Turns out I may be more a Science Fiction Fan

So here's the thing - as a long-time fan of Fantasy, Horror and Science Fiction reading I have a sort of internal measurement in which I can say which genre has more sway on my reading habits at any given time.

I like to think of it as my "Zombie Robot Unicorn" meter.  Basically I liken my current reading habits to an internal image of a Zombie Robot Unicorn and use it to describe my current thoughts about whatever I'm reading.

In practice the image shifts to a much more "zombie-fied" robot unicorn in October and perhaps a bit more "Unicorn-ed" Zombie Robot during the winter.

Over the weekend however I went through my book award and top 100 lists I've been reading my way through over the last decade and realized that I'm actually steadily reading more Science Fiction than either of the other two and have been for some time...

I guess my Zombie Unicorn is much more robotic that I've previously though.

IMAGE CREDIT

http://schlogger.de/wordpress/zombie-robot-unicorn/

Falling down the Marvel Wormhole...

For the last few years I've fallen steadily behind in my mainstream comic-book reading.  Luckily as the big two competitors (DC and Marvel) like to reboot their lines every few years there are a lot of jumping-on points, but even those come with complications.

Take Guardians of the Galaxy for example - the new series (written by Brian Michael Bendis) started back in 2013 when the film was given a release date and I started purchasing it, as it look kind of cool and I was unfamiliar with any of the characters (except for Groot - who's origin story I had read a few years earlier in the excellent Marvel Monsterworks).

So there I am, happily reading my Guardians of the Galaxy, when a crossover occurred with something called INFINITY - basically this was an Avengers tie-in and seemed to connect on a couple points with my comic but as I was only focusing on my own title, I ignored the connecting titles and moved on.

Next was The Trial of Jean Grey - a tie-in with Bendis' other title, All-New X-Men.  This one was a six-issue story alternating between the two titles, so I purchased the three issues of X-Men and enjoyed the story for what it was.

In the last few months however, Guardians has begun a crossover event called The Black Vortex, which includes issues from - All-New X-Men, Captain Marvel, Cyclops, Guardians of the Galaxy, Guardian Team-Ups, Legendary Star Lord, and NOVA.

This was clearly too many comics for me to purchase and stay happily married, so I decided to see if any of these other titles were available at my local library.  

The answer was yes, and I started catching up on NOVA and X-Men.  The problem was, one of the X-Men titles crossed over with The Indestructible Hulk (written by Mark Waid) as well as Uncanny X-Men (written by Bendis), so I put requests in for these titles.  My BFF Mike helpfully loan me the Hulk and Captain Marvel titles, but as I started reading Hulk I saw tie-ins with Dardevil and Thor, both of which the library have and both of which tie into any number of other Marvel titles.  

The other problem is these are a lot of fun to read, but I'm starting to feel a little overwhelmed... oh wait, in this issue Hulk meets King Arthur!

Okay, I'll stick around for a few more, but THAT'S IT!

Probably...

So I'm reading the Outlander series now...

A few years back for one of my book clubs I read Diana Gabaldon's 1991 novel Outlander (originally published as Cross Stitch) and was pretty impressed.  At the time I hadn't had a lot of experience with Romance novels (my tastes normally move more in the "Zombie, Spaceship, Wasteland" direction), but was really surprised at just how great this first novel was.

Flashing forward to last year, my wife (who has read the entire series to date) and I began watching the recent Ronald D. Moore television adaptation, and I admitted that I would have to check out this series and soon.

Or as my wife likes to say "If you can spend a whole month inflicting me with Twilight the least you can do is read something good once in a while..."

Point taken.

As I read horror, fantasy and science fiction works each month I've noticed that Fantasy tends to work best in series readings, so for the next year, give or take, I'll be checking out some time travelling historical romance fiction.

Image Credit 
Outlander Series image from
https://www.pinterest.com/explore/dragonfly-in-amber/

Book Review: The Shade

Last week my friend Ron loaned me James Robinson's 2013 mini-series, The Shade, a spin off of one of my favourite superhero comics of all time, Starman.

The character of The Shade has always been intriguing to me, as an immortal with shadow-based power his abilities can be pretty stunning, and his motivation often seems to go beyond simple blank and white morality to something a little different.  He likes a challenge, and if that requires him to play hero or villain, he's up to the challenge to reach his goals.

The mini-series is pretty great, giving the character a back story, taking place all over the globe and reminding me that as diary entries in comics tend to be written in cursive (handwriting), many of these stories will have to find a way to adapt as students are no longer being taught to read and write in cursive, making stories which use this device all but impossible to understand for some.

For Starman fans, the series is a must, as it brings back the flavour of the original comic but looks at the world through a very different set of eyes.

Book Review: Drink Down the Moon

Moving through the works of Charles de Lint from the ‘80s to the ‘90s, I’ve found a couple of great reads, but so far nothing has compared to Drink Down the Moon, his sequel to his 1987 novel Jack the Giant Killer.

The book takes place a few years after Jack saved the fae of Ottawa in the first book, and brings a much darker threat to the citizens of Kinrowan (the fairy side of Ottawa), and one with terrible plans for all.

As with many of his previous books, this novel focuses on myth and folklore as well as a lot of music and even a mention of Cat Midhir (the protagonist from his earlier book Yarrow - who I'm hoping to come across again in a future story).

The story is a lot of fun, moving back and forth between Jackie's story and that of a young musician who is just beginning to see the fairy world...

The book was pretty great and has me looking forward to to more of the shared world that De Lint has created in his later works.

Movie Review: Song of the Sea

One of my favourite things of working my way through Oscar nominations is getting to see movies I may not have heard of before and and are absolutely blown away by.

Song of the Sea is an incredibly beautiful film dealing with the traditional Irish folklore surrounding Selkies (creatures who live as seals in the sea but human on land).  The 1994 film The Secret of Roan Inish touches on much of the same material, but I have to say Song of the Sea may be one of the most beautiful animated films I've seen in years.

Seriously, I don't want to spoil the film, so simply enough, go see it.

Simply amazing.

Book Review: Trigger Warning

Okay, fair warning - I'm a pretty big Neil Gaiman fan - I've got all the books and movies, even the BBC Neverwhere series and a couple of CDs, so short answer - I loved the book and yes you should read it.

Okay, now to go a little in depth.

The book has over twenty stories and poems; including ones focusing on Sherlock Holmes, Doctor Who, and even Shadow Moon (from his 2001 novel American Gods).  In addition the book includes a great fairy tale theme story called The Sleeper and the Spindle as well as a couple great tribute stories to both Ray Bradbury and David Bowie.

The book collects stories that have been published in various anthologies over the last few years, so as it's a great way to catch up on any stories you may have missed out on.

A great read.