Alex C. Telander's Blog, page 68

“Penny Arcade Volume 8: Magical Kids in Danger” by Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik (Oni Press, 2012)

The dynamic duo that is Penny Arcade are back once again with the next collection of their both brilliant and hilarious web comic. Magical Kids in Danger collects all the strips from 2007, featuring an introduction by Cliff Bleszinski, Design Director at Epic Games, as well as Mike Krahulik’s development artwork for the cover.

As in previous volumes, writer Jerry Holkins adds commentary, thoughts and opinions to each strip, trying to work out the concept behind it, or what the thinking was, or in some cases is brutally honest and says he has no clue what they were planning at the time. Readers get to see some of the big happenings in the video gaming world through the lens of Penny Arcade, such as the sacred arrival of the Playstation 3, and more intelligent ridiculing of game companies who profess to know what video gamers are thinking and actually want. Some beloved characters of the comic strip also make their appearances, so readers will not be disappointed with this new volume that, after being read, needs to go on the shelf right next to volumes one through seven.

Originally written on December 4, 2012 ©Alex C. Telander.

To purchase a copy of Penny Arcade 8: Magical Kids in Danger from Amazon, and help support BookBanter, click HERE.

“Revenge: Eleven Dark Tales” by Yoko Ogawa (Picador, 2013)

For Haruki Murakami fans who enjoy his unique blend of the dark and bizarre, Yoko Ogawa is definitely an author you’ll want to check out.  Revenge, a collection of eleven of her short stories, reveals that this is a genre of Japanese literature that will grab you with its claws and suck you in.

A young nurse in love with a brilliant surgeon threatens to kill him if he does not leave his wife.  A writer living in a strange apartment block learns that the landlady is a murderer.  In the most moving tale of the collection, a woman with the unique condition that her heart is on the outside of her body needs a special bag to contain and protect it; a unique bag tailor must create the perfect vessel for it and becomes obsessed with the project.

Each of the stories in this collection becomes linked with the next, whether through a minor detail, a character, or a related event, stringing the collection together into a beautiful and dark web.  While a short read, readers will nevertheless be spirited away with these creepy, unforgettable tales.

Originally written on December 4, 2012 ©Alex C. Telander.

To purchase a copy of Revenge from Amazon, and help support BookBanter, click HERE.

BOOK NEWS: Book Report for the Week of December 17th

Sacramento Book Review Best Books of 2012 

The reviewers voted on their top reads for 2012.

Hollywood’s Most Powerful Authors 

Find out where the top 25 authors rank in Hollywood.

Facebook’s Top Reads of the Year 

Find out what was read the most in 2012 according to Facebook.

EU Antitrust Probe 

An European Union Antitrust probe into Apple and four big publishers has reached a settlement.

[CONTINUE READING]

“Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore” by Robin Sloan (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2012)

For any fan of books and reading, it sounds like a dream come true: a twenty-four hour bookstore, where you can show up anytime and be willingly accepted to browse the stacks and be surrounded by thousands of books and breathe in the literary scents.  But then there are some weird things going on at Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore during the early hours of the morning, as well as some very strange characters coming in.

Clay Jannon is unemployed and looking for anything that will bring in some money, after being dumped out of the web-design world with the tough recession; and it ain’t cheap living in San Francisco.  And then one day he sees the help wanted sign at Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore.  After having the interview and experimenting with going up the ladders that stretch high up the stacks of the three-story tall bookstore, he gets the job.  He works the nightshift from 10PM until 6AM, where Mr. Penumbra greets him in the early morning.  It seems like an easy job for okay pay, since there are hardly ever any customers.  At the front of the store is a small selection of regular selling books, but most of the store is taken up by unique and strange books all written in code.  Occasionally Clay gets customers coming into the story in the early hours of the morning, returning a book and borrowing a new one.  His job is to record the details and condition of these strange people in the great bookstore log.

As the story progresses, the curiosity grows and grows, for both Clay and the reader, wanting to know who these people are, what these coded books are all about, and what exactly it all means.  Clay wonders how a bookstore like this even stays in business.  And as he begins to dig deeper and deeper, he opens up the mystery and learns answers that lead to more questions and more curiosity.  The bookstore appears to be just the tip of the iceberg.

Robin Sloan’s debut novel plays well on the enjoyment of the reader, as well as slowly unraveling the mystery, in addition to taking the reader around San Francisco and into the heart of the Googleplex, and then across the country and back in time through a hidden history, all on the subject of books and their meaning.  Readers will be hooked with Sloan’s easy reading style and curious tale until the very end.

Originally written on November 10, 2012 ©Alex C. Telander.

To purchase a copy of Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore from Amazon, and help support BookBanter, click HERE.

Featured on Book Blather

I’m currently being featured on Book Blather, with an excerpt from my book Kyra: The First Book of Enchantus.  Check it out!

“Libriomancer” by Jim C. Hines (DAW, 2012)

Libriomancer is one of those books that feels like it should’ve been written a lot sooner, given its subject matter, and yet when one is done reading it, one is left wishing they could read it over again for the first time.  From the author of The Princess novels, Libriomancer is the first in the Magic Ex Libris series that will hopefully make Jim C. Hines the well-respected and appreciated author that he already is.

In a unique world that blends books with magic and fantasy, Isaac Vainio is a libriomancer, a unique person with unique powers to be able to reach into books and draw out objects of power (so long as they can fit through the pages); as a libriomancer he is part of a clandestine group that has existed for half a millennium beginning with the great Johannes Gutenberg.  Only now there are vampires that have leaked out of books attacking people, particularly other libriomancers, and the great Gutenberg has been kidnapped.  Vainio thought he was done as a libriomancer, but when his friends start getting killed, he knows it’s up to him to find out who’s behind it all.

Libriomancer is simply a fun book, featuring a great story and some fantastic characters.  Hines has plenty of fun throwing in many nerdy book references, as well as the books libriomancers choose to use to gain special objects.  With a diverse cast of interesting people, Libriomancer is an addicting read that will leave readers impatiently wanting more.

Originally written on November 10, 2012 ©Alex C. Telander.

To purchase a copy of Libriomancer from Amazon, and help support BookBanter, click HERE.

“2312” by Kim Stanley Robinson (Orbit, 2012)

From the author of the Mars trilogy, as well as many other bestsellers, comes a science fiction novel that pushes the boundaries of the genre through story and character and writing to keep the reader hooked from start until finish.  2312 is a lengthy book that will stay with you long after you have turned and read the final page.

It is the future of the twenty-fourth century where humanity has come a long way and colonized a number of planets in our solar system, as well as their moons.  Technology is impressive and inter-planetary travel a common event.  In fact, one of the new aesthetic ways to travel is on a moving asteroid that has been colonized and terra-formed, with each of these traveling planetoids representing a unique architectural style.  Swan Er Hong is one of these talented designers, but having lost a close person in her life is now adrift, uncertain what to do.  But after a series of attacks and catastrophic events, beginning with the great protected city of Terminator on Mercury, she realizes there is something going on here much greater than she can conceive.

Robinson has outdone himself with 2312, blending a story of gripping science fiction, a captivating plot, and unique characters that exist in a future world of acceptance and normalcy to them that seems advanced and developed when compared to our.  A delight to read, 2312 will be keeping you up late.

Originally written on November 10, 2012 ©Alex C. Telander.

To purchase a copy of 2312 from Amazon, and help support BookBanter, click HERE.

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BOOK REPORT: Book News for the Week of December 9th

Bookbanter Holiday Gift Book Guide 

Look for the perfect book gift this holiday season?  Check out the Bookbanter Holiday Gift Book Guide.

LA Times Holiday Gift Guide 

The LA Times presents its recommended books for its holiday gift guide for 2012.

Cover Posing for a Good Cause 

Author Jim C. Hines is twisting himself into awkward poses in the style of some female superheroes from the covers of comic books, all for charity.

The Amazon Warehouse 

A behind-the-scenes look at the massive Amazon warehouses.

[CONTINUE READING . . .]

“Bad Glass” by Richard E. Gropp (Ballantine, 2012)

There’s something wrong with Spokane, Washington. Seriously wrong. The military has formed a protective cordon around the extreme outskirts of the city, not letting anyone in and anyone out. Strange things have started happening on the inside, people disappearing, unusual creatures being seen, as well as realities that just cannot be. But no new is getting out, and no one has any clue what is really going on.

Dean Walker has one last chance to pursue his passion and make it as a photographer, before his father makes him become part of the family business. After bribing one of the privates with a convincing story and some photos, Walker sneaks into Spokane to find out what’s really going on, seeing if he can help put a stop to it, as well as take some award-winning photos that he plans to release to the world, and become famous and incredibly rich. But on the inside, like everyone else, he sees things that simply shouldn’t be, things that cause the human mind to stop working properly. He also meets some special people that he learns to care about. Curiosity also grows in him, as he searches for an answer to what is going on in Spokane and why it’s getting worse.

A gripping kind of horror, Bad Glass uses an interesting device of describing photographs and video footage that are shocking and unbelievable, as well as drawing the reader deeper and deeper into the story. While the ending feels a little rushed, as the answers finally start to come, the story is well worth the wait.

Originally written on November 10, 2012 ©Alex C. Telander.

To purchase a copy of Bad Glass from Amazon, and help support BookBanter, click HERE.

“Pirate Cinema” by Cory Doctorow (Tor Teen, 2012)

After the success of Little Brother and For the Win, bestselling author Cory Doctorow returns with another young adult novel about an oppressed youth who is looking to change the world for the better in an uncertain near future.  This time Doctorow jumps across the pond to Britain, where he spends a good portion of his time, and writes about the subject of internet piracy.

In a near future, Trent McCauley is a smart sixteen year-old who does his school work but spends most of his time downloading videos of a fictitious celebrity and creating vids about him using clips from all the movies the person has been in, telling a specific story, usually played to music.  He has a lot of fun doing it and there’s definitely an artwork and talent to it.  Then the internet is cut off in the household under the recent law for internet piracy, and the family is now severed from the internet at home for a whole year; which is really important.  Trent’s sister needs it to do all her school work, she simply won’t pass her classes without it; his mother needs it to get support for her medical condition; and his father needs it because he’s unemployed, and needs to claim his unemployment checks, as well as look for jobs.  It puts the family in a dire situation, with Trent feeling really guilty about the whole thing.

So he does what any teenager would logically do: he runs away from home.  He arrives in London with high hopes of living on the street, which are soon dashed when his belongings are stolen and he finds himself hungry and terribly alone, and wondering if he’s made a terrible mistake.  But he soon makes some new friends who show him the ropes and how to get by pretty easily in London, eventually leading them to squat in an abandoned pub, where they get the power back on, the internet going, and life begins to go pretty well.

Their goal is to have lots of movie viewing parties via a secret internet website that gets people together, to support the vid-making industry and create awareness about what they’re doing and why it isn’t wrong and shouldn’t be illegal.  They’re also looking to fight back against the passing of a recent law in Parliament that is now imprisoning teenagers and children for internet piracy.  Their numbers begin to grow, and gain support; the question is how they are going to make this change happen, without coming off as a radical group of homeless people.

Pirate Cinema feels a lot like the British version of Little Brother, as Doctorow has done his work with how the government works and how the internet is used and perceived in Britain.  He even goes so far as to use a British vernacular, with plenty of slang thrown in.  The weakness of the book is in the conflicts and issues the main character has to deal with.  Trent definitely gets himself into some direct situations and problems, but they’re never really that hard or tough, and he always gets out of it real easy.  It still makes for an enjoyable story that is lacking in potential dramatic tension.  Readers — especially teens — will nevertheless enjoy the book for what it’s trying to do.

Originally written on December 5, 2012 ©Alex C. Telander.

To purchase a copy of Pirate Cinema from Amazon, and help support BookBanter, click HERE.

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