No need for a
detailed introduction today. This is the continuation of my list of 20
Favourite Comics and Novels Read in 2015. You can read the first part here.
10. Peace by Gene Wolfe (not reviewed)
Novel
As I mentioned on Wednesday, one of my personal goals in
2015 was to read a few really challenging books. One of those was Inherent Vice. Another one was Peace. If you’ve ever read a book by Gene
Wolfe you won’t need convincing that his books are difficult to read and worth
the effort required to understand them. It’s never a problem to finish reading
a book by Wolfe because his prose is simply beautiful. It’s complex, but mostly
approachable. It challenges the reader without being off-putting. With Peace, one of his earliest novels, Wolfe clearly demonstrates that he is
a master of literature. I’m often confused by the lack of discussion
surrounding his impressive body of work online. Then I look at the number of
books I’ve written about here at SUR and I shut up. Reading Peace last year was an attempt to start
fixing that but like the other books on this list that I didn’t review, I read
it during a time where I was working on a big project and I wasn’t focused on
regular reviews.
In Peace, Wolfe
builds a very complex story with the use of one of his main storytelling tools,
the unreliable narrator. Also important to the story is the use of memories.
The plot of the book is pretty simple at first glance, but much of it is made
up of lies and the reader figuring out what really happened (or at least
questioning the veracity of what you’re being told). Doing this is the start to
really appreciating what this novel has to offer. The book begins with an old
man thinking about his past. Each section of the book jumps from one period of
his life to another. Along the way Wolfe gives us impressively detailed and
engrossing passages that would have been beautiful short stories if published separately.
On their own, on the surface level, these are great and somewhat anecdotal
pieces of fiction. When looked at together in the context of the novel’s real
plot (not an old man, exactly, nor really a memoir), it’s powerful stuff. Like
it sometime happens when I talk about really excellent books that have impacted
me on an emotional level, I feel inadequate talking about Peace. From what I can tell though, it’s a forgotten masterpiece
that modern audiences need to find and experience.
Masashi Kishimoto ended his impressive run on Naruto in 2014. In 2015, I almost
reached the halfway point. I still don’t have an exact idea on how the overall
story will unfold but as this point in the series (up to volume 33), Naruto is one of the most impressive
manga I’ve ever read. It’s a particular kind of long form storytelling that we don’t
usually see in North America comics. There is no status quo to be found, each
volume continues its forward progression with new ideas, new plot, and newly
uncovered secrets. With this comic, Kishimoto has built an entire world,
populated with generations of shinobi, waging war and trying to make peace.
While it’s a wholly original world, many shonen manga
tropes can be found mixed into the narrative. This doesn’t lessen the impact of
Naruto nor does it ruin my enjoyment
of it because Kishimoto uses those well-known tropes in a context we haven’t
seen before. All nine volumes I read this year (in the practical and cheaper
3-in-1 omnibus editions) take place in the second part of the overall Naruto story. Here our protagonists are
older and their actions directly impact the relations between the different
shinobi countries. It’s been a great pleasure to see characters from other
countries introduced and developed while also seeing how well-known characters
have changed during the time jump between Part One and Part Two. I was amazed
how Part One felt like a complete mega arc but also supplied a lot of seeds for
future stories. Part Two is where we get to see some of those seeds germinate
and I really can’t wait for my next batch of Naruto books to come in. I’m also really looking forward to seeing
more of Kishimoto’s art. The guy is a boss and I’m curious to see if the level
of details in each chapter continues to hold up throughout the rest of the
series. Without a doubt, this is one of my all-time favourite shonen manga.
8. Redshirts by John Scalzi (not reviewed)
Science Fiction
Redshirts
shouldn’t be nearly as good as it is. One of many surprises and new discoveries
for me this past year was reading my first John Scalzi novel. While I’m not
directly familiar with his work, I know enough of it to see that some of Scalzi’s
novels are fresh perspective on tired or well-known science fiction ideas. His
famous and acclaimed Old Man’s War
series is based Joe Haldeman’s The
Forever War and Robert A. Heinlein’s Starship
Troopers. With Fuzzy Nation he’s
written a retelling or a reboot of H. Beam Piper’s Little Fuzzy. With Redshirts,
a book that is many different things all in a single, cohesive package, he
writes a loving pastiche of the original series of Star Trek. Had it been only that, this would have been a hilariously
enjoyable book. Scalzi, however, had a larger story in mind for Redshirts.
As it turns out, the story goes meta about a third of the
way in. Pastiche turns into a metatextual adventure wherein the fictional
characters of the Star Trek stand-in
show realize they’re fictional characters in a TV series. Being members of the
crew regularly threatened with death on the series, they make a journey to the
real world to convince the show’s writers to reconsider how they write for the show.
The final portion of the book goes off in yet another direction. In three short
story segments, Scalzi reveals how the lives of the people in the real world
were changed after they encountered fictional beings from the hit TV series.
This, for me, is where the book shines and becomes something more than what it
was during the earlier parts of the novel. Here is where Scalzi contemplates the
meaning of imagination, stories, and how they impact human lives. This is rich,
thoughtful writing,
that could proudly
stand amongst the classics of science fiction.
7. The Sandman: Overture by Neil Gaiman,
J.H. Williams III, Dave Stewart, and Todd Klein (not reviewed)
Fantasy Comic
Since I read American
Gods in my teens, I’ve been a Neil Gaiman fan. I’ve followed him anywhere
and I’ll continue to do so as long as he continues to write. The man rarely
disappoints. I’m pleased to read whatever he writes without question. That is
until I found out he would be writing a Sandman
prequel. For the first time since being a fan, I was a little worried. Not a
lot, mind you, but even being just a little worried about his new project was
enough to freak me out a little. That never happened before and it’s because Sandman is one of the greatest stories I’ve
ever read. How would Gaiman be able to write something so many years after
concluding his initial story? Would it hold up? Sure, he’s written Sandman stories since then but they
weren’t directly tied to the main series and as such they had a certain freedom
that allowed Gaiman to do what he wanted. The
Sandman: Overture was intentionally
set just before the events of The Sandman
and that meant there where quite a few obligations on the story before Gaiman
ever started to write.
I shouldn’t have worried. Gaiman, J.H. Williams III, Dave
Stewart, and Todd Klein delivered. For starters, this book is gorgeous. It’s
lush with details and filled with stylized page compositions. Every time you
turn the page it feels like you’re entering a new world of fantastical wonders.
It took two years to produce this six issues series but every day that passed
was worth the wait because Sandman
has rarely looked this good, if ever. Even better is that the story Gaiman and
his co-creators are telling is huge and immersive, matching the quality and
depth of the art. I always thought that the story of Dream was complete in The Sandman but Overture made me think that stories featuring Dream are, like the
character, Endless. You could tell these kind of stories for decades and never
run out of steam. Lucky for us readers, Gaiman knows which stories to tell and
which questions to answer in order to give us lasting satisfaction without
oversaturating our bookshelves with content. Overture is a grand story revisiting one of comics’ best series. A
must read for all fans of serious comic book storytelling.
6. Carry On by Rainbow Rowell (review
coming soon)
Fantasy Novel
I’ll start by saying that I won’t write more about this
book than I have to. I’m working on a long review and/or appreciation of Carry On because it was the last great
surprise of 2015. Picked up more or less on a whim, I didn’t exactly know what
this book would contain. I was interested in reading Rainbow Rowell’s Fangirl when it was originally published
but as these things happen, it evaded me and I didn’t think about it again.
Until I read somewhere, briefly on Twitter, that this was a fan fiction
retelling of Harry Potter, or something
like that. That caught my attention. Oh, and by the way, Harry is gay and he’s
in a relationship with Draco who is a vampire. What? What is this crazy book?
In the amount of time it took to read less than 140 characters and quickly
research this book, I was intrigued by the possibilities. I bought copy,
curious enough to read it while still having low expectations. How could this
book be any good? Has the author even read Harry
Potter? Rowell, what are you playing at?
Clearly Rowell knew better than I did. This book, even
though it’s listed at number 6 on my list, changed me. I mean that quite literally.
It’s given me a new perspective on fandom. Not just Harry Potter fandom, but fandom in general. It’s a concept I’ve struggle
with before and I often find myself at odds with other fans of things I really
like or even love. The most vocal people in any fandom are often considered
overzealous fanatics and I find that to be very off-putting in most situations.
Carry On has helped me deal with that
and kind of get over myself. It refocused what my problem was with fandom (and
it was mostly my problem) and helped me understand how I can overcome it. More
importantly, Carry On is simply a
really good book. Very enjoyable to read. Very fresh, a little edgy, engrossing
to a fault, and deeper than expected. This book is denser than its style of
prose would have you believe. That’s not to say the prose is bad, it’s not. It’s
just a style of prose that I don’t read often as it’s usually found in newer
books. Rowell’s style is that of an author with mature sensibilities that hasn’t
lost touch with her eternally youthful self. It’s not entirely workmanlike
prose, but it’s not stylized or complex like that of some other works on this
list. I didn’t start Carry On with
much hope, but I ended it a changed person. I’m still trying to put my reaction
into words and hopefully I’ll have that posted on the blog soon.
5. Moon Knight: From the Dead by Warren
Ellis, Declan Shalvey, and Jordie Bellaire (previously reviewed here)
Superhero Comic
Moon Knight
will always be remembered as the comic that introduced me to one of my
favourite comic book creative teams. The combined efforts of Warren Ellis,
Declan Shalvey, and Jordie Bellaire are impressive and inspiring. Moon Knight: From the Dead is a pretty
simple comic. It’s not really the story that makes it good, it’s the story’s
execution. Ellis provides the reader with enough information to understand Moon
Knight’s character and what drives him. Once that is completed, he creates
scenarios in which the character’s particular personality and abilities can be
showcased. It’s at this point that Ellis takes the back seat and plays a
supporting role to the art team.
This comic is Shalvey and Bellaire’s show. Ellis provides
them with a storytelling frame in which to execute certain ideas. Each issue
gives them the freedom to explore a new aspect of visual storytelling. The
impressive and imaginative uses of colour by Bellaire supports the story of
eachissue. She also expertly weaves her art with that of Shalvey’s who manages
to be stylish yet provide reader with clear page layouts and crisp linework.
His ink washes are also a beauty to behold and I simply can’t get enough of
them. Thankfully this creative team has gone on to create a new series called Injection. I have the first volume on my
shelf and I’m really looking forward to spending some quality reading time with
this book in the new future.
4. The Long Walk by Stephen King (previously
reviewed here)
Fiction Novel
Does anybody remember my unfounded criticism and
prejudice with Stephen King and his work? Well, actually sitting down and
reading his novels have proved to be an effective antidote against that kind of
negative and harmful attitude. I’ve only read two books by King in 2015. Well,
kind of. I’m still working on the massive complete and uncut edition of The Stand. I hope to finish it before
the end of the decade. All kidding aside, the book I did finish reading last
year floored me. The Long Walk is a
spectacular work of character focused story set in a near future America where
an annual competition is held. It’s called the Long Walk and it sends 100
teenage boys out on a walking marathon that ends whenever the last walker
collapses. The stakes are high. Any boy that breaks the rules or falls behind
gets killed. The winner gets anything he wants for the rest of his life.
This book is incessant. It simply doesn’t stop, which is
fitting considering the nature of the Long Walk. King develops a simple plot
and he builds on it slightly as the story progresses. Yet, the truly excellent
use of the story is that King doesn’t cheat the reader. The story moves along,
ever forward, without hesitation. It’s this constant barrage of near future and
believable barbarism that frightens me the most. This book was written when
King was quite young but even then you can see his talent is clearly in
characterization. More than half the boys in the Long Walk are given well developed
personalities. It’s the realism in their depictions that makes this book pack a
punch. These aren’t unknown faces or cardboard cutouts getting killed. These
are real people who we’ve learned to like or dislike thanks to King’s skills as
a writer. The inevitable deaths of most of these characters also make our
liking them more poignant and emotionally devastating. This isn’t just an
entertaining novel though, as plenty of interesting themes are included. The
Long Walk can serve as metaphor for many things, the most obvious of them is
war (probably the Vietnam War specifically, based on when this book was
originally written). It also has a lot of interesting musings about death and
humanity’s purpose in life. It’s quite an accomplishment and probably my
favourite King book to date.
3. The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien,
Christopher Tolkien, and Guy Gavriel Kay (previously reviewed here)
Fantasy Novel
I sometimes wish that J.R.R. Tolkien had a body of work
that included more completed texts. I’ll be the first to agree that The Hobbit is a classic of fantasy
literature and that The Lord of the Rings
is a masterpiece, regardless of which descriptors you force upon it, but that
doesn’t seem like much in terms of quantity. I guess Tolkien is one of those
writers where quality proves to be more important than quantity but as someone
who adores his stories, it doesn’t seem like enough. That being said, there are
countless supplementary books to find and read. That’s true even if you limit
yourself to books compiled by his son Christopher Tolkien, all of which were
published posthumously and some pretty recently. I think the reason I’m
complaining a little is that this year I finally read The Silmarillion, which I personally consider the last of Tolkien’s
main works (even if it wasn’t finished by him and might not necessarily look
like what he had envisioned).
The Silmarillion
was among the difficult reads I set out to do in 2015. The density of
information alone would be enough to dissuade many readers. Simply keeping
track of the large cast of characters throughout thousands of years of history
made for quite the challenge. However, I found that by taking my time I was
able to better keep track of the characters and various proper nouns. It was
still difficult, yes, but a manageable level of difficulty. The more I invested
myself in The Silmarillion, the more
I got out of it. What most impressed me in this book was the sheer immensity of
Tolkien’s vision. Everything has a history and all of that is tied into a
larger history, etc. His world building makes me think of fractals. Each layer
of details or of story reveals an equally detailed level of stories the closer
you look into it. The closer you look at it still, the more detailed stories
are revealed. Unlike real fractals, the pattern isn’t identical from layer to
layer, but it’s similar enough in terms of heroism and tragedy. If you consider
that idea with the fact that The
Silmarillion is excellent as a whole but within it there are individual
chapters that are excellent on their own, it’s clear that this is a masterpiece
that rivals that of anything else Tolkien has done. If you’re still not
convinced that this book is worth your time, consider the fact that it contains
some of Tolkien’s most badass characters doing the most intensely heroic deeds
on an epic scale. Awesome is often overused in our modern parlance, but it
applies to this book more than anything else I read last year.
2. Prophet vol. 4 Joining by Brandon
Graham, Simon Roy, Giannis Milonogiannis and others (not reviewed)
Comic Book, Science Fiction
Prophet is my
favourite comic of the last five years. It represents so much of what I love in
comics and does it really, really well. It’s clearly a series that is telling a
long story but it doesn’t shy away from smaller, more personal stories either.
In fact, it uses the serialized storytelling capabilities of comics to great
effect, giving readers shorter stories mixed in with longer stories, all the
while continuing to move the plot forward. Everything is connected. When this
series was still only a few issues old (approximately one volume’s worth of
comics) it was hard to see what the main plot was. That didn’t really matter
though because Graham, Roy, and all of their co-creators, were telling
excellent stories from the beginning. It wasn’t clear where the series was
going as a whole, but the creators weren’t waiting for a big payoff in some vaguely
imagined future issue. We’ve been getting excellent comics from the very first
issue of this rebooted series.
One of the reasons I love Prophet so much is that it’s not afraid of having a stylistic and
tonal identity that is unique in the field of American comics. This book is
weird, you can’t deny it, but it’s not weird for the sake of being weird. It’s
being intentionally strange in order to give the reader a sense of wonder and a
bit of fear and gross out feeling that might exist with strange, frightening,
and gross alien cultures (strange, frightening, and gross by human standards).
The many artists who contribute to this title’s ongoing success greatly influenced
the comic’s style and tone. I love that a lot of these issues use limited
amount of narrative captions or dialogue. I love how much this story pushes the
boundaries of primarily visual storytelling.
I need to mention how much of a plot boost we get in this
volume. Prophet: Joining makes the
plot nearly crystal clear. Old Man Prophet and his ragtag team of outcasts are
about to engage directly with the forces of the Earth Empire. A huge conflict
is at hand and if this comic has shown us how dangerous outer space conflicts
can be, there will be a lot of bloodshed and loss in future issues. I also
really liked the two Strikefile
issues which gave readers a lot of background information on characters,
locations, and history of the series. I
cannot wait for the next (possibly final?) volume of Prophet. This is my kind of science fiction comics and I’m quite
sad that I’ll need to wait several more months before reading the next volume,
but if that’s what it takes for the creators to do their best, I’m happy to
wait.
1. Tehanu by Ursula K. LeGuin (previously
reviewed here)
Fantasy novel
Ah, Ursula K. LeGuin. She’s the best, you know? The
things she does with her books blow my mind on a regular basis. Since the early
beginnings of Shared Universe Reviews I’ve been reading LeGuin’s Earthsea series. Admittedly I’ve been
taking my time but taking my time really works for this series. Since there are
big changes in terms of chronology from one book to another, those jumps work
nicely with real world breaks away from the series. That distance between books helps to make each
novel distinct in my mind. LeGuin tells very different stories from one book to
the next and so far, Tehanu is my
favourite. To fans of the series, that might seem blasphemous, but hear me out.
Tehanu is an
unconventional fantasy novel. It’s a completely different kind of fantasy book
that what we’re used to seeing today. It’s unique not because it’s using old
tropes in new ways or subverting genre tropes. Instead, it creates new ones.
There are a lot of important themes at play in this book but LeGuin approaches
them from a distinctly fantastical point of view that is combined with a
familiar and mundane day to day setting. This isn’t a book about huge and
explosive manifestations of power and magic. Rather it shows the reader how
powerful magic can exist even in the simplest and common aspects of life. The
book itself doesn’t have to be grandiose in scale to be filled with meaning and
thematic resonance. This is a powerful book that deals with identity, power,
gender roles, daily and relatable hardships, fear, agency, will, and a few
other lesser themes. All of which is written in LeGuin’s wise and poetic prose.
This book explores what it is to be human and that’s its greatest strength.
Magic is present, certainly, this is after all an Earthsea book, but fans of this series must know by now that magic
doesn’t always present itself in the form we expect. It works in mysterious
ways and so do people and it’s people that are the heart of this book and it’s
from them from which the magic manifests itself.
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