M.L.S. Weech's Blog, page 6

Book Review: Bleach Volume 70 by Tite Kubo

Spoiler free summary: In Volume 70 of Bleach by Tite Kubo, a pair of Quincies have chosen different sides of the conflict, and Kenpachi gets another fight.

Character: The pattern continues. The characters we fell in love with get very little development or attention. Meanwhile, two characters we never knew up until this volume get an entire life story that doesn’t matter because the fight ends predictably. I credit Kubo with developing the newer characters, but I can’t get behind a simple interlude volume with characters who don’t have a real impact on the current narrative. We do get to see Kenpachi, and honestly I would read this saga for his arc alone, but I’d try to find a list of volumes featuring him and skip the rest.

Exposition: This volume strangely broke with tradition in a not so good way. That life story really feels jammed in the middle of the action like someone suddenly remembered they left the oven on and stopping everything to take care of it right then and there. It doesn’t feel well outlined. While the exposition is interesting in and of itself, it feels rushed and out of place.

Worldbuilding: I will say this is interesting. If I can step away from my frustration with the lack of real progress with the main characters, I can appreciate how deep the Quincy world is. This volume gives a bit to that. I’d actually have thought highly of this if the fight didn’t (in a spoiler way) undercut the effort made to make the characters sympathetic.

Dialogue: This is probably better than most actually, but that’s because of the relationship between these two characters. It’s like watching X-Men: First Class. We get this real great broken friendship that’s soon followed by a lot of bad. I scratch my head because they did one thing really well, but the rest was just not up to par.

Description: Epic fight scenes from Kenpachi are always cool to watch. The fight as a whole is well choreographed. This is always an upside to manga.

Overall: It’s another “could have been” volume that is somewhat more enjoyable for the short term even if the ending is frustrating. It’s one of the better fights though, so if that’s why you read Bleach, then you’ll like this volume.

Thanks for reading,

Matt

The 2021 M.L.S. Weech Book Cover of the Year Pool Is Live!

Greetings all,

Fifty-two weeks is a long time.

Fifty-two weeks, 365 covers, 64 polls have all led us here to the 2021 M.L.S. Weech Book Cover of the Year Poll.

We have 12 beautiful covers for you to choose from. If you’re looking for a bit more data on what they are and why they are in the tournament, please feel free to watch this YouTube video:

While you’re at it, would you be kind enough to subscribe to my channel? It’s free, and it really helps show support for an indie guy like me.

You can vote for your favorite of the 12 right here.

This contest will go on for three weeks, and then I’ll name a winner.

There won’t be a 2022 competition. I think my channel needs a bit more time to really make all the effort and stuff worth it. I may revisit the idea if my channel gets more traction, but this is it for the next year at least. The channel will go in a different direction. Once I have a sense of what sort of content viewers are looking for, I’ll build from there.

As always, thanks for reading,

Matt

Visits From A Man Named Nobody 73

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“And how long will that take?” Paul asked.

The doctor might have shrugged or been hit by a particularly strong gust of air conditioning. “We’ll do six treatments. Each treatment will be three weeks apart.”

Paul ran the math. “So almost five months?”

Feniker nodded. “We’ll give your mother another few weeks to recover, and then we’ll do another MRI. If everything goes well, we’ll be able to do the surgery then.”

“What,” Paul’s mother took in a deep breath before continuing. “How bad will the side effects be?”

Feniker’s face seemed to scrunch up like he smelled something particularly rotten. Was that his thinking face? “There’s no real way to know. There’s usually sickness, nausea. The severity of the nausea ranges from mild to severe. I’ll make sure the receptionist gives you a packet that has all the details and possible side effects, but I’d advise you to consider them as a possible list instead of a comprehensive list.”

As the doctor spoke, Paul’s mother folded her hands together so tightly her knuckles went white. Somehow, even thought she was obviously afraid, her voice was even and clear. “Thank you.”

They spoke some more, scheduling the first treatment for two weeks from then. Paul tried to keep his thoughts calm. The doctor was clearly trying to maintain a positive demeanor, but Paul couldn’t keep from feeling like he was acting like he didn’t care. No amount of effort let him see it any other way. Luckily for Paul, the doctor excused himself before Paul could work himself into what even he realized would have been an unjustified tantrum.

Paul wrapped an arm around his mother as the doctor shut the door behind himself. The echo of the closing door hadn’t faded before his mother turned into his chest and wept. He held her. He didn’t have a clue what to say, so he remained silent.

“Peace I leave with you,” she whispered. “My peace I give with you. I do not give as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not be afraid.”

She cried for another few moments and then repeated the phrase. Each time she said it, she seemed to need a little less time to cry, but she gripped him more tightly with each rotation. By the fourth time, her grip was just a shade less than painful, but Paul sat there, quietly holding his mother. 

“Thank you for your support.” Paul would have thought she was still quoting scripture if she hadn’t have looked into his eyes and offered a smile. “I’m so glad you’re here with me.”
“I’d prefer to be with you in a restaurant, but I suppose this’ll do.” He offered her one of his fake smiles, but she laughed anyway. 

“I mean it,” she said. “Whatever happens, I will cherish the memory of how kind and sympathetic you’ve been.”

“Kind?” He was ready to punch the first person he could find who had a reasonably punchable face. “I just sat here.”

“Oh, if more people were willing to just sit quietly and support others.” She chuckled as she spoke. 

… to be continued …

I’ve Started Reading The Wheel of Time Again!

Greetings all,

So just a few days ago, I started reading New Spring by Robert Jordan with the intent to go all the way through the Wheel of Time.

First: It’s my second favorite series ever (Dragonriders of Pern). It’s one of only three series I’ve read multiple times (five if you count Mistborn and Stormlight separately, but I see them as one Cosmere saga). I realized that so many of the plot points had fallen out of my mind, and I don’t want that series to fade from memory. This is the beauty of books.

Second: It’s perfectly OK if you appreciate the Amazon series. I don’t. I think that series took pretty much everything I loved about Wheel of Time and perverted it by Episode Three or Four. Such an unfortunate tragedy demands I go back to the story that I love depicting the characters I love in the manner I came to love them for. Perhaps I’m being harsh. It’s better to say that I’m not of the opinion are for fans of the series. I then wonder why it was made, but the truth is obvious. This show is for people who didn’t read it. This is for a new audience. If you’re a fan of the show, and you’ve read the books, I’d be interested in hearing your thoughts. Yes, I feel very strongly, but I’m willing to hear dissenting opinions.

So I’ll be listening to the audiobooks while driving to work and enjoying a story I’ve loved for nearly a decade now, and I’m relatively new to the fandom. I wanted to share this because I don’t actually re-read a lot of books. I tend to do this for ongoing series that force me to wait for the next installment (though I don’t expect I’ll do that for the Kingkiller Chronicles). I have to love to a powerful degree for a book if I’m going to read it multiple times.

This is more true for Wheel of Time. There’s so much depth and so many characters. I’ve read this series at least five times (and that’s a very low estimate). Each time I read it, I notice something I missed, so it feels fresh and wonderful to me. I don’t think I’ll ever absorb this series fully, but I’m going to enjoy trying.

So check back on the blog for the reviews. I don’t want you to think they’ll come quickly. I read every day, but it takes me a good long while to get through a book these days. Still, I’ll keep you up to date and maybe share something from time to time.

Thanks for reading,

Matt

Book Review: Bleach Volume 69 by Tite Kubo

Spoiler free summary: In Volume 69 of Bleach by Tite Kubo, the soul king is dead, Kyoraku has asked a traitor for help. Ichigo is making his move, and now, now we see where someone has been all this time.

Character: This is one of those frustrating volumes where there is this “big” reveal that doesn’t feel as big as it should. First, anyone even reading this series of reviews should probably be wondering where “this” character has been the whole time. A main member of the cast has been absent, and no on has thought to wonder where he was? Then when the reveal happens, we get another shrug, and the characters march forward as if plot is the only thing that matters. It’s unfortunate. Where Naruto vs Sasuke was one (even now) of the most epic fights in the whole series (I personally think the first fight was better), this “betrayal” is so glossed over it makes it horribly obvious that it’s a feint.

Exposition: As is typical in stories, a lighter volume (last issue) is followed by one with heavier exposition. It’s not anything remotely near excessive, but if you read one after the other, you’ll feel the slow down. This is just the natural ebb and flow of a plot building up to the climax.

Worldbuilding: I guess I’m not done bashing the bad character development. Let’s assume I’m going to turn someone to the dark side. Why on earth would I take such a person and then immediately promote him to heir to my kingdom? We have this supposedly genius character who just up and says, “Hey there! I know I screwed your family and friends over, but why don’t you come work for me, and I’ll go ahead and put you right next to me. That way I’ll be nice and shocked when you inevitably (and anticlimactically) betray me.” Said character shrugs (because that’s how everyone in this series reacts to plot twists) and says, “Well … if you um … wanna make it that easy; I suppose.” Why this is here is because the worldbuilding we’ve seen indicates Yhwach is epic. First off, he doesn’t appear to be anywhere remotely in need of an heir. Second, if he just wanted one, there is no effort to show that side of him in his character (above) or the culture of the Quincies.

Dialogue: Honestly, that lame plot reveal tainted everything in this volume. It’s like Kubo had the greatest outline ever and then got too tired to put any effort into writing it. I know that’s harsh to say, but it neds to be said. The dialogue is almost a series of monologues explaining what’s going on to the reader as if we can’t see the pictures. But at least those are cool to look at.

Description: See above. Great art. But art without compelling characters only holds up for so long.

Overall: I admit that I’m going to become progressively more hostile each time I see what could have been just an amazing scene ruined by what feels like unsympathetic storytelling. I’ve read a few posts indicating Kubo didn’t really “want” to write this second arc, but why do it if you’re not going to put in the effort? Volumes like this, where they have so much lost potential, are evidence of this rumor. If you know more, I’d be glad to hear it in the comments below. The fights are still masterful. In fact, I argue these fights were the standard before Demon Slayer (the new standard entirely). But those fights that I think about were great because of their meaning. These fights don’t have that same impact. They’re just battles without motivation. That’s not enough for me.

Thanks for reading,

Matt

Visits From A Man Named Nobody 72

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“No thanks.” She grimaced as she repositioned herself on the bed. “How’d it go?”

Paul looked away. “I think the doctor should explain it.”

“So it’s not good news.” She gave him a smile that didn’t do a very good job of hiding her fear. 

Paul shook his head. “They told me they couldn’t pull it out because of where it was.”

She nodded, reaching out and gripping his hand. Her hand felt oddly fragile to him. When had they become so small in comparison to his own?

He stood, intending to go find someone to get the doctor, but she only gripped his hand tighter. He looked down at his hand and then over to her before sitting back down. He used his free hand to press the call button before offering her a smile. “OK,” he said. “I won’t leave you.”

She bowed her head, and her lips moved as she offered a quiet prayer. Paul had to fight a surge of anger. It wasn’t directed at his mother. It was just hard watching her continue to reach out to a god that would let anything like this happen. 

As soon as the thought crossed his mind, his mother opened her eyes, which turned at him. 

“Because whatever he’s taken from me, he gave me two things.” Paul wasn’t sure how she knew what he was thinking. She probably read his face. “If you don’t understand the value of forgiveness, I don’t think I can explain it to you, but the second should make a little sense.”

“What could any god possibly give you that would make you this loyal even now?” Paul’s words came out in a chocked whisper. He was too angry, too tired, too devastated to stoke emotions into a shout.

“You,” she said smiling. “I can endure anything if I have Christ, and to top that off, I have you, and I love you so very much.” 

Her lip quivered, and a tear rolled down her cheek. Paul wrapped his arms around her. They held each other even as a nurse walked in. Paul heard her walk in and say something about notifying the doctor.

Paul and his mother just continued to hold each other and cry. The silence only broke each time his mother said she was so grateful for him. The words seemed to cut at him. What had he ever done? He hardly visited. He was a terrible kid to her. He was too wrapped up in his own sorrow to comfort her after Bill’s death. He just gripped her as tightly as he dared until the doctor showed up.

Feniker shambled in on spindly legs, so Paul turned toward him. His mother gripped his hand more tightly, but she needed worry; he didn’t have any intention of letting her go. 

“Obviously things didn’t go how we’d hoped,” he said. 

He went on about where the tumor was located and how it was too dangerous to pull the tumor out. Then he laid out a chemotherapy plan.

“What will that do?” Paul asked.

“We’re hoping it shrinks the tumor down so we can get at it more easily,” Feniker said. “It would be wonderful if it killed the tumor, but I don’t want you to have that false hope. The goal here is just to shrink it down.”

… to be continued …

Shore Leave 42, Here We Come!

Greetings all,

Sometime last week, I got a great email. I signed up for Shore Leave before COVID changed everything. After a few years of waiting, I’m happy to say Shore Leave is back, and so are we! We’ll be visiting.

I have new books to sell, and I’m looking forward to seeing all of you and talking to you in person about how things have been with you and what I’ve been up to.

Sure, it’s a short and sweet post this week, but it’s big news. I already had one convention this year, and it looks like we’re going to ramp up.

We’ll probably take it slow. We want to make sure that we’re able to actually recoup the funds we spend to be there. As a marketing effort, conventions sold books, but we’re trying to be more profitable as we grow.

Shore Leave 42 is scheduled for July 15-17. People much cooler than I will be there including Summer Glau, Gates McFadden, and Robert Duncan McNeill.

We hope to see you there.

Thanks for reading,

Matt

Book Review: Bleach Volume 68 by Tite Kubo

Spoiler free summary: In Volume 68 of Bleach by Tite Kubo, Yhwach has murdered the soul king, and everything (literally) starts falling apart. All seems lost until Ukitake’s secret offers some hope. Kyoraku also has a plan, but that plan involves a terrifying enemy.

Character: There are a few moments here where we learn about Ukitake and Kyoraku. As per my frustration with this, the characters we’ve really had a lot of time with sort of fall off, but these two do have a nice arc that really builds their sympathy. They shine in this volume for different reasons. You learn why Ukitake always seems so sickly, and you learn just how clever and driven Kyoraku really is.

Exposition: This volume was probably lighter in this area than others. I think the dialogue still carried the bulk of the expository weight here, but given how it wasn’t spoken bravado during a fight, it felt fresh.

Worldbuilding: This volume expands the soul society. We finally see how everything sort of comes together as it relates to the monarchy (or more accurately the religion) of this world. It gets a bit tough to explain without spoilers. Still, this volume is a bit of a gem because it gave us this broader level, and it’s sort of the payoff for people reading this arc.

Dialogue: Again, because the things being discussed here aren’t the finer aspects of a character’s power or how they cleverly outfought the enemy, it feels fresh. There’s still a lot of conversation offering the history of the soul king. The thing is, in this case, it’s not so bad because we’re talking about old data. There aren’t a lot of ways to provide historical information. If you know a few, please feel free to say so in the comments below.

Description: This was interesting because we were seeing new places and new things. Most Shonen stuff is going to have epic fight scenes with awesome moves. The trick with this volume was that we see the world in a different way. Also, the world is crumbling, and that illustration is pretty cool.

Overall: This volume stands out because it has some nice character arc, and the world is expanded. I don’t know that it was done the best way, but it’s still cool information that lets us consider the history of this world more. I have the first light novel, and I mean to get to it at some point, but what interest me is this how this world is built around this concept, and that at least has me curious.

Thanks for reading,

Matt

Announcing the Week 3 Winner of the 2021 M.L.S. Weech March Book Cover of the Month! Vote for the Best Cover of March!

Greetings all,

It’s time now to announce our last weekly winner of the 2021 M.L.S. Weech Weekly Book Covers. With this winner, we’ll have four nominees for the March poll. Once that’s decided, we’ll put all 12 winners in one, winner-take-all, poll.

The Week 3 Winner of the 2021 M.L.S. Weech March Book Cover of the Month is …

Grey Mother Mountain by Elyse Russell had beautiful blending and awesome texture. I’m excited to see it in March’s poll. It joins House of Sky and Breath, Lost in the Waking Well, and The Starless Crown in the March bracket.

You can vote for the best cover of the month right here.

Please take a moment to subscribe to my YouTube channel. It’s just another way to support your humble author as well as these artists.

Thanks for reading,

Matt

Visits From A Man Named Nobody 71

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Twenty-One

March 5, 2038, 4:05 p.m. 

13 Years, 274 Days Ago

Paul sat next to his sleeping mother. His knee bounced as if he’d had four servings of the world’s largest cup of coffee. He watched her every breath. Her chest rose and fell. There was always a horrifying pause before her chest would rise again. It rose; it fell. Paul waited, worried that something happened. An agonizing moment would pass. He’d jerk forward intending to call for help, until he saw his mother take another breath. 

Her head was wrapped in bandages, but her face was free. That was at least something. Paul figured his mom would have been afraid to wake like that. 

“I really figured you’d be here.” Paul kept expecting Nobody to show up. “Where’s your sermon? Where are all those piffy thoughts and fortune cookie Bible versus?”

A part of him truly hated Nobody. He’d become this person who was always there when Paul needed, but he was there less and less. His mother was sick and possibly dying. There was a tumor in her brain that would consume her if no one did anything, and nothing was being done. 

“What am I supposed to learn?” 

The room was too quiet. His mother was still sound asleep after hours of people just poking around her brain. He watched her chest rise and fall and nearly panicked until her chest rose and fell again. 

“What I’m learning is that I’m cursed,” Paul said. “If you want me to believe in a God, then I have to believe he hates me. Not only does he take everyone I love from me, he does it in the worst possible way. Bill was killed in a stupid car accident before he could even marry my mother. Jordan is happily married to Lidia, and I’m left alone. The project is dead in the water. Now my mom is lying here helpless.”

He stared at his mother some more, feeling intense relief with every breath she took. 

In a rush of frustration, he flung his hands in her direction. “She turned to your god! And look what he’s done for her! Is this the great life of a Christian? Serve a God, and he’ll watch you pray to him all day just to give you some terrible disease and kill you. No thanks!”

He shut his eyes, pointlessly trying to keep himself from screaming. He let out an exasperated chuckle that somehow managed to keep him from breaking down. “Of course you’d remind me I had them in the first place. He gives and takes away, and all that. But if he takes what he gives, was it ever a gift in the first place?”

A tear rolled down his cheek. He couldn’t hold it back. His lip quivered as he sat helplessly watching his mom. 

“Am I supposed to learn I’m powerless?” It came out in a whine. He rubbed his face with his hands until the urge to sob dwindled away. “I get it! I’m the weak mortal, and God is the all powerful being. But why follow a God who’d let all this happen?”

He let out another laugh. “Oh, yeah, I forgot. This is all my fault. This is humanity’s fault. We ate some stupid piece of fruit, and now everyone has to suffer and die. The all powerful God who can do everything can’t just wipe it away. So I’m supposed to learn I deserve it. Well I do. I admit it. But she doesn’t!”

He looked at her again as more tears fell. “She didn’t deserve to be beaten. She didn’t deserve to lose Bill.”

“Of course you say no one is good. My mom isn’t perfect. Of course she isn’t. No one is perfect, so am I supposed to learn that we all deserve to die? If that’s the case what’s the point? What is it all for?”

His mother stirred, letting out a low groan. Paul shot to his feet, using the bottom of his t-shirt to wipe his tears away. 

“Mom?”

She clenched her eyes. “Are you talking to someone?” Her voice was dry and raspy. 

He swiveled his head around until he found a pink plastic pitcher of water. He grabbed one of the pink cups and filled it. 

“No, just thinking out loud,” he answered. “Here, have some water.”

She was still grimacing, but even with her eyes shut tightly, she held out her hand for cup and drank it all in one tip of the cup. She handed the cup back, and Paul moved to fill it again, but she finally cracked one eye for a second to see him. She shook her head, clenching her eyes shut again.

“No thanks,” she said.

… to be continued …