Review: The Unfailing Light

The Unfailing Light
The Katerina Trilogy, Book 2

Author: Robin Bridges
Pages: 320
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Source: For review from YA Books Central

Description from Goodreads:
Lush and opulent, romantic and sinister, The Unfailing Light, Volume II in The Katerina Trilogy, reimagines the lives of Russia's aristocracy in a fabulously intoxicating and page-turning fantasy.

Having had no choice but to use her power has a necromancer to save Russia from dark forces, Katerina Alexandrovna, Duchess of Oldenburg, now wants to forget that she ever used her special powers. She's about to set off to pursue her lifelong dream of attending medical school when she discovers that Russia's arch nemesis--who she thought she'd destroyed--is still alive. So on imperial orders, Katerina remains at her old finishing school. She'll be safe there, because the empress has cast a potent spell to protect it against the vampires and revenants who are bent on toppling the tsar and using Katerina for their own gains. But to Katerina's horror, the spell unleashes a vengeful ghost within the school, a ghost more dangerous than any creature trying to get in.

Series Up to This Book:
1: The Gathering Storm (Review|Goodreads)

First Sentence: "Two little girls in identical brown dresses skipped down the long corridor on their way to dinner."

Review:
Russian history has, for whatever reason (ngl, probably because of the movie Anastasia), always been among my favorites to read about, in both fiction and nonfiction. As such, Robin Bridges' debut The Gathering Storm sprinted to the top of my to-read pile a little over a year ago. I liked it, but not unreservedly. The Unfailing Light is one of those rare cases where I feel precisely the same about the sequel as I did the first book. If you liked The Gathering Storm, good news; you will enjoy this one as well.

Oddly enough, the book that I am reminded most of in thinking of The Unfailing Light is Harry Potter. Of course, there are abundant magical creatures, but the real parallel is in the villain. Konstantin, lich (undead) tsar, seeks to return to power. Like Voldemort, he cannot be dispatched easily. At the end of the first book, they thought he was gone for good, but...not so much. The fact that he requires the aid of the main character, only to be foiled by her, brought that to mind as well.

To rejoin the living, Konstantin and his forces require the services of a necromancer, which our dear heroine just happens to be. Katerina dreams of becoming a doctor and has plans to attend medical school in Zurich. I love her determination to work in medicine, that she would voluntarily venture into a tough field where she will constantly endure sexist remarks though she has no need of a profession. She could live off her wealthy parents idly, or find a husband with ease. She, however, has bigger dreams. Unfortunately, Katerina's dreams, like many people's, get squashed.

Katerina, guess what! You know that evil dead tsar who tried to take over all of Russia again a little while back, who you though you killed with great difficulty? Well, he's not so much dead, or, at least, no more dead than he was before. Also, Katerina, this means that the tsar (the living one) who doesn't think women should be educated, your love, and your family will use this chance to protect you right back to The Smolny Institute for Young Noble Maidens. Even better, you'll get all this news from the guy you love.

George, Katerina's love interest, was probably my favorite character in the first book. He had this whole awesome broody, I-like-you-in-spite-of-myself, Darcy-ish thing going on, which I, of course, totally fell for. People who don't like Darcy often say that they doubt he and Elizabeth would work together long term, because he would continually try to boss her around. Well, I don't know about Darcy and Lizzie, but George sure is a bossy jerk in this one. Protecting the girl you love from harm is certainly a good thing, but not if you have to reduce her quality of life for all of the foreseeable future to do so. Plus, she should have a say-so. You don't just tell her what to do and threaten that the tsar will make her go. Ugh. Not to mention that protecting her means locking her into basically just that one (admittedly large) building for almost a year. She is NOT your crazy wife; don't lock her in the metaphorical attic, okay?

Of course, Katerina does not help matters by going along quietly. Me, I would have put up a fight. Katerina's intelligent and I know this and enjoy her narrative voice. She's also has guts like whoa. To protect others, she will stand up to anything, risking life, limb and reputation. I love this about her. When she's threatened mentally, though, she just does not exhibit her strength. She obeys orders that take away from her happiness (like going back to Smolny) and, because she fears embracing her necromancer powers, she does not research them like she should. If she embraced the practice of necromancy like she has medicine, she would be an unstoppable badass. You only have one more book, girl, so go read that Necromancer's Handbook and memorize the dang spells ASAP.

As far as the plot and world building go, I bounced back and forth, both in this book and the last, between having suspension of disbelief issues and thinking it's the best. Thinking about this, I believe it's because this is an alternate history version of Russia where magical creatures exist, but the tsars and everything are the same. I'm not sure what the jumping off point was, and, if it has always been this way, then why are the same personages in power? I suppose this is why so many historical fantasy books take place in culturally-inspired places, rather than the actual historical country. At the very least, despite that questioning, this alternate vision of historical Russia is engrossing and fascinating.

Yet again, I realize my review sounds way more critical than I necessarily intend it to (though I'm going to leave it that way because I did want to say those things). All of that nitpicky stuff aside, I blew through this book, eager to flip pages. The Unfailing Light kept me completely entertained, and, if I had the next book sitting with me when I finished, I would have happily started reading that one too.

This book has drama and romance and betrayal and a seriously creepy ghost and so much more. Also, I really loved the twist at the end that happened to one of the people in her family. It totally changed some dynamics in an awesome way. The Katerina Trilogy is just so much fun, and I will definitely be looking out for the final volume!

Rating: 3.5/5

Favorite Quote: "'She was on her deathbed and gave me a glass of her own blood, mixed with that of an upyri. It didn't taste bad, but it had a hint of rosemary. And after that delightful fennel salad at dinner . . . well, you just can't have two strong herbs competing for your palate.'"

Review: Ironskin

Ironskin
Ironskin, Book 1

Author: Tina Connolly
Pages: 304
Publisher: Tor Books
Publication Date: October 2, 2012
Source: Tor via NetGalley

Description from Goodreads:
Jane Eliot wears an iron mask.

It’s the only way to contain the fey curse that scars her cheek. The Great War is five years gone, but its scattered victims remain—the ironskin.

When a carefully worded listing appears for a governess to assist with a "delicate situation"—a child born during the Great War—Jane is certain the child is fey-cursed, and that she can help.

Teaching the unruly Dorie to suppress her curse is hard enough; she certainly didn’t expect to fall for the girl’s father, the enigmatic artist Edward Rochart. But her blossoming crush is stifled by her own scars, and by his parade of women. Ugly women, who enter his closed studio...and come out as beautiful as the fey.

Jane knows Rochart cannot love her, just as she knows that she must wear iron for the rest of her life. But what if neither of these things is true? Step by step Jane unlocks the secrets of her new life—and discovers just how far she will go to become whole again.

First Sentence: "The moor was grey, battlefield grey."

Review:
An alternate history set in the era around WWI plus paranormal elements? Umm, yes! At least, that's my first thought, though The Sweetest Dark made me cautious, as it totally failed the wonderful premise. Ironskin has those things plus Jane Eyre. Be still my heart, I think I'm in love. Of course, these things can be a let down, not coming close to living up to possibility. Not this one, though. Ironskin is masterfully crafted, a truly impressive retelling with a sublimely unique paranormal twist.

As a retelling, I found Ironskin incredibly powerful. Though there are many things that are quite different from Jane Eyre, even some of the major, integral moments, the story and the characters maintain the precise feel and mood that I've always felt on readings of Jane Eyre. I do find it curious, though, that Connolly apparently didn't originally think this was a retelling at all. Or so Unabridged Chick said. Assuming that's true, and I don't think Audra would lie to me, I wonder whether the story was changed greatly by an editor who saw possibility or if the author just did not see the influence.

Jane Eliot has much in common with Jane Eyre, though they are not one hundred percent the same. Both are intelligent, artistic, snarky and unimpressed with high society. And, like her classic counterpart, Jane Eliot does not care for her visage. Not only is she plain, but she also wears Ironskin, a mask of iron which keeps the fairy curse of rage on her cheek from leaking out and infecting others. This mask marks her as damaged, lesser, cursed.

You see, in this world, WWI was fought against the fey. Though the fey lack physical bodies, they had the power to infect humans and then take over the bodies when the person was killed. Yup, they basically made themselves into a zombie army. They created bombs that would curse people to this fate. Those that survived wear iron over the infected area, like Jane does, to prevent the leaking of whatever terrible emotion they bear. The fey are weak only to iron, thus the iron for dampening. This whole conflict is so completely mind-bogglingly cool that I just can't even.

The humans won WWI, but they struggle now, having grown used to using fey technology for pretty much everything: lights, cars, etc. Now, without the fey, they have to start back over from scratch. There remains a deep-seated fear of the fey, of their possible return, and a mistrust of the ironskin. Also, this right here is totally how you make a statement about something without being preachy. Connolly totally used this as a metaphor for first world countries getting everything from overseas, and it's so much more effective than the book I'm reading now that just tells you this and that are bad.

Back to Jane. Her sister, Helen (a change!), has gotten engaged and Jane, unwilling to sit around and live off her brother-in-law's kindness, finds herself a position at Silver Birch Hall as a governess. Immediately, the oddness of Silver Birch Hall becomes apparent. Mr. Rochart has an odd sense of humor and is oft-absent and the servants are strange. The Hall itself is half-destroyed, wreckage from the war unfixed. Weirdest of all, though, is Dorie, Edward Rochart's daughter. She has a touch of the fey, to such an extent that she can move things with her mind. This would likely see her killed were it known, which is why Mr. Rochart has trouble finding non-kooky servants and why he needs a governess. Jane's job is to try to convince Dorie to act normally, to use her hands, clumsy and awkward though they are from disuse, rather than her fey talents.

While most of Ironskin feels like Jane Eyre, deliciously moody and mysterious, Connolly adds some straight up horror. There's a scene at the end that literally makes me twitch to think about. I wish I could say more about that, because it is so COOL and GROSS and AHHHH, but I will leave you to be horrified when you read this yourselves.

Much as I completely adored the writing and the storyline, I never really connected with the characters. They were well done, in that they fit the retelling perfectly, but I just didn't get particularly caught up in them. Jane was the only one I really cared about, and, though I suppose I like this guy better than Rochester, it's not by much. The one character I really did not like was Helen. She completely lacked depth, and just didn't feel right, since Jane supposedly loves her so. I didn't get any of that affection spilling over to me at all. This wasn't a huge drawback, since everything else kept me highly engaged, but kept the book from being perfect for me.

Ironskin has a gorgeous, somewhat creepy, cover and I can tell you right now that it perfectly matches the book's contents. Jane does even wear a dress like that at one point in the book. I am so excited to find out what the next book will be like! Go forth and procure this book, you lovely fans of gothic and retellings, for it is not a trap.

Rating: 4/5

Favorite Quote: "But if she did not belong there, did she belong at Silver Birch Hall? At least she was needed there. Perhaps she would never be comfortable anywhere; perhaps she had not that gift."

Review: Cold Magic

Cold Magic
Spiritwalker, Book 1

Author: Kate Elliott
Pages: 580
Publisher: Orbit
Source: Orbit for review

Description from Goodreads:
It is the dawn of a new age... The Industrial Revolution has begun, factories are springing up across the country, and new technologies are transforming in the cities. But the old ways do not die easy.

“I was not a bard or a djeli or an historian or a scribe and I was certainly not a sage, but that didn't mean I wasn't curious…”

Young Cat Barahal thinks she understands the world she lives in and her place in it, but in fact she is merely poised, unaware, on the brink of shattering events. Drawn into a labyrinth of politics involving blood, betrayal and old feuds, she will be forced to make an unexpected and perilous journey in order to discover the truth, not just about her own family but about an ancient secret lying at the heart of her world.

Cat and her cousin Bee are part of this revolution. Young women at college, learning of the science that will shape their future and ignorant of the magics that rule their families. But all of that will change when the Cold Mages come for Cat. New dangers lurk around every corner and hidden threats menace her every move. If blood can't be trusted, who can you trust?

From one of the genre's finest writers comes a bold new epic fantasy in which science and magic are locked in a deadly struggle.

First Sentence: "The history of the world begins in ice, and it will end in ice."

Review:
Oh, epic fantasy. I really shouldn't be reading any of it while trying to complete my massive book challenge, because every time I read one I lose ground. Still, I keep reading them, because I like them. Cold Magic proved to be especially slow, because it took me so long to really get into it. The writing and story was always good, but not enough to have me flipping the pages at high speed.

The world building, so far as I understand it, is impressive. Unfortunately, much of it I didn't understand, largely the parts that intrigued me the most, the alternate history aspects. Usually, I don't have major comprehension issues with books, but I really could not piece together a timeline of what events happened when and how the history differed. Of course, it doesn't help that this takes place in regions and discusses times I didn't study much.

The magic, though, made much more sense and was, pardon the pun, very cool. I suspect that later  books might explain how the cold magic came into being, because that seems to be a real mystery, and it's so odd, since there doesn't seem to be any other magic on the earthly plane. The spiritual plane is so weird, and I hope there will be more exploration of it; I think there will be so that we can meet Cat's relatives.

Part of why the book was slow for so long was that it lacked direction. While most epic fantasy revolves around a quest, this one does not. Thing happen, but they're not aimed toward a particular goal until a few hundred pages in. Once we learn what's going on, the pace picked up.

As for the characters, I like Cat the best. I never took to her cousin and best friend, Bee, though I couldn't really say why, since she is sweet to Cat. Early on, Cat, as the oldest daughter of the Hassi Barahals is forced to wed a cold mage, Andevai. She goes along with it to protect her cousin and family, though she would rather not marry an utter stranger, and a cold one at that. Despite his handsomeness, Cat wants pretty much nothing to do with him and snarks at him constantly. She berates him with questions, calls him out when he acts like a jerk, and generally doesn't act like so many young heroines do when confronted with a handsome face.

My very favorite thing about Cat? How much she eats. This girl can pack food away. You know how a lot of books forget about basic human needs like eating to focus on other things? Well, Elliott doesn't do that. Cat has a seriously healthy appetite, and after so many books about skinny, waifish, model-thin heroines, that was so refreshing. She's clearly a girl after my own heart.

Surely, you will not be surprised to learn that there is a sort of romance building between Cat and Andevai. They have a nice slow burn, which grows from mutual disdain (totally my favorite romance pattern thanks to P&P). I am totally rooting for them, though I do not want them to rush together.

In the last 200 pages or so, I was much more entranced by the story. The change came about the time Rory entered the scene. He's hilarious and I adore him. Though this one was slow-going and I can't say I loved it, I have higher hopes for the second book Cold Fire, which is a good thing since it's in my tbr pile.

Rating: 3/5

Favorite Quote: "Idly, I flipped through the ledger's pages, for I cannot resist a book set before me no matter its kind. Writing draws my eye; I am impelled as by sorcery to read even if it is an accountant's list or a solicitor's instructions or, as here, nothing more than a record of traveler who have passed through this inn."

Storybook Love - Willy DeVille

A Discovery of Witches
All Souls Trilogy, Book 1

Author: Deborah Harkness
Pages: 579
Review Copy Acquired from: Penguin

Brief Summary:
Ever since the murder of her parents when she was 7, Diana Bishop has turned her back on her magical heritage, refusing to admit that she is anything but human. Well, except in emergencies, like when the washer starts to overflow. Mostly, though, Diana pretends normality, throwing herself into her scholarship (she is a respected historian of alchemy) and exercise, which she needs because she has always suffered from an excess of adrenaline. One day, while researching at the Bodleian library, she finds that one of the alchemy books she requested is magical. Freaked out by her accidental proximity to magic, she flips through it quickly and returns, not realizing that her find has set in motion something huge. To protect herself and her love, Matthew Clairmont, a vampire, Diana will have to come to terms with her witchy self.

Review:
First things first: before I get into the serious reviewing, I want to state for the record how much I enjoyed reading this. Thanks so much to Penguin for sending me a copy! Although vampires, witches, etcetera have been done to death (or undeath) in recent years, I still adore a well-done story on any of the aforementioned topics.

Harkness' world is an interesting one, benefiting largely from her love of history and wine. In fact, Harkness works as a professor of history, not as a romance novel author, so it would be a mistake to dismiss her work as merely paranormal romance. What drew me into the story initially, which had a somewhat slow windup so far as action is concerned, was the beautiful writing and the view into academic life. I'm a big nerd, so getting a window into Oxford and the Bodleian was such a treat.

Now, about the romance. I'm sorry if you think I spoiled something by revealing that Diana's going to get with Matthew, but, honestly, what reader didn't see that coming? Their love story I still have a love/hate relationship with.

At first, Matthew and Diana did not get along all that well, but quickly they begin to feel a very strong attraction to one another. This I liked, because they did not fall in love at first sight exactly, despite some claims otherwise later on. They had to develop a rapport and it took some time, although not much. Still, the crazy speed of their love for one another does not bother me, because in times of extreme emotion and danger, people (or creatures) are apt to move along at such things at a greater rate. They are very soon able to see the best and worst in one another's characters, and to accept it.

What did irk me about them was that Diana, an incredibly strong woman, both magically, mentally, and physically (thanks to all of that exercise, although she still is not going to beat a vampire) seems to follow Matthew obediently a bit more than I am quite comfortable with. She has no issue with him watching her sleep or with his obsessive need to protect her at all times. And, for a large portion of the book, everyone around her is so worried about her that she never gets to go anywhere by herself. It seems odd to me that the Diana of the beginning of the book would put up with that. However, Diana does maintain her willful streak, occasionally putting her foot down, Matthew's opinions be damned, which made me able to accept some of those other aspects.

Earlier, I mentioned creatures. This is the other part of Harkness' worldbuilding that you should know beforehand, because it's pretty cool. In this alternative history (same historical events and characters but with paranormals added), there are four different races: humans, witches, vampires and daemons. Most of those are pretty self-explanatory, but daemons are essentially hyper-creative, and supernatural in some way I do not quite understand yet. Undoubtedly the reader will learn more about this (and the mysterious facts of the other races) later in the trilogy, since that is kind of the reason everyone wants to get their hands on the magical alchemy book (Ashmole 782) Diana has been the only one to locate for hundreds of years.

Go get yourself a case of delicious wine, pop the cork on a bottle, and get reading! The paperback version is available now with the completely gorgeous cover you see pictured above. Book two Shadow of Night will be published some time this summer. Can't wait!

Rating: 4/5

"Come my love I'll tell you a tale
Of a boy and girl and their love story
And how he loved her oh so much
And all the charms she did possess"

I'm Sticking with You - The Decemberists

Goliath
Leviathan, Book 3

Author: Scott Westerfeld
Illustrator: Keith Thompson
Pages: 537
Publisher: Simon Pulse

Despite having been somewhat disappointed with the Uglies series, mostly because I didn't care for the characters much, I have pretty much adored this series. In fact, I like them so much I've gotten both of my parents reading these books after me. Haha. Their complaint is that they get really tired of Westerfeld's invented slang, like 'bum-rag' and 'barking spiders,' the latter of which seems to particularly irritate. Personally, I find these things more amusing than annoying, but to each her own.

Anyway, Goliath is a good conclusion to the series, although the ending is a bit abrupt. Of course, to make the alternate version align with what happened in real life, he was somewhat constrained in what the ending of the tale could be. Westerfeld chooses to end, and I really don't see this as a spoiler, with the entry of the US into the conflict. Even though that is not, as I hope everyone well knows, the end of the war, but it works because it puts a nice cap to the tale of our heroes.

Reasons to love The Leviathan Trilogy:

• Steampunkery!
• Fabricated creatures and crazy metal contraptions...they may not always make sense, but they're just so cool.
• Awesome art work, if you read the print version.
• Prefer audiobooks? That's almost better, because those are narrated by the incomparable Alan Cumming.
• You can learn a new vocabulary of swear words.
• The lorises, which are just the most awesome little creatures.
• A kickass female heroine, who's much stronger than the boy she loves.
• Crossdressing!
• A prince in disguise!
• Nikola Tesla as a mad scientist, in fact the villain (of sorts) for book three.

Are these books perfect? No. However, they are still incredibly awesome and full of nerdy, action-adventure fun. Basically, if you ever got a kick out of history or fantasy, you should do yourself a favor and read these, starting with Leviathan.

Rating: 4/5

"We could go into the stratosphere
Soldiers fighting in the Cong
But with you by my side I can do anything
When we swing we hang past right and wrong

I'll do anything for you
Anything you want me to
I'll do anything for you
Oh, I'm sticking with you"

Prologue - David Newman (from Anastasia)

The Gathering Storm
The Katrina Trilogy, Book 1

Author: Robin Bridges
Pages: 386
ARC Acquired from: Delacorte via NetGalley

Brief Summary:In an alternate history, Katerina lives in Romanov Russia, but a very different one from the one studied in school. In this Russia, witches, necromancers, wolf creatures, vampires and other paranormal nasties abound. Katerina's secret is that she is a necromancer; she can bring the dead back to life. All her life, she has struggled to hide her powers, and avoided using them. Unfortunately, a couple people see her use her powers (to save someone) and she becomes a pawn in the political maneuverings of both the dark and light courts.

Review:
There's no doubt that this is a unique book. I certainly haven't read any other books with a similar subject. Honestly, I do not yet know how I feel about this book. I definitely enjoyed reading it, and I found the story compelling. However, the setting and the mythology here is also really weird, so weird, in fact, that I had difficulty settling into the rhythm of the story.

Also, I do not really like Katerina. I do like her passion for medicine and the fact that she is determined to become a doctor, even though it seems pretty much impossible for her to do so. However, why does she always almost swoon when anything gross happens? Umm, as a doctor, she'll need to not do that. Another good quality of hers is that she doesn't want to be forced into marriage or fulfilling her social role. What bothered me, though, was that for all her lofty ideals and moral fortitude, she didn't apply herself. She has so much power, but does not make good use of it. To be a doctor, she must be smart, but she doesn't act that way much of the time.

Still, I did really like Georgi, the Grand Duke. He has a very Darcy air about him that, unsurprisingly, thrills me.

I definitely plan to read more of this series. Hopefully, Katerina will make better use of her awesome qualities, there will be more Georgi and the paranormal stuff will be further explained.

Rating: 3.5/5

"In the dark of the night evil will find her
In the dark of the night just before dawn!"

I'm Not That Girl - Idina Menzel

Behemoth
Leviathan, Book 1

Author: Scott Westerfeld
Pages: 496
ARC Acquired from: Simon & Schuster @ ALA 2010

Brief Summary:
The Leviathan arrives in Istanbul (not Constantinople) only to discover that the Germans are controlling pretty much everything happening in the city, except for the rioting. The diplomats try to do their thing and convince the Ottomans that the British are better allies than those clankers or, if that doesn't work, to win the ensuing conflict. Meanwhile, Alec and his men are trying to escape the ship, fearing that their welcome will soon run out, despite having only done the best they could for the Leviathan. Dylan is doing well in her role as an airman, but struggles with her inner woman, who has fallen really hard for Alec...who will be leaving soon and is totally out of her league anyway, what with being a prince.

Review:
Scott Westerfeld writes some really strange stuff, some of which I love and totally want to high five him for. Others, though, I have been less impressed by. The Uglies series was interesting, but also highly frustrating to me. I loved his short story in Zombies vs. Unicorns and I really enjoyed Leviathan, the precursor to this book, although I was not sure whether that joy stemmed from Westerfeld's talent or Alan Cummings' as I listened to the audiobook version.

Having finished Behemoth, read on old-fashioned paper, I have to say that I really do like some of Westerfeld's stuff. His writing may not especially impress me, but he does have a crazy mind full of fantastic ideas. Of course, some of those ideas don't pan out (or so I've heard about what happens in Peeps). Anyway, I'm still totally digging this completely ridiculous and delightful revisionist history.

One nice thing about not having the audiobook, even if I do miss Cummings' vocal stylings, was getting to see the illustrations. They're really awesome and definitely a nice spice for the eyes (if you've read the book, you know what I did there).

Unlike the Uglies series, I also really like the characters, except for Dr. Barlow, who I still find annoying. Alek is a bit stodgy, but generally a nice kid, suffering only from his rather unique upbringing. Dylan is an awesome girl, who does not let mooning over a boy stop her from being a badass; she can moon and be a badass at the same time. My new favorite character, without a doubt, is Bovril, a perceptive new beastie.

If you enjoyed the first installment, you will not be disappointed by this one, unless you wanted more than five pages of the title beastie. Next up is the final book in the series. I am so ready!

"Don't dream too far
Don't lose sight of who you are
Don't remember that rush of joy
He could be that boy
I'm not that girl"

Reavers Chase Serenity - Greg Edmonson

Cowboys & Aliens

Authors: Scott Mitchell Rosenberg, Fred Van Lente & Andrew Foley
Illustrators: Dennis Calero & Luciano Lima
Pages: 112
Publisher: It Books

Because of the blockbuster movie (which I want to see but haven't), I was very curious to try this graphic novel when I saw it show up on the list of recent arrivals at my library. I had pretty high hopes for it, because the idea of aliens and cowboys makes me think of space cowboys which makes me think of Firefly which rocks hardcore. The graphic novel is okay, but definitely not of anywhere near Firefly quality.

I am curious to see the movie at some point to see what they did with it, because, as is, it's not exactly two hours with of entertainment and has very little dialogue. I imagine they'll go more into character back stories, as there is none of that here.

Cowboys & Aliens has cool art and an even better crazy alternative history. The story is set, for those who don't know, during the manifest destiny days of the United States, wherein cowboys were busy depriving Indians of their homeland. This makes an awesome backdrop for an attempted alien takeover, because of the obvious parallels between the two situations. I applaud this historical comparison.

Mostly, the graphic novel consists of images of battle and frontier ingenuity in trying to defeat the aliens, which is okay, but not super awesome. Overall, I found this to be a very quick, fairly entertaining read with some highlights. Like the ending, which was hilarious.

The Red - Chevelle

Superman: Red Son

Author: Mark Millar
Genre: alternative history
Pages: 148
Publisher: DC Comics

I enjoy comic books, although I have not read many of the classics. At least not yet. Superman is one of my least favorite superheroes; he is a boring do-gooder with a lame disguise. For this alternative history, I was willing to give Superman a chance.

For any history lover, this is a must read. The idea of a Soviet Superman is incredibly interesting from a Cold War perspective. I wish we had read this for my Soviet Union class in undergrad (only sort of kidding). I took this in to work today and showed one of my coworkers. He is in his upper 40s or so and was absolutely astounded and horrified at the thought of a Soviet Superman. Having been such an American icon, this is a really amazing reimagination.

The historical goodies in here are just delightful. For example, Superman's Soviet emblem or the propaganda posters. The absolute corruption of absolute power is certainly in evidence too. Watching Superman transition from goody two shoes into the heir of Stalin is remarkable, but believably accomplished.

I loved this, except for one thing: the ending. It's a bit open-ended, so I am not one hundred percent sure I hated the ending, but I am definitely annoyed by it. There must have been a better way to conclude the story.

A quick, wonderful, thought-provoking read set in the Cold War era. (Can you tell us where the nuclear wessels are?)

"So lay down, the threat is real,
When his sight goes red again.
Seeing red again,
Seeing red again."