2016 – Page 2 – Just Giblets

June 14, 2016

The Marvel Comics I’m Enjoying Most Right Now – Or Was…

Both Marvel and DC are transforming again. It’s something they do every nine months or so. Sometimes more. It gets old. But at the same time, I read a post on some comics site that listed the best Marvel comics out right now, and I realized that I agreed with many of the picks on this list, and that there were actually quite a few Marvel Comics being published at the moment that I was really enjoying. Since I don’t really use this blog anymore except for my year-end best books list, I thought why not share my mid-year best comics list? And here we are…

But before I launch into this list, I had to mention two titles that are not currently being published, so it would be against the rules to include them on my list. That said, when they were being published, they were definitely in my Top 6 or 7 Marvel books out there. The good news, is that one will be coming back… transformed a bit… very soon, and the other will turn up again in the near future as well.

Loki: Agent of Asgard
Al Ewing, writer
Lee Garbett, Artist

I’m not generally a fan of comic titles centered around “villains.” I came late to Loki’s starring role. In the pages of Thor, the heroes arch-nemesis, his half-brother Loki, god of lies, ends up being reborn. His tales as a pre-teen were told in Kieron Gillen’s Journey Into Mystery title. After reading consistent great reviews of the comic, I picked it up, fell in love, and have been reading about Loki’s adventures in various titles ever since. Now aged to a young adult, befriended by a mortal named Verity, who can see through lies, acting more as an anti-hero… or even (gasp) a hero, than the traditional villain he has always played, and now working as an agent of Asgard, his mystical homeworld on command by the all-Mother, rulers of the gods, he wrestles with his future self, that traditional, purveyor of evil that whose shadow all his actions fall beneath.

Ewing’s Loki is conflicted and charming, smart and cunning, but not so trustworthy when it all comes down to it. His journey has him evolving from a god of lies, to a god of stories, which is a lot less judgmental, but still has the ability to swing both ways… morality-wise. Sadly, Loki got caught up in the whole rebirth of the Marvel Universe business and his title was suspended. The good news, is that this week, Loki returns in a new title called Vote Loki, where the god of stories take on the role that he was born to embrace… political candidate for President of the United States.

All-New Hawkeye
Jeff Lemire, writer
Ramón Pérez, artist

After writer David Aja’s ongoing Hawkeye series turned Clint Barton, the avenging archer from an heroic superhero, to a down-on-his-luck hero of the people, and paired him up with the younger, better(?) Hawkeye, Kate Bishop Jeff Lemire followed up with a story that combined a future adventure with the present, when the two estranged Hawkeyes meet up after years on their own to correct a mistake they made around three powerfully mutated children who kill with their minds.

Both Aja and Lemire knew how to make Barton and Bishop unique and fascinating, with their two heroes sharing both a mutual admiration and attraction that was sweet without being icky. They tackled serious subjects with a hefty dose of tongue-in-cheek, dry humor that suited their protagonists perfectly. Both Hawkeyes found themselves rising up from B-list cult favorites, to A-list cult favorites and proved once again, that you don’t need super powers to be a true hero.

February 3, 2016

Best Books Read in 2015 – #’s 2 & 1

2015 was a good year for speculative fiction, with four out of the top 5 books I read this year coming under the science fiction/fantasy/horror genres. My top 2 books feature a favorite author, and one I’ve been meaning to read for years, and finally did. And they’re both named Nei/al.

#2 – Trigger Warning: Short Fictions & Disturbances by Neil Gaiman

Has Neil Gaiman ever disappointed? I can’t say that he has, and this collection of short stories continues that streak. Using a title that was born from the internet to alert readers/viewers etc. to potentially offensive/disturbing content, Mr. Gaiman ponders the idea that his own work would one day bear the label, “trigger warning.” Good fiction should challenge the reader, often disturbing, scaring, challenging us. This collection certainly succeeds on that level.

Ranging from re-imagined fairy tales, Holmes’ tales, or Dr. Who stories, to several ruminations on death, memory and love, Gaiman’s stories reel you in with fanciful flights of imagination, then grab you somewhere startling and potentially upsetting. The result is delight, and a terrific read that will keep you pondering what your own personal trigger might be.

#3 – Seveneves by Neal Stephenson

When the moon explodes scientists soon predict that the resulting debris burning in the earth’s atmosphere will eliminate all life on earth in a couple of years. The majority of Stephenson’s nearly 900 page book follows the urgent, yet tenuous plan for an ark to small habitats to be constructed around an existing space station to save the brightest of humanity to one day repopulate the human race. The latter portion of this epic jumps forward 5000 years too explore what has become of the human race in a way that rivals the space epics of Frank Herbert or Mary Gentle.

Stephenson spins a riveting tale by blending a space thriller with a deft character study, exploring the character traits that may ultimately form the basis of humanity. While 900 pages is a daunting task, the book never drags, and urges you to keep reading to see how the characters will overcome the herculean obstacles that inevitably end up in their path. This is my first Neal Stephenson novel… I guess it’s finally time to read Snow Crash.

January 23, 2016

Best Books Read in 2015 – #’s 4 & 3

A debut novel and the first of two short story collections take the #4 & #3 spots on this year’s Best Books Read in 2015. And the #3 book is the second book by Simon Van Booy to appear in the Top 10! Nice work, Simon!

#4 – Join by Steve Toutonghi

Steve Toutonghi’s debut novel, Join is a lovely piece of speculative fiction that explores a near future that explores the next phase of humanity and how the changes to the race have dire impact to the planet itself. In an unspecified future, individualism has a whole different look as more and more people chose to join. Small groups of people merge minds into a single consciousness while retaining their physical bodies, allowing them to experience life through multiple bodies, and in affect, living forever, for while individual bodies die, the consciousness remains alive in the Join. While much of humanity has chosen to live this way, there are still solos living individual lives either by choice, or because the process is more than they can afford.

But even as humanity moves toward its next phase of life, the planet itself is in grave environmental peril. Worse, Chance, a join of five, stumbles upon the existence of a potentially mad, and decidedly murderous abomination called Rope. Meanwhile Chance’s friend Leap finds itself in grave peril from a rare condition that only affects Joins. Chance and Leap must find a way to save Leap, while avoiding the terrifying fate that could await them both through Rope’s machinations.

Reminiscent of recent work by David Mitchell and Neal Stephenson, Steve Toutonghi has created a fascinating future for humanity, all the while exploring the concepts of individuality and immortality, posing questions with no easy answers.

#3 – Tales of Accidental Genius by Simon Van Booy

Simon Van Booy writes beautiful books filled with deep longing and transcendent love. He is also a keen observer of human nature, from different points of view, ages, and backgrounds. His novels are lush and thought-provoking, but his short stories are masterful. Mr. Van Booy follows the great Alice Munro in the examination of human nature.

In his latest collection of stories, Simon travels around the world to provide the rich tapestry that make up his character. England, Nigeria, Beijing and New Jersey are among the backdrops that form these tales. He explores the nature of poverty and invention in ‘Golden Helper II: An Epic Fable of Wealth, Loneliness, and Cycling,’ and unspools a tender act of human kindness in ‘The Goldfish.’

I always look forward to Simon’s carefully constructed tales, and Tales of Accidental Genius adds another beautiful chapter in his literary body of work.

January 21, 2016

Best Books Read in 2015 – #’s 6 & 5

Here’s where really start to cook. The last six books on my list were all outstanding, in so many ways. Lots of speculative fiction this year, which is always a treat, as well as two titles by a favorite author.

#6 Father’s Day by Simon Van Booy

Simon Van Booy’s forthcoming novel is a gentle look at a woman’s relationship with her father. Harvey is a commercial artist living in Paris. Her father, Jason, is coming for to visit for the first time, and as she carefully prepares a father’s day present that will recall milestones in their relationships, she worries about how he will react. While Harvey and Jason reunite in Paris, their life stories simultaneously unfold, with more than one twist in the mix.

In some ways this is a very straightforward novel for Van Booy. The language he uses is less lush, and more direct than some of his previous work. That sumptuous quality of language suited Van Booy’s gorgeous stories of love and longing between adults, but the love shared between a parent and child is more rooted in need and care, and the straightforward style he adopts works well for these characters. My one criticism revolves around the final and arguably the most vital twist to the tale which happens in the last 15 pages of the book It’s one of those moments where you stop and think back over characters’ motivations and decisions in a different light. In this case, I haven’t decided if it served the overall story all that well. Still, Simon’s a favorite writer of mine, and I will go on whatever ride he takes me on, and this one was overall, quite lovely.

#5 The Just City by Jo Walton

Jo Walton certainly doesn’t repeat herself. After scoring big with Among Others, a tale of a young girl with magical powers of the fairy, then moving onto My Real Children, which explored the alternate realities that show the different paths our lives can take, she now tackles Plato’s Republic in this delightful, philosophical fantasy, The Just City.

When the Greek God Apollo vents his frustration to Athene at having the nymph Daphne pray to Artemis to be turned into a tree rather than be caught by Apollo for a sexual tryst, he learns of Athene’s plans to conduct an experiment, creating Plato’s Just City, referred to in his work, Republic. Athene collects a couple hundred philosophers from across time, all of whom have read Plato’s Republic, and also prayed to Athene. They will be the governing body of this city at first, but then they will harvest ten thousand children, lost souls who were being sold as slaves.

Apollo gets in the game by giving up his godly powers and being born incarnate as a human boy and joining the ranks of children being raised in Plato’s Just City. He befriends Simmea, a brilliant young girl who is destined to be one of the gold philosopher-kings of the Just City (or at least give birth to one) and together with a controversial late recruit, Socrates, change the course of Athene’s experiment in dramatic ways.

Walton is an exceptional writer, with much of her latest novel coming in the form of debate and rhetoric. There is a lot of philosophy here, and lots of wonderfully delightful and original writing. Through Plato, Walton explores the role of women in society over history, relationships, both platonic and erotic, slavery and free will, and machine intelligence, just to name a few topics. I highly recommend all of Walton’s works, and this one is no exception

January 20, 2016

Best Books Read in 2015 – #’s 8 & 7

Contemporary fiction with female leads — some might call it women’s fiction. For me, I’m just more interested in stories about women, and these next two novels were definitely very interesting! Lydia Millet and Jojo Noyes come in at #’s 8 & 7 respectively.

#8 – Mermaids in Paradise by Lydia Millet

Lydia Millet has constructed a complex novel that still serves as a light-hearted, entertaining read while exploring deeper issues along with protagonist, Deb.

While honeymooning in the British Virgin Islands, Deb & Chip find themselves among a small group of tourists who inadvertently discover the existence of real mermaids. Despite their best attempts to share their discovery in a responsible way, various factions such as the tourism industry and religious zealots threaten to turn this spectacular scientific discovery into something frightening or even murderous.

Millet weaves a narrative that includes ironic humor, modern romance, and speculative fiction that works on every level. The slyly subversive ending puts a unique spin on the novel as a whole.

#7 – One Plus One by Jojo Moyes

Jojo Moyes writes romantic comedies that have a bit of a bite and earn any sentimentality that they display. In ONE PLUS ONE, Jess is a hard-working single mom who cleans houses to try to make ends meet. Her daughter Tanzie is at that awkward pre-teen stage, but she is a math wiz beyond compare. She also cares for her ex-husband’s son, Nicky, who is awkward and sensitive, and often the victim of local bullies.

When an opportunity arises that could lead to Tanzie attending an exclusive private school, Jess finds herself with no alternative than to depend on Ed, a wealthy man whose house she cleaned. Ed has hit a rough patch himself, but he finds himself drawn into Jess’s family drama and the two reluctantly find themselves drawn to each other. But life is rarely smooth, despite Jess’ eternal optimism, and the roadblocks these two face are large.

The emotions shared by these characters, both positive and negative, don’t come cheaply and are beautifully played out. This is a fun book to read that will make you laugh and make you cry. It’s got real chops and I highly recommend it.