines Lovecraftian Elder Gods-like creatures of evil, Indiana Jones-style globe trotting and adventuring, Nazis, the occult, and European and Asian folklore and myth to create an extremely rich and entertaining backdrop to one of the greatest inventions in the realm of modern superheros. The demon Hellboy was brought into this world near the end of WWII by Nazi occultists hoping to turn the tide of the war. The then-infant Hellboy ended up being rescued by Allied forces and raised to become the cynical, wise-cracking king of ghost hunting and paranormal investigation. The most engaging aspect of Hellboy is, of course, the quandary of his destiny vs. his will. As a creature singularly created in Hell to unleash Armageddon, he has a destiny set before him seemingly orchestrated by powers beyond measure. However, he also has a will of his own, and has chosen to turn his back on his destiny and fight for the good of mankind. Can his willful rebellion last?

Seed of Destruction and Wake the Devil detail Hellboy's arrival on earth and reveal the various forces at work in the universe at large that will shape his life and his struggles. I very eagerly await further Library Edition volumes of Hellboy, as there are many more Hellboy adventures to collect and yet many more to come in future years from the hand of Mike Mignola. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/44686001 Chris's review of Hellboy Library Edition Volume 2: The Chained Coffin, The Right Hand of Doom, and Others (Hellboy)
by Mike Mignola

The third Library Edition contains two longer stories that directly deal with Hellboy's destiny and those attempting to direct it, just like the first volume. Give it a go! :) ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/73928431 to: Kepler's Dream: With the Full Text and Notes of Sonnium Sive Astronomia Lunaris, Johnnis Kepleri (Textbook Binding) by John Lear
bookshelves: science-sociology, speculative-fiction
Somnium, or The Dream, was written by German mathematician and astronomer Johannes Kepler early in the 17th Century as a serious lunar study and declaration of support for Copernican astronomy disguised as a work of fiction. The Copernican model, placing the sun at the center of the solar system, was at that point in history facing great contention from the Church, and Kepler thought it prudent to wreath his astronomical observations in the guise of a fantastical occult tale and to then attempt to circulate his book only to friends and other astronomers.

Somnium is one of a handful of older works I am currently tracking down in an effort to explore the genesis and development of science fiction literature. (Additional notes and reviews concerning my SF reading project can be found on my blog at www.bnichol.com.) The translation from the original Latin felt solid, and this printing was full of helpful footnotes and scholarship. After having read a few early utopias to get things started, I have to say that THIS is where I start to get excited - when man first starts to imagine just what may be up There, and how mankind may go about getting up There. It is this exploratory notion, mixed with imagination, that I most enjoy about SF, and Kepler seems to be the true starting point (indeed, Sagan and Asimov both had stated that they considered Somnium to be the first true SF book).

Kepler studied lunar motion in detail and his mathematical abilities allowed him to work out the pure physics involved in traveling from the Earth to the Moon. He judiciously declined to speculate on any mechanical means of achieving this travel, acknowledging that mankind would likely not progress to such a state of ability until long after his own lifetime, but the fact that he believed we would eventually arrive there, that our aspirations to explore would one day take us to the heavens, generates a great amount of admiration within me.

Kepler's investigation of the lunar surface was also exhaustive and in his book he imagined what sort of lifeforms one might find on the moon - imaginings based on false presumptions, yes, but again, it is that meeting of exploration and imagination that is so exciting to me, and I loved reading this book. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/75819463 to: True History and Lucius or the Ass [ILLUSTRATED] (Paperback) by Lucian of Samosata
bookshelves: fantasy-and-adventure, speculative-fiction
I received a copy of this through Inter-Library Loan and it appears to be an earlier printing of this same title, again from Indiana University Press, published in 1958, translated by Paul Turner and illustrated by Hellmuth Weissenborn.

I read True History as a part of my ongoing review of the genesis and development of science fiction literature. Lucian's tale, written sometime before 200 A.D., is occasionally included in lists of SF precursors only because it is the earliest known work of fiction to involve travel in outer space; it is, primarily, a satirical tale squarely sitting within the bounds of fantasy, though it is also credited with having generated the genre of the fantastical journey.

I found this particular printing to be inferior to the other university press books I've been reading lately. This is due to the limited amount of scholarly information and criticism presented. An introduction gives a short biography of Lucian and warns the reader about certain liberties taken in the translation from the original Greek. There are no footnotes or references offered in the text, nothing at all to aid the reader in placing the work in any sort of greater context. The tale itself was not a very enjoyable read, but I'm not sure if this is because of a subpar translation or because the original work was just not very good.

If I ever come across a more recent and more in-depth translation and presentation of the tale, I'll give it another read, but as it stands this is of only marginal interest to my current literary agenda; on to greater things! ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/75648535 The Hellboy Companion (Hellboy (Graphic Novels)) by Stephen Weiner
bookshelves: currently-reading
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/74793031 Cages (Hardcover) by Dave McKean
bookshelves: to-read
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