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Book, Comic, and TV Recs, as of 10/2/11
Sunday, October 2nd, 2011 01:54 pmIn Books:
The Red Pyramid (The Kane Chronicles, Book 1): There was a lot of exposition in this book, and even though I enjoyed it quite a lot, I found myself growing annoyed at the tendency for pivotal action sequences to be interrupted with prophetic and/or plot-related dreams. I think Riordan had a much greater challenge in adapting Egyptian mythology for a children's book than his previous series (the Percy Jackson books) because there are a lot more Greek myths that are (on the surface, anyway) kid-friendly. In the case of Egyptian myth, there's a lot of incest and dismemberment that doesn't make for socially acceptable children's literature today. Add to this the difficulty that the two main characters were parent-less for the majority of the story, and I imagine that this might have been a bit of a hard sell to publishers. So, I'm willing to forgive the overly expository nature of some of the book. It was really quite entertaining, and I liked the two main characters, although I found Carter a little bit more easy to follow, while Sadie was a bit on the bratty side. It's also nice to have another children's book that acknowledges race issues instead of just ignoring them. (Carter and Sadie are mixed race and how this has shaped their identities is carefully explored, especially in Carter's case.)
In Comics:
Ultimate Spiderman, Issue #1: The Spiderman reboot that features Miles Morales (in the wake of Peter Parker's supposed death, which I predict will be revealed as fake in 3... 2... 1...) is a very interesting story and one that I look forward to reading more of. Although a frustratingly short installment, it's packed with drama and intrigue, although the sources of that drama, etc. are not exactly the traditional comic books villains; at least, they aren't yet. Instead, the dramatic set piece of this story is Miles and his family at the lottery for 3 spaces in a coveted charter school. Sara Pichelli's pencils on this sequence were excellent. The degrees of discomfort, hope, fear, joy, and embarrassment on all the characters' faces were rendered in very sharp and poignant detail. (I especially love the composition of three panels where Miles stares at two of the students who didn't win.) What I especially enjoy about this comic, though, is that there is, as yet, no excessive moralizing. Not once has anyone uttered the phrase "with great power comes great responsibility" (which is a noble sentiment, but if I hear it said one more time, I will puke.) Instead, the storytellers seem content to rely on the story itself to present these ideas. Clearly, a moral dilemma is being set up for Miles in the form of his ne'er-do-well uncle, contrasted with his faith-in-the-system father, but again, this isn't overdone or fake. I hope that Brian Michael Bendis and the creative PTB will let this story unfold organically and without too much speechifying. I'm definitely interested in the next issue.
On TV:
Doctor Who: ( Spoilers for the entire season ahoy! )
The Red Pyramid (The Kane Chronicles, Book 1): There was a lot of exposition in this book, and even though I enjoyed it quite a lot, I found myself growing annoyed at the tendency for pivotal action sequences to be interrupted with prophetic and/or plot-related dreams. I think Riordan had a much greater challenge in adapting Egyptian mythology for a children's book than his previous series (the Percy Jackson books) because there are a lot more Greek myths that are (on the surface, anyway) kid-friendly. In the case of Egyptian myth, there's a lot of incest and dismemberment that doesn't make for socially acceptable children's literature today. Add to this the difficulty that the two main characters were parent-less for the majority of the story, and I imagine that this might have been a bit of a hard sell to publishers. So, I'm willing to forgive the overly expository nature of some of the book. It was really quite entertaining, and I liked the two main characters, although I found Carter a little bit more easy to follow, while Sadie was a bit on the bratty side. It's also nice to have another children's book that acknowledges race issues instead of just ignoring them. (Carter and Sadie are mixed race and how this has shaped their identities is carefully explored, especially in Carter's case.)
In Comics:
Ultimate Spiderman, Issue #1: The Spiderman reboot that features Miles Morales (in the wake of Peter Parker's supposed death, which I predict will be revealed as fake in 3... 2... 1...) is a very interesting story and one that I look forward to reading more of. Although a frustratingly short installment, it's packed with drama and intrigue, although the sources of that drama, etc. are not exactly the traditional comic books villains; at least, they aren't yet. Instead, the dramatic set piece of this story is Miles and his family at the lottery for 3 spaces in a coveted charter school. Sara Pichelli's pencils on this sequence were excellent. The degrees of discomfort, hope, fear, joy, and embarrassment on all the characters' faces were rendered in very sharp and poignant detail. (I especially love the composition of three panels where Miles stares at two of the students who didn't win.) What I especially enjoy about this comic, though, is that there is, as yet, no excessive moralizing. Not once has anyone uttered the phrase "with great power comes great responsibility" (which is a noble sentiment, but if I hear it said one more time, I will puke.) Instead, the storytellers seem content to rely on the story itself to present these ideas. Clearly, a moral dilemma is being set up for Miles in the form of his ne'er-do-well uncle, contrasted with his faith-in-the-system father, but again, this isn't overdone or fake. I hope that Brian Michael Bendis and the creative PTB will let this story unfold organically and without too much speechifying. I'm definitely interested in the next issue.
On TV:
Doctor Who: ( Spoilers for the entire season ahoy! )
