Jun 18, 2018
From Our TBR Pile

Review – Vampire Hunter D Vol. 1 by Hideyuki Kikuchi

Vampire Hunter D Vol. 1
By: Hideyuki Kikuchi
Illustrator: Yoshitaka Amano
Translator: Kevin Leahy
Release Date: March 10, 1983; (English) 2005
Publisher: DH Press
Series: Vampire Hunter D
Rating:


Fun story. I borrowed a copy of Vampire Hunter D from Hoopla. Since Yoshitaka Amano (of Final Fantasy fame) is the artist, something I was aware of earlier, I assumed this was a manga. Not sure why, seeing as Yoshitaka Amano hasn’t illustrated any manga as far as I am aware. (Do correct me if I’m wrong. I’d love to read a manga he’s illustrated.) As it turns out, Vampire Hunter D by Hideyuki Kikuchi is a light novel! I love light novels!

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Jun 14, 2018
New & Upcoming Releases

Review – The Freeze-Frame Revolution by Peter Watts

The Freeze-Frame Revolution
By: Peter Watts
Release Date: June 12, 2018
Publisher: Tachyon Publications
Series: Sunflower Cycle
Received From: Publisher
(All reviews are our own, honest opinions.)
Rating:


The Freeze-Frame Revolution is a story of revolution aboard a space ship tasked with traversing the galaxy building warp gates. In order to keep building for as long as possible the humans aboard are cryogenically frozen between builds, waking only when absolutely necessary. But not everything is as it seems.

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Jun 12, 2018
From Our TBR Pile

Review – The Strange Bird by Jeff VanderMeer

The Strange Bird
By: Jeff VanderMeer
Release Date: February 27, 2018
Publisher: MCD/Firrar, Strous, and Giroux
Series: Borne
Rating:


My library tends to always have novellas in their new books section, and I tend to always check them out immediately. This past week I found a book called The Strange Bird by Jeff VanderMeer, which is a title I hadn’t heard of before. Once I’d checked the book out and gotten home I realized I was in the middle of two other novels by the same author – Annihilation, the first book in the Southern Reach trilogy, as well as Borne.

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Jun 11, 2018
Manga & Light Novels New & Upcoming Releases

Review – Devilman: The Classic Collection Vol. 1 by Go Nagai

Devilman: The Classic Collection Vol 1
By: Go Nagai
Translator: Zack Davisson; Adrienne Beck
Release Date: May 22, 2018
Publisher: Seven Seas
Series: Devilman: The Classic Collection
Received From: Publisher
(All reviews are our own, honest opinions.)
Rating:


I love reading classic manga. Too often these are the manga that have shaped the industry we know today, but haven’t been published in English for decades, or sometimes never at all. Now, all that seems to be changing, and I am making sure to read as many as these fantastic manga as possible. Devilman: The Classic Collection Vol 1 by Go Nagai is a fantastic horror manga that has truly stood the test of time.

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Jun 09, 2018
New & Upcoming Releases

Review – Space Opera by Catherynne M Valente

Space Opera
By: Catherynne M. Valente
Release Date: April 10, 2018
Publisher: Saga Press
Rating:


Okay. So. Space Opera. Wonderful, glorious Space Opera. It has been a long time since I loved a book this much or devoured it quite so quickly. I originally listened to the audiobook on hoopla. When the hardcover copy came in the mail a few weeks later I immediately read the whole thing cover to cover. Is Space Opera by Catherynne Valente that good? Well, yeah. It is.

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Jun 05, 2018
New & Upcoming Releases

Review – The Dead House by Billy O’Callaghan

The Dead House
By: Billy O'Callaghan
Release Date: May 1, 2018
Publisher: Arcade/Skyhorse Publishing
Rating:


There is nothing quite like a good ghost story. I always seem to stumble upon these, and I am very happy to say that this book was quite the happy accident. This was a last minute pick up at the library, a book that caught my eye on the way to check out a small pile of books. The Dead House by Billy O’Callaghan is a beautifully written ghost story that will stay with you long after reading.

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Jun 04, 2018
Manga & Light Novels New & Upcoming Releases

Review – My Hero Academia Volume 13 by Kohei Horikoshi

My Hero Academia Volume 13
By: Kohei Horikoshi
Illustrator: Kohei Horikoshi
Translator: Caleb Cook
Release Date: June 5, 2018
Publisher: VIZ Media LLC
Series: My Hero Academia
Received From: Publisher
(All reviews are our own, honest opinions.)
Rating:


I’ve been reading My Hero Academia every Monday in Shonen Jump for quite some time now. Yet this volume snuck up on me nonetheless. There’s a lot in here, and I don’t think I picked up on all of the subtleties the first time. My Hero Academia Vol 13 by Kohei Horikoshi is another wonderful volume filled with commentary on hero society, character development, and the conclusion to the licencing exam.

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Jun 01, 2018
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Where Dystopian Fiction and Contemporary Fiction Meet – The Eerie Effects of Bandai’s The Accusation

I first discovered The Accusation by Bandai from a BookTube channel, thought I cannot recall which one exactly. There was something intriguing about this collection of short stories beyond the obvious – I always enjoy a good short story, and I actively seek out books in translation. This was a collection of stories from a place where we do not get stories, where literature and film and everyday life is somewhat of an unknown. It is a story the author went to great lengths to hide and smuggle out of North Korea to China. It is a story which, by all rights, I should have heard about soon due to nothing less than the sheer importance that it was published.

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May 31, 2018
New & Upcoming Releases

Review – Lingua Cosmica: Science Fiction from Around the World

Lingua Cosmica: Science Fiction from Around the World
By: Dale Knickerbocker (editor)
Release Date: June 4, 2018
Publisher: University of Illinois Press
Received From: Publisher
(All reviews are our own, honest opinions.)
Rating:


Lingua Cosmica: Science Fiction from Around the World is an academic book. This isn’t a novel or even a generic non-fiction title. This is a book by academics about science fiction writers from countries other than the United States. These authors are giants of the genre, the sort of authors whose works change science fiction in that region.

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May 29, 2018
From Our TBR Pile Manga & Light Novels

Review – The Morose Mononokean Vol 2 by Kiri Wazawa

The Morose Mononokean Vol 2
By: Kiri Wazawa
Translator: Mikka Stifler
Release Date: September 22, 2014
Publisher: Square Enix
Series: The Morose Mononokean
Rating:


I have a penchant for reading manga and watching anime about humans that get involved with the affairs of the supernatural, straying into worlds that they don’t really belong. The Morose Mononokean fits into this theme pretty perfectly, and I have been thoroughly enjoying this series which is currently available to read on Crunchyroll. This week I read The Morose Mononokean Vol 2 by Kiri Wazawa.

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