Good Graphic Novel Reads!

Hello again residence of the "Land of Blog." Sorry it has been awhile since my last post but a Library Ninjas Job can be very time consuming. Here are some of the things I have been up to since my last post for example:

Defending myself from "The Evil Squirrel League of Ninja Assassins." Let me tell you something, these guys may be small but their vicious!!!!!!

You would be surprised about how upset some people become when they can't find the book they want at the library!!!!

And finally finding a new hobby while not being an ultra violent Library Ninja.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well enough about my daily trials and tribulations, let's talk about some cool Graphic Novels I have read lately:

 

 

Olympians: Athena, Grey-Eyed Goddess by George O'Connor - If you like Greek Myths and the Greek Gods and Heroes, this GN is definitely for you. This is the second GN in The Olympians series (the first being Zeus - King of The Gods). This is a wonderfully illustrated and well-spun tale about Athena, Goddess of Wisdom, War, Strategy, Crafts and Cities. It tells of how she was born and came into the world by bursting out of her father's head (that would be Zeus), helped save Mount Olympus and the Gods by battling and defeating Pallas, leader of a race of Stone Giants called the Gigantomachy, helping Peruses (along with Hermes) in defeating Medusa and much more. I really learned a great deal about Athena that I did not know and enjoyed this GN very much!!!!!!!




For older readers (13 an up) you may want to check out this really great GN:

Beasts of Burden: Animal Rites by Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson - At first glance Burden Hill looks like an idyllic community and area, but underneath the surface evil abounds. With the human residences being blissfully unaware, its up to a brave crew of dogs and a cat to deal with what is wrong in and around Burden Hill. Pugs, Ace, Jack, Whitey, Red and the Orphan (the cat) are just some of the crew that are fighting the good fight against such things as witch covens, animal zombies, demonic frogs, evil mystical rats, the undead, werewolves and more. This is really an original concept that is extremely well written along with being graced with the awesome art of Jill Thompson. Highly recommended!!!!!!





Well that's all for now all. Being talking at you again soon,

Bill

 



Verily, I Mean Spookily, I Say

Well Happy New Year all out there who dwell in "The Land of Blog." I did not intend to but it seems I have started my new year with some spooooky books. Oh well, here are two books I recently finished reading and hope you will give them a try if you have not already.


The Curse of The Wendigo by Rick Yancy - This book is a follow up to the most awesome "The Monstrumologist." To see my review of that book click HERE! As in the first book young Will Henry is in the service of Dr. Pellinore Warthrop, a well respected Monstrumologist (a scientist who studious dark creatures that go more than bump in the dark). Dr. Warthrop is approached by a women he loved long ago after her husband goes missing in Canada. Her husband, who also happens to have been a close friend to the Doctor, had been tasked by there former mentor Dr. Von Helrung to prove the existence of the mythical Wendigo (He Who Devours All Mankind: a creature that starves even as it endlessly hunts and feeds on human flesh). Dr. Warthrop eventually agrees and he and Will journey into the wilds of Canada in search of his lost friend. This is an intensely frighting book as the protagonists struggle against a monster that may be real or a trick of the mind. The intensity level for this book is set to 11 and does not go down until all is said and done. Who will live? Who will die? Who will remain sane? Mr. Yancy is on par with Stephen King in presenting a story that is so frightening, yet you must keep turning the page to find out what happens next. Really great stuff!!!!! As with the previous book I feel obligated to warn all that this is probably not for young children. This book contains some extremely gory scenes in addition to just being down right frightening. It scared the living "you know what" out of me and I'm far from being a child. Also there are few curse words. So before starting to read this book make sure it is cool with your parents and you are not frightened easily.

Just to give you a taste of what these books are like, check it out:

Bloody Horowitz by Anthony Horowitz - Another great book with spooky, scary, bloodcurdling stuff. This is a compilation of 14 short stories by Mr. Horowitz that is guaranteed to be loved by all you out there who love frightening stories. Some of my favorites in the book were Bet Your Life, Robo-Nanny and Are You Sitting Comfortably. Bet Your Life is about Reality T.V. and Game shows taken to the extreme. 5 contestants are competing for 10 million dollars in precious diamonds. What's the big deal about the story you ask? Think about the title and maybe you will understand. Robo-Nanny is actually kind of funny in a dark way. It is set in the future where the use of robots is quite common. Two extremely busy parents purchase T-199 the most advanced human like Nanny on the market. It has different settings for how strictly it deals with children from very lightly to...uh, read the story to find out. Are You Sitting Comfortably deals with the horror of message chairs. Horror of message chairs you ask? Again read to find the gruesome answer. Again this is a great collection of scary stories recommend for those 9 and above.

My complements to Iron Carl on the exciting review of "Behemoth" and I will be sinking my teeth into that one soon (get it, sinking my teeth.....um, never mind).

Until next time,

Library Ninja Bill

The New Year Starts with a Behemoth!

Happy New Year to all you rockin' cats out there! This is Iron guy Carl. I hope you had a great holiday season and will have a very happy new year. I saw Library Ninja Bill's review of Leviathan, so I want to piggy back off that and start 2011 with a review of a truly rockin' book--Behemoth by the amazing Scott Westerfeld. Yes, I know this is a slightly-edited repeat of a review I posted on the the Boys Read blog. I am such a huge fan of Leviathan and got so excited when Bill posted his review that I had to say something. Hey, don't knock repeats! All the TOMAS (like me, the Iron Guy) get their incredible strength from doing reps!! Well, anyway, I would have been happy if this second book had been just as good as the first. Well, guess what--this one's even better!!

The story takes place in Istanbul (or Constantinople), Turkey in 1914. World War I has just broken out--except, in this story, the world is a little different from the real world of WWI. This is an "alternate history" story; the Germans and Austrians (called "Clankers") use walking war machines, while the British and their allies (called "Darwinists") use fabricated animals. The two main characters, Prince Alek of Austria and Dylan Sharp (who's really Deryn--I'll get to that in a minute) have flown to Istanbul. Prince Alek is a prisoner of the British. Dylan is with Dr. Barlow, the granddaughter of Charles Darwin, who is on a mission to deliver a secret cargo to the Sultan. Things do not go as planned, however. The mission fails spectacularly, Prince Alek escapes, hides in Istanbul and joins a revolutionary movement to overthrow the Sultan. In the meantime, Dylan performs acts of heroism, gets sent on an underwater mission and discovers a deadly Clanker weapon. And speaking of secrets, important people start to discover Dylan's secret--which is that Dylan is really Deryn, a girl who disguised herself as a boy to join the Royal Air Service!

If you liked all the adventure, excitement, humor of Leviathan, then get ready, because this book has all that plus some!! You've got Clanker machines attacked on the streets of Istanbul, strange Darwinist animals, daring nighttime escapes and an unbelievable battle at the end. And the illustrations!!! In most books, the pictures are just--well, they're just sort of there and don't really add anything. In Behemoth, the illustrations really take you into the story and bring everything vividly to life. I enjoyed this one and I'm sure you will, too. I can't wait until next year when Goliath, the third book, comes out!!

PS--if you want to see my review of Leviathan from the Boys Read blog, click here. If you haven't read it already, you could go right to Behemoth, but I'd advise you to read Leviathan first so you get a better sense of what's going on.