At The End of the World

Published:  September 13th, 2005 (first published 1983)

The Color of Magic (Discworld #1)

By: Terry Pratchett

Harper Perrenial

ISBN-13:  9780060855925

The Color of Magic is Terry Pratchett's maiden voyage through the now legendary land of Discworld.  This is where it all begins -- with the tourist Twoflower and his wizard guide, Rincewind.  On a world supported on the back of a giant turtle (sex unknown), a gleeful, explosive, wickedly eccentric expedition sets out.  There's an avaricious but inept wizard, a naive tourist whose luggage moves on hundreds of dear little legs, dragons who only exist if you believe in them, and of course THE EDGE of the planet...

Review

       I will admit that I've had this book on my shelf for at least a year, waiting for me to read it.  I was a little bit scared, actually, because of all the negative things people have said about it on Goodreads, Amazon, etc.  Apparently it's the weakest Discworld novel according to a lot of people.  I haven't read enough Discworld to agree or disagree yet (exactly four of them, counting this one) on that particular point.  But I can say that I enjoyed Going Postal and The Wee Free Men a lot more than this one (Making Money, not so much).  There weren't a lot of laugh out loud moments to be found in this one for me.  It elicited a lot of smiles, but no real laughs were emitted.  

       Probably my favorite thing in this book was the fact that it made fun of "fantasy" books so freely and openly.  I thought it was awesome that the Gods were playing a dice game (obviously a nod to the immortal nerd pasttime, Dungeons & Dragons!) that determined the circumstances of Rincewind and Twoflower.  I thought the whole Conan the Barbarian parody was a bit much, but the thing with Twoflower's camera was funny.  Rincewind was an okay character, a failure at being a wizard and a fraidy-cat of the highest order - but very realistic in that aspect.  Who (other than the oblivious Twoflower) would think that being a sacrifice was all part and parcel?  Or that a Soul-Eating God was something to take a picture of and gawk at?!  I loved the bits with the person-eating luggage and DEATH'S problems getting Rincewind to keep his appointment were some of the best moments in the book.  Overall though, too much parody and world-building, but not enough actual story to keep me completely involved.  I do want to know what's over the edge of the world, so I'll probably read the next one.  Damn curiosity!

VERDICT:  3/5  Stars

*No money or favors were exchanged for this review.  This book is now available in stores, online, or maybe even at your local library.*

Say the Magic Word (No, I Don't Mean 'Please')...

Published:  October 1st, 2013

Shazam! (Vol. 1)

Geoff Johns & Gary Frank (Illustrator)

DC Comics

ISBN-13:  9781401242442

Young orphan Billy Batson has bounced from foster home to foster home, but he's far from the ideal child.  Brash and rude, Billy is a troubled teen that just can't seem to find a calling.  But after a fateful night on a subway car, that all will change.

Brought to the feet of the magical wizard Shazam at the Rock of Eternity, Billy is imbued with powers beyond any mortal man.  By shouting the wizard's name --Shazam!-- the young teen is mystically transformed into the powerhouse known as Captain Marvel!  Now given the abilities that make him Earth's Mightiest Mortal at the utterance of a simple phrase, will Billy make the right choices and do what it takes to become a hero?  Or will he succumb to the poor choices of youth -- and the villainous Black Adam?!

Review

       So, Captain Marvel (also known by the word that turns him into a hero, 'Shazam!') is yet another hero that I was ignorant of before I got into comic books very recently.  Funny story, I was totally gonna buy Harley Quinn Vol. 1 and then my brother pointed this one out to me.  I figured if he was interested in reading it, then it made more sense to buy something that'd get more mileage.  So I did, even without really knowing too much about the hero or his adventures in the past.  That's alright though, because on this outing DC actually DID reboot the character!  It's not just a pick 'n choose of storylines to keep or scrap, from what I can tell his origin is actually reworked.  And from what I've learned about his past as the ultimate goody-two-shoes, that may be a really good thing (one Superman is more than enough).

       Teenager Billy Batson has been bounced around the foster-care system for years, ever since his parents died and left him an orphan.  It's made his untrusting, harsh and a manipulative asshole - at least on the surface.  When we meet Billy, he's interviewing a new potential foster placement that just might be his last chance.  Within his first two days at his new home, Billy manages to piss off the school bully, hurt the feelings of all the other kids in his foster family and just be complete jerk.  He does it all to push them away, because Billy doesn't need anyone (so he thinks).  Then Billy is dragged magically to the Rock of Eternity by a wizard named Shazam.  The old man's health is failing and he's looking for a successor, someone completely pure to take the power.  Billy is all that's left and so he empowers the punk kid with his magic.  On the other side of the world, a Dr, Sivana has managed to wake an ancient evil, that will stop at nothing to set in place a new world order.  An evil by the name of 'Black Adam.'  Can Billy harness his new powers to stop a psychotic evil wizard, or will he be too busy trying to buy beer?

       This was a mostly strong, enjoyable beginning from Geoff Johns (whose stuff I actually seem to like the majority of so far), to a character a lot of modern audiences may be unfamiliar with, such as I was initially.  Billy was a hormonal, angry teenage douchebag.  And I absolutely loved it!  Give me a hero with a reason to be a dick, and I can get behind him like no tomorrow!  We also do get to see some more reflective moments such as with the tiger at the zoo (while he's remembering his parents) and while Shazam is looking for the good in Billy.  Also, while a jerk himself, he hates bullies and the main conflict in that kind of derives from that hate.  Black Adam himself had a pretty dark backstory - in the best way.  I especially enjoyed the fate for him at the end of this comic.  Probably the negatives for me were all the cliches.  Poor little orphan, no parents or anyone to care for him.  The "super family" trope with the other foster kids.  The Seven Deadly Sins and their "rampage" through the city.  Overall though, I enjoyed the art and am interested to see what else Johns does with this particular character.  My favorite parts where when Billy got the cash from the ATM and speculated on how to buy beer.  That is such a teenaged boy thing to do, when gaining super magical powers!  I think my favorite thing if there are more installments, will be the moral dilemmas of being a teenager and wanting things your own way, while still trying to do the "right thing."  I recommend this as a fun read, especially for those new to the DCU like I am.

P.S.  Check out the animated film "Justice League: War."  It is based on the Justice League Vol. 1: Origin, the new 52 take on things.  Only instead of having Aquaman involved, Shazam (aka Captain Marvel) is substituted as the seventh member of the Justice League.  His interactions with the others are so entertaining and his hero-worship of Cyborg/Victor Stone is truly touching.

VERDICT:  3.5/5 Stars

*No money or favors were exchanged for this review.  This book is now available in stores, online, or maybe even at your local library.*

Summoning Forces Beyond Your Control

Expected Publication:  June 24th, 2014

Summoned (Redemption's Heir #1)

By: Anne M. Pillsworth

Tor Teen

ISBN-13:  9780765335890

When the Elder Gods extend an invitation, be wary of the strings attached.

While browsing in a rare book store in Arkham, Sean finds an occult book with an ad seeking an apprentice sorcerer, from a newspaper dated March 21, 1895.  Even more intriguing, the ad specifically requests that applicants reply by email.

Sean's always been interested in magic, particularly the Lovecraftian dark mythology.  Against his best friend Edna's ("call-me-Eddy-or-else") advice, he decides to answer the ad, figuring it's a clever hoax, but hoping that it won't be.  The advertiser, Reverend Redemption Orne, claims to be a master of the occult born more than 300 years ago.  To prove his legitimacy, Orne gives Sean instructions to summon a harmless by useful familiar -- but Sean's ceremony takes a dark turn, and instead he accidentally beckons a bloodthirsty servant to the Cthulhu Mythos god Nyarlathotep.  The ritual is preemptively broken, and now Sean must find and bind the servitor, before it grows too strong to contain.  But strange things are already happening in the town of Arkham.....

Review

     I thought that the premise of this one sounded pretty cool.  A boy answers an ad for a wizard's apprentice, to find out the secret behind the authentically aged piece of newspaper containing it.  The mystery is there, because the ad mentions email which was not invented until over 100 years after the ad was taken out!  I thought to myself, okay, here we go.  A book with some humor and mostly about a modern teenage boy training to become a wizard's apprentice.  I even speculated that it involved time travel (that interesting me slightly more than just a wizard character who is centuries old), which would have been spectacular.  I was unfamiliar with the term "Cthulhu Mythos god" and was sincerely hoping that I would have it explained to my satisfaction, or be so minor to the plot that it didn't matter what it was.  None of my expectations were met in a way that I wanted them to be.

     Being that I am not really a horror aficionado, I can't really compare the mythology in this book to that in the stories of H.P. Lovecraft.  But I can tell that the author draws heavily from him, on the basis that in her book's world, Lovecraft was part of a secret society in the know and just writing the truth.  That is a cool concept and I would have loved it - had I already been a Lovecraft fan, and been in on the history.  The whole plot of this book relies on prior knowledge of terminology and ideas from a mythology that I was not the least bit familiar with (at least in my opinion and reading experience)  and it wasn't really fleshed out in the novel.  I felt like it assumed prior knowledge, and because of that the terminology was vague to me - something that I was never really able to picture all that well in my mind.  Something that might have made this book a better experience for me would have been highly developed and sound characters.  I love characters that are so real they could walk off the page and share a drink with me at the local coffee shop.  That, or a plot that surpasses my need for intimate connections with the main characters (it takes an extremely special kind of book to accomplish this feat).  Keeping that in mind, me being on the outskirts of this very plot driven novel, with characters whose whole lives seem to revolve around the plot, it never really connected.  

     Eddie was only there to scold Sean for contacting some "creep" on the Internet and to annoy the heck out of him.  To be the one-dimensional best friend (although their strong bond is showcased when later on she knows exactly where to find him when he's missing).  I believe the friendship, but it does nothing for me.  Sean's Dad is the "concerned single parent" who also restores stained glass windows.  That's about all there is to him, other than him being a widower who doesn't date and a skeptic of all things magic/supernatural.  His role is parent and skeptic: check mark.  Most of the other characters are fleeting, just there to move along the plot.  Redemption Orne, arguably the most important character other than Sean, is nothing more than an Internet presence, of someone who might be a mentally deluded weirdo just playacting.  Sean is the typical hero, just goofing off and doing things out of curiosity - until it gets him into real trouble and the shit hits the fan.  I never really got to know him as a character though, outside of his mission to bind the servitor, find out the truth about Redemption and become "serious" in regards to messing with the supernatural.  The message of this book seems to be, don't play with fire unless you're ready to be burned.  And it's not a subtle message, with the very serious consequences of Sean's actions on a pet-killing spree across the neighborhood and sucking his own blood.  The action was spotty, the plot dragged in it's odd pacing and the novel was mostly set up for a series.  The disappearing pharmacy and its quirky pharmacist felt like they belonged in a different novel altogether, the one I had initially thought I was going to read (and its not a coincidence they were my favorite part/little fantasy quirk).

     That said, a lot of people would probably adore this book beyond belief.  I am not by any means stating that this book was bad, or does not have its audience somewhere out there.  Hell, Pillsworth probably has a built in curiosity audience in all the Lovecraft fans lurking out there, waiting for a book like this.  It's modern, approachable for a younger audience and has a very dark, science fiction edge to it.  But as someone who self-proclaimedly prefers fantasy to science fiction it just wasn't the book for me.  I thought it was a fantasy book and was highly disappointed.  But I did finish the book and was interested in the resolution of the whole issue Sean caused, so Pillsworth did manage to draw me in regardless of my slight boredom.  Overall, a decent book but not my thing.  Lovecraftians take notice and add to your to-reads.

VERDICT:  3/5  Stars

*I received this book as part of Around the World ARC Tours, run by the lovely Princess Bookie.  No favors or money were exchanged for this review.  This book's expected publication date is June 24th, 2014.*