And so it ends.

A direct sequel to Lost Souls, we finish up with Victor (etc) and his nanomachine replacements out in Montana.

It’s kind of cool seeing the rugged, individual, hyper-“American” characters fight back. It’s a bit much at times, but I enjoyed it.

For a conclusion to even two books, let alone five… it’s fine? It does tie up most of the threats. But on the other hand, it’s all build up and … just ends. I’m not a fan of that. And barely any of the monsters/big bads from the first three books come back… Just Erika and Jocko. Of all the things to keep… why Jocko?

Anyways.

Worth finishing once I’d come that far, but it really is the sort of series you could probably finish at the first book and not miss mutch.

Onward!

read more...

It seems no matter the culture, myths and legends get weird. Norse mythology is absolutely no exception to that.

In this story, we have a novelization of the story of Angrboda. Wife of Loki. Mother of monsters. She’s been around a while (it’s mythology, even she doesn’t know how long) and she just wants to be left alone.

I like seeing a slightly more ‘raw’ Norse mythology, especially than you get from (for example) the Marvel universe(s).

It’s kind of a bonkers story. You never know what’s going to happen. Being built on myths, the world is flexible at best. Rules are made to be broken. And that’s before you have gods et al with the ability to rewrite reality / see the future / move from world to world.

I really enjoyed it. Worth a read.

Onward!

read more...

Miles coming into his own.

Old enemies are thrilled to have Spider-Man back. Wisecracks and all.

New ones? More of a mixed bag. I’m enjoying this Prowler even more than the Intro the Spider-Verse version.

Onward!

read more...

…

So mutants? Not in a great place after Magneto’s wave.

The ones that are left are on the run and there are more than a few factions teeing to hunt them down.

And as if that weren’t enough, add in the new forces in SEAR. And others.

Oh it’s a wonderful mess. Dark. But it has potential.

Onward!

So Hawkeye.

He’s been around this whole time… and only sort of in the spotlight. Which I suppose us par for the course for him.

It’s interesting getting a bit more about what else was going on right when Reed came back.

Even if it’s weird to have both happening at once.

It’s a fine story. Just… fine.

And so we’re back with the Ultimates…

… and things are going very. very sideways.

Because there’s a new* villain in town.

This should be interesting.

read more...

Miles Morales!

I did not realize that he originally came from the Ultimates universe. So this is actually a new origin story!

Pretty cool. It’s interesting seeing what made it into Into the Spider-Verse—and what didn’t.

I do wish we’d had a chance to see Peter and Miles interact more, but I think this will work out. It’s got a lot of potential.

Onward!

read more...

Hopping between worlds–with one big caveat. If you visit a world where another you is still alive, you die.

Why have I survived? Because I am a creature more devious than all the other mes put together. Because I saw myself bleeding out and instead of checking for a pulse, I began collecting her things. I survive the desert like a coyote survives, like all tricksters do.

It’s a fascinating premise, especially when you dig just a bit deeper: Who are the people most likely able to jump? Who’s the most likely to have died on other worlds?

It’s a story about privilege. About a world built for the rich and powerful–by those who have nothing or less; those that pay everything and get nothing.

And Cara is stuck right in the middle of it.

read more...

Cartography, at its heart, was about defining one’s place in the world by creating charts and measurements. Nell had lived her life by that idea, that everything could be mapped according to references and thereby understood. But she could see now that she had been paying attention to the wrong references.
It was not a map alone that made a place real.
It was the people.

This is a tricky one to review. It’ll take some minor spoilers.

In a nutshell (if you want to completely avoid spoilers), it’s a decent book with a fascinating premise that could have done so much more for the actual execution.

read more...

I feel like we’ve been here before.

But this time around, as much as it is about endings… it’s also about new beginnings (see below, spoilers). Which is kind of a bummer. We really needed more time to breath and process, but this all feels like setting up whatever comes next.

Still, I’m looking forward to it.

Onward.

read more...