After finishing Another Fine Myth (my review), I raced through second book in the Myth Adventures series. Myth Conceptions seems more like a complete story from beginning to end. This may be because there is no longer a need to set everything up. The main characters are already set and Asprin brings back some familiar characters and introduces some new characters. The overall effect is to make the Myth Adventures universe bigger, more varied and a lot more fun. So let’s see what happened.
Alan Moore Supreme is back!!!
I know, I’m a week late. But Rob Liefeld has brought back the conclusion of the Alan Moore Supreme storyline. When we last left our writer, he had finished through issue 56 of Supreme. Then the next 6 issues were released as a mini-series: Supreme: The Return. The story wasn’t finished due to Liefeld’s publishing company having a bunch of financial issues.
Well, Liefeld finally got himself together long enough to publish the final Alan Moore Supreme in issue #63 (56+6 issue mini series took us to #62). It’s drawn (rather well) by Erik Larson (instead of Liefeld which is a relief) and Larson will take over the writing as well on issue #64. I don’t think I’m going to continue reading it. But for one brief issue, we got to see Alan Moore doing superheroes again. Liefeld has mentioned that he has some one-off Alan Moore scripts that he plans on releasing as well. So we do have that to look forward to.
Another Fine Myth by Robert Asprin
First thing I want to mention is how bad a title Another Fine Myth is for the first book in a series. Having read the Myth-adventures series when I was younger, I decided that it was time to revisit it. I had to sit in the library on my phone looking up the series online to verify that this was indeed the first book, since the title almost implies that there was a book before (at least the work another does). Having determined that I did indeed have the first book in the series, I was glad to find out that the book was just as funny and entertaining as I remembered. I lost track of the series in the 90s (when Asprin took a writing hiatus to deal with IRS issues), but am looking forward to checking it out again (even with the absurd mis/myth puns in all the titles). So, let’s check out the fine myth..er..mess.
Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog review
I was re-watching Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog today when I suddenly realized that I had never reviewed it. Conceived and filmed during the 2007-2008 Writer’s strike by Joss Whedon, his two brother’s (Zach and Jed) and Jed’s wife Maurissa Tancharoen, the show came out during the summer of 2008 to rave reviews and a fresh eye towards online video. Possibly (I vaguely remember Whedon discussing it when it came out) influenced by Felicia Day’s first season of The Guild, the Whedon family wanted to do something online that would have higher production values. Bringing in Neil Patrick Harris and several people that Joss Whedon had previously worked with (including Felicia Day and Nathan Fillion) and created a funny, musical superhero love story. So, what exactly is Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog?
Soon I Will Be Invincible by Austin Grossman
Like his twin brother Lev Grossman (author of The Magicians), Austin Grossman is also a novelist. While Lev’s books have gotten a lot more press, I actually like Austin’s one book more than any of Lev’s books. Austin’s sole publication (he does have two forthcoming books) is the superhero adventure Soon I Will Be Invincible. The story is Watchmenesque in that it has a history of multiple superhero teams with handoffs between them and personal issues causing friction between members. And while it is nowhere near as good, it’s still a fun and interesting read. So, let’s check out the story.
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
Neverwhere was Neil Gaiman’s first solo novel (having previously collaborated with Terry Pratchett on Good Omens), but it’s really more of a novelization than a novel. By that I mean the story was created for a BBC TV series and then Gaiman wrote the novelization of the series. Having never seen the TV show, I can’t comment on which one is better or whether the novel captured the essence of the show. But it is a terrific urban fantasy novel. So, let’s check out what Neverwhere is.
New Guild Song
Felicia Day is celebrating the premiere of her new YouTube channel Geek And Sundry with a new Guild video. Enjoy and sing along.
Game of Thrones Season 2 Premiere review
Game of Thrones is back and bloody as ever. The first episode seemed to serve more as a re-introduction to the viewers without a lot of plot heavy elements. But for a second season premiere, this seems to be what is needed. We get re-introduced to most of our main characters and locations, so that the show can start running forward next episode. Let’s check out what happened.
Laddertop by Emily Janice Card and Orson Scot Card
If you haven’t guessed by their last names, then you should know that Emily Janice Card is indeed Orson Scott Card’s last name (and follows in the family footsteps of using all three names). This is (I believe) the first time that Card has co-written a book with a family member and it’s not completely clear how much each of the writers did. The book, Laddertop, appears to be a pastiche of Ender’s Game and manga with talented children being taken to an space station and alien technology being used. The book is just volume 1, so there isn’t a lot of story and more questions than answers. Let’s check it out.
The Mirage by Matt Ruff
Matt Ruff has an interesting set of books. They really don’t hang together thematically and are pretty much all over the map in style. So I’m not truly surprised that he’s not a bigger name. I first found him when I ran across a copy of Sewer, Gas and Electric (my review), a book he noted came from him throwing out ridiculous names for trilogies. I was very excited when I heard he had a new book coming out, since he isn’t the most prolific writer. When I heard that his newest novel, The Mirage, would be about an alternate universe where the Christian United States destroys the Twin Towers in the United Arab States on 11/9/2001, I was a little worried. It looked like a difficult premise to pull off. And to Ruff’s credit, he almost manages to do it. So, let’s join this alternate universe and see what happened.