Oct 26, 2017
From Our TBR Pile

Review – Dreams of Distant Shores by Patricia McKillip

Dreams of Distant Shores
By: Patricia McKillip
Release Date: June 14, 2016
Publisher: Tachyon Publications
Rating:


Anthologies can be difficult to review. Each story is different and, in a perfect world, each story would stand on its own, considered for its own merits and demerits. When bound with many other short stories or slightly longer works, it becomes difficult to impossible to allow one story to stand purely on their own. Compared to those stories that come before and after it, perspective can be skewed. This is something I try not to let happen when reading an anthology, but this book in particular had many ups and downs for me. There were stories that I loved, stories that proved fun in the moment but ultimately unmemorable, and stories that didn’t live up to the expectations I had for them.

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Oct 23, 2017
Graphic Novels New & Upcoming Releases

Review – The Castoffs Vol 2 by M.K. Reed and Brian Smith

The Castoffs Vol 2: Into the Wastelands
By: M.K. Reed; Brian Smith
Release Date: October 24, 2017
Publisher: Lion Forge
Series: The Castoffs #2
Received From: Publisher
(All reviews are our own, honest opinions.)
Rating:


During the Get Graphic Readathon I read an early copy of The Castoffs Vol. 2: Into The Wastelands by M.K. Reed and Brian Smith. The Castoffs is a graphic novel series filled with magic, mechanical enemies, and a trio of girls who go from adversaries to friends.

I had the opportunity to read volume one of The Castoffs a few months ago. When the opportunity arose to read an early copy of volume two I simply couldn’t turn it down. As always, major spoilers will be avoided, but minor plot points will be discussed (nothing that wouldn’t be on a dust jacket).

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Oct 19, 2017
Graphic Novels Throwback Thursday

#ThrowbackThursday – Sandman, Vol 3: Dream Country by Neil Gaiman

Dream Country (Vol. 3)
By: Neil Gaiman (writer)
Release Date: (Original release) 1991; (this volume) October 19, 2010
Publisher: Vertigo
Series: The Sandman #3
Award: World Fantasy Award for Short Story (“A Midsummer Night’s Dream); Harvey Awards Nominee for Best Graphic Album of Previously Published Material (1992); Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards for Best Continuing Series, Best Writer (for Neil Gaiman) (1991)
Rating:


Happy Throwback Thursday, everyone. This week I continued reading The Sandman series, written by Neil Gaiman. This is an excellent horror graphic novel series, perfect to read around Halloween that everyone should read.

For anyone unfamiliar with the series, or if you’d like to catch up on our reviews, check out the reviews of Preludes and Nocturns (Volume 1) and The Doll’s House (Volume 2).

Dream Country (Volume 3) of the The Sandman series reads more like a compilation of short stories as opposed to the previous volumes in the series. The volume is separated into three different stories. One is about a Here again Dream takes somewhat of a back seat. Dream’s presence is obvious, and very much felt in each tale. Yet, he is not necessarily the main character of each tale. He is the catalyst, the important factor, the other, at times.

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Oct 17, 2017
From Our TBR Pile New & Upcoming Releases

New Release – It Devours! by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor

It Devours!
By: Joseph Fink; Jeffrey Cranor
Website: http://www.welcometonightvale.com/
Release Date: October 17, 2017
Publisher: Harper Collins
Series: Night Vale #2
Received From: Publisher
(All reviews are our own, honest opinions.)
Rating:


Welcome to Night Vale, the popular, long running podcast, has just released a second novel, It Devours! written by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor. This follows last year’s novel titled simply as Welcome to Night Vale. It Devours! is a thriller-esque tale set in the town of Night Vale, a small place somewhere in the mid-west where every conspiracy theory is true, monsters are real, the rules of time-space are more like guidelines, and the citizens take everything in stride, because, to them, it’s all quite normal.

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Oct 14, 2017
From Our TBR Pile

Review – Invisible Planets Edited by Ken Liu

Invisible Planets: Contemporary Chinese Fiction in Translation
By: (Editor/Translator) Ken Liu
Website: http://kenliu.name/
Release Date: November 1, 2016
Publisher: Tor Books
Rating:


I had been meaning to read this book since its release last years, and I actually picked it up at one point. Unfortunately, life happened, and I was forced to focus my efforts on other things. But now, almost six month’s later I’ve finally read the book in its entirety, and couldn’t be happier. Invisible Planets, edited by Ken Liu, is a fantastic collection of science fiction by Chinese authors translated into English, and is a must read for fans of the genre.

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Oct 12, 2017
New & Upcoming Releases

Review – Blackwing by Ed McDonald

Blackwing
By: Ed McDonald
Release Date: October 3, 2017
Publisher: Ace Books
Series: Raven's Mark #1
Received From: Publisher
(All reviews are our own, honest opinions.)
Rating:


Ed McDonald explodes onto the scene with the strongest debut novel I have read all year. Blackwing is the first novel in a new series featuring a world torn apart by a war that cannot be won against creatures who cannot die.

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Oct 07, 2017
From Our TBR Pile Manga & Light Novels

Review – Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody Vol. 1

Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody Vol. 1
By: Hiro Ainana
Illustrator: Ayamegumo
Translator: Jenny McKeon
Release Date: March 17th 2014; January 31st 2017
Publisher: Yen On
Series: Death March Rhapsody to the Parallel World #1
Rating:


I have read a lot of stuck in another world type fantasy. High fantasy, light novels, manga, stuck in a video game, or fallen through a wardrobe – I read them all. Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody by Hiro Ainana is one of my all-time favorites within the genre. While bearing a different sort of humor and extremely different main characters, Death March is just as excellent a deconstruction of the genre the light novel Konosuba. It is a light novel I highly recommend, and an anime I highly anticipate within the coming year.

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Oct 05, 2017
From Our TBR Pile

Review – The Everything Box by Richard Kadrey

The Everything Box
By: Richard Kadrey
Release Date: April 19, 2016
Publisher: Harper Voyager
Series: Another Coop Heist #1
Rating:


Yet another title I have had my eye on since its release has finally been read. The Everything Box by Richard Kadrey is a fun, fast paced book with a host of likable, quirky characters.

The book opens several thousand years ago with an angel atop a mountain who is ready to fulfill his duty and begin the apocalypse. The problem? His pockets are empty, and the doomsday device is inexplicably missing. In the modern era Coop, master thief of magical items, is hired to steal a small black box for a client. But Coop isn’t the only person after this box. He soon finds himself with the Department of Peculiar Science, a government organization dedicated to the supernatural and unexplained, who claims that this device isn’t only an old family heirloom. This device could set off the end of the world.

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Oct 03, 2017
0 Article Graphic Novels Manga & Light Novels

The Get Graphic Readathon – The TBR List

The Get Graphic Readathon begins this weekend, and guess who’s participating? I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to binge read all of my unread graphic novels, so here we are.

This readathon is dedicated to reading only graphic novels, comics, and manga. The readathon begins at 5 pm on Friday, October 6th and runs through October 8th. I do love that the readathon begins Friday evening. Now I don’t have to stare at the pile of graphic novels and manga all night!


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