A while back, I caught a preview of the new series of Thor, where the God of Thunder had a few words with Iron Man over certain actions taken during Marvel’s Civil War series. I never saw the conclusion, so when I spotted this collection of the first six issues of J. Michael Straczynski’s Thor relaunch, I grabbed it immediately.

JMS is obviously spending most of these six issues putting his pieces on the board; Thor and his erstwhile alter ego Donald Blake decide they’re bored of being dead and return to Earth, recreating Asgard in – or, more accurately, slightly above – Oklahoma. Then, in a manner slightly reminiscent of Camelot 3000, Thor has to go in search of the reincarnated souls of the Asgardians he wishes to join him and release them from their mundane lives. Also reminiscent of Camelot 3000 is the gender-switch of one of the major players – in this case, Loki, Thor’s long-time enemy. Naturally, as this is the beginning of a new series, not all of Thor’s plans turn out quite as he wished, and there are indications of future troubles in paradise, with the intervention of a quite unexpected foe.

Not a lot actually happens here, as this is six issues of setup and introduction, but the characters are engagingly written and the artwork is lovely. The exploration of Thor’s new situation is engaging, and certainly makes me want to pick up the next collection if it should happen my way.

Ken Follett Code To Zero

I recently read The Pillars of the Earth and World Without End, two novels set in medieval England and centred around the building of a cathedral. Reading the Author’s Notes at the end, it appears that Ken Follett had made his living writing thrillers and the like, so I was interested to pick up one of his previous works to compare.

Code to Zero starts with an interesting situation – a man wakes up in a men’s toilets in a railway station with no memory of who he is, or how he got here. As with all amnesia thrillers, the fun is watching the hero gradually discover the person he was before, and Follett doesn’t disappoint.

Extra interest comes with the book’s setting – mere hours before the scheduled launch of America’s answer to Sputnik, Explorer 1. There is Cold War intrigue aplenty here, with a view of just how political the Space Race really was. Today, we tend to look back on it as a scientific push for discovery, but at the time it really did seem like a life and death struggle.

This is an interesting thriller in an interesting time – recommended.

Jeff Lindsay Darkly Dreaming Dexter

I first came across Dexter as a TV series. The basic premise is this: the hero is a serial killer who only kills other killers. Despite what that sounds like, Dexter is a fantastic dark comedic thriller, with an outstanding performance by Michael C. Hall in the lead role. I was actually rather suprised to discover that it was based on a novel, Darkly Dreaming Dexter, and I decided to order it at the library.

The TV series seems to be a faithful adaption, as the novel felt very familiar – certain details are different, with some characters in slightly different jobs, but it’s all minor stuff. It’s as dark as dark can be, as you’d expect when the narrator is a prolific serial killer. Yet there are moments that are laugh-out-loud funny, all due to the character of Dexter, a strangely loveable monster.

It’s been a truism for a long time that the movie adaption is never as good as the original novel. However, I think it may not apply to the TV series of a novel – it’s rare that I finish a full novel and think it’s been far too short, but you get to spend so much more time with Dexter in the series. However, this is still a great novel.

Another solid Constantine story, by yet another artist/writer combination. Constantine’s characterisation seems a bit off, with him being rather more of a whiney bugger than I remember him, but that is perhaps due to the nature of the problem at hand – an empathy plague raging in Glasgow. A grim tale about the nature of humanity and imagination, where the fate of the world hinges on whether or not England can win a World Cup semi-final match. I felt that the balance between horror and comedy was a bit off, but the writing was otherwise engaging and solid. The artwork has a sombre grittiness that any Constantine story really needs, but the thick linework combined with the low-key colouring could make the page a bit murky for my tastes. I’d give it a B+ if I were giving out grades.

George R.R. Martin Dream Songs

Technically, I haven’t finished this yet; it’s a collection of short stories by George R. R. Martin (he of the Song of Ice and Fire series), and I’ve got the last one, The Pear-shaped Man yet to read. Each themed selection comes with a commentary by Martin on how he came to be writing these stories, and they go from his first submissions to fanzines to his later award-winning tales. They also run the gamut from superheroes, through science fiction, to fantasy and horror and back again. With the exception of the very very early tales, I’ve really enjoyed them all. Thus far, The Ice Dragon is my favourite, and The Pear-shaped Man will have to do quite well to beat it.

This will do quite nicely to tide over anyone waiting for the next Song of Ice and Fire book.

Update: have now read The Pear-shaped Man. It was good (very creepy), but The Ice Dragon is still my favourite.

C. S. Forester A Ship of the Line

I first encountered Horation Hornblower as a series of T.V. movies done by ITV, and only later discovered they were adapted from novels. I’ve read one collection of Hornblower tales, where he is an Admiral, but this is from earlier in his career, when he has just taken command of his first Ship of the Line, the ships that were the backbone of the British fleet during the Napoleonic wars. Not a single tale, this is more a series of encounters that the HMS Sutherland has while under Hornblower’s command.

It’s all enjoyable adventure stuff, and I think I shall have to pick up some of the other volumes, especially as this one ends on quite the cliffhanger.

Jonathan Kellerman Gone

This is one of a series of psychological murder mystery novels starring Alex Delaware, sometime consultant to the Los Angeles Police Department, and his partner in crime-fighting, homicide detective Milo Sturgis.

I like these novels, and I like Alex Delaware, but this novel felt more like Alex and Milo stumbling about aimlessly until the clues assembled themselves, rather than two clever people working out what had happened. There are a couple of sub-plots involving Alex’s complex love-life, and a disgruntled fellow psychotherapist, but they are slight, and feel a little tacked on. I enjoyed the read, but it felt rather insubstantial in the end.

Terry Pratchett The Wee Free Men

This marks the start of another of Pterry’s Diskworld strands. On the gently rolling hills of The Chalk, a young girl called Tiffany Aching has grown up knowing more than most nine-year-olds ought, and finds herself pitted against the Queen of Fairyland armed with nothing more than a frying pan, a book about sheep, and the friendship of the Nac Mac Feegle, the Wee Free Men…

The Wee Free Men can most easily be described as homicidal Scottish Smurfs, and much comedy abounds, as usual. I’m not sure this is Pterry’s A game, but it’s certainly a good solid B game, which from Pratchett is good stuff indeed.

Bonus book, from Whitburn library:

Bernard Cornwell Sharpe’s Regiment

Like Hornblower, I first came to Sharpe from a series of T.V. dramas (which were recently on UK History). This is an unusual Sharpe novel in that, instead of fighting the French armies, he is in England, trying to find out what has happened to the Second Batallion of the South Essex Regiment. He is fighting red tape and noble privilege more than soldiers and guns, but it’s still a good tale for all of that. I’d seen the T.V. version of this first, and the adaption was a close one, so there were no real surprises for me, but very enjoyable for all that.

Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson Fury: Peacemaker

This is Garth Ennis doing what he loves best – comics that aren’t about superheroes. And he gets to use the S.A.S., too, which also appears to be something he enjoys. This is an adventure for the iconic Sergeant Fury, before he got hold of his Howling Commandos, as he fights his first battles in World War II. In many ways, this is a simple soldier’s tale, with some extra resonances due to how we know Nick Fury is going to turn out in the modern Marvel Universe. All good, clean, family fun. With swearing and gore, obviously.

Mike Carey and Leonardo Manco Hellblazer: All His Engines

A very nice turn for John Constantine, even though a cursory glance makes it seem that it’s just like every other Hellblazer story: Constantine gets involved with some supernatural nasty, gets into deep trouble, then schemes his way out of it with results that are full of humour, poetic justice and sheer nastiness. Mike Carey does a good job creating a classic storey, and Leonardo Manco’s art gives a gritty atmosphere to proceedings.

Greg Rucka, Michael Lark, Stefano Gaudiano Gotham Central: The Quck and the Dead

Gotham Central can best be described as “Batman comics without Batman”. It is the story of the few good cops amongst Gotham’s corrupt force who are trying their best in a city that’s so far gone it needs Batman to save it. I’ve always liked the feel of comics protraying normal people in a Superhero universe, and showing how they cope with larger-than-life menaces, and Gotham Central is one of the best.

This particular volume collects two three-issue stories, including one where the police end up deciding they don’t like the Batman any more, and one where the leavings of a villain from a whole different comic cause tragedy.

Grek Ruka’s writing is top-notch, delightfully sparse in places, and with a strong sense of plot. The artwork, by Michael Lark and Stefano Gaudiano, is a perfect match, and you can almost imagine how the T.V. series would look.

Scott Rockwell and Steven Ross Terry Pratchett: The Discworld Graphic Novels

Adapting a novel to comic form is a difficult as adapting a novel to anything else. Novels have different strengths and weaknesses to graphic novels, and vice versa. So it’s not simply a case of copying all the best bits and drawing some pretty pictures over it all.

I’m not sure how sucessful this is, although it is rather a lot of fun. Steven Ross’ artwork is always fun to look at, which is an important thing for a project like this; however, I’m not sure how well I’d be understanding Scott Rockwell’s adaption of Terry Pratchett’s breakthrough novels if I wasn’t so familiar with the stories already. It’s certainly a fun way to reminisce about the novels, should you not have them conveniently to hand.

Roy Thomas, John Buscema, Val Mayerik Conan volume 9: Riders of the River-Dragons
In the ’70′s, one of the more sucessful comics was, oddly enough, a swords-and-sorcery series featuring Robert E. Howard’s Conan the Barbarian, produced by Marvel Comics, best known for its superhero titles. I’ve never quite understood how Conan stood for so long amongst the spandex horde, but stand he did.

Now it’s the future, and a different comics company, Dark Horse has got its mitts on the rights to Conan, and so they are now reprinting the classic Marvel stories. Well, most of them – this particular collection skips and jumps a bit, because although Dark Horse can now produce Conan stories, they have no rights to Red Sonja, she of the chainmail bikini, who used to feature pretty strongly in Conan.

This selection is apparently from a time in Conan’s life when he was a pirate, sailing with the beatiful Captain Bêlit, who is revered as a godess by her crew, and just happens to be Conan’s love interest. He fights crocodile riders, a thinly-disguised Evil Tarzan, other pirates, and pretty much an entire city throughout this volume – a usual day at the office for Conan, in other words. Roy Thomas keeps things moving at a fast clip, while John Buscema provides the definitive look for everyone’s favourite Cimmarian. Val Mayerik does a fine fill-in issue with a story from Conan’s past, and giving Conan a look somewhere between Barry Windsor-Smith and Buscema.

Rip-roaring adventure from masters of the craft.

James Clavell Sh?gun

It’s a classic, and I’ve read it before. It’s just as good as I remember it, being both and adventure tale, and a glimpse into a strange and exotic land, Japan of the 1600′s. It’s an epic, starting with John Blackthorne wrecked in a small fishing village, and ending up with him affecting the struggle for the greatest power in the land – the title of Sh?gun.

I don’t know what else can be said that hasn’t already been said – Sh?gun is high on most people’s Books You Must Read list, and it’s on mine.

There is one minor quibble, however, that’s always bothered me. Mura, the village headman, is stated as having learned judo and karate; those are modern variants. Judo was created in the early 20th century as a martial art suitable for teaching in schools; Karate didn’t really come to Japan proper until the 1920′s, being an Okinawan art developed, at least in part, to fight off the invading Japanese. Mura would more likely have learned jujutsu and atemi-jutsu (actually, jujutsu usually incorporated atemi-jutsu, or striking arts). There, I’ve said it.

Tess Gerritsen The Surgeon

A pretty good serial killer crime thriller, where the crimes bear the stamp of medical skills, and the signature of a killer thought killed two years ago…

Serial killer fiction seems to have become a genre in and of itself, and this is a pretty good one. I don’t think any of the characters are likely to stay with me, but it was a solid read that, as the pull quotes said, I read in one sitting.

Simon Scarrow Under the Eagle

This is the first of the “Eagle” series by Simon Scarrow, which follows the fortunes of Legate (and, unknown to him, Emperor-to-be) Vespasian, Tribune Vitellus, Centurion Macro and Optio Cato, all of Rome’s Second Legion, part of the force invading Britain in 43 AD. I’ve come across the first three in reverse order, and finally got to meet everyone for the first time, and see the events that have shaped the later books, including the actual first moments of the invasion.

I really like these characters, especially Cato, formerly a slave in the Imperial household, freed on the condition he join the army. Immediately plucked out of the ranks to become Optio (essentially, Sergeant), and a fish out of water, he provides a nice contrast to the more conventially military Centurion Macro. They make a good fun team to do all the heroic action, while Vespasian and Vitellus provide all the political backstabbery you could want.

For what it’s worth: recommended.

Tom Bradby The Master of Rain

More historical fiction, this time set in 1920′s Shanghai. Basically, I picked this up because it was crime fiction in the same setting as part of the most famous Call of Cthulhu adventure ever, The Masks of Nyarlathotep. In case I ever get to run it, I thought it would be nice to get some idea of the atmosphere, from someone who’s already done all the research for me.

Our hero is Richard Field, newly arrived in Shanghai to be part of Special Branch, his job being ostensibly to help root out Bolshevism. Instead he gets involved in a murder case, and ends up discovering gangsters, corruption and danger.

It was a good fun read, although I was dreading the moment when he would suddenly discover everything he knew was wrong, and so forth. I think I’ve read a few too many novels recently where the main character is completely wrong for most of the book.

The look into Shanghai of 1926 was really fascinating, with the various non-Chinese citizens being literally above Chinese law, and the various factions and forces within the city jostling for control. Definitely a read for anyone interested in that area.

Conn Iggulder Wolf of the Plains

It doesn’t say “Part One of…” on the cover, but this does read as the start of a series. This is the story of Temujin, better known as Genghis Khan. This volume takes Mr. Khan from a teenage exile left to die on the unforgiving Steppes, to Khan of four of the warring Mongol tribes. Interestingly, this is all based on “The Secret History of Mongols”, the account of his beginnings comissioned by Genghis Khan himself. Conn Iggulder succeeds in bringing this legendary figure to life, giving a fascinating taste of the Mongol life, as well as a rip-roaring adventure tale.

Neil Gaiman (et. al.) The Sandman – Dream Country

A series of four “done in one” issues from Nail Gaiman’s epic Sandman comic series. I’ve read these before, but they are always good for another look. “A Dream of a Thousand Cats” remains one of my favourites, as does “Facade”, where we wonder whether being a superhero is all it’s cracked up to be.

Pretty much everybody except Mike Mignola Mike Mignola’s Hellboy: Weird Tales Volume Two

I must get hold of Volume one, as this collection of short tales featuring everybody’s favorite hammer-handed demonic fighter of evil is great fun. I especially liked being able to dip in and out without the need to invest in a long story – something I don’t always have the energy to do. “My Vacation in Hell” is one of my favourites, riffing off medieval depictions of hell filtered through Hellboy’s strangeness. Bonus feature: a full Lobster Johnson story!

Various Batman: Black and White Volume 1

Similar to the Hellboy volume above, this is a series of short comic stories by many, many people, linked only by the star, Batman, and the stark monochrome format. As with all anthologies, a mix of good and bad, with some interesting views on an iconic character. “Two of a Kind” by Bruce Timm is among the best because, well, it’s by Bruce Timm, of Batman: The Animated Series fame. I don’t know how much it will appeal to people who aren’t comics or Batman fans, but I liked it.

Kathy Reichs Bones to Ashes

The latest in Reichs’ very successful Tempe Brennan novels, where a forensic anthropologist, loosely based on Reichs herself, splits her time between South Carolina and Montreal, helping solve crimes by analysing the skeletons of bodies too far gone to be identified any other way.

If you’ve seen the “Bones” TV series, and were to pick up one of the books, you’d be in for a surprise. “Bones” is a strange CSI knock-off with improbable technology (I want an interactive facial reconstruction holo-tank!) and only slightly less improbable characters. The novels, on the other hand, are very carefully researched and have very real people in them. Temperance herself, rather than being some kind of Superwoman, has her own collection of flaws and problems, including a very pushy sister Harry and an ill-defined relationship with Detective Andrew Ryan, with whom she so often ends up working. She is a very likable character, especially as she seems so very real.

Reichs brings real detail to the unfamiliar (well, to me) setting, doing a great deal with the tension between the French and English speaking aspects of Canadian culture. The mystery is quite gripping and interesting, even if there is a bit too much expositiory text, as the Science is explained in some detail. Reichs does her best to lighten up these bits, though – a particular passage where Tempe doodles while someone explains diatoms and their significance is hilarious.

I really love these books, and I would really like someone to make a series based off the actual novels some day.