Matthew McElroy > Recent Status Updates

I'm not entirely sure why the Dora Milaje have turned their backs entirely on T'Challa. There is definitely the belief of betrayal and the royalty are upset that the Dora Milaje are traitors. But this feels like an issue that will be reconciled.

This is absolutely better than the first time I read it. Shuri isn't even part of the action, and they dedicate pages to her coming to terms with who she is.

For a long time, Marvel was short on Black superheroes. But the ones they had were legit. Storm, Luke Cage and Black Panther teaming up?
All.
In.

Palace intrigue is definitely the way to describe this saga. Wakanda is torn between allegiance to The Black Panther, and a popular uprising by a shaman named Tetu. Tetu has a allied himself with a woman of Wakanda (didn't catch her name yet) and Ezekiel Stane, whom I assume is related to Obadiah Stane, the Iron Man villain.
Tetu is a great opponent for T'Challa. It's not that his ideas are wrong, but his method is.

I'm rereading this. I admire Ta-Nehisi Coates' insight and intellect, but the first time around this book didn't thrill me. I'm approaching this with an open mind, and I'm going to see how I feel.
One big difference from other comics- it's Palace intrigue and much of its centered around women. Women who are wearing clothes and making decisions.

A quick note- this book is closer to 200 pages, rather than the 176 Goodreads lists.
Roanhorse has done a great job slowly increasing the intensity of the story. Who did the crime?
Why did they do the crime?
How did all these other people get involved with the crime?
But she also makes valid points about good and evil, familial obligations and trusting people with authority.

There is an unexpected steampunk/crime noir/Western/Christian mythos/racial commentary thing going on here. Somehow, Roanhorse makes it all make sense.
At the core: there are two sisters who are mixed between the Elect and the Fallen. One passes as Elect and the other passes as Fallen. They work together at a gambling hall when a murder is committed and the Fallen sister is accused.

I've been reading this for a while. It's YA non-fiction, but the history is largely new to me. I knew the basics of the tragedy, but not the details.
Short version: during World War 2, Black men in the Navy were confined to grunt work, in this case, unloading ammunition. They were given very little training, very little safety equipment, and very large quotas. So there isn't a surprise when the inevitable happens.

This is more of a novella than a novel. If I could get a quiet afternoon, I'd be able to knock this out in a few hours.
This is my first go round with Rebecca Roanhorse, other than a story on "LeVar Burton Reads" (highly recommended!).
This story about angels and demons is much better than... that other one. I'm going to have to brush up on my... Christian-adjacent mythos.

Real question- what is a "racially pure German"? Germany wasn't created until 1871, from 300 unique states.
https://history.state.gov/countries/g...

Who decided this and how? The origin is people wanting to be part of the majority: people's whose families were from a city-state for 1,000 years are all of a sudden "German".

Rosenberg is a tough man, mentally and physically. Sorry to not give him more focus.

Walter just discovered, as Freedland coldly titled the chapter, "The Final Solution".
I'm lost. Every time I read something about Holocaust, I have new questions.
I'll write them in the review with more space.

A very solid read so far. It's not as good as Maniac Magee or Stargirl, but Spinelli doesn't stick with childish stereotypes or stock villains. He allows his characters to be their own people, for better and for worse.

Total gut punch. What do you do with someone who is totally aware of the trainwreck they've become?
Exley has so many passages in this story that are completely self aware but aren't crying for sympathy. He's admitting he is completely unlikable. Or at least the character named Frederick Exley is.

Mr. Blue is an interesting character and interlude, but I'm not sure how he advances the story. He's an aging drunk pervert with some incredible physical fitness skills. And if there was more to him, it could have been interesting
For a book titled "A Fan's Notes", there certainly isn't much Fandom occurring. The book is good, but what are we doing with the title?

In the last two days I have spent a considerable amount of time on busses and trains and waiting for busses and trains. Not ideal, but it gives me time to read and really ruminate on Exley the writer and Exley the character. I'm a terrible judge of character. I'm too trusting, too optimistic and too... well I ignore warning signs.
But Exley has all the signs of an immense depression.

The chapters in this book are long- the opposite of a Dan Brown story.
Even writing in the 1960s, about an experience from the 50s, Exley is cognizant of the Black experience in America. Black medical professionals resent the white professionals, because they are more qualified and will never achieve their deserved status. The white doctors resent them for being more qualified.

I'm not big on slave narratives and Holocaust stories. (Whitehead's Underground Railroad is an exception). I don't watch car crashes. This book was a gift, so I'll give it a go.
No spoilers here: Walter Rosenberg is going to escape Auschwitz. But first he has to get there. And the process that leads him to get there... I don't know if I have appropriate words to describe it.

Exley spends one month in an insane asylum for being arrested as a drunk in Miami.
As best I can recall. Which kinda tells you the changes we have made as a culture, many for the better. The month crawls along, and his description of Avalon Valley is like only a few things I have ever written. Does anyone else remember A Million Little Pieces from... maybe 2005? This chapter felt like that entire book.

This story must be a thinly disguised autobiography. It would be nearly impossible to write such a realistically flawed character. He's a narcissist, an alcoholic, a disappointment and a liar. But you don't hate him.
He's completely pathetic in a bumbling, hopeless way. As I read, I keep thinking, "no! Don't say that" or "please don't make that decision".

Woof. The best fiction cuts close to home.
Can we get a dragon or an alien in here?

The Goodreads algorithm is interesting, but flawed. This is not something I ever would have picked up. Young Adult fiction just holds little appeal to me. But this is pretty good. It takes some Russian folklore to New places, which makes for creative storytelling.

Cosby does this great job of consistently alluding to an event that happened with a man named Red DeCrain. We know something bad happened that sent him back to Virginia. But we never learn what it is.

So far.

This book has a surprising amount of James Baldwin in it. Does anyone know what book Baldwin wrote where he retells a short stories and histories, primary from Rome and Greece? I had no idea such a book existed.

That was faster than I expected.

So far, the entire story is revolving around second tier characters, like Blue Beetle and Dr. Fate, heroes, I've never engaged with. But the writing is surprisingly good.

The brief explanation of the story that prompted me to pick up this book, was that this story unified all the DC universes and timelines. It is interesting that the entire event starts with the Wally West Flash. In my limited DC experience, he is an important character, but not the Barry Allen Flash, and certainly not Batman or Superman.

Cosby has gone through a lot of effort to make the family dynamics feel real, even if there is some Shakespearean drama between the brothers.
As I approach the end of the book, I REALLY don't want the killer to be a new character. I want it to be someone we have already met. I always feel like it is cheap storytelling to go with the big swerve at the end. ExAmple: Kellie or Darlene being the killer would be stupid.

I wonder what makes Southern Gothic such a popular theme? Or crime noir?
And how often do these two cross paths? Cosby has done a nice job creating a story that fits both genres and yet breaks the mold on both genres.
Titus Crown is completely believable as a frustrated Southern Black sheriff.