Luke McCullough
For fans of Ellis's first romp through Wildstrom in the form of StomWatch and the Authority, this is more and less of the same. More in that he gets to play with the whole box of toys, WILDCats, IO, etc. And less in that even at 24 issues it felt rushed and lacking in the depth that the first time around had. Things that were slowly revealed over arcs were dropped as info dumps in the middle of issues.
But, even with all of that being said, if you have a fondness for those old issues of StormWatch and the Authority, it does that wide angle action in a way that most booms don't risk. The art is amazing, and though at first I questioned the choice of tossing out generations of comic book lettering history and using lower case and caps, but it worked.
A page turner, which is a bit of a feat for a history book, even if it is about pirates. The beginning of the book with the overview of the life of a sailor is one of the more fascinating parts, but the lives of the pirates is the meat of this work. Following, more or less, three of the more important figures of the era and the man who ended up taking them down the book never really has a dull moment.
Highly recommended.
Thoroughly enjoyable fantasy/caper romp.
This volume includes the 4 and 5 novels in the series, which follow Vlad Taltos. The series reminds me of Harry Harrison's Stainless Steel Rat series, in that it places a heist/caper story (usually with a bit of political intrigue) in a non-modern setting, Science Fiction for the Stainless Steel Rat and Fantasy for Vlad.
Though, unlike the Stainless Steel Rat books, Vlad is much more tied to a specific place, the City of Adrilankha, and has a more static set of supporting characters. Brust manages to make Vlad Taltos an enjoyable lead, which given that Vlad is a mid-level mob boss, remorseless assassin, human who hates his own people and detests the ruling Dragaerans (Not-Elf, Elves who run things) even though he is nominally a noble of the Dragaeran court. Much of the action in each book revolves around a self-contained caper, that being said, there are themes and subplots that continue to be visited through each of books making them very much a series and not just a bunch of books sharing characters and a setting. (Evidently, there are some people who attempt to read the series in chronological order as opposed to publication order, but the subplots and themes would be rendered incomprehensible by doing this.)
The first book in this volume, Taltos, tells the story of how Vlad Taltos and a number of the other major supporting characters came to know one another. This story takes place before any of the other novels, but details an event that is referenced throughout the first few books. The second, Phoenix, continues on from the end of the 3rd novel, which left off during a human initiated uprising and the possible disintegration of Vlad's marriage.
The cover for this book is perfect. The title barely matters, the only thing you need to see is: WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS and JACK KEROUAC. And the book delivers on exactly what is promises to be: an early, previously un-published, short work (with huge type and a bordering on indulgent afterword/biographical piece, it barely makes a short novel) callobrated on by the two authors.
The format of the book is alternating chapters, each one written by one author. They each write from the point of view of a barely digused version of themselves.
Not on part with any of their other works, but if the idea of characters from On the Road running into the cast of Junkie in 1940's New York sounds like a good read, you will enjoy this quick read.
I first read pieces of it for a writing class, and after the class was over it ended up on my “to read” shelf. The author attempts to define, survey, and categorize writing style though both inspection of texts and insightful conversations with an amazing selection of writers. Not just popular and literary fiction writers, but critics, journalists, poets, humorists and writers of most every stripe and color are interviewed discussing their own works and style and the style and works of their influences (and counter-influences as well.)
I could have ended this review with the clichéd “...and it changed the way I...”, but instead I will say that as a reader it fascinated me to watch linguistic gymnastics of an author's style analyzed down to the separate movements that a page, a paragraph, and even a sentence take to land. As a fledgling writer, I found it more inspiring and interesting than any navel gazing “on writing” book. The focus was not on how, but on what. What does style mean, what goes into constructing it.
Started off slow, but once it go rolling a fun read. Starting to be a bit long in the tooth, but an interesting read.
Great book. Plays with both scicence fiction tropes and literary form in a book that is an enthralling read.