Saturday, April 24, 2004

Rapid Reviews - Extras

coverAmerican Gods by Neil Gaiman: Yi. What do I say about this one? This book affected me deeply, partly because it says something about this land that I've always seen as true. This isn't a good land for the old gods. In that respect, the book hit all the right notes for me. Add in the fact that it's a rippin' good yarn, and I have to heap some high praise on it.

There was a bit more sex than I generally enjoy in my fiction, but all of it was in context so I won't complain too much. I'm not a prude, just slightly prudish.

Despite that minor complaint, this was a really strong story that I don't want to spoil for anyone who might want to read it. Gaiman pulls away the layers slowly, but each revelation leads to something important, so I dare not give even the slightest bit away. A follow-up story is in Legends II. This one is certainly worth a read, especially if you are fond of mythology from multiple cultures. And, if you read it, pay particular attention to names. All names. There's a lot of important stuff in the names. 4 starfish

Dipping into the AIT/Planet Lar box again, I pulled out Electric Girl. I decided to only read the first volume, and save the other one for later.

Electric Girl Volume One by Michael Brennan: Oh, now this was fun! Indeed, I'm going to be loaning this one out, I can tell already. And Blammo is so cute! Ahem. Virginia is a perfectly normal girl... except that a nasty gremlin present at her birth gave her some electrical powers. So now she has chaos-inducing control over electricity, which suits the gremlin just fine, as his kind thrive on chaos. There isn't really any overall plotline in this trade, just lots of really fun stories involving Virginia, her dog Blammo, her Gremlin Oogleeoog, and all her family and friends who have to live with her mysterious ability. This one's a keeper. 4 starfish

I had planned, when I go pick up my comics for this week on Wednesday, to order the latest AIT/Planet Lar book, Planet of the Capes. But yet another package arrived from Larry today, this one containing (yes, you guessed it): Planet of the Capes. I'll be reading it soon, probably before my next random pick from the earlier box. But tonight... tonight I post a Saturday Sketch ™... so any more reviews will have to wait until tomorrow. Including my thoughts on the second episode of Iron Chef America, which airs tonight. I did update my Sketchbook just a little, so if you can't wait until I post a new sketch, check it out.

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