Author: Schizanthus Nerd

Paper Girls Volume 3 – Brian K. Vaughan

Illustrations – Cliff Chiang

Colours – Matt Wilson

Spoilers Ahead!

A note about spoilers: Once again I don’t know how to talk about this Volume without recapping Volume 2 or telling you about this one. I’m hiding anything I consider a potentially significant spoiler but please proceed with caution if you haven’t read this series. I’m excited about what happens and need to tell someone.

When we last saw Tiffany, Mac and Erin, they had just been reunited with KJ, who was MIA throughout Volume 2. The trio had spent some time in 2016, where they met a future Erin who was all grown up and still working for the same newspaper. They also met future future Erin, or Erin III, as I called her. She had a red backpack, was from way into the future and, yep, she was a clone. The old-timers followed our trio to 2016, travelling in style, and we met some huge creepy crawlies.

So, our four Paper Girls have finally been reunited but they’re not in 2016 anymore and they haven’t returned to 1988 either. Here’s the biggest clue that they’re, um, in another time entirely. ➡️

In the middle of the night Mac is contemplating her last cigarette when she encounters Wari, a warrior girl with face paint and interesting taste in jewellery, and her baby, Jahpo, who is very huggable. Fortunately Erin swiped the translator from Erin III in 2016 so the girls can communicate with the people in this time.

But warrior girl isn’t even the most dangerous encounter of the night. There’s also Claws to deal with and I doubt I’m the only one thinking the whole poking its tongue out routine isn’t a cheeky gesture.

Okay, I have enough information now so I’m calling it. Our girls are in the past. Way, way back in time. We’ve also seen what appears to be a shooting star, but in this series we don’t wish on them because they’re usually not shooting stars at all. Usually it means our girls have company. Company comes in the form of Doctor Qanta Braunstein, Project Leader at AppleX.

Something tells me she’s not from this time, which apparently is 11,706 BCE (just a teensy bit further into the past than I thought). Doc thinks that maybe she invented time travel, so this entire thing could be her fault. Also it turns out she’s from 2055. Although the Doc is not the girls’ only company.

When I was almost positive there weren’t any more surprises left, Mac and KJ came across this.

This fourth dimensional object allows you to see the future when you touch it, which results in KJ seeing, amongst other things, this.

Woohoo! I can’t wait!

I love that a bag of newspapers have made their way across time with the girls. Apparently, in addition to containing comics, they also make a good pillow. I really enjoy the humour in this series. It appears that no matter what time you’re in or from, your software will always require an update at the most inconvenient time possible.

I wasn’t sure about this series originally but I’m so glad I kept reading. It’s really beginning to come together for me and I’m figuring out bits and pieces I wondered about previously, like the origin of the hockey stick with the warning carved into it. Erin sent that through one of the folding (floating time hole) thingamajigs while the girls were in 11,706 BCE. It’s always fun when you feel rewarded for sticking with a series.

Then right near the end of the Volume this happened

and now Tiffany is in an alternate 2000 where Y2K happened, and who knows where the rest of the Paper Girls are!

I loved the cliffhanger at the end of this Volume and am so glad I don’t have to wait to begin Volume 4.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

The multiple Eisner and Harvey Award-winning series from Brian K. Vaughan and Cliff Chiang continues, as newspaper deliverers Erin, Mac and Tiffany finally reunite with their long-lost friend KJ in an unexpected new era, where the girls must uncover the secret origins of time travel … or risk never returning home to 1988. 

Collects Paper Girls 11-15.

by Categories: ReviewTags: , , , , ,

The Rose MacGregor Drinking and Admiration Society – T. Kingfisher

Uncanny Magazine Issue 25: November/December 2018

The Rose MacGregor Drinking and Admiration Society is a 2019 Hugo Awards finalist in the Best Short Story category.

Half a dozen faerie boys, a selkie and a horse are sitting around a fire. They’re trying to figure out why Rose MacGregor didn’t pine for them, instead marrying the blacksmith.

“Are we pining?” asked the green-eyed fae suddenly. “Is this what it’s like when they pine away after us?”

Unfortunately I didn’t enjoy this short story at all.

Once Upon a Nitpick: The spelling of Rose’s surname kept changing throughout the story. Sometimes it was MacGregor and other times it was McGregor. This has no bearing on my star rating but it really bugged me.

You can read this short story online here.

Rating: 2 out of 5.
by Categories: ReviewTags: , , ,

STET – Sarah Gailey

Fireside Magazine Issue 60, October 2018

STET is a 2019 Hugo Awards finalist in the Best Short Story category.

This story is told in an unusual and interesting way. It’s a scientific paper with annotations. For me the story came alive more in the annotations, although the footnotes provide sufficient information for you to learn the story behind the story. I tend to gloss over whenever I encounter copious footnotes in any text so that influenced my reading experience here.

I had to force myself to get to the guts of the actual story. I felt the pain and anger in this piece but overall it didn’t work for me. I see journal articles and I automatically think of dry, wordy documents I drudged through to find information for university assignments, so I don’t think this format was ever going to be a winner for me.

You can read this short story online here. I found this version didn’t flow as well for me as the PDF version with handwritten notes, even though they contain the same text.

Rating: 3 out of 5.
by Categories: ReviewTags: , , ,

The Tale of the Three Beautiful Raptor Sisters, and the Prince Who Was Made of Meat – Brooke Bolander

Uncanny Magazine Issue 23: July/August 2018

The Tale of the Three Beautiful Raptor Sisters, and the Prince Who Was Made of Meat is a 2019 Hugo Awards finalist in the Best Short Story category.

This was a predictable but fun fairytale featuring three raptor sisters, whose names translate into human as Allie, Betty and Ceecee. They are a “hunting pride of matriarchal dromaeosauridae”. The youngest sister, Ceecee, encounters a bumbling Prince and his stead while hunting in the forest and as a result the sisters’ happy lives get more complicated.

I found the Prince to be more a caricature than anything else. I liked the Princess and appreciated her yearning to shed the yoke that had been placed upon her. Although I understood its purpose, I think I would have liked this tale of female empowerment more if the man in the story had a personality that extended beyond his stupidity.

You can read this short story online here.

description

Rating: 3 out of 5.
by Categories: ReviewTags: , , ,

On a Sunbeam – Tillie Walden

On a Sunbeam is a 2019 Hugo Awards finalist in the Best Graphic Story category.

Mia is the new kid. The lady introducing Mia to everyone is Alma. Elliot (Ell) is the mechanical genius with the blond hair; they’re non-binary and don’t talk. Jules is the one with ice skates on her shirt; she’s loud and a lot of fun. Charlotte, the ship’s captain, is wearing the white jacket. She’s shy but opens up once you get to know her. Charlotte and Alma are partners.

This awesomeness is their ship.

Their team restores old buildings. Like this one, which has hidden rooms and staircases that lead to nowhere. I need to go there immediately!

Five years earlier, Mia met Grace. It was the first day of school and their paths crossed in the principal’s office while they waited their turns to get into trouble.

I liked Grace immediately and I adored Mia and Grace as a couple. Even this romantiphobe can see that these girls are capable of breaking the cute-meter. I can’t get enough of them.

See? Aren’t they just the sweetest couple ever?? Why did no one ever escort me to a school dance on a hoverboard?!

I absolutely love this story! I’m a sucker for found families so this was right up my alley. I usually don’t like anything that hints at including a love story and this has two, but they were gorgeous. All of the main characters were wonderful. Each had a distinct personality and their various backgrounds were interesting.

The world building was surprisingly easy to pick up, given there wasn’t as much text as I’m used to. I guess pictures really do paint a thousand words if they’re done well. Whether there were words or not I didn’t have to work to figure out how anyone was feeling or what the overall mood was in a specific situation. I did have trouble deciphering a couple of words here and there, but that may be due to reading it on an iPad.

The artwork is stunning. The colour palette is so subdued that each additional colour pops. This is one of the prettiest graphic novels I’ve ever seen and I don’t want it to be over. I need to know what happens to everyone next!

You can view all 20 chapters online at https://www.onasunbeam.com. Please check it out! It’s so good.

Special Feature: If you’re like me and you greedily devour movie and TV series’ special features to glean information about all of the behind the scenes stuff you didn’t know you needed to know, then you’ll be interested to know that the title of this story comes from the Belle & Sebastian song ‘Asleep on a Sunbeam’. You can listen to it here.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

Throughout the deepest reaches of space, a crew rebuilds beautiful and broken-down structures, painstakingly putting the past together. As new member Mia gets to know her team, the story flashes back to her pivotal year in boarding school, where she fell in love with a mysterious new student. Soon, though, Mia reveals her true purpose for joining their ship – to track down her long-lost love.

An inventive world, a breathtaking love story, and stunning art come together in this new work by award-winning artist Tillie Walden.

by Categories: ReviewTags: , , ,

A Witch's Guide to Escape: A Practical Compendium of Portal Fantasies – Alix E. Harrow

Apex Magazine Issue 105, February 2018

A Witch’s Guide to Escape: A Practical Compendium of Portal Fantasies is a 2019 Hugo Awards finalist in the Best Short Story category.

He reached towards the book and the book reached back towards him, because books need to be read quite as much as we need to read them

I first read this short story three months ago and loved it. When I was about to begin my reread I realised that it was written by Alix E. Harrow. I have been fortunate enough to secure an advanced copy of their debut novel, The Ten Thousand Doors of January. While it hasn’t reached the top of my to be read pile yet I’ve had a sneak peek and it definitely looks like my kind of book. After rereading this short story I now can’t wait to read it.

Anyone could see that kid needed to run and keep running until he shed his own skin, until he clawed out of the choking darkness and unfurled his wings, precious and prisming in the light of some other world.

I love magic portals, libraries and witches, so this story hit one of my literary trifectas. Books can be life changing and the right one can even save your life.

This is a story about a librarian who connects readers with books by “divining the unfilled spaces in their souls and filling them with stories and starshine”, a foster child and one of those books.

You can read this short story online here.

Rating: 5 out of 5.
by Categories: ReviewTags: , , , , 1 Comment

Abbott – Saladin Ahmed

Illustrations – Sami Kivelä

Colours – Jason Wordie

Spoilers Ahead!

Abbott is a 2019 Hugo Awards finalist in the Best Graphic Story category.

I’m not sure how to talk about this graphic novel without providing some information about the plot, so … Warning: potential spoilers ahead!

This is Elena Abbott.

She’s a reporter for the Detroit Daily and as a black woman in 1972, she’s practically surrounded by racist and misogynistic white men. The newspaper board members and most of the police force aren’t exactly thrilled about her reporting the truth, particularly when it involves police brutality.

Having barely begun her new investigation into some eerily similar and grisly murders, Abbott discovers the perpetrators aren’t the usual suspects (hint: the police force’s usual suspects aren’t white). Instead, Abbott is soon face to face with a supernatural blast from the past.

Abbott tries to tell James, both a police sergeant and her ex-husband, about the shadows she sees on the second body.

They’re the same shadows that she saw on her husband, Samir, when he died. He called them the Umbra. Abbott seeks help from Sebastian, who tells her to stop running from her calling.

“Whether you accept it or not, Elena Abbott, you were born to wield the light. But there are those born to wield the shadow. Where your paths cross, blood will spill.”

Abbott is a chain smoker who enjoys her daily two glasses of brandy and drives a 1966 V8 Mustang. I got the feeling she’s not typically a huge believer in the whole ‘calling’ thing.

Later, Abbott has a conversation with Amelia, who has a message of her own. One that involves a gun. Amelia also happens to be romantically involved with Abbott but Abbott’s keeping this under wraps right now.

I was hit with so much information in the beginning of this graphic novel. I didn’t know how it would all fit together and I wasn’t sure I would care when it did. Then I met my first shadow monster and it was all over for me from that moment on; I needed to keep reading.

Much like Saga, which I’ve recently binged for my Hugo readathon, it seems like it’s not a good idea to become emotionally involved with any of the characters in Abbott. My two favourite characters didn’t survive this graphic novel but, although I’m preparing to harden my heart as we speak, I hadn’t grown to love them yet.

I’m giving this graphic novel ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ instead of ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for two reasons: it took a while for the story to get its hooks into me and I don’t desperately need a sequel, even though I’m left with some unanswered questions and loose ends. Overall though, this was a very entertaining read.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

While investigating police brutality and corruption in 1970s Detroit, journalist Elena Abbott uncovers supernatural forces being controlled by a secret society of the city’s elite.

In the uncertain social and political climate of 1972 Detroit, hard-nosed, chain-smoking tabloid reporter Elena Abbott investigates a series of grisly crimes that the police have ignored. Crimes she knows to be the work of dark occult forces. Forces that took her husband from her. Forces she has sworn to destroy.

Hugo Award-nominated novelist Saladin Ahmed (Star Wars: Canto Bight, Black Bolt) and artist Sami Kivelä (Beautiful Canvas) present one woman’s search for the truth that destroyed her family amidst an exploration of the systemic societal constructs that haunt our country to this day.

Collects Abbott 1-5.

by Categories: ReviewTags: , , , , ,

Sweet Valley High #1: Academic All-Star? – Katy Rex

Illustrations – Devaki Neogi

After spending much time, effort and money going through an ‘if I could turn back time’ phase several years ago collecting The Baby-Sitters Club books, I turned my attention to another set of childhood memories, those involving Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield. After more time, effort, money and an entire box full of Sweet Valley High books later I realised how impossibly large the task I’d set for myself really was.

It turns out Sweet Valley High series not only contained over 150 books, but it also had multiple Super Editions, Super Thrillers, Super Stars, Magna Editions and TV Editions. Then there were the plethora of spinoffs, which themselves oftentimes had their own special editions:

  • Sweet Valley Kids with Super Snoopers, Hair Raiser Super Special and Super Specials
  • Sweet Valley Twins with Super Editions, Super Chillers, Magna Editions, The Unicorn Club and Team Sweet Valley
  • Sweet Valley Junior High
  • Sweet Valley High Senior Year
  • Sweet Valley University with Super Thrillers
  • Elizabeth
  • Sweet Valley Confidential: Ten Years Later
  • The Sweet Life.

Eek! When I encountered these apparently never ending lists I reluctantly admitted defeat. I had to consider my sanity, budget and let’s not forget the need for magical, never ending bookcases. Then there was the fact that I hadn’t read a single SVH book since the 90’s so who knew if I’d even enjoy them as an adult!

So here we are, several years later and I still haven’t picked up my second hand copy of Double Love yet. Stumbling upon this graphic novel feels like cheating in a way but what a fun way to figure out if a SVH readathon will be in my near future or not.

I remember feeling so grown up reading the early books in the series on the beach as a pre-teen and having in depth conversations with friends about whether we were Jessica’s or Elizabeth’s. I always aspired to be like Elizabeth because she was the smart yet still gorgeous twin, the one who liked reading (what a surprise!) and I also aspired to find my own Todd. What was I thinking?! I don’t remember him being so vapid, whingey and clingy.

Ugh! Run, Elizabeth, run! Run as fast as you can!

Meanwhile, Jessica is being typical Jessica. She missed too many English classes so she has to take a class at Sweet Valley University, where the boys are older and much more mature than high school boys. Naturally the one she’s interested in is a T.A. Never one to shy away from manipulating a situation for her own benefit, Jessica decides she needs to dress more like Elizabeth so she can appear smarter and get her man!

As usual, Jessica is in love with the idea of being in love but there’s more to this crush than meets the eye. I seem to recall boy trouble and twin swaps being fairly consistent plot points in the original series and they’re front and centre here as well.

Jessica and her friends mention the Boosters several times, which is weird as this is Sweet Valley High. As far as I knew the Boosters were the Sweet Valley Middle School cheerleading squad from Sweet Valley Twins, not the high school one, whose name (if they had one) escapes me.

I wasn’t entirely sure about the introduction of modern technology in Sweet Valley but I didn’t mind after I got used to it. I even liked Jessica’s Instagram name: DEVILINABLUEJESS.

It may be due to the nature of the format or perhaps time has dampened my recollections but all of the characters’ personalities seem amplified in this graphic novel and it makes for a fun, dramatic read. When I was about halfway through the story I wasn’t sure I’d want to continue but with the introduction of a new boy (of course he’s cute! Isn’t that one of the prerequisites for living in Sweet Valley?) and some deviously unanswered questions dangling in the air I think I’ve accidentally gotten hooked. I’ll be there for the next installment and I expect to have as much nostalgic fun as I did during this one.

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Dynamite Entertainment and Diamond Book Distributors for the opportunity to read this graphic novel.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

When Jessica falls in love with her Shakespeare teacher, she begins to act like her studious twin sister Elizabeth to impress him. Now it’s up to Elizabeth to make sure that all’s well that end well – but with Jessica playing her role, will anyone be able to tell which twin is which?

by Categories: ReviewTags: , , , , ,

Rainbow Brite Volume 1 – Jeremy Whitley

Illustrations – Brittney Williams

While I know for sure that I watched Rainbow Brite while I was growing up in the 80’s, the memory that stayed with me all of these years has been the merchandise, not the cartoon. I have fond memories of playing with this as a kid and can even remember the way the shiny part of her dress felt. I suspect this cartoon was also responsible for me rocking some pretty impressive rainbow shoelaces at the time.

Yet when I found the theme song and searched it for sparks of recognition I came away with barely a flicker.

I was still interested in taking a trip down memory lane, even though my memory appears foggy at best where Rainbow Brite and her friends from the colour wheel are concerned.

Wisp and Willow have had a fun day role playing as warrior and wizard. That night Wisp hears something outside.

Or maybe that’s three somethings. Minions of the King of Shadows, to be more specific. These guys are leeching all of the colour from Wisp and Willow’s world, starting with blue, which Wisp’s mother’s car was pre-minion. Twinkle the sprite appears and isn’t quite as cute or cuddly looking as I remember.

They also seemed a tad too focused on educating Wisp about etiquette and grammar while she was being chased by the massive minions and their glowing eyes. Anyway, Twinkle magics Wisp off to Rainbow Land, which doesn’t appear to be living up to its name right now.

During their time in Rainbow Land Twinkle and Wisp encounter a shadow hound, Murky Dismal, an evil scientist who cannot be all bad in my books because he has a jet pack fuelled by colour,

and Lurky, Murky’s monster/bodyguard. We also meet Red Flare, a colour guard who is definitely cuter than I expected them to be. They got lost in the 80’s (dude! rad!), appropriate given Rainbow Brite was created that decade. We’re even introduced to Starlite, a talking horse that doesn’t have any problems whatsoever with their self esteem, and some other sprites and colour guards.

I found the language disparate at times. Shortly after Wisp was calling the shadow hound a “doggy” Twinkle was spouting words like “disinclination” and giving lessons on prisms and wavelengths, making me wonder what age the target audience was supposed to be.

Incorporating issues 1 through 5, Volume 1 begins Rainbow Brite’s origin story and naturally ends with a cliffhanger. I was reintroduced to a lot of characters I haven’t thought about in decades and enjoyed the action. While I could leave the story at this point, even with so much up in the air, I expect I will read Volume 2 when it becomes available at the library.

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Dynamite Entertainment and Diamond Book Distributors for the opportunity to read this graphic novel.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

Wisp and Willow are best friends who live in a small town. They are inseparable, until one night Wisp discovers something is stealing the colour from the world! To escape their grasp, Wisp must use her wits and the help of a new friend … from somewhere else! Then the adventure begins!

Follow along with writer Jeremy Whitley (My Little Pony, Unstoppable Wasp) and artist Brittney Williams (Patsy Walker, A.K.A. Hellcat!, Goldie Vance) as we find out how this seemingly normal girl becomes Rainbow Brite and how it changes Wisp, Willow, and their world!

by Categories: ReviewTags: , , , , ,

Here There Are Monsters – Amelinda Bérubé

“By wood, stone, water, and bone.”

That cover! 😍 It’s all kinds of creepy and intriguing. I’ve been look forward to reading this one for months.

Deidre has always lived in a world of fantasy, imagining elaborate kingdoms of queens, knights and monsters. Skye’s role as the Queen of Swords has always been to save Deidre but when they move to a new town that doesn’t know the sisters by reputation Skye sees a fresh start, a chance to have friends for once. Then Deidre disappears and Skye may have to pick up her sword once again.

I really enjoyed the introduction, with its promise of some weird and wonderful monsters. I liked getting to know Skye and trying to figure out Deidre, who we mostly get to know through her older sister. I’ve seen some reviews where Skye and Deidre cop a fair amount of disdain. While I can see where those readers are coming from, as a once upon a time teenage girl I can also see ‘Welcome to Adolescence’ written all over a lot of these sisters’ quirks. They can be mean, vindictive, antagonistic, manipulative, selfish and annoying at times.

I actually loved that Skye wasn’t all sunshine and sweetness. She isn’t a girl who’s obsessed with her appearance. She’ll never be head cheerleader. Instead her only claim to fame has been ‘freak by proxy’, the weird girl’s sister, protector and only friend. She’s a real girl with real problems.

If she was going to disappear into her imaginary world and make herself a target all over again, it wasn’t like I could stop her. But she wasn’t keeping me in there with her. Not anymore.

Skye’s story explores family, friendships and secrets, and the lengths we will go to in order to protect them. The family dynamics make it seem inevitable that Deidre will follow where her monsters lead her. It also seems predetermined that although Skye should never have been cast in the role of her sister’s only protector that she would feel the pull of this during a time of crisis, no matter how much she wants to hold onto the new life she has forged for herself.

I loved the alternating chapters, which told me what was happening now and caught me up on the past, giving much needed context to the present. For a long time I expected Deidre’s behaviour to come with a mental health diagnosis, even if some of her monsters were real. While Deidre came across as weird I never found the creepiness I expected from this book.

I was eagerly anticipating the appearance of this book’s monsters from the first time I read the blurb, but I found them disappointing. There was such a build up to them and while I loved their form, their voices didn’t work for me. I did find out why that was but even then it didn’t sit right with me. Their motivation was barely explored and their history was only hinted at. The resolution to their story was a let down for me.

If I could review this book in two parts, I’d be giving ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for the pre monster part and ⭐️⭐️⭐️ after they arrive.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for the opportunity to read this book.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

The Blair Witch Project meets Imaginary Girls in this story of codependent sisterhood, the struggle to claim one’s own space, and the power of secrets.

Sixteen-year-old Skye is done playing the knight in shining armor for her insufferable younger sister, Deirdre. Moving across the country seems like the perfect chance to start over.

In their isolated new neighbourhood, Skye manages to fit in, but Deirdre withdraws from everyone, becoming fixated on the swampy woods behind their house and building monstrous sculptures out of sticks and bones.

Then Deirdre disappears.

And when something awful comes scratching at Skye’s window in the middle of the night, claiming she’s the only one who can save Deirdre, Skye knows she will stop at nothing to bring her sister home.

by Categories: ReviewTags: , ,