Books

Within the last year I've finally gotten into THE X-FILES with a vengeance. I'm not a complete noob to the seminal series, but I had never been a regular viewer either. I had seen some episodes and caught both films in theaters, but that's about it. My wife was an immense fan growing up, and I had other friends that swore by the series, so I was pretty aware of much of the mythology, the best episodes, and even the big baddies like Krycek and Cancer Man (i.e. Cigarette Smoking Man). I always planned on hitching my wagon to the series and watching it through. A while back I purchased the first few seasons on DVD, but I never went on a huge run. Finally, Netflix made it simple to digest each episode.

Now, I don't want to come on like the mayor's wife or anything, but aren't you excited for the six-episode event in January?

The charge is "STAR WARS has dumbed down the perception of science fiction in the popular imagination." Jeff Ritter of CriticalBlast.com represents the Prosecution. 

The very notion of STAR WARS being somehow responsible for “dumbing down” modern science fiction seems preposterous. Of course, the notion is not entirely objective—how does one quantify merit or mediocrity in art, which by its very nature is subjective? How does one quantify the tangible effect of a film from 1977, that wasn’t expected to do much business itself, has had on movies, television, video games, novels, graphic  arts, American and even global pop culture more than 30 years later? I’m sure somebody with a better mind for statistical analysis could find numbers to crunch in this regard, but I find it to be less of a matter of arithmetic and more of a matter of personal taste. Since I can only speak for myself, allow me to take you on a little flashback to the halcyon days of my youth.

Half the fun of going to Archon is visiting with old and new friends, and sitting in on interesting panel discussions.

The other half of the fun is rushing around breathlessly to those panel discussions, lugging with you about a hundred pounds of books and visual aids, which you rush to get put up before the first guests arrive.

Today, we are wrapping up our coverage of JOURNEY TO STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS.  

Like the last two reviews I did, these books are both classified as Young Adult books. SMUGGLER’S RUN stars Han and Chewbacca. LOST STARS introduces two new characters that have a major impact on the STAR WARS universe. More on that later.

We got another pair of JOURNEY TO STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS books to review today, with one featuring Luke Skywalker and the other with Princess Leia. As I mentioned in my review of AFTERMATH, the bulk of these books are set during the Original Trilogy, not in the JOURNEY TO STAR WARS timeframe.

Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens - The Weapon of a Jedi: A Luke Skywalker Adventure by Jason Fry

Hardcover - $12.99
Kindle - $6.46
Published by Disney Lucasfilm Press
192 Pages

Last Friday was Force Friday! As part of their build up for THE FORCE AWAKENS, Disney released a lot of new Star Wars merchandise, including boatloads of new toys. One thing that got a little lost was they also released several new novels set in between RETURN OF THE JEDI and THE FORCE AWAKENS, under the umbrella title of JOURNEY TO THE FORCE AWAKENS. There is also a comic mini-series coming out on Wednesday called SHATTERED EMPIRE that falls under this banner.

The machine-gun patter of clicks was interrupted rhythmically by the ding and zip of the manual carriage return, advancing the page another line and preparing for another string of text. The room was close, cloying with the June humidity of 1963. In a corner, the radio provided background noise with the help of The Chiffons. Over the writer's shoulder, his friend and partner leaned in, peering at the latest completed paragraph before grunting editorial approval. The writer continued at a feverish pace -- a few more strings of machine-gun clacking, a few more dings and zips, and he grabbed the top of the sheet, pulling it free with a whine of protest from the typewriter roller.

What a book title! I mean to say, for those of an age, we will never forget the incomparable Bruce Lee. You didn't even have to live in Bruce's own lifetime to be one of his adoring fans. I was born four months after Bruce's death, yet he's one of my favorite cultural icons. Growing up, I fondly recall school recess periods spent "fighting" over who was Bruce Lee in our playground battles. Seriously, what were those lunch attendants doing while we played at karate? Through the years, Bruce Lee has continued to have an impact on me. I've visited his grave in Seattle, watched his film work repeatedly, read some of his writings, and met gentlemen that worked with him like Bob Wall, the late Jim Kelly, and John Saxon. One other such man I wish for an opportunity to meet is Jon Benn.

EVERYTHING LEFT TO KNOW ABOUT THE TRILOGY is the subtitle for the newly released STAR WARS FAQ. That's serious word choice when you consider how knowledgeable the fandom is that surrounds the original Star Wars Trilogy. I'm 41 years old, so I grew up with these films as a part of my life...scratch that, the Saga has become such a part of me, it's burrowed down to conjoin with the very depths of my soul. So much so, I've watched, read, and collected just about anything that was available to my greedy mind and body. And I've got to say, much to my surprise, Mark Clark delivered a well researched, in-depth exploration of the creative exploits of George Lucas and so many of the others that played in his sandbox.

In 490BC, in the early hours of the morning before the Athenian will go to war with the Persians, Leander recounts his life up to that point, and how he not only came to be where he is, but how all of Athens arrived at this point. It's a story of political intrigues, assassinations, and behind-the-scenes manipulation of information and advice, a morass of dirty tricks and dirty politics, all with the goal of slipping an idea into the consciousness of the masses: Democracy.

Leander's story starts when he is a younger man, just beginning to take on responsibilities in his father's business. At a political meeting held by the brothers Hippias and Hipparchus ends in bloodshed and the assassination of Hipparchus, the people react accordingly, assuming a rebellion is at hand. The DEMOCRACY creative team of Alecos Papadatos and Abraham Kawa put forward that there may have been another reason for Hipparchus' killing, but that the event was taken advantage of by Cleisthenes.

When I first met Bird and Squirrel, they were on the Run. And my boy and I loved them! The pairing of the brave, cocky, devil-may-care Bird with the skittish, paranoid, defensive Squirrel made for the least likely of friendships, but they made it work. (They even made their own theme song.)

Now the pragmatic squirrel and plucky bird are back, in BIRD & SQUIRREL ON THE EDGE! They're trying to make their way back home, and they've made a new friend: a baby bear cub. They've also made a few enemies along the way as well, in the form of a pack of wolves who've got their hearts set on the taste of bear, with a little bit of squirrel appetizer. Fortunately for Squirrel and Cub, Bird is there to distract the wolves and send them running.

Reading any of the COMPLETE FUNKY WINKERBEAN volumes is like opening a time capsule. Tom Batiuk brings the crew into the 1980s with this fourth volume, and the cultural references pervade the pages from cover to cover.

The advent of Space Invaders, Defender, and other arcade video games chews up a decent amount of space -- as it should in a strip focused on high school students. And the latest STAR WARS movie has its impact felt on not only the characters, but on the readers who were allowed to submit their own STAR WARS jokes to Batiuk and have them drawn into the strip.

THE WATCHMEN OF PORT FAYT from David Fickling Books, and available in hardcover on August 25^th is the first novel by English author Conrad Mason and the first book in his TALES OF FATE Trilogy.

Conrad Mason is a graduate of Cambridge University and is an editor of children’s books. So while he's no stranger to children’s literature, THE WATCHMEN OF PORT FAYT is his first novel. Based in a mythical town called Port Fayt, inhabited by humans and elves, imps and ogres, trolls and fairies, goblins and dwarfs, Conrad weaves a well-constructed, thought-out story of mystery, intrigue, monsters, magic and mayhem. The book even has a rudimentary map displaying the town and surrounding oceans, islands and old worlds a la Tolkien and a glossary of many of the various beings mentioned above cleverly written as part of the book.

Galaxy Zack: Hello, Nebulon! 

Written by: Ray O'Ryan
Illustrated by: Colin Jack
Published by: Simon & Schuster (2013)
Cover Price: $4.99

Kira: HELLO, NEBULON!  is the first book in the GALAXY ZACK series.  GALAXY ZACK is about a eight year old boy named Zack who explores space.  Zack used to live on Earth, and in this book, he moves to the planet Nebulon.

Mike: How does Zack feel about moving?

I don't really do comic reviews that often these days. It's not that I don't read comics, they're still a staple of my pop culture diet, but after writing regular weekly reviews for many years, I prefer to write about other forms of entertainment. When I heard about the graphic novel STEVE MCQUEEN: FULL THROTTLE COOL from Motor Books, well, I needed to read it and write a review. In all my years of online journalism, I've never had the chance to talk about my passion for the filmography of Mr. McQueen.

After requesting the review material, I was a little worried. What if the book was horrible? I mean, I own his movies, a replica of his jacket from THE GREAT ESCAPE, several McQueen dolls, figures, cars, you name it. It would be a shame to have to write a scathing review about the King of Cool. Or worse, what if it was a mediocre mess that couldn't inspire any emotion whatsoever? Writing one of those reviews is just not fun, at all.

There's a magic in the comic strip format that allows serious subjects to be broached with gentle humor and delivered in manageable bites. Tom Batiuk has tapped into this magic, both in his long running series, FUNKY WINKERBEAN, and with this collection of CRANKSHAFT strips entitled ROSES IN DECEMBER: A STORY OF LOVE AND ALZHEIMER'S.

WHO IS STAN LEE?

Written by Geoff Edgers
Illustrated by John Hinderliter
Published by: Grosset & Dunlap (2014)
Cover price: $4.99

Blizz Richards, the Yeti, is back for another adventure with his fellow cryptid friends. This time, it's to answer a lonely call for help from Vanessa -- Nessie, the Loch Ness Monster.

So Blizz, Gunthar the goblin, and Alexander the Elf head east to Scotland to see what can be done -- because when a cryptid becomes unhappy, there's an increased likelihood of being seen. Fortunately, Alexander knows exactly where to find more monsters like Vanessa. Unfortunately, they're all 65 million years in the past.

Over the years, I've picked up more than my share of books at science fiction conventions -- usually the only place you could find them, because they were books being promoted by their authors. And, more often than not, there was a good, evident reason why the works weren't picked up by major distributors.

In the case of David J. Pedersen's ANGST, it's the distributors who are the ones losing out.

When Kate Hood is beset by a pack of wolves while taking a weekly load of groceries to her Nan's isolated house in the woods, it's just the beginning of a very creepy adventure. Narrowly escaping the creatures, she finds Nan's house empty, save for four tapestries of exquisite craftsmanship but showing surreal tortures: a girl in chains, holding a comb, her hair shaved; a boy and girl, huddled in a cell, sweating from surrounding heat; a young maiden huddled on the floor to avoid being pricked by walls lined with needles; and a quickly scrawled message: It should have been you!